I once lived in an uncompleted building - Mercy Johnson

In an interview with Saturday Tribune, Mercy Johnson Okojie opens up about life before the fame, money and marriage. She talks about how she once lived in an uncompleted building and how she was inspired to start acting after watching one of Genevieve Nnaji's movies. Excerpt below...

Sometimes when I cry in movies, it isn't the script that makes me cry. When I recall my humble beginning, I give thanks to God. When I remember how we moved into an uncompleted building and had to take cover whenever it rained because of the condition of the house; how my brother did a menial job as a bricklayer to earn a living and those days when we rolled over a stick to cover the windows up till the point when I started acting and raised money to cover the roof… I recall those days we were living with lizards because the floor and the walls of the house were not plastered, or when I had scars as a result of my several falls.” Continue...

PHOTOS: Chika Ike lodged At World's Most Expensive Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi

Actress Chika Ike is really living the life. She's currently on holiday in Abu Dhabi and we gathered that she's currently staying at Emirates Palace Hotel, which is the most expensive palace in the world. Room rates ranges from $5,000 to $17,000 a night, depending on the suite.

More photos from the hotel after the cut...

EXPOSED: Jonathan Puts N1.8b in Budget for Project Obasanjo Paid & Completed In 2006

President Goodluck Jonathan is asking the National Assembly to appropriate about N1.8bn this year (2014) to help connect his home state of Bayelsa, to the national electricity grid, but this request suggests that some 'Ogas at the Top' only want to pocket the money, secretly.

Exposing the BIG fraud, an officials of the Ministry of Power said they were “stunned and amused at the claim from the presidency which is obviously an afterthought. It is not true that the Bayelsa transmission line needs an upgrade. If it’s an upgrade, why didn’t they say so in the budget? Why was it presented as a totally new project?” the official queried.

These revelations are shocking as the project was fully paid for by Obasanjo. Continue...
PREMIUM TIMES investigations into the proposed project reveal that President Jonathan is asking money for projects that have been completed seven years ago (during the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo), and that were all fully paid for in 2006 when he (Jonathan) was the governor of Bayelsa State.

In the 2014 Federal budget recently presented by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, toNational Assembly for consideration and approval, the government lists as priority, the need to connect the state to the national electricity transmission network, but this shocking blunder is drawing attention to the absence of project monitoring and evaluation principles in policy making under the current administration, and the shabbiness that attends to budget preparation.

When contacted, the Special Adviser to the President on Power, Beks Dagogo-Jack, could not explain how the provision found its way into the budget, but claimed the issue might involve some complicated technical explanations only the bureaucrats at the Federal Ministry of Power could make.

PREMIUM TIMES investigations reveal that such provisions, that many federal crime investigators are familiar with, are some of the several fraudulent financial requests smuggled into budgets to steal public funds.

The Special Adviser to Bayelsa State governor on Power, Olice Kemenanabo, on Tuesday, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that Bayelsa State was indeed linked to the national grid more than eight years ago.

The Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, Bright Okogwu, demanded a text message enquiry when contacted Thursday. He did not respond to the enquiry as at the time of publishing this report on Saturday.

However, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, insisted Friday night the N1.8billion request is not fraudulent.

“It is true contract connecting Yenagoa to the national grid was awarded in 2006,” Mr. Okupe said in response to a PREMIUM TIMES enquiry. “It is a 2x40MVA station connecting only Yenagoa. That voltage is far too small to cater for the needs of the state.

Trouble Hits APC Over Political Power Sharing

Despite its growing acceptability within the country’s political circle, all appears not to be well in the house of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as a crisis over power sharing and control is brewing in the party.

When contacted, the Director of Press to Kano State governor, Baba Dantiye, said fears about Kwankwaso’s commitment to working with other leaders were misplaced. In his words: 

“His only concern is the salvation of this country. It is not about his interest; he is committed but it will be unfortunate if they feel that way even before the committee starts its work. His Excellency has an open mind and is ready to work with everybody.”

Investigation by PUNCH showed that some of the 5 governors, who defected to the APC from the PDP were locked in a supremacy battle with some leaders of the three political parties that merged to form the APC.

The parties that merged to form APC are the Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change.

To forestall problem, however, the party has set up reconciliation committees in some of the affected states.

The governors who left the PDP for the APC, included Dr. Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Muritala Nyako (Adamawa); Abdufatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers).

The tussle for power in states controlled by the fast-growing APC is mainly between the governors and those who are against their total control of the state party structure.

It was learnt that the problem had manifested in Kwara, Kano, Sokoto and Adamawa states among others.

The defected PDP governors that are said to be engaged in power struggle with old APC members include Nyako, Kwankanso, Wamakko and Ahmed. As for Amaechi, he is total control in Rivers State.

In Kwara State for instance, members of the parties that merged to form the APC have described the leader of the PDP defectors, Senator Bukola Saraki, as someone who loves a one man show. Saraki is the political godfather of the state governor.

Bill Gates Exposes Facts That Jonathan is Failing in Electricity

Despite all the claims by President Goodluck Jonathan and his men that a lot is being done to improve power and other critical infrastructure, the world's richest man, Bill Gates, has just released a shocking fact that they are just lying and deceiving Nigerians, as usual. Bill Gates has assisted Jonathan on several issues, so no one can claim that he is one of Jonathan's so called enemies.

Imagine, according to the above graph, Nigeria is 3rd poorest in Africa in terms of growth in electricity. Even Below Average.

PHOTOS: And Again, Maheeda Takes Off Everything iIn New Video Shoot

The gospel singer turned bad girl is shooting a video for her new song titled - 'Naija Bad Girl' - and she had to take off everything in some scenes, in the presence of young men. Sad! Check out the photos below...

Secret Camera Caught Married Woman & Gate Man Having S*x [VIDEO]

When a married woman lose her self respect to the extent of having séx with her husband's gate man, then you should know that something is wrong. Big shame! Click HERE To WATCH The VIDEO

Nollywood Actress Flashes Her B00bs In New Photos

After she came out of the Next Movie Star in 2010, Actress Ilami Whyte hasn't made much impact in the film industry. So, she is flashing her 'assets', maybe producers can remember her. See photos below...

This is the one reason Android users are actually jealous of iOS users

.

This is the one reason Android users are actually jealous of iOS users Android users are a proud group and are typically not fond of admitting that they’re envious of iPhone users. However, there’s one area where even the most diehard Android fan has to admit that iPhone users have it better: SOFTWARE UPGRADES. AppleInsider notes that 78% of iOS users have now upgraded to iOS 7, an impressive feat for an update that was released less than four months ago.

In contrast, the latest numbers released by Google show that only 55% of all Android users are using devices that run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or higher, even though Google first released Jelly Bean all the way back in the summer of 2012. What’s more, Google says that just over 1% of Android users have adopted Android 4.4 KitKat, the latest version of the platform that started rolling out to users in November. iOS 7, in contrast, reportedly hit a 60% adoption rate just one week after it was released.

[Money Speaking]: Aliko Dangote joins Twitter, gets verified even with no tweet

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote has joined Twitter. And with no tweets yet, he's already verified. And within hours of joining, he's already had over 1,700 followers. Really Amazing...

Mother Arrested in Christmas Day Killing of Teen Daughter

.

Police have arrested the mother of a teen girl who was found murdered on Christmas Day.
According to the Casa Grande, Ariz., Police Department, Connie Villa, 35, allegedly attempted to kill all of four her children and her ex-husband Adam Villa on Dec. 25.
She has been charged with first-degree murder for the death of her daughter, 13-year-old Aniarael Macias, who was found dead in the family apartment bathroom.
Police said they believe that Villa called her ex-husband to come over on Christmas Day so that she could kill him. After he arrived, she allegedly stabbed him repeatedly in the torso, police said. Adam Villa was able to escape and call the police as he drove himself to the hospital.
When police arrived at Villa's apartment, they forced open the door and found her holding a knife to her chest with apparent self-inflicted stab wounds on her torso.
Villa's three younger children, ages 3, 5, and 8, were also found without any stab wounds. Macias' body was found in the bathroom, but she had no visible injuries, Casa Grande Police Department spokesman Thomas Anderson said.

After the younger children were taken to the hospital, trace amounts of opiates were found in their system. Police say they suspect Villa was trying to poison her children.
An autopsy conducted on Anariel on Saturday was inconclusive.

Sammie Okposo renounces COSON membership

Posted by: Editor December 28, 2013 in Bang Showbiz, News, Starnews Leave a comment

By Osagie Alonge

Sammie Okposo

Sammie Okposo has renounced his membership with the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON).

According to a statement released by his reps, Okposo’s decision to leave COSON is due to what he says is the lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the collective management organization. The Gospel singer wants COSON to stop collecting royalties and acting on his behalf with immediate effect.

‘I, Sammie Okposo, a proud Nigerian artiste wishes to notify the general public and all stakeholders alike that I have stopped being a member of COSON’, he said in a statement released this week.

Okposo’s exit comes weeks after the Broadcast Organisation of Nigeria (BON) and Independent Broadcast Association of Nigeria (IBAN) pronounced a ban on the airing of the musical works of 96 musicians including Okposo.

Okposo has also called for the registration of another CMO with a view to breaking the monopoly currently being enjoyed by COSON.

Meanwhile COSON has responded to Okposo’s statement saying that he will still return to COSON.

‘With time Gospel Singer, Sammie Okposo will realize that there are few Nigerian institutions that are run with a level of transparency, accountability and professionalism available at COSON and he will return to the fold’, Chinedu Chukwuji said in a statement sent to NET.

According to Mr Chukwuji’, ‘Sammie has not availed himself the opportunity of visiting the COSON office and is clearly unfamiliar with the quality of personnel, the technology and processes put to work at COSON’.

Mr Chukwuji also said that COSON has not received any resignation letter from Okposo.

Prince William to study at Cambridge University

Prince William and wife Kate Middleton. Photo: Getty Images

Prince William will study at Cambridge University next year.

The second in line to the British throne – who stepped down from his career with the Royal Air Force (RAF) earlier this year – will study Agricultural Management at the prestigious British seat of learning between January and March 2014.
The 10 week course is the first step for the prince in learning how to manage the Duchy of Cornwall; a portfolio of land, property and investments which he will inherit from his father, Prince Charles, when he becomes king.
William – the Duke of Cambridge – will have 18 to 20 hours of lectures, seminars and meetings a week, as well as essays and field trips to complete.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson said the prince was ‘very much looking forward’ to the course, adding: ‘The executive education programme of seminars, lectures and meetings will draw on the strengths of academics across the university’.
‘The course has been designed to help provide the Duke with an understanding of contemporary issues affecting agricultural business and rural communities in the United Kingdom‘.
The course will be run by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL), part of the Cambridge University’s School of Technology.
William’s course will not lead to a formal qualification, and its costs are being met privately. He will also still undertake royal duties while studying.
The prince previously graduated from a course in Geography from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2005.

[ANOTHER STRIKE] Colleges Of Education Lecturers To Take Over From ASUU On Tuesday

Two weeks after the Academic Staff Union of Universities suspended its strike, lecturers in the Colleges of Education are set to begin a nationwide strike on Tuesday.
This was stated in a letter served on the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike and a copy obtained by journalist in Abuja.
The letter was delivered by the General Secretary of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, Mr. Nuhu Ogirima, who lamented that the Federal Government had failed to address issues raised by the union.
The union’s complaints are infrastructural decay, poor funding, non-implementation of the 2010 FG-COEASU Agreement, poor conditions of service, brain drain and illegal imposition of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.
In the letter signed by the COEASU National President, Asagha Nkoro and Ogirima, the union accused the government of directing the National Commission for Colleges of Education to impose the IPPIS on colleges without recourse to earlier meetings by parties.
In compliance with the resolution of its Expanded National Executive Council Meeting, COEASU said its members had been directed to resume a full scale strike action suspended earlier this year, “unless and until government meets the
demands”.

#TheHeadies2013 Awards Is Still Generating More Controversy, Read Open Letter Titled ‘The Aftermath’

 
I am a big time lover of Nigerian Music from the days of Kennis Music’s domination, Remedies, Plantashun boiz et al; and it is a good thing to have you “Ayo Animashaun” introduce the “Hip Hop World Award” now known as the “Headies”.


The introduction of the award in 2006 was a good idea I must say, the presence of a new platform to showcase the hard work of Nigerian Artistes was a welcome idea, as well as its development and improvement since then.

The past awards have been credible or let’s just say close to perfect with little errors. Coming down to HEADIES 2013, the errors this year CANNOT be waived. Needless to say they were noticeable and cannot be IGNORED. Everyone loves a good show, and value for money spent on tickets, plus Nigerians that supported by watching on television.
Everybody had something to say, but this is what my humble self noticed and I have to say:
1. HOSTS: The 2013 hosts hmmm, Uncle Ayo, it could have been better. Don’t get me wrong, Tiwa and Dr. Sid really did their best at handling the bored crowd… but with your kinda credibility in the industry I am sure you could have better hosts for the award. I know you are trying to improvise but the combination of Dr. Sid & Tiwa Savage just did not click, nothing exciting about their combo, I am guessing because they are label mates, I thought so too. The yawns were more than the laughter.
2. PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Well ‘dicey’ doesn’t even begin to describe this particular category. This is one category that should be checked thoroughly, according to my own little understanding of judging process; I think the first essential quality is the ability of a producer to be versatile. Uncle Ayo, the nomination for this category really confused me. I am not saying the winner did not deserve it, absolutely not. But I am calling your attention to the fact that a producer should not be judged by a single song. I think Sarz is a fantastic producer but I don’t know why he was not nominated but whichever way sir; I believe producers should not be judged by a single song. We can only hope due process was followed.
3. LYRICIST ON THE ROLL: To be honest and with all fairness, the winner of this category can’t just be somewhere sitting the whole year, drop one song and then come on stage to win a lyricist on the roll, well me I no be fan of rap music but it is bothersome with the dominance of Uncle Mode9 with the fact that we have other rappers dropping songs steady and we just ignore them with only one track, this is not encouraging sir and I will like you to do something about it, either to erase it or find another way of judging it because I believe this award has its own credibility. Let’s spread our wings and weight other options.
4. ARTISTE OF THE YEAR: The question basically is, kinni criteria to choose artiste of the year? Iyanya had a fantastic year no doubt but how can an artiste whose song, album or video does not win a single award be crowned as our artiste of the year?? Unless there was an error in announcing the name for this category then I can say IYANYA deserved it but if it’s still the same as “Artiste of the Year” then Iyanya….hmm, oh well. I understand there is voting going on, but there are some categories that the judge’s discretion should be priority before even considering votes. I will like you to look into this very well sir.
5. MOST DOWNLOADED CALLERTUNE: When I heard about this particular category and winner, I laughed in *Spanish* biko, what and how were you able to justify the song, are you telling me that this song that was dropped some weeks back has more download than Gobe, Durosoke, Limpopo? My own opinion about this category is award of recognition for Harrysong or are we trying to honour Mandela through him? I think you should clarify this sir. The funny thing is ℓ remember when this song dropped and naso Nigerians download am rish?. We love Mandela, don’t get me wrong, but harrysong’s tribute of how many weeks ago…huh?
6. NEXT RATED: For every Nigerian following this award, I think this is the biggest award for the night and it should not be taken for granted. For an artiste to be selected as NEXT RATED, lots of things that cannot be identified since we are trying to be brief dey involved. I want to take us back to the 2012 edition which Davido won, I don’t want to say Davido did not have more votes than Eva then or vice versa but that, Eva made more publicity than Davido to the best of my knowledge but looking at it very well, we all know Davido was outstanding last year and winning the award proved the judges right because he has never dropped his hardworking skills and this year for him was as well a more successful and outstanding one compared to Madam Eva. I am hoping to see a better Sean Tizzle next year so as to prove we critics wrong because to me Sean Tizzle? Wait, Burna Boy was in that category, and the public thinks Sean Tizzle is more promising than him? My twitter timeline did not reveal that. Well, I don’t want to go into this too much but we can only hope sean tizzle proves us wrong.

You’ll Not Believe The Music Producer That Is Now A Pastor

Award winning Producer and cum Singer, Olumide Ogunade a.k.a Id Cabasa responsible for mega hits like 9ice’s ‘Gongo Aso’ and Ruggedman’s ‘Ruggedy baba’ is now a Pastor.
Cabasa was one of 10 Pastors introduced to the congregation at Global Impact Church on December 29, 2013.
The producer is currently the Choir Master at the church situated at Bab’s Animashaun, Surulere, Lagos State.
Cabasa and the other newly introduced Pastors were selected as part of a proposed plan by the church to expand and provide better care and guide its members come 2014.
Id Cabasa was also the CEO of CodedTunes - the Record Label that handled Olamide's First Album in the industry until Mid 2012 when they parted ways.