Why Nollywood Actors/Actresses Run Into Poverty

Nollywood actress Queen Nwokoye has blamed the act of trying to live up to people's expectation as one of the major reasons why Nollywood actors/actresses run out of money and start experiencing a form of poverty.

Speaking with Broadway Africa TV, Queen said:

“I don’t think it is because they are being extravagant, how many people are to begin with? The truth of the matter is a lot of people are known faces but they are not actually making the type of money people think they make.

Then again, it is an individual thing, it is either you are here or you are there but the truth is a lot of people don’t make that kind of money they think we have.

Some people think we get paid 10 million for acting {laughs}, so a lot of times, actors want to live up to false expectations from their fans and that is how they get into trouble.

As far as I am concerned, if you are paid in Nigeria and you want a Gucci bag and you convert your Naira to dollars to go and buy it because Kim Kardashian is carrying it, it doesn’t make sense because she earns dollars.

So for me it is not about being extravagant, everybody loves the good things of life but you have to draw a balance. It is about not truly making that huge amount that actors and actresses make.”

No point rushing to live a lifestyle that your resources can't carry; give it some time, you'll get there.

Breaking News: Nigerian Senate halts the proposed data tariff hike

This was made known in a series of tweet from the Twitter handle of the Nigerian senate. Continue below

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Lagos Presents N813bn Budget for 2017

Lagos State governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday presented the 2017 budget proposal of N813 billion to the House of Assembly, assuring that the budget would be judiciously implemented to continue the infrastructural renewal and the enhancement of Lagos as one of the foremost tourism and investment destination in Africa.

Ambode, who tagged the budget “The Golden Jubilee Budget” as it coincides with the State’s 50th Anniversary, said it would focus on physical infrastructure, while social sectors especially health, education, youth and social development would get adequate attention. His words:

“In the course of the 2017 Financial Year, we shall carry out fundamental reforms on all our modes of transportation – Roads, Water and the Walkways. In this wise, a Public Transport Infrastructure Bond will be issued in the course of the year.

“The State Government will embark on the Urbanisation of the Marina axis, Waterways Channelization, establishment of more Parks and Gardens as well as the Community Sports Centres and Stadiums in different locations across the State.”

Giving the key components of the budget, Governor Ambode said recurrent expenditure would take N300.535 billion while N512.464 billion would be dedicated to capital expenditure, representing a Capital/Recurrent ratio of 63 percent capital to 37 percent recurrent.

The governor said road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance would be one of the key focuses of the budget, adding that efforts would be geared towards roads that will open up the hinterlands, improve connectivity in the State and reduce travel time.

The 2017 budget saw an increase by N150 billion from the 2016 budget.

The budget is the biggest for any Nigerian state ever.

Mum killed '4-year-old daughter by sedating her with heroin so she wouldn't get in way of love-life

A mum 'fed' her four-year-old daughter sedatives because she felt she was an inconvenience to her love-life, a court has heard.

Poppy Widdison died in June 2013 after suffering a cardiac arrest at the "squalid", drug-filled home of Michala Pyke's partner John Rytting, Hull Crown Court heard.

Tests carried out after she died found that the youngster had ingested a variety of drugs for a period of up to six months before her death, including sedatives, heroin, methadone and ketamine, a jury was told.

The prosecutor said: '

"In text messages in the last week of Poppy Widdison's life, Mr Rytting and Miss Pyke are referring to getting some diazepam tablets ready to give to Poppy in order to, we say, to sedate her.We say Pyke and Rytting, the defendants, are just wanting to get on with their love life, wanting to enjoy each other's company and it may be this young girl was something of an encumbrance."

 "It's apparent from the text messages that Miss Pyke viewed Poppy as an inconvenience, who she felt was in the way with regards her relationship with Mr Rytting.""She regarded her child, her own daughter, as something of a nuisance and interfering with Miss Pyke's enjoyment of her relationship with Mr Rytting."

President Buhari Allegedly Postpones Wedding Between His Daughter Zahra And Billionaire's Ahmed Indimi

               

After anticipating the grand wedding ceremony of the daughter of president Muhammadu Buhari, Zahra, to son of billionaire businessman, Mohammed Indimi, which was scheduled for December 4, 2016, our bubbles have been blasted by President Buhari who has put the ceremony on hold indefinitely,

The postponement, was on the insistence of President Muhammadu Buhari, who, according to a source close to the two families, was uncomfortable with the attention his daughter’s wedding has received in the media, particularly with news of customised wedding boxes as gifts to Zahra costing a whopping N44m.

An introduction ceremony between both families had earlier held at the Aso Villa, Abuja on Friday, November 18, but the wedding programme itself scheduled between Wednesday 30th November and Sunday 4th December, 2016, is supposed to be on a low-key celebration as the President desires it to be a simple and an intimate ceremony to be attended by only close family and friends.

“But the whole media attention has changed everything now and the President is not happy,” our source said.

Aside that, it was also gathered that the President who has ordered that a security check be conducted on Ahmed and his source of stupendous wealth, is also not comfortable with the groom’s father, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi’s perceived closeness to ex-President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, IBB.

Former President Ibrahim Babangida is believed to be a long time godfather of billionaire Mohammed Indimi, more so the former President was against the emergence of Buhari in 2015.

Our source further said President Buhari who had such information at his disposal before consenting to the marriage may have been prevailed upon by his closest political allies to have a rethink on giving out his daughter to the Indimis.

Zahra, the 21-year-old daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari has been in the news recently since her wedding news to Ahmed Indimi leaked into the press.

She is reported to have received about 30 customized LV (Louis Vuitton) boxes from the family of her husband-to-be, Ahmed Indimi.

The LV boxes have Zahra’s name customized as ZBI (Zara Buhari Indimi).

The LV bags which total about 30 and allegedly cost about £120, 000 (approximately N47,144,502, using the official rate of N392.87 to a pound) are said to have been delivered to Zahra in 30 exotic cars, according to reports.

In Northern Nigeria tradition, the groom’s family is expected to buy the boxes known as “LAIFE” for the bride.

The boxes are usually loaded with diamond and gold jewelry, designer shoes, bags, super wax, laces, perfumes, designer underwear, cosmetics, jeans, tops and more.

The man can do from 1 to 50 boxes as a show of how rich and capable he is.

It is however “very unlikely that President Buhari may give his go ahead for the wedding in the near future,”

NFL star sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping two women

                   

Former NFL star and convicted rapist Darren Sharper has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Sharper, who played for Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints during his playing career, admitted to drugging and raping two women.The Daily Record reports the 41-year-old pleaded no contest to charges in California of rape by use of drugs and furnishing a controlled substance.

District Attorney spokeswoman Jane Robinson said this was the last sentencing the former Super Bowl winner faced for crimes committed in various different states.

The sentence will run concurrently with a previous 18-year sentence handed down in a federal court in Louisiana on similar charges.

In the California case, Sharper admitted to meeting two women at a West Hollywood nightclub in October 2013 and later inviting them to his hotel room. He gave both of the women a drink, which made them both pass out, prosecutors said.

One woman woke up naked hours later with Sharper sexually assaulting her and the second woman woke up and stopped the attack, prosecutors said.

Months later, in January 2014, Sharper met two separate women and followed the same procedure, prosecutors said.

The two women woke up hours later and one woman believed she had been sexually assaulted. Both left the hotel and sought medical treatment, prosecutors said.

Sharper, a five-time Pro Bowl safety who retired from the NFL in 2011 after helping lead the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl championship, had pleaded guilty in federal court in Louisiana in May 2015 to distributing controlled substances to three unsuspecting women and then sexually assaulting them while they were incapacitated.

Internet is almost free in a lot of "advanced" countries too. Be careful Nigeria-Vector Pen down Open Letter To Govt

                  


Dear Federal Government,

You have come a long way with your policies and rule. You have concerned yourself with nothing but the present hence making it look like the constitution has to be remixed and renamed "Your WILL" before your demise. You have ignored the children you saw grow and focused on the ones from your sperm cells and ovulation that you aren't seeing grow because they have been shipped off to "better grounds" for eductaion.

You have put your wives in other rooms BUT that of improtance forgetting (if you married a good woman) they balance you when you go astray. You have failed to embrace the spirit and letter of the Almighty you worship be it any religion. You have failed the man you see in d mirror because he isnt a beast or metaphysical beign you don't understand. No, He is the posterboy/girl for greed.


You have forgotten how you felt when you were coming up but remember this... you will not forget how you fall. Your money... my bad... our money you take will shame you when you need it the most. The hustling are finding ways to be better but you just want to take from them without giving back.

You focus on chasing thieves but never focus on securing the vault they steal from. In the history of our existence as a generation, we have never gotten levelled platforms to play as we have gotten with the internet. The people have become more exposed to business ideas, global news, information sharing from continent to continent between seconds. Industry has gotten global awareness because of this.

Music has started to look better just because with data you can put up your craft be it music or painting or write ups or poems or comedy or pets or life to make people happy in a steady sinking world of frustrating conflicting governance and hustle.

You concern yourself with your percieved negatives over the objective positives. You are killing the future of Nigeria. You are killing the future of Nigeria. Internet is almost free in a lot of "advanced" countries too. Be careful Nigeria... don't ruin yourself.
DON'T!!!

Unknown Gunmen Kill Chinese, 3 Others In Nassarawa State

                       
Gunmen on Monday ambushed and killed four workers of a mining company, including a Chinese at Alongani village in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Kennedy Idirisu, confirmed the killing to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lafia on Tuesday.

Idirisu said the victims were returning from their mining site in a company truck at about 4p.m. when the assailants shot them.

Idirisu said a Chinese, a police escort and two others were killed during the ambush while another Chinese survived with bullet wound and is being treated in a hospital.

You are not just the Queen of Pageants but the Queen of the Ages-Fani Kayode pen Down Sweet Poem To Fiancee

                              

Read after the cut...

"From the hills of Ohafia and the valleys of Abriba comes you that makes me smile. From the forests of Umahia and the lush green fields of Nanka comes you that brings me joy. From the eastern shores of our nation where stars shine brightly and from whence comes men whose spirits cannot be broken comes you that gives me hope.  

From the lineage of those who dare to believe and from the stock of those who soar like eagles comes you that creates new beginnings. God brought you my way and has given me a new lease of life. What a gift you are- not just to me but also to humanity. Your star shall shine from generation to generation. 

Your strength and confidence shall speak for you all the days of your life. Your talents shall open every door that you seek to enter. Your beauty: every radiant and everlasting- shall shake the very foundations of humanity and move even the hardest of hearts. You are Snowhite and you shall remain as white as snow from beginning to end. Your sun shall never set and God’s light, not darkness, shall follow you all the days of your life. You are not just the Queen of Pageants but the Queen of the Ages. 

From generation to generation humanity shall testify of your kindness, your love and your good works. That is your destiny and that is your portion. Let not the storms of life ever cause you to give up or forget it. With you there is hope- you are Snowhite: the one that makes me smile and brings me joy."

Ibe Kachikwu Says Fuel Subsidy Stoppage Has Saved $15.4bn

                       

Nigeria has saved $15.4bn as a result of the elimination of subsidy on petroleum products since May this year, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said.

He disclosed this while hosting members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

The lawmakers were at the ministry as part of their oversight functions.

Kachikwu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Jemila Su’ara, also thanked the National Assembly for supporting the ministry and its agencies when the price modulation template was introduced in May.

Outlining the achievements recorded under his stewardship, Kachikwu said Nigeria was able to sign Memoranda of Understandings worth about $80bn during his recent trips to China and India; partial resuscitation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries; repair of products’ pipelines; and the resuscitation of supply of products from Atlas Cove-Mosimi-Ibadan-Ilorin after a six-year lull.

Others, according to an official statement, include improved crude oil supply to Warri and Kaduna refineries and savings of $15.4bn for the Federal Government as a result of the elimination of subsidy payments for petroleum products.

A King In Uganda Is Charged With Murder After 87 Die In Clashes

The king of a region in Uganda has been charged with murder after clashes with security forces over the weekend in which at least 87 people were killed.

Charles Mumbere was detained after government forces raided his palace in the Rwenzururu region on Saturday.

The authorities accuse him of launching a secessionist movement to create a new state, to be called Yiira.


King Charles has denied any involvement in the violence.

At least 16 police officers and 46 royal guards were killed in the clashes in Kasese district, according to official figures.

How a cultist in Delta state killed his girlfriend, locked up her corpse and ran away (Graphic Photo)

A final year female student of the Delta State Polytechnic, simply identified as Julia, was allegedly murdered by her cultist lover, in her room on Tuesday.

According to Sahara Reporters, the deceased, who was in the department of Mathematics and Statistics, was murdered in her room in a private hostel off Polytechnic Road in Ogwashi-Uku.

According to one of her co-students in the hostel who spoke with SaharaReporters, the man, whose name has yet to be ascertained, had spent the previous night in the room of the deceased, and had stolen her ATM card.

"After her cultist lover had left the following day she received an alert of a N100,000 deduction from her bank account where she discovered her ATM card was missing. Not comfortable with the development, she went straight to her bathroom to take her bath. Immediately after that, she received another alert of N45,000 making it N145,000 that was [withdrawn] from her account by the unknown person. 

Before leaving for the bank, she complained to us [about] the strange development. Again, on her return from the bank where she went to complain, she told us the bank assured her that the culprit could only be known and arrested after going through their CCDC camera. She was told to go home and report back the following [day] before meeting her untimely death," the co-student said.

SR reports that the source speculated that unknown to anyone in the hostel, the suspect sneaked into Julia's room and murdered her with a battle axe, locked the corpse inside the room and ran away with her keys.

"Not until the next morning when everybody became apprehensive of her whereabouts and we [had] to break her door where we saw her lifeless body with blood stains everywhere in the room. Immediately we raised the alarm and everybody in the area rushed down and the matter was reported to the Ogwashi-Uku Police Station," the source narrated

A source at the Ogwashi-Uku station who didn’t want to be identified confirmed the story, adding that the police and the bank are currently working around the clock to arrest the suspect, who is on the run.

SaharaReporters learned that the remains of the late Julia have since been buried in her home town

See How Man’s Ear Bitten Off after Criticising Hemp Smokers in Lagos

A 25-year-old man, Tolani Ajisefini, has lost one of his ears in a fight that ensued after he dared to speak against hemp smoking in the Mushin area of Lagos.

Mr Ajisefini, a site manager, lived with his parents on Olateju Street, Mushin, where the incident happened, before relocating to the Isolo area of the state.

However, he was said to be a regular visitor to the Mushin area where he had friends.

He visited the area penultimate Saturday when he saw youths smoking hemp in his former house.

He was said to have cautioned them and insisted they left. A resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Punch that the smokers ignored him.

“They said he had left the area and had no right to dictate to them what to do and what not to do.

“This resulted in arguments and later degenerated into a fight. One of Tolani’s friends also backed him and fought the gang members. Tolani, however, asked his unnamed friend to leave the matter to him alone.

“He pushed his friend aside and ordered him to leave the place. One Michael mocked the unnamed friend, saying Tolani did not appreciate his effort.”

He attacked Michael for the statement.

In the ensuing scuffle, Tolani Ajisefini was alleged to have grabbed a bottle to attack the suspect, who parried it.

“Michael then bit off one of Ajisefini’s ears. Michael also had a bite injury, ” the source added.

The victim was reportedly rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, where he was quickly attended to by the medical personnel on duty.

It was learnt that the ear could not be reattached as the tissue was already dead.

“The ear had to be thrashed. The doctors said they may have to perform an operation on him and give him artificial ear. He has been deformed,” a close friend of the victim said.

The case was allegedly reported at the Olosan Police Division.

Checkout Kcee Shoe Closet

See more after the cut...

Plane Crash: Football World Rallies Around Brazilian Team

The football world has rallied around a Brazilian club which lost most of its players in a plane crash in Colombia.

Only six of the 77 people on board the charter plane, carrying members of the Chapecoense team, survived the crash.

The team were flying to what was billed as the biggest match in their history - the final of the Copa Sudamericana.

Their opponents, Colombian team Atletico Nacional, have offered to concede the game to ensure Chapecoense are declared the champions.

In a tweet, the club also asked that fans to turn up to their stadium at the time which the game was scheduled, dressed in white.

In a joint statement, Brazilian first division football teams have offered to lend players to

Chapecoense free of charge, and asked the league to protect the club from relegation for the next three years.

Several leading footballers, from Barcelona stars Lionel Messi and Neymar, to Manchester United's

Wayne Rooney, have also paid tribute to the players, who had become an unlikely success story in recent years.

Colombian aviation officials said there were also 21 journalists on board, and that both flight recorders have been recovered.

Man who disguises as a female sex worker arrested (Photos)

A man who usually disguises as a female sex worker was arrested by police in Uganda after several men claimed that he took money from them under false pretenses.
He was described by most of the men as a beautiful woman who wore a wig, short skirt and make up.

The man, identified as Ivan Bebeto, who calls himself Queen, has been operating through East and Central Africa including Nairobi (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda), Bujumbura (Burundi) and (Tanzania).

“It is not easy to discover that he is a man because he knows how to groom himself to look persuasively woman-like,” said a victim. 

He wears feminine perfume and when he goes clubbing, he hangs out predominantly with women, especially commercial sex workers.”

Bebeto was arrested after a man who was interested in him paid for sexual favours, believing she is a woman.

He kept giving the man excuses why he couldn’t sleep with him even though he had already received a down payment from the wealthy man.

Bebeto said he could not go to his house, claiming he felt more comfortable in his room, and thus asked the supposed customer to accompany him to a room where he kept his items.

It’s from this that the man suspected Babeto might be a criminal pretending to be a girl. He quickly informed the police who raided the apartment only to be shocked that he was a man and not a woman after questioning him.

29yrs old man impersonated IG of Police, defrauded Saudi doctor

A suspected fraudster, Ekperebuike Akadonye, has been arrested by the police for allegedly parading himself as the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on the Internet.

The 29yrs old man, who was apprehended by the Inspector-General Special Intelligence Response Team, also allegedly defrauded a Saudi Arabia-based doctor, identified as Hassan Alkahallaf, to the tune of $10,000.

Alkahallaf was said to have earlier been defrauded by Nigerians via the Internet on two occasions, while efforts to recover the funds had proved abortive.

Akadonpe got Alkahallaf into his trap when he introduced himself as the IG and promised to help the doctor recover his loses.

He reportedly demanded $10,000 from Alkahallaf to facilitate the legal processes of the recovery and the victim was said to have paid the sum into his (Akadonpe’s) account in instalments.

A police source told Punch that the doctor contacted the IG through the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Nigeria after realising that he had been duped again.

“The suspect contacted his victims, including Hassan (Alkahallaf), who is attached to the Department of Urology, Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, via email, purportedly belonging to IG Ibrahim Idris.

“He claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari, in his fight against corruption, had directed the IG to make refunds to victims who had been defrauded by Nigerians in the past.

“The doctor replied to Akadonye’s emails, believing he was the real IG of the Nigeria Police Force, and he eventually paid him $10,000 in instalments to get back his lost funds. He lied to the doctor that he would use the money to hire a lawyer who would represent him since he wasn’t based in Nigeria,” the source said.

The IG directed his team to go after the guy after the case was reported through the Saudi Embassy.

It was learnt that sometime in October, the team trailed Akadonye to Imo State, where he hails from and apprehended him.

“A mobile phone and a laptop he used in carrying out the fraud were recovered from him. He was also found with ATM cards and an identity card of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officer. He is currently being interrogated by operatives of the IG response team,” the source said.

The suspect, in his statement, allegedly confessed to the fraud, saying he took to the crime after his shops were demolished by the government.

He said, “I am a trader and I had shops in Mbano, Imo State. But they were demolished by the government. One of my friends introduced me to Internet fraud. I started by searching for prominent persons on the Internet. When I found Dr Alkahallaf, he told me he had some funds trapped in Nigeria and he wanted to claim them. I presented myself to him as the IG and told him the President had mandated me to assist fraudsters’ victims to get back their lost funds. I asked him to pay for a lawyer. He believed and paid me.”

D’banj Donates N1m Towards Toke Makinwa’s New Book

Okay Toke wrote a book about her past and she already launched it. The gist that didn’t however get out is that she will make a lot of money from it; writing about her life, s3x with ex, how ex placed mistress above her, bla bla) and some guests at the occasion already made some cash promises. Like someone said online, ‘why should anyone make a financial pledge to launch such a book’, lol biko is it your love story? What Toke wrote about the donation below...

There are friends, and there are FRIENDS!!!!! Dapooooooooo.........We go way back and it's always been support, kindness and more support.
Thank you for your huge contribution to my book #OnBecoming.
You really didn't have to and I know you'll be mad at me for making this public but we'll talk it over. D'banj made a pledge of 1 million Naira, and he redeemed it. Thank you bro cc @iambangalee
Oya blast me now but before you do, let me shout about your own book. You must release it! 😜 cc @teeacomedian

Obanikoro returns N134m to EFCC… to return more N450m

Former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, has returned N30m to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. This brings the total he has returned to the EFCC to N134m.

A source at EFCC said, “Obanikoro came on Monday and presented a draft of about N30m. Initially we did not want to collect it because it is small compared to what he is supposed to have given us. However, the legal department advised us to collect it.”

Obanikoro had in October returned N104m to the commission. The ex-minister, who returned to Nigeria last month after spending about 15 months in the United States, was accused of receiving N4.7bn from the Office of the National Security Adviser under the leadership of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).

Obanikoro had said in his statement of oath at the EFCC that after receiving the money in 2014, he gave N1.219bn to the then governorship candidate of the PDP in Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, while N1.3bn was given to the PDP candidate in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

He also confessed to giving Fayose a separate $5.377m at Spotless Hotel in Ekiti in the presence of party leaders including the then PDP Secretary, Mr. Tope Aluko.

Obanikoro was said to have kept about N785m for himself, which he allegedly spent while campaigning ahead of the PDP governorship primary in Lagos State. Mr. Jimi Agbaje won the primary.

However, the EFCC asked Obanikoro to return about N584m out of which he had already returned N134m.

At the EFCC on Monday, Obanikoro promised that he would return the remaining N450m in 2017.

The source told Punch that, “About N450m is remaining and Obanikoro has promised to pay the rest in 2017. He will also be reporting at our office every two weeks.”

Also, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba last week, Alade Sunday, a manager at Zenith Bank, narrated how Obanikoro delivered about N1.219bn to Fayose’s aide, Abiodun Agbele, for onward transmission to his boss.

He had also said it took the cashiers about 10 days to count the money.

Sunday had said Obanikoro flew with the cash to Akure Airport and the money was loaded into bullion vans.

He had said, “When we got to the airport, we waited for some minutes before the aircraft arrived. When the aircraft offloaded its passengers, one of them appeared to me to be Senator Musliu Obanikoro and the other one appeared to be his ADC, Adewale.

“Agbele walked up to them and had a discussion with them. Thereafter, he signalled me to bring the van. Bags loaded with cash were loaded into the van and Obanikoro’s ADC, Agbele and I drove back to the bank.”

M.I Lends Supporting Hand To Toke Makinwa

The rapper got on twitter an hour ago to say he is with media personality Toke Makinwa who launched her book ‘On Becoming’ on Sunday revealing all she went through in the hands of her ex husband. Read the tweets after the cut. Read below upwards.

Toke Makinwa narrates how Gas cylinder explosion killed her Parents

                        

The media personality made the disclosure in the second chapter of her tell-all memoir, ‘On Becoming’.
Describing the events of the day of the gas explosion, she wrote: “I heard a loud bang. Thunder, I thought… The bang I heard was the sound of the gas cylinder exploding. My mum had gotten the cylinder on Friday and brought it home only to discover a leak when it as turned on.

Her mother, she wrote, had told the house help on duty for the weekend not to use the cylinder, which was meant to be returned on Monday.
However, when the other help, Ruth, resumed work Monday morning, Grace failed to pass the information to her “because they weren’t talking”.

She continued: “Ruth, unaware of the danger, had put on the gas cylinder and tried to light the cooker. She died in the first blast. Grace survived the first blast but later died in the hospital.
“In the movies, you sometimes see a scene with someone burning from head to toe, screaming and trying to fight the flames. It happened right in front of me. Everyone ran back trying to figure out who it was and how to put out the flames, shouting advice from a safe distance.

“It took me a moment to realise that it was my mum. I stood glued to the spot, watching her burn… Even after they were driven to the hospital, I could still smell it.
“My mum’s friend spotted me in the crowd and took me and my siblings to her house. We were already there before we realised that none of us had seen my baby brother and cousin.
              
Toke wrote that her mother died before she could be flown abroad for intensive care while her father, who was seemingly recuperating, eventually gave up the ghost.

“My mum kept asking for her children, yet when my brother was brought into her room to see her she refused to look at him. She was burned all over and in a lot of pain. She died before she could be sent abroad.

“My dad kept asking for his wife. Nobody was brave enough to tell him the truth.
“The day he died, it was unexpected. He had been responding to treatment and was lucid, having conversations with the people that came to visit him.
“He was lying quietly in bed one minute and the next he was agitated, calling my mum by name and asking her to open the door because he wanted to be with her.

“Present in his room at the time was a nurse who was born again, and she knew instantly that the door he was asking to be opened was no ordinary one.
“She asked for everyone to start praying and pleading with the unseen to keep the door shut, to prevent him from leaving

“He kicked in the air like he was struggling to kick open that door and their voices grew even louder.
“Dupe, please don’t open the door,” they kept saying. “Dupe, remember your four children, close the door.”
“Their efforts were wasted. He passed away right before their eyes.
Her parents were buried side by side in Idanre, their hometown in Ondo state.
He father,Caleb Ifemayowa Makinwa, was 35 while her mother, Modupe Monica Makinwa, died at the age of 34.

After the death of her parents, Toke and her siblings moved into the house of her eldest aunt, Big Mummy, in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The OAP was eight years old when her parents died.
“From being a bubbly, friendly child, I became withdrawn and taciturn. From being the child who always came first in class, I went to the bottom of the class,” she wrote, to end the chapter.

Rector slumps, dies during s.e.x romp with teenager

                                   

The Acting Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa State, has slumped and died at a hotel in Ughelli during alleged sex romp with an unidentified female teenager.

The rector was said to have slumped at his hotel room in Zekoh Place located at Onoharigho street, Ughelli and was rushed to a private clinic, few kilometres from the hotel where he was confirmed dead on arrival.

“He had gone to the hotel in the company of a female teenager and booked a room for an hour of love session with the girl,” a source at the Ughelli Area Command told Vanguard.


Speaking further, the source said: “The girl raised an alarm when the chief slumped but absconded following reports that the victim was confirmed dead. “Though no arrest has been made in connection with the incident, a female manager of the hotel was arrested for questioning but has since been released.”


Suspecting foul play over the incident, a family member who spoke to newsmen at the Rector’s Upper Agbarho residence said: “We are having a meeting with elders of the family if an autopsy would be conducted after which we would take a stand on the matter.”

We shall fight till the last man alive – Militant group

                        

The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, NDGJM, has vowed to continue its attack on pipeline installations until the “last man alive.”

This is coming barely 48 hours after an attack on the 42-inch delivery pipeline line operated by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC and Niger Delta Western, in Otu-Jeremi, Delta State,  which the militant group claimed responsibility for.

In a statement signed by self-styled Gen. Aldo Agbalaja yesterday, the militant group warned the Federal Government to be wary of talks with some leaders of the Niger Delta region which are willing to enter negotiation with the government.

According to the group, “Be wary of these political jobbers, whose stock in trade has always been using the struggle to profiteer. We have severally indicated how to end this and definitely not through political jobbers and conflict merchants. If, and when we have reasons to trust anybody to hold discussions with, we shall, through this same medium, announce the process and the persons. This is a warning for the wise.”

NDGJM claimed its Akuma strike force attacked the NPDC pipeline at about 04.00 hours on Sunday, November 27, “to register our presence and jolt those probably slipping into delusion, back to reality.”

The statement reads, “In the last few weeks, we have been silent and observing. The period of silence was definitely not of inactivity. As a matter of fact, it was rather a strategy session, the fruits of which shall start showing up in the coming days.

“The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate has also observed the calculated psychological attack recently initiated by the Nigerian security forces against our people, believing that by pursuing and arresting our people, the struggle will be defeated and our resolve would be quelled

“This will not work because what motivates us is stronger than the Nigerian kind of patriotism. Once again, we proclaim that we shall fight till the last man alive.”

Philippe Coutinho: Liverpool forward could be out until mid-January

                     

Liverpool forward Philippe Coutinho had a scan on his ankle injury on Monday amid fears he could be sidelined until the middle of January.Coutinho, 24, was taken off on a stretcher after colliding with Didier Ndong of Sunderland during the first half of Saturday's 2-0 win at Anfield.Though the full results of the scan are yet to be revealed, the likelihood is the Brazilian has ligament damage.

That usually means a player is sidelined for five or six weeks.

It means Coutinho, one of Jurgen Klopp's most influential players as the Reds have moved into second place in the Premier League, looks certain to miss key games.

Liverpool face Everton in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on 19 December, and meet Manchester City at Anfield on New Year's Eve.

Coutinho would miss both games if ligament damage is confirmed.

He was at Liverpool's Melwood training headquarters on Sunday, leaving on crutches with his right ankle in a protective boot before having his scan 24 hours later.

Klopp will also be without £34m summer signing Sadio Mane in January as the striker will be on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Senegal.

The German is unlikely to risk Coutinho's countryman Roberto Firmino in Tuesday's EFL Cup quarter-final against Leeds United at Anfield after he took a kick on the calf against Sunderland.

Daniel Sturridge, who missed that game after reporting tightness in his calf, will be sidelined again.

Adam Lallana, who has missed Liverpool's past two Premier League games after injuring his groin during England's 2-2 draw with Spain at Wembley, continues to make good progress.

He is in training again under the guidance of Liverpool's fitness coaches but will not be considered for the match against Leeds.

Trump Threatens to 'Terminate' Cuba Deal With Obama

                     

President-elect Donald Trump threatened Monday to distance the U.S. from Cuba if the Cuban government refuses to “make a better deal” than the agreement President Obama struck to normalize relations between the countries. His comments put the future of the relationship in doubt just days after the death of longtime Cuban strongman Fidel Castro.

“If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal,” Trump said on Twitter.

Obama worked to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba late into his term in office. Under the new terms, Americans can travel freely to Cuba and bring some Cuban goods to the U.S. However, aides to Trump have hinted there could be a reversal of that policy.

“There’s going to have to be some movement from Cuba in order to have a relationship with the United States,” Reince Priebus, Trump’s incoming White House Chief of Staff, said on Fox News Sunday. He cited freeing political prisoners and ensuring religious and political freedom as important steps. “We’ve got to have a better deal,” he said.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that the death of Fidel Castro will not impact the efforts to normalize relations between the two nations.

“I wouldn’t expect any impact on the kind of progress that we’re committed to making on our end to begin normalizing relations with Cuba,” Earnest said