De - Bliss

The ministerial screening exercise which commenced about three weeks ago, came to an end yesterday, October 28. The confirmation exercise was expected to begin immediately after, but did not, as Bukola Saraki, the Senate president, announced the adjournment of the Senate to today. So far, 18 nominees have been confirmed while the other half are yet to be confirmed. Most of the nominees impressed the Senate and are expected to be confirmed without any hitches but the confirmation of two of the nominees is not so sure. They are Rotimi Amaechi, the former governor of Rivers state, and the ministerial nominee from Cross River state, Usani Uguru. 1. Rotimi Amaechi: The former governor got into the bad books of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and played a major role in the defeat of the PDP during the 2015 general elections. Amaechi’s nomination as minister by President Muhammadu Buhari was met with strong criticism. Amaechi w...

Senator Gyang Nyam Pwajok, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau state, has died. Olisa Metuh, the party’s spokesman, confirmed his death to Sahara Reporters. Senator Pwajok recently lost a case against governor Silas Lalong of the All Progressives Congress at the poll tribunal. A family source said Senator Pwajok died of kidney disease in India. Naij.com has not independently confirmed the death. Earlier this year Senator Pwajok debunked rumours that he is dead. Born on March 15, 1966, in Jos, Plateau state, Gyang Nyam Shom, Pwajok, popularly referred to as “G.N.S” based on his initials, lived a greater part of his childhood in the city. He attended the Jos township primary school, (1972 – 1977), Saint Murumba College, Jos (1977 – 1982), the School of Preliminary Studies, Keffi; (1982 – 1984), the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1984 – 1987) and the post graduate school of the University of Jos, where he earned a master of science degree in ...

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state has denied statements by the All Progressives Congress (APC) alleging that he was planning to raise fresh loan, which it said was meant to execute the forthcoming governorship election slated for December 5 in the state. A statement by the director of media and publicity of the Sylva-Igiri campaign organization, Chief Nathan Egba, had claimed that the government was about to raise a N12 billion loan for the purpose of the Bayelsa governorship election which he said would throw the state into further debt. But in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 27, by the chief press secretary to the governor, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, it was disclosed that the purported claim of fresh loan was misplaced and a clear mischief on the part of the opposition party in the state. According to him, rather than looking for a new loan, the Bayelsa state government was only drawing from an existing loan facility that had since been approved for the airport proj...

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, whose election as Chief Executive of Rivers State was annulled on Saturday by the Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, has alleged the payment of N23 billion bribe to tribunal judges by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to nullify the election of all South-South states governors – all of them members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He wrote on his Facebook wall over the weekend: “Election petition tribunal was directed to nullify the election of all South-South states governors. A total of N23 billion was paid to the tribunal judges by APC. They are to pass the order that the election did not comply substantially with election guidelines and order INEC to conduct election within 90 days. “How can a party win all Senate seats, all House of Representatives seats, all State Assembly, 97% votes in presidential election and they could tell the public that the party did not win the governorsh...

Following the high-wave of unemployment in Nigeria, 79 members of the House of Representatives have advised President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on unemployment. The motion entitled: “Call for a State of Emergency and Legislative Intervention in the unemployment crisis,” was sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, the House majority leader. Gbajabiamila alongside 78 of his colleagues, said unemployment rates in the country had reached catastrophic level. The majority leader said it was time the House took proactive measures towards assisting the federal government by allocating a higher percentage of the annual budget to capital expenditure. He further noted that that execution of projects would lead to creation of jobs. The House leader suggested that creating jobs will severe connection between crime, poverty, corruption and unemployment. He also called for an amendment of the Immigration Act to provide steeper penalties for the violation of relevant sections of ...

Actress Genevieve Nnaji says she will get married whenever her man finds her. Genevieve said this in a recent interview with Encomium magazine. When asked when she will be getting married, Genevieve said "When he finds me". Asked if he hasn't found her yet, she said "Exactly". Genevieve says she has been absent from the movie scene because she couldn't find any script that was worth her time.. "I didn't take a break. Yes you haven't seen me in any film but it is not my doing. I read at least three or four scripts a week for the past five years. That is to show you how bad it is. I am very careful when it comes to what I take part in. There is so much or nothing you can do to convince me. I have to love a story so that I can bring it to life. It is not a one man band. The story needs to entice. The character needs to be appealing and then, you are one with it. With that, it becomes easy to be a good actor. If I don't get a good script, I a...

The video, shared by Shaun King on twitter and thought to have been filmed by a fellow student of Spring Valley High School, in Columbia, South Carolina, shows a Police Officer named as Deputy Ben Fields asking a girl to rise from a classroom desk. The girl refused and the officer wraps a forearm around her neck. The officer then tips the attached chair and desk backward until she slams to the floor. He then throws the girl several feet across the floor to the front of the classroom where he ordered her hands behind her back and applied handcuffs throwing a student across a classroom floor. School officials and sheriff’s deputies said they are investigating the incident. "Pending the outcome of the investigation, the district has directed that the school resource officer not return to any school in the district," Richland Two Superintendent Debbie Hamm said. Deputy Fields will be placed on administrative duties as authorities investigate his handling of the femal...

Shaving of the pubic hair to so many people, is nothing new. A few sociological theories have suggested that shaving of the pubic hair has to do with cultural trends spawned by certain hairless actors and actresses or even a misguided attempt at hygiene. The most common body areas shaved are the underarms, legs, pubic area, eyebrows, and face for females; the face, abdomen, back, chest, groin, and legs for males. While some people prefer wax, shaving is the most common method used for the underarms, legs, and pubic area. Pubic shaving actually originated in ancient Egypt and Greece when prostitutes had to shave for both hygienic reasons and as a clear sign of their profession. Although female body shaving was established as the norm between 1915 and 1945, pubic hair removal did not actually gain a strong foothold until the 1980’s. Here are 6 reasons why you should not shave your pubic hair: 1. Pubic hair helps control your body temperature We all know that hair helps regulate bod...

Jose Mourinho, the special one, the happy one, the pragmatist, the man who can go on incredible home runs is having the worst time of his managerial career. The former Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Porto boss who led Chelsea to the Premier League title last season has already made rants against the media and the FA for the manner in which he and his team are treated. His latest misdemeanor involved a rant at referee John Moss at half-time during the loss to West Ham over the weekend and led to his dismissal for the second half. A few weeks back, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich released a public statement declaring his full support for the Chelsea boss after a 3 – 1 defeat at home to Southampton which in turn led to a seven-minute rant at the FA, media, his players and anyone not called Jose Mourinho. He even asked to be sacked or backed by the club’s hierarchy. It seems time is quickly catching up with the man who called the Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger ‘a specialist in failure’. W...

The Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), have warned governors from Southeastern Nigeria to desist from collaborating with security agencies to harass members of the group. The pro-Biafra activists in a brief with the press on Monday, October 26, urged the governors to desist from intimidating members of the group. Chris Moch, spokesman for the movement, claimed that a governor in the region had a meeting with security chiefs and a local vigilance group at the weekend in Awka where he instructed them to begin immediate clampdown on MASSOB members. Mocha warned the governor in question to beware of international laws on crime against humanity and that he may be listed among persons to be tried at the international court of Justice in Hague, Switzerland even after he might have left office unless he changes his attitude towards MASSOB members. The Biafra activists also allayed fresh fears of the regrouping of some northern anti-Igbo elements. The gro...

The River state House of Assembly election petition tribunal has nullified the election of 20 House of Assembly members in the state. The judgment was delivered on Monday, October 26. The Punch reports that four separate panels of the Rivers state national/state assembly elections petitions tribunal nullified the elections of the Speaker of the Rivers state House of Assembly, Owaji Ibani, and 19 other seats won by candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 11, 2015 elections. The tribunals have upheld the petitions of the All Progressives Congress and its candidates in 20 out of the total 32 constituency elections. The tribunal upheld the elections of the PDP candidates in 12 constituencies. These are Okrika, Oyigbo, Etche I, Omuma, Ogu-Bolo, Port Harcourt I and III, ONELGA II, Abua/Odua, Ahoada West, Ahoada East II and Emuoha constituencies. Constituencies where the PDP candidates’ elections were nullified are Gokana, Eleme, Obio/Akpor I and II, Eleme, Etche I...

Some pro-Biafra activists shared videos of themselves tearing their Nigerian passport, denouncing their citizenship and asking for the breakaway of the South-East from Nigeria. They will make a long anti-Nigeria speech and then tear pages from their passports Meanwhile, the Nigeria Immigration Service has warned that tearing your passport in such a manner is illegal, a crime and attracts a jail term. But most of the people who have so far shared videos of themselves tearing their passports live abroad. I wonder how they plan to travel around now. Photos credit: Punch

The Igbo village is located in Staunton, Virginia, USA. According to one of the organizers Basil Okafor, "The State of Virginia and US government recognize the Igbos as one of the early slaves who settled in Virginia." See more photos after the cut...

A commercial sex worker named Roseline has reportedly died in a brothel at Obollo-Afor, Enugu state, following marathon sex with three customers. The incident which occurred on Saturday, October 24, led to the arrest of one Ikechukwu Oga who reportedly was the last customer to patronise the deceased. Ikechukwu allegedly spent the night with the late commercial sex worker, after reaching an agreement to wait for two other customers to take turns. He left and by the time he came back, Roseline was still on duty and pleaded with him to exercise patience, promising to be with him throughout the night. When it was finally his turn, she invited him into the room but was unable to conclude the deal as the commercial sex worker complained of being tired, a development that forced Ikechukwu to discontinue. Daily Post reports that he slept but was woken up by others who told him that Roseline was dead. “I did not conclude my first round of the deal before she complained that she was tired ...

Reverend Chris Okotie, the general overseer of Household of God church has said that former president Goodluck Jonathan would not have contested in the 2015 presidential election but was swayed to contest by the false prophecy of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The Punch reports that Okotie said this during a sermon on Sunday, October 25 in his church in Lagos. He said the president of CAN falsely prophesied that Jonathan would win the election convincingly which was why Jonathan went along to contest in the election which he eventually lost to Muhammadu Buhari. He said: “The man (Jonathan) became convinced to contest after Oritsejafor had told him, using CAN’s name, that God had ordained him the winner of the 2015 presidential election.” Okotie said that some members of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and CAN were aware that the prophecy was false but were afraid to speak out. “They couldn’t speak out because they were ...

With the recent spate of suicide attacks on mosques in Maiduguri, the Borno state government has distributed metal detectors to Imams in the state to screen worshipers as one of the ways of countering the attacks. The special adviser to the Borno state governor on media, Mallam Isa Gusau, on Sunday, October 25, in a statement after a meeting held with the Shehu of Borno and all stakeholders, said the distribution of metal detectors is to curb attacks on mosques in the state. Gusau said the detectors were distributed to some of the Imams who were asked to use it to screen worshipers coming into their mosques, The Nation reports. The meeting was held at the multi-purpose hall of the government house Maiduguri. According to The Punch, Governor Kashim Shettima along with the security chiefs held a closed door meeting with Imams of mosques in Maiduguri, Jere and surrounding areas as well as district heads (Aja), ward heads (Lawans), and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Umar Gabai Elkana...

Supporters of the Biafran movement in a protest. Following recent protests by Biafra activists, President Muhammadu Buhari has been advised by Eze Henry Ezekwem, the traditional ruler of Emede Ibeku autonomous community in Umuahia north local government area, not to wage war against members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). President Buhari was advised to lay more emphasis on insurgency in the country, and ending the war against the deadly sect Boko Haram. According to Ezekwem, the clampdown on MASSOB is a misplacement of priority by the federal government. Daily Post reports that the monarch suggested that the government should concentrate on how to stop the killings, destruction of life and property of innocent and law-abiding citizens of the country as orchestrated by the armed Boko Haram group, instead of turning the heat on the MASSOB group. He added that MASSOB is agitating peacefully for a cause, and poses no threat to the peac...

Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has announced Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi as the new Ooni of Ife. Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi This is coming barely three months after the death of Oba Okunade Sijuwade. Prince Ogunwusi is from the Giesi ruling house and he is the 51st Ooni of Ile-Ife. In a press statement by the state governor, the kingmakers of Ife had done all the necessary pre-requisites and communicated the choice of Prince Ogunwusi to his office for approval. Therefore, Ogunwusi takes over from Oba Sijuade, who died on July 28, 2015 in a London hospital. See statement below: The new Ooni of Ife is a 40-year old real estate entrepreneur. He attended The Polytechnic, Ibadan, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Accountancy. He is currently the Managing Director of Howard Roark Gardens Limited which is undertaking multi-million naira Jacob Mews Estate project in Yaba and the Lakeview real estate development in Lekki. News about the announcement of the ...

Tonye Princewill, a candidate of the Labour Party in the April 11 governorship election, has advised Nyesom Wike who was sacked on Saturday not to appeal the judgment of the governorship tribunal. The three-man governorship election tribunal, which sat in Abuja for security reasons, cancelled the election of Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after various witnesses testified that elections haven’t been held in most parts of Rivers state on April 11. The LP candidate, in a reaction via a press release by his spokesperson on Saturday, said the verdict of the tribunal was expected. In the statement entitled, “Rivers Election Petition – No need to appeal”, Princewill said: “Even PDP supporters I am sure in their heart of hearts, knew that this day would come. If I was the PDP, I would not even bother to appeal this judgment. I would rather head back to the court of public opinion. Ultimately that is where this matter will end. Why delay? “Even as it may have come as a surpris...

Rotimi Amaechi's wife joined other supporters yesterday to celebrate Governor Wike's sack as governor of Rivers State by a tribunal. I screen-grabbed from the video released last night. More photos after the cut...

The former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo has confessed that he is still missing his late wife Stella. The Nation reports that on Sunday, October 24, the ex-president took part in the 10th memorial service for the late Stella at the Chapel of Christ the Glorious King within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta. “I won’t say much about her today because much had been written already in my tribute about my late wife in the book, ‘My Watch’ and part of it says, she will be dearly missed by me, my family and the Abebe family,” Obasanjo said. John Abebe, who spoke on behalf of the Abebe family, also said their sister and daughter would be greatly missed. Segun Oni, the deputy national chairman of the All Progressives Congress in the south, was among those who attended the event. He described the late Stella as a quintessential woman, who was born and raised in a family reputed for its humility and integrity. Speaking with journalists, Oni said that his close i...

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says that the government is working to reduce the price of petroleum products by encouraging and working with private refineries and reducing importation. Osinbajo, who is in the UK to sign the Nigeria-UK solar energy agreement, told Bloomberg in an interview... "We are going to be unbundling the NNPC so that its various components are effective core centres and are able to do their business well. We are going to have private refineries at the site of the old refineries, so they can benefit from the available infrastructure. So, we think that in the medium term, we would be able to get cheaper pump price, pump price of oil would be cheaper because we would be importing far less refined petroleum. A lot of that will be produced locally. “Now, we have well over 30 modular refineries licences, so we think a lot of modular refineries would come. Many of them, their major concern is feed stock, are we going to be guaranteed feed stock? We are working on th...

The Rivers State Government has commenced the demolition of structures which are impeding the free flow of water along the creeks, canals and other waterways in the State. This move, according to the Rivers State Waste Management Agency became necessary to avert severe flooding which is already ravaging parts of the State occasioned by heavy rains across the country. RIWAMA’s Director of Administration, Mr. Ian Gobo who led the operation, stated that the Sole Administrator of the Agency, Bro. Felix Obuah had in the past weeks warned residents and land developers in the State, especially in Port Harcourt and Obio Akpor LGAs not to erect structures on the waterways, adding that the National Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had listed Rivers State among what they called the ‘flash floods location’. The demolition exercise which began on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, saw the pulling down of two structures which were erected right on the waterway of the Mini Ekere creek in Rumuobiakani, Obio...

Opunabo Nko-Tariah, the special adviser on media and publicity to the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike, has expressed surprise at the manner at which he escaped a assassination attempt. According to Vanguard report, assassins had attempted to murder Nko-Tariah on Thursday, October 22. Narrating the incident in the state capital on Friday, October 23, the media aide said that the gunmen targeted him and opened fire on his vehicle at Israel Ama Bridge, Buguma community in Asari Toru local government area. He said: “I am still shocked over what happened. I was completely confused. The police escort told me not to stop the car and that I should continue to move on. It was God that saved my life. “They (gunmen) thought I was at the back of the car and that was why they targeted that point. With the tinted glasses, they had concluded that I was probably at the owner’s seat and they riddled the back side of the car with bullets. The media spokesman to Governor Wike narrated that the vo...