The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, said on Friday that President Muhammadu Buhari would support his fight against the “massive” corruption that characterised the administration of his predecessor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi. Wike, who spoke after receiving the final report of his administration’s transition committee, said his government remained committed to recovering all funds diverted into private pockets. He explained that his administration was aware that Amaechi would resort to blackmail and propaganda to divert the public attention. Wike, however, commended the transition committee for a job well done, saying the committee’s interim report helped his administration to take off. Submitting the final report of the transition committee, former Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru, described Amaechi’s administration as the most corrupt in the state’s history. Ikuru said the former governor spent N812m to furnish his personal residence at the expense of the state,

South Africa has repatriated 5,645 foreigners since the end of xenophobic attacks in late April, the government said yesterday. A Minister in the Presidency, Jeff Radebe, who said this in a statement, added that the foreigners chose to leave South Africa voluntarily. Malawians made up the bulk of the foreigners, numbering 3,506, followed by Zimbabweans (1,440) Mozambicans (682), while Tanzanians had (17). Mr. Radebe said the repatriation process started soon after the latest spate of xenophobic violence ended in April.

Religious group upset over Easter release of Lady Gaga’s Judas video The song was released early last Friday after poor quality snippets of the track were leaked online. In the song, Lady Gaga uses Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, as a symbol for always “falling in love with the wrong man over and over again” and going “back again to those evil things”. The lyrics say: “In the most Biblical sense/I am beyond repentance/Fame hooker, prostitute wench, vomits her mind.” She appears in the video as Mary Magdalene wearing a black cape and dark make-up. Bill Donohue, spokesperson for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said the video was a “stunt”. “Lady Gaga tries to continue to shock Catholics and Christians in general. She dresses as a nun … she swallows the rosary. She has now morphed into a caricature of herself," he said. “She is trying to rip off Christian idolatry to shore up her talentless, mundane an

Some days ago, a few foreign media including BBC, AFP and Daily Mail published a story clai ming a Nigerian restaurant in Anambra was shut down for cooking human flesh. (Read here) The Anambra State Police Command responded to the story yesterday Sunday May 17th, saying nothing of such happened. The State's Police Public Relations Officer, Uche Eze, said; "There was nothing like that. I advise you to ignore that report. It’s not true and it did not happen. We don’t have such record. It’s embarrassing. I think we definitely deserve an apology because this story has already been sold out to a huge internati o nal audience who made so many unnecessary comments about Nigeria and Nigerians" she told Punch

While delivering his valedictory speech at the special thanksgiving and farewell service organized by Aso Villa Chapel yesterday May 17th, President Jonathan asked for forgiveness from those who might have felt offended by any of the moves his government made, stating that such moves were not intended to deliberately hurt anyone. He said no human institution is ever perfect. He urged everyone to pursue work towards a better Nigeria even as they leave government positions. "No system is perfect. Every human system must have an element of imperfection. For the period of eight years that we have been here. I will take the period as a block because my transition from VP to President was gradual and complicated.

  With generous government grants and numerous appearances on the red carpet, Nigeria’s outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan made a mark in Nollywood - the country’s home-grown movie industry turned billion-dollar enterprise. As Jonathan prepares for his exit, it is uncertain times for Nollywood, reported the Voice of America on Thursday. In the more than 20 years since Nigeria’s Hollywood emerged, Nollywood has grown from low-budget movies sold on VHS tapes to a $5 billion movie industry. In a 2006 UNESCO study, Nollywood was ranked the second-most productive movie industry, ahead of Hollywood and behind only India’s Bollywood. But it was an uphill struggle until Jonathan came along, said Mike Nliam, who works at the Association of Movie Producers in Nigeria. “We have had tremendous support from this government. I think it’s the government that has really looked into the potential and what Nollywood can be,” said Nliam. In November 2010, Jonathan announced a $200 m

As part of the steps to rescue the abducted Chibok girls, the Defence Headquarters has confirmed that troops are already in Sambisa Forest the last Boko Haram hideout where the girls are purportedly being held hostage, Hausa service of the BBC reported. The Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade said that contrary to insinuations, Nigerian soldiers are trained for counter-terrorism. “What makes it difficult to get to Sambisa Forest? All of it is strategic, gentlemen. We are not even completely out of Sambisa Forest as I am talking to you. We are in Sambisa Forest and we are in places contiguous to it. “But we have a major plan in mind which I should not be disclosing now. We are not weak, we have the capacity,” he said. Concerning foreign interventions to rescue the Chibok girls, Olukolade said, “On a diplomatic level, I will say all is well.” He said Boko Haram had been attacking some towns and villages because the sect was carrying out its “las

Funmilayo Adeyemi, alias Mary Akinloye. Police have arrested the housemaid who kidnapped the Orekoya three children, 24 hours after she was employed last week at Lawanson Road, Itire area of Surulere, Lagos. She blamed her kidnap activities on her husband. Her true name is Funmilayo Adeyemi, a mother of four, and not Mary Akinloye as she claimed and she is 35 years old, against the 23 she claimed. The suspect allegedly masterminded the kidnap of the three children (Demola, 6; Adedamola, 4, and Aderomola, 11 months) with the aid of her husband, Waheed Kareem, her brother in-law, Akeem Kareem and her brother in-law’s wife, Joke Oseni, who are currently on the run. Preliminary investigation also revealed that her syndicate was responsible for the kidnap of two children last December in Magodo area of the state. She reportedly kidnapped the children, Raphael and Michael, four days after she applied for the job of nanny through OLX , an online sales portal. To cov

He is otherwise known as Nollywood bad boy, but Jim Iyke, doesn't care about what people call him or say about him. According to him, nobody can define his life. Few weeks ago, his 'BFF' (Best Friend Forever), Nadia Buari, put to bed a set of adorable twins and fingers have been pointing at the Anambra State born actor as the father of the babies. In a recent interview, Jim, stated clearly his kind of relationship with the pretty Ghanaian actress. “You don't need a soothsayer to tell you nor do you need a fake prophet to spell it out to you. I am the kind of man that drops hints; I do not have to tell the whole story because it makes you lose your mystic, it makes you lose the strength of your advantage over people. But here I am with my BFF, an incredibly intelligent and beautiful person and I think that is what I need in my life, he said making it known that he is a great friend of the new mother but possibly not the father of her daughters. Spea

  When he broke into the music scene some years ago, 'Gongo Aso' crooner, 9ice, had a voice that many of the music lovers could identify with and he was loved for it. After the release of that song, he went on to drop other hits singles. The singer even performed before the late Nelson Mandela, when his birthday was celebrated in London. But in recent times, 9ice has come under attacks because of his voice, which some said he is losing very fast. Speaking on the issue, the singer blamed it on equipment in the country. "Most of our productions are not good and most of our speakers are not good. Hear me, I am not saying the DJs or the sound managers are not good. But the equipment we have (in Nigeria) are not good." "Get it right; in 2008, 2009 and 2010, imagine someone screaming for three years, how e no go lose him voice? "In 2008, I was maybe 28 or 29 and now I am 35 years old. So I would definitely lose my voice and now I am a more ma

Let's take the fight to the streets. I siezed these sour harvest of pirated copies of October 1st from the hawkers. Please don't forget to turn the siezed copies upside down. Adeyemi Oginni The boys, too, need to be seized, chained down and interrogated for retrieving of necessary information. The assistance of the authority is highly required here. Good job on your part, oga Yinka. Yesterday at 11:37am · Like Semoore Badejo Where can we get the original copies to buy? Yesterday at 11:38am · Like Otaru Imobhio Rebecca keep up d good work Yinka Akanbi Yesterday at 11:39am · Like Yinka Akanbi The film is not released yet Yesterday at 11:42am · Like Yele Balogun Bravo! Yesterday at 11:43am · Like Adeyemi Oginni ...and the pirated copies are in public already!? God help this Country o. Yesterday at 11:45am · Like Dotun Taylor There is an urgent need fo