LOLA OMOTAYO: THE CHALLENGES OF DATING A CELEBRITY!

By Olumide T.  Agunbiade |Nigerian writer and Blogger

PETER AND LOLA.

Q: What are the challenges?

Having a relationship with a musician is one of the most challenging situations to be in. There are things you have to deal with; a lot of women, intruders, fans. You have to appreciate and respect the fans, but you also have some of them who are thinking of other things. I think it’s one of the most challenging relationships one can have.

 You won’t even spend much time with your partner because he’s on the road most of the time doing shows and concerts; even during holidays like Christmas, Easter and New Year, they are not around. So I’m not really enjoying that part. But I thank God that we are managing it very well.

Q:  What attracted you to Peter Okoye?

Peter has drive. He has vision and pursues it. He doesn’t let anybody distract him from that vision and that I saw in him, which a lot of people didn’t see. Some people were like, ‘what are you doing with a musician? Are you crazy?’ but I saw something very different and unique about Peter.

I saw the goals he set for himself and how he accomplished those goals step by step, and I was very impressed with that. I also saw that he wasn’t a selfish person.

He was a generous person from the outset, even though he didn’t have much then, he was always generous. I like a man who is generous, not for the financial reason, but also to see how he can add value to other people’s lives; that is very important to me. He is also a good listener; he listens to people, listens to me…those are the things that attracted me to Peter. He’s an amazing guy.

Michael Adebolajo appears in court; wants to be called Mujaheed Abu Hamza !

Michael Adebolajo

   Olumide T. Agunbiade | Nigerian writer and Blogger

Dressed in all white with his left arm bandaged, the 28 year old, who is accused of murdering Lee Rigby, 25, a fortnight ago, stood in the dock flanked by two police officers and a prison guard. As he arrived in the courtroom he appeared to blow a kiss to a friend in the public gallery, gripped a copy of the Koran throughout and refused to stand in the dock.

He was remanded in custody and will appear at the Old Bailey within 48 hours. Earlier he was swept into Westminster Magistrates Court in an armoured vehicle led by a police convoy. A number of armed officers formed a ring of steel and shut off roads around the court in central London.

Meanwhile the other key suspect in the Drummer Rigby case refused to appear at the Old Bailey today. Michael Adebowale, 22, told prison staff he did not want to go on video link to the court for a statutory bail hearing.

US places $23m reward for Boko Haram leader, Shekau, 4 others!

By OlumideT. Agunbiade  

The US government posted up to $23 million in rewards to help track down five leaders of militant groups accused of spreading terror in west Africa.

The highest reward of $7 million is offered for the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who last week called on Islamists in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to join the bloody fight to create an Islamic state in Nigeria.

The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice Programme also targeted Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), offering its first ever bounties for wanted militants in west Africa.

Up to $5 million was posted for Al-Qaeda veteran Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Islamist behind the devastating attack on an Algerian gas plant in January in which 37 foreigners, including three Americans, were killed.

Local News: Aliko Dangote Is Africa's First $20 Billion Man!

Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

   By Olumide T. Agunbiade |Nigerian writer and Blogger

Nigerian billionaire and Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has become the first African entrepreneur to lay claim to a $20 billion fortune as the stock value of his largest holding, Dangote Cement, leaped just about three-fourths since March when Forbes released its annual ranking of the world’s richest people. 

Aliko Dangote’s 93% stake in the cement company is now worth $19.5 billion. Add this to his controlling stakes in other publicly-listed companies like Dangote Sugar and National Salt Company of Nigeria and his significant shareholdings in other blue-chips like Zenith Bank, UBA Group and Dangote Flour; his extensive real estate portfolio, jets, yachts and current cash position, which includes more than $300 million in recently awarded Dangote Cement dividends, Dangote is now worth more than $20 billion.

Put into context, the Nigerian billionaire is now among the top 25 richest people in the world, richer than Russia’s richest man, Alisher Usmanov, richer than India’s Lakshmi Mittal and running neck and neck with India’s Mukesh Ambani. He is catching up to such Americans as Google’s billionaire founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

The unprecedented surge in Dangote Cement’s share price is largely a market response to the company’s impressive 2013 Q1 results.

The cement manufacturer’s unaudited results for the three months ending March 31 showed that the company’s pre-tax profit rose to $339 million, representing an 80.6% increase from last year and a strong indicator of the company’s future earning potential. The results also indicate a 79.5 % rise in its earnings per share over the corresponding period last year.

Bayelsa Tragedy: 20 die in road accident!

By Olumide T.Agunbiade

 

A collision accident

About 20 students of the Niger Delta University (NDU), in Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, were reported killed in an accident along the Tombia highway, the only road leading to the university.

The victims of the accident were mostly part-time students of the state-owned Niger Delta University, Amassoma who were returning from lectures in a 13-seater bus that collided with another that was returning to Amassoma from Yenagoa.

The accident happened when two buses coming from opposite directions had a head on collision on Tuesday evening. Coincidentally, both buses belonged to the state-transport company.

An  eyewitness, Mr Inaikozia Fumgbe who is a 100-level Sociology student of NDU and whose vehicle was behind the bus, as saying  said the 13-seater bus with registration number RIVERS KNM 1415A clashed with another thirteen seater bus with registration number RIVERS SP 269 KPR from Yenagoa. It was without its headlight and was on high speed.

Envoy: British Soldier Attacker Never Been To Nigeria, Hold A British Passport

 By Olumide T. Agunbiade

British born Michael Adeboloja

Nigerians all over the world have been urged to speak out and condemn the brutal murder of a British soldier on a London street on Wednesday.

Amb.Habib Habu, Consul General of Nigeria in New York stated this in a message on Thursday.

According to him, the beheading of the 25-year-old soldier was done by a British citizen and not a Nigerian as speculated, his name does not confirm his nationality.

British born Michael ‘Mujahid’ Adeboloja with an accomplice beheaded a British Soldier on a street in Woolwich, London. The Consul General noted that Nigerians are a great people and that they are usually positive additions to any culture they join.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Pakistan School Bus Gutted By Fire, 16 Children Killed

By Olumide T. Agunbiade

The burnt bus

At least 16 children and their teacher have been killed when their school bus caught fire in eastern Pakistan, police say.

At least seven more children were taken to hospital after the incident on the outskirts of the city of Gujrat.

The bus driver is reported to have survived.

Police told the BBC a compressed gas cylinder had exploded on the bus after fire broke out.

The children, aged between four and 10, were just a few kilometres from their school in Gujrat, about 200km (120 miles) south-east of the capital Islamabad, when the incident happened.

Ogun WAEC Fee Fraud: Police Arrest 20 ZEOs, Two Directors!

By Olumide T. Agunbiade

About 22 senior officers in the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology have so far been arrested and interrogated by the police over the N200 million fraud uncovered in the payment of the West African Examination Council, WAEC, fees.

A source close to the police detectives told our correspondent that those arrested included a director, an assistant director as well as the Zonal Education Officers, ZEOs, in all the 20 local government areas of the state.

The source added that the new arrest, which brought the number of those currently undergoing interrogation to 26, was made late Wednesday evening. All those arrested, according to the source, have been taken to the state police headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta. Meanwhile, the state government has implored members of the public who have useful information regarding the fraud to furnish the police with such information.