A lot of people in Nigeria live in fear and express it through anger, jealousy and spite – everything acceptable - Charly Boy

Hey! come and see Nigerians all over the world, holding Oputa Panel on top of my fathers burial. Kassala deyooooo.My father's burial may have come and gone, but tongues are still wagging about all the drama that went down. No be The CharlyBoy Show? I must confess that my pop's burial was the biggest show I ever put together in all my years as an event organizer; it also turned out the biggest burial show across the Niger. Who wan try. Abegi! 3Gbosa for the man wey sabi.From New York to London, Sweden to Helsinki, India to China, the trending topicwas how "CharlyBoy snatched the microphone from Rochas Okorocha, the Governor of the state of Imo".Comments flying in different directions about what happened, the people involved, the controversies, the virgins...Kai.People ask why CharlyBoy is who he is. Why have two days of musical concerts after the death of his iconic father? Why argue or fight a sitting governor – doesn’t he fear the veto venom of a man in power? Why walk around with 6 feet tall, provocatively clad girls wearing bizarre wigs in public, even in the presence of God, his wife and the dearly departed? For some reason, the last one elicits more provocation than most questions about my dear alter ego, CharlyBoy.Funny how envy, anger, timidity, mongopark mentality, hypocrisy and sycophancy have crippled the minds of many of my brothers and sisters. Oh my God! A lot of people in Nigeria live in fear and express it through anger, jealousy and spite – everything acceptable; than actually having the courage to face that fear and be the person they really were made to be. Me I no send. The CharlyBoy brand is me doing my job well – it’s an image, a character invented to shake monotonous minds from their daily doldrums and pull them away from the comforts of the familiar, just for a while. All we have seen from pictures and videos from the week long event is more than enough to stir excitement and controversy – good and bad.Let me warn: those who are easily shocked should be prepared to be shocked even more and more often.I have been called everything from a cheap publicity monger to a cult leader. Those "Charlys Virgins" whose tests are yet to be confirmed have been identified by busybodies as my grand-daughters, spiritual wives, satan’s handmaidens. Hummmmmm! Big deal. I have always known that insecure people put up boundaries but confident ones tear them down. Spiritual people have church picnics.The kind of ass-licking and shit-eating thatgoes on in Imo State is for lack of a better word, infuriating and obnoxious. Chai there is Godooooo.How did the Day of Tributes organised by the Imo State Government on behalf of the great Justice Oputa turn into a political campaign front and a seminar in ass-kissing? Why would anyone expect meto sit down and listen to politicians begging for goodwill from the governor while using the memory of my late father as an opportunity? What an insult on his name! God punish them die. The Imo State government has no shame anymore, the sycophants and megalomaniacs calling themselves leaders whose pictures litter every street corner and roundabout in Owerri begging for a second try at doing nothing who exchange naira for loyalty. Claps in the Church of God is not what would get you re-elected, my brother Rochas, bear that in mind.The interesting thing about all this is that the people, the ordinary men and women that Imo government is supposed to, yet refuses to serve, are the ones hailing the AreaFada, why? Could it be that the poverty-stricken Imolites are hailing The AreaFada because they feel battered by the mental rape committed against them by their leaders and yet, are afraid and feel powerless to defend themselves, to fight back? I am especially referring to themen and women of Oguta who are not just powerless, timid and foolishly arrogant but refuse to seek any control oftheir lives from the government. They just sit there and survive, suffering and smiling sheepishly.How can an entire town, the Blue Lake city, go without electricity for good six years and not do or say anything about it? Not six days or six months, but SIX YEARS!! After all the promises that Rochasgave of giving Oguta electricity for a few days for the Justice Oputa funeral, we did not see even a flash of electricity.These my home-town people, in my opinion, are polluted and disillusioned by their false arrogance from being well positioned in the 1930s and 40s when they traded with the white man, when they had UAC and John Holt and did good business better than the people in the hinterland. Those were the good old days,gone with the wind. Even as an oil producing community, what do they have to show for it? Politically, they are wanting, socially they are timid; many of them inundated by fear and poverty. They may have thought themselves to be something six decades ago, but are nowhere politically in this decade, not even one Imo State cabinet member is from Oguta. Tufiakwa!I am sure that this was one of the reasons some cousins of mine decided to go looking for Rochas Okorocha to beg for forgiveness on my behalf. Who send them? That's how they got to Imo State government house without seeing the governor. After the governor's aids sized them up, they concluded that they were only a hungry bunch of PIRATED Oputas. Shebi, they came back with their tail between their legs, shameless souls! Desperate mongrels looking for a piece ofleftover rotten flesh wherever they could hound. Their plans failed, woefully. People who swallow pain killer for someone else' headache! Can you imagine, apologise for what?Truth be told, I come from a good pedigree, trained by a great man. I know the law and can't be caught dead breaking it. Upon all my ruggedness, there was no way, I, Charles Oputa, would have snatched a microphone from someone speaking no matter how much I hate what the person does. I get sense, am cultured and I went to one of the best universities in the world. I am not a riff raff, neither am I a gutter ass like some of these so called leaders.At the very least I’m honest about my identity (CharlyBoy), proud about my upbringing and courageous in the face of crippling doubt about my brand. I am however confident in the fact that I’m doing one thing many will never accomplish in their short time on earth: leaving a legacy, just like my father did. Sopark well.There is a method to my madness only understood by deep thinkers, not sycophants and bootlickers. The difference between my darkness and yours is that I can stare my own badness in the face and accept its existence while you are busy covering your mirror with white linen sheet. The difference between my sins and yours is that when I sin I know I'm sinning while you have actually fallen prey to your own fabricated illusions.If it makes people feel good calling me a devil worshipper and a thug, when the very great Justice Oputa trained me and finally doffed his hat for me and decided to preach the gospel of Charlyboyisim before he died, mere mortals can go hug a transformer. I have a name that is knock on wood. Anything you say, for your pocket.I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them otherwise, I break them. I am free because I know that I, alone, am morally responsible for everything I do. It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and a few by deceit. Instead of wallowing in the bile of hypocrisy and envy, why don’t we search ourselves and consider the deeper actions beneath all the pomp and pageantry twisted and manipulated by the media? Is that prickly sensation in your heart righteous indignation over the Oputa Funeral, or just mere heartburn? Check yourself – hypocrisy doesn't just wound, it kills permanently.

Families in Norway are handing over their houses free to disadvantaged families while they go off on their summer holidays, in a trend started by Kristine Åsbø, from Nærbø south of Stavanger.

Åsbø has achieved minor celebrity in Norway since she announced the scheme on Facebook on Monday, offering to give out her family's charming wooden house and their BMW estate car to a disadvantaged family.As well as the car and house, the family will get a host of additional goodies, including pizza vouchers, a course at a local surf school, a season ticket to the indoor play area  Leo's Lekland, and free entrance to both the local zoo and to Stavanger's oil museum.Her post was shared nearly 25,000 times, on Wednesday she appeared on God Morgen Norge, the country's leading breakfast TV programme, to talk about thescheme, and on Thursday she announced that she had found a family to take over her house from 25 July to 25 August."Thank you very much for all responses! Hope this can be an inspiration to others! The greatest pleasure one can have, it is tomake others happy," she wrote as she closed down her advert.Two other families have already announced plans to follow Åsbo's example:  Tine Bjerke from Østfold, south of Oslo, has offered to lend out her holidaycabin in Sweden, and Ellen Karin Moen, a politician for Norway's Conservative Party, has offered to lend out her house in Sandnes for the whole of July.Åsbø said she had trouble choosing the right family out of the hundreds who contacted her. In her advert she stipulatedthe family must be a religious one and must have faced some hardship."There have been dozens of powerful stories, and I have a big job ahead of me to read all the stories and choose one," she told Aftenbladet before making her choice. "Unfortunately, I can only help one family, so it's a difficult job to choose the one."

‘Justice League’: Jason Momoa To Play Aquaman

Holy superheroes, Batman! Former ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Jason Momoa is set to play Aquaman in the highly-anticipated film ‘Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.’ Khal Drogo would be so pleased to hear of this.Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is just looking better and better.Jason Momoa, better known as Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones, is set to don the suit of Justice League’s Aquaman! In the best news you’ll hear all day, Jason Momoa is going to play Aquaman in 2015′sBatman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, HitFixreports. Jason will join the ranks of Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) in the Superman sequel.This casting news just fuels the buzz surrounding another upcoming superherofilm:Justice League. Aquaman is a crucial part of the League, along with Green Lantern and The Flash.Aquaman’s powers include controlling the high seas as well as super-strength and super-speed, among others. Jason is best known for his recent role on Game of Thrones as Khal Drogo. The fan-favorite character co-starred opposite Emilia Clarke(more formerly known as Khaleesi) until he was killed off in season one.

We are not ashamed to be called the church of the rich–Oyedepo

Bishop David OyedepoFounder, Living Faith Church aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo,in this interview with Olabisi Deji-Folutile, GBENRO ADEOYE and TUNDE AJAJA,talks about the church and sundry issues

You preach as if you have committed the entire Bible to your memory. How many times have you read the Bible?
The Bible is an unfinishable book, you keep reading. A student once met me after a meeting and said that I quoted 68 scriptures verbatim. He asked if I memorised the scriptures, I said no, I eat them. No matter how unintelligent you are, you can’t forget the food you ate last night, except you are mentally derailed. If you are given three seconds,you could tell what you ate about five days ago, if you truly ate it. So, the Bible is just not for reading, it’s actually for eating. I’m not among the people that have read the Bible three or five times, Idon’t know how many times I have read the Bible and I’m not planning to know how many times. I just know it’s my delight to feed on it daily, and I can’t claim to have finished reading it.
The Living Faith church is 33 years old, how has it been pastoring this one church for the past years?
The ministry is 33 years, the church is now in its 31st year. It started as an itinerant ministry before we were called into the church ministry. It has always been interesting. These things work when you have the right perspective on them. Every pastor is ordained to serve the congregation, not to be served by the congregation. When that understanding dawns on any pastor, and he embraces it, then, pasturing becomes a sweet adventure. I’ve never looked towards what I can get from any member since inception. But I’ve always longed for what I can give to the people.I must say I’m jealous over them, I don’t want anyone to take advantage of them or play games on them. I want them to just be the children of God that they are,serving God without duress or pressure.
Is it true that church members here pray for the dead and they wake up, even in the mortuary, how do they do it?
(Cuts in..) By tapping them and saying wake up (laughs). We must know the source of everything that we experienced or observed. No man has the power to raise the dead. Jesus is the only one that has the keys of resurrection and death in his hands. So, we rely on him to do those things and he quickens whosoever he wills; he determines who to bring back and who not to. We only believe in God to bring back whosoever he wishes, if we have the key, we would be delighted to bring back everybody, and even open a clinic for bringing back the dead.
Why are there so many rich people in Winners?
Because they know better than their contemporaries. If you don’t know what you have, you won’t know if you are deprived of it. The Bible is an open chequebook, it is by revelation we access what belongs to us; by faith we take delivery of it. Someone had access to our empowerment programme and she is a pepper seller, while others sell one basket a day, she sells six, seven. I learnt she had become the envy of all the pepper sellers in her area. Such person has an understanding that whatever she does, she prospers and she knows that when she pays her tithe, she experiences open heavens. But in case people don’t know, they perish for lack of knowledge, and in case they think when you are rich you miss heaven, then they perish for lack of knowledge.So, it’s right when people claim that this church is only for the rich?It’s for all the people who believe that Jesus already paid for them to be rich. And those who don’t believe, when they come they start believing when they seeit happen in a lot of people’s lives. And we are not ashamed to be called the church of the rich. If they call your family poor, will you be excited? Nobodywould be excited. Even when a family is poor, they hate to be called poor. No man in his right mind enjoys being called poor, and nobody truly wants to be poor, people may pretend. Which is more honourable between being a giverand a beggar? Most of us came in very poor, but the light of God’s word came on us and we walked out of poverty in grand style into wealth and riches.
How come there is such wealth in the church despite the poverty in the nation?
The kingdom of God is funded by God’s resources. We are not funded by the economy of the world, but by the economy of the kingdom, which has a budget for all of its agenda on earth. We’ve been here since 1999 and we have never had power outage or water shortage. The main players are Nigerians, the builders are Nigerians. There is no building here that any foreign expert took part in. There is no foreign company’s presence here, including the tabernacle. Some of the revered foreign companies here in Nigeria are technicians in Germany, and they are all political contractors, not that they have something special to offer.Is there any way we can translate this into the Nigerian system?It is possible by believing in the capability and capacity of Nigerians to do whatever they need to do. This is the largest church auditorium in the world. It’s 104m free span wide. Even one of the reputed foreign construction companies came here to take pictures. Nigerians have unusual capacity to match any expertise in the world in any field they are involved in. Most of us go to school in foreign lands and we beat them, is it that when they get here, they become smarter? It’s just for the authorities at the various levels to believe that we cannot develop ourselves seeking foreign aides for everything. We must take advantage of the opportunities around us to develop the capacity of our men and women. This office was built in 2001 and it’s neat and there is no crack on the wall, so, what is the problem? But if we want to do anything, we must give it to people from foreign countries so that those who award the contract can have a deal and share the money and at the end of the day, they are still poorer than poverty because any money stolen never enhances a man’s value.
We learnt your church members once donated about 700 cars as seed and that the cars were given to the pastors?
It’s important to mention that there wasno time that I know in the history of this church where there were 700 cars. There is no such story. People can makeanything out of anything. There was a time they said we had six planes, and I said they didn’t count them well, they should be up to 30 so that we use one each day of the month. Those are things that make news in the social media even when they are lies. People give here because they are taught to give, because we understand from the scriptures that it is the only way to increase. Every normal Winner takes good care of his parents. We also give to the poor. My family has sponsored close to 150 people out of university and others at Landmark University are on scholarship on our own ticket because of our commitment to agriculture. It is a lifestyle; it didn’t start yesterday or two days ago. Since 1992, I have been consciously sponsoring students in various universities in Nigeria. The church is blessed because the church is a giving church. Just today (before you came), I signed millions for people who have health needs from the welfare account. And that continues. For instance, the church gives scholarships annually, not N100m or N150m. And it’s not in the news. And that we have been doing for years.
How do you feel when people accuse you of flying in jets and spending church money to maintain the jets?
I feel very good. It’s an opinion. Let me tell you what my understanding of persecution is; it’s simply an opinion harshly expressed. And everybody has aright to his opinion. People who are walking in the truth are hardly bothered when things are said negatively about them because they have nothing to hide. The truth is I have never felt it, some say it’s not human, but I have not. I can’t be wasting my time trying to reply lies because I have too many things to do. They are doing their work, let me be doing my work too and before they wake up in the morning, I’ve done the next one, so, it doesn’t matter. My idea of it is that, in a football match, you have only 22 people playing with thousands of spectators. And that is the way it is in the journey of life. In every field, you find just few players and many spectators, multitudes. If we don’t know where to place opinions, they will displace us. When we started Convenant University, so many people said it would not work, now, we hosted two Nobel Laureates this week, whereas no Nigerian university has ever hosted one in the history of university education in Nigeria. Now, it is the most pronounced and preferred private university in Nigeria. In fact, they say this is the university of the future; that is what they say in the university community. Those who said it could not work now have their children here because they have changed their mind. Some people say how can you tell children how to dress? We have to do that so they won’t behave like mad people on the street. They say how can you tell them they can’t use phone? We tell them so they would be disconnected from cultism. Ask me anything, I can tell you why we did it. Where are you going to find the President of a nation with a woven hair?I can tell you that in the next 100 years, you won’t find a male president using earring because they would count you as irresponsible, even in the secular world, they won’t see anything in you. As free as America is, have you ever seen any minister there with earrings? The person may be qualified, but he will be termed irresponsible. But if you train these children how to carry themselves, it will open up their future. Everywhere you get to in this world, people are looking for responsible people, who don’t only say so, but prove so. So, all the opinions on Covenant University have died now because we didn’t stop pursuing what we believe was right and now it has become a standard.Is that why the CU had the highest number of first class graduates that wonthe Federal Government’s scholarship twice now?What we do first is to package the man to suit the future that he is dreaming of. And that we do by injecting our seven core values into them, and we used SIM CARDS as the acronym for it: Spirituality,Integrity, Posssibility Mentality, Capacity Building, Responsibility, Diligence and Sacrifice. We package that into them so that right from here, they have two things; character and capacity working for them. With those two, you can go to any level in life. Here, there is time for everything.
We learnt the university wants to be one of the top 10 universities in the world in 2020. Don’t you think this is a tall dream?
Where we are today, Harvard was not there 100 years after it took off. I studied the world class universities in depth. So, we are closest to it. The two Nobel Laureates that came signed up asvisiting professors at Covenant University, we have about five of them in different areas. That somebody has never done it does not mean it cannot be done. We are believing God for it, notby using strength and power. There is a particular university in the US that never takes anybody from outside North America for postgraduate studies, but we have 19 Covenant University graduates there. Prof. Okebukola shared that with me at the conference last week. A Covenant University graduate is the overall best graduating student in a school in Britain. So there is increasing expression in the quality of training that they receive in their respective areas. Except the dream is taller than God; if it’s not taller than God, it’s a cheap possibility.
We even learnt the church is planning to establish two more universities?
It is actually seven in our vision plan.
Are universities now secondary schools that you establish here and there?
We are trying to avoid having too many students on one campus so that we will not lose the quality of the training programme. Otherwise, the quality would wear down gradually. But because of the present security challenge that the nation is facing, it’s normal for us to review our approach ina manner that does not create tension for workers and anybody else. We believe God to help us out of the crisis. So if there are no adequate mentioning of our programmes, it is to create adequate room to see these security issues overturned.
Some people believe faith-based universities charge high tuition that some of their members can’t even afford…They should bring the comparison. You know people talk all kinds of things. Compare what they pay here and there and what those payments cover. The rate of power consumption in the hostels alone is out of this world. All we need to juxtapose this is that they should rent the room and pay for electricity and they would pay ten times the amount. People should just sit downand find out what exactly they are paying for. The church has not drawn anything from Covenant University since
inception in 12 years. But this year, the church reserves about N1.6bn stakes in its development. So, it’s not a business, it’s a service platform. In every nation ofthe world, the government subsidises education to all the stakeholders, not in this country, not a dime has ever crossed from government to any privateuniversity in Nigeria. And ask those who are in it how much profit they are making, they would explain to you how it has been wonderful to pay staff salaries and keep the system running. Move to the next country where people rush to study, look at how much they pay and what they get for it. Whether they have teachers or not doesn’t matter. But every visiting professor here takes more than N1m. We are not talking about top individuals, Nobel Laureates and others. So, it’s where we find ourselves and we want to make a difference, and we must make a difference. I want to believe that the private universities are doing the best they can. Ask the federal universities how they get their allocations, what they calculate to train a child out of the university. Ask them what it is and ask them who subsidises for private universities. Most of them don’t have any equipment whatsoever. There is no engineering equipment you are looking for that you won’t find here, bought brand new. If the government is not accepting responsibility, all we can do is to do the best we can to get these children trained, but at a cheaper cost than they do and with greater quality than they have. Those who cannot afford it can go to government institutions and if they are committed, they will still come out with good results.
The attention of the whole world has turned to Nigeria because of Boko Haram. What is your take on this?
I hope that we are willing to find solution to it. I would be the last person in this world to believe that government has not discovered those who are behind Boko Haram. Otherwise, we don’t have any intelligence service in ourcountry. Are they sacred cows that cannot be brought to book? Until we cut the source of their supplies and get those who are involved, we cannot stop them. But the danger is this, and I must say it here, we are at the verge of a break up. That is the truth. It’s unfortunate. The Nigerian nation is too intelligent to claim not to have discovered those who are behind this. So, I really believe it’s all in the hands of the authorities to decide whether they want to confront the issue headlong or to keep watching it until Nigeria breaks up.
Does it mean there is nothing the church or other religious organisations can do?
All that the church can do is to pray. The church is not in power, it has no political power. And when invited, we give advice, when required or called upon. You can’t call someone and say can I advise you?
But people also criticise men of God like you for honouring the President’s invitations?
A president is a president, whether it is Jonathan or not, It would be stupid not to honour your President’s invitation. So, what is wrong with honouring the president? This is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He’s our President, not that he made himself President. It’s all nonsense. We are not politicians. We are men and women of God who are pursuing a divine call. I honour President Jonathan as our President as a nation and as my president as a citizen, and so I have no regret and I would never regret being there at anytime he calls. My understanding is that anyone who is the President of this country requires the honour of the citizens and no matter your political view, it doesn’t change it. Ifhe is doing thanksgiving or marriage, he is doing it in the church, who would be with him if the men of God are not with him? If I were in Canada or Australia, and I knew that my President was having an occasion that I thought I had to be there with him to honour him, I would fly down here. Whether it is President Jonathan or somebody else, as long as it is the president, and he says please can I see you, it is an honour.
Apart from insecurity, corruption is another problem in Nigeria. We have looting here and there which is also capable of causing unrest. What is your take on the corruption in the country?
That comes down to the kind of education that we offer. This is nothing but the expression of the content of the men. For instance, I have never given a bribe and I would be the last to give a bribe. I would rather die than give one. And those who collect bribe know that they can’t collect from me. Corruption has stayed with us for too long and I think it is a breeding ground for revolution. There is nothing happening in any private university today that would not have happened more in public universities, but for leakages hereand there. But my understanding is that the church has a place of intense prayers because only God can change the hearts of men. People seek for appointment today not because of what they want to contribute but what they would have to share. Everybody is bothered, I am bothered. The rate of corruption in our society as Nigerians and Africans is enormous. But the church needs to be the example of whatit wants to see in the society as far as corruption is concerned. Be that example; be able to say no and stand with it like Daniel. Right now, unlike in the time past, there are many Christians occupying sensitive positions at all strata of both public and private sectors.If the church people really come to a point of taking a stand against corruption, it would affect and impact Nigeria and the citizens positively.
Some people think there are too many churches in Nigeria and the best way to make money is to establish a church…
Let them go and start one. Almost everyhouse in some parts of Nigeria is a mosque. So what is the complaint about? Multitudes still flock the roads onSunday mornings going nowhere. Are churches enough? No. Until everybody is saved and everybody is off the street on Sunday mornings, we don’t have enough churches. So for those who are angry, they would be angry for too long because we haven’t seen churches yet. Atime is coming on Sunday morning that we won’t see anybody on the street, because they would be in church. And those who go to church to make money go bankrupt before they start. Church is not a money-making platform; it is a life-raising platform.There are many men and women who are coming out to start stronger ministries than the ones we are doing. So, you can’t say enough. Enough of what? Why don’t you say people in the market are enough? Somebody else is starting shoe or wrist watch business today in spite of the millions that are in it in Nigeria. Some barbers are just graduating today to join the company ofbarbers in the country already, yet we didn’t say they are enough. So, what’s the headache? My submission is that we don’t have near enough churches in Nigeria yet and the ones we have are doing well. I can tell you that there are hundreds and thousands of vibrant and Bible-believing, heaven-focused and life-changing churches, founded by genuine people who are called by God and are pursuing their callings and ours is just only a little thing out of too many, and many more would still rise, so anybody that wants to be angry can just get ready to be more angry. Church is not a money-making venture, those who are saying it is should open one and they would make a lot of money.

Source: PUNCH.

THE OBASANJO'S AND LETTER WRITTING : OPEN LETTER: "Boko Haram Has More Sense Than This Jonathan’s Leadership" – Iyabo Obasanjo ...

Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of President Olusegun Obasanjo has written another open letter to the leadership of the Boko Haram sect. Although she accused those in President Goodluck Jonathan’s inner circle of hindering the resolution of the crisis posed by the Boko Haram insurgency, she faulted the insurgents for betraying the true essence of revolutionaries in directing their venom against the lower class."I am moved to write about the current state of affairs in Nigeria. My first inclination was to write to the Presidentbut since all letters to him seem to elicitonly open derision and even more stupidity from his inner circle, I have decided to address my letter to a group also currently causing Nigerians a lot of pain and agony that may actually have more sense than the country’s leadership."Read Iyabo's shocking letter when you continue below: Dear Boko Haram,The fact that you have taken arms against the Nigerian state is no surprise. The question should be why haven’t more young people organised themselves against the state?Even the fact that your motto, ‘Against Western Education’ is in a way reasonable given the fact that your leader, martyred by the Nigerian state haduniversity education and found no reasonable employment but had to resort to thuggery for politicians to survive, as the story goes.He, like millions of Nigerian young people and college graduates, seeing a blighted future are doing anything to survive. They have become opportunistic desperados, almost sub human as the stepping on and trampling on each other to death at the Immigration employment debacle indicates. Where you’re wrong Where I think you have gotten it wrong are in two areas, if you can pardon my giving you some unsolicited advice. First, your victims are becoming more and more the people you should be attracting to your side. Take the Nyanya bus massacre.The people that live in Nyanya are usually the clerks, messengers and other lowly office workers that live out in relative slums compared to the rest of Abuja and take public transportation to work to receive monthly salaries they barely get by on. Consult any written work of successful revolutionaries be it French, Russian, Cuban or even the more recent uprooting of communism in Eastern Europe, to succeed you need the people to be on your side. Right now you are not achieving this.You are targeting the group you need most. This does not make for a successful revolution but you are making yourselves into nuisances to the people and in the end while the state, including its military machine may not be able to conquer you, your downfall will be alienating these potential allies, i.e. the oppressed and down-trodden. Secondly, the abduction of girls. It must be hard to stay in the bush as all male revolutionaries fending for yourselves with no sexual gratification.Cuban example But again, reading up on past bush revolutionaries like the Cuban, for example, indicates that they were able to convince some women to go voluntarily with them into the bush.Somehow, revolutionary zeal does not include sexual abstinence and cooking and cleaning by yourselves. Reading must be hard for you since you hate education but the past is a good guide to the future and if you can’t read, you are done for in organizing or succeeding in most endeavours as most things have been done before and reading up on how it was done can only serve as good guidance.The parents of the girls you abducted are just trying to give their daughters a chance at having successful lives. Without an education there is very little anyone can achieve in this early 21st century.I know living in the bush; it must still seem like the dark ages but the truth is that even with the lack of jobs and opportunities for young people in Nigeria currently, it is still better to be educated.An educated university graduate who was selling food from a food cart ignited the Arab Springwhich was spread by use of the internet which is hard to use if you are not educated.There are writings, videos and stuff you post on the internet which I haven’t seen. But think of it, you can only post and use the internet because some of you have some education.But in the end you have no control overthe distribution of your advertising andrecruitinginformation because as you may know, the internet is really part of the western system you despise.Why you’re succeeding The truth is that you have succeeded because the Nigerian state has failed to provide jobs and opportunity for its young people who you can now easily recruit. By disrupting education, you are adding to the burden of the people.You may say, but how about our religious issue? Let the truth be told, just as there are indigenous southern Muslims, there are indigenous northern Christian seven from your epicentre in Borno State and just as you are zealous for your religion, I don’t see them giving up their religion either.The reasonable solution to this impasse would be for you to advocate for everyone to be able to practice their religion as they see fit with respect for each other’s beliefs.Remember, a couple of centuries ago, all of our ancestors below the Sahara were all animists worshipping various ‘gods.’This ‘One God’ — us against them situation — is a relatively recent one in our human history and you will be advised to let the originators fight it out and let your people be.

Meet the 10 months old baby who survived the Nyanya bomb blast

A 10-month old baby who has been identified as Goodness survived the deadly Nyanya bomb blast which killed over 100 and injured about 124. Goodness is said to be the daughter of a petty trader who trades at the motor park. She was found among dead bodies while rescue team were trying to separate the bodies. The only injury she has is a swollen right eye, while her mother died during the incident.

NDLEA Arrests Pakistani Student With N228m Worth Of Heroin In Lagos

A Pakistani student, Iftikiha Arslan, who is believed to be working for a Pakistani drug cartel, has been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for trafficking 25.4 kilogrammes of heroin.

Head of Public Affairs of NDLEA, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, said the drug was discovered in the suspect’s luggage during inward screening of passengers on board Qatar airline flight. It was believed that Arslan left Lahore, Pakistan with the drugs to Abu Dhabi then to Doha from where he connected to Lagos. The estimated street value of the seized drug was said to be N228m.

APC party chieftains sweeping away President Jonathan's footprints

President Jonathan was in Kano earlier for a PDP rally. The broom is APC's logo.

Aminu Tambuwal and Bukola Saraki donate blood to bomb blast victims

House of Reps speaker, Aminu Tambuwal and former Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki this afternoon donated blood to victims of Nyanya bomb blasts in Abuja. People who were there said more Nigerians have been coming in to donate blood.

Nigeria Is In War And Only Competence Can Solve The Problem, Not Prayers-Wole Soyinka

Against the Minister of Power’s speech over the weekend that Nigeria was facing a spiritual war and urging those who could pray like him, to pray hard. After Nyanya’s bomb blast yesterday, Professor Wole Soyinka while speaking at an event in Osogbo have said, what Nigeria needs are competent leaders and not prayers. He said for example, the nation could get help from similar countries that have survived their security challenges and learn from them.

Also speaking against a paper that quoted him to have said, prayers can solve the nation’s problems, Soyinka said;

”I have never said prayers can help resolve the security challenges facing Nigeria. I believe the situation must be tackled without partisanship and all these uninformed comments cannot help the situation. We should wake up to the reality. Nigeria is in war and only competence can solve the problem, not prayers.”

7 & 3-Year Old Kogi Speaker’s Children Kidnapped

Kidnappers have abducted two children of the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Alhaji Momoh-Jimoh Lawal in his home. The children Ogirima, 7, and Hafeez, 3 were kidnapped when abductors invaded the speaker’s house at around 4a.m, after gaining access into the premises through the fence.

Aside kidnapping the children, they went away with a television set, generator, N20,000 cash and a Toyota Yaris saloon car which belongs to his wife. They are yet to contact the family.

Boko Haram kidnaps 103 girls from Secondary School in Borno

According to reports, 103 girls were kidnapped after an attack on a Girls Secondary School located in Chibok, a town on the border of Adamawa and Borno state.

Gunmen reportedly arrived at the school in Chibok around 9pm, killed the soldier stationed to protect the students and took 103 out of the 250 girls that make up the school. The men took the girls away in four lorries.

Residents of the area say the raid which lasted from 9pm-3am saw the destruction of many houses as the men overpowered the residents who put up initial defense. Police Commissioner in Borno state, Lawan Tanko confirmed the incident to reporters in the state.

Surge in number of immigrants deported

The number of illegal immigrants deported from Norway leapt 37 percent in the first three months of the year, as the country's new right-wing government brings in a more hardline policy. The country's immigration police deported 1,705 people, up from 1,248 in the same period last year. Of those deported, 157 were minors, with three sent home without their parents.

A total of 147 Nigerians were deported, followed by 138 Afghans, 102 Romanians, 92 Albanians, 84 Russians, 82 poles, 76 Lithuanians, 72 Iranians, 63 Iraqis, 60 Eritreans, 60 Syrians and 59 Somalis.

Source: The Local
*Naija topping the list as usual*

Man at recycling plant finds $16,000 in old safe

An excavator operator at recycling facility in Norway has discovered 100,000 kroner ($16,000) left behind in a safe dumped at the site.

John Erik Tveitdal, 22, said he had decided to use his machine to break open the safe as "a bit of fun" at the end of his shift.

"'Suppose there is a million in there,'" I joked to a colleague, but I never thought there would be any money in a safe someone had thrown away," he told Norway's VG newspaper.

"I put the safe on the ground and beat down on it with the arm of the excavator," he said.

Eventually he managed to rip off the front door of the safe, and immediately saw that it contained six bags of cash.

"I felt I was in heaven and I thought I must be dreaming," he told the paper. "I stood there with 117,000 kroner in my hand and thought that right there I had a holiday in the tropics and a hot tub for the wife and me, but instead I ran straight to the boss and gave him the money."

Unfortunately for Tveitdal, his company Norsk Gjenvinning Group, then tracked down the owner of the safe and passed them back the money.

The Local.no

Would you return the money if it were you?

Police arrest twins for robbery, burglary

A set of twins, Taiye and Kehinde Balogun, (pictured above) have been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Lagos for robbing a factory belonging to Reckitt Benckiser, Punch reports.

Police authorities said the brothers, who were welders, were hired by a robbery gang to break into the company's warehouse in May last year. The robbery gang robbed the company of soap, noodles and chemicals worth N17million.

They were arrested, after much investigation, in February 2014. How sad for their parents. Continue.

After their arrest, the 27 year old twins claimed that they were not aware that they were being hired for a robbery operation.

Kehinde said;

“Around May last year, we were called by one guy known as Yankee who lives near our workshop in Agbara. He took us to meet one Deji. Deji claimed to be a storekeeper at the factory, saying he had misplaced his key. He took us to the warehouse and said we should break the locks open. After breaking the locks, they told us to help them load the chemicals into some trucks. They said they were under instructions to transfer the cartons to another warehouse. After helping them load the goods, we were given N10,000 each.”

But the police do not believe their story. They insist that the twins were aware that it was a robbery operation. Plus other suspects arrested along with the twins said the twins had been informed of the operation beforehand.

Source: Punch

British High Commissioner To Nigeria Donates Blood To Victims Of Nyanya Bomb Blast

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock was among the people who donated blood to victims of Nyanya today at the National Blood Transfusion Centre, Wuse 3, Abuja.

PDP Blames APC For Abuja Explosion

From Premium Times

The Peoples Democratic Party has condemned as barbaric, monstrous and extremely wicked, the bomb attack which claimed the lives of innocent Nigerians in Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja on Monday.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Monday said the party was shocked and has remained grief- stricken since it received the news of the gruesome attack and killing of Nigerians pursuing their legitimate endeavours.

“The PDP weeps. We are indeed grief-stricken. Our hearts go out to the bereaved, especially those who have been orphaned and widowed and those now deprived of their bread winners by this evil act. We share in their pain, their anguish and their loss and pray that those behind their grief must not escape justice,” the party said.

Stating that the attacks cannot be justified under any guise, the PDP maintained that they are politically motivated and can be traced to the utterances and comments of desperate persons who seek to undermine and discredit the present administration and make the nation ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan by instituting a reign of terror against the people.

“We stand by our earlier statements that these attacks on our people are politically motivated by unpatriotic persons, especially those in the APC, who have been making utterances and comments, promoting violence and blood-letting as a means of achieving political control.

“Nigerians are also aware of utterances by certain APC governors which have been aimed at undermining our security forces and emboldening insurgents against the people.

“Those who have been promoting violence through their utterances can now see the monster they have created. They can now see the end product of their comments; a country flowing daily with the blood of the innocent.

“The question is; how do they feel when they see the mangled and blood-soaked bodies of their victims? How do they feel when they hear the voices of the dying and the injured?

“Of course they feel nothing. Their hearts have been hardened and they are embittered by the fact that they have been rejected by the people. They are bitter because the people have chosen to rally round the government they love and voted for; but must they chose the path of violence and bloodletting as a response to the wishes and aspiration of the people?” the statement queried.

Urging all well meaning Nigerians to stand up and join President Goodluck Jonathan in his untiring efforts to check terrorism in the country, the PDP cautioned those fueling the attacks to retrace their steps, rid themselves of bitterness and desperation and seek forgiveness from God.

The party, in solidarity with the people also shelved all official engagements while praying God to grant the bereaved the fortitude to bear the loss.

Jehovah’s Witness Church members decry marriage restriction

Some members of Jehovah's Witness have come out to condemn their church's stance against them marrying outside their faith. According to Jehovah's Witness' doctrine, members of the church are to only marry themselves and not from any other Christian faith. If they do, it's seen as an act of immorality. And people who marry outside the church are usually expelled from the church and treated as non-members.

The members say this has kept them unmarried for years and in some cases, get married to members who they are not attracted to. Continue...

Confirming the church's position to PM News, an elder in the church, Elder James Etop, says the church's position is in accordance with biblical instructions. He said that if members are allowed to marry anyhow their faith would be affected. He said the teachings from other churches are different from the ones they have and so they try to protect their members from being affected. He took the case of heaven and earth teaching as an example

"For instance, there is nothing like hell fire as propagated in many churches. Hell fire was mentioned just as an illustration by Jesus Christ when He was saying the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in the Bible. If a member marries such a person who believes in such doctrines which is against the teaching of the Witness, it will definitely affect his or her faith.” he said.

According to Etop, members are not literally compelled to marry one another but if they marry outside of the church, the church would not honor such a union or an invitation to the wedding ceremony.

A jealous father-of-twelve who burned his 24-year-old lover to death when she tried to leave him for his 18-year-old son has been jailed for life, UK Daily Mail reports

Ashley Williams, 49, hit Julie Beattie, 24, over the head with a hammer before he doused her in a mixture of petrol and diesel fuel.

She managed to stagger out of her home in flames like a ‘zombie' and gasp: ‘Ashley did this to me', before collapsing. She later died of horrific injuries.

Two children aged four and five witnessed the murder and became the youngest witnesses to give evidence at a murder trial. Continue...

Her sister Lucie Beattie described arriving at their south London home to see Williams put on his coat and walk out as Ms Beattie burned, screaming, behind him.

He carried out the attack in revenge because the mother of his four children was packing her bags to live with his son Ashley jnr from a previous marriage.

He claimed that he had thought he was involved in a 'water fight' and that she had been throwing the fuel at him - but he had no idea how she actually became ignited.

But he was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey by a jury of six men and six women. He showed no emotion as the verdict was announced while the victim’s family wept and clutched each other’s hands. He was jailed for life and told he must serve minimum of 25 years before being considered for release.

Williams was married to Monica Williams and the couple had eight children together before they divorced in 1999.

He then started a relationship with Linda Beattie, the victim’s mother, before he moved on to Julie.

Ms Beattie was aged only 16 when she gave birth to their first child in 2009. The court heard that Williams became increasingly possessive and would not let his partner have a tattoo or wear revealing clothes.

Ashley Jnr, 18, moved into the flat in Walworth, in September 2012 and began a sexual relationship with his father's girlfriend four or five months later, it was said

When Williams found out, he banned his son from having anything to do with Ms Beattie and tried to exile him from London. He threatened to ‘break every bone in his body’ if he refused to leave town.

On July 18 Ms Beattie and Ashley Jnr travelled to Birmingham together.

The couple had come back to London on the day of her murder, the same day Williams had sent a number of texts, begging Ms Beattie for forgiveness. In one message he said: ‘I tried over and over with you Julie. ‘I wish you nothing but the best... I’ll always love you, I just showed it too late, please forgive me Julie.’ He also sent his children bizarre messages blaming them for the break up of the relationship. In one he stated: ‘When my life is done..mark these words of your father, my curse will begin.'

When Williams came home from work at 11am he locked her inside the house. Her sister Lucie Beattie collapsed in court as she relived the moment she saw her sister emerge from the house in flames. She said when she went to the house Ms Beattie screamed: ‘He’s going to kill us.’ When she returned minutes later she saw smoke billowing out of a window and ran in screaming: ‘Where’s Julie.’ She sobbed as she told the court: ‘I pushed open the kitchen door and a lot of smoke came out. ‘I saw Julie. She was in flames,’ she wept. The victim walked out of the house and rolled onto the floor before sitting down with her hands and legs out in front of her. Witnesses said that her clothing and some of her skin was actually on fire. Neighbours poured water on the victim and wrapped her in wet blankets while they waited for emergency services.

Williams was arrested in a park close to the home later the same day, with self inflicted injuries. In court he claimed he was not trying to kill himself because of what had happened to the victim - but because he was upset that the fire had damaged the kitchen.

Williams, of Walworth, who had denied the charge, was convicted of murder.

Culled from UK Daily Mail

GRAPHIC IMAGES: BOMB EXPLOSION ROCKS NYANYA MOTO PARK

Bomb blast kills many at Abuja motor park

Oh dear. This is not good. Two blasts at Nyanya Motor Park on the outskirts of Abuja this morning April 14th has killed several hundreds of  people with many injured.

The blast occurred at the crowded bus station around 6.30am today during rush hour as commuters were about to board buses and taxis to go to work in central Abuja.  Buses full of people were struck. It is believed that one of the buses,or a red car which blew up completely was parked overnight at the motor park or driven there this morning, was loaded with the bomb that went off this morning.

The explosion occurred in a section of Nyanya park allocated to luxury buses. An eyewitness said he saw at least two truck loads of corpses being removed from the scene..

"This morning there was an explosion at the Nyanya Motor Park," Manzo Ezekiel of the National Emergency Management Agency said. "Rescue teams are on the ground"

Now there are some really gory photos from the ugly incident this morning.

 Find it after the cut. *viewer discretion advised*

There's No way I can be Faithful to One Woman' – Femi Kuti Finally Shares the True Story behind his Crashed Marriage

Afrobeat maestro, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, has finally opened up on his crashed marriage. The musician, who is currently in Paris, France where he is due to perform at the biggest African music festival in Europe, went down memory lane and recalled how he met, married Funke, his ex-wife and mother of his first son, Made, right down to their divorce in this new interview I found on DailySun. He also spoke about other intimate issues. It is a vintage Femi – candid, honest and brutally frank! Enjoy it. Interview seems long but it's very revealing, guys. What would you suggest as the best way to love a man like Femi?

Because of Made, maybe you and Funke see to talk about common things but we are shocked to see her sitting next to you at ‘Femi Segun’s burial?

She is the mother of my child and we are very friendly, we even call each other. At least, what I manage to do is not to let the breakup affect Made first of all, and our relationship. Human beings must fight. There must be misunderstanding sometimes. It is now left to us if we are matured enough to overcome these problems.

To some people, breakup is so bitter that they end up hating each other. I manage to take my hatred and throw it away, and still respect her as a human being and the mother of my son, and most importantly for the love of my son who needs his mother. If she too understands that he needs his father then we must get rid of our misunderstanding. He was the one at the church who said ‘please sit beside my mother’; I had to oblige him. I could have refused because I went with my girlfriend, so I told my girlfriend not to be annoyed and she understood.

Does it mean you and Funke may come back as husband and wife?

I doubt it. But you never know. You never know what God has in plan for you. What if you say never and something just happens? If they told me she would leave my house one day, I would have said it is impossible. So, if she comes back one day, you never know what can happen. One sickness can hook you down and she might be the person by your bedside, what would happen? I don’t pray for it but you never know what God has in plan for you. So, I am not the one that tempts fate. Right now, I am content, I am happy, we are friendly and my children are also happy.

Tell me your greatest memory of Funke?

Are you trying to bring us back because this question is mischievous (laughs). There are many great memories of her. I can’t say one or two because it is not possible to throw 10 years away. There are great, good and bad memories. All are memories.

How did you meet Funke?

I met her at a restaurant where I was playing jazz, at a place called ‘44’ in Ikoyi. She came with my cousin, Funmi Ransome-Kuti, they were in UNILAG together. She was so beautiful and she was looking at me, so I knew she likes me. So, I told my cousin to introduce me to her. That’s how we met.

How did you eventually propose to her?

I didn’t propose; one day, I just told her that ‘from today, we are boyfriend and girlfriend’. She said, ‘ha ha, what kind of love is this?’ I said, ‘when we have been calling ourselves everyday, are we misleading ourselves? And it was on a Christmas Eve. I said to her ‘from today you are my girlfriend, if you have a boyfriend, get rid of him now because I must not see him when I get to your house’ and she laughed. That was how we started.

I am sure you don’t want to pull that off your mind so soon?

It is off. Like I said, I have a new life. I am staying with two of the mothers of my children; we all stay in the same house. I have a very good family. They are content, but they respect Funke. If Funke comes, they will excuse us. They are very respectful of her. Don’t forget we are in Africa; this is the way we grew up, so if she comes around they give her the respect. If I go to the church and she is there, if I say ‘please I have to sit with her’, they will accord her the respect. And I am sure she has her life.

Can we ever get together? I can never say no, because something can happen that may be for good or bad and we’ll be together again.Never say never! If you ask if I am happy right now, I am very happy not just with my relationship, I am also very happy with my children who are progressing, which is really my priority. At 52, I have experienced a lot. If I die today, I cannot complain in heaven that I did not enjoy my life.

My biggest challenge is to ensure my children have a good life. I want the children to grow up very stable and that requires a lot of sacrifice on my part. I cannot use my selfish, jealous or whatever interest to disrupt their future, which is the same attitude I have with Made. He is doing very well. He is playing piano well. And probably if I use his mother’s problem as an obstacle in his life, it might just be worrying him. And you never know why children have psychological problems, but it is the parents’ duty to always protect their children. ‘Nobody send us message; we slept with each other, we born pikin, you now want to give the pikin problem.’ I don’t indulge in that. Since there is a child involved, I try my best to keep my reservations to myself by just facing the truth.

You don’t believe in monogamy?

Yes. I grew up in a polygamous home. I grew up wanting to be like my father. I grew up wanting to have many women; that was my training. I will not tell you it is right or wrong. You see my son, he believes in monogamy. He has one girlfriend that he has been following for many years, and they want to get married. I don’t pray for them to breakup. If they want to even get married in the church, I will not stop him. Whatever he wants to do I will not use my own life to rule, direct or control my children. They must have the liberty to choose because if they fail or succeed, they have to understand it is their life. I can always be a good father. I will have to teach them how to take good decisions because I love them. I am not going to discourage my son by saying ‘what if she breaks your heart, so get ready for heartbreak’, because I don’t pray for it. I can only support him. If he is successful and even if he breaks up with this girl, he might still go for another person. But for whatever reason, this is the life he has chosen for himself and I love it that he is happy.

Because of the way I was brought up, there is no way I can be faithful to a woman. I will not even try it. I wasn’t trained to do so. I didn’t grow up with that attitude. I grew up in the real house of Kalakuta where there were women and I loved it. So, I wanted the same thing for myself. Now, I don’t have the life of Kalakuta but I know that I can’t leave that dream and say I want to be faithful to one woman. I will rather be by myself; truth, I love my freedom. I don’t love the part that I owe anybody anything. Even the people with me know that I love my freedom. I like to sleep when I want to sleep, if I want to go out I love to enter my car and go on my own; I love my independence. I was brought up with total independence.

Did you give Funke a ring, that ‘with this I thee wed’?

No, she bought the ring.

And you put it in her finger?

Yes, in the registry.

That makes you a monogamist so you cannot marry another wife under the Nigerian law?

I am not a monogamist because we are divorced.

It looks like you sacrificed all when Funke was with you?

No, I didn’t. When we got married she was pregnant and I knew it was a boy. I didn’t know how I knew but I just knew. I told her ‘we will get married, but I will never be faithful to you’. She knew one of my dancers then was my girlfriend. I have been dating her long before I met Funke.

Funke’s mother and I are not good friends. When she (Funke’s mother) came back into her life, we started having problems. I don’t know if that is part of the problem or if it is Funke who is bored with the marriage or her friends were talking to her, whatever the reason, I tried my best to bring her back. I tried to even change my ways. Many things went on, those that are close to me know that I went out of my way, when I saw that I was wasting too much energy, I had to relax. Funke and I didn’t talk for a long time. It took us years to understand that there is a son in our midst.

I don’t want to open the can of worms because we have settled all these. It is something that we have left behind. I have forgiven her and I will not tell you that I was totally right, but was I sincere in my marriage? Yes be rest assured that I was. I wasn’t doing anything that she wasn’t warned of before. That I won’t have girlfriends? She knew that I was a very humble polygamist. I tried to be as discreet as possible but you know the more you are getting popular, the more people are taking your tales to your wife. She might find condoms in my car that I forgot to hide very well, who knows?

Why then did people blame your sister, Yeni, all this while…?

I will never reveal to you why our marriage broke up, but YK (Yeni) definitely was never part of it. YK and I even fought because she advised Funke to take Made along with her, and I said if she takes Made I am in trouble, because I love Made and I want him to be with me. All my life was circled around Made, so if Funke had gone with Made maybe I would have committed suicide, because everything in my life in that marriage was based on Made.

I saw Made as my inheritor; I saw him as the next Anikulapo to take the music to another level. So, my investment emotionally, financially, everything was stationed on Made. If Funke had left with Made, I didn’t have another child, and a politician had already threatened me that what if Made dies? So, I thought that was a threat from the government saying they will kill Made. I was very protective of Made, which was another reason I decided to have other children. What if I lose Made? What will I do? If you check the Anikulapo and Ransome-Kuti families, there are not many boys; everybody is just having girls. So, the only inheritor of the Kuti dynasty was Made. My cousin in America had a girl, Yeni had a girl, others also had girls, and Made was the only boy. I thought of protecting him or else the Anikulapo-Kuti clan will die. Seun also had a girl; the only person that recently had two boys was Kunle. He just had his own boys when Made was already a teenager.

We heard your father had a son in the US

He didn’t have a son in the US; it is in Australia.

Have you met him? What is his name? How did he meet you?

Yes. His name is Couney. I went to play in Sydney and he came to meet me there. That was about four or five years

Did Fela ever tell you about him or how did you know?

Fela told us about one woman that probably got pregnant for him. She told Fela she was pregnant but she disappeared with the pregnancy. Fela now came and told us the story. He (Couney) met my sister on Facebook and told her the same story. And he traced his mother because his mother put him up for adoption, so when he met his mother, she then told him that his father was Fela.

How old is he?

I am a year older than him.

So, he is part of the inheritors of Fela?

Yes, but he doesn’t want to be known. He doesn’t want anything, he just wants to meet us, and case closed.

He answers Kuti too?

Are you not inviting him to Nigeria for a visit?

He will make his decision. He doesn’t want much publicity. It was his son who wants to know the family. He has met us, if he wants to go the extra mile that is his business.

What does he do, is he into music?

He is into drawing. I don’t know much about him. We talk once in a year. I went to Australia early this month and my sister told him I was there, but he didn’t come to meet me because he was busy. Don’t forget that 50 years of our lives have passed, where do we want to start the friendship. He is a very nice person. He is probably a Fela’s son, we cannot say for sure except there is a DNA to prove it.

And to do that, would you have to bring Fela from the grave?

But from my perception he looks like Fela.

Let me shock you guys a bit. The biggest critics of President Jonathan, the opposition parties or cliques, the rabble-rousers and all were mostly there at the wedding! Charles Novia

Hilarious! Charles Novia shares his Experience at President Goodluck's Daughter's Wedding Yesterday

Post written by Charles Novia, published on NewsWireNGR:

I just attended the wedding reception of President’s Jonathan’s daughter, Faith and her husband, Godswill. I am sure most of you saw it live on television but I just might write a behind-the-scene review of what happened in the hall which you could not see. I might write that later.

Let me just give a slice of it; all these big men you guys see in power and out of it are all hustlers like you and me! The rush to enter the hall, ehn? Captains of industries and Government officials were in a flux and fight to enter the hall which was barricaded by stern security men at the International Conference Centre.

The protocol is that once the President enters the hall; the doors are shut and no one gets in or out till the President leaves. So, there was a scramble to enter. Me sef shame for some people. Chai!There were rumpled and creased clothes on people after the scamble. A couple of ladies lost their headscarves and headties and gave us shocking glimpses of their ‘Abolo’ heads! Chai!

The President’s Security detail at the venue were stern but professional. They didn’t give a hoot who you were. Orders are orders. Everyone who entered; those that mattered wanted to be seen by the President or First Lady and a small line of diffident favour-seekers or friends was formed but many could not pass through the security detail to just greet Mr President.

Let me shock you guys a bit. The biggest critics of President Jonathan, the opposition parties or cliques, the rabble-rousers and all were mostly there at the wedding! I was shocked! Ehn! Politicians! That’s how they deceive you all by crying wolf and abusing the President yet they run to him to prostrate at night or in private!Those of you who follow blindly these people una go see! Be careful!

I even saw Dele Momodu, who lambasts President Jonathan every week for the past four years on Thisday backpage on Saturday, taking pictures and going round shaking hands. He shook my hands too. Egbon! Look, in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies: just permanent interests!

I must hand it to GEJ, he shielded his family from public glare. I mean; how many of us know he has three biological children and three adopted with this new bride being an adopted child he took in about 15 years ago? Very touching. The couple got gifts of over 60 brand new cars as presents from what a close source told me. ‘Bastardly rich’ Nigerians fell over themselves to give presents. Chai! There was a group of orange-scarved women who caused a stampede in the hall after the wedding rushing for gifts and stuff! Wetin? People nor get shame? The presents given to the guests were magnifique! Not anything ostentatious but just cool.

This Nigeria is great, sha! Odiegwu!

Wonders!! Meet The 8year Old Girl Who ''Cures Cancer'', HIV With A Single Touch

Meet The 8year Old Girl Who “Cures Cancer”, HIV With A Single Touch 8 Year old Alani Santos could be called a wonder as she keeps amazing people with the level of her faith in God considering the fact that her father was a car thief who recently became born again.Santos claims to be channeling God’s power to perform faith healings, curing everything from Cancer to HIV. She claims to perform miracles at her father’s church in favela of San Gonzalos, just outside Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Alani who has been healing people for the past two years says she enjoys making people feel better and would love to become a doctor in future so she can heal the sick She says: ‘To see God working though people and their lives, that is very pleasing. ‘I pray and God performs miracles. My Dad interviews people who say I have cured them.’ Describing her ‘powers’, Alani says: ‘A lot of the time I just touch people, sometimes I pray and worship and the person is cured.

So how do you milk a man who has no milk? Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor in an interview with Punch yesterday bared his mind on the notion that Nigerian pastors milk their poor church members. Excerpts: People claim churches milk the poor and live big on them. What’s your take on this?

It is cheap to criticise; even to criticise what you don’t understand. People don’t understand what they say about the church milking the poor. Can a poor man have money to pay tithe? A man who has no job, can he pay tithe? No, he won’t be able to pay. So how do you milk a man who has no milk?

In a church, you have both the poor and the rich. It is generally not the poor that finance the church. It is those with the means. A man, for example, who earns N10,000, how much is his tithe? His tithe is N1,000. A man who earns N500,000, how much is his tithe? His tithe is 10 per cent which is N50,000. How much would you milk from a man who pays a tithe of N1000?

I even hear people say that the poor give money to start schools, but their children cannot go to the schools. How will they give this money when they are poor? The truth is that, the people who actually give this money are those who have the means to do so. Those people make it possible for churches to start schools.

Now again, why do churches charge high fees in school? You didn’t ask me that, but I’m just throwing that in free. People must understand that there is a standard. The church wants to maintain the standard. In those days, some people will say that when missionaries started school, it was free. Don’t forget that those missionaries were being financed from different places. Who is financing us today? We are financing ourselves. If I got free financing,why won’t we make education free? You must also understand that at the time, the cost of living was not the way it is today. The educational system of Nigeria is in serious trouble, so we need to up the standards. And to do that, you should be able to hire the best hands. If you hire the best, how do you pay them? Where do you get the money to pay them? How do you put the right infrastructure in place? How do you do many of the things that need to be done? How do you run the generators?

Why do you think we have so many poor people in the church and many rich pastors?

Remember that the pastors are pasturing both the poor and the rich. They are all in the same assembly. Both the poor and the rich.

Those who have the means in the church take time to be kind to their pastors. That is something most people don’t realise. They give their pastors money, food and different things. For example, a member of the church goes to his pastor and says, ‘I feel led to give you a car. Take this car.’ Now the pastor has a car. Did he steal it?

As I sit here talking to you now, I can tell you that I am training almost 100 people in institutions of higher learning. Nobody is going to broadcast that. On every 26th of December, I organise what I call poverty alleviation. I have been doing it now for about eight years.

20 corpses uncovered,18 men & 5 women rescued from Ritual dungeon in Oyo(Photo)

About 20 bodies of people believed to have been killed for ritual purposes were discovered, yesterday, in Soka, Oluyole local government area of Oyo State. Also, 18 men and five women, believed to have been bewitched and bound with fetters in a dungeon, were found and rescued. The rescued victims looked emaciated. One of the women was said to have been delivered of a baby who was sold to a waiting buyer among those who always thronged the secluded area at night to buy human parts.Some of the captives were too weak to tell their stories. It was gathered that some Fulani cattle rearers grazed their cattle in the bush around the area. A suspect identified as Akeem Isiaka (38) was arrested in connection with the incident and taken to Sanyo Police Station.Containers and wells containing human parts including skulls were also discovered in the bush. A woman, Titi Adeniyi, who managed to speak, said she had been held captive for more than two years.Another captive, Tunji Alabi, who said he was a bus conductor before he became a victim of the ritualists,could not say much. Rescued grandmother

Asylum family stranded in Paris airport for a week

An Eritrean woman and her eight children have been trapped at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport for more than a week after being deported by the Norwegian government. Norway's immigration services deported Simreth Wolbgeber and her family on March 12 to France, the European country responsible for processing their asylum claim under European Union rules. The family arrived in France early last year, after fleeing the repressive government in Eritrea, and it was there that they were first fingerprinted and registered as asylum seekers.

The French authorities claim to be unable to find temporary accommodation for such a large family, and as a result have left Wolbgeber and her children stranded, sleeping on uncomfortable plastic seats in the airport lounge and depending on charity from the Red Cross as they wait for a place.

"To sit for so many days at an airport with eight children is inhuman. It is outrageous," Ranveig Kaldhol, a church social worker in Ulsteinvik, where Wolbgeber had been living, told The Local.

"It's terrible," Kaldhol added. "They are innocent children and they haven't had one decent meal. They have been living on drinks, cup cakes and yoghurt given to them by the Red Cross, and they haven't had beds, or even a shower. The youngest is only five months old."

She argued that when children are involved the Norwegian authorities had a duty to liaise with a receiving country's immigration agencies.

"The Norwegian government, before they send children, they should know that there is someone to take care of them to give them at least the minimal protection," she said. "They haven't done anything criminal, they have just asked for protection from Eritrea. That's their sin."

Geir Bang Danielsen, the deputy director of Norway's immigration police, told NRK that the responsibility for the family now lay with France's authorities.

"France is responsible for the family according to their duties under the Dublin cooperation," he said. "The aim is to ensure that an asylum seeker get his application processed, but at the same time to ensure that no one travels from country to country and applies for asylum in several Schengen countries."

Here is a picture a friend of Simreth Wolbgeber's took of her in the airport:

Source: TheLocal.no

Malaysia police searches house of missing plane's captain

Malaysia's authorities said Sunday that the police searched the home of the missing MH370 flight's captain on Saturday but they had not publicized the result yet.

Malaysia's Ministry of Transport said in the statement released on Sunday that officers spoke to family members of the pilot named Zaharie Ahmad Shah and experts are examining the pilot' s flight simulator kept in his house.

On Saturday, the police also searched the home of the co-pilot Fariq Ab Hamid.

The statement said, as per normal procedure, the Royal Malaysia Police are investigating all crew and passengers on board MH370, as well as engineers who may have had contact with the aircraft before take-off.

"We appeal to the public not to jump to conclusions regarding the police investigation," the ministry added.

The statement also said the search and rescue continues to be a multi-national effort, led by Malaysia. Malaysian officials are contacting countries along two corridors -- a northern one from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, and a southern one stretching from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean where the missing plane might fly to according to Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak.

These countries include: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and France. Officials are requesting assistance from these countries.

The statement said Malaysian officials are currently discussing with all partners how best to deploy assets along the two corridors. Malaysian officials are also asking countries to provide further assistance in the search for the aircraft, including: satellite data and analysis; ground-search capabilities; radar data; and maritime and air assets.

Both the northern and southern corridors are being treated with equal importance, it added.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Saturday in a media conference that the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner was likely to be a deliberate act, and authorities had refocused their investigation on its crew members and passengers.

He said the last satellite contact with the missing flight was at 8:11 a.m. local time (0011 GMT) last Saturday, nearly seven hours after it disappeared from air traffic control radar.

Citing Malaysian air force radar data, the prime minister confirmed previous speculation the missing flight did turn back westward, recrossing the Malaysian peninsula before turning northwest.

But he did not confirm speculation the plane had been hijacked.

Meanwhile, the prime minister said the search in the South China Sea would end and authorities were reassessing the redeployment of assets.

Focus of the search for the missing Malaysian plane has shifted westward to the Indian Ocean, seven days after it lost contact with ground control.

Flight MH370 went missing early last Saturday morning with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, sparking a massive search involving more than a dozen nations.