Why I want to be next governor of Rivers State-Julius Agwu

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"I cannot really call myself a politician, but l am someone who prays and wish for things to get better than it is in this country. I believe I can help to achieve what my brother started in Rivers State. It is a known truth that Port Harcourt was the Garden City of this great country, but we lost that glory because of poverty and neglect, coupled with incessant militancy and kidnapping. Governor Amaechi has done well for the State, but we still need good hands after he leaves to continue the good work."

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Osun Decides: Motorist Knocks Down 6-yr-Old Boy During APC’s Jubilation

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The  celebration of All Progressive Congress in Osogbo was almost marred when a motorist knocked down a 6-year-old boy along Alekuwodo/Okefia road. According to a daily's reporter, the APC faithful took to the streets in wild jubilation as preliminary results from the polling centres across the state capital puts Rauf Aregbesola in early lead. 

Who is Mr. Putin? by Mikhail Khazin (MUST SEE!)

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There is a lot of nonsense and garbage floating around on the Internet about the personality of Vladimir Putin, mostly written folks who not only know nothing about him, but who don't even understand the basics about how the Russian state works.  Today, I want to share with you a video (especially translated or this purpose by the Russian Team) in which the renowned Russian economic Mikhail Khazin shares his view of Putin and of Putin's current position vis-à-vis the hostile and russophobic West.  I don't always agree with Khazin, and even in this case I don't fully agree with some of what he says, but I think that Khazin has really "nailed the bottom line on the head" (how is that for a combo-neologism?).  
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Osun poll Updates: Aregbesola in early lead as voting ends - Live Updates

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Rauf Aregbesola takes a pose after casting his vote at Ifofin unit 1 polling centre in Ilesa Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state has taken an early lead as the gubernatorial election reaches a climax. Cumulative results as at 6:17 p.m. reveals that the incumbent governor leads the pack. His party, the All Progressives Congress has so far recorded 213,465 against 150,553 of his main contender Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party. 

Graphic PhotoNews: ISIS behead children & Horrific pics of ISIS atrocities

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 See more photos bellow.

We are still on strike, Nigerian Doctors Insist (New Tweets)

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 Despite pleas by various governments'officials for the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to call off their strike action in the face area of the Ebola virus outbreak, the doctors have stuck with their guns, insisting the one month old strike continues. The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Kayode Obembe, had on Friday resigned and then rescinded his resignation. Tweets continue following the break.

Kuje Residents Kick against FG Citing Ebola Isolation Centre in their area.

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 Residents of Kuje in Nigeria’s federal capital territory went berserk when news filtered in that federal ministry of health has chosen the only general hospital in the town to serve as referral centre for detecting Ebola virus in the victims.

Reports say that the hospital, usually populated with patients from Kuje and nearby villages, was chosen as Ebola referral centre because of its closeness to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport where passengers from international flights are expected to be taken  for screening as they arrived Nigeria.

Do you know that fear and ignorance kill faster than anything? (Must read)

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PHOTO: A Nigerian woman being consoled after the explosions because she could not find her children.

We Nigerians need to be armed with knowledge and correct information, we need to be enlightened so that we do not fall prey to all sorts of falsehood. If you have forgotten, let me remind you of what happened 12 years ago in Lagos on Sunday, 27th of January, 2002. There were explosions from a Nigerian Army ammunition dump filled with high-calibre bombs that were poorly-stored and ill-maintained. Following the series of blasts and fire, confusion ensued and Nigerians were running helter-skelter. In the melee, over 1,600 people died, most of them running into the concealed Oke Afa Canal, many of them were children scampering for safety. As Nigerians, we need to take information dissemination seriously because as you can see, it is a matter of life and death.

Policemen or armed robbers?

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he time was 7am and the traffic was absolutely crazy on a fateful Monday morning at the popular Gate Bus Stop, Iyana – Ipaja – Ipaja Road, Lagos. Mr. Olu Akinyemi was one of the Lagos residents trying to meander his way and see if he could get out of the terrible gridlock to get to his Ikeja office before the 8am resumption time.

Just as Akinyemi was applauding himself that he outsmarted other motorists in beating the traffic, three men suddenly appeared from nowhere in front of his car and ordered him to pull over towards the Federal Junction Bus Stop.

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1.4million to vote in Osun governorship poll - INEC -

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A total of 1,407,222 voters, comprising 661,394 males (47 per cent) and 745,828 females (53 per cent), were registered by INEC to vote in Saturday’s governorship election In Osun.

An Information kit on the election, issued by the commission, indicated that there are 332 wards, 3,010 polling units and 3,379 voting points across the 30 local government areas of the state.

Twenty registered political parties fielded candidates to contest the election.

North will continue to drag Nigeria backward –Barigha-Amange

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Dr. Junaid Muhammed in a recent interview said the northerners fought and died to create South-South states. Do you agree?

I believe that Junaid Muhammed must have been misquoted. If he said northerners fought and died to create South-South states, the statement is not clear. The issue here is that without the South-South, Nigeria would not have been one today. When you talk of South-South, two thirds of South-South are in Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. And they were supposed to join the South East to form the Republic of Biafra but because those four states opted out and wanted Nigeria to remain one, that is why Nigeria is one today.

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Ebola: 20 hospitalised for excessive salt consumption

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No fewer than twenty persons are currently being treated in various hospitals in Jos, the Plateau state capital as a result of excessive consumption of salt following a viral message on social media that it could prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.

A medical worker at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, told our correspondent that they are in various hospitals in the city.

The source, who does not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak, said most of the patients rushed to the hospital were hypertensive while others showed symptoms of stooling due to excessive consumption of salt.

Russian Sanctions Are Political Nightmare for Brussels

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The Russian embargo on food imports from the EU will have not only economic but also political consequences.

Judging by the reactions of some European leaders, it can be speculated that Moscow managed to hit a vulnerable point of the European Union. Polish and Finnish officials have already expressed their intentions to seek financial compensation from the European Commission.
The problem is that although the European leaders have repeatedly mentioned the principle of European solidarity, there is no legal mechanism to compensate the countries suffering from Russian retaliatory measures. It is also safe to assume that finding additional funds in order to pay the compensations will be a difficult task, given the dire state of the European economy.

US Airstrikes on Militants in Iraq Open Door to Disastrous Consequences - Analyst

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US airstrikes on militants from the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq risk escalating the country’s civil war with “disastrous unintended consequences”, anti-war campaigner Kevin Martin told RIA Novosti Friday.
“The spreading of the violent civil war in Iraq has President Obama considering military strikes, along with air drops of food, water and medicine to beleaguered Yazidi and other persecuted minorities stranded on a mountain top in northern Iraq, besieged by the ISIS fighters,” said Martin, executive director of Peace Action.

Photos: Lagos State sets up Isolation Wards for Ebola victims

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 Lagos State Government has built Isolation Centers for patients with symptoms of the Ebola virus at the Mainland Hospital in Yaba. The isolation ward is situated at the back of the hospital and are tents 
under which patients are camped and fenced in with planks.  

The isolation centre was built to help contain the situation and reduce possible spread of the disease.

Lagos Governor Babatunde Fashola, Commissioners for Health, Dr Jide Idris, and Special Adviser on Public Health, Dr Yewande Adeshina visited the place today and said the facility is ready for use. 

See what the Isolation centre looks like after the  break.

GEJ declares national emergency on Ebola, approves ₦1.9b special intervention fund

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Below is the State House press release...

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Friday in Abuja declared the control and containment of the Ebola virus in Nigeria, a National Emergency.

Accordingly, the President has directed the Federal Ministry of Health to work in collaboration with the State Ministries of Health, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant agencies to ensure that all possible steps are taken to effectively contain the threat of the Ebola virus  in line with international protocols and best practices. Continue...

The wave pain for the EU is now slowly turning into a tsunami of mutually reinforcing problems

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This is great stuff!  RT reports:

Ukraine ready to impose sanctions against any transit via its territory, including air flights and gas supplies to Europe, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Friday.  Ukraine's Parliament will vote on the sanctions on Tuesday.  Kiev has also prepared a list of 172 Russian citizens and 65 legal enitites to put under sanctions for “sponsoring terrorism, supporting the annexation of Crimea, and violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine,”Yatsenyuk said at a briefing on Friday.  Proposed sanctions include asset freezes, bans on certain enterprises, bans on privatizing state property, refusing to issue licenses, and a complete or partial ban on transit- both aviation and gas.

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Photos : Suspected Ebola Victim passes on In Victoria Island, Lagos

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 The victim is suspected to have died from the ebola virus .. More details coming soon… more pictures below

Killer of Reuben Agboola’s daughter jailed

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A man who murdered his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter by kicking her so hard she was thrown six feet across the room and ruptured her liver, has been jailed for life.

Dean Harris, 20, killed Amina Agboola, daughter of former Super Eagles player Reuben Agboola, after becoming frustrated at her soiling herself, prosecutors told his trial at Cambridge Crown Court.
The force of the blow was so severe that it tore her liver in two. Paramedics described finding her lying “like a rag doll”.
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Sharia Law: Yemeni Man killed In Medina, Saudi Arabia Over Rape & Murder

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Authorities in Saudi Kingdom today executed a Yemeni man for the rape and murder of 2 women.
According to the interior ministry, the man identified as Awadha Ahmed Salem was convicted of raping and killing the unidentified women and burning the corpse of one of them with acid, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.  His execution in the western Medina region brings to 20 the number of death sentences carried out this year in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

French Women nabbed For Paracetamol Possession

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The paracetamol we get freely here at Pharmacies in Nigeria is a banned substance in Europe.
2 French women have been held in Georgia after they were found with Dafalgan (the French brand name for paracetamol) containing codeine, a painkiller readily available in French pharmacies on prescription.

Also known as co-codamol, the pills are available in other countries including the UK without a doctor’s note, but they are banned in Georgia which takes a hard line against any opiate-derived medication.
One of the two women, Arzu Bilici, from Strasbourg in eastern France, told France Info radio on Wednesday that she was holidaying in Turkey when she decided to take a day trip to neighbouring Georgia.
She explained that customs officers found her pills, which she uses for headaches, and she and another unnamed woman were arrested for possession of a banned substance.

Liberian Govt cries out, says Ebola-Nigerians are harassing our citizens-

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The Liberian government had complained that its citizens are now being harassed from the time the initial case of Ebola in Nigeria was recorded with a Liberian .The Ambassador to Nigeria Martin George told Nigeria's Health Minister ,Onyebuchi Chukwu

 See his statement after the break.

18 year old househelp eliminates his boss'78 year old mom

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Yavine was brought into Lagos in April 2014 by his elder sister on the request of late Mrs Abiola's daughter. He was then taken to the Ikeja home of the late 78 year old woman to serve as her househlp as well as an assistant at her alcohol distribution shop. A month after his arrival, her home was demolished by the state government, prompting her to temporarily relocate to her daughter's home at the Ijaiye Low Cost Housing Estate, Pen Cinema Lagos where his primary assignment was to take care of her and also clean her daughter's house.

B'Haram Recruits Hundreds Of Young Cameroonians To Attack Cities

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Since the Ebola virus became a plague from hell, the activities of Boko Haram has been sort of masked because the attention that the sect wants is not given to them.  The sect has recruited and trained hundreds of young Cameroonians and forced them to carry out attacks in their own country.  This attack may equally spread to other parts of the Cameroon if care is not taken. 

“Boko Haram has recruited many young people” from Cameroon’s Far North region, a police officer from the area told AFP on condition of anonymity.
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Henry Abebe, Younger brother of late Ex-1st Lady Stella Obasanjo dies

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Younger brother late former First Lady, Mrs Stella Obasanjo, Henry Abebe, has died. He died in the first hours of today Friday August 8th at a hospital in Abuja after having a struggle with Liver Cirrhosis, a source near to the family has revealed. The businessman and onetime Executive Director at the Nigerian Ports Authority is survived by aged parents, his wife, Beatrice and children.

WHO declares Ebola an International Health Emergency

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The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola Epidemic an International Health Emergency, stating that "a coordinated international response is deemed essential to avoid and reverse the international spread of Ebola" which has killed almost a 1000 people in four west African countries.

 

At a crisis meeting today August 8th, the Geneva based UN health agency said the declaration of an international emergency may help in raising the degree of vigilance for transmission of the virus.

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Jonathan Didn’t Sack Me Because I Was Incompetent – Gulak

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A former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, on Thursday refuted the report that he was fired by the President for being incompetent.

The former presidential aide while speaking with newsme in Abuja on Thursday said he could not possibly be in office for ever and that he had worked with Jonathan for seven years.
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late Gen. Abacha loot: US to return $480million to Nigeria

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The U.S has taken control of $480million which is part of money stolen by former military dictator General Sani Abacha, after a court ruling in D.C on Wednesday August 6th. The U.S Department of Justice will now hand over the stolen money to Nigerian government, U.S government spokesman said yesterday.

According to court documents, late General Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and others embezzled, misappropriated, extorted money from the Nigerian government and stashed them in various banks across the world. Continue...
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Obama authorises air strikes on Iraq

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US President Barack Obama says he has authorised air strikes against Islamic militants in northern Iraq but will not send US troops back to the country.

He said Islamic State (IS) fighters would be targeted to prevent the slaughter of religious minorities or if they threaten US interests.

No strikes have been made yet but the US has made humanitarian air drops to Iraqis under threat from the militants.

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Aviation fuel scarcity causes flight delays, cancellations

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Delays and outright cancellation of scheduled flights have nearly paralysed activities in the Nigerian aviation industry in the last two weeks.

As a result, passengers scheduled to travel to domestic and foreign destinations have been expressing dismay at the increasing cases of interruptions to their flight schedules and the consequent toll on their business activities.

Investigations by our correspondent showed that major airlines flying both local and international routes had been affected by the crisis, which was traced to inadequate supply of aviation fuel.

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Detailed expert analysis of the MH17 downing

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Just found this detailed analysis on a friend's blog and decided to share it with readers.

You can download his full report by clicking on either one of the following links:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByibNV3SiUoobnpCVDduaHVORHM/edit?usp=sharing

http://www.mediafire.com/view/61qa99yt6v3dq64/MH17Analysis_Parts_1_and_2.pdf

One could be getting increasingly frustrated and angry at the fact that clearly the Dutch and the British, obviously under the orders of Uncle Sam, are sitting on the data of the flight data recorders and not releasing them.  At the very least, the following countries have the recordings of the radio contacts between MH17 and the Kiev ATC:

Russia Extends Snowden’s Asylum for 3 Years – Lawyer

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Russian authorities have extended the temporary asylum for fugitive National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden for three years starting from August 1, his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said Thursday.

Russia’s Federal Migration Service refused to comment on the report.

«Political asylum is not under consideration. In this case, a decision was made about his residence permit. The permission was issued for three years with a possibility of extension for another three years," Kucherena told reporters in Moscow.

The lawyer said that a foreign national may apply for Russian citizenship after living in the country for five years, but said it was up to Snowden to decide.

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Ukraine Civil War: War Torn Donetsk People’s Republic Prime Minister Resigns, Names Field Commander as Successor

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The prime minister of Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Boroday, announced his resignation Thursday.

«I came here as a crisis manager, a startuper if you wish. A lot was done in the past days, and DPR has proven itself as a state. Now I cede my place to a respected field commander, my friend Alexander Zakharchenko," Boroday said.

A Moscow-native, Boroday said the leader of the DPR must be a Donetsk native, as Zakharchenko, who has also been an outspoken leader of a unit of independence supporters called Oplot.

NATO Chief Threatens Russia With More Sanctions Over Ukraine

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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday that more sanctions will be imposed on Russia if the situation in southeastern Ukraine continues to deteriorate.

"I have no doubt the 'international community' will respond with tougher sanctions if Russia continues to intervene further," he told reporters during his visit to Ukraine’s capital Kiev.

The statement came on the day Russia announced embargo on US and European agricultural goods in response to the latest Western restrictions on the country’s economic, defense and energy sectors.

Sanctions Against Russia Suicidal for France - Lawmaker

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France’s decision to impose sanctions against Russia was extremely unreasoned, wrong and suicidal, Jacques Myard, a member of the National Assembly of France, told Le Figaro Thursday.

"The European Union and its member states have made a serious mistake [by imposing sanctions on Russia] because the Ukrainian conflict involving Russian-speaking rebels is a completely regional conflict, a consequence of the Soviet Union collapse and what had happened before, in particular, during the Second World War, when many Ukrainians fought alongside the Nazis," Myard said.

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US May Introduce New Sanctions Against Russia Over Iran Oil Deal - Reports

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The United States may introduce new sanctions against Russian companies due to the recently signed oil deal between Moscow and Tehran, the US Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said Thursday, as reported by Reuters. Although it was still unclear whether Russia and Iran had agreed on an oil-for-goods swap, Cohen said Washington had warned Russia against such a deal under the threat of additional US sanctions, according to Reuters.

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Canadians Cut off From Local Water Supplies After Billion Gallon Waste Spill

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Hundreds of British Columbia residents can no longer consume water at the place where they live following a billion gallon spill of mining waste that reached rivers and creeks in the Cariboo provincial area, the CBC reports.

The open-pit Mount Polley copper and gold mine recently suffered a breach in a tailings pond, which caused 1.3 billion gallons of slurry to pour out straight into Hazeltine Creek, equaling in size nearly 2,000 Olympic swimming pools.

Maidan Unrest Back to Life as Activists Clash With Police on Central Kiev Square

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Clashes among activists and police broke out Thursday on central Kiev's Maidan Square, the flashpoint of the country’s pro-EU uprising in November 2013.
Activists were seen throwing stones and sticks at police and firemen in a bid to force them out of the square.
A RIA Novosti correspondent said that tires were set ablaze, with sounds of what appeared to be an explosion heard in downtown Kiev. Thick smoke has blanketed the square, where a protest camp was set up less than a year ago.
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Russia Slaps U.S.A, EU, Canada and Australia with Sanctions

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Russia’s one-year ban on food imports from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Norway came into force Thursday after being published by the official government website.
Earlier on Thursday, Russia unveiled its list of banned imports of beef, pork, fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables, nuts, as well as cheese and other dairy products from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Norway that have imposed sanctions against Russia.
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Exposed: See The PDP Rigging Template For Osun Election

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 SUBVERSION OF DEMOCRACY AND THE PEOPLE’S RIGHT:PDP’S ELABORATE RIGGING PLAN FOR OSUN GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION UNCOVERED!
Fortuitously, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun has uncovered a very damning ‘secret’ document on how the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) intends to rig the August 9th gubernatorial election in Osun.
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British Govt. Downplays Impact of Russian Food Sanctions on UK Economy

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Russia’s ban on food imports from the so-called sanction nations will not have a significant impact on the UK agricultural industry, the British government said Thursday.

Russia unveiled earlier on Thursday a substantial «blacklist» of food imports from the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada, and Norway. The list includes meat, poultry, fish, seafood, milk, dairy products, as well as fruits and vegetables.
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Ebola Virus: Crusades Banned In Lagos Churches & Mosques

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Few hours after the death of the latest victim of EVD (Ebola Virus Disease) in Lagos State Nigeria, LASG has ordered an immediate ban of all crusades in the state.

This move is to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

Niger State seeks peace between herdsmen, farmers

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Governor Muazu  Aliyu of Niger State on Thursday called for mutual understanding and harmonious co-existence between herdsmen and farmers in the country.

Aliyu, who is also the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, made the appeal in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.

The governor was reported to have spoken at a symposium on ‘Disentangling Farmers and Herdsmen Clashes: Fostering Peaceful Co-existence’, and a book presentation for victims of the clashes in Minna. 

No plan to send troops to Nigeria – Obama

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The United States President Barack Obama has said that his country has no plan to send troops to fight terrorism in African countries including Nigeria.

Obama made this statement after the US-Africa Leaders Summit while fielding questions from journalist on Wednesday.

According to him, the US is more interested in increasing the capacity of regional organisations on the continent to tackle issues more effectively and promptly.

Obama said, “Now, with respect to terrorism, I think there’s uniform concern of terrorist infiltration in many countries throughout Africa. A lot of the initiatives that we put forward were designed to partner so that countries, first and foremost, can deal with these problems within their own borders or region.

13 dead & 41 others wounded in Iraq car bombings

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At the least 13 persons were  killed and 41 others were wounded in three car bombs that targeted Shiite communities in Baghdad and Kirkuk on Thursday, police and medical sources said. Twin car bombs killed eight people and wounded 17 others near a mosque in Kirkuk. In a nearby of Kadmiyah in Baghdad, five people was killed and another 24 were injured in a suicide car bomb, based on sources.

Military dislodge Boko Haram from Damboa & other villages in Borno

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Special Forces in the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign have cleared Delwa, Mustafari, Manga, Wanga and Damboa of terrorists who have been rampaging in the communities, the Nigerian military has annouced. 

Fashola restores LASU school fees

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Lagos state Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has directed the immediate reversal of the school fees of Lagos State University, LASU, which was increased by the government to what it was as far back as 2011.

Governor Fashola gave the directive today August 7th at the convocation programme of LASU which held earlier today at the LASU Ojo campus ground. The reversal comes after months of protests by students and lecturers of the university. Continue...