Curator

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Joseph Undu T he lingering war between social miscreants at Okesuna and Patey streets, Lagos Island, assumed a violent dimension yesterday, as three persons were feared dead. Many others injured in the free-for-all, in which broken bottles, knives, axes and guns were used. The warring factions, as gathered, had been at daggers-drawn over supremacy for close to five years. The latest clash started after a man, identified as Osigin, was attacked at about 7a.m., while returning to his Oshodi home,  which he fled from, following the crisis that erupted over the murder of Hamburger . He was said to have been stabbed by Patey boys for supporting their rival. When news of his attack filtered in, Okesuna boys went for his rescue and called for reinforcement from Oshodi boys. Osigin, as gathered, was rushed to a private hospital where he later died. News of his death sparked a renewed battle as miscreants from Okepopo, Salu Court and Okesuna invaded Patey Str...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Douglas Anele Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the dominant political parties that emerged in Nigeria before independence and played prominent roles in defining the direction of her future political evolution were largely regional parties. For instance, in northern Nigeria, the political landscape was dominated by the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), whose catchphrase “One North, One People,” accurately encapsulates its core agenda. It was unabashedly a political organisation specifically set up to cater for the concerns of northern region alone, particularly the interests of the domineering feudalist conservative elite, to the extent that it refused to present candidates for elections in the south. Interestingly, NPC leaders were surprised that its gesture of separateness was not reciprocated by political parties in the south. Consequently, they strongly resisted efforts by parties in southern Nigeria to field candidates in the north, which Balewa saw ...

http://ift.tt/2rysTcg Mexican-Lebanese actress Salma Hayek poses as she arrives on May 23, 2017 for the '70th Anniversary' ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France.Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP Salma Hayek laid into Hollywood sexism on Tuesday, saying the system treats actresses like performing monkeys and wants rid of them once they realise they are smart. The Mexican star of “Frida” and “Desperado” lambasted the “macho” attitudes of Tinseltown, where fewer than seven percent of films are made by women. “Hollywood is not going to change and give it to women because it is all guys,” she said. “From the beginning I realised I wasn’t being treated equally as an actress,” she said during a talk at the Cannes film festival. “It is true that maybe if you are pretty you can get parts easier but it’s really violent to assume if you are pretty you are stupid. “Hollywood’s particularly macho. If they realise that you are smart, their anger gets multiplied,” ...

http://ift.tt/2p2DNFt Organisers of the fifth Okpekpe 10km International Road Race have denied speculations that the Edo State Government spent N70 million to host the one-day race a fortnight ago. The 2017 edition of the IAAF Bronze labelled race was dominated as usual by road runners from East Africa with Ethiopian trio of Luel Gebrasilasi (29mins 28 secs), Jima Bekele (29.34), and Dawit Fikadu (32.22) making a clean sweep in the male category. Another Ethiopian, Gebru Azemra ran 33. 59 to win the women’s event. The top three finishers got $15,000, $10,000 and $7,000 in both the male and female categories. Yesterday, CEO of Pamodzi Sports Marketing, the franchise owner of the race, Mr. Mike Itemuagbor, said,“The 2017 edition of the Okpekpe 10km International Road Race was not bankrolled by Edo State Government. The 2017 edition was sponsored by Pamodzi Sports Marketing and its partners. This is the fact of the matter, which is well known by everyone connected with the road ra...

http://ift.tt/2ps0ODz Tagged, ‘The West Africa Early Adopters Report’ and authored by Yannick Lefang, founder of KASI Insight, and Matthew Dawes, founder of MWA, the report surveyed about 10,000 urban dwellers in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ghana aged between 18 and 55 years old… A report presented at the just concluded Mobile West Africa (MWA) conference in Lagos, has raised the need for a balanced mobile ecosystem in the region. Tagged, ‘The West Africa Early Adopters Report’ and authored by Yannick Lefang, founder of KASI Insight, and Matthew Dawes, founder of MWA, the report surveyed about 10,000 urban dwellers in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ghana aged between 18 and 55 years old, and early adopters of mobile devices especially smartphones. Dawes clarified that these early adopter snapshots are intended to add clarity to the big picture research and public relation hype that surrounds the potential of the mobile device in sub-Saharan Africa by putting the consumer at the heart of all f...

http://ift.tt/2qeEB8j Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu Against the backdrop of allegations of political and socio-economic marginalisation of the Southeast geo-political zone of Nigeria in the current dispensation, Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu has canvassed an inward-looking solution for the region. The cry of marginalisation which became more strident when the zone found itself in the opposition camp after the 2015 general elections, has led to renewed agitations for a restructured federation with some, particularly the youths, going to a secessionist extreme by calling for the resuscitation of defunct Republic of Biafra. Ikpeazu who is the Chairman of the regional integration committee of the South East Governor’s Forum (SEGF), told a group of reporters that the only way the Igbo can overcome the problem of marginalisation in Nigeria is to make themselves indispensable in the scheme of things. Although he said the SEGF under the leadership of Ebonyi State go...

http://ift.tt/2puTral The wide gap in electricity supply vis-a vis demand is one of the leading issues in the on-going effort to move the economy towards the desired state of development. PHOTO: George Osodi/Bloomberg Electricity supply is considered the most critical impediment to the achievement of the Vision 20:2020 target of double digit growth and reduction of poverty to the barest minimum. The wide gap in electricity supply vis-a vis demand is one of the leading issues in the on-going effort to move the economy towards the desired state of development. There was a rapid decline in electricity power supply from an average of about 5000MW (megawatts) in the mid 1970s to less than 4000MW by 2014 or even down to barely 3000MW (April 2017) compared with the current estimated demand of 15000MW. Simultaneously, performance of the manufacturing sector, a key index of real economic growth and development declined from about eight per cent of GDP to six per cent over the same period co...

http://ift.tt/2qeQE5j King Sunny Ade Juju music is the wine of Nigerian parties and no one serves it better than the maestro himself, King Sunny Ade. On Saturday, May 20, King Sunny Ade was again on the band stand with his men, dishing it out to the Nigerian glitterati at the Iyin-Ekiti country home of the late Major-General Robert Adeyinka Adebayo, former governor of the defunct Western State, who died last month at 89. It was a grand event, not only to pay homage to the departed patriarch, who until his death, was the oldest living Nigerian army officer, but also to honour his children, including Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, first elected governor of Ekiti State, and a man of high social standing. Otunba Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye, also known as King Sunny Ade, is the most consistent ambassador of Juju music along with his old collaborator and rival, Evangelist Ebenezer Fabiyi, alias, Ebenezer Obey. The two men have carried their genre of Nigerian music all over the world. Some years ago...

http://ift.tt/2ryfAJ9 Rachel Osikoya The Head, Diversity and Inclusion of A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, Rachel Osikoya, said the priority attention accorded the concept of diversity and inclusion has been key to driving innovation at the multinational group. Osikoya, who was in Lagos recently for a women leadership development programme, said diversity is about understanding and managing differences at the workplace. She said, “At Maersk we are focusing specifically on diversity in terms of gender, nationality and age. Generational diversity is something a lot of companies are looking at now. It is also about how you think, how you solve problems, what difference you bring to the organization. “If we have the same particular set of people in an organization, we are never going to innovate or come up with new ideas. We are going to be doing things in the same way every time and in our industry, things are changing rapidly, so we need to have that diversity in our organization to...

http://ift.tt/2ooQbge The Minister of State for Pretroleum Resources Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu The move by the Federal Government to withdraw the refinery licences that have remained unutilised in the hands of some private investors is a step in the right direction. Given the huge amount of money being spent by the country on fuel importation, the solution to that profligacy is, no doubt, local refining for which the licences were given. Having failed to live up to expectations for so many years and for whatever reasons, the licensees are genuinely no longer deserving of such permissions. The licences were granted in the belief that, by now, they would be operational and help to reduce the incessant fuel scarcity caused by the overdependence on importation. But, alas, this is the case. Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, the other day, reiterated that the aim of giving the licences was to reduce the huge capital flight as a result of fuel importation. It was also envisione...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J *Amosun lauds move The Executive Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has commended the efforts of Nasrul-lahi-Fatih Society (NASFAT) over the proposed N2.5billion mosque which foundation was laid recently at its multi-purpose Islamic Centre, along Lagos Ibadan Expressway. Amosun, who was at the fund raising and foundation laying ceremony for the ultra-modern mosque enjoined Muslims to be a good ambassadors in order to erase the misconceptions about Islam and the Muslims. He said: “Islam is a religion of peace, it is wrong that people are ascribing violence with Islam” he said. He urged Nigerians to live with one another in peace and harmony for the development of the country, adding “when there is peace in the country, the economy grows.” The President of NASFAT, Engr. Abayomi Bolarinwa while thanking the governor for his support, stated that the mosque will be completed soon. Bolarinwa said: “the main reason we are building the mosque is to teac...