D’banj Absent At Hennessy Artistry Club Tour

Nija's music star Dbanj was conspicuously missing from his debut Lagos club appearance, which held on Saturday, September 21st at Rhapsody’s Lounge in Victoria Island, Lagos. Dbanj, who was in London at the time, was scheduled to perform alongside soul diva, Seyi Shay and rap duo, Show Dem Camp. He could not immediately return from his trip due to delays with his flight.

However rave of the moment Olamide who was the supporting act, delivered an outstanding performance to the delight of guests present. Supporting acts, Show Dem Camp and Seyi Shay who made her debut appearance that night also got guests in high spirits with energetic performances.

Dbanj returned to the country on Sunday, September 22nd and performed at the Miss Earth Beauty pageant.  Meanwhile, it appears the video for this year’s Hennessy Artistry 2013 theme song titled “Raise Your Glasses” will be released any moment from now. The video which was directed by fast rising producer, Matt Maxx promises to get everyone raising their glasses and bumping their feet.

The Hennessy Artistry club tour continues this weekend at Crescendo’s Nightclub in Ikeja GRA and will feature exciting performances from Chidinma, Phyno, Vector and Sean Tizzle.

Passengers Block Abuja Airport Runway In Anger

Yesterday (Thursdy) evening, angry passengers blocked the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, preventing planes from taking-off or landing.

Investigation revealed that the blockade was caused by passengers who disembarked from an Arik Air flight that was meant to take them to the Margaret Ekpo Airport, Calabar from Abuja.

The flight that had the Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, on board, was allegedly denied landing at the Calabar airport at about 5.30pm by the station manager due to safety concerns. It was learnt that despite pleas by the aides to the governor to allow the landing of the aircraft, the station manager refused, citing the fact that the runway lightening was poor thus, the pilot was left with no other choice than to return the passengers to the Abuja airport.

A passenger in one of the stranded airplanes said he and other travellers had to disembark and sat on the tarmac for more than one hour after the pilot announced that the plane could not take off because the runway had been blocked. The General Manager, Corporate Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Yakubu Dati, who confirmed that the Arik passengers blocked the runway, blamed the airline for the incident. He added that the passengers had insisted that Arik must compensate them for breach of contract, especially since the flight was delayed.

The spokesperson of Arik Air, Mr. Adebanji Ola, said that it was not the fault of the airline that the Calabar airport was closed by the time the flight from Abuja got there. He said, “The flight was delayed because there was Very Important Personality movement and there was also some weather issues, it is not the fault of the airline that the plane could not land there. “We are amazed that despite the security at the Abuja airport, passengers were still able to hijack the aircraft and hold other planes to ransom, that should not be the case.”


-PUNCH

"I swear by Allah that there will be no democracy in Nigeria" - Shekau, Boko Haram Leader

Bearly three months after he was reportedly killed in a gun battle, leader of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakur Shekau, resurfaced and spoke on tape on Wednesday boasting of invincibility and threatening to ground democracy in Nigeria. He equally boasted that he can not die.

The Boko Haram leader who was surrounded by dozens of his Lieutenants, all dressed in military fatigue, spoke amidst laughter and sarcasm as he took responsibility for recent attacks in Borno State.

The Boko Haram leader speaking while sitting in a bush environment with birds chirping at the background said his ultimate aim was to ensure democracy ceased to exist in Nigeria. He also mocked the Nigerian army, stating that his group had succeeded in taking possession of three of their armoured tankers, large cache of arms and fleets of the military vehicles and troops. His words: “The world should know that I cannot die except by the will of Allah.

I have told you that all that I do is prescribed by the Quran. “The essence of it is to carry out the injunctions. Don’t bother yourselves stopping me because I cannot be stopped. The war is more grievous than you think, and it will consume you. “I swear by Allah that there will be no democracy in Nigeria. We are going to rise against it and we shall soon defeat. “The concept of government of the people by the people, for the people cannot continue to exist. It shall soon, very soon, be replaced by ‘Government of Allah, by Allah for Allah’.

“It was said that I was killed, but here I am; I deliberately refused to respond on time; but here I am talking and laughing at Nigerian authority who misled the world that I am dead. “I believe by now Lt Col Sagir Musa, who issued the statement of my death should bury his head in shame; President Jonathan should bury his head in shame; President Barrack Obama should bury his head in shame, President François Hollande should bury his head in shame. “How shameful is it for Nigerian military for a man they called inconsequential to defeat them and seize their tankers and arms. We have celebrated our victory in Monguno, Benisheik and surrounding villages, and we shall not relent until total victory comes our way, by Allah’s will”.

The now disbanded JTF in Borno State had on the 19th of August 2013 issued a statement through its spokesman, Lt Col Musa, who is now spokesman of the Army 7th Division that Shekau may have been killed in a military shootout on 30th of June this year.

Names Of The 23 Governoship Candidates In Anambra And Their Parties.

INEC have released the names of candidates for the November Anambra Governoship election.
They are:

Okeke Chika Jerry (AA)
Chukwuemeka Nwankwo (ACCORD)
Dr Ifeatu Ekelem (ACD)
Engr Anthony Anene (ACPN)
Comrade Aaron Igweze (AD)
Chief Anayo Arinze (ADC)
Patrick Chukwuka Ibeziako (APA)
Senator Chris Ngige (APC)
Chief Willie Obiano (APGA)
Chief Austin Nwangwu (CPP)
Chijioke Geofrey Ndubuisi (DPP)
Christian Ikechukwu Otti (ID)
Chief Dennis Nwaforka Oguge (KOWA)
Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah (LP)
Pastor Simon Okafor (MPPP)
Okoknkwo Webster (NCP)
Prince Leonard Uchendu (NNPP)
Nicholas Ukachukwu (PDP)
Godwin Ezeemo (PPA)
Hon Basil Ijedinma (PPN)
Onuarah Onyeachonam (SDP)
Barr Okoye Godson (UDP)
Prince Akaneebu Ogochukwu (UPP).

The Commission hereby advises political parties and their members that only those on the list published by it are allowed to conduct electioneering campaigns. Any violation of this rule amounts to an electoral offence and security agencies are urged to intervene as such.”

Calls for national sovereign conference unconstitutional – NLC

The Vice-President, Nigerian Labour Congress, Mr. Issa Aremu, has said that the NLC is opposed to the agitation for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference because the call is diversionary and unconstitutional. Speaking to journalists in Ilorin on Tuesday, he said SNG was no longer a global trend. He argued that since Nigeria had elected representatives, it would be unlawful to convoke the SNC.

He said the position of  labour was that Nigerians were not a debating society. Aremu noted that Nigeria should be   functional while the citizens should stop agonising. “We spend all the time agonising and questioning the viability of the country when we should rather organise our thoughts to make the country work. Labour is opposed to Sovereign National Conference. It is moving against the trend of the world and I think it is even wrong to say Nigeria is too big. “The proposed conference is unconstitutional because with all the imperfections of the existing dispensation, whether we like it or not, we have elected a President who has specific mandate and he got elected based on certain promises to the nation. “We have constituted the National Assembly. We have 36 governors, they are elected and they must deliver on their mandate. Nobody should short change the system mid-way,” Aremu said.

He argued that if the proponents of SNG were serious about their call, they should  embark on a massive campaign so that the people could vote them into power. Aremu, who called on politicians to move with the global trend, alleged that Nigerian leaders were parochial. He said all ethnic sentiments should be divorced from Nigeria’s national life. The labour leader said it was retrogressive that at a time the world was getting global, Nigerian leaders were not flowing with the tide. He  said globally the use of ethnic nationalities was no longer fashionable, adding that Nigeria was lagging behind in global socio-political and economic trend. “The day an African-American became the president of the most powerful nation in the world, the United States, colour had ceased to be an issue. How can language and ethnic identity remain an issue?

The day Mandela walked out of the prison and became the first democratically elected President of South Africa on a non-racial basis, apartheid was gone. “It is sad that in 2013 Nigerian leaders are talking of conference of ethnic nationalities. The expectation of the founding-fathers was that by now we should be having a United States of Africa.

That is what led to the formation of the Organisation of African Unity. We started before the Europeans even started the European Union. “The world is towards bigger size not dismemberment of the nation-state. If a bigger Nigeria couldn’t compete with one big China, is it a smaller and divided Nigeria that will compete? What am saying in essence is that our leaders should think global,” Aremu said.

Source:Punch

FG plans to regulate use of facebook, twitter and other social media

The FG plans to regulate social media usage in Nigeria. This revelation was made by the Bureau of Public Enterprises Director General Mr. Benjamen Dikki.

The DG says it plans to roll out policies and the legal framework for the regulation of the social media in Nigeria. This was at a retreat for non-management staff of the organisation, according to a statement made available in Abuja on Tuesday by BPE spokesman, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe.

At the retreat, held at Kuchikau, Nasarawa State, Dikki frowned on the unregulated posting of what he called offensive materials on the various social networking sites. Dikki said this plan was in line with BPE’s reform mandate to initiate necessary policies and the legal framework for the regulation of the social media in the country.

He said, “As it now obtains, all manner of things are uploaded on the various platforms of the social media without recourse to age and sensibilities of the users. This is not good enough.”

Heavy Rainfall Kill Seven In Ibadan

Seven persons have been reportedly killed during a heavy rainfall in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The rain started on Sunday evening and was still on, though drizzling, at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

Even though the deaths could not be independently confirm, residents of the affected communities in Oluyole Local Government Area of the State said the victims were swept away by the flood while trying to cross a bridge, which, unknown to them, had already collapsed under the water.

Areas that were mostly afected include: Arapaja, Akala new extension, and Lao hospital area where some people reportedly fell into the flood waters when they tried to cross the flood-covered collapsed bridge. Commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators, who were not aware that the bridge had caved in, fell into the flowing erosion and were swept away.

A fire service department official who did not want his name disclosed as he was not authorised to speak, said only two persons were affected. He said when the state fire service was informed, its officials moved in to rescue the victims.

When contacted, the Oyo State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Okuwobi-Ilobanafor, said she got the information that an old man, an okada man and his passenger were swept away by the flood; while some other victims of the collapsed bridge were rescued. She said she was yet to confirm the report. Efforts to speak with the interim chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area, Ayodeji Abass, were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off.

Blackberry Stops Planned BBM App Roll Out

BlackBerry has stopped the widely publicise rollout of their BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app for iPhone and Android, and pulled it from those regional App Stores that already launched it, like New Zealand.

They blamed the situation on server-side problems that resulted from a version of the Android app being leaked online. That reportedly generated 1.1 million downloads, which does show interest, but also highlights how real-world scale is different than anything you see in the labs.

Read the official statement from BlackBerry:

"Prior to launching BBM for Android, an unreleased version of the BBM for Android app was posted online. The interest and enthusiasm we have seen already – more than 1.1 million active users in the first 8 hours without even launching the official Android app – is incredible. Consequently, this unreleased version caused issues, which we have attempted to address throughout the day. 

Our teams continue to work around the clock to bring BBM to Android and iPhone, but only when it’s ready and we know it will live up to your expectations of BBM. We are pausing the global roll-out of BBM for Android and iPhone. Customers who have already downloaded BBM for iPhone will be able to continue to use BBM.

The unreleased Android app will be disabled, and customers who downloaded it should visit www.BBM.com to register for updates on official BBM for Android availability. As soon as we are able, we will begin a staggered country roll-out of BBM for Android and continue the roll-out of BBM for iPhone. Please follow @BBM on Twitter for the latest updates and go to www.BBM.com to sign-up for updates about BBM for Android and iPhone.

The gooodnews is, these issues have not impacted BBM service for BlackBerry.