Ọmọ Oódua

Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday said the Labour Party’s allegation that the commission’s National Commissioner, Prof. Lai Olurode, is a member of a political party.

Speaking in Akure on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ meeting, Jega said INEC’s had found out the claim was meant to smear the commissioner’s integrity.

He stressed that none of INEC’s workers had any affiliation with any political party.

Jega said,” Your allegation is spurious. No member of INEC is a member of any political party.

“If you have any evidence to support your allegation, provide it. We will do the right thing.

“But our investigation has shown that your claim is spurious.

“We don’t take any allegation as spurious immediately it is made. We investigate every allegation.”

Cape Verde cap rise with Nations Cup ticket

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The Cape Verde Islands will become the smallest country to compete at an Africa Nations Cup finals after qualifying at the expense of Cameroon and their remarkable rise is the culmination of a project to target ‘top talent’.

The Portuguese-speaking country’s elimination of the four-time winners in Sunday’s final qualifying round ranks as one of the biggest shocks in the tournament’s history but it has been on the cards in recent years.

Just 10 years ago the ‘Tubaroes Azul’ (Blue Sharks) beat Mauritania 2-0 at home to record their first win in a competitive international and now they are ranked 51st in the world.

“There was a conscious decision by the federation to embark on a project that would pursue the top talent available and after many years of hard work this has now come to pass,” said Joao de Deus, coach of Portuguese second division club Oliveirense, who was in charge of Cape Verde in 2008 and 2009.

By tapping into a large number of descendants of migrants who have been steadily leaving the island archipelago over the last century, Cape Verde football’s ability far exceeds the country’s 500,000-strong population.

“We now have some 90 percent of our squad members who are playing at clubs in Europe, in Portugal, France, Spain, Holland and other countries,” coach Lucio Antunes said in a recent telephone interview.

“These are professional players who are desperate to show what they can do at the Nations Cup finals. It has been so easy to work with them because of their experience and their desire,” he added.

But while almost all of Cape Verde’s players are drawn from overseas clubs, there remains a fairytale element to the way they have gone from novices to Nations Cup qualifiers in the space of 10 years.

Antunes is on long leave from his job as an air traffic controller and the majority of the squad have no profile outside the Cape Verde. Sunday’s goal hero Heldon, from Maritimo in Portugal, and Ryan Mendes of Ligue 1 Lille are among the exceptions.

Better known Cape Verdians are Manchester United winger Nani and Porto defender Rolando, who both play for Portugal, and former Sweden striker Henrik Larsson, whose father hailed from the island nation.

The Cape Verde, more desert than tropical and situated off the west coast of Africa, won independence in the mid-70s from Portugal but did not play an international until more than a decade later.

They have been FIFA members since only 1986 and did not enter the Nations Cup or World Cup qualifiers until 1992 – two years after Cameroon became the first African country to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

But on Sunday they looked consummate veterans of the international circuit, toying at times with their Cameroonian hosts as they advanced to January’s finals in South Africa 3-2 on aggregate over two legs.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

7 world-renowned paintings stolen from Dutch museum

AMSTERDAM — Seven paintings, including several by modern masters Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Claude Monet were stolen from Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum early Tuesday around 3 a.m.

Also stolen were works by Lucian Freud, Paul Gauguin, and Meyer de Haan.

The heist, one of the largest in years in the Netherlands, occurred while the private Triton Foundation collection was being exhibited publicly as a group for the first time. The collection was on display as part of celebrations surrounding the Kunsthal's 20th anniversary celebrations.

Millions in stolen art recovered in LA area

Neither the police nor the Kunsthal were immediately able to put a value on the haul, but the theft is one of the art world's most dramatic in recent years and will likely be worth millions.

Renoir bought for $7 at flea market may have been stolen from museum in 1951

Kunsthal, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, does not have its own collection and exhibits different types of art, including photos, sculptures, design and fashion.

Video: 'Art For the Taking' (on this page)

The museum was closed Tuesday as police reviewed videotape footage and called on witnesses to come forward.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Nigerian Pilgrim In Saudi Arabia Mistakens Window For Door, Dies After Fall From High Rise Building

Nigerian Pilgrim In Saudi Arabia Mistakens Window For Door, Dies After Fall From High Rise Building

Another pilgrim from Bauchi State performing 2012 Hajj died in Medina, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, our correspondent reports.
The pilgrim died after falling from a high rise building. And this brings to two the number of the state pilgrims who have died in the holy land this year.
The deceased was believed to have mistaken a window for the door of his room, and thus fell off the window to his untimely death.
A reliable source said the deceased had performed ablution for prayers and was about to leave for the mosque when he opened the window and fell from the high rise building to the ground.
The source further said that people immediately rushed to the scene to offer him medical assistance but he died on the spot.

Diarrhoea kills 194,000 Nigerian kids every year –UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund has said that diarrhoea kills about 194,000 children under the age of five every year in Nigeria.

In a statement in Lagos on Monday, the global body disclosed that 88 per cent of diarrhoeal deaths could be attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene.

It stated, “As the world celebrates the fifth annual Global Hand Washing Day, we should emphasis the fact that the very simple act of hand washing with soap can save hundreds of thousands of children who needlessly die every year.

Astronomers discover planet with four suns

Astronomers discover planet with four suns

Astronomers have found a planet whose skies are illuminated by four different suns - the first known of its type.
The distant world orbits one pair of stars which have a second stellar pair revolving around them.
The discovery was made by volunteers using the Planethunters.org website along with a team from UK and US institutes; follow-up observations were made with the Keck Observatory.
A report on the Arxiv server has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal.

19 Women Raped At Refugee Camps For Flood Victims In Benue State

19 Women Raped At Refugee Camps For Flood Victims In Benue State

It was double jeopardy for 19 female refugees at various resettlement camps in Benue State who were raped by men not bothered by the discomforting displacement they are suffering as a result of the flood. Cases of rape have been reported in four of the designated camps.
The incident may have heightened the woes of the people who were displaced from their various homes by the flood that has ravaged many parts of the country, as they are already cumbered by congestion, hunger, physiological inconveniences, and possible epidemic.
Some of the state governments, like Delta State, have introduced mobile clinics within the camps, to handle any health challenge of the displaced people.

Blaming The Other Person

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a Loving couple and the boy was the gem of their eyes.
When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for office so he asked his wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife, preoccupied in the kitchen totally forgot about the open medicine bottle.

Abdullahi Bello, Kogi State House Of Assembly Impeached

Abdullahi Bello, Kogi State House Of Assembly Impeached

The Kogi State House of Assembly has impeached the Speaker of the Assembly, Abdullahi Bello. Reports indicate that the deputy speaker, and 10 other principal officers were also removed from office.

It is not clear how many lawmakers were at Tuesday morning’s sitting as the 25-member House was not set to sit until Thursday.

The Speaker has been having a running battle with some lawmakers who had been plotting to removing him from office. It is believed that the anti-speaker lawmakers are doing the bidding of the state governor, Idris Wada.

More details later

Man throws wife into pit latrine in Ogun

Abeokuta – The Ogun Police Command on Tuesday in Abeokuta paraded a suspect for allegedly killing his wife by throwing her into a pit latrine over a misunderstanding.

Mr Ikemefuna Okoye, the state’s Commissioner of Police, told newsmen that the 46-year-old unemployed man committed the act on Oct. 7 at Agbado area of the state.

“The Agbado Division had a distress call that a man had pushed his wife into a deep pit; we quickly rushed to the scene where the victim was met dead in the pit.

“The suspect was immediately apprehended and we are still interrogating him; he will be charged to court as soon as we are done with our investigations,” Okoye said.

The command also paraded an 80-year-old man and his 64-year wife over an allegation of illegal possession of firearms.

Okoye said the couple were arrested on Oct. 13 after the police conducted a search on their house at No 21 Obarinwa street, Aiyegbami, Ago-Iwoye.

“The DPO of Ago-Iwoye, Stephen Iriavbijeh, got information that the couple’s son is a notorious robber and he led a team to conduct the search.

“On getting there, the suspect was not seen but while executing the search warrant, one cut-to-size gun, two locally made pistols and 16 live cartridges were recovered in his mother’s wardrobe.

“Thus, we arrested the two of them in whose possession we found the firearms for thorough interrogation,” he said.

Okoye appealed to members of the public to assist the police with useful information that could lead to the arrest of criminals in the state.

The commissioner assured them that their identity would be treated with utmost confidentiality.

According to him, the police are working round the clock to ensure the safety of lives and property. (NAN)

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.

Resolution in talks to sell Malaysia JV stake

LONDON: British life insurer Resolution on Tuesday said it was in talks to sell its stake in a Malaysian joint venture as part of an overhaul aimed at cutting costs and boosting returns to shareholders.

The company is discussing a sale of its 30 per cent stake in Amlife Insurance Berhad and AmFamily Takaful Berhad back to its joint venture partner, Malaysian lender AmBank Group, Reuters quoted it as saying.

A spokesman said the planned sale formed part of a previously-announced effort by Resolution to streamline its operations and increase cash generation.

The company, created to buy and merge underperforming life insurers, earlier this year called a halt to takeovers and said it would focus instead on squeezing savings out of its existing assets, which include life insurer Friends Provident.

Resolution said its joint venture stake had an embedded value — an industry measure denoting the present value of expected future earnings from life insurance policies — of £38m ($61.00m) as of June 30.

Resolution shares were up 0.3 per cent at 1315 GMT, underperforming a one per cent increase in the FTSE 100 share index.

Police parade two suspected killers of UNIPORT students

The police in Rivers State on Tuesday paraded two of the suspected killers of four students of the University of Port Harcourt.

The two suspects – David Chinasa Ugbaje and Ikechukwu Louis Amadi – were allegedly part of the mob that stripped, tortured and killed Lloyd Toku, Ugonna Obuzor, Chiadika Biringa and Tekena Erikena before setting them ablaze on October 5, 2012 in Omuokiri Aluu community.

The suspects, who were paraded in Port Harcourt, are expected to be arraigned on Wednesday for the murder of the students.

The police are still on the trail of a student of UNIPORT, Coxson Lelebori, who incited the mob to attack the students when they came to his house to collect a debt he was owing one of them.

More details later.

Kalakuta Republic Museum In Honor Of Late Afro-Beat Legend Fela Anakulapo-Kuti Opens In Lagos - Photos

Kalakuta Republic Museum In Honor Of Late Afro-Beat Legend Fela Anakulapo-Kuti Opens In Lagos - Photos

The late Afro-beat Legend, Fela Anakulapo-Kuti memory still lives on as his home turned into a museum,which has been renamed ‘Kalakuta Republic’ Museum on Gbemisola Street, Ikeja, Lagos State Southwest Nigeria, was formally opened today.
The opening ceremony was part of the ongoing Felabration 2012 was performed by Yeni Kuti and an official of the Lagos State government.
The event was tagged soft opening, according to Fela’s daughter, Yeni Kuti.
The museum consists of his bedroom, sitting rooms, photographs, with over 3,000 of Fela’s clothes on display.
She said the hotel and other aspects of the museum will be commissioned later.
The building was painted in white colour.

We are prepared for any emergency – LASEMA

Lagos State Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday said that it was prepared for any emergency arising from flooding in the state.

LASEMA General Manager, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

He said the state had scaled through the heavy rains without experiencing serious flooding, due to the early preparations and the measures put in place to combat it.

“We are prepared for emergencies as we’ve learnt from the past to prepare for the future.

“The agency has put in place adequate measures to reduce the incidence of flood.

“We have ensured continuous dredging of canals, construction of new primary, secondary and tertiary canals.

“Our preparedness has yielded results.

“Lagos State is not experiencing flooding, in spite of the fact that we are in the coastal region,” he said.

He said that LASEMA was working with engineers in all the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas, to mitigate the effect of the flood.

Oke-Osanyintolu, however, advised Lagos residents to desist from blocking canals with refuse.

He asked them to contact the residential engineers at their respective local governments, for any flooding.

Concern over rising numbers of hungry people on World Food Day

Global concern is rising over the growing number of hungry persons as nations celebrate World Food day today October 16.

“It is a day designed to raise awareness about all the starving people in the world and create solutions to end world hunger once and for all,” says Yahoo!News.com.

“World Food Day was proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It marks the date of the founding of FAO in 1945. The aim of the Day is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the General Assembly endorsed observance of the Day in consideration of the fact that “food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity,” says the United Nations.

The day is being marked at a time when the UN says one in eight people worldwide still suffers from chronic hunger.

UN organ, the Food and Agricultural Organisation, describes the figure as “unacceptable” and warns that the fight against hunger is slowing down.

“With almost 870 million people chronically undernourished in 2010-2012, the number of hungry people in the world remains unacceptably high,” FAO said in its 2012 report on food insecurity.

The latest figures show that 12.5 percent of the world’s population, or one person in every eight, has yet to be relieved of chronic hunger, it said.

To mark the day, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, in a statement urged smallholder farmers to strengthen cooperatives to enable them to access funding and markets, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

He said the Federal Government had recorded 3.9 million farmers on its database and had reached one million farmers directly with seeds and fertilisers.

Noting that this had ended 40 years of corruption in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, adding that farmers would get 10 million cell phones next year.

Five million of the phones will be given to women farmers to facilitate access to agricultural information.

He also dispelled fears that the flood disaster recorded in recent weeks in parts of the country would lead to food scarcity or famine.

Adesina gave the assurance that the Federal Government had mapped out strategies to address the challenge.

Wanted 'Debtor' Who Set up Aluu 4 Has Been Arrested

Aluu-4 were NOT armed robbers, they were set up - IG of Police.

The Rivers State Command of the Nigerian Police Force has just announced the arrest of the wanted Prime Suspect in the killing of the Aluu 4. Coxson Lelebori Lucky, alias 'Bright', a student who owed the Aluu 4 some money had set them up to be killed by raising a false alarm to the community that they were armed robbers according to the police. He subsequently took to his heels when investigations confirmed his involvement in their barbaric murder. He was declared wanted yesterday and was arrested only hours ago in Port Harcourt.

ALUU4: How Vigilante Overpowered Police AT The Scene, Names Of Arrested Suspects.

UNIPORT Students Burnt Alive: Fresh Crisis Brews In Aluu Community.

UNIPORT Killings: Policemen said they should burn them alive - Tekena’s sister.

REST IN PEACE ALUU 4. A MUST READ.

REAL FACTS BEHIND THE KILLINGS OF THE FOUR UNIPORT STUDENTS AT ALUU COMMUNITY IN PORT-HARCOURT.

ALUU-4 SLAUGTERS APRENENDED: It Was All A Prank! Pictures.

PHOTO: Face Of One Of The UNIPORT Students Murderers..Aluu 4

Today is World Boss’ Day

Today is World Boss Day, set aside for employees to “recognize those in supervisory positions. Popular ways to say “thanks” include cards, a lunch in the boss’s honor, flowers, or gift certificates,” according to Wikipedia.

Boss Day is a secular holiday celebrated on October 16 and has traditionally been a day for employees to thank their bosses for being kind and fair throughout the year.

“It was started in 1958 when Patricia Bays Haroski, then an employee at State Farm Insurance Company in Deerfield, Ill., registered the holiday with the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. She designated October 16 as the special day because it was her father’s birthday.

“Ms. Haroski’s purpose was to designate a day to show appreciation for her boss and other bosses. She also hoped to improve the relationship between employees and supervisors. She believed young employees often do not realize the challenges bosses face in running a business.

“National Boss’s Day has become an international celebration in recent years and now is observed in countries such as Australia, India, South Africa, Ireland, the UK, and Egypt. Note that Egypt celebrates their equivalent holiday on 10 December every year,” says Wikipedia.

Flood: Justice Tabai to head funds management committee in Delta

Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has named named Retired Supreme Court Justice, Justice Francis Tabai, as the chairman of the committee to manage the N500 million flood disaster grant allocated to the state by the Federal Government.

Announcing this at an interactive session with newsmen in Asaba, Uduaghan said that Tabai was selected was selected because of his decision to have someone outside the government as chairman of the committee, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

He said that the committee, which includes representatives of the Nigeria Medical Association, Nigeria Bar Association and the Nigerian Union of Journalists would also manage funds from other sources.

“The committee will appraise the flood situation in the state and advise the government on how to channel the fund.

“It will also work out ways of resettling the flood victims post-camp and provide the government a detailed post-camp plan,” he said.

He said the full membership of the committee would be announced before the end of the week.

He debunked as “reckless” rumour making the rounds in the state that women were being raped and items stolen by thieves in the camps, especially the one in Ughelli.

The governor said that adequate security had been provided at the camps and stressed that no case of rape or other vices had been reported from any camp in the state.

He, therefore, appealed to the media and the public not to politicise the flood issue or be mischievous about it, adding, “What we have on our hand is a serious problem. People sacked from homes and communities where they had lived all their lives and people having their means of livelihood wiped out with some losing dear ones in the process is just not an issue of politics or mischief.”

He disclosed that seven persons had been officially reported dead in the flood disaster in the state.

According to him, the deceased included a community leader, a 23-year-old mother of three, and an eight-year-old girl.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Rivers State Commissioner For Power, Augustine Wokocha Kidnapped

Rivers State Commissioner For Power, Augustine Wokocha Kidnapped

The commissioner in charge of power, Augustine Wokocha, was kidnapped over the weekend.

Police sources told Saharareporters that Mr. Wokocha was kidnapped with the librarian of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku in Ogba/ Egbema/Ndoni local government area. Also, kidnapped was Dr. R F Quadri and the school's director of Academic Planning and Statistics, Dr. Richard Ihua Maduenyi.

The commissioner was kidnapped as he was returning from Ahoada town some 35 miles from Port harcourt the Rivers state capital. Family sources stated that Wokocha was seized around 6:30 PM on Ahoada-Omoku road in the state.

A police source said the kidnappers are yet to make any demands for ransom. The governor of Rivers state Rotimi Amaechi has reportedly suppressed the kidnap story from getting any media attention in the state.