ENUGU APC BACKS BUHARI FOR SECOND TERM

The Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Saturday endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for second term.
Chairman of the APC in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, who announced the endorsement at a news conference, however urged the President to immediately sack the country’s foreign affairs minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama.
Onyeama is from Enugu State, and has been at loggerheads with the leadership of the APC in the state, which, earlier, threatened him with expulsion for allegedly altering the list of delegates for the party’s forthcoming national convention.
Addressing journalists in Enugu on Saturday, the Enugu APC chairman declared that “there is no vacancy in Aso Rock come 2019”.
Nwoye said the APC in Enugu State decided to back Buhari for a second term due to his “human oriented programmes and policies, especially as it concerns the dogged fight against corruption, which has remained the bane of Nigeria’s development”.
“President Buhari is a great reformer and man of integrity who has shown serious commitment towards the development of Nigeria, and redeemed the battered image of the nation among comity of nations,” Nwoye said, adding that “a second term in office would enable the President consolidate on all the good works he has started”.
Calling for Onyeama’s sack, Nwoye said the foreign affairs minister has performed “abysmally” since he was appointed into Buhari’s cabinet. He claimed that Onyeama “almost messed Nigeria up” at the just concluded 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York.

KENYA STRIPPED OF CHAN 2018 HOSTING RIGHTS

Kenya were stripped Saturday of the right to host the 2018 African Nations Championship after a CAF executive committee meeting in Accra.

The decision was announced at a media conference after a one-day meeting of the African football “cabinet” headed by president Ahmad Ahmad from Madagascar.

Slow preparations for the January 12/February 4 tournament led to a decision widely anticipated for several weeks.

A CAF inspection team departed Kenya in September to report that only one of the four venues was ready to stage the tournament restricted to home-based footballers.

Some CAF officials in Accra also expressed concern about the political situation in Kenya, where recently annulled presidential elections are set to be rerun late October.

It is the second time the regional economic powerhouse has lost the right to stage a CAF competition after being replaced by South Africa as 1996 Africa Cup of Nations hosts.

Kenya would have been the second successive east African country to stage the CHAN after Rwanda in 2016.

Other hosts since the 2009 inception of the Nations Championship were the Ivory Coast, Sudan and South Africa.

There has been media speculation that Morocco or South Africa may replace Kenya.

Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia have qualified for the 2018 finals.

Kenya completed the line-up as the host nation — a position they now forfeit.

TOO LATE TO PULL OUT OF NIGERIA

A Lagos lawmaker, Mr Jude Idimogu, on Saturday, said it was too late for the Igbo nation to pull out of Nigeria.

Idimogu, representing Oshodi/Isolo Constituency II in the Lagos State House of Assembly, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that secession would be injurious to the Igbo.

He said, “As a full blooded Igbo man and a Nigerian, I believe that staying in Nigeria as an entity will prosper the Igbo nation better than pulling out.

“After the 1967 Civil war, the Igbo man started all over again to build up; now Igbo nation has made progress in terms of economy and politics.


“Though the Igbo nation has not reached where it is expected to be politically, we should dialogue rather than be creating war scenarios.

“It is too late to pull out (of Nigeria), Igbo nation has united Nigeria because they have businesses everywhere in this country.”

The lawmaker urged the Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Mr Nnamdi Kanu, to rescind from any action that could create enmity against Igbo around the country.

He urged the Igbo nation to unite with other ethnic groups in the country to articulate their grievances and actualise their dreams.

“My children were born in Lagos and some of them don’t even know their state of origin, they speak Yoruba and so many Igbo children are like that across the North and West.

“We have our future in Nigeria. The only thing Igbo nation should fight for is political power not by creating war scenarios but by merging with other nations/tribes in Nigeria – the Northerners and Westerners.

“Most Igbo, over 50 per cent, don’t even believe in Biafra because they have counted the cost from 1970 after the war till 2017. No one wants to go back to square one; it is not possible.

“As a person, I am against it; what the Igbo man should struggle for in this entity are equality, fairness and justice, not pulling out.

“It is very late to pull out, it will be difficult because majority of us are not ready to fight any war; I don’t want to lose my life nor my sons and daughter in war; I believe we can make Nigeria our home.”

According to him, even if the Igbo nation wants to pull out of Nigeria, it is not going to be overnight or by aggression, rather it should be via a friendly and democratic process.

“Kanu should calm down, unite with Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a tree cannot make a forest,” the lawmaker said.

This is the only way to deal with domestic violence - Yemi Blaq

Actor Yemi blaq in a recent interview with the Sun, delve dinto the domestic violence issue that seem to have over many homes.

According to the hunky actor, there is only one solution to a domestic violent relationship and that is taking a walk.

“Domestic violence can be identified early. Once you see that a man possesses that trait, just take a walk. Don’t bear it or try to change him, it might get worse.
“Well, people would ask ‘what if the actresses are the ones instigating the violence?’ Yes, we all know women are prone to such things that could provoke a man to raise his hands on them. Most times, it’s not easy to swallow but that’s not an excuse at all. A man should always be a man and know where to draw the line. Be responsible and take a walk from that situation too.”

On actresses being prone to infidelity, he said:

 “I don’t know a group of people called celebrities. But I know that as an individual, one can be prone to all sorts of things. I think being in front of the camera, be it as a singer or actor exposes you to all sorts of things. You know what I mean? But it all depends on what you want for your life and how you want it to go.

“As an actor, I have found myself in some compromising situations, but it’s not necessarily about me being an actor. Every other person or persons can as well find him or herself in such a dilemma too, the main issue is how you deal with it afterwards; how you handle the situation and walk away.
“For me, I always act differently in all of such situations, because they are not alike. I majorly put on my trainers and walk away as fast as I can.”

On how he deals with stubborn fans:

“At some point, stubbornness is a good trait in human beings and I am also a stubborn person, so I know how to handle those kind of female fans when they come my way,” he stated.

Nigeria sinking, APC support group alerts Buhari, Tinubu -

THE All Progressives Congress, APC Rebirth 2019, a support group within the party, has raised the alarm that the country was sinking, warning that the party has only two options before it to save the country. 

Oyegun, Tinubu and Buhari

The group in a letter by national president, Prince Tony Akeni and six others, to President Muhammadu Buhari, national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and others, said: “There is anguish of unprecedented scale and depth among the poor and lower middle class in Nigeria, which must be addressed with a sense of war-time foreboding and urgency… The ship called Nigeria is heading towards sinking grounds.”

It said: “As the ruling party at the centre and in the majority of Nigerian states, we have two choices before us. To our own detriment, we can choose to bury our heads in the sand from blame like the preposterous ostrich and flaunt aimless growth and boom statistics like PDP is expert at and used to do in its hey days before its empire fell from its arrogant peak.”

“We can choose to pretend that all is well with our once teeming but fast thinning supporters, once dedicated but now debilitated and dispersing change campaigners, and once hopeful but now embittered and hate-filled Nigerians as we glide dangerously towards the 2019 Judgment Day in the Supreme Court of Nigeria voters,” the group added.

The group also said: “Our second choice is to have the courage and soul-searching sober reflections to enable us evolve a sweeping change of fortunes for Nigerians in general, and to do so urgently, diligently and pragmatically with everything it takes in the short time remaining in our hands.”

It noted: “The most fruitful channel to achieve the latter, which is the sensible choice, is the immediate convocation of an APC National Political and Economic Retreat. Where we are in Nigeria today, we cannot afford to continue to wallow in the sympathy mentality that Nigerians will forever reason with us that the prolonged social-economic meltdown in our country is entirely the fault of others.”

“Double-faced blacklegs among us, erroneously planted in sacred places of the President’s heart and installed in the Villa, are also guilty, make no mistake about that.

“Unlike political retreats we have seen convened in the past by the anti-masses opposition PDP, which consolidate on their avaricious leaders’ well-being and mending party stable cracks to facilitate safe looting of our country, the proposed APC retreat should evolve through three stages.

“The first retreat should be conducted at the local government area levels on the same date throughout the country, where grassroots supporters’ reports on the state of each local government area and the nation, peculiar challenges, solutions and well-being of Nigerians and party patriots from the local government areas will be collated and aggregated at each state venue on a second day.

“The retreat’s third day and grand finale should comprise APC national party leadership, authentic APC delegates representing the states, foundational APC federal cabinet ministers and appointees; not opportunistic post-victory joiners and fly-by-night adoptees who found their way through back doors of corrupted appointment lists drawn by Mr. President’s Aso Villa confidants, who exploited and betrayed the innocent trust of the President to get deadly agents of the opposition into government.

“At the second stage, reports of the state retreat should be aggregated to provide direction, executive compass and acceleration for projects, programmes and policy priorities of the administration for intervention in areas of urgent and optimum impact on electorates in different parts of our country,” it said.

Such retreat, the group stated, “will throw up the truly most urgent needs of the people throughout Nigeria and foster the Federal Government’s sense of immediacy on electorate assuring and vote winning interventions.”

It suggested: “These should include, for instance, expeditiously fixing notoriously failed sections of major inter-regional arterial federal roads as the East-West highways south of the country, Apapa Road, West of the country, and the nightmarish Ekpoma section of federal road, South-South of the country, which has in the last few months of rain turned that section of Ekpoma community to a mud lake.”

“This should include effectively getting the North’s children back to schools in the post-Boko Haram era by strengthening the school feeding programme which has suffered a blow from the general downturn of federal revenue earnings.

“The overall outcome of such retreat will accelerate decision processes from the President’s desk to the least APC administered local government council in Nigeria, and help us to put behind us the better part of the last two years during which decisions on virtually everything from budget legislation, executive actions and appointments to the justice dispensation have been a nightmare of excruciating sluggard pace and beggarly delays,” the group said.

Source Vanguard

Presidency insists Buhari is working, gives reasons

The Presidency has said contrary to claims by some section of Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is working.


Personal Assistant to Buhari on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, made the declaration while presenting fact sheets on the Buhari’s administration.

In a series of tweets via her social media page, the Presidential aide wrote: “What the noise was all about. What they did not want you to hear or See. But the government was not distracted.

The fact sheets posted below her tweets reads in part: “Restoring the moral of Nigerian Military: Reorganizing and better equipping the Nigerian Armed Forces.

“Purchase of 12 Super Tucano aircraft worth $600m to aid the Nigerian Military’s current operation in the North East.

“Ensuring continued peace in the Niger Delta through constituent funding of Federal Government’s Amnesty programme for ex-Militants.

“Implementing the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP, to aid economic recovery, taking the country out of her worst recession in 29 years despite fall in oil price.

“Trillions expended on capital/infrastructure project nationwide, a milestone in the nation’s history.

“Effective implementation of Treasury Single Bill Account and increasing government revenue by over N3trillion.”

Why Buhari’s government is failing"- Ango

The spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Ango Abdullahi, has blamed the seeming failures of President Muhammadu Buhari’s failures to bring visible development to the people on the political system in the country.


According to him, Buhari is a good man who found himself in a wrong system that hamstrung the realization of his good intentions for the country.

Abdullahi, however, said Buhari should welcome politicians who wish to vie for the Presidential ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC) ahead of 2019 general elections as the outcome of the Party primaries and the main election would be a way of assessing his own performance in office.

He told Sun newspaper: “You see, the problem is the system. Buhari may be a good person; he could be a gentleman who wants to work honestly but in a wrong system. It was a system of military fiat when he was a head of state, but the system he finds himself now does not allow him to manoeuvre.

“He has to cross many hurdles and checkpoints at the National Assembly and his party before he can execute anything meaningful, and all these squabbles are not based on principle but personal interests, either at party level or at constituency or at the level of the judiciary.

“All this really will make it impossible for a good person or committed person to operate effectively in this country in the manner which will accelerate development. Perhaps, you might ask the question if we can really change?

“Buhari might not have failed, but the system of government that he is operating in has substantially failed in the same manner as the ones before it.

“You see the fact that Buhari is incumbent does not automatically confer on him the candidature of the party in the next election if there is internal democracy in the party. The fact that you are a sitting president does not mean other members of the party cannot contest against you. If I were Buhari, I will welcome competition in my party.

“This is an opening for democracy in my party and I will ask people to come and test their popularity. If he has done well, people will re-elect him. This is a confirmation he has done well and that both the party and voters trusted him. I criticize all political parties for the system they employ in conducting primary elections.

“The one I am most familiar as good was the one used by Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1992, that was a direct primary election, where every member of the party has a chance to come and vote for who will represent him as a councillor, chairman, governor or president. In direct primaries, all parties have chance to come, cue and vote or elect any person of their choice.

“But the current delegate system brings nothing except corruption. Once the parties are corrupt, certainly, government must be corrupt, this is what is happening now all over the country.”

Photos from the traditional wedding of Lucky Igbinedion's daughter

Former Edo state governor Lucky Igbinedion, gave one of his daughter''s hands out in marriage yesterday, September 22nd 2017.

The white wedding is set to hold today.

More photos below:

Osinbajo Receives Cast Of ‘Wakaa: The Musical’, Praises Entertainment Industry

Vice President Yemi Osinajo has praised Nigeria’s entertainment industry, saying talented Nigerians in the sector have continued to show and exceed world-class performance standards.

The Vice President said this on Friday when he received the cast and crew of ‘Wakaa: The Musical’ at the Presidential Villa, a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, said.

“We don’t even need to compare ourselves. The Nigerian entertainment industry is in a class by itself. Absolutely incredible, real talent. There is no real comparison what our people are doing,” Professor Osinbajo was quoted as saying.

He also hailed entrepreneurs in the industry for proving that “without anybody, even government coming to their aid, they can hold their own”.

Nevertheless, the Federal Government would continue to support the industry, Professor Osinbajo said, while also describing the musical as “absolutely amazing, extremely professional”.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who was also at the meeting commended the cast and crew led by Producer and Director Bolanle Austen-Peters and actor Bimbo Manuel for “writing the name of Nigeria in gold, all over the world.”

In her remarks, Austen-Peters commended the Vice President for receiving the group in the Presidential Villa, noting that such a gesture at short notice was very encouraging, “it shows we are doing something.”

Arrested NAN reporter, Antswen, regains freedom

The Benue State Police Command has released a reporter of the News Agency of Nigeria Mr Emmanuel Antswen, who was picked up on Friday over a story on the protest at the Internally Displaced Persons camp at the International Market, Makurdi.

NAN recalled that the IDPs at the Makurdi International market camp had on Sept. 11 protested an alleged diversion of relief materials.

Following persistent protest over alleged diversion of relief materials by camp officials, the Executive Secretary of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Boniface Ortese, ordered the closure of IDP camps, alleging that they had been taken over by “hoodlums”.

Ortese had petitioned NAN over the same story claiming N3 billion as damages while the agency insisted on the validity of the report.

Ortese had also claimed that the protests were instigated by the NAN reporter to enable him get a story to write.

The police released Antswen on Saturday at about 11 am after spending one night in the open cell at the state Criminal Investigation Department.

The chairman of the Benue State Council of Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mr Kris Atsaka, signed the bail papers for the release of Antswen.

In a solidarity visit with the NUJ over the journalist’s arrest, the Publisher of Daily Assets newspapers and a former Group Managing Director of Leadership Newspapers, Dr Cletus Akwaya, advised journalists to stand in defence of one another when in crises.

He commended the NUJ chairman for standing for his colleagues.

(NAN)

Dickson developmental strides get congress commendation in US

THE inroad that Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and his Restoration team in governance has made, particularly the accelerated development of the intractable swamp terrain of the littoral state has elicited commendation from congress in the United States of America (USA).

Rep Sheila Jackson Lee, Chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, who made the commendation in the United States of America, said the multifaceted problem of the terrain is such that could overwhelm a leader without good policy programmes targeted to tackle the challenges headlong.

Lee who is the Texas 18th Congressional District Representative spoke at the weekend during an interactive session with the Governor at the Foundation Convention Centre in Washington DC.

He pointed that the Governor footprint of achievements is visible in infrastructure, education, health, agriculture and security, even as he noted the state has been placed on the path of development, prosperity and peace.

Lee called on Governor Dickson to sustain its well-articulated policies and programmes that helped the state conquer the difficult and treacherous terrain, noting that the religiously implemented policies has taken the state from the backwaters and placed her among comity of developed states.

The Texas 18th Congressional District Representative reiterate call on investors to do more especially in African countries, stressing that Africa needs the support of the Western world towards the sustenance of various reforms and developmental policies and programmes embarked on to impact positively on the environment and the citizenry.

In his response, Governor Dickson emphatically called on the international community to support developing countries to tackle the hydra headed challenge of environmental pollution and to combat and win the fight against terrorism and promote universal peace among nations.

The governor averred that it is imperative that the international community to heed President Muhammadu Buhari’s call for global collaboration against terrorism at the just concluded United Nation General Assembly summit.

Dickson, an erstwhile parliamentarian, said Bayelsa is the safest and most stable state in the Niger Delta region, declaring that both Bayelsa and Nigeria in its entirety are safe haven for investments.

He, however, alluded that the Restoration Government under his leadership in the state has created a conducive environment for investments to thrive and assured investors of high return on investments (ROI), describing the state as a fertile ground of great opportunities.

Peter of Psquare Unveils His Solo Youtube Channel

Amidst the speculations of a possible Psquare split, Peter Okoye also known as Mr P has further fueled our suspicions by revealing his personal Youtube channel which apparently was created a year ago (around the same time the brothers had their first infamous public spat).

The singer also gave a clue about dropping a new single with the hashtag #coolitdown we perceive would be the song title.

 .

Police arrest peace corps members

The Lagos State police command on Friday arrested 34 officials of the Peace Corp para-military outfit, an organization it has declared as illegal.

The spokesman of the command, Mr. Olarinde Famous-Cole, told journalists that those arrested would be arraigned before a mobile court on Saturday.

“The command has arrested 34 members of the Peace Corp.

“The organization is illegal, therefore the command would charge the suspects to a mobile court tomorrow,” he said.

The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Ita Enang, had earlier confirmed that Nigeria Peace Corps Bill is yet to be presented to the President for assent.

He was explaining the controversy surrounding the creation of the peace corps.

He said at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja that the bill was yet to complete its legislative process at the National Assembly.

Enang said that he was unaware of any bill that had been passed by the legislature that was pending before Buhari for his endorsement.

“I have heard some members of the public saying that the Petroleum Industry Bill has been passed and has not been assented to.

“Some said that the Peace Corp Bill has been passed and sent to the president and has not been signed or that it is already a law and people have started buying forms.

“Some said that they have started sewing uniform and that some states have started operations, as if Peace Corp, as if it were a law.

“I want to use this opportunity to say the Peace Corp legislative process has not yet been completed to the extent that it should be forwarded to the president

“It has not been forwarded to the president and so, it is not yet pending for assent,’’ he said.

Enang advised the public not to be worried about the bill, and warned that anybody acting on the bill, whose legislative processes were yet to be completed, was illegal.

“The Bill processes have not been completed and it has not been forwarded to the president for assented to become law, and therefore, anything anybody does, using the bill is at the person’s risk.

“As an agency that has not been established, it cannot start operation; it cannot engage people, it cannot generate revenue unless and until it is established by law. Therefore, I will urge Nigerians not to be worried.

“The last time before the bill went back to the legislature, the Federal Government, the police and other agencies did something to draw attention to the status of the Peace Corp but it does appear that it is going back to where it was.’’

It would be recalled that Bill establishing the Corps, which was sponsored by Sen. Bayero Nafada (APC-Gombe), was passed by the Senate in July, 2017.

The bill was passed in a unanimous voice vote after the Chairman, Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. David Umaru, had presented report on issues surrounding adoption of the conference report on it. (NAN)

Police arrest NAN reporter in Benue

The Benue Police Command has arrested Mr Emmanuel Atswen, a reporter of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), over a report on the protest by IDPs at the International Market camp in Makurdi.

NAN reports that the IDPs, on Sept. 12, protested against alleged diversion of relief materials, and blocked the main entrance into the camp to stop vehicles loaded with the assorted relief materials, from driving out.

Some of the protesters, who spoke with NAN, said that they were prompted to protest because such diversion had become more persistent, insisting that it was not the first time camp officials were loading materials from the camp”s warehouse.

Atswen, who was at the camp when the protest took place, not only filed the story, but took still and video pictures of the protesters.

He also spoke with the Commissioner of Water Resources and Environment, Mr Joseph Utsev, who promised to investigate the protest.

The state government had earlier removed the camp manager over alleged “irregularities”.

Miffed by the protests, the Executive Secretary of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr. Boniface Ortese, recently closed down all the camps hosting victims of the Benue floods, after claiming that they had been taken over by hoodlums.

Atswen, who was arrested on Friday in Makurdi, is being accused of “defamation of character and falsehood”.

One Mr Offor, the police officer investigating the case, turned down pleas by journalists and lawyers to release Atswen on bail, and ignored arguments that the offences he was being charged with were bailable.

NAN reports that prior to Atswen’s arrest, the SEMA boss had petitioned NAN over the same story, demanding N3 billion as damages, even though neither his name nor his agency were mentioned in the report.

The NAN management, in a press statement on Saturday in Abuja, however, said that it was standing by its protest story, and reiterated its commitment to reporting the truth always.

The NAN management declared that the said story did not violate the tenets of the journalism profession.

The Management of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has assured its subscribers within and outside the country of its unalloyed commitment to balanced reportage, saying it stands by its protest story of Sept. 11, 2017.
In a statement on Friday in Abuja, the Editor- In-Chief of the media giant, Malam Yusuf Zango, said the agency was aware of its responsibilities “as the sole content provider of news to hundreds of news outlets within and outside the shores of the country.”

According to him, such responsibilities make the organisation to be upright in its reportage of events and will not compromise on professional standards.

Zango said the agency was shocked by the claims of Dr Boniface Ortese, the Executive Secretary of Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), that a NAN reporter instigated protest at the International Market camp housing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to enable him get a story to write.

“We were shocked and surprised by the claim made by Dr Ortese; the facts of the case are that on Sept. 11, 2017, there was a protest at International Market camp housing IDPs affected by the recent flooding in Makurdi.

“Our reporter was at the camp on another assignment and was having discussion with the Commissioner for Water Environment, Dr Joseph Utsev, when he heard some noise at the gate of the camp.

“He, along with the commissioner, went to the scene where they discovered members of the camp blocking vehicles loaded with relief materials, which they alleged were being diverted by camp officials.

“The reporter did not only report the protest, but took pictures and video of happenings; he also had interviews with some of the protesters.”

Zango said the reporter acted in conformity with the tradition of the agency in ensuring balance in stories by seeking the reaction of the commissioner, who said he would investigate the matter.

The EIC, therefore, wondered why the SEMA boss would address the press claiming misrepresentation and demanding N3 billion when his name or that of his agency were not mentioned in the said report.

Zango, therefore, said the agency was standing by its story as published, since it did not violate the ethics of the journalism profession.

It would be recalled that the Benue Council of Chiefs, led by the Chairman, Prof. James Ayatse, the fifth Tor Tiv, warned camp officials of diversion of relief materials.

The IDPs camps at the International Market and Agan had at different times protested alleged diversion of relief materials.

The Camp Manager of the International Market, Mr James Iorhuna, was relieved of his duties on Sept.10 over acts of disobedience.

He was relieved by the Deputy Govenor of the state, Mr Benson Abounu, also the Chairman of the state’s Flood Relief Committee.

Abounu had also chided the SEMA boss for not releasing blankets meant for IDPs at the same camp when the UNHCR team had brought materials to the camp.

The SEMA chief himself had alluded to the fact that hoodlums had taken over the camps and were causing trouble, which prompted him to order the closure of the camps.

Two Female Pastors Who Are Lesbians have Wedded in Church.Photos.

Two black American lesbian pastors, Twanna Gause and Vanessa Brown, tied the knot on August 24th at the New Vision Full Gospel Baptist Church in East Orange, New Jersey.

Gause’s father, Mr. Gause, citing “differences in theological beliefs,” refused his daughter’s invitation.

“My father would not come here because he does not believe in same-sex marriage,” Ms. Gause said. “He told me the devil tricked me into this, and that if we had been married in biblical times, we would have been stoned to death.”

Ms. Brown, 46, and Ms. Gause, 45 , are both pastors of Rivers of Living Water United Church of Christ.

Once upon an Amazing Grace, two choir girls met at a church in Jersey City as teenagers. At that time Pastor Gause was 16 and Pastor Brown 18. Gause said she felt an initial attraction towards her now wife, but for Brown, it took a while. The two have now come a very long way since their meeting many years ago.

Both women grew up in strict families and never thought a time would come when they would get married. The two became bestfriends but separated in 1990 when Gause called Brown to say that her father was moving the family to Atlanta.They however kept in touch all the while despite seeing and even marrying other people.

By May 2005, Ms. Brown’s first marriage was over. Later that year, Ms. Brown invited Ms. Gause to give a guest sermon at Oasis of Love, a church in Harlem where she served as an associate pastor.

They went to dinner and it was then Ms. Gause expressed her true feelings for the first time. From then on Ms. Brown began seeing her old friend through “a different set of eyes,” as she put it. That night after dinner they ‘kissed’ for the first time and they both thought it was“well worth the wait.”

They began dating long distance in 2006. Two years later they decided to share their relationship with Ms. Gause’s father but he didn’t accept the news well, and many years later didnt attend their wedding which held on 24th August 2017.

The couple however had the support of their mothers and went ahead to have the wedding of their dreams.

Photos below:

Workers cripple Kogi State

Kogi State Gov. Yahaya Bello, not happy with the workers strike

The ongoing indefinite strike by workers in Kogi has stopped all activities at government secretariat in the state, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Some workers of government establishments in Lokoja complied with the shun-work-order issued to them by the leaderships of the Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

NAN reports that public offices were under lock and key by workers, a development which frustrated attempts of some directors and management staff to enter their offices.

The indefinite strike also paralysed activities at the state broadcasting corporation, waterworks, while senior secondary schools across the state refused to open.

Students of public senior secondary schools were seen returning after waiting for teachers and non-teaching staff to no avail.

Residents have also been thrown to panic and fear as houses had started experiencing shortage of water since early hours of Friday due to the strike.

The organised labour had on Sept. 21 directed workers to stay off their duty posts following the alleged state government’s refusal to honour their demands as contained in a seven-day strike notice served on Sept.14.

The workers are demanding full payment of their arrears of salary and allowances, leave bonus, yearly incremental and promotion arrears, among others.

They are also kicking against the introduction of clock in, clock out policy introduced by the state government which they described as punitive and an attempt to witch-hunt workers.

But Mr Kingsley Fanwo, Director-General, Media and Publicity to the state governor described the strike action as a failure, insisting that most workers reported for duty.

In his reaction, the state secretary of the NLC, Mr Olaniyi Fakunle said the strike was actually called at the request of the workers.

He said the strike would be grim later when basic education, health and local government workers would have joined.

Fakunle reiterated that workers would stay-off work indefinitely until government showed willingness to dialogue with them and honour their demands.

Kylie Jenner appears to be pregnant with her first child. Photos.

 New photos of Kylie Jenner appears to confirm the 19 year old is indeed pregnant with her first child.
According to TMZ,Kylie and boyfriend Travis Scott are excited over the pregnancy and he reportedly told people it's a girl.

TMZ

Black Zimbabwean mum gives birth to white daughter leaving doctors baffled

Doctors have been left baffled after a black mother gave birth to a white, blue-eyed daughter - whose skin tone is much lighter than her sisters'.

Mum Patience Chando said she was surprised when baby Andrea was born in April with very light skin - but assumed it would darken over time.

Four months on, however, this hasn't happened - and medics say they are at a loss to explain why.

The happy 36-year-old mother and her partner Andreas Spillea - who is white - welcomed Andrea to the world in April.

Patience, who is of Zimbabwean heritage, said her baby is turning heads in Hanover, Germany, where the family lives.

The former office worker - who has two much darker skinned daughters from a previous relationship - said of her youngest child:

"I couldn't believe it.
"Her skin was too white when she was born, I was sure it would tone down, which happens sometimes, but it hasn't."It wasn't until a few days after she was born I started to think: 'hold on, her skin was white. I'm her biological mother and I'm black'.
"Every time we go out I get questioned or stopped for photographs.
"I'm running out of things to say to people. She's the centre of attraction."

Doctors say they are equally perplexed - and it was initially feared that Andrea might have a skin disorder.

Patience said: "My doctor was totally surprised. He even tested her for a skin disorder out of concern for how pale she was.
"My friends keep joking that a mother is out there looking for their baby, and one day they will find us."

 She traced her ancestry but said there was no white heritage in her family.

Culled from Daily Mirror

Cemetery rejects corpse of man killed by thunderstorm

The corpse of a member of staff of the Registry Department of the College of Education in Oro, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Mr. Salami Adekunle, was on Friday rejected for burial by the management of llorin Muslim Cemetery.
The civil servant, who died at the age of 47 and hailed from Ilesa in Osun State, was said to have been killed by thunderstorm during a downpour as he was leaving the institution’s examination office for the Registry Department at about 10am on Thursday.

Punch learnt that when his corpse was taken to the cemetery for burial, the management of the cemetery refused to allow the corpse to be buried there.

The coordinator of the cemetery, Dr. Abubakar Aliagan, told journalists that the cemetery management unanimously rejected that the remains of Adekunle be buried in the cemetery following an instruction that the corpse should not undergo Islamic rites.

Aliagan said that Muslims in the vicinity had insisted that his death was not an act of God, even though; he was described as a practising Muslim during his lifetime.

He said, “If the late Salami will be buried in our Muslim cemetery, we have to do it in line with lslamic rites,’’ Aliagan said.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the College of Education in Oro, Mr. Adesola Adewoye,  Adekunle’s family  would meet  and decide on what next to  do concerning the matter.

Photos)Stephanie Linus takes DRY to The UN General Assembly

Actor, filmmaker and UNFPA Ambassador Stephanie Linus ,has joined other world leaders, policy makers and key stakeholders for strategic meetings at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly currently taking place in New York, USA.

This high profile event which has been graced by world leaders such as United States of America President Donald Trump, and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations comprising of 193 Member States.

In her capacity as the UNFPA Ambassador for Maternal Health in West and Central Africa, Mrs Linus has reaffirmed her commitment to ending Fistula by mobilizing the support and commitment needed to rid the world of Fistula once and for all.

The actress also recorded another milestone as her advocacy movie on fistula awareness, DRY, was screened at one of the events in an audience comprising of several African leaders, first ladies, health experts and policy makers.

Here are some photos and details of her participation so far: