Sunday, 26 July 2015
Photos: Dolapo Oni at her introduction today
Snoop Dogg arrested in Sweden
Snoop Dogg was arrested in Sweden yesterday and he thinks it was a clear case of racial profiling. Swedish police however, say they arrested Snoop because they thought he was driving under the influence of narcotics, but Snoop says he was taken to the station, forced to pee in a cup and police determined he was clean.
He made a video he posted on his IG page where he was seated in the back of the police car saying he's being racially profiled.
He posted another video in the Police station while they were making a report on the incident, still claiming he did nothing wrong.
He made 5 videos in total stating the same thing, with some captions of FTP and said that he'll never return to Sweden after this incident.
The incident occurred in Uppsala, Sweden, after a concert he performed in the city.
However, police in Sweden say Snoop's not in the clear.
He says Snoop showed signs of driving under the influence and it will take 2 weeks to get the test results back.
As for Snoops allegation of racial profiling, the spokesman said, "We don't work like that in Sweden."
How I Escaped Death – Obasanjo Opens Up
He also disclosed how his late friend, General Shehu Yar’ Adua was killed in a Port Harcourt prison.
Obasanjo and his former deputy, Yar’Adua, were among those who were convicted by a kangaroo military tribunal for participating in a phantom coup.
According to Obasanjo, he was serving his 15 year jail term in Jos before he was transferred to the Yola prison but on the day he was to depart for Yola, he was made to meet a doctor sent to kill him gradually with a lethal injection, but he escaped the trap.
The former president made this revelation in his book - MY WATCH - where he recalled how he was arrested, tried, and convicted and put behind bars, where he escaped death by a whisker.
According to him, he was told by a warder that a man, whom he later found to be a doctor, came to see him for medical reasons and said the Abacha government was worried about his health and mandated him to come and check his cholesterol problem.
“Earlier, I had alluded to the fact that the magnitude of the flow of visitors to me had caused Abacha some anxiety. One day, I was suddenly told that I was being moved. Where to and for what reason, nobody told me. The movement of prisoners is always shrouded in secrecy for security reasons, as they would say. One warder who wanted to be helpful came to tell me that the movement might be to my home. Anyway, by early afternoon, I was moved to a government quarters in the GRA. There, a man whom I later realised was a doctor, was waiting for me. He started talking to me about the concern of the government authority for my health, especially for my cholesterol level and said he would want to take my blood for testing.
“I knew very well that I had no cholesterol problem. I was slightly diabetic and surprisingly, my sugar level had been consistently normal. I told the man firmly that I did not need a blood cholesterol test and that the minor medical problem I had was diabetes. I checked my blood sugar level regularly and I was quite satisfied with my results. Obviously, he did not expect the reaction he got from me. He had to put his syringe and needle back and said to me that later, they would follow up in my new location. He did not look happy but there was not much else he could do with me at that juncture. As I came to realise later, Shehu Yar’Adua went through the same process, during which he must have been injected with what eventually killed him. I could only attribute the stand I took to the will and guidance of God. I had no premonition or tip-off,” he recounted.
He further recalled that with the doctor unable to perform his lethal act of injecting him with the deadly virus or slow poison, he was taken to the airport, where an Air Force Dornier aircraft was waiting to take him to his new location.
“But exactly where, I did not know. As I watched the shadow that the aircraft cast as we moved along, I knew we were moving in some easterly direction. We arrived in the evening, and I was kept in the aircraft for two hours while they were preparing my cell in the new location. I was handcuffed for the entire journey. By the time I came into what turned out to be Yola prison and my home for the next three years or so, it was almost ten at night…”
Obasanjo also recalled how he was introduced to one Dr Ajuwon, a medicine specialist to the Yola General Hospital, who hails from Oyo state, who became his doctor until his freedom came and he rewarded Ajuwon with an appointment as his personal physician when he became the president.
“A few weeks later,” the narrative continued, “a doctor, whom I later discovered to be Dr Yakasai, came from Abuja wanting to take my blood for a cholesterol check. He came with a syringe and needle. I insisted he would not touch me until my doctor was around. The prison authority sent for Dr. Ajuwon. When he came, he asked the Abuja doctor what he wanted. Of course, he gave the same story. Ajuwon, who had his own syringe and needle, there and then and in full gaze of everyone, including the prison officials, took my blood and gave it to the Abuja man.
“Ajuwon asked when we would have the results sent to us. The man replied, ‘Within forty-eight hours of my getting to Abuja.’ I remained in Yola for at least another two years after that visit, and no blood test result was ever sent to Dr. Ajuwon or to me. Obviously, he came for a devilish act, but God intervened once again.
“It was not too long after that visit that we received the news of Shehu Yar ‘Adua’s death. Rumour had it that he was poisoned. The way I was taken to a government quarters with a man ostensibly wanting to take my blood for a cholesterol check was the way Shehu was taken and under the guise of a blood check, a slow poison or virus was injected into his body..."
Secret Oil Theft: What Buhari Government Found Shocked Us
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Lai Mohammed, said this in a telephone interview with Punch in Abuja, on Thursday while reacting to the statement by President Muhammadu Buhari that officials of Goodluck Jonathan administration were involved in stealing one million barrel of crude oil daily.
Lai Mohammed said, “We are not just shocked but taken aback by what we have found. We have always known that there was monumental corruption under the previous regime but we did not know it was this huge...
“Anybody who calls the questions we are asking a witch-hunt is a person
who condones corruption, and again, when we were raising the alarm over
this level of corruption they were engaged in, they said we were crying
wolf where there was none.
“They said it never happened. They even went as far as manufacturing figures to cover up. We must ask questions so that whoever is coming into government will know that it cannot be business as usual and that he/she must be prepared to answer questions after they leave office.”
“They said it never happened. They even went as far as manufacturing figures to cover up. We must ask questions so that whoever is coming into government will know that it cannot be business as usual and that he/she must be prepared to answer questions after they leave office.”
Buhari: From Washington with dignity - By Femi Adeshina
It was an official visit that attracted not only national, but also international attention. President Muhammadu Buhari was going to visit the United States of America for four days, on the invitation of President Barack Obama. Was this going to be just another jamboree, or truly an event that would reset the buttons in the relationship between the two countries?Sure, there had been some cooling of passion between the two erstwhile allies during the dying days of the Jonathan administration, and American experts sent here to train our military had even been asked to leave. She had also refused to sell us Cobra helicopters and other armaments, which could have made a lot of difference in our fight against insurgents in the North-east of the country. America had cited some reasons, including alleged human rights violations. The then President Jonathan was thus forced to look towards South Africa for arms.
No doubt, the kiln of passion needed to be kindled anew between Nigeria and America, and the invitation extended to Buhari during the G7 Summit in Germany, in June, was a much needed elixir. The Nigerian leader accepted the offer, and so was in Washington between Sunday, July 19 and Wednesday, July 22.
But another whiff of controversy had presaged the meeting. America, through its Supreme Court, had recently legitimized same sex relationship. It was against the laws of God, but heck, what did America care? What matters now are rights, and people with homosexual or lesbian cravings must have their rights protected under the law.
It was into the eye of this storm that some Nigerians felt Buhari would be flying, on his trip. True, he had been asked to bring a ‘wish list’ by his host, but is there ever free lunch in America? Yes, your wish would be granted. America would help you decapitate Boko Haram, would help you trace and repatriate billions of dollars salted away in foreign banks by past rulers, would help boost your economy and generate employment, but at what price? At a price of endorsing same sex marriage, which would be contrary to our laws as a country, and to the laws of the God that majority of Nigerians believe in, and serve? Would Buhari capitulate simply because America would help him fulfill promises he made during election campaigns?
To America we flew last Sunday, arriving after a voyage of 12 hours. Our President was accommodated along with some members of the entourage at the historic Blair House, just a peeping distance from the White House. A good number of meetings were to hold at that Blair House in the next four days.
After a briefing of what was to come in the next four days by Professor Ade Adefuye, Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America, the President played host to former American Ambassador in Nigeria, Thomas Pickering and Professor Jean Herskovits. The man who has been quite outspoken about Nigeria, and who had doubted if the country would survive the 2015 general elections, Ambassador John Campbell, also came, among other people.
The day was not done until Madeline Albright (remember her? A large number of people across the world were mad about Madeline years back when she was American Secretary of State. She did the work admirably). Well, Madeline came to dinner with our President. She has aged, but rather gracefully.
Day 2 was the day the world had been waiting for. Day of meeting with the world’s most influential president, Barak Obama. But not so fast! First, breakfast with Vice President Joe Biden. What did he tell our President?
Biden gave an overview of the objectives of the entire visit,assuring Nigeria of the goodwill and support of America. He shared perspectives on the terror war, drawing from America’s experiences after the September 2001 assault, in which thousands were killed by Al-Qaeda inspired terrorists. He said Boko Haram, which has now pledged loyalty to ISIS, should not be battled with just military option. There was also the need to combine the war with strong socio-economic programs. He said the U.S would be ready to work with Nigeria in that direction.
On the Nigerian economy, Biden bade the leadership to tackle the issue of corruption, strengthen the institutions, and appoint tested hands to man critical sectors. If all these were done, he assured that investors would flood Nigeria in droves.
Buhari thanked his host, and added that the role played by America prior to general elections, sending Secretary of State John Kerry to convey that America would not tolerate the subversion of the people’s will, went a long way to guarantee fairness and justice.
Having served as Minister for Petroleum Resources for over three years in the 1970s, the President did not forget to mention the oil sector. He said between 10 to 20 billion dollars may have been lost to oil theft in the past one year, and pledged to sanitize the sector. He welcomed American assistance.
The much awaited meeting with Obama came up a while later at the White House. The US President described Buhari as a man of integrity needed for such a time as this in Nigeria.
Every patriotic Nigerian must have stood several feet taller, as Obama eulogized our President. It served to rekindle confidence in our country. With the right leadership, Nigeria can, and will get there. Sure.
The American president charted the same course as his deputy on the issue of Boko Haram. According to him, economic and social programs must run concurrently with military option, to conclusively defeat insurgency.
Obama said the diversity of Nigeria, rather than be a centrifugal force, must be a centripetal one. The disparate parts of the country should be harnessed to become source of strength, adding that no part of the country should be left behind, or alienated.
Buhari, the American president observed, was hugely popular, judging by the enormous goodwill that surrounded his election. He urged him to use the goodwill to serve Nigeria, alongside the governors that accompanied him. The governors are Rochas Okorocha, Imo, Adams Oshiomhole, Edo, Tanko Al-Makura, Nasarawa, Kashim Shettima, Borno, and Abiola Ajimobi, Oyo.
Speaking on behalf of the governors, Okorocha assured Obama that the states’ helmsmen would back up Buhari to bring enduring change to Nigeria.
Obama made pledges. America would help Nigeria in diverse ways: checkmate insurgency, train and equip her military, recover monies siphoned out of federal coffers, and many others. And with no strings attached.
The bilateral meetings/ audiences with the Nigerian president at Blair House, and other venues, were worth their weight in gold. The American Secretary of Commerce met with the Nigerian team, so did Loretta Lynch, U.S Attorney General, Jack Lew, Secretary of the Treasury, the Barker Group, potential investors in the agriculture and power sectors. There was an interactive dinner hosted by U.S Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Council for Africa, and captains of industry from Nigeria and America were there, among others.
What of the meeting with Dr Pate of the World Health Organization (WHO), representatives of the World Bank, and of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? Refreshing. WHO unfolded plans to spend 300 million dollars to fight malaria in Nigeria, while the World Bank, subject to ratification by its board of directors, will make available the princely sum of 2.1 billion dollars for the rebuilding of infrastructure in the North-east, a region beleaguered by insurgency in the past six years. The fund, under the auspices of International Development Agency (IDA) will be made available as loans for Nigeria, at very low interest rates. The first 10 years would be interest free, while an additional 30 years would be granted at rates lower than that of the capital market.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also disclosed plans to work with the Dangote Foundation to ensure that Nigeria gets a clean bill of health on polio. Already, no case of polio has been recorded in the country for a full year, and if the position subsists for another full year, Nigeria would be declared polio free.
Cheery news also from the session between the Nigerian team and the American Attorney General. The host country would track illicit money from Nigeria in all their jurisdictions, including the U.S, while training would also be provided for our judicial officers, prosecutors, police, and other security agencies, to track and recover stolen funds.
Same sex issue enters the scene. On Tuesday afternoon, Buhari was in his right elements, as he attended a joint session by the Senate and House Committees on Foreign Affairs at the Capitol Hill. Many issues came up for discussion, ranging from foreign relations, to growing democracy, human rights, and many others. Then a senator brought in the clincher. What does Nigeria think of the rights of homosexuals and lesbians.
Sodomy or anything of such kind is against the laws of Nigeria, and, indeed, the Nigerian society abhors such practices, the President declared. Pastor Tunde Bakare of The Latter Rain Assembly was in the audience, and from the delight on his face, he could have carried Buhari shoulder high, if protocol had permitted such.
To cap that delightful day, the president headed to the Chancery, Nigeria Embassy. He had two assignments there. A Meet and Greet session had been packaged by Mo Abudu of Ebony Life TV, in which Nigerian youths, who are professionals, had been invited from across America to greet President Buhari, and share their dreams of a greater country with him. The young people were really happy to have their president and father figure in their midst.
Next was the meeting with Nigerians in Diaspora, who also came from across America. Biodun Ogunjobi had driven 12 hours to attend the event. He also had waited for four hours outside the Embassy gates, till the program commenced. Such is the fervor Nigerians in America have for their country, and for a president they see as symbol of change. For about two hours, the President interacted with them, answering all the questions.
On the final day of the visit, it was an interactive event at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). It was jointly organized by the National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, Centre for Strategic Studies and Atlantic Council. Ambassador Johnny Carson, who coordinated the session, described the guest as a man of honour and integrity.
Buhari went to America, he saw, and he conquered.
Adesina is Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, to President Buhar
Obama has always been close to his half sister. She was a bridesmaid at his wedding (photo)
Kim Kardashian suggests a 'great' idea to Twitter
Kim tweeted, "I just emailed Twitter to see if they can add an edit feature so that when you misspell something u don't have to delete & repost. Let's see ..."
30 mins later, Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey responded... "great idea! We're always looking at ways to make things faster and easier."
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