Exclusive: Official photos from P-Square's father's burial today

Chief Moses Okoye, the father of Peter and Paul Okoye of P-Square fame was buried today, Friday, 30 January, 2015 at his hometown in Ifitedunu, Anambra State. His last journey home started on Thursday with a Service of Songs. After the event, P-Square paid a courtesy visit to the monarch of the village. On Friday, the burial mass was held at St. Gabriel Catholic Church, Ifitedunu. Security for the event was marshalled by Golden Events Solution team led by Mambo Adeniyi, P-Square’s official bodyguard. See the photos after the cut...

Nigerian Army General, others arrested over Baga Attack

More than 10 senior Nigerian Army officers, including a Brigadier-General have been arrested and are telling the military hierarchy what they know about the Baga attack by the insurgent group, Boko Haram.

According to the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, the senior army officers are being investigated for allegedly shirking their responsibilities during the attack by the militants.

Those arrested are Brigadier-General Enitan Ransome-Kuti, his Chief of Staff Lt. Colonel G.A Suru. Others are the Commanding Officer of 134 and 174 battalions, Lt. Colonel Haruna and a certain Major aliyu.

The two Nigerian Army battalions are under the Multi-National Task Joint Task Force in Baga, attacked by the insurgents. Speaking on the arrest, General Olukolade said that the arrested officers were being investigated because at the time of the attack on the multinational headquarters in Baga, Brigadier-General Ransome-Kuti and his men were fully in charge of the military formation.

He said it was disappointing that the attack on Baga was not repelled by both battalions, despite having the necessary weapons to carry out the necessary operations. On January 3, 2015, suspected members of Boko Haram attacked the base of the Multinational Task Force in Baga, Borno State, dislodging the soldiers there. Reports say the troops were warned to be on alert following intelligence reports that terrorists would strike between January 22 and January 25.

Eyewitnesses said that the attack started around 5am when residents started hearing gunshots as the insurgents tried to gain entrance into the MNJTF premises. Many civilians living in the barracks were said to have been killed during the attack.

Nigerian transgender man talks about the joy & danger of living his truth

He used to be a woman. Born in Lagos Nigeria. Now living in the US as Rizi Xavier Timane, a man. In an interview with Ebony, he reflects on his journey to living his truth, and the burden that comes with doing it in a country (US) that doesn't value 'Black men'.

I was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and I was assigned the female gender at birth. Both of these facts amounted to one thing: I had no power, no respect, and no privilege, nor would I have much of any of these throughout my life. Add in that I came from a less than wealthy family and was, for all intents and purposes, a lesbian, and I became a truly invisible human being; when I wasn’t being ridiculed or abused, I basically did not exist.

I say "for all intents and purposes" because for as long as I can remember, I never thought of myself as a girl. Though I didn’t know what to call it as a young child—I had no idea there even was a name for what I felt until I was eight years old, when two friends saw a transgender person on an American talk show and told me about it—I knew I was different. I felt how the boys I knew looked: masculine and tough, not feminine and delicate like my girl friends. I preferred pants to dresses, speaking my mind over being quiet and demure, and roughhousing in the dirt was infinitely more compelling playing dress-up with my mother’s clothes.

Still, this gave me no status in the male-driven, patriarchal Nigerian society. And I grew up thinking this was my station in life: to be misunderstood and miserable, trapped in a body I did not feel was my own and stuck in a country that was homophobic, transphobic, sexist, and hyper-religious. When I told my family about how I felt, they told me to keep quiet. My mother and her church friends repeatedly performed exorcisms on me, trying to rid me of the demons that had made me what I was.

Every day between the ages of eight and twelve, I got down on my knees and prayed that God would change me into the boy I knew I was inside. When that didn’t work, I tried running away from how I felt, turning later in life to drugs and alcohol and battling severe depression along with my gender dysphoria. I resigned myself to identifying as a Black lesbian for the rest of my life and to all the cultural bias and discrimination that comes with it, particularly in my country of origin, where being gay or lesbian can lead to imprisonment.

Eventually, through a long and difficult process of self-realization, I came to see that I did have some choice in the matter of how I presented my gender identity to the world. That I wasn’t tied to that female body and its attendant dearth of cultural value. Today, after twenty surgical procedures plus ongoing hormonal treatments, I can proudly say that I am completely male inside and out. No longer am I the scared child living in an oppressive nation or the adult going through the motions in a life that was not my own. I am now a heterosexual man living in the United States and enjoying all the societal respect and privilege I’d missed out on for so long, when I was not able to express my authentic self.

As a man, I enjoy a higher status than I did when I lived as a woman—people listen to me when I speak and automatically value my opinions; I no longer feel meek and subservient, as I believed I was supposed to be. Of course, there are other challenges now that I am living in my truth. As a Black man, however, I constantly feel like I have a target on my back--like I am the focal point of America’s most vehement hatred right now. I know that I could lose this life I’ve worked so hard to build in an instant—another Michael Brown, another John Crawford, another Eric Garner. Black teen boys are twenty-one times more likely than their White peers to be killed by police and the stats aren't much better when you turn 21. One in three of us can expect to go to prison in our lifetime. Whenever I leave my house now, my wife reminds me to keep both hands on the steering wheel if a cop pulls me over, so he doesn’t think I’m reaching for a gun. While I don't dismiss the tragic cases of police violence against Black women, it's not lost on me that she didn't say this when I presented as a woman.

Overall I feel that much of my struggle as a transgender individual is behind me. But as a Black man, my journey has just begun. This is not exactly the life I signed up for. Not that I thought living as a man would be one nonstop party, but I guess we don’t realize how serious a situation can be until we live through it. Still, I'm grateful; despite the trials of being a Black male in America, I am finally comfortable in my skin, and that alone brings me a sense of personal power.

Taribo West, Waje, Omawumi, others watch as football triumphs in Malta Guinness Game On

All good things come to an end and so it was with the first season of Game On, the Malta Guinness-powered reality series to find Naijas’ true passion. The thrilling show kicked off with an opening round of jokes and banter by humour merchants, Owen Gee and Lepacious Bose who after getting the audience in stitches handed over to another king of comedy Gordons, the official; host of the night.

Lanre and Amokachi for the final time had the opportunity to defend their passions in one minute before a recap of memories of the contestants in the house and on tasks.

Without much ado the run way was lit and came to life with the fashion team putting their best foot forward to present an amazing show on this grand finale, the football team wouldn’t be left behind as they blew the audience away with a football inspired dance piece so good musician Waje couldn’t but score them a 8 over ten when asked what she thought of their performance. Noble Igwe rooting for the fashion team believed they scored 9/10. Mind-blowing performances by delectable R&B songstress, Niyola and Alobam crooner, Phyno got the entire audience rising to their feet, singing and dancing along and breaking into applause for the rapper when he was done.

The moment of truth came and Naijas true passion was finally unveiled as Olumide Ajibolade was declared final winner over Henrietta with Team Football winning 52% of the votes to Team Fashion’s 48% in the outcome of voting by Nigerians on Facebook and by SMSes across the nation.

Shocked Olumide broke into prayers as he beamed with joy and called his family to break the news in 6 words “tell them say I don win”, the crowd erupted into laughter and applause. 

Uche Onwudiwe, the Marketing Manager of Malta Guinness said “we are glad to have been the umpires in finding Naijas true passion. People have always assumed it was football and really the fashion industry is an exciting one plus they gave a good fight on this one but football came out tops with a narrow margin. However, whichever passion it was, the Malta Guinness brand purpose is all about helping the everyday Nigerians get ready for that big break that is all around us either by nourishing them with goodness and vitality or helping them with rare opportunities like this one”.

Reacting to his win of the grand prize which is a trip to England for a series of trainings and coaching classes and a sum of two million Naira cash, Olumide said they say Malta Guinness fuels the passion of Naija, I am a testimony! Our lifes are changed forever and I am deeply grateful to Malta Guinness, my team captain Daniel Amokachi, our rival captain Mrs Lanre Da Silva, all other contestants and the almighty God.

Celebrating the win on this grand night with the contestants were a list of celebrities that includes football legend, Taribo West; Rapper Phyno, songstress and vocalist, Waje and Omawumi; media personalities Joseph Benjamin, Adams Ibrahim and Noble Igwe , DJ Xclusive, amongst others.

By the win, Nigerians have shown that football is the superior passion in the country and Malta Guinness has helped to fuel the passion of Coach Olumide Ajibolade.

Photos: 2 lucky students get Scholarships as Omotola visits Govt School Lugbe

 

Again, #igatvalue was introduced to the students which encourages to discover yourself, invest in yourself, believe in yourself and Value yourself. The students also pleaded with Nigerians to come to their aid as they desperately need a fence around their dangerously exposed school. 

The high-point of the visit was when Two students (1. Ja'afaru .N. Ruth - SSS2
2. Tuwase Regina Odunayo - SSS3) won scholarships courtesy Stella Maris to University level.