Ex President: OBJ House On Fire

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The country home of Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo at Olusegun Osoba Hilltop in Abeokuta, Ogun state has been damaged by a fire outbreak, which consumed the office building in the complex.

The fire which lasted for about 30 minutes was allegedly caused by a power surge.

The fire started just about 20minutes
after the former president left his Abeokuta
Hilltop Mansion residence on Thursday.
Photo by Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji

One of the attendants in the house, who does not want to be identified, said that as soon as the blaze was noticed, men of the Ogun state fire service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were contacted.

The inferno was reportedly brought under control.

The former president returned home after the inferno started.

Addressing journalists that were present at the house, the former President in Yoruba language, jokingly used a native adage that the King’s house that burns will only be beautified.

“Go, go and sing to the whole world that ‘the King’s house that is gutted by fire only beautifies the house,” the former president cheerfully said.

Young Entrepreneurs Must Experience Failure Before success – Elem

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Sunny Elem is a real estate consultant and the Managing Director, Nature Hero Limited – a network marketing firm. In this interview with Okechukwu Nnodim, he says young entrepreneurs must realise that failure usually comes before success in business

What is the basic challenge of a prospective entrepreneur?

The first problem usually is funding because every great idea must have some kind of financial backup to put it to the marketplace. But in Nigeria we don’t have adequate access to funding for small scale or medium scale businesses. As an entrepreneur, borrowing money from friends and family sometimes may not be enough to meet your target in order to make it out there. 

Also this issue of not having good statistics in the country is a challenge to entrepreneurship. You know when you are planning for a business you would want to rely on statistics in order to do your research very well. But as it is now there seems to be no particular place you can go to get information to aid you in your planning and I faced that challenge too when I was starting.

In Nigeria, if you are starting newly, you don’t get the support of the government unlike what is obtainable around most economies of the world. In the United States where I have some businesses, their economy is based on small scale businesses and that is why they don’t play with them. 

Niger budget $4m for Nations Cup

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Niger national team have budgeted $4m for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, officials have said. Top Niger FA official Sani Mohamed told MTNFootball.com that this budget is more than double what the country spent on their debut appearance at the competition when it held earlier this year in Equatorial Guinea/Gabon. “We are hopeful our budget of about $4m will be approved by government. This is more than twice what we spent for the 2012 Nations Cup.

Austin Ndife, 21, Nigerian footballer dies of cardiac arrest abroad

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Another Nigerian football player reportedly died of cardiac arrest in Nepal on Monday. The player identified as Austin Ndife, 21, was said to be in Nepal on trials and is yet to sign for any club. Reports say he had a heart problem for two weeks before he died while on admission at the Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre, Bansbari.

Lagos Screens Workforce For Cervical, Breast Cancer

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To reduce the population of Nigerian women dying of cancer, the Lagos State government has provided free breast and cervical screening for women under its employ. In a statement by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, in Lagos on Thursday, the screening exercise for female civil servants was designed to prevent deaths arising from these two non-communicable diseases.

He said the five-day exercise would also encourage early treatment and detection of the preventable but deadly cancers in women.

Idris, who described breast cancer as an abnormal growth in the tissue of the breast, warned that early detection is key as younger women are being diagnosed with this form of cancer.

According to him, statistics have revealed that breast cancer which occurs in women of all age groups is more prevalent among women less than 30 years as they account for 15 per cent of diagnosed cases while other age groups carried a 10 per cent life time risk of developing breast cancer.

 He said, “Breast cancer is the commonest form of cancer killing Nigerian women while cervical cancer is the genital cancer killing women especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also the second commonest cancer affecting women in Nigeria. Both cancers are preventable and could be managed if detected very early. Early detection is the first line of management we are employing to prevent unnecessary deaths in women.”

The commissioner added that one of the factors responsible for high rate of deaths is low level of awareness among Nigerians, adding that this had informed the state government’s decision to develop enlightenment and screening programme for women in its employ.

Driver killed by LASTMAmen Planned New Year party

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A commercial driver, Mr. Isaac Popoola, who was allegedly beaten to death on Monday by two officials of the Lagos State Transportation Management Authority, had before his brutal killing, started preparing for the Yuletide celebration. The deceased’s son, Ibukunoluwa, told our correspondent, at the family residence in Akowonjo, Egbeda area of the state on Tuesday that his father had fixed January 2, 2013 for the celebration.

Don't Make Use Of these Three ATM PIN Codes

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Yahoo! editors have selected this article as a favorite of 2012. It first appeared on Yahoo! Finance in September and was one of the most popular stories of the month. Readers joked about people who use the most common PIN codes, and shared how they came up with their own. "My pin number is my post office box number from my time in the Air Force 30 years ago on a base that no longer exists," wrote user Nick. "Feel free to hack that." If you lost your ATM card on the street, how easy would it be for someone to correctly guess your PIN and proceed to clean out your savings account? Quite easy, according to data scientist Nick Berry, founder of Data Genetics, a Seattle technology consultancy.

Bombings: MTN, Others To Seek Compensation From FG

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Mobile network operators have  concluded plans to seek compensation from the Federal Government for losses incurred from terrorist attacks on their installations. The Executive Secretary, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Gbolahan Awonuga, confirmed to our correspondent on Tuesday that MTN, Globacom, Airtel, Etisalat, and the CDMA operators had concluded plans to seek  compensation from the Federal Government.

₦170bn Not Enough For Our Severance Pay —PHCN Workers

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General Secretary, National Union
of Electricity Employees, Mr. Joe Ajaero

Power Holding Company of Nigeria workers  have said that the N170bn the Federal Government says it is ready to pay as severance package to them  is grossly inadequate.

.The Secretary-General, National Union of Electricity Employees, Mr. Joe Ajaero, told our correspondent that the agreement reached with the government  never meant that all issues had been resolved. He noted that the government had also contradicted itself by saying it would pay about N170bn to the workers whereas the sum demanded by the workers was in excess of N500bn.

Huge Explosion At Jankara Market This Morning

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Fireworks storage facility located at Oko Awo in the Jankara market area of Lagos exploded this morning around 9am, injuring several people and destroying several cars. Witnesses said the fire broke after someone mistakenly threw firecracker into the building which hit some unsold fireworks kept there. At least eight other buildings in the area were affected by the fire. Fire fighters and other rescue agencies deployed to the area have managed to calm the situation

Gunmen shoot LG Chairman in Kano

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Nigerian gunmen have shot and injured Alhaji Kambai Sumaila, the Interim Management Chairman of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Malam Magaji Majiya, who confirmed the incident, said the driver of the chairman was killed on the spot while Sumaila sustained injuries.

Majiya said investigation regarding the shooting had begun, adding that the attack occurred early on Tuesday. The Information Officer of the Local Government, Malam Bashir Habib, said the chairman went on a condolence visit to Sallari in the state capital, when he was shot.

President Jonathan Gets Huge Criticism from Nigerians after Chrismass Message on FB

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Full Message
"I want to seize this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a merry Christmas and a happy New Year in advance. I feel the pains of Nigerians and that is why this Yuletide I have personally instructed that our roads be worked on to enable you and your loved ones to travel safely for the holidays. Not done, we ensured that for the first time in decades, the cross country services (Lagos to Kano with stops in cities along the route) of the Nigerian Railway Corporation  were revived just prior to the holidays to provide Nigerian masses with an inexpensive alternative to road and air transportation."



"This administration also took steps to increase power generation by remaining true to the Timelines of the Roadmap to Power Sector Reform, which has seen history made on Friday, December 21, when Nigeria’s power generation hit an all-time high of just over 4,500 MW.”

 "Nigerians traveled on these coaches which took them from Lagos to Kano beginning on Friday the 21st of December, 2012 at a very affordable rate of 1,500 Naira, with stops at many cities along the route"

This administration also took steps to increase power generation by remaining true to the Timelines of the Roadmap to Power Sector Reforms which has seen history made on Friday the 21st of December 2012, when Nigeria’s power generation hit an all time high of just over 4,500 MW which I know is still not good enough, but which nevertheless is an improvement of what we met on ground to the end that as many Nigerians as possible can celebrate the holidays with power in our homes and communities.

I reaffirm to you that, God willing, Nigeria will witness a better year in the coming year.

Once again, on behalf of my family and I and the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, wishes every Nigerian a very Merry Christmas and a most prosperous and Happy New Year. GEJ

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New petition urges US to keep Piers Morgan 'because UK doesn't want him'

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Following a groundswell of support in America for demands to expel Piers Morgan from the country and deport him back to the UK over his views on US gun controls, it seems that any return home for the chatshow host would not be greeted warmly by everyone.

The White House has yet to respond to an online petition calling for the TV presenter to be marched to the nearest American exit, but it has not stopped UK citizens from launching a pre-emptive strike against any such move.

Chris Brown Was Paid N156M ($1m) To Perform For 2 Hours In Lagos

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Netng says they found out Chris Brown was paid at least $1m (about N156m) to travel down to Lagos with a 15 man crew last week for the Lagos concert. The event was organised by Kilimanjaro Events – same company that promoted Rick Ross and Anita Baker in the past.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Discharged from hospital

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After almost three weeks in the hospital, former South African president, Nelson Mandela was discharged today Wednesday December 26th. The 94 year old was admitted to the hospital on Saturday December 8th to receive treatment for a lung infection and surgery to remove gallstones, which the doctors say was successful.

Chime attended 17 events in five years – Investigation

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A content analysis of newspapers reports of Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime’s programmes and activities since he became governor on May 29, 2007, on Tuesday showed that he had attended only 17 events out of a possible 111 physically. Our correspondent and statisticians in Enugu State, who had shown concern for the governor’s failing health, especially since he had been on a hospital bed in India for more than three months, coded the data findings.

Christmas Cow Goes Gaga, Injures Man In Onitsha

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A middle-aged man trading at the Onitsha main market, Obinna Adimora has been admitted into a private hospital following injuries inflicted on him by a Christmas cow in Awada area of Onitsha yesterday.

Trouble started for Obinna when tenants in a commercial building located in Ben Aghaeze Street contributed money and bought a live cow for Christmas merriment.

Okonjo Iweala's Kidnappers Caught In A Bank

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Last week, 63 of the suspects earlier arrested by the Army were released unconditionally when their culpability could not be established.  A competent source at the SSS told National Mirror yesterday that six of the real suspects had eventually been arrested in Asaba, Delta State, and might be flown to Abuja today.  The source also confirmed that a N40m ransom was actually paid for the release of the 82-year- old retired professor of Sociology.

Gunmen Kill Six At Christmas Church Service In Yobe

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KANO(AFP) – Gunmen attacked a church in northern Nigeria during a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, killing six people including the pastor, before setting the building ablaze, residents and police said Tuesday. “A group of gunmen came into the village at midnight and went straight to the church,” said Usman Mansir, a resident of Peri village near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe state.

Kidnappers Called Us ‘Bad Market’–Koreans

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The four Koreans and a Nigerian kidnapped in Bayelsa State by eight gunmen said on Saturday that their assailants fed them with noodles, tea and banana while in captivity. The victims, who were released on Friday night after spending five days in the kidnappers’ den located in a mangrove, said the captors set them free after branding them “bad market.”