Nigeria novelist Achebe dies in Boston

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Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, widely seen as the grandfather of modern African literature, has died at the age of 82.

The statesman, dissident and author of the novel "Things Fall Apart" died on Friday following a brief illness, said Andrew Wylie, Achebe's agent

Achebe's death in Boston was confirmed by Brown University, where he taught.

Literary critics have compared Achebe's eminence worldwide to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison and a handful of other writers.

Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, described Achebe as a "colossus of African writing", expressing sadness at his death.

Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and an icon of the Apartheid era, has called him a writer "in whose company the prison walls fell down".

Torrents of tributes pour for Chinua Achebe

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President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday that late Prof. Chinua Achebe will be greatly missed for his immense patriotism and sincere commitment to a better Nigeria.

“President Jonathan received with immense sadness, news of the passing away of Nigeria’s globally acclaimed `writer, scholar, tutor, cultural icon, nationalist and artist of the very first rank’’, said Reuben Abati, the special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity.

“The president believes that Prof. Achebe’s frank, truthful and fearless interventions in national affairs will be greatly missed at home in Nigeria While others may have disagreed with his views, most Nigerians never doubted his immense patriotism and sincere commitment to the building of a greater, more united and prosperous nation that all Africans and the entire black race could be proud of.

Jonathan’s tribute was among the torrents of tributes that poured forth globally for the literary icon, who died early Friday in the US at the age of 82.

NTA Agrees Royalties Deal With COSON

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The Acting Director General of Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, Mallam Musa B. Mayaki has said that NTA will pay exactly what it owes Copyright Society of Nigeria, COSON and fully support its (COSON) activities. 

He made the statement in a meeting with the leadership of COSON on Tuesday, March 19 at the Boardroom of NTA. He said that the two organisations need to converge for the betterment of the Nigerian society.

Chief Okoroji who described the occasion as a goodwill visit also said that despite the lingering issue, the payment of music royalties to Nigerian musicians is important if the industry is to survive. 

Navy Uses N45, 000 Bait To Arrest Employment Syndicate Members

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Three members of an employment syndicate have been arrested by the Nigerian Navy in Abuja.

The Commandant of the Nigerian Navy Unit at the Mogadishu Cantonment, Commodore Segun Adebari who paraded the suspect said they fell for a bait of N45, 000 which they wanted to personally collect.

This is coming at the heels of many cases of job scam into military and paramilitary organisations in Nigeria.

Police to begin seizing cars with tinted windows

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Driving in Lagos with tinted windows is against the law but some people do it because they get away with it. But not anymore says the Inspector General of police. He has directed state commissioners of police to start seizing cars with tinted windows and prosecute the car owners henceforth .

The directive is contained in a statement issued by Frank Mba, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, today in Abuja

“Police Officers nationwide have been directed to commence a massive operation aimed at enforcing all existing laws bordering on tinted glasses and the use of unregistered/unlicensed vehicles. This unbecoming attitude has the capacity not only to heighten criminal activities but to place unnecessary pressure on security agencies and law abiding citizens

A GEM IS GONE: Foremost novelist Professor Chinua Achebe dies at 82

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Novelist, poet, professor, critic and the author of the most widely read book in African literature (Things Fall Apart) professor Chinua Achebe, has passed on. Professor Achebe died last night March 21 in a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He had been ill for a while. He was 82 years old.

8 month old baby Miracle Ibiam needs your help

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Baby Miracle was born 28th of June 2012 with Hydrocephaly which is a structural defect that affects ability of the brain to clear excess fluids so the fluid accumulates therefore leading to that expansion.

Luckily, it is curable through Neurosurgery but this will cost his family N6million to have this done in India. His family can't afford it and need your help. I've spoken to his mum, (pictured above with Miracle) so this is genuine. You can call her yourself on this number - 08055575878.

To donate to Baby Miracle:
Bank: Sterling Bank - Name: Ibiam Orie Acct Number: 0011112988

Thanks guys...and yes I will make a donation, before some of you come after me naw! :-)

R.I.P:The Christ Apostolic Church leader, Prophet Timothy Oluwole Obadare Has Kicked The Bucket !!

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May His Soul Rest In Peace.

US arraigns al-Qaeda man over failed bombing in Nigeria

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The United States has instituted terrorism charges against Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun for allegedly planning to bomb its diplomatic buildings in Nigeria in 2003.

Among the six charges instituted against him by the US government was also conspiracy to bomb its military personnel in Afghanistanin between 2002 and 2003.

Forty-three years old Harun is to appear before a District Judge, Edward Korman, at a US Courthouse in  Brooklyn, New York, on Friday.

The Saudi Arabia-born citizen of Niger allegedly received al-Qaeda training in Pakistan and traveled to Africa in 2003 with the intent to conduct attacks on United States diplomatic facilities in Nigeria.

We can no longer guarantee peace in the East – Ohanaeze

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The pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation,  Ohanaeze Ndigbo,  has said that it can no longer guarantee peace in the East in the face of the  continued killing  of the Igbo in some states in the North.

The group  said that stopping its youths from carrying out reprisal  over the years, even in the face of extreme anger, had  been an onerous job.

It added that it was not sure if it would continue to restrain them from doing so, especially in the South-East.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a statement by its Secretary General, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu,   said this on Wednesday while reacting to last Monday’s bombings in Kano State in which  many Igbo   were killed.

31-Year-Old Pastor Arrested For Sexually Assaulting Teenage Boy

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A pastor who attempted to sodomise a teenage boy appeared before a  magistrate yesterday.

Pastor Tafadzwa Mutani, aged 31, a Salvation Army pastor in Zimbabwe, was hauled before magistrate Francis Mapfumo facing charges of attempting to sodomise a 19-year-old boy (name withheld).

The boy was shocked when he woke up in the middle of the night to see the pastor fondling his private parts. The pastor had allegedly persuaded the boy to sleep without his boxer shorts saying it was not healthy claiming it caused men to be impotent.

Prosecutor Nickson Chamisa said on February 17, this year at Salvation Army Church at Ngundu, invited the boy to sleep at his house saying he was lonely and wanted someone to share stories with that night.

TRAGEDY: Car Airbag Kills 6 Year-Old Girl in Asaba

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If as a parent or a child caregiver, you’ve ever been casual about putting a child below 12 years-old in the front passenger seat of a car, please be more careful next time.

A recent accident in Asaba, Delta state, which resulted in the death of a six year-old girl has brought about a wake-up call on the dangers of putting children below the age of 12 years in the front passenger seat while driving.

Chizurum Gloria Emmanuel was killed on her way back from school when her mother who was driving the car, got involved in an accident.

Teacher, Wife Die After A Meal Of Pigeon Pea

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A sumptuous dinner has reportedly sent a couple to their grave in Arigidi Akoko in Akoko North-West Local Government area of Ondo State.

The deceased, on that faithful night, ate pigeon pea with pap for dinner before they both retired to bed but did not wake up the following day.The death of a Primary School teacher, Alhaji Awogbemi Akadiri and Busili Awogbemi, according to sources, occurred early Monday morning.

Awogbemi, aged 55, was until his death a member of Nasfat Islamic organisation and a teacher at HolyRosaryPrimary School in the town.

'Sunk Nigerian Boat Was Carrying Trafficked Migrants' - Survivors

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A boat that sank off the Nigerian coast with up to 166 people on board, killing at least 45, was carrying illegal immigrants being trafficked to Gabon, survivors interviewed by Reuters said on Wednesday.

Nigerian authorities were still searching for survivors from a wooden boat that sank on Friday some 40 nautical miles offshore on its way from Oron, in Cross Rivers state, to Gabon.

Vincent Aquah, director of the Cross Rivers State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told a news conference that a rescue operation had recovered 27 people so far.

Boko Haram says force will not help free French hostages

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A Nigerian Islamist group warned against the use of force to free a French man and six members of his family kidnapped in Cameroon in a video aired on Thursday.

Tanguy Moulin-Fournier was kidnapped on February 19 along with his wife, four children aged between five and 12, and brother while vacationing in northern Cameroon.

"We are proud to say that we are holding the seven French hostages," said a Boko Haram member in the video aired by France's i-Tele channel with French sub-titles.

The man is shown holding an assault rifle and the family is shown to the left of the screen in the grainy images.

Anything wrong with Kim Kardashian?

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Reality TV star Kim Kardashian was spotted returning to LAX from Atlanta on Monday (March 18). Kardashian, 32, walked the red carpet at Tyler Perry’s Atlanta premiere of his new movie “Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor,” which she makes a cameo appearance in. After walking the red carpet at a theater in a suburb of Atlanta, Kardashian made a beeline for E! News — the only media outlet she spoke to.

When she was asked why her belly bump suddenly showed up on the day of the premiere, she said, “It’s kinda popped. Can’t really hide it.”

“I play a marriage counselor, ironically,” she said, describing her role in the film. “My role is like the comic relief of the film.”

“You Are A Failure” – Fasheun Fires Back At Ahmadu Ali For Calling Yoruba Ingrates

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Founder of the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, has fired back at a former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Alhaji Ahmadu Ali, for describing Yoruba people as ingrates.

The OPC boss , while describing Ali’s comment as a symptom of “verbal diarrhoea,” said it showed that the former Minister of Education, whose mishandling of a students’ crisis led to the death of several youths in 1978, “was as insensitive, reckless and narcissistic as ever.”

Fashenu in a statement on Tuesday, said it was bad for the retired colonel to insult world-class Yoruba dignitaries whose shoe latch he could not untie.

He said, “There are some leaders, who had accidentally found themselves in positions in our national life, but their poor performance made them immaterial that Nigerians would rather prefer to abandon on the rubbish dump of ignominy.

Tinubu backs amnesty for Boko Haram

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Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Thursday in Kano called for the granting of amnesty to Boko Haram militants, insisting that they are not ghosts as alleged by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Tinubu, the National Leader of Action Congress of Nigeria, who was in Kano to commiserate with the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, over the attack on him and his convoy recently, explained that the amnesty must be based on justice, particularly for those with no blood stains on their hands.

He however said those involved in criminal activities among them must be made to face justice.

“Good Luck, Mr. Jonathan. It’s Time To Impeach You” – American Professor

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By Joel Brinkley, the Hearst professional in residence at Stanford University and a Pulitzer Prize-winning former correspondent for The New York Times

Just outside President Goodluck Jonathan’s office sat 17 ambulances, just in case he or one of his aides fell ill. They were seldom if ever used.

No actual health care facility nationwide had as many, and in fact a few still have none at all. But as soon as a Nigerian newspaper took a photo of the ambulances and published a story about them, they suddenly disappeared ― probably to an underground garage.

Lagos Council Chairman In Trouble Over Allegations Of Creating Office For Wife With Salary, Allowance

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The Lagos State House of Assembly has set up a seven-man ad-hoc Committee to investigate an alleged financial impropriety leveled against the Chairman of Surulere Local Government Area, Honourable Tajudeen Ajide.

The House took the decision following debate on a petition read by the Clerk of the House, Mr Segun Abiru. In the petition, which was signed by all nine members of the legislative arm in the council, it was alleged that the Council Chairman, Honourable Ajide, had been conducting affairs unilaterally without recourse to the councilors.

The lawmakers alleged that the chairman had been awarding contracts to his cronies and obtaining bank drafts without the knowledge and approval of the legislative arm. The council boss was also alleged to have created an office for his wife, paid her salaries, allowances and imprest, as well as purchased cars for such office contrary to the law of the state.