You like?

That's comedian/actor Kevin Hart's Halloween costume. He went back to the 1970s with flared trousers, platform shoes, an afro and...*cough*

From linda ikeji blog

A LIB reader who witnessed this incident yesterday sent in the report and photos. According to her, the naked man in the picture is an Okada man who violated the new Lagos state traffic law. He was arrested at the junction adjoining University road and St Finbarrs college road Akoka by policemen in mufti, and before anyone could say anything, the policemen descended on the Okadaman, beating him mercilessly and then stripping him naked.

They stopped the inhuman treatment after people around gathered at the scene and begged them to stop. This is the police protecting us! SMH!

 

Chidimma and Chidiebere Aneke are Nollywood actresses. More photos of them after the cut...

 

By The Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room

The Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room commends the people of Ondo State for the orderly manner in which they conducted themselves during the 20 October 2012 gubernatorial election in the state. From the figures released by INEC, voter turnout in the election was 645,597, less than 40 percent of the 1,638,950 registered voters in the state. The voter turnout in this election leaves room for improvement, considering that over 60 percent of the registered voters in Ondo State did not turnout.

The Situation Room notes the enormous resources that were devoted to ensure that the Ondo governorship election was peaceful and successful. For instance, two Deputy Inspector Generals of Police and three Commissioners of Police relocated to the State to coordinate security. In addition, about 11,000 policemen and unspecified number of military and paramilitary personnel were redeployed to the State to police the election. While many of the security agents posted to Ondo State carried out their duties in a professional and commendable manner, the Situation Room maintains that excessive policing of elections in Nigeria is a drain on the economy and may portend dangers to democracy in the country. Militarization of elections and restriction of movement on election days could discourage some voters from turning out during elections, increasing voter apathy in Nigeria.

Network of observers working with the Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room reported that election officials and security agents were deployed in sufficient numbers in most polling units in Ondo State. Distribution of materials and commencement of accreditation were reportedly timely in most areas, although some centres experienced delays in commencement of accreditation and voting. Unlike the past elections, there were no reports of large-scale disenfranchisement of voters following the omission of their names in the voters register. One major innovation introduced by INEC in the Ondo governorship election was the display of voters register at polling units before the commencement of elections. This facilitated the accreditation process, since most of the voters cross checked their names in the register and noted their numbers in the list before appearing for accreditation. Another innovation introduced by INEC was the accreditation and issuance of identity cards to party agents. This deterred party agents from engaging in misconduct and improved election security.

The Situation Room, however, received reports of flaws in INEC’s preparations. Firstly, some polling units were reportedly overcrowded with as much as over one thousand voters, making it difficult for the election officials posted to the units to control the voters and efficiently manage the election. Despite the enormous resources put into preparations for this election, INEC failed to see the need to split these overwhelmingly crowded polling units into voting points, thereby exposing the officials deployed in the units to enormous pressure of crowd control and threatening the success of the process.

Secondly, the Situation Room notes that the late redeployment of Electoral Officers constituted a major challenge due to the inability of some of the redeployed officers to locate and arrive at their new postings on time. The late arrival of these officials delayed the commencement of accreditation in some areas. The Situation Room is concerned that INEC is still not able to effectively deal with logistic and operational challenges arising during elections despite the huge resources available to the Commission, and the fact that elections in several states, including the Ondo gubernatorial election, are now staggered.

Thirdly, the Situation Room is particularly disturbed by reports of unprofessional conduct by some election officials. For instance, in PU 20/02, Ago Itunu, Ward 7, Ondo West Local Government Area, it was reported that the Presiding Officer in the polling unit accredited voters without ensuring that they were physically present. In PU 011, High Court in front of Adegoroye office, Adesupa Road, Akure South, it was reported that the Presiding Officer could not account for the quantity of the electoral materials distributed to the unit. INEC has a responsibility to improve on the training and supervision of the election officials since their conduct has a direct bearing on the credibility of elections.

To improve the conduct of elections in Nigeria, the Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room calls on the Independent National Electoral Commission to make concerted efforts to address the challenges and complaints arising from the gubernatorial election in Ondo State. INEC should review its internal logistic and operational procedures, looking specifically at issues such as late redeployment of election officials and late distribution of materials. These issues have serious impact on timely commencement of accreditation and voting. We also urge INEC to pay special attention on the training and supervision of election officials, particularly the ad hoc staff, as the conduct of these officials can question the credibility of the electoral process.  Finally, we call on political leaders to exercise maturity and patriotism, and to avoid making unguarded statements that could create tension. Candidates and political parties have a responsibility to abide by the electoral law in dealing with complaints arising from the election

The airline spokesperson says the fault was a minor technical fault. Aero Contractors, one of the few airlines still flying the local routes in Nigeria, might have had an accident save for a passenger’s prompt intervention.
At about 2:30 pm Monday, the Aero aircraft was set to leave the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja Lagos, when one of the passengers who sat close to the left wing of the craft spotted gas leaking from one of the valves conveying gas to the part called ‘ailerons’ which connects the wings of the aircraft to ensure stability during take-off and landing.
The passenger alerted the members of the airplane’s crew, consequently all passengers were asked to evacuate the plane.
The passengers in the flight – AJ 171 scheduled for Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar by 2.30 p.m. had to return to departure lounge.
“All boarding formalities were completed and the aircraft door shut ready for take-off. The aircraft had actually been taxied through the run-way to the take-off point when, after about ten minutes, the pilot taxied it back to the hanger,” one of the passengers aboard the flight, wishing to remain anonymous told PREMIUM TIMES.

“The flight crew was later to report to the passengers that the flight had to be delayed and aircraft taxied back to the hanger for minor repairs as safety precaution following reports of fuel leakage spotted from its left wing,” the source said.
Disrupted plans
The incident botched the flight by Aero Contractors Airlines from Lagos to Calabar that was scheduled after 2:30 pm on Monday.
Most of the affected passengers – families, workers and business people were returning from Lagos to Calabar after the long holiday declared by the Federal Government last week to commemorate the Moslem Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.
After all passengers were evacuated from the aircraft, they returned to the departure hall to wait for alternative arrangements by the airline’s management.
The passengers waited in despair for several hours till about 6 pm before the finally departed Lagos for their destination.
This is the second time in seven days that Aero Contractors has had to disrupt its operations over what it termed ‘minor technical faults’
On Wednesday, October 24, at about 11: 30, flight number AJ125 from to Abuja 12:15 was disrupted after a crew member announced that there was a minor technical issue with the aircraft’s engine.
Subsequently all passengers alighted the flight for “safety precaution”. It took about one hour for a replacement to convey the passengers.
The Airline’s response
The airlines’ consultant, Simon Tumba, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, tried to allay apprehensions. He attributed the delay to a minor technical fault which he said has to be fixed as a safety precaution.
“As I am talking to you, the flight is already airborne. It was a minor technical fault that had to be taken care of as a safety precaution in line with our company’s standard routine practice to ensure the safety of our passengers,” Mr. Tumba said.
 Another Bauchi Wedding?
Those of us resident in Abuja, are witnessing, yet another Bauchi wedding, this time we understand is the Governor's son that is hooking the one time PDP's Chairmanship aspirant's daughter. Inside sources said, already:
Top officials of the Min. for Local Govt, along with the ALGON Bauchi State chapter are asking the 20 LGA's to sign out N2m each as donation for the wedding next Saturday of the Gov's son. They awarded contract for calendars and note pads to an Abuja printing press. Contract for coffee mugs, Wall clocks, bags, badges etc. was given to a Lagos based lady. They will all carry the pictures of the groom and the bride. An SUV Jeep was also suggested as a wedding present to Ango. Finally the 20 LGA chairmen will all send their wives to Abj where the jamboree is taking place because Yuguda is now Abuja based.
The story is all over town too, that in April $80,000 was sent to the ango on his graduation by the SSG, on the orders of the Gov. This is as a result of request by the groom to buy a limited edition M/Benz Series.
In Nov, 2009, when the Gov latest wife, also acquired thru Bauchi funds, was having her first child in Washington DC the sum of £150,000 was sent to the SSG by the then Accountant General for onward transmission to Yuguda. One wonders, why all this, as he has 21 kids from 3 wives earlier and all of them born in Nigeria. The thinking is that he is using Bauchi state money for the purchase of citizenship thru birth, for his latest 2 kids in the USA. Already a house has since been purchased for Yuguda in Maryland through a once upon a time VOA staff, aide of his.
These things are happening in a state where staff salaries are becoming very difficult to pay and inevitable retrenchment is looming day in day out. God save Bauchi State.

Alison Attah

The wife of the former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Allison Attah has died.
Mrs Attah, originally from Barbados, died in a Lagos hospital at about 3:30 p.m. on Monday after she lost a six-year long battle to a terminal kidney condition that left her depending on regular dialysis.
Family sources told PREMIUM TIMES in confidence that the burial is likely to take place within the next two weeks, in line with Roman Catholic doctrine.
The husband, Victor Attah, could not be reached to confirm burial plans. Immediate family members said the former governor, who has deep emotionally attachment to his departed wife, was not in a good emotional state to attend to enquiries when our reporter called his Lagos hotel room.
Mrs  Attah, a mother of two, was a graduate of Leeds University, UK, where she qualified as a Librarian.
While serving as the first lady of Akwa Ibom, Mrs Attah, who had passion for child care, was chairperson, Child Development Trust, CDT, a non governmental organization that sought to change the lives of under-privileged rural children in Akwa Ibom through the provision of free health care services.
“Nneyin, as she was popularly called among women and children in Akwa Ibom will be missed by millions that her pet project touched their lives,” Ukoh Eshiett, an Abuja-based native of Akwa Ibom said in reaction to news of the death.

St. Rita's Catholic Church after the attack

President Goodluck Jonathan

By Reuben Abati

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has condemned Sunday's suicide bomb attack on a Catholic Church in Kaduna.
The President, who was extremely saddened by the explosion, described it as "barbaric, cruel and uncalled for."

President Jonathan noted that the apparent objective of the criminal and unpatriotic elements and forces behind the attack is to set back the progress the Administration has made in the fight against terrorism in the country. "It is obvious that these people do not mean well for Nigeria and its unity and development," he said.
The President however, expressed confidence that the war against terrorism would become more unrelenting as the nation would never give in to the forces of terror and retardation.  He added that the persistence of messengers of evil will not prevail over the will of the government and the people to secure peace and safety.
"Our efforts to deal with all acts of terror and violence would only be redoubled even as the security agencies continue to receive all the support they need from government to reverse this unfortunate and unacceptable trend that threatens the peace and stability of our nation," President Jonathan said.
The President commiserated with the Catholic Church, family and friends of the victims of the bombing, assuring them that government’s resolve to deal with the threat of terrorism remains strong.
REUBEN ABATI
Special Adviser (Media & Publicity) to the President
October 28, 2012

here are some pictures of the then dana aircraft that crashed in iju agege.

Crashed MD 83

Captain Peter Waxtan was flying the plane

By SaharaReporters, New York

Air traffic controllers have told Saharareporters confidentially that the crashed airliner Dana aircraft most likely had one failed engine long before the pilot declared an emergency.  Multiple sources confirmed that the pilot had requested to land on Murtala Muhammad Airport’s longer runway 18R before calling air controllers back a few minutes later to report a total emergency.

They believe that second call was most probably when the second engine failed.  The aircraft crashed about seven nautical miles from the local airport.


One source further explained that the MD 83 plane was overloaded with passengers and luggage to the extent that when the first engine failed, the pilots urgently reduced speed to enable the flight land safely on the longer and better runway, an action that led the flight to an extra 20 minutes delay before crashing at 3:43p.m.  It had been billed to land at 3:21p.m.

Our sources stated that the drastic reduction in thrust was the undoing of the pilot, given the heavy pay load.  To underscore their point that the operators of the jet knew of its mechanical troubles, one of our sources said the jet conducted a short flight test between the Lagos and Ibadan airport on Saturday, apparently to prove to regulators that the jet was “airworthy”.

Several employees of the Dana airlines have publicly stated that the owners were aware as early as Sunday that the jet had mechanical troubles, as it had struggled on a flight to Calabar, but the operators forced the crew to fly it anyway, obviously with an eye on maximizing profit.

Residents that witnessed the crash at Iju Agege area of Lagos have also told Saharareporters that they watched as the pilot seemed to struggle to give the aircraft a final thrust of flight power before the crash, which killed everyone on board.

But speaking for the first time officially today, Dana Air's Director of Flight Operations, Captain Oscar Wason, suggested that a "bird strike" may have caused the crash.  

Appearing on Silver Bird TV in Lagos, he said the management of the grounded airline found remnants of birds in one of the engines of the crashed plane.

According to him, “I don’t know what could have been responsible for the crash, but this morning we found remnants of birds in one of the engines.”

He noted that birds were a problem in Nigeria he has experienced several times.  “We have bird strikes and it might have been that a mass of birds went through the engine and caused it to lose power.”

However, he said the investigations must be left to come out with an answer.  “We have found the voice recorder and that has to be sent to either the UK or Washington. I am planning to travel out myself so that we can found out what is the real cause of the accident.”

It will take several months, if not years, to arrive at the real cause of the fatal crash of Dana Air 992, as Nigeria typically relies on American investigators to unravel the cause of airline accidents.

Extremely sad news coming from the home of veteran actor, Pete Eneh. Just heard from reliable sources that doctors at Parklane Hospital Enugu had no choice but to amputate one of his legs in order to save his life.

The veteran actor was said to have sustained some kind of injury last year, and because he didn't take proper care of it, it led to serious infection that became hard to treat. The injury was said to have degenerated to a sore and because Mr Eneh was diabetic, it refused to heal. He spent three months at the hospital before he was advised to amputate the leg before the infection spread to other parts of his body.

The amputation took place on Wednesday October 24th after all efforts to save the leg was unsuccessful. Pete Eneh is said to be dealing with it well.

Heard from very reliable sources that entertainers, Smash from Bracket and Treasure Daniels of the Golden Girlz (The singing twin sisters) are in a sizzling romance that friends say could lead to marriage. Good stuff!

Culled this story from this week's edition of Encomium Magazine. All these drama. Read it below...

It is surely not the best of times for star actress, Bisi Ibidapo Obe. The actress who is wallowing in deep mess over her controversial pregnancy, has relocated to Ghana where she's said to be hibernating pending delivery of her baby. 

According to an industry source, the actress decided to move out of Nigeria some days back after her UK based lover, Lopez, who is said to be footing the bill of her Magodo Lagos duplex, breezed into the country and kicked her out of the house. He was said to have taken the decision after it became obvious that he was not responsible for Bisi's pregnancy. Lopez returned to the UK after locking the house and withdrawing the Range Rover he bought for her, leaving behind her C-Class Mercedes Benz and Honda Element she acquired a while back. (Though a close friend of the actress denied the house was locked by Lopez but confirmed Bisi went to Ghana)

Rihanna vs Munachi in curly Mohawk. Who rocked the hairstyle better?

The reality star was spotted at a car showroom in Miami checking out a rare sports car worth $2 million. According to the dealer, the exotic Pagani Huayra car Kim K was checking out is the first in the USA and has a serial number of 0001. #don'thate lol

Adult babies

It’s been endless weeks of production, traveling, screening and work nonstop for the Nigeria’s Got Talent team. And as the show kicks into full gear, producers of the show at Rapid Blue Format have announced that viewers should be ready for a new phase in the Nigeria’s Got Talent experience. 

“The semi final stage will see contestants perform to the judges and the audience on a big stage,. This phase will start with the 50 contestants the judges’ selected last week and end with 10 contestants.” Adaora Mbelu Project Manager at Rapid Blue Format disclosed.

This Sunday, the show finally entered the semi final stage as ten contestants from all age groups performed in front of the judges for the second time. 

“Nigeria is a unique country, and we have a whole lot of talent, what we saw in the previous episode is something that is going to get bigger” Yibo Koko, one of the judges said. 

The first group includes Impulse (Singing group), Clymaxx (Dance group), John Uket (Singer), Udezeagwua Ezedi (Musician), Vicky Mark (Singer) and Adult Babies (Variety Acts)

Others are Olayemi John- Lil P (Singer), DNA Crew (Dance group) and Bariyu (Variety Act).

 

impulse

DNA

Vicky Mark

Udezeagwua Ezedi

Lil P

John Uket

Bariyu

The contestants

Andre Blaze

Clymaxx

       

Viewers have the power to vote their favorite talents by texting their unique numbers to 33685

Auditions for the first Nigeria’s Got Talent held in Enugu, Abuja, Calabar, Benin, Ibadan and Lagos, with judges Kate Henshaw, Yibo Koko and Dan Foster sourcing for fifty brilliant talents

Sponsored by Airtel. Nigeria’s Got Talent airs on AIT by 10.30pm, STV by 8pm , TVC by 9pm, HITV UK by 9pm, NTA Network by 4pm and SoundCity by 6.30pm.

For more info

Website: www.Gottalentnigeria.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/NigeriasGotTalent

According to TheWill, Akwa Ibom State Deputy Governor, Mr. Nsima Ekere has resigned from office with immediate effect. TheWill said Ekere tendered his resignation letter this morning after he was tipped of an advanced plot to begin impeachment proceedings against him on Thursday, following heightened tension between himself and Governor Godswill Akpabio over his governorship ambition in 2015.

 

Political analysts in Akwa Ibom say Akpabio is backing his current SSG as his successor in 2015. TheWill exclusively obtained the deputy governor's resignation letter. See it after the cut...

 

Awwww, great stuff!