HELLO

The family of late Big Brother Africa housemate and Hip hop star, Goldie Harvey on will on Wednesday auction all her belongings. The family said this in a statement on Tuesday. The statement signed by the family representative, Deji Adetayo, stated that although the singer did not leave a will, she had had an agreement with her husband, Leonard Harvey to auction her remaining items. Mr Adetayo said the proceeds from the sales would be donated to charity. He said, “There will be a garage sale at Goldie’s house located at 30B, Ologunkutere Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos on May 1, 2013. Culled from  ChannelsTV

Local growers of rice and importers of the commodity have cried out for government help against smugglers who they allege have overrun the customs at the boarder entry points. A new group of local growers and importers of the commodity calling themselves the “Patriotic Rice Association of Nigeria, PRAN” said in Abuja on Monday that “massive and incessant smuggling of Nigeria had thrown the rice industry into turmoil with severe consequences for government revenues, the economy and future plans for rice self-sufficiency.” The statement jointly signed by Alhaji Habibu Maishinkafa, Chairman and Mr. Martins Okereke, Secretary said given the free reign enjoyed by rice smugglers, “a bleak future lies ahead of local rice growers and traders legitimately involved in rice trade.” Tracing the origin of this sorry state of affairs in the country, the association said, “the Nigerian rice industry seems to have been thrown into a turmoil since the import tariffs were increased exponentially

The crisis rocking the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a new twist as the party on Monday, suspended 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. The party’s leadership also announced that it has given the state Governor; Rotimi Amaechi, 48 hours to “explain to Rivers people why the jet bought with the state government money is bearing a bank’s name on the documents.” The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Sunday  grounded the plane of River State governor for the  expiration of its operating license  while the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) claimed that the  plane belongs to the Bank of Salt Lake City USA and was brought into the country on chatter by Carverton Helicopters. The new chairman of the party in the state, Felix Obuah told journalists in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that the suspension of the lawmakers was over their refusal to obey an order by the party to reinstate the suspended Chairman of Ob

Oil magnate and business man, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah has denied claims of being arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mr. Ubah, who said he “honoured an invitation to answer questions on the investigations into the fuel subsidy” in a phone interview told Channels Television’s Judiciary Correspondent Shola Soyele that “I am home now”. The business man also volunteered to make available some information that will help the anti-graft agency in its investigation. He however didn’t state when he will report back to the agency for further questioning and submission of the “volunteered” information. The Public Relations Officer of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren said Mr. Ubah was arrested after failing to honour previous invitations by the agency. He also confirmed that Ubah has been “allowed” to go but will return, probably on Thursday, to answer further questions. Mr. Ubah was said to have been arrested by a team of EFCC operatives at his Maitama home in Abuja

A 31-year old  ex-policeman , Kelvin Ighodalo has been sentenced to 45-year imprisonment by an Osogbo High Court for stealing a N50,000 Sony Ericsson phone belonging to Governor Rauf Aregbesola. Mr Ighodalo had stolen the phone from the Governors pocket on November 27, 2010, when he was being inaugurated at Government Technical College, Osogbo. Justice Oyejide Falola, who precided over the case, found the accused guilty on six counts, which included conspiracy, stealing and fraud. Justice Falola thereafter sentenced Mr Ighodalo to 10-year imprisonment for the first three counts and five years for each of the last three which included impersonation, obtaining property by falsehood and collusion. The Judge explained that the convict deserved the sentence and held that the convict used the phone to obtain N500, 000 from the Owa of Ilesa, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, while he obtained N200, 000 from Shengen Rahman, an associate of the governor. Mr Ighodalo will run the jail term con

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has decried the pervading culture of political intolerance and impunity in the country despite the end of military rule over a decade ago. In his paper entitled “Deepening Democracy in Nigeria: Implications for Africa,” Mr Abubakar said as a result of such lip service to democratic principles, “disregard for rules and regulations and the utter impunity with which they are committed,” has led to what he called “the militarization of democracy.”The former Vice President, who was speaking in Switzerland as a Guest Speaker of the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations on Monday, regretted that in Nigeria and other parts of Africa opposition members are treated as enemies of the state. According to him, many retired military chiefs, who came into power as politicians entered the democratic arena without being able to shed their military mind-sets, thereby exacerbating the culture of intolerance and entrenching impunity, which chara

Pirates stormed a cargo ship off Nigeria's southern coast and kidnapped five foreign sailors, including three Sri Lankans, taking the total number of those abducted from the region within the last four days to 14, a military spokesman said today. Pirates operating in creeks and waterways of Nigeria's oil rich Niger Delta kidnapped the sailors in a raid, military spokesman Lt Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu said.  Nwachukwu said the sailors were aboard oil vessel, Antigua and Barbuda-flagged MV City of Xiamen.  The sailors, included three from Sri Lanka, one from Russia and one from Myanmar, media reports said.  The abduction took place in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa state in the southern part of the oil rich African country.  On Friday, nine Nigerian sailors attached to two local oil servicing companies, Octopus Clan Nigerian Limited and the Deck Oil Services, were kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be renegade militants operating along the Ilebiri cree

The controversial N4.5 billion Sunborn Yacht Hotel, brought from England and moored on the Lagos waters for over four years, has finally disappeared from the state after the controversies surrounding its ownership. It will be recalled that the custom built yacht, with 102 elegant suites, arrived the Lagos waters in November 2008  and instantly became a cynosure of all eyes. The yacht, expected to serve as a four_star hotel, was, however , bedeviled by controversies since its arrival which led to it abandonment and subsequent rusting away on the water-ways. When Vanguard visited the quay, by the Army Officers' Mess at Marina, Lagos Island Local Government Area, there was no sign that such expensive and eye catching structure ever berthed there. Enquiries from the state government and even residents of the state yielded no result as no one could  say specifically what happened to the multi_purpose built yacht that moored on the state water for over four years.Commissioner for Tourism