See Photos: Aneke Twins & Acting Classmates Visit Los Angeles Zoo

On Sunday, actresses Chidinma and Chidiebere Aneke and their classmates at New York Film Academy, visited the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens and Runyon Canyon Park. They had so much fun. See photos...

Senate Presidency: Akume meets Obasanjo, Tinubu, Atiku

It looks like Senator George Akume may emerge the preferred candidate for the office of Senate President ahead of Senator Bukola Saraki.

As the leadership of the APC continues to brainstorm on the zoning of offices in the executive and legislative arms of government, top contender for the senate presidency, Senator Akume, at the weekend intensified his consultations.

The Senator, who has adopted a quiet, discreet and unobtrusive approach in his quest for the exalted position since he was listed as a potential holder, hit the road on what a close confidant described as a ‘strategic cross-country diplomatic shuttle.’

Akume, who was in the South-West last week, met prominent national figures and respected political bulwarks. Notable among them were Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu and former Osun State governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

The former Benue State governor who is returning to the Senate for the third time, met the leaders in their respective domains in Abeokuta, Lagos and Okuku, respectively.

Akume served as Benue State Governor, concurrently when Obasanjo was President and both men maintained a good relationship until the end of their tenures in 2007, despite Obasanjo’s brushes with Akume’s kinsmen like Dr Iyorchia Ayu, who was Minister in the Obasanjo government and Senator Barnabas Gemade, who succeeded the late Chief Solomon Lar as PDP National Chairman.

While Akume served in Benue, Tinubu was Governor of Lagos, both of them belonging to the ‘Governors’ Class of 1999 to 2007.’

Oyinlola succeeded Chief Bisi Akande, former Interim Chairman of the APC as Osun State governor on the platform of the PDP in 2003, but all three men have since found common grounds in the progressives’ camp.

While there was no official communication after each of the meetings, the interactions may not be unconnected with the topical issue of the Senate Presidency.

Akume has also had several engagements with former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, who may likely emerge as Chairman of the APC Board of Trustees. Akume was governor when the highest Tiv honorary traditional title, ‘Zege Mule U’Tiv’ was conferred on Atiku.

Akume’s backstage consultations have also taken him to see Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who has also been elected Senator to represent Kano State, Prof Ango Abdullahi, Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, former Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Coomasie and former Kogi State Governor, Abubakar Audu.

Sources in Akume’s camp will not readily draw a link between his recent travels and the issue of the Senate Presidency. As one of his aides volunteered, however, ”Senator Akume is a very highly regarded statesman in his own right. Consultations with like-minded leaders on issues bothering on our socio-politics should be a routine affair.”

Pressed further, the source said: ‘If the APC is truly about change, that change should reflect in the way we do things, so we send a very strong message to all Nigerians that they can be assured of a sense of belonging irrespective of where they come from. We have produced a President-Elect from a majority ethnicity, we have produced a Vice-President-Elect from another majority ethnic group, APC must be sensitive to the sensitivities of the minorities, across both divides of the Niger.’

South Africa to Pay HIV Positive People who Tattoo Status on their Private Parts

What's your thought on this? Reportedly, confirmed HIV positive South Africans that volunteer to be marked near their genital area with a  tatoo depicting their status, will in addition to free counselling and medication. be paid an equivalent of N840, 000 (50 000 Rands) each, according to a  bill newly signed by President Jacob Zuma.

The bill, according to a report by Radio City, a local South  African radio station, is widely regarded as one of the greatest steps in the history of combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country which
has the highest HIV prevalence in Africa.

Zuma who is reported to to have volunteered to be the first South African citizen to get his HIV status tatted near his genitals, however  announced that only the first 10 million people (who already tested positive) to volunteer to have their HIV statuses tatted on their genitals would be given the money in form of a funeral expense voucher.

After signing the bill, Zuma was quoted as saying:

“The mark is to protect those who can’t say no to sex. I mean if you can’t read between the lines you should read between the legs because that’s where the status would be tatted. 

The choice to be HIV positive is now in your hands or your genitals for that matter…. We also encourage those who had been living with the virus to go to the nearest public hospitals to get their status tatted in,” he noted.

South Africa has the world’s highest HIV caseload and premature deaths of 300,000 people. The government is distributing life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs to people infected with the virus.

Vanguard adds that in 2006, Zuma faced charges of raping an HIV-positive family friend, and was ridiculed for testifying that he took a shower after sex to lower the risk of infection with HIV. His determination to help millions South Africans infected with HIV and around 60,000 babies born HIV infected each year.

“Let there be no more shame, no more blame, no more discrimination and no more stigm. Let the politicisation and endless debates about HIV and AIDS stop,” Zuma noted.

- See more at: http://www.lailasblog.com/2015/05/jacob-zuma-to-pay-hiv-postitive-south.html#sthash.0E8BdeHr.dpuf

President Jonathan should not be scared of persecution - APC

Read the APC press statement below...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the incoming Buhari Administration will not persecute anyone, contrary to statements credited to President Goodluck Jonathan. In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said, however, that those who have played poker with the nation’s destiny must be willing and eager to clear their conscience before man and God.

"That the President-elect is a man of integrity is not an issue for debate, and he has made it clear that he will not be bogged down by endless probes.

"However, the hands of the incoming government will not be tied by those who have chosen to play the victim and exhibit a persecution mentality. Whoever has any reason to be afraid must lay bare such reason before Nigerians,” the party said. It said that under the climate of change that Nigerians have ushered in with their votes, only the guilty needs to be afraid, and those with a guilty conscience, on account of their actions in the public sphere, must clear such so they can be at peace with themselves.

"The last time we checked, this does not fit the definition of persecution,” APC said. The party wondered why the President chose a public forum to express his fears when he could have done so privately during his meetings with the President-elect.

"Since the presidential election was won and lost, the President and the President-elect have met privately a number of times. Why didn’t President Jonathan express his apprehensions during these meetings? ”Even if the two have not met, the President could have reached out to the President-elect over any fears that he may be nursing, instead of engaging in an action that seems like he was being preemptive and seeking to curry public sympathy,” it said

APC insisted that the priority of the incoming government will be the welfare and security of the long-suffering people of Nigeria, and enjoined all citizens to support the Administration in charting a new path for the country – away from the rapaciousness and impunity of the past years.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary All Progressives Congress (APC) Abuja,
May 11th 2015

South Africa to Pay HIV Positive People who Tattoo Status on their Private Parts

What's your thought on this? Reportedly, confirmed HIV positive South Africans that volunteer to be marked near their genital area with a  tatoo depicting their status, will in addition to free counselling and medication. be paid an equivalent of N840, 000 (50 000 Rands) each, according to a  bill newly signed by President Jacob Zuma.

The bill, according to a report by Radio City, a local South  African radio station, is widely regarded as one of the greatest steps in the history of combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country which
has the highest HIV prevalence in Africa.

Zuma who is reported to to have volunteered to be the first South African citizen to get his HIV status tatted near his genitals, however  announced that only the first 10 million people (who already tested positive) to volunteer to have their HIV statuses tatted on their genitals would be given the money in form of a funeral expense voucher.

After signing the bill, Zuma was quoted as saying:

“The mark is to protect those who can’t say no to sex. I mean if you can’t read between the lines you should read between the legs because that’s where the status would be tatted. 

The choice to be HIV positive is now in your hands or your genitals for that matter…. We also encourage those who had been living with the virus to go to the nearest public hospitals to get their status tatted in,” he noted.

South Africa has the world’s highest HIV caseload and premature deaths of 300,000 people. The government is distributing life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs to people infected with the virus.

Vanguard adds that in 2006, Zuma faced charges of raping an HIV-positive family friend, and was ridiculed for testifying that he took a shower after sex to lower the risk of infection with HIV. His determination to help millions South Africans infected with HIV and around 60,000 babies born HIV infected each year.

“Let there be no more shame, no more blame, no more discrimination and no more stigm. Let the politicisation and endless debates about HIV and AIDS stop,” Zuma noted.

- See more at: http://www.lailasblog.com/2015/05/jacob-zuma-to-pay-hiv-postitive-south.html#sthash.DEQAY5yp.dpuf

Friends and associates have abandoned me since I lost the election - GEJ

Before? Unfortunately, that's how some people are. They are only around you for what they can get, but as soon you are no longer in the position to be of help to them, they are gone. President Jonathan, during his Thanksgiving farewell service yesterday told his audience that he's been abandoned by people who he once considered friends.

He said despite this, he is a fulfilled man and will continue to give his best to Nigeria.

"As long as I live, I will continue to do my best for the state because it has helped me as a person. I have to thank Nigerians especially my state for giving me the opportunity to serve as deputy governor, governor and the whole country gave me the opportunity to serve as Vice President and then President, first was to complete the tenure of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and later serve as Presi­dent from which I am exiting now as a very happy and fulfilled man”.

"When I look at the whole picture of my life up to when I became the President of this country, and I say that if soldiers and police officers that have not received 0. 5 per cent of the benefits that I have received from the state can lay their lives for this country, I should do anything in the interest of Nigeria including paying the supreme price."

Jonathan said he wasn't surprised that friends and associates have abandoned him, since losing the election and he expects worst things to happen in future. He said those that benefited most from his government were same people crucifying him today but he wasn't phased by it.

He thanked his ministers for having served him well and wished them the best in future endeavours.

“To my ministers, I wish you what I wish myself. They will have hard times, we will all have hard times. Our ways will be rough.”

But we are happy the ordinary people appreciate what we did and that is the most important. It’s not what the elite or the privileged few talk or say about you but what the majority of the Nigerian public think about your actions and inac­tions that matter.

“Like the Primate said, we came to Abuja peacefully and we are returning peace­fully. “I thank the church and Nigerians because they stood by us at our most dif­ficult times.

Emmanuel Adebayor Reveals More Dirty Secrets On His Brother Rotimi Adebayor

The footballer has shared the part two of his family travails via his Facebook page for every other African family to learn from.

Read below...

SEA, here is another part of the story I have kept inside since. Today I feel the constant need to let it out. If I share my stories, it is because I believe every story comes with a lesson. And the lesson is for anyone that is reading this. This is about a brother who keeps saying today that I am not a good support for our family. His name is Rotimi Adebayor. At the age of 13, he did something very bad. He and I know what he did. Because of that our parents had to send him to a village far from the big city. When I started to be successful in football and I went to Togo for vacation; at that time one of my mother’s friend came from the village to visit us. As she explained how Rotimi was suffering in the village, I immediately asked them to bring him back into the city. As soon as he came back, I made sure I put him in school. For me that is normal. 

In 2002, I went to play the AFCON in Mali and I had the huge privilege to swap my shirt with Marc-Vivien Foé. May his soul rest in peace. When I got back to Togo, I put that shirt in a secure place. My brother found a way to steal that shirt and sold it. 

When I moved from Metz to Monaco, we reached an advanced stage in the Champions League and we played against Real Madrid. It was one of most beautiful day of my life because I was lucky enough to get a signed shirt from the football legend Zinedine Zidane. As I brought that shirt back to Togo, my brother still found a way to steal that shirt and sold it. 

When I was in Metz, I was earning about €15,000 a month. I wanted to get something unique for my mom to thank her for all she did for me. I wanted to make her happy. So I decided to take an amount worth 3 months of my wages and I bought her a Cartier neckless for about €45,000. Rotimi and his friends Akim(@Yam Freedom) and Tao (@Sao Tao Oyawole) made a plan and stole that precious neckless. They sold it for about €800. When my mom and I found out, my mother asked me not to bother because he is the younger brother. Despite the situation, I would like to take this same occasion to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day!

In my house, I have a storage room where I keep some of my belongings when I travel back to Europe. I am the only one with that key but my brother managed to get a master key that was able to open every single door in the house. He frequently stole drinks and other items from that room. 

After all this we kept saying “blood is thicker than water” and we moved on. Therefore, I decided to take him where I started my football in France. I brought him to a great football academy in France. You already know how this story ended. He stole cellphones from many of his teammates and they sacked him from the football academy. By the way, after I published the first story about him, he called me to say that he did not steal exactly 21 phones. He claimed that the number was lower than that. Still...Is that acceptable? He also added that I should be happy that he stole drinks and other items from my storage room. I asked him why and he replied: "Because I am your brother". 

Jacques Songo’o who is now a retired Cameroonian footballer also had his son in the academy and he was a good friend of Rotimi. Let me add that he was part of my development as a footballer and he always gave me good advices. I was in Togo on my days off when Songo’ocalled me; he sounded very angry. He explained to me how my brother stole his son’s PSP. When I asked my brother why he did that, he argued that he forgot it in his bag. How can you forget someone else’s device in your bag and travel with it from France to Togo? Since that day, my relationship with Songo'o changed and he has become pretty distant with me and my family. 

I was still in Monaco when I decided to collect all football boots from my teammates so I could give them to people in Africa. I had a huge bag full of shoes. I brought that bag to Togo. A few days after when I decided to give the boots out to the people in need, I noticed the bag full of boots disappeared. Later on, I found out that my brother was the one who stole the bag and went to sell the shoes in Hedzranawoé (famous public market in Togo).

One day, my mom called me early in the morning when I was still in bed. She told me that Rotimi has gotten a Visa to go to Dubai so he can play football out there. He had to leave that day with his friend Kodjovi (@Denilson de Souza) who was in the same situation. It was either they went that day or the Visa would be suspended. I asked one of my guys at the time (@Agui Mozino) to go find tickets for my brother and his friend. We could not find any economy class ticket on that day so I had to get them both first class tickets. After all, it was an opportunity for him to make his own career in Dubai. Only 4days later, Rotimi went back home. He explained how the lifestyle in Dubai was not made for him. He said he wasn’t free to do what he wanted to do because it is a strictly Muslim place. He couldn't drink, party as much as he wanted or kiss girls in public.

The part 3 is coming out soon and it will be about the man that calls himself the father of the family @Kola Adebayor A.K.A Lion of Judah.

Kendall and Khloe Kardashian booed at a basket ball game (photos)

Khloe and Kendall were shown on camera to get fans cheering and waving, at the Staples Center during a Los Angeles Clippers game on Friday, but when it showed their faces, everyone booed.

The crowd booed so loudly that the cameraman quickly cut away to a different section where both Floyd Mayweather and Snoop Dogg were sitting in the front row at the game. Someone in the crowd captured the moment on his phone, shared it on his twitter page and titled it 'Just got booed'

Before they were booed

See Photos Of A Heavily Pregnant Nadia Buari Revealed

It was one of the industry's best kept secret. No one knew the Ghanaian actress was pregnant until she gave birth to a set of twins.

See more photo of her pregnant self below..

Billionaire daughter Jennifer Obayuwana shows off inside her home

Polo Avenue boss Jennifer Obayuwana showed off inside her well furnished Lagos home on her instagram page. See another photo after the cut...

Photos: Northern Elders Forum pay General Buhari courtesy visit

Members of the Northern Elders Forum paid a courtesy visit to president elect, General Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja today May 10th. More photos after the cut...

9 US police officers fired over death of young Nigerian man in their custody

We carried this story a few months ago. Handsome 22 year old Nigerian college student and artist Matthew Ajibade, was found dead in restraints in an isolation cell after he was booked into a county jail in Georgia on January 1st. Ajibade had been arrested on domestic violence charges following a fight with his girlfriend. If you missed the story, read here. 

Police said they were called to a home and when they arrived, they saw Ajibade holding his girlfriend down under a blanket and refused to release her. They claim the gilr had bruises on her face and her nose was bleeding and when they tried to arrest Ajibade, he became combative and had to restrained. His family lawyer has since said Ajibade was bipolar. The update now is that 9 police officers have been fired in connection with his death.

From UK Daily Mail

The sheriff released no findings from the investigations into Ajibade's death, which is still considered an open case as prosecutors weigh possible criminal charges. However, the sheriff's office did provide a February 9 memo reminding deputies that they were prohibited from using stun guns on detainees already in restraints.

'Do not utilize any conducted electrical weapon to gain control of a detainee who is in full restraints while in a restraint chair,' the memo said, noting that detainees with both their hands and feet bound were to be considered fully restrained.

Sheriff's officials have previously said Ajibade was placed in a restraining chair in an isolation cell after he became combative during booking and injured three deputies. One deputy suffered a concussion and a broken nose, according to the sheriff's office. Authorities have declined to publicly release the report on Ajibade's autopsy, citing the open investigation.

The fired deputies include two supervisors — Cpl. Maxine Evans and Cpl. Jason Kenny — who were suspended after Ajibade died. The Associated Press could not find a phone number for either deputy Friday evening.

The sheriff deeply regrets the death of Mr. Ajibade,' said a statement released by the sheriff's office Friday. It said new policies implemented since Ajibade's death include security measures to audit the use of stun guns at the jail as well as booking procedures to ensure jail medical staff are notified immediately when a detainee requiring medication arrives.

The police officers fired below

Fired: Chatham County Sheriff Al St. Lawrence fired (from left to right) Frederick Burke, Jason Kenny, and Maxine Evans (below). Kenny and Evans were both supervisors 

Also fired were (from left to right) Eric Vinson, Christopher Reed, and Burt Ambrose (below)

Among the fired deputies were (from left to right) Paul Folsome, Abram Burns, and Andrew Evans-Martinez

Chinese billionaire takes 6,400 staff on holiday to Paris; costs him about $50m

Chinese billionaire, Li Jinyuan, the chairman Tiens Group Company, has taken 6,400 of his staff on a 4-day holiday to France which finished with a world-record breaking human chain in Cote D'Azur. 

According to Mail Online, Jinyuan, 57, (pictured right in white) booked up 140 hotels in Paris where the group visited the Louvre and various cultural sites in one of the world's most famous and revered cities. The huge group of tourists then made their way to the glamorous Cote D'Azur, where they booked 4,760 rooms in 79 four-and five-star hotels in Cannes and Monaco.

 

The billionaire

 It took 147 buses to take the tourists from their hotels to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, where Guinness World Record officials where on hand to validate the world's biggest ever human chain

It took 147 buses to take the tourists from their hotels to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, where Guinness World Record officials where on hand to validate the world's biggest ever human chain.

The 6,400 employees arranged themselves to spell out the phrase 'Tiens' dream is Nice in the Cote d'Azur', to celebrate 20 years of partnership between the Chinese company and the French region.

France is expected to be 33million Euros better off thanks to the all-expenses-paid staff trip.

The group were expected to spend 13million euros in Paris, home of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc De Triomph and The Louvre.

Nice was expected to be 20million better off thanks to the visit - and many of the guests stayed in hotels Cannes, where the famous film festival is to be held next week, and Monaco, long known for being a playground of the rich and famous. 

Li Jinyuan, 57, is listed as a billionaire on the Forbes rich list and took more than half of his staff to the region to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the founding of the company.

Comedian I Go Dye says he will miss First Lady Patience Jonathan

Don't ask me, I don't know...lol. All I know is that he says he will miss her. ‎The comedian at an event yesterday in Abuja said he will miss Nigeria's First lady after May 29. He made this statement at the marriage ceremony of the President's Special Adviser on Niger Delta affairs, Mr George Tunner ‎

"A great woman who redefined the phenomenon and strength in womanhood, that leadership virtues abound in African women. We shall miss you after may 29th". he said