The glamorous lovers’ day celebration on Monday turned bloody at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) when gunmen killed two students. Daily Sun gathered that the clash was between two rival cult groups, namely, Black Axe and the Buccaneers,’ over a female student allegedly snatched by the Capone of the Black Axe for Valentine celebration.
The action of the Capone , the source said did not go down well with the other group leading to the clash. A student who witnessed the shooting said besides the two cult members who were shot dead, about four others sustained injuries and were ferried out of the campus by their leaders to shield their identity.
The sources said the cult members who carried out the attack were not UNILAG students but members from another campus, adding that the attack was carried out in a commando style with sporadic shooting. An undergraduate student of English Department told Daily Sun that the Buccaneers’ group attacked the Black Axe members while another student returning from the Mosque said those who carried out the killing were not from UNILAG because they did not cover their faces.
It was learnt that as soon the shooting started, students scampered for safety while others took cover behind the wall and under cars packed around, while others ran into the halls to avoid being hit by stray bullets. A senior lecturer who confirmed the killings said the university management had met to curtail any reprisal attack while security personnel had taken over the investigation of the deadly cult clash. When Daily Sun visited the troubled institution yesterday, there was uneasy calm, as most staff and students rebuffed efforts made by the reporters to get their comments.
However, one of the students who resides at Sodeinde Hall, said there was sporadic gunshots outside the premises which caused panic everywhere. It was gathered that the crisis, which erupted when the students were at the peak of lovers’ day celebration, created stampede on the campus as people ran for safety.
One of the victims of the attack reportedly ran into Sodeinde Hall for help, from where he was taken to the hospital. Although the Hall Master of Sodeinde Hall declined comments on the issue, one of the officials, who wouldn’t want his name published, said the attack could not be linked to any cult group. He said there was increasing speculation that the perpetrators of the attack could be fighting for love. Efforts made by Daily Sun our reporter to ascertain the identities of the victims were unsuccessful. The news bulletin of the university, Information Flash (ISSN 08195540) also captured the incident, while assuring the staff and students of the university of adequate security.
“The attention of the universities authorities has been drawn to the incident which occurred in one of the Halls of Residence in the late hours of Monday, February 14, 2011 where two persons were reportedly injured in fracas. The university management has commenced investigation into the unusual incident, in particular at a time when preparation for the first semester examinations due to commence on February 21, 2011 are in top gear. Security has been intensified to ensure safety of life and property on campus. Law enforcement agents have been involved to assist the university in this respect,” it said. Daily Sun learnt that students are leaving the campus because of the fear of reprisal attack while some parents called their wards on phone to return home until the situation is brought under control.
The Deputy Registrar Information of UNILAG, Mr. Dare Adebisi refused to pick his calls or replied to text message sent to his phone. When the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Samuel Jinadu (DSP) was called thrice, he promised to contact the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area and did not call back as at the press time....
'Unlicensed medical practitioner' sought for administering silicone injection which killed Claudia Aderotimi
Transgender woman suspect 'well known' in Philadelphia and believed to have had similar procedure during sex change
Tip off came after police raided home of 'fixer' in New Jersey who introduced student to 'doctor'
20-year-old believed to have met surgeon on chat forum for people interested in plastic surgery
Injection was a ‘top up’ for previous procedure had in November
Detectives are hunting a transgender woman in connection with the death of a British student who died after a botched 'butt enhancement' operation.
Claudia Aderotimi, 20, is believed to have had the illegal procedure carried out by an unlicensed medical practioner in a hotel room in Philadelphia after meeting her in a plastic surgery chat room.
The transgender woman, in her 30s, had a similar procedure herself as part of a sex change operation to become a woman.
'Russian Roulette': Claudia Aderotimi, 20, is believed to have had silicone injected into her buttocks by an unlicensed medical practitioner
Sudden death: The London student had travelled to Philadelphia for a 'butt enhancement', which is illegal in the U.S. and UK
Police have established the identity of the suspect after raiding the home of a 'fixer' in New Jersey who had introduced the London-based student to the 'doctor'.
She is said to be well-known among the Africa-American community in Philadelphia, where 'butt enhancements' are popular.
A police source told the Evening Standard: 'There is a thriving trade in these sort of procedures and the injectors travel from state to state.'
Legitimate surgical techniques including silicone implants cost around £7,000, leading some to seek out cheaper injections. The procedure is illegal in the U.S. and UK.
If convicted, the suspect faces involuntary manslaughter charges which could lead to 10 years in jail.
Image conscious: Friends said Miss Aderotimi was desperate to obtain the perfect curvy figure and had been rejected from one Hip Hop video for wearing padded trousers
Aspiring dancer: Friends claimed Miss Aderotimi was the victim of social pressure to have a larger bottom
Miss Aderotimi have believed a 'bigger booty' would help her wish to appear in more music videos, according to her distraught friends.
The aspiring dancer - stagename Carmella London - was dropped from one shoot because directors discovered she had been wearing padded trousers to help enlarge her bottom.
Talent scout Tee Ali, who met the Thames Valley University student when she filmed a video, told The Sun: 'The problem was she didn't have no butt, and she wanted a butt.
'She went to audition for one video shoot wearing fake booty pants and she got all the attention.
'But when they found out it was fake she didn't get asked back.'
Miss Aderotimi developed chest pains and struggled for breath 12 hours after she had the illegal silicone injections at the budget hotel.
She was rushed to hospital, but could not be saved.
Aspirations: The student had hoped to become a Hip Hop star and had previously auditioned for parts in music videos
Botched: The 20-year-old died after the silicone leaked into her bloodstream, resulting in heart failure
A preliminary examination found the silicone filler had leaked into her bloodstream, leading to heart failure.
Detectives are investigating whether she was treated with cheaper 'industrial' silicone, normally used as a sealant, rather than the medical-grade material used in breast implants.
It was not the first time she had undergone the procedure. She is believed to have been treated in November and the latest injection on Monday may have been a 'top-up'.
Bootylicious: Nicki Minaj has become almost as famous for her posterior as for her voice
She had travelled from London to Philadelphia with three friends for the treatment, thought to have been an early present for her 21st birthday.
Buttock enhancement surgery is becoming popular in the U.S., among women who aspire to the shapely curves of Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and singer Nicki Minaj.
Minaj has become almost as famous for her posterior as for her voice, and rumours have spread across the web that the Massive Attack singer underwent surgery or uses pads to boost her bum, especially on urban gossip sites such as Bossip and mediatakeout.com. She denies having had surgery.
The illusion of a larger backside has become increasingly more fashionable among young women since the rise of the 'Hip Hop Honey' phenomenon.
A bigger behind has become almost a prerequisite for any aspiring dancer wanting to make it on the music video scene.
But the hip hop industry has come under fire for objectifying women in music videos where dancers - or Hip Hop Honeys - chasing fame can often leave themselves open to financial and sexual exploitation.
And in their desperation to beat off the competition, many resort to surgery to get ahead.
'Top up' procedures are only legal when the silicone gel is contained and sealed within an implant. But illegal injections of the material are also widely available from unlicensed back-room medics.
Last night one expert said having a direct injection of silicone gel – long outlawed in the U.S. and Britain, even for breast surgery – is 'like playing Russian roulette'.
One of Miss Aderotimi's friends is said to have had the same procedure but survived. Experts warned the silicone could still prove lethal for her in the future if not removed.
Death: The woman died at the Hampton Inn in Philadelphia after having an injection in her buttocks
Investigation: A Philadelphia detective leaves the hotel where Claudia Aderotimi was staying, clutching an envelope with mugshots inside
Tragedy: One of Miss Aderotimi's friends also underwent a similar procedure, but survived
Last night more than a dozen distraught friends and family gathered at Miss Aderotimi's home in Hackney, East London.
Her sister Vivian was in tears as she said: 'We found out on Tuesday. We're still in shock. We need to think about what we have to do.'
Miss Aderotimi's mother, a healthcare assistant at Homerton Hospital in East London, said she was too upset to speak about her daughter's death.
Miss Aderotimi had the buttock injections on Monday – thought to have cost around £1,300 – while her friend had the same procedure along with a hip enhancement treatment.
The 'doctor' who injected the silicone left soon after and was not there when Miss Aderotimi began complaining of chest pains.
Yesterday detectives raided the home of a woman they believed set up the illegal operation.
Computer files, emails and telephone records were seized from the house in Bergen County, New Jersey.
Emails from Miss Aderotimi arranging the procedure were among the material seized, but police said no formal arrests had yet been made.
Dr Rajiv Grover, president-elect of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: 'Buttock augmentation isn't a very commonly done procedure here, which is probably why these girls have resorted to going abroad.
'If correctly done, it involves implanting solid silicone implants into the buttock just like breast implants.
'The correct procedure would be done in a fully equipped, sterile surgical theatre in a hospital and the patient would be fully anaesthetised.'
constables who abducted and raped a 16-year-old girl for one month, and demoted the police inspector who connived in the crime. Photo:The Kano state governor, Ibrahim Shekarau and the Inspector General of police, Afeez Ringim. A 16-year-old girl was abducted by the some policemen who were on night patrol in Kano city and used as sex slave for about 28 days. Photo: NEXT
The state's Police Commissioner, Muhammad Tambari Yabo said the dismissed policemen, Yusuf Ibrahim and Salisu Mahmud were found to be the prime suspects in the rape case, while Mohammed Dantalle, the inspector, was demoted for his complicity.
Mr Yabo said the three policemen were tried and found guilty at orderly room level. He said that he personally reviewed the outcome of the orderly room trial and handed them the punishment.
He also said plans are afoot to send the case diary to the state's Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for professional advice in prosecuting the three men.
On the civilian collaborators said to be linked with the crime, the commissioner said information available to the police showed that they have fled to Lagos and Ibadan. He said the command had already declared them wanted and circulated their photographs in those areas for easy apprehension.
Mr Yabo said the three civilians actively took part in the alleged crime alongside the policemen, and there will be no hiding place for them because soon the law will catch up with them.
"We will continue to do our work with the fear of God," he said. "We hope that the measures taken against the cops will help address the concern being raised by members of the public since the matter came to limelight last month."
The 16-year-old girl, name withheld, was abducted by some policemen who were on night patrol in Kano city. She was subsequently kept in captivity for 28 days inside a room at Kwali Police Station where she was serially raped....
A horror story
The teenager, who said she was a virgin before the incident, explained that one of the policemen who abducted her proceeded to give her to other men who also raped her and paid him for it. According to her, the policemen often used their official patrol vehicle to take her to the patrons.
Narrating her ordeal, the teenager recalled that she got on a motorcycle from Unguwa Uku, with the intention of returning home to Yakasai quarters after visiting her mother.
Her mother has been married to another man since the death of her father and she makes it a duty to visit her mother from the house of her grandparents in Yakasai.
She said while on her way home, the commercial motorcycle rider spotted a team of policemen on patrol a few metres ahead of them. It was still around 9pm. However, knowing that his motorcycle had no headlamp, the motorcyclist turned off his engine and pushed the bike until they got past the police.
"But as we got to the policemen, they asked him why he was moving with a girl," she said. "He replied that the motorcycle developed a problem. They now asked him if it still has fuel and he answered yes. One of the policemen collected the key from him and started the bike and thereafter challenged him for riding without light."
The policemen asked the motorcyclist to ride on and leave her behind. They told him they were going to take her home in their patrol vehicle and also asked her to go and wait for them in the police car.
She pleaded with the policemen to allow her to go home because she was sleepy. After keeping her until 2am, they drove with her into their barracks in Kwalli area where they locked her in a room and went away. She said Mr Yusuf later came in with a gun and threatened to kill her if she shouts, before proceeding to rape her.
"He threatened that if I didn't shut my mouth, he was going to shoot me with the gun. He slapped me and tore my shirt and pointing a gun to my face," she said.
A sex slave
She said she was later repeatedly raped by Mr. Yusuf and two other policemen, Dantalle and Salisu Dansanda, as well as three civilians, Shehu, Misbahu Mohammed and Sanusi Pele.
She added that she was even taken to an Indian hemp dealer and some other persons who raped her and paid the policemen some money afterwards. They came back to pick her up with the police patrol van the next day.
The teenager said during her 28-day captivity, apart from Mr Yusuf whom she said turned her into a sex-slave, each of the two policemen and the three civilians serially raped her and mostly without using condom.
She disclosed that when she managed to escape from her captors three weeks ago, her uncle went with her the next day to report at Kwalli police station. But the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the station begged the relatives to forgive his men and let the matter die.
The grandfather, who rejected the position of the DPO, instructed her brothers to take the matter up with the Hisbah, the state shari'ah law enforcement agency.
The secretary of the Hisbah board, Sunusi Salisu Aliyu, said when Mr. Yusuf was invited by his men for questioning and admitted abducting the girl but denied raping her.
"We wonder how the policeman failed to provide an answer as to why the police chose to hide a person they picked during patrol in a private room instead of registering her at the counter," Mr Aliyu said.
Calls for prosecution
The family said it has been under pressure by some police officers to abandon the case.
The Kano office of the Legal Aid Council has, through its coordinator, Nurudeen Ishola, said it is going to wade into the matter and take the girl's plight up with the Kano State Attorney General.
The National Human Rights Commission had also expressed concern at reports that policemen had tried to suppress evidence in the case, including attempting to persuade the victims' parents to abandon the case.
Renowned Islamic scholar, Tijjani Bala Kalarawi condemned the act and called on the authority not to only dismiss the officers but to take them to the court where the teenager can be compensated.
"This world is full of evil men," he said. "You can imagine people saddled with the responsibility of protecting the citizens would now deviate and carry out such bad act. It is a pity that this can happen in our society; these people must be brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others."
A group of concerned persons in Kano had also addressed the media, demanding the immediate trial of the suspected rapists.
The group, led by a lawyer, Abdulla Imam, called on both the state and the federal government to prosecute the accused persons. He said a group of lawyers were working together in respect of the case and vowed to pursue it until justice is done.
Apparently there is a JayJay Okocha biopic in the works, it will be called Feet of Destiny(no surprises there…nollywood movie…cheesy title). The movie will reportedly span the entirety of Okocha’s life, including his football career.
Emeka Ike is lined up to play the football ace….Jimmy Jean Luis (Phat Girlz) will also be appearing.
Still on the topic of biopics, there is also a DAGRIN movie in the works – which would chronicle the late rapper’s life and his tragic death at 26 in April 2010. I hope these movies are done justice, and cast properly, as they more often than not Nollywood productions turn out to be over-acted, badly directed and poorly produced.
Between a rock and a hard place: Husband emerges to face warring women who had to be pulled apart
Probably the bravest of all the 33 trapped miners was the one who asked for both his wife and his mistress to greet him on reaching the surface.
Yonni Barrios initially became known as the group’s ‘doctor’.
He used knowledge gained from looking after his diabetic mother to work with medical teams on the surface to diagnose and help the men trapped with him. ..
Trapped miner Yonni Barrios Rojas is greeted by his girlfriend Susana Valenzuela after reaching the surface
Very public display of affection: The entire world watches as Susanna kisses her lover
Row: Marta Salinas, left, wife of trapped miner Yonni Barrios, did not greet him on his return to the surface after it emerged he was having an affair with Susana Valenzuela, right
But very soon the 50-year-old miner became even better known for something rather less noble. His wife and another woman were both holding a vigil for him in Camp Hope.
Marta Salinas, 58, whom he married 28 years ago, reportedly almost came to blows with Susana Valenzuela, 50, when they faced off in the mine’s dining area. The pair had to be pulled apart.
According to Miss Salinas, Barrios had been dividing his time between the two women for the last couple of years. And it was Miss Valenzuela who broke the news to her that there had been an accident at the mine.
As his wife began to get involved in his affairs on Camp Hope, he instructed teams on the surface to deal with his lover instead.
Incredible: Susanna appears unable to believe Barrios is safe as she cusps his face in her hands and clings to him in a long hug
Moments later Barrios, centre, was carried on a stretcher to the triage centre
And as the day of the rescue finally approached, he asked for both of them to wait for him as he emerged from the borehole.
‘He is either very cheeky or very idiotic,’ said a source within the rescue team. ‘He didn’t seem worried at all.’
In the end he was greeted by his mistress, his wife choosing to stay away. He emerged at 8:32pm UK time to be met by tearful Miss Valenzuela.
'Alone at last! All right Maria, you can come out now.'
He looked calm as he gingerly walked towards his mistress, who gave him a long hug, crying on his shoulder and occasionally pulling back to look at him as if to make sure the reunion was really happening.
After he emerged, his wife, who has three sons from an earlier relationship, said she is over Barrios and did not feel ‘anything in particular’.
'Cocky': Barrios, waving to the crowd, was slammed by his ex-wife - but Susanna was unable to hide the joy from her face at his escape
She said: ‘I watched it on television. I’m very pleased they are all coming out well.
‘I’m glad I didn’t go to the mine, it was the correct decision. It would have been wrong if the two of us were there – I have children and grandchildren. That kind of situation wouldn’t have been good for my family, and my sons come first.
‘He is crazy and cocky to think I would do such a thing. I have a sense of decency.’
She said she could tell Barrios was ‘holding back’ in the reunion, as his girlfriend held him tightly and cried.
Rock and a hard place: Miner Yonni Barrios
‘I know she is impulsive, while he behaved properly. He knew I was going to be watching.’ She said she would not be visiting him at the hospital. ‘If he wants to see me or talk to me he can come find me. Otherwise we will talk through our lawyers.
‘I have his belongings and all these gifts people have sent him – he is welcome to have them.’
She said she is not bitter but had a parting shot for her husband and the other miners.
‘This is historic but soon it will be over to the next thing. People move on – in a few years everyone will have forgotten about this.
‘They think they will all be millionaires overnight but it’s not like that. Only the skillful ones will make something from this.’
Mr Barrios is thought not to be alone in his complex domestic arrangements.
According to reports, another Barrios – Carlos – who was rescued yesterday has a five-year-old son with a woman he has not divorced and his girlfriend of seven months is pregnant.
Another miner is said to have four women claiming his affections and perhaps soon-to-be-increased income – a wife he has not divorced, his current live-in girlfriend, a third woman who claims to have had his son and another who says she is having an affair with him.
“Frenemy” (one who pretends to be a friend but is actually an enemy).
In the words of Ambassador Jetta, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a man of uncommon loyalty, impeccable integrity, and possesses an immense commitment to Nigeria.But it appears these great attributes might become an impediment, as his
closest associate from the north, Hassan Tukur, who appears to have gained his absolute confidence, may be covertly working against his
ambition to become President. Our checks reveals that Hassan Tukur, who
has been a friend to the President for a very long time and currently works as his principal secretary, may be a “Frenemy” (one who pretends to be a friend but is actually an enemy).
Mr. Tukur is a diplomat and technocrat par excellence. His friendship with
President Jonathan dates back to pre-Aso Villa days. He was President
Yar’Adua’s special assistant on Petroleum Resources. Tukur is assumed to
be the president’s closest associate from the North and is alleged to
have single-handedly picked most of the regime’s political appointees
that were employed from the north by Goodluck Jonathan. According to
sources who have had contact with him, Tukur does not hesitate to inform
you that “he can get the President to do anything”, and really in most
cases he delivers; a source added.
However, Hassan Tukur,Huhuonline.comlearnt is torn between his loyalty to his boss and his kinsmen from the
north, who are vehemently opposed to the President`s 2011 presidential
ambition. To this end, Tukur is alleged to have asked the President not
to contest the 2011 election. But his advice has not been heeded.
It should be recalled that in his inaugural speech, President Jonathan
promised that “the war against corruption will be prosecuted more
robustly,” and his aides, particularly Hassan Tukur, pencilled in the
name of his bosom friend, Nuhu Ribadu, the country’s former
anticorruption czar, to lead the war. Mr Ribadu was considered robust
and effective in his position until he was forced out by Yar’Adua’s
government.
Mr. Tukur was very instrumental in the return of Nuhu Ribadu, whom he had convinced the president to appoint as his special adviser
on anti-corruption and other related matters, but as soon Nuhu returned
to Nigeria, the goal posts began to
move. Hassan Tukur began to lobby the President to appoint Nuhu Ribadu
as vice president, which in itself was not a bad idea as Nuhu Ribadu was
viewed as a man of impeccable character, capable bringing credibility
to any government. But this was not to be.
However, Nuhu Ribadu and Hassan Tukur, Huhuonline.com gathered were looking beyond the vice
presidential position, their eyes were set on the plum job of president.
Had President Jonathan given in to the plot, the duo would have
covertly disclosed his flaws by releasing embarrassing details of the
President to the media, which could portray him as inexperienced and
incompetent for the office of President..
Consequently, they would have blackmailed him into resigning and returning to Bayelsa. Nuhu Ribadu is very familiar with this type of operation. Recall that Nuhu
Ribadu blackmailed Obasanjo into dropping Peter Odili as running mate to
Umaru Yar`adua in 2007.
Having failed in their plot, Nuhu Ribadu abandoned the PDP, and joined AC,
where he is a presidential aspirant; While Hassan Tukur stayed put on
his job as principal secretary to the president, and is currently
amassing stupendous wealth for himself under the guise of raising funds
for the Goodluck Jonathan 2011 Presidential campaign. However, it
remains to be seen if Hassan Tukur’s loyalty lies with the President or
the Northern Oligarchy.
A Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has called for a debate, on the economy, among all the presidential aspirants on the economy.Photo Atiku ? this man looks like a Hitman sha
Abubakar, a former vice-President, made the call after submitting his nomination form at the PDP national secretariat on Tuesday in Abuja.
The Adamawa State- born politician said the economy should be the main issue in the 2011 election campaigns.
“The issue of economic recovery for Nigeria cannot be a matter of wishful thinking nor of rhetoric. It is a subject for rigorous analyses and provision of well-thought, viable, practicable and sustainable strategy,” he said.
Abubakar said that all aspirants must be able to tell Nigerians how they intended to confront the challenges of the economy and reposition it for the benefit of all at the shortest possible time.
He said, “Of all the aspirants that have declared interest in the presidential election, I consider myself the most qualified to address the daunting economic challenges facing the country.
“I am the only one who has successfully managed a business and you need extensive knowledge of the private sector to combine its potential with the authority of the public sector to address this challenge.”
The former vice-president said his approach to resolving the economic crisis in the country was contained in a 47-page Policy Document he presented on August 15, 2010 while announcing his intention to contest the 2011 presidential poll.
He said, “We are faced with a job crisis of monumental proportions. Unless we evolve strategies to dealing with the teeming population of young people churned out almost on a daily basis, we may risk the destruction of the next generation.
“If we fail to channel the energies of this huge population, they could be a potent force for instability and social unrest.”
Abubakar, however, stunned journalists when he said that he was not aware that the President had declared his intention to vie for the PDP ticket.
“I didn’t see it (declaration). Honestly, I didn’t watch it,” he said.
Twenty seven out of the 28 PDP governors were among thousands of people that attended Jonathan’s presidential declaration at the Eagle Square on Saturday in Abuja. The event was shown live by some public and private television stations nationwide.
On the reported move by some politicians to produce a consensus presidential candidate among the Northern aspirants, Abubakar said, “There is a process for the emergence of a consensus candidate in the North. It shows that North is even more united if “they” agree to bring out a consensus candidate.”
He also said he was not aware of the support that Jonathan was getting from the northern states.
Reacting to the challenge, the Presidential Adviser to Jonathan on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, said the President was ready for such a debate.
“We are ready for it (debate) anytime. The President has talked about all the aspects of the economy when he declared. If they want more, we are ready for them,” he said.
Another aspirant, who is also the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, also expressed readiness for the debate.
“We are ready for the debate. That is what we have been calling for. Without such an issue-based debate, we will not be able to get the best candidate. Saraki is ready for it,” one of the governor’s aides, Mr. Billy Adedamola, said.
Do you know all your friends on facebook? Olasupo Olanrewaju‘s story is a reminder that one should think twice before clicking on the ‘add‘ button when a friend request is received, writes TOYOSI OGUNSEYE.
Nothing about Olasupo Olanrewaju gives him away as a fraudster. Instead, his soft-spoken and gentle demeanor endears the 30-year-old man to most people.
Olasupo, therefore, has no problem making friends. In fact, his courteous nature makes the ladies love him. Unknown to most of the women, there is more to Olasupo than meets the eye.
The native of Ondo State, who claims to have an Ordinary National Diploma in Marketing from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, utilizes the internet and all forms of social media to woo women. When he meets a lady, he introduces himself as a modelling agent who is in search of beautiful women to grace the billboards of multinational companies. If the lady agrees to work with him, he arranges a location in a part of Nigeria where she does not live. That is, if the woman lives in Abuja, he will ask her to meet him at a specific hotel in Benin or if she lives in Owerri, he will ask her to meet him in Lagos.
Ironically, Olasupo does not live in Nigeria. ”I live at Number 13, Ndam Amoarko New Town, Accra Ghana,” he says. According to him, he started living in Accra three years ago after his uncle who resides in Ghana asked Olasupo to stay with him. He says, ”I produce commercial jingles and I also have a barbing shop in Accra. I started living in Ghana in 2007.I went to Ghana with an uncle of mine who is into buying and selling. My uncle felt I could do better in Accra; that was why he took me along with him. When I visit Nigeria, I stay at Olunloyo, Ibadan.”
Olasupo, the sixth of his parents seven children, says that his first job after leaving the polytechnic, was as a marketer with Mutltichoice, ”Before I went to Ghana, I was living in Abuja where I worked as a contractor on the ninth floor of the Federal Ministry of Information and Communication. I used to repair computers when I was there. Just after my OND in Marketing from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, I was living in Lagos. I was also producing commercial jingles and was involved in musical concerts for about seven years. I used to market for Mutichoice in Lagos. I did not go for my HND because I wanted to travel abroad.”
So desperate was his bid to travel overseas that Olasupo decided to con aspiring models on the Internet. Using facebook, which is one of the most common social networks, he searched for pretty ladies and added them to his friends‘ list. Once the lady agrees to his friend‘s request, Olasupo then sends a message to her inbox introducing himself as a modelling agent that has a fantastic offer for her. If the woman indicates any interest in the offer, Olasupo goes for the kill- he arranges a meeting in a city different from where the lady resides.
Without much persuasion, Olasupo tells SUNDAY PUNCH his modus operandi, he even volunteers information that he is not asked. He says, ”I am involved in fraudulent activities on the internet. I go online in search of models and pretend as if I have a genuine modelling outfit. I use facebook most of the time but I also use twitter and Niger Pals to search for girls. Basically, there are some platforms for models on these networks. I select randomly and contact them by sending a message to their inbox saying that I am a modelling agent. I will tell them that there is an auditioning for models that I want them to participate in by sending a message to their inbox. I ask the models for their pictures and ask them to send it to gndtainment_models@yahoo.com. I also add them as my friends on facebook. We exchange phone numbers and I give them an address to meet me outside Lagos for their auditioning. I ask them to meet me outside the city where they live because it is safer for me and they bring a lot of money along with them if they are travelling outside their state. I have 10 victims so far.”
Olasupo, who bears Olasupo Davids on facebook, claims that he started this fraudulent activity about four months ago, ”I was involved in it last year; I stopped and went back to it again this year.”
When his victim gets to the hotel where he is to meet her, Olasupo teaches her the basics of modelling and catwalk on the first day. The next day, he dashes into her room very early in the morning and tells her that she should hurry up because they would be late for the audition. The highly expectant lady runs into the bathroom to have her bath, leaving Olasupo with her belongings in the room. He strikes at this point and steals all her belongings and disappears into thin air.
This was what happened to Abioye Olamide and Olaoye Folashade. In Abioye‘s case, he met her in a bus at Ado-Ekiti. ”I told her that I was a modelling agent and that she looked like a potential model. We then exchanged phone numbers.” He searched for her on facebook and they became friends. He then sent her a mail that read, ”You are hereby invited for the audition for a pictorial modelling billboard job for a visual advert. This will be coming up on August 24 and 26, 2010. You are to come with your costumes because you will be taking pictures and video at the audition venue. Your entry code is #NH-134. Venue is Governor‘s Centre, Akure/Ilesha. Time is 8a.m. We shall be looking forward to having you here, kindly print out this letter and come along with it. You will not be allowed without it. ”
The address on the mail is Gudtainment International, Plot 153, Mallam Rabiu Avenue,Off Maitama Road, Abuja which Olasupo says is not genuine.
When Abioye got to Akure, Olasupo taught her how to cat-walk and told her that they would go for the auditioning the following day. The next day, Olasupo asked her to have her bath because they were late for the event and made away with her belongings when she was in the bathroom.
In Olaoye‘s case, Olasupo invited her to Benin from Abuja after he met her on facebook. While she was also in the bathroom at Boston Hotel, he says he made away with all her belongings. He was also able to take N200,000 from her account because her Automated Teller Machine password that the bank gave her was in her bag. When Olaoye came out of the bathroom and noticed that Olasupo had gone with everything she had, she reported to the Central Intelligence Bureau in Benin.”
The spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, Frank Mba, says that the police in Benin, were able to arrest Olasupo‘s friend, Lucky, who was the one that reserved the room in the hotel.
Olasupo says that he knows Lucky, ”We lived in Accra together and he is also involved in the same fraudulent activity. In fact, we use the same e-mail address.”
When Lucky was arrested, the police got a list of the next victims he and Olasupo were targeting and Olaoye got in touch with one of them through facebook. Olaoye told the lady, who was identified as Blessing, to play along with Olasupo.
Blessing, who resides in Owerri, was given an appointment at the Lakeview Hotel, Trade Fair, Lagos. When she got there, she met Olasupo waiting for her in the reception. Unknown to him, Blessing was a bait. Shortly after, the police from the Trade Fair Police Station arrested him at the hotel.
Mba says there is a lot to learn from Olasupo, ”There are so many Olasupos‘ out there. We need to learn how not to give our personal information to strangers. All the ladies that fell prey to Olasupo did not know him, yet they added him as their friend on facebook and agreed to meet a stranger in hotels. Also, once the bank gives you your ATM password, change it immediately.”
Five months ago, a friend of mine, who edits a national daily, sent me a text message agreeing substantially with my column, ‘The Punch and the rest of us’, except the generalised conclusion that “all (journalists) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the profession”. There are still some journalists, he submits, who toe the narrow path of integrity. Of course I knew where he was coming from, but I also knew the context in which I had made that statement.
I revisit that statement in light of the stories spewing out of the political beat, specifically on the race for the 2011 presidential elections and how it affects the integrity of news.
As part of the effort to sell his candidature for the presidency, former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) invited as many as 40 journalists to his Minna home on August 14 for an interview. I have heard questions asked about why he should invite journalists to his home instead of a public place if he didn’t have an ulterior motive, and why he should offer monetary gifts to the journalists in the name of paying for their transportation.
One news medium, which has championed this opposition in the open, is the online agency, Sahara Reporters. According to SR each of the journalists received N10 million for heeding Babangida’s call on his presidential ambition. That is N400 million just for one night’s interview from an aspirant yet to win his party’s nomination if it were true. But it was not. When some of the journalists complained about the fictional sum, SR changed the story on August 19, saying it was just “a paltry N250, 000 each”. Rather than admit its initial error SR simply said, “our accountants have told us that going by the number of 40 journalists in attendance, we are still around the same ballpark of N10 million”. So much for credible reporting!
Three days later, SR followed up with ‘IBB and his Rogue Journalists’, accusing the journalists of roguery and professional misconduct; roguery, because they collected money from two sources—their employers who presumably authorised and funded the trip and their news source, IBB; misconduct because it is unethical for them to demand/receive gratification from news sources for their services.
And on August 23 in ‘IBB Nocturnal Press Parley: Punch fires Editorial board Chairman’, SR stayed on top of the story by reporting that Adebolu Arowolo, editorial board chairman of the Punch, had lost his job for going on that trip without his management’s approval..
Lizzie Velasquez weighs just four stone and has almost zero per cent body fat
but she is not anorexic.
In fact, the 21-year-old from Austin, Texas, must eat every 15 minutes to stay
healthy.
Miss Velasquez has a rare condition which prevents her from gaining
weight
even though she eats up to 60 small meals a day. Despite consuming between 5,000 and 8,000 calories daily, the
communications
student, has never tipped over 4st 3lbs.
"I weigh myself regularly and if I gain even one pound I get really
excited," said 5ft 2 ins Miss Velasquez, who wears size triple zero
clothes.
"I eat every 15-20 minutes to keep my energy levels up.
"I eat small portions of crisps, sweets, chocolate, pizza, chicken,
cake, doughnuts, ice cream, noodles and pop tarts all day long, so I
get
pretty upset when people accuse me of being anorexic."
She was born four weeks prematurely weighing just 2lb 10oz. Doctors
found
there was minimal amniotic fluid protecting her in the womb..
"They told us they had no idea how she could have survived," said
Miss Velasquez's mother Rita, 45, a church secretary.
Doctors speculated Lizzie might have the genetic disorder De Barsy
syndrome
but soon ruled it out as it became clear she did not have learning
difficulties.
"They kept on trying to figure out what was wrong with her but we
treated her like any other child," said Mrs Velasquez, who charted her
daughter's health in dozens of notebooks.
She was taken to see genetic experts but they still could not diagnose
her.
Miss Velasquez's case has fascinated doctors all over the world and she
is
part of a genetic study run by Professor Abhimanyu Garg, MD, at the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Professor Garg and his team now believe Lizzie may have a form of
Neonatal
Progeroid Syndrome (NPS) which causes accelerated ageing, fat loss
from the
face and body, and tissue degeneration. People with PRS often have
triangular and prematurely aged faces with a pointy nose.
He said: "I am aware of a small number of people that have similar
conditions to Lizzie but each case is slightly different.
"We cannot predict what will happen to Lizzie in the future as the
medical community are yet to document older people with NPS.
"However Lizzie is lucky to have healthy teeth, organs and bones so the
outlook is good. We will continue to study her case and learn from
her."
Miss Velasquez has helped to write a book about her incredible
experiences.
Weekend Trivia:KAITA(Noun/Verb): A man who single handedly hinder the hope of his country for reason best known to him. "Kaita" can be use in place of words like Jeopardy, Hinder, Sabotage, Disrupt, Antagonist, fool etc.
Example
Noun: IBB is a kaita, so is Ota boy. Verb: Don't kaita what we have been building for 11 yrs in one day." I like that girl, please don't be a Kaita" Or In a Foolish Person's Thought: We are winning 1 - 0, let me kaita this game, so that I can get a red card and my opponent can win.
BODO, Nigeria — Big oil spills are no longer news in this vast, tropical land. The Niger Delta, where the wealth underground is out of all proportion with the poverty on the surface, has endured the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years by some estimates. The oil pours out nearly every week, and some swamps are long since lifeless.
Perhaps no place on earth has been as battered by oil, experts say, leaving residents here astonished at the nonstop attention paid to the gusher half a world away in the Gulf of Mexico. It was only a few weeks ago, they say, that a burst pipe belonging to Royal Dutch Shell in the mangroves was finally shut after flowing for two months: now nothing living moves in a black-and-brown world once teeming with shrimp and crab.
Not far away, there is still black crude on Gio Creek from an April spill, and just across the state line in Akwa Ibom the fishermen curse their oil-blackened nets, doubly useless in a barren sea buffeted by a spill from an offshore Exxon Mobil pipe in May that lasted for weeks.
The oil spews from rusted and aging pipes, unchecked by what analysts say is ineffectual or collusive regulation, and abetted by deficient maintenance and sabotage. In the face of this black tide is an infrequent protest — soldiers guarding an Exxon Mobil site beat women who were demonstrating last month, according to witnesses — but mostly resentful resignation.
Small children swim in the polluted estuary here, fishermen take their skiffs out ever farther — “There’s nothing we can catch here,” said Pius Doron, perched anxiously over his boat — and market women trudge through oily streams. “There is Shell oil on my body,” said Hannah Baage, emerging from Gio Creek with a machete to cut the cassava stalks balanced on her head.
That the Gulf of Mexico disaster has transfixed a country and president they so admire is a matter of wonder for people here, living among the palm-fringed estuaries in conditions as abject as any in Nigeria, according to the United Nations. Though their region contributes nearly 80 percent of the government’s revenue, they have hardly benefited from it; life expectancy is the lowest in Nigeria.
“President Obama is worried about that one,” Claytus Kanyie, a local official, said of the gulf spill, standing among dead mangroves in the soft oily muck outside Bodo. “Nobody is worried about this one. The aquatic life of our people is dying off. There used be shrimp. There are no longer any shrimp.”
In the distance, smoke rose from what Mr. Kanyie and environmental activists said was an illegal refining business run by local oil thieves and protected, they said, by Nigerian security forces. The swamp was deserted and quiet, without even bird song; before the spills, Mr. Kanyie said, women from Bodo earned a living gathering mollusks and shellfish among the mangroves.
With new estimates that as many as 2.5 million gallons of oil could be spilling into the Gulf of Mexico each day, the Niger Delta has suddenly become a cautionary tale for the United States.
As many as 546 million gallons of oil spilled into the Niger Delta over the last five decades, or nearly 11 million gallons a year, a team of experts for the Nigerian government and international and local environmental groups concluded in a 2006 report. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 dumped an estimated 10.8 million gallons of oil into the waters off Alaska.
So the people here cast a jaundiced, if sympathetic, eye at the spill in the gulf. “We’re sorry for them, but it’s what’s been happening to us for 50 years,” said Emman Mbong, an official in Eket.
The spills here are all the more devastating because this ecologically sensitive wetlands region, the source of 10 percent of American oil imports, has most of Africa’s mangroves and, like the Louisiana coast, has fed the interior for generations with its abundance of fish, shellfish, wildlife and crops.
Local environmentalists have been denouncing the spoliation for years, with little effect. “It’s a dead environment,” said Patrick Naagbanton of the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development in Port Harcourt, the leading city of the oil region.
Though much here has been destroyed, much remains, with large expanses of vibrant green. Environmentalists say that with intensive restoration, the Niger Delta could again be what it once was.
Nigeria produced more than two million barrels of oil a day last year, and in over 50 years thousands of miles of pipes have been laid through the swamps. Shell, the major player, has operations on thousands of square miles of territory, according to Amnesty International. Aging columns of oil-well valves, known as Christmas trees, pop up improbably in clearings among the palm trees. Oil sometimes shoots out of them, even if the wells are defunct.
“The oil was just shooting up in the air, and it goes up in the sky,” said Amstel M. Gbarakpor, youth president in Kegbara Dere, recalling the spill in April at Gio Creek. “It took them three weeks to secure this well.”
How much of the spillage is due to oil thieves or to sabotage linked to the militant movement active in the Niger Delta, and how much stems from poorly maintained and aging pipes, is a matter of fierce dispute among communities, environmentalists and the oil companies.
Caroline Wittgen, a spokeswoman for Shell in Lagos, said, “We don’t discuss individual spills,” but argued that the “vast majority” were caused by sabotage or theft, with only 2 percent due to equipment failure or human error.
“We do not believe that we behave irresponsibly, but we do operate in a unique environment where security and lawlessness are major problems,” Ms. Wittgen said.
Oil companies also contend that they clean up much of what is lost. A spokesman for Exxon Mobil in Lagos, Nigel A. Cookey-Gam, said that the company’s recent offshore spill leaked only about 8,400 gallons and that “this was effectively cleaned up.”
But many experts and local officials say the companies attribute too much to sabotage, to lessen their culpability. Richard Steiner, a consultant on oil spills, concluded in a 2008 report that historically “the pipeline failure rate in Nigeria is many times that found elsewhere in the world,” and he noted that even Shell acknowledged “almost every year” a spill due to a corroded pipeline.
On the beach at Ibeno, the few fishermen were glum. Far out to sea oil had spilled for weeks from the Exxon Mobil pipe. “We can’t see where to fish; oil is in the sea,” Patrick Okoni said.
“We don’t have an international media to cover us, so nobody cares about it,” said Mr. Mbong, in nearby Eket. “Whatever cry we cry is not heard outside of here.”
Read more…
All over the world living in luxury is strictly the preserve of the rich and famous. It takes millions of naira, thousands of pounds/dollars to finance the lifestyle of the people we are talking about. They drive state-of-the-art cars, own yachts, private jets, live in homes that inspire imagination, and holiday in the best resorts. Some of these individuals own or manage luxury brands. Correspondent, Kemi Yesufu, brings you this first part of Nigerians who live in luxury. They don't only know how to create wealth; they also know how to spend it. . . Fati Asebelua
She is the creative director of Muses of Modern Origin (MOMO), a high-class fashion outfit based in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Fati, as she is simply called, came into the fashion industry a little over seven years ago. This woman with unmistakable exquisite taste is known for making eye-catching but sophisticated evening wear for women, and describes her style as "sporty glam look", adding that she designs for women with style that is "timeless, luxurious, and discerning".
A visit to either of her stores would convince you that this woman, who is the chairperson of glossy fashion magazine, Sleek, deserves a place in this list.
Dehinde Fernandez
He is Africa's gift to the world of class, high fashion and luxurious lifestyle. To begin to describe the way of life of this businessman, who is the Baron of Dudley, the Oluwo of Lagos, and the Garsan Fulani of Kano, is akin to writing a fairytale. However, the glamorous lifestyle of this Kano-based billionaire is there for all to see. From his beautiful yachts and jets, magnificent homes designed and built to suit his taste, there are indeed very few people who can match Fernandez's Èlan.
Otunba Subomi Balogun
By 1982 Otunba Subomi Balogun founded the First City Merchant Bank (FCMB). In moving with the times, after years of operating as a merchant bank, FCMB in January 2001, went into universal banking. The bank after re-engineering adopted a new name, First City Monument Bank. Born in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, he read law in England. But the philanthropist is better known for his trailblazing exploits in the financial sector. The life of the patriarch of the Balogun family is that of splendour. The Primrose tower head office of FCMB and some of its branch offices are architectural masterpieces. Otunba Balogun's private residences in Lagos and Ijebu-Ode, and his cars are a testament to the iconic status the renowned banker has achieved.
Alex Duduyemi
Chief Alex Duduyemi is a man a lot of young upwardly mobile guys look up to. His Ile-Ife mansion is a timeless architectural masterpiece, the same with his other homes across the globe. From his choice of clothes, his carriage and the cars he steps in and out from, it is easy to see why many regard him as a grand old man.
Aliko Dangote
He has been recognised by Forbes magazine as Nigeria's true billionaire. Alhaji Aliko Dangote has successful businesses that have made him stupendously rich. Though very much on the quiet side alongside his simple appearance, his palatial homes scream one word - luxury!
Chief Sunny Iwedika Odogwu
Ask us to define a lifestyle of luxury with two words, and we would say Sunny Dike Odogwu, the Ide Ahaba (Pillar of Asaba) has had decades of success in business spanning publishing, telecommunications, shipping and of recent, the hospitality industry.
Grand Hotel, Asaba, which is owned by this man of means, is rated among the very best in the country. These exploits have seen the Ide Ahaba, emerge as one of Africa's celebrated businessmen.
Chief Bayo Kuku
The Ogbeni-Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Bayo Kuku is one of the country's wealthiest men. He is not the flamboyant type, but the doyen of the Nigerian stock market is a man of high taste. His homes in Ijebu-Ode and Lagos are palatial. And for those who have been opportune to glimpse into Chief Kuku's Ikoyi residence at Old Warring Road, which has since been renamed after him as Bayo Kuku Road, would marvel at his taste. Chief Kuku has been around for decades, yet his wealth and energy haven't waned a bit. He can compete favourably with today's emerging billionaires.
Jim Ovia
The history of banking in Nigeria is incomplete without the mention of the Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Jim Ovia. Ovia runs one of Nigeria's global brands. That he is a successful individual is stating the obvious, and with success comes his highflying lifestyle. Aside his love for exquisitely designed boats, Ovia lives in an eye-popping mansion - a testimony to his class. He is a member of the Lagos Boat Club.
Mike Adenuga
Billionaire businessman Otunba Mike Adenuga Jr., can't help but live a life of luxury. His homes and offices around the world speak volumes of the man, who is a major player in the African continent. Be it in oil and gas, telecom, banking, Adenuga is a force to reckon with. The helipad on the roof of Globacom headquarters is one example of how he lives in luxury; why get held up in the Lagos traffic jam when you can fly to your office? The Guru, as he is fondly called, must have asked himself before investing in the helipad.
Eyimofe And Dorothy Atake
Dr. Eyimofe Atake (SAN) and his pretty wife, Dorothy, make a lovely pair. Born in 1958, the learned gentleman did most of his schooling in England, where he obtained LL.M from the London School of Economics, a PhD from Darwin College, University of Cambridge, in 1987. He has over 20 years experience in legal profession having been called to the bar in Nigerian in 1983. Atake and Dorothy, who is also a lawyer, for many younger folks is a model couple. Their lifestyle is classy without being ostentatious.
Leo Stan Ekeh
Unarguably one of Nigeria's most distinguished personalities, Ekeh, though having interest in insurance, banking and manufacturing, is best known as the Chairman of Task Systems and Zinox Computers. The Imo State-born businessman's home has no rival when it comes to state-of-the-art IT equipment. This has made it possible for the entire Ekeh mansion to be controlled electronically.
Moses Ayum
He started out in Abuja with an upscale interior dÈcor outfit, Cherrywood. Now, this Benue State-born businessman is better known for his luxury hotels in highbrow areas. They include Bay Dorchester Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos; Edge Water Resorts, Cherrywoods and Kaduna Lodge in Lagos and Abuja. These hotels are for only those who can afford to pay for luxury.
Chief Razaq Akanni Okoya
Chief Razaq Okoya (CON) personifies the Nigerian dream; his story is that of from grass to grace. Chief Okoya is a business colossus; a man of means this Eleganza boss. Despite not being born rich, he is among Nigeria's most successful industrialists and has impeccable taste. His birthday parties and other family functions make the headlines in society magazines. Other ways to measure the level of luxury Okoya and his family lives is through his investment in properties in different parts of Lagos. Okoya's Oluwaninsola Estate at Lekki/Ajah Expressway, his Eleganza Gardens and Shopping Mall also in Ajah, all point to the fact that Okoya does nothing in half measures.
John Obayuwana
John Obayuwana is the brain behind Polo, Nigeria's number one designer wristwatch store. His clientele is made up of the highly sophisticated, those who appreciate what it means to own luxury brands.
Tony Elumelu
This United Bank for Africa (UBA) CEO needs little or no introduction. Many young men in business schools all over want to be like Tony Elumelu. His rise in the banking industry has shattered all records and stereotypes. Despite this, Elumelu has remained a simple guy; he probably wouldn't have made this list if his bank did not blaze the trail in luxury banking. Yes, the UBA Prestige bank is a luxury brand, strictly for those who have made it and can afford tailor-made banking services.
Andre Herrenschmidt
He is the General Manger of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Since its over 20 years of doing business in Nigeria, the Hilton Hotel has catered for world leaders, captains of industry, celebrities and wealthy entrepreneurs.
It is a well-known fact that only the highly placed in the society enjoys the luxury of being a regular guest at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel.
Tajudeen Dantata
He is the Group Managing Director of Dantata Group of Companies. Though not one to show off, Dantata, a +2 handicap, loves the game of polo. And don't be deceived; this game is as energy-sapping as it is money-guzzling.
Chief Chris Ogunbanjo
Born in Erunwon, Ijebu-Ode, a lawyer and highly revered corporate player, Chief Chris Ogunbanjo, for many, epitomises nobility. The Olotu of Ijebuland is stupendously rich. He has over the years represented a lifestyle of panache and finesse. Many younger corporate players are emulating his lifestyle.
Adekunle Ojora
This 77-year-old magnate's investments in various companies add up to billions of naira. From his signature outfits to his automobiles, and his homes in different parts of the world, Otunba Adekunle Ojora, a Lagos aristocrat, is one man who has lived a life of luxury.
Chief Richard Akinjide
Be it in politics, business or the legal profession, Chief Richard Akinjide is a successful man, who had often been described as an Ibadan elite. Those who call Akinjide patriarch elite do so because of his trailblazing exploits, having represented Ibadan South East at the age of 27, and became a minister in his 30s. Akinjide's home in Jericho, Ibadan, is intimidating.
Willie and Nkiru Anumudu
This couple lights up the Lagos social scene. Nkiru is unarguably one of Nigeria's most fashionable women. She has a wealthy husband in Willie, who owns Globe Motors, to make sure she is constantly decked in clothes from major labels of the world. To say that Willie and Nkiru live a life of luxury is stating the obvious.
Tayo Ayeni
Want to buy a car that will make heads turn? Talk to Tayo Ayeni, but be armed with your cheque book, of course. He is one of the leading auto dealers in Nigeria. He is Chairman/CEO of Skymit Motors. Majority of the wonder-on-wheels you see in the country were bought from this man. Now, you understand why he is one of the kings of luxury.
Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas
Many over time have come to define success with the life of Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas. This Chairman of CFAO is a doyen of African business. Okoya-Thomas is also chairman of other companies with French origin. He is a recipient of the Chevalier De La Legion D'Honneur, the highest national honour given by the French to a foreigner. Though not on the flambouyant side, the CFAO chairman certainly lives a life of luxury.
Oba Otudeko
President, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Oba Otudeko, is one of the wealthiest investors in Nigeria. An industrialist, he is chairman of Honeywell Group, which comprises eight companies with interest in flour milling, oil and gas, engineering, real estate and marine transport. Oba Otudeko, who is a role model to a large number of younger businessmen, can't help but live a life of luxury because he can afford it.
Tunde Folawiyo
He is the son of Alhaji Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, the late Baba Adini of Nigeria. Though the younger Folawiyo lives his life far away from limelight, his lifestyle is very much similar to that of a prince.
Sunny Asemota
Chief Sunny Omoregie Asemota, chairman of Sunny Motors, belongs to the Lagos high society. A man of style and panache, he is not one to be associated with anything that has no class. Extremely wealthy, the Sunny Motors boss is one man those who hope to live a lifestyle of luxury must emulate. His homes, cars, wardrobes speak the language of luxury.
Otega Emerhor
Businessman and former banker, Otega Emerhor and his lovely wife, Rita, are one of the powerful couples in Lagos. They have all it takes to live a life of luxury.Read more…
American scientists are keenly studying the DNA of a 17-year-old girl who still
has the body and behaviour of a baby
This 21'st century Peter Pan has defied scientists .A genetic condition (Anageria) opposite to progeria which some speculate Paris Hilton and many other women and MEN will kill for ! Brooke Greenberg is a miracle.
Scientists are hoping to gain new insights into the mysteries of ageing by
sequencing the genome of a 17-year-old girl who has the body and
behaviour
of a tiny toddler.
PHOTO:Brooke Greenberg "baby", then aged 9, with sister Carly who was 6
Brooke Greenberg is old enough to drive a car and next year will be old
enough
to vote — but at 16lb in weight and just 30in tall, she is still the
size of
a one-year-old.
Until recently she had been regarded as a medical oddity but a
preliminary
study of her DNA has suggested her failure to grow could be linked to
defects in the genes that make the rest of humanity grow old.
If confirmed, the research could give scientists a fresh understanding
of
ageing and even suggest new therapies for diseases linked to old age.
“We think that Brooke’s condition presents us with a unique opportunity to
understand the process of ageing,” said Richard Walker, a professor at
the
University of South Florida School of Medicine, who is leading the
research
team.
“We think that she has a mutation in the genes that control her ageing
and
development so that she appears to have been frozen in time.
“If we can compare her genome to the normal version then we might be
able to
find those genes and see exactly what they do and how to control them.”
Such research will be the focus of a conference at the Royal Society in
London
this week to be attended by some of the world’s leading age researchers.
It follows a series of scientific breakthroughs showing that the life
span of
many animals can be dramatically extended by making minute changes in
single
genes.
The work began with tiny worms known as C elegans, which normally live
for
only about a fortnight. Researchers have been able to extend their life
span
by up to 10 weeks by making small changes in certain genes.
Scientists have gone on to discover that mutating the same genes in mice
had
the same effect.
“Mice are genetically very close to humans,” said Cynthia Kenyon,
professor of
biochemistry at the University of California, San Francisco, who is a
key
speaker at the Royal Society.
“The implication is that ageing is controlled by a relatively small
number of
genes and that we might be able to target these with new therapies that
would improve the quality and length of human life.”
The laboratory findings have been supported by research into humans,
focusing
on families whose members are long-lived. In one recent study Eline
Slagboom, professor of molecular epidemiology at Leiden University,
Holland,
collected data on 30,500 people in 500 long-lived families to find the
metabolic and genetic factors that make them special.
“Such people simply age slower than the rest of us,” she said. “Their
skin is
better, they have less risk of diseases of old age like diabetes, heart
disease and hypertension and their ability to metabolise lipids and
other
nutrients is better. The question is: what is controlling all these
different manifestations of slow ageing?
“So far, the evidence suggests that there could be just a few key genes
in
charge of it all. If we can find out where they are and how they work,
it
opens the way to new therapies against the diseases of ageing that could
work in all of us.”
Walker and other researchers, including Kenyon, believe that finding the
cause
of Brooke Greenberg’s condition could be one way to pinpoint some of
those
genes.
Superficially, Brooke, who lives with her parents Howard and Melanie
Greenberg
and her three sisters in Reisterstown, a Baltimore suburb, is frozen in
time. She looks and acts as if she were a small toddler — for 17 years
her
family has changed her nappies, rocked her to sleep and given her
cuddles.
Brooke has shown some development, including crawling, smiling and
giggling
when tickled but she has never learnt to speak and still has her infant
teeth.
But she has also suffered a succession of life-threatening health
problems,
including strokes, seizures, ulcers and breathing difficulties — almost
as
if she were growing old despite not growing up.
Howard Greenberg, Brooke's father, said he wanted the genome research
carried
out in the hope it might help others.
He said: "Brooke is just a wonderful child. She is very pure. She still
babbles just like a 6 month old baby but she still communicates and we
always know just what she means."
Walker and his colleagues, who are working with Brooke’s parents to
ensure she
benefits from any research findings, have just published a research
paper
which suggests that in reality some parts of her body have indeed aged —
but
slowly and all at different rates.
“Our hypothesis is that she is suffering from damage in the gene or
genes that
co-ordinate the way the body develops and ages,” he said.
“If we can use her DNA to find that mutant gene then we can test it in
laboratory animals to see if we can switch if off and slow down the
ageing
process at will.
“Just possibly it could give us an opportunity to answer the question of
why
we are mortal.”
Jerly Lyngdoh: World’s oldest baby:
Surgeons and pediatricians in India have been puzzled after discovering a 26-year-old man trapped inside the body and mind of a child aged between one and two years.Jerly Lyngdoh – who is still dressed in baby clothes by his parents – has a head circumference that babies 9-12 months old have, measures 84 cm like any two-year-old and weighs 22 pounds.
“Jerly’s infantile features are remarkable, and the only things he shares with an adult are his teeth,” Dr. J. Ryndong told the Hindustan Times.
According to the pediatrician, Lyngdoh suffers from poor secretion of growth hormones from the pituitary gland.
“His is a case opposite to progeria, which means advanced ageing, and we have reasons to say Jerly is a rarity,” Ryndong added. He ruled out the genetic factor, since all six of Jerly’s siblings have no physical or mental disability.
“We also plan to seek expertise from the medical world beyond to crack Jerly’s case,” the doctor said.
* Police, APCs deployed on the streets
VP nominee and Kaduna State governor, Namadi Sambo
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* How Sambo won Jonathan
The choice of Governor Mohammed Namadi Sambo of Kaduna State by President Goodluck Jonathan as his nominee for the vice presidential slot has sparked tension in Kaduna, prompting the police to deploy troops and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to the streets yesterday.
Sunday Vanguard can also report that the president’s choice of Alhaji Sambo, an architect, is a product of the president’s personal interaction with, and knowledge of, the governor from their time as members of the committee on power set up by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
Some Islamic clerics and youths are said to be ones engineering the tension.
Their grievance, it was gathered in Kaduna, was not much about Alhaji Sambo but the fact that the affairs of the state will now be run by a Christian and the current deputy governor, Mr. Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa.
Mr. Yakowa is from the predominantly Christian Southern Kaduna.
Some imams were said to have openly complained about the development..
On Friday some text messages began to articulate in the state one of which said:
‘Suhanallah, this means that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has won. Their agenda of taking over Kaduna and Nigeria has succeeded.
“Namadi is also not a prominent Muslim. Appointing him shows clearly that the Obasanjo agenda of shifting power to the Christians in both Kaduna and Nigeria is fast becoming a reality.
“All Muslims need to rise in prayers and in tigfar so that Allah in His infinite mercies may change this arrangement and put these enemies of Muslims and Islam to shame.”
The police reacted promptly be deploying men to the streets on Friday ahead of the Jumat prayers.
Policemen drove around the flash point in their APCs.
The state Police Commissioner, Alhaji Tambari Yabo Mohammed, also held a meeting with Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in the state yesterday and reportedly directed them to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order in their areas.
Besides, Muslim and Christian leaders in the state were mandated to educate their followers on democratic principles.
SOKAPU, NDPF, NANS welcome his choice
But the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), the Northern Democratic Peoples Forum (NDPF) and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) hailed Gov. Sambo’s choice.
“The nomination of Sambo as vice president will certainly be of greater benefit to the generality of the Nigerian populace as he is a detribalized fellow, who believes in the corporate and peaceful co-existence of all Nigerians, irrespective of their religious or ethnic affiliations”, the NDPF said, while SOKAPU “rejoiced with the new Vice Presidential designate, Arc. Mohammed Namadi Sambo by President Goodluck Jonathan,” adding that Sambo was not only a “suitable replacement but a worthy honour to the union and Kaduna state”.
SOKAPU National President, Professor Haruna Ishaya Nock who spoke for the union said, “We are rejoicing with Arc Namadi Sambo and it is a welcome development because our state have been recognized in the federation.
This is a good omen and would bring about more other development to the Reacting to the development, the Kaduna state Police Spokesman, Deputy Superintendent, Aminu Lawal in an interview said, “the Commissioner of Police just finished security meeting with all Divisional Police Officers throughout the state, and he charged them to brace up and tighten up security vigilance in their respective areas.
“We are on top of security and trouble makers have no place here I can tell you. Kaduna state is intact and peaceful and no threat to security exists.
“Our men would go back and continue working with other stakeholders to strengthen security in their areas. We don’t want any record of breach and we are ready. People should go about their normal activities”.
All is well — KDSG
The state Commissioner for Information and Home Affairs, Alhaji Saidu Adamu said:, “There is no tension whatsoever in Kaduna state, everything is going fine and you can see.
“It is just the handiwork of detractors who wish the state bad but there is nothing like that in the Kaduna.
“The government of Kaduna state is actually happy that this is happening to us in Kaduna state, because we all know that the Governor never wanted this appointment, all he has been saying is that he wants God to grant him the ability to go back for a second term as the Governor of the state to make sure that he completes most of the projects he has started, so each time you even speak to him about being the Vice President he never liked it.
“He wanted to stay in Kaduna and complete the good job he started, but you see when God is doing his own thing he does not consult anybody.
“God had already prepared him for the Vice Presidency, so even when our governor was working tirelessly to see that Senator Makarfi becomes the Vice President, little did he know that in God’s mind he has already started with him.
“And that was why President Goodluck Jonathan decided to pick him as the constitution has provided.
“Whoever is saying that Sambo scuttled Makarfi’s bid to be Vice President actually does not believe in God. Namadi has been lobbying for Makarfi. It is the President that has the sole right to nominate anybody he feels that he is comfortable to work with him, so he feels comfortable to work with Namadi as Vice President”.
On the expected takeover of leadership in the state by the Deputy Governor, Mr.Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, Adamu further said that, “the constitution is clear about this; the deputy governor will automatically become the governor, if the Governor is sworn in as the Vice President.
“Development is coming to our state; creating more environments for our people. That is the thinking of God and nobody can change that.
“It a normal issue without contest and if anybody thinks otherwise then he is ignorant of the constitution.
“Unless if the constitution is changed today, it is very clear and we have no other reason than to comply with the constitution. As long as the constitution is there we have no choice than to act according to it.
Why Jonathan settled for him
Meanwhile, Sunday Vanguard gathered that President Jonathan settled for Governor Sambo on the strength of the existing relationship between them that began when they both met and served in the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s committee on power.
The relationship, according to a source familiar with them, is “one based on trust, confidence and mutual respect.
Sunday Vanguard can also reveal that President Jonathan decided to consult as widely as possible so that whoever he settled for would be seen as the “product of wide consultations in the country”.
However, it was also gathered that at no time did he ask for a group nominee as was done by the Senate, House of Representatives and the Governors’ Forum.
A Presidency source told Sunday Vanguard “President Jonathan never requested any nominee from the Senate or the House of Representatives or the Governors’ Forum”.
Nevertheless, he kept it open and consulted as widely as possible.
On the involvement of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the nomination process, the source said; “in truth, President Jonathan deferred to the former President but there was never a time that guarantees were made or given on the matter.
“However, what many could not understand was that Jonathan and Sambo had struck a relationship which was nurtured into something wonderful.
“While both men were on the committee on power which the late President Umaru Yar’Adua instituted, they worked together and the trust was built.
“During the work of the committee on power, Governor Sambo and then Vice President Jonathan forged a relationship that was based on trust and understanding.
“The trust was built so much so that there were times when the Vice President would not approve anything except Governor Sambo had vetted the bills as appropriate.
“I think Jonathan also saw in Sambo a man who did not put pecuniary and primordial interests ahead of national interests and national developmental goals and objectives.”, a source who has followed both men closely told Sunday Vanguard last Friday.
Sunday Vanguard also gathered that when Jonathan visited Kaduna State during the KADA Games, the national sports festival hosted by the state, Jonathan was so impressed with the calisthenics that he requested from Sambo that “the people involved in the demonstrations should be brought to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, for the Under-16 World Cup. For the Vice President to have made such a request relates to the level of confidence he has in the man. And it is mutual.
“Even while some hawks were pushing Jonathan to do certain things while Yar’Adua was not around, good counsel from some quarters prevailed and you can guess from where”, adding, “Governor Sambo had made up his mind that if God Almighty was going to do something, why should human beings be the one rushing for it as if they could make it possible and, therefore, did not bother himself or show keen interest”
Read more…
In many households today,there are young girls employed as housemaids while some are
teenagers, some in their 20s, some are even as young as 10 years old. However, while some women treat
them well, some maltreat them and more often than not, the husbands
sympathise with them by reprimanding their wives.
The constant
harassment or abuse from the wife towards the maid can ignite sympathy
from the husband towards the maid, because this is something he sees
all the time and can generate a soft spot for her .And while the wives
may take sympathy and reprimands lightly, if the maid in question is
10-years old or so, it can precipitate discord in the family if the
maid is a fully developed teenager or is in her early teens. The wife
may accuse the husband of developing interest in the housemaid and some
housemaids may also capitalise on the man’s sympathy and disobey the
wife. In this situation, it only takes the grace of a true righteous
person to control his emotion so as not to commit anything outside his
religion or what he and his wife share which boils down to love . .
It
is not out of place to give to the needy, show them that you care for
them, love them as if they are your own. It makes them work for you
without any fear or favour, but when you decide to be difficult or
wicked to them, there will always be a problem in one way or the other.
We
spoke to a marriage counsellor, from Living Church Suleja, Mrs. Kemi
Magbadelo, who said that husbands should not sympathise with the
housemaid, instead, they should hear from both sides, that is, the wife
and the maid, as it would enable them have a balanced story.
“When
the wife maltreats the housemaid, my advice is that the husband should
call the wife and talk to her properly, but if such attitude continues,
he should allow the maid to leave the house because she can cause a
problem in the home. This is because when there is constant quarrels
between the wife and the maid, it will be better to save the marriage
and allow the maid to go away.
“They can decide to get a male or
a house help that can come and go home that same day. I prefer the
house help because they are better and some of these maids are
demonic,”she said.
A sociologist from the Kogi State
University, Thomas Imoubu Gomment, said that the possible reasons why
husbands sympathize with the maid , “include pity, passion, emotions,
affection and dehumanization. It is an abuse. It is morally and
religiously wrong. It is barbaric. It creates an inferiority complex in
the abused house girls. It makes them hardened, deviant as a result of
stigmatization from their mistress. It kills their initiatives and
makes them retarded. On a general note, it is a family related crime
according to criminologists,”he said.
Malam Ibrahim, an Abuja
resident said he does know why women, as mothers, maltreat housemaids,
instead of treating them like their own children or sisters, adding
that this has been a source of quarrels between him and his wife. “Normally,
my wife is not a hard hearted person, but surprisingly, she is very
harsh to house girls. She shouts at them, and then one day, I saw her
slap one house girl who is about 14 years old. I was angry and talked
to her against that. And became angry, accusing me of wanting to marry
the girl and sent her away. I call on women to see these housemaids as
a trust. If a girl isn’t behaving the way you want, instead of you to
maltreat her, just send her away,” he said.
Another incident
that happened in Kaduna was that the affected woman( names withheld)
had to be hospitalized for two weeks after her husband got married to
her younger sister’s housemaid. The housemaid was also maltreated and
even beaten by the grown up children in the house for the slightest
mistakes. She was treated like a slave.
The man who was then a
senior customs officer, was based in Lagos with his wife. He got to
know the housemaid through his wife’s younger sister( names withheld).
Explaining to us how it happened, the lady whose housemaid married her
older sister’s husband said: “ It all started when I sent my housemaid
,Rabi to help my sister do some house chores whenever they are in
Kaduna. Unknown to me, my sister’s husband had seen the village girl
and even developed interest in her. It got to a peak, when Rabi told me
that she was going back to her vllage in Katsina”, she said..
“About
three months later, we were shocked to realize that my sister’s husband
was getting married, not to anybody but Rabi, my former housemaid. It
was a terrible experience. My housemaid became my sister’s mate. My
sister spent over two weeks in hospital because of that incident,” she
said.
Hajiya Amina, a housewife, said though she didn’t maltreat
her housemaid, but she felt that some women do so to control the
housemaid.
“Actually, such women see them as slaves because they
are domestic servants. They expect them to be perfect and be at their
beck and call. A simple accident of breaking a mug will make some women
deduct the money of the mug from the maid’s salary. And I think the
husbands sympathise with the housemaids because men are less wicked
towards children than women, which is unfortunate, since women are
supposed to be kind hearted as mothers ,”she added.
Charity,a
housegirl in Gwarinpa, Abuja, said she spent a year in Lagos where she
was maltreated. The woman will beat her and some of the delicacies she
cooked would not be given to her.
According to her, she was
overwhelmed when her new employer gave her everything they ate and did
not abuse or beat her. “They are good people,” she said.
who am i ? Jackie Chan did a movie where he lost all his memory after busting himself up as usual and the only questions he had to ask was
WHO AM I ? e never really got on with his life until he found out who he was .
Who am i what am i what is my purpose am i fulfilling my destiny or rather am i walking within my destiny.
Most motivational speakers are actually dwelt on the basis of discovering who they are.Some Folks discover who they are in this world but others discover who they are in God .
Questions:
Who is God what does God want from me and why does he want this from me.What does he think about me now ? yesterday and tomorrow. Will he change his feelings about me when i sin when i am wrong or when i am right.
Who is Jesus ? what does he want from me, what has he done for me ?
By identity are we recognised, without knowledge of identity are we destroyed, By identity does society recreate the orweillian big brother concept and it is this very same singularity of identity that judges us in the end. The last day shall not be a matter of how many shares or cars or kids or female or husband or wife but by identity and singularity of choice whilst in this world.
If you have been failing in your life walk be it Christian or otherwise then you need to go find out who you really are that is who God made you to be and from there can you go very far !
With knowledge comes much enlightment and sorrow , Without knowledge people are destroyed and ignorance is no excuse.
For even the brothers of the Rich man could not reached from the grave as Father Abraham said that they have the Law and the prophets !
Grace comes to those that recieve it and TRUE FAITH comes to those that realise the absolute faithfulness of God .
Army denies Dambazau’s alleged statement .. Action speaks louder than words ! but who deployed soldiers to Airport ?
By Nicholas Ibekwe
The Nigerian Army has denied the statement credited to the Chief of Army Staff, Abdulrahman Dambazau that “he is only loyal to President Yar’Adua and no one else.”
In a
statement signed by Chris Olukolade, the director of army public relations, the army described the comment made by Joe Igbokwe, the publicity secretary of the Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress (AC), as “completely unfortunate”, adding that Mr. Igbokwe’s comments is a “denigration of the person of Gen. Dambazau and the Nigerian Army as a whole” and “were meant to put words in the mouth of the army chief”.
PHOTO: Dambazu shaking hands with his Liege
The statement further said that Mr. Igbokwe was yet to state “when, where and to whom Gen. Dambazau made the statement they now attribute to him.”
Click here to listen to the interview
Who said it?
Interestingly, in a telephone interview with NEXT, Mr. Igbokwe sounded incoherent and was unable to state where and when Mr. Dambazau made the statement.
“I read it em... I read it em... just like any other ... I wasn’t the first to say it,” Mr. Igbokwe stammered. “It’s all over the place now.”
When pressed further to state specifically at what venue Mr. Dambazau made the statement, Mr. Igbokwe asked our reporter to go and search for it on the world wide web.
“Go to the internet,” he said. “Before I even said it, Ijaw people led by Clark... yes, it is David Clark. Quote it as it is. Quote what you saw there. Use what you saw there.”
Getting bolder, he added: “Go and do more investigation. “If you don’t know that there is a power game going on in Abuja, I won’t tell you.”
When asked if he personally interviewed Mr Dambazau, he retorted, “Am I a reporter? I’m not a reporter; I am a spokesperson of the party. Is not that I cannot remember. Just ignore me.” Meanwhile, the army’s statement proceeded to “reassure Nigerians that it has not shifted from its commitment to the tenets of democracy and absolute loyalty to constituted civil authorities”.
A boy steps boldly into the night traffic and waves a gun to bring the cars to
a halt, clearing a path for a motorcycle which screeches into the
intersection. Riding pillion is another boy, brandishing a machinegun.
Later two teenagers, also riding pillion on motorbikes, flash their guns at
other motorists; nearby, a boy can be seen taking aim with a rifle equipped
with a telescopic sight. Other youths wander the street smoking crack.
For residents, the junction between the busy Dom Helder Câmara and dos
Democráticos, in North Rio de Janeiro, has become known as the Corner of Fear — and video footage of daily life there has shocked a nation already
familiar with guns and violence.
PHOTOS:Youths flaunt guns on the streets of Rio de Janeiro
The latest images, captured by undercover journalists from the Rio tabloid Extra, have exposed the city’s criminal youth culture in a manner that echoes the
journalistic investigation featured in the film City of God.
The age of the criminals — one pistol-toting boy is 12 — is obvious cause for
alarm, but so is the seeming impunity with which they act.
The video footage has provided a glimpse into the city’s underworld that hardly touches Rio’s wealthier citizens.
Local newspapers rarely show at first hand the violence that permeates the
city’s slums (favelas). Since the brutal torture and murder of the
journalist Tim Lopes — who was caught filming secretly in the Vila Cruzeiro
favela in 2002 — Brazilian reporters have been reluctant to take their
cameras into slum areas. Any reports that are filed tend to come from
correspondents talking from inside armoured cars, or are images showing the
aftermath of a shooting.
“What is shocking is this parallel power, the fact that they are very young,”
said André Cabral De Almeida Cardoso, 41, a teacher. “They are so brazen
about it.”
Valera dos Santos, 34, a maid who lives in a favela in São Paulo, said: “My
God, I’ve never seen pictures like this. It’s absurd, they’re just boys.”
The journalists who captured the images were also taken aback. “Even knowing
the reality of what could happen, you are still shocked by the glamour that
these weapons represent in the arms of minors,” said Fernando Torres, 27,
one of a team of three who spent four nights undercover at the Corner of
Fear.
“These images are desolate,” said Lucy Petroucic, 56, a translator. “These
boys have become little Taleban who think they have nothing to lose.”
Within hours, police arrested one of a group of bandits shown in the video and
promised that changes were on the way. Luiz Fernando Pezão, Rio’s Deputy
Governor, told reporters that a new police base would open nearby in May.
Aliyu Gusau has always been in the precipice of power. Commonly referred to as the ‘spy master’, this retired army general has constantly had a role to play in the balance of power in the country. The recluse former intelligence officer first rose to prominence when he was made the Director of Military Intelligence under former President Shehu Shagari.
Mr. Gusau and Oladipupo Diya, another retired general, were also said to be masterminds behind the fall of the Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government. Under the Ibrahim Babangida regime, he became the Chief of Army Staff and was appointed National Security Adviser under former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Adamu Aliero
Adamu Aliero was born on January 1, 1957 in Aliero Local Government in Kebbi State. Mr. Aliero graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Political Science. His political career took off in 1998 when he contested for a senatorial seat under the banner of the United Nigerian Congress Party (UNCP). Mr. Aliero, a former customs officer, was elected governor for two terms of four years each on the platform of the opposition All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) but switched loyalty to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the end of his second term as governor and was elected into the Senate in 2007. He, however, vacated his seat in the senate when he was appointed Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in December 2008.
Sule Lamido
Born in April 1948, Sule Lamido was appointed minister of foreign affairs in 1999 by former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Mr. Lamido retained that position until 2003. Mr. Lamido was the National Secretary of the defunct Social Democratic Party during the Third Republic and was heavily criticised for his handling of the botched June 12 1993 presidential elections believed to have been won by the late Moshood Abiola. He was, however, imprisoned in 1998 by the late dictator Sani Abacha for criticising Mr. Abacha’s plan to perpetuate himself in office. He was elected governor of Jigawa State in 2007. Mr. Lamido has been involved in politics for more than 30 years. His political career dates back to his days in the defunct People’s Redemption Party (PRP)..
Jubril Aminu
Born August 1939, the senator representing the Adamawa Central Senatorial district attended the University of Ibadan, where he graduated in 1965 as a medical doctor. Mr. Aminu was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri between 1980 and 1985, and has been education minister and also petroleum and mineral resources minister under the Ibrahim Babangida regime between 1989 and 1992. He was also Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission and then Nigerian Ambassador to the United States between 1999 and 2003.
Mr. Aminu was a delegate of the Nigerian National Constitutional Conference from 1994 to 1995, and has been a senator since 2003 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party. Chairman of the senate committee on foreign affairs, he was mentioned in a German court as one of the beneficiaries of the $12.7million bribe allegedly paid by Siemens between 2001 and 2004 to top government officials to secure contracts in Nigeria.
Murtala Nyako
Murtala Hammanyero Nyako, a retired vice-admiral of the Nigerian Navy, was elected governor of Adamawa State in 2007 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Mr. Nyako, born on August 27, 1943 was appointed Chief of Naval Staff in January 1990 and Deputy Chief of Defence Staff in 1992 before retiring from the Navy in 1993.
Mr. Nyako’s election as governor, in the 2007 general elections, was nullified by the the Adamawa State Election Petitions Tribunal. He, however, won the re-run election held on April 26,
2008. He was a member of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) which annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Posted by Jane Okinedo on February 9, 2010 at 7:03pm
Historians might be tempted to suggest that Goodluck Jonathan rose to power without lifting a finger. For 78 days, forces loyal to president-in-absentia Umaru Yar’Adua battled for the soul of the nation, bent on maintaining the status quo. Nonetheless, the clamour began to rise with calls for a handover of power to Jonathan.
The resolve in Yar’Adua’s own Cabinet started to crumble, most glaringly with Minister of Information and Communications Dora Akunyili’s incendiary memo, shot down by her colleagues. According to reports, when Mrs. Akunyili looked for support from the clear beneficiary of her memo, Mr. Jonathan merely told her to follow the process. He would not be seen to help Akunyili or any others calling time on Yar’Adua’s doomed presidency. He could not afford to be seen to be openly disloyal or to be unduly ambitious for himself. Yar’Adua and the totally discredited former ‘First Lady’, Turai – had clearly demonstrated their lack of trust in Jonathan anyway. Why reinforce the paranoia of the Yar’Adua camp? None of that for Jonathan. He kept it under his hat. He kept it cool.
Mr. Jonathan played a clever game, some would say. By why play a game at all when the inexorable march of history is on your side? Memorably, 24 governors went to Jonathan like the ‘Three Wise Men’ of yore and offered their goodwill to the man named Goodluck. They called him ‘Acting President’.
And so it would seem, that the man now declared Nigeria’s ‘Acting President’ did nothing to earn his momentous rise to the highest office in the land. He merely rode the tide. It was just his luck. A more serendipitously named President has never assumed office anywhere.
In just ten years (having joined the PDP in 1999), Mr. Jonathan has risen seemingly out of nowhere to prominence. As deputy to then Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha in Bayelsa State, Jonathan finished off the former’s term of office after he fell from grace. He was only a compromise Vice Presidential candidate to the now ailing Yar’Adua after the dropping of Peter Odili. Now, yet again, Jonathan will finish off Yar’Adua’s presidency. How lucky can one man get?
Born November 20, 1957 to a canoe carver in the Ogbia Local Council of then Rivers State, Goodluck Jonathan had his Primary education in Otuoke and Oloibiri, places synonymous with the troubled history of oil-prospecting in the Niger Delta. He is the first Nigerian ruler to emerge from the Niger Delta, the first not to come from one of the major ethnic nationalities in the country. An Ijaw man in Aso Rock.
Jonathan attended the Mater Dei High School in Imiringi. After a two-year stint as a customs officer, he embarked on a Zoology degree at the University of Port Harcourt, graduating with a B.Sc in 1981. He taught at the Department of Biology at the Rivers State College of Education in Port Harcourt, leaving in 1993 to become Assistant Director in the now defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC). He bagged a doctorate degree in Zoology in 1995.
It is noteworthy that all of the qualified zoologist’s academic and working life was played out in the area of his birth, in the festering sore of the Delta, where ordinary people may now view his ascendancy as their own. 52 years largely spent in one geographical area may suggest a man of limited travel and experience, but this should not mean that we have a George Bush on our hands. Then there is his wife, Patience, who was the subject of a $13.5 million seizure by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in September 2006. We will be hoping that the Acting ‘First Lady’ - who now prefers to be called ‘Dame’ - will engineer no further embarrassments.
Mr. Jonathan’s rise heralds a realigning of the traditional power blocks in Nigerian politics. Some of those now trooping to assure him of their ‘loyalty’ might have sworn just months ago that a South-South Nigerian President would not emerge in their time. None of their certainty holds in the face of so much luck contained one man’s name.
In a highly superstitious land, it is just the kind of story that gets the masses believing again. Just how much of a good luck it is for the Nigerian nation, will depend on Mr. Jonathan’s actions from now on.
