Nedu Echianu's Blog

In what appears to be a manipulated video of ailing Taraba state governor, Danbaba Suntai, purportedly making a broadcast to the people of the state, his speech appeared shaky and unclear, and he seemed to suffer discomfort during the less than one-minute speech. (PremiumTimes)

Reports coming in from Jalingo the capital of Taraba state say Governor Danbaba Suntai has dissolved his Executive council and all Advisers.   Online news medium, Premium Times quotes a source at the Government House as saying  that Mr. Suntai has also appointed the immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Timothy Katap as the new Secretary to State Government, SSG.   He also appointed Aminu Jika as his new Chief of Staff. The source added that both appointees will be sworn in by 2pm Wednesday at the Government House.   This is the second time that Mr. Jika is being appointed as the Chief of Staff to Mr. Suntai. He was first appointed when Mr. Suntai took office in 2007.

De Raufs, a volunteer group extolling the virtues of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Governor, state of Osun, has volunteered to sponsor 15year old stowaway teenager, Daniel Ohikhena who sensationally hid in the tyre compartment of Arik air flight from Benin to Lagos.

Enugu Rangers and Home based Super Eagles  Defender, Chibuzor Okonkwo is about to make a switch to a foreign club, guess where!...

No marriage is perfect. Even the ones that have lasted for decades have ups-and-downs. While some work towards enduring it, many fall to, which automatically leads to divorce. However, separation does not take place by accident. The seed of estrangement builds up slowly when people tend to avoid things that matter most. Studies reveal that divorce rate has increased tremendously around the world. But why relationships are falling apart? Let us find out the tops reasons that are causing divorce globally.

Liberia's education minister says she finds it hard to believe that not a single candidate passed this year's university admission exam.

President Goodluck Jonathan has relieved the Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdul-kadir of his appointment from the Federal Executive Council. According to a terse statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, the minister’s sack takes effect from Monday August 26 th , 2013.

Two Kenyan men have signed an agreement to "marry" the same woman, reports say. The woman had been having affairs with both men for more than four years and apparently refused to choose between them.

The teenage stowaway, Daniel Ihekina, who was arrested at the Lagos Airport after flying in the tyre hole of an Arik plane from Benin to Lagos on Saturday morning, thought he was on a US-bound flight.

There was confusion Saturday at the Benin Airport and in what seems to be a serious security breach on a local flight, as a teenage boy stowed away allegedly in the tyre hold of an Arik Aircraft from Benin to Lagos.

Former undisputed heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson claims he is "on the verge of dying" from ongoing drug and alcohol problems. The BBC reports that 47 year old Tyson admitted he is a continual substance abuser but added he is hopeful of finally getting clean.

The office of the President through the Senior Special Assistant on Media, Reuben Abati approved the above picture of President Goodluck Jonathan for use by the media.

Kidnappers in Edo State struck in the afternoon yesterday in the southern parts of Edo state, seizing  renowned human rights lawyer, Mike Ozekhome. Edo state officials told Saharareporters that Mr. Ozekhome was kidnapped by armed gangs prowling the Benin -Auchi road around 3:00 PM at Ehor near Ekpoma.

Femi Fani Kayode An Igbo scholar, Dr. Samuel Okafor, has made one-time Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, look so small and uneducated by using facts and figures to demolish the claims he made in the controversial August 8 article, “The Bitter Truth About The Igbo”, which set off a storm that almost threatened Igbo-Yoruba relations.

  The Lagos state Police Command have announced the arrest of the police woman filmed demanding N100 bribe from a commercial bus driver (Check out the Video HERE ) A statement currently circulated on the internet and purported to be from the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Ngozi Braide, reads thus.   “We have arrested her and she is presently in custody. She will be made to undergo an orderly room trial and the outcome will be made public’’

Whats your take on this innovation?

Nigeria is the perfect place to go for those who want to embrace ecotourism, which entails the respect for the environment and the well-being of local people: unspoiled forests, breathtaking landscapes, magnificent beaches and animals of different species will guarantee an unforgettable holiday away from the city.

The Police in Kenya said Tuesday that they were battling to contain a new trend of commercial sex tourism that targets young boys in the coastal towns of the country.

The police woman in the amateur video taken by a passenger refused to come down from the bus until she collected a N100! (less than a dollar) bribe.

The Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Order, in Maiduguri, Borno State said intelligence report available to it “revealed that Abubakur Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted Boko Haram Terrorists leader may have died”.

John Dada Adedayo, the producer of a new film called ‘ Boko Haram,’ has been arraigned before court after he refused to wait for the Ghana Cinematography Exhibition Board to censor certain parts of the film before giving him the green light to distribute it to the public.

Six governors led by Nigeria Governors Forum chairman Rotimi Amaechi held a meeting with President Jonathan at the State House in Abuja last night. The meeting was attended by Governors Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara). No agenda was made public, but the meeting is believed to have been convened to try to mend fences between the governors and the president. Amaechi leads a faction of the Nigerian Governors Forum which the president has not recognised. Four of the six governors at the meeting had been going round the country holding consultations with key leaders, to try to convince them to help in solving the political crisis in the country. Source: Daily Trust

Suspected Islamic militants wearing army fatigues gunned down 44 people praying at a mosque in northeast Nigeria, while another 12 civilians died in an apparently simultaneous attack, security agents said Monday.

In a season of anomaly where rogue intellectuals and emergency ethnic warriors in their conceited jingoism are celebrated in Nigeria, silence will be un-golden in the face of obvious falsehood and distortion of historical facts especially the type peddled by one Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation.

A pair of videos posted online show police probing the private parts and anal regions of three women they claim to suspect of possessing marijuana. In one video, a woman is seen bent over and grimacing as an off camera police officer conducts the search. Shortly before this search, a male officer explains to the woman that he is calling a female officer over “because I ain’t about to get up close and personal with your woman areas.”

Permit me to make my second and final contribution to the raging debate about Lagos, who owns it and the seemingly endless tensions that exist between the igbo and the yoruba.

The Lagos State Police Command has dismissed a police sergeant, Chris Omeleze, who was caught on video camera extorting N25,000 from a motorist in Lagos.

Happy celebration to all Muslim faithful.

The Policeman involved in the unprofessional and shameful act as seen in a video clip currently in circulation on the social media has been identified.  He is a Sergeant with Force Number 192954 (Name withheld) attached to the Lagos State Command Motor Traffic Division (State MTD). 

August 1 2013, Former Super Eagles striker, Kanu Nwankwo celebrated his birthday with beneficiaries of his "Kanu Heart Foundation", the emotional occassion also saw the kids who were accompanied by their mothers pray for the Nigerian legend popularly called Papilo. (More Pictures after the cut)

Imo State governor (South East Nigeria) Rochas Okorocha has defended his membership of the All Progressive Congress [APC] in far away Atlanta, USA, declaring that the future political fortunes of Ndigbo are better served in the new mega political party.  

Fresh attacks by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram left at least 35 persons dead and several others injured in Borno State, military officials said.

 Mr Ademola Fashola, father of Governor Babatunde Fashola  of Lagos State, is dead. The governor`s father died in the early hours of Monday  at an undisclosed hospital in  Lagos,  at  the age of 79. Mr Hakeem Bello, Special Adviser to Fashola on media, who  was on lesser hajj pilgrimage with the governor in Saudi Arabia,  confirmed the death to  newsmen in Ikeja via telephone. He said the  state government would  soon issue  a statement giving details of his burial arrangement. Source: NAN

The world's first lab-grown burger was cooked and eaten at a news conference in London on Monday. Scientists took cells from a cow and, at an institute in the Netherlands, turned them into strips of muscle that they combined to make a patty.

Last week, the picture below went viral along with news that another student was found dead in a hotel in Lagos.

Peace Anyiam-Osigwe is the CEO and founder of the Africa Movie Academy Awards. Here, she picks the best African movies of the 21st century. It's hard for me to choose the greatest African films of the 21st century as the genres and styles of African cinema have evolved in a big way over the past 20 years or so. Movie makers are now showing a more vibrant Africa than the Francophone filmmakers did before them. I have chosen films that I loved watching and feel that they are a representative of what is out there in African cinema -- the rich mix and melting pot that is African cinema today.

Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State has threatened to carry out a reprisal following the deportation of beggars and destitute people by the Lagos State Government to the South Eastern state.

At a WWE stop in Cape Town, South Africa Tuesday, a fan put himself in the middle of the action when he hopped into the ring and punched wrestler Randy Orton. As Orton stood on a turnbuckle, this happened: