BREAKING NEWS

  A frica’s number one music authority, MTV Base has announced the nominees for this year’s MTV Africa Music Awards.  The announcement was made tonight, Wednesday, 16 April 2014 at an impressive nominations party at The Sands in Johannesburg, South Africa. This year’s nominations prove that Nigerian music has fast taken over Africa. Out of fifteen different categories, Nigeria has been nominated in eleven categories and includes some of the biggest names in the Nigerian entertainment industry including Omotola Jalade, Chimamanda Adichie, 2Face, PSquare, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Olamide, Flavour among many others.See more pictures after the cut Continue...

According to reports the mother of one is the highest paid female entertainer in Nigeria, charging up to N5 Million naira per show! According to an Encomium report, Omawumi has the most endorsement deals of any female performer, even Tiwa Savage! ENCOMIUM Weekly’s findings revealed that Omawumi’s performance fee has risen from N3 million (as at September 2013) to N5 million, depending on the show. Omawumi is missing from action at this year’s Nigerian Breweries sponsored Star Trek, the biggest music concert in Africa because of her relationship with another brand, Guinness. Sources close to her disclosed to ENCOMIUM Weekly that Omawumi performs, at least six times in a month.

Knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, the Catalan giants then proceeded to lose to Granada on Saturday and lose pace with Diego Simeone's side at the top of La Liga. The Copa del Rey now represents Barcelona's best chance for significant silverware this season, but they will need to overcome their bitter rivals to claim victory. Meanwhile, Madrid are through to the semi-finals of the Champions League where they will face Bayern Munich but are also playing catch-up on Atletico in the Spanish league. 

More Nigerians including the Speaker of the House of Reps, Aminu Tambuwal, former Kwara state Governor Bukola Saraki and other government officials today visited the National Blood Transfer Service in Abuja to donate blood for victims of yesterday's bomb blast at Nyanya Motor Park. Saraki pictured left at NBTS today and Tambuwal pictured right donating blood.  by lindaikeji

Transformation: Cambridge Lodge, which was a disused water tank, has opened as a holiday home A disused concrete water tank dating back to 1909 has been transformed into a luxurious holiday home. Jim and Lisa Hardy spent 10 years renovating Cambridge Lodge, which was covered in earth and only accessible through manholes in the roof. The couple, who bought the property from Severn Trent Water, gave it a makeover – based on a sketch on the back of an envelope. Transformation: Cambridge Lodge, which was a disused water tank, has opened as a holiday  home see more pics after the cut

The National Blood Transfusion Service, NBTS, in Asokoro has seen a large turnout of Nigerians coming to the Asokoro General Hospital to donate blood to save Nyanya blast victims. 

Oh dear. This is not good. Two blasts at Nyanya Motor Park on the outskirts of Abuja this morning April 14th has killed several people with many injured. The blast occurred at the crowded bus station around 6.30am today during rush hour as commuters were about to board buses and taxis to go to work in central Abuja. Two buses full of people were struck. It is believed that one of the buses, which was parked overnight at the motor park, was loaded with the bomb that went off this morning. The explosion occurred in a section of Nyanya park allocated to luxury buses. An eyewitness said he saw at least 50 bodies being removed from the scene..

Nigerian award-winning singer, Ayo Balogun, a.k.a  Wizkid  has become the first Nigerian artiste to reach one million followers on popular social networking site, Twitter. Currently with 1,001,047 followers as at writing this, the EME music label act beats other popular music artistes like D’banj (816k+ followers), Don Jazzy (719k+ followers), 2face Idibia   (686k+ followers) and Nollywood actress, Genevieve Nnaji   (542k+ followers).

In an exclusive interview with UK Daily Mail today, Reeva’s sister Simone (pictured left) says they are in no doubt that Pistorius is a liar. "He is trying to convince the court that they were really close and that he cared for her. It’s not true. He is a disgusting liar. At the start of the trial, my heart stopped as he walked past, ignoring us. I like to think his heart stopped too. He knew we were there but he almost lost his balance and fell over when he saw us. ‘Then he sat in the dock, smirking. He killed my sister and yet he still seems to be enjoying his celebrity status. During the adjournments he marched around as if he was still a star while my mother and I just wanted to hide away. I don’t understand how anyone could commit that act – kill someone – and behave like that.’   To find an outlet for their feelings, the Steenkamps plan to open a shelter in Reeva’s memory for women who are victims of domestic abuse. But before that, there are  three more weeks of...

  NATO has released satellite photos that show the extent of Russia's military mobilization on its border with Ukraine -- including fighter jets, tanks, artillery and thousands of soldiers who are prepared to invade within 12 hours if called upon, say officials. The photos appear to confirm Western leaders' fears that Russia may be preparing for a ground invasion of eastern Ukraine, despite NATO's call for Russia to withdraw its forces from the border. What do the photos show? The photos, which private satellite imaging firm DigitalGlobe says it took between March 22 and April 2, purportedly reveal dozens of Russian "fast jets," helicopters and infantry units that were not spotted in photos of the same areas last year.

Presh of former music duo Kc Presh is now signed to Erik Manny Records. Erik Manny is owned by Mr Dilly, Chairman of Dilly Motors. Presh signed a multi million naira record deal with Erik Manny that comes with a a 2014 Prado Jeep and a 2013 Infiniti Qx 56 

Makurdi came alive as thousands of music fans trooped to IBB Square Makurdi to attend the second stage of Star Music Trek 2014 . They witnessed performances from artistes such as  2Face, M.I, Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, Timaya, Dammy Krane  and other home grown talents. The event, hosted by  Gbenga Adeyinka , saw Tiwa Savage perform “ Missing You “, her tribute to late singer  Zara Gretti . Wande Coal also perfromed a snippet of his new single, ” Baby Hello “. 2Face also gave a sensational duet performance with international singer-song writer  Bridget Kelly  of Roc Nation . They performed  ”Let   Somebody Love You”,  off the music legend’s forthcoming album, Ascension .

The U.S. National Security Agency knew for at least two years about a flaw in the way that many websites send sensitive information, now dubbed the Heartbleed bug, and regularly used it to gather critical intelligence, two people familiar with the matter said. The NSA’s decision to keep the bug secret in pursuit of national security interests threatens to renew the rancorous debate over the role of the government’s top computer experts. Heartbleed appears to be one of the biggest glitches in the Internet’s history, a flaw in the basic security of as many as two-thirds of the world’s websites. Its discovery and the creation of a fix by researchers five days ago prompted consumers to change their passwords, the Canadian government to suspend electronic tax filing and computer companies including Cisco Systems Inc. to Juniper Networks Inc. to provide patches for their systems.  By Michael Riley

Mohammed Abacha — the son of late former   Nigerian military dictator, General Sani Abacha — is facing fresh criminal lawsuit from the Federal Government for unlawfully taking possession of approximately N446.3bn stolen from government’s treasury between 1995 and 1998.  The latest lawsuit follows a decision by the Nigerian Supreme Court in January ordering the Nigerian government to file fresh charges against the dictator’s son. Also, the US Government recently froze assets belonging to the late dictator through its kleptocracy initiative. In the nine-count charge filed by private prosecutor, Daniel Enwelum upon a fiat dated  February 18th, 2014 by Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, the government accused Mohammed of “dishonestly receiving stolen property” and “voluntarily assisting in concealing money.” This fresh charge substitutes an earlier 121-count filed against Mohammed and Atiku Bagudu — the late ruler’s ally. However, Ba...

According to a 2013 United Nations report, 99.3% of Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment in some form. In a recent article on CNN , some individuals involved in cases of sexual abuse offered some perspectives on what they felt incited these incidents. Authorities also shed some light on why the statistics of sexual harassment are so high. For instance, last month, a group of male students at an Egyptian university groped a female student. The university’s dean, a male, blamed the incident on the female victim, citing her ”inappropriate attire” as the cause of the assault because she removed the black cloak she was wearing. However, it was discovered that the student’s attire was far from provocative – she was wearing black trousers and a long-sleeved shirt. In response to the Dean’s statement, Habiba , also a victim of sexual harassment, said harassment has nothing to do with dress-sense. ”Even veiled girls get harassed all the time,” she sa...

S unday Omotayo, an unemployed graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Ekiti State University attempted to kill himself yesterday in Akwa Ibom Staate due to frustration, Punch Reports. Omotayo who had gone to Akwa Ibom state to seek employment hoping that his services as a trained mechanical engineer would be needed having heard of the infrastructural development happening in the state, was greatly disappointed as he was not absorbed by any company in the state. Frustrated by his inability to secure a job in the last ten years since he graduated from the university, Omotayo yesterday morning went to the Akwa Ibom State Prison Services asking prison officials to shoot him dead or put him in prison where he could rot and die. Continue...

 Boko Haram members yesterday April 9th bombed a police station, a bank and a Sharia Court in Gwaram Sabuwa, Gwaram LGA of Jigawa State killing at least 4 policemen, one civilian, with quite a number of others sustaining various degrees of injury. According to eye witnesses, the men, who were about 20 in number and came in motorcycles and other vehicles, operated from 1am to 2am unhindered. They later told the villagers that they would be back again if they continue sending their children to school, operating football viewing centres and  accepting polio vaccines. Continue...

Headlining a weeklong chain of events in London to celebrate the success of Nigeria over the past 100 years, GLEEHD Foundation in partnership with the Commonwealth Democracy Initiative, ROSTRA Consulting & Amandla Consulting hosted the cream de la cream of the Nigerian Public and Private sector at a Gala and Award Night to recognise the contribution of Eminent Nigerians and Nigeria’s Emerging Leaders on March 11, 2014 as Nigeria celebrates its Centenary.Continue.. The Gala Award Night honoured the contribution of Nigerian luminaries and other exceptional Nigerians at the Sheraton Park Lane Mayfair Hotel in London which had the participation of Commonwealth Leaders, British and Nigerian Political Leaders, Friends of Nigeria and Nigerians in Diaspora.  Speaking at the Gala, Dayo Israel, GLEEHD Foundation’s Director for Africa said “Tonight we gather here to say thank you to those whose effort have contributed to the continuous growth and progress of our nation Ni...

Akon  is  40  and to mark his big day, the  Senegalese-American artist reportedly brought down an old house and rebuilt it as a mansion for himself. What a birthday gift! The singer and producer reportedly took a perfectly fine suburban home in the  San Fernando Valley  and demolished it before turning it into a dope new party palace. Real estate sources say  Akon  burned just under  $2 million  for his new elegant 5-Bedroom contemporary home with glass walls and concrete floors. The  Lonely  singer unveiled his masterpiece this week as part of throwing himself a huge  40th birthday bash

Google has been named as the most reputable company in the world – despite being heavily criticised for tax dodging and snooping on web users. The online search giant was tied with Disney as the firm with the best image among consumers, according to a poll by the Reputation Institute. The US company has been called ‘evil’ for lowering its UK tax bill by funnelling revenues through Ireland and out to tax shelter Bermuda. Google has also faced the threat of criminal action from the UK’s privacy watchdog for harvesting electronic data while photographing homes for the Google Street View service. Google’s unofficial motto is ‘Don’t be Evil’.

As a result, personal information such as passwords and credit card details has been accessible. Heartbleed, so called because it creates a ‘bleeding’ leak of security, is a flaw in OpenSSL, the software used by the majority of websites to keep data secure. The programme works by encrypting data – such as emails, instant messages, bank details or passwords – making it look like nonsense to hackers. When a line of communication is secure and information encrypted, the user sees a padlock on the page. When software is active, one computer may send a ‘heartbeat’ – a small packet of data – to check there is still another computer at the other end. However, a flaw in the programming meant it was possible to trick the computer at the other end by sending it a packet of data that looked like one of these heartbeats. This made it possible for hackers to impersonate the website and steal the encryption keys, revealing the data being sent.

A former Wickes cashier who became a Nigerian state governor and defrauded £157million of public funds to live a lavish lifestyle may not have to pay a single penny back. James Ibori, 51, is said to have personally pocketed £50million of cash stolen from the west African nation’s oil-rich Delta State during his eight-year tenure. The former £5,000-a-year Wickes cashier blew millions on luxury homes, a £12.6million private jet, fees at some of the UK’s most expensive boarding schools for his children, first-class travel and exclusive hotels. He owned a £600,000 fleet of armoured Range Rovers, a £120,000 Bentley and a £340,000 Mercedes Maybach that was shipped direct to his £3.2million mansion in Johannesburg. continue...

Given United had been all-but written off ahead of the Old Trafford tie following a tumultuous first season under Moyes, the outgoing Premier League champions have given themselves a chance of reaching the semi-finals ahead of the return meeting. Bayern remain strong favourites to take up a spot in the last four, but will be without last week's goalscorer Schweinsteiger through suspension, while Javi Martinez is also banned. United head to Munich on the back of a thumping 4-0 win at Newcastle which cemented their away record as the best in the Premier League. Five clean sheets have also been secured in their last six away games, with the only blip being the 2-0 loss to Olympiakos in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday, April 8th, has been honoured with the prestigious David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award alongside Paul Polman , CEO of Unilever and Simao Jatene , Governor of the State of Para, Brazil in New York. Okonjo-Iweala was joined by a list of high profile personalities such as the late Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton, Sir Richard Branson, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Bill Gates , President of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, James Wolfenson etc, that have been honoured in the past. The only other Nigerian who has previously received the award for her decades-long work of empowering women is Bisi Fayemi. In Okonjo-Iweala’s case, she is being honoured for her uncommon courage and capacity to deliver on the economy and lead, in a very difficult environment. Organised as part of the Synergos Institute University for a Night Series , the event bring...

Introduction: I thank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) for inviting me today to participate in this important dialogue on the National Elections in Nigeria in 2015. It is encouraging that the international community is paying the necessary attention to the coming elections for many reasons. Nigeria’s electoral management system is broken. It needs to be repaired and reconstituted before the next round of elections. The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Comission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has already promised to repair the system. We hope he is able to fulfill his promises this time. However, whether Jega fulfills his promises or not, the 2015 elections are critical for many reasons. One, the coming elections are likely to determine the long term survival of democracy in Nigeria, as well as determine the trajectory of the country itself, as we know it today. Not since independence in 1960 have the challenges of the divisive n...

Peter Mbah was born on the 17 th , March 1972 He started his primary education in 1978. He attended the Army Children School, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt where he obtained his 1 st School Leaving Certificate in 1984. In the same year, he proceeded to Owode High School, Owode Egba, Ogun State and in 1990, he graduated with a Senior Secondary Certificate in Education (SSCE) (O’Levels). An adventurous Mbah obtained a Certificate in German as Foreign Language from the VolkHoch Schule, Recklinghausen, Germany in 1992. Between 1997 and year 2000, he attended the University of East London, United Kingdom where he graduated as a lawyer (.L.L.B (Hons)) with a Second Class Upper Division. While at the School, Mbah was an outstanding President of the Student Law Society (1998-1999). During his tenure, the association won the Students Union’s prize and certificate of achievement for the “Most Productive Society of the Year”.

Counsel for the Federal Government of Nigeria in the suit against Governor Chimaroke Nnamani and others, Mr K.C. Uzozie has removed the name of Mr  Peter Mbah  and two others from suit number FHC/L /09C/207 admitting that the names were added in error and should not have been there in the first instance. “Upon this Amended charge dated 11 th  day of December, 2007 coming before the court”, the court declared that “after hearing K.C. Uzozie Esquire for the complainant informing the court that they have an application pursuant to section 163 of the Criminal Procedure Act to Amend the charge and as per the amended charge Peter Mbah and two others be discharged” as they were not complicit in any of the alleged crime in the first place. Peter Mbah, a foremost international Maritime Lawyer, educationist, and forthright public administrator was invited by the authorities by virtue of his position as the Commissioner for Finance in Enugu State during the Administration ...

Every week, African Start-Up follows entrepreneurs in various countries across the continent to see how they are working to make their business dreams become reality. (CNN) -- At 23, many people around the world are still at university -- at that age, Gossy Ukanwoke had already started one. The young entrepreneur is the founder of Beni American University (BAU), Nigeria's first private online university. Launched in late 2012, the school allows students to access their classes at any time of the day with any internet-enabled device. "We are providing executive programs for graduates who are looking for employment and want to build up their resumes, or managers who want to climb up the hierarchy of their companies," says Ukanwoke, now 25. ' Nigeria's Mark Zuckerburg' builds own school 'African iTunes' targets mobile users "We also have courses targeted at people who want to start their own business." 'Nige...

  In August 2013, Google launched a competition, calling creative people and innovators to share the stories of how the web has transformed their lives and the opportunities they have created. They received over 2,200 submissions from 35 countries.  6 months later, we’re pleased to announce that 5 winners have emerged. The winners were picked by a panel of judges after a shortlist of public votes. The winners will go home with $25,000 each and they will have an opportunity to work with a Google sponsor over the next 6 months. At the award ceremony in Nairobi,  the organizers had this to say about the incentive for the competition: “ There are over 1 billion people living in Sub-Saharan Africa and currently 16% of them are online. With Africa Connected, we wanted to celebrate how the web is changing lives in Africa, and show how it is contributing to the socio-economic development of the continent. Selecting the shortlist was no easy task: e...

Brazil, the host country of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, is making preparations for the big event which starts in June. In addition to renovating and building new infrastructure such as stadiums and advanced telecommunication systems,  the country is also “renovating” its streets – by cracking down on child prostitution, CNN reports. With the World Cup fast approaching, officials are worried that the problem of child prostitution may explode. An estimated 600,000 foreign visitors will be present in Brazil during the games, and over three million Brazilian fans will travel around the country. Thus, under-aged sex workers are likely to take advantage of the opportunity of making more money from this large pool of potential customers.

The French international has come under public scrutiny for his labored performances in recent games, most notably against Chelsea and Swansea Citeven though he scord there, but he has been accused of not giving his 100% in games while being found guilty of going missing in big games where Arsenal have suffered heavily this campaign. Despite his goal tally of 19 goals in all competitions this time around, not many are happy with his performances and with many calling for a new and a more mobile and pacy striker up front. There were sections of the media who also believed that the 27-year old will be offloaded by the Gunners who will replace him with a big money striker in the summer. However, Giroud’s agent has now come out in the open and has publicly dismissed such baseless rumors, while maintaining that on the contrary, the attacker intends to sit down with the club and sign a new deal at the end of the season.

Bold and Suave! OC Ukeje is the cover star for Bubbles Magazine ‘s new issue. Bubbles is known for picking music stars for its covers, so it was refreshing to see an actor on the cover for a change. The urban and hip publication dubs OC Nollywood’s new leading man, and the honour is well deserved. OC has been one to watch out for ever since his breakout role in 2008′s White Waters alongside Rita Dominic and Joke Silva . His résumé just got better starring alongside Genevieve Nnaji, Onyeka Onwenu, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton in the anticipated Half of a Yellow Sun . by bellanaija.com

The Presidency has said that it will not probe the allegations of misappropriation of  public funds levelled against the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, told Saturday PUNCH on Friday, that the Federal Government would not set up a probe panel to investigate the minister because the House of Representatives was currently probing her. Alison-Madueke was alleged to have spent N10bn on a chartered Challenger 850 aircraft in two years for which the House of Representatives is currently probing her. Okupe said that the Federal Government could not institute a probe panel on matters that had not been substantiated. Okupe, who spoke to one of our correspondents in a telephone interview in Abuja, on Friday, said since the House of Representatives had started investigating the matter, the right thing to do was to wait for the outcome of such a probe before any further ...

The Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the global fight against the threat of nuclear terrorism, but said that Nigeria, under his leadership, will continue to pursue efforts to harness nuclear energy and technology for socio-economic development. In his statement to the third Global Security Summit which opened at The Hague in the Netherlands on Monday, President Jonathan upheld the view that international and regional cooperation efforts should be based on the principle of maintaining a balance between nuclear non-proliferation obligations and the inalienable right of States to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy for development purposes.  “While this is important, we would also like to draw attention to the need to maintain the highest standards of nuclear safety and security in establishing peaceful nuclear facilities,” the President said.

Malaysian Prime Minister during a press conference about an hour ago said they believe they have located the plane the whole world has been searching for in the last 16 days. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ended deep in the southern Indian Ocean, west of Australia, Prime Minister Najib Razak said today, citing a new analysis of satellite data by a British satellite company and accident investigators. The Prime Minister said all lives were lost and relatives of passengers and crew have been informed of the 'heartbreaking' news. Some families of the passengers on the missing plane are now due to be booked on to flights to take them to Australia, where the plane is believed to have ended up. How did a plane going from Malaysia to China end up in the Southern Indian Ocean? by linda ikeji

The Senate Committee on Interior will Tuesday begin a two-day public hearing on the unfortunate tragedy that occurred during the recruitment exercise conducted by the Nigerian Immigration Service two weeks ago. No fewer than 16 people died during the NIS recruitment exercise penultimate Saturday across the country. The development made the Senate to direct its Committee on Interior to carry out public Investigative hearing on the tragedy. The public hearing according to the Clerk of the Senate Committee,  Mr. Isah Garba, would hold at the Conference Hall 0231 in the Senate new building by 10:00am each day. Our correspondent learnt that the committee had invited the Minister of Interior,  Mr. Abba Moro, and the Comptroller General of the NIS, Mr. David Parradang, to appear before it on the two days.

SYDNEY/PERTH (Reuters) - A Chinese military aircraft searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner spotted several "suspicious" floating objects on Monday in remote seas off Australia, increasing the likelihood that the wreckage of the plane may soon be found. The latest sighting followed reports by an Australian crew over the weekend of a floating wooden pallet and strapping belts in an area of the icy southern Indian Ocean that was identified after satellites recorded images of potential debris. Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people on board on March 8. No confirmed sighting of the plane has been made since and there is no clue what went wrong. Attention and resources in the search for the Boeing 777 have shifted from an initial focus north of the equator to an increasingly narrowed stretch of rough sea in the southern Indian Ocean, thousands of miles ...

FEODOSIA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian troops forced their way into a Ukrainian marine base in the Crimean port city of Feodosia early on Monday, overrunning one of the few symbols of resistance left after Moscow wrestled the peninsula away from Kiev, defending soldiers inside said. The Russians used stun grenades and fired automatic weapons as they charged in, a Ukrainian military official said. Ukrainian flags had been taken down from flagpoles inside the base. Ukrainian army officer, First Lieutenant Anatoly Mozgovoy, told Reuters by phone from inside the compound that the Russians had fired shots and the Ukrainian soldiers were unarmed. Asked if the base had been taken over, he said: "Yes". "The invading troops were using stun grenades and also firing automatic weapons. The interior of the compound is full of Russian troops," said Vladislav Seleznyov, a Ukrainian military spokesman in Crimea. Russian forces had already captured part of the b...

Refrigeration hasn’t changed in more than 100 years. Consumers have learnt blithely to accept energy-guzzling fridges that periodically need defrosting, or develop mysterious warm pockets. Existing systems also require a consistent power supply, which is a huge challenge for vaccine storage in the developing world. Now, one British inventor has developed a new cooling technology, as simple and cheap to make as a bottle of water, that is set to revolutionise the refrigeration industry. Ian Tansley has created a system that remains cold for up to 12 days without power. It maintains a consistent temperature throughout the fridge, eliminating the hot and cold fluctuations. The impact of such technology is significant. Not only can vaccines be safely transported to off-grid rural areas in developing nations where diseases such as polio still claim hundreds of lives each year, the massive energy savings will benefit both people and planet. Tansley’s Snowdonia-based firm, Sure...