Jerry Douglas' Blog

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), northern chapter, says if the presidency is to return to the North in 2015, the position should go to a Christian in the region. The association, however, insists the immediate concern of the region should be solutions to insecurity and poverty ravaging the area and not the Presidency. Public Relations Officer of the CAN in the 19 northern states and Abuja, Mr. Sunny Oibe, said this in an interview in Abuja on Sunday. Oibe said, "In all the years of Northern Nigeria dominating the leadership of this country, it is only one Christian we have produced and that was during the military. If the Presidency must come to the North in 2015, it must be of a Christian extraction. "The Muslims in the North should allow Northern Christians be. They should forget about the Presidency because their time is up. What have they done today that they are thinking of 2015? Let us solve the problem of today and not 2015, which should not be the p...

Coca-cola is an effective cure for stomach blockages because of its chemical composition and bubbles. That’s the claim of a new study. Researchers at the Medical School of Athens University studied already published academic papers that analysed 46 patients with the condition known as gastric phytobezoar. Those patients, drawn from all over the world, were treated with Coke in hospitals over the past 10 years. A phytobezoar is a stomach blockage which, unless it is removed or destroyed, can lead to a bowel obstruction. It is often caused by the consumption of certain fruits that don’t digest properly. A range of treatments are used to treat it, from non-surgical lasers endoscopies and lasers to full surgery. But according to The Telegraph, such is the success rate of Coca-cola - 90 per cent - that doctors now routinely use the soft drink to treat patients with blocked stomach complaints as an alternative to surgery. Even the Diet and Coke Zero options were successful, because...

Following the recent fire which gutted the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has promised to help in rebuilding the burnt area of the palace. President Jonathan’s pledge was conveyed by Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom in Ilaje Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo State, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, Okoro Ajiga 1, during a sympathy visit to the Oyo monarch at the weekend. The Ugbo monarch, who led other Obas and his chiefs to the ancient Oyo town, disclosed that the President, who expressed sadness over the incident, specifically asked him to deliver his message to Alaafin, with a promise that he (President) would still send a delegate to him to deliver his letter of sympathy as well as the necessary assistance towards the reconstruction of the burnt area of the palace. Oba Akinruntan, who was later conducted round the razed apartments by Alaafin, described the incident as a disaster, not only to the Alaafin and the people ...

Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, was yesterday thrown into confusion when armed soldiers shot and killed five youths at Mararaba area of Tudun Amba along Doma road about five kilometers from the city centre. Eyewitness who spoke with Leadership said that youths along Doma road in Tudun Wada resisted the arrest of their colleagues by soldiers who were on their way to a peace keeping mission to Ekye Development Area in Doma LGA of the state. Investigations further revealed that the youths blocked the road to protest the refusal of the army to release their colleagues who are in the custody of the army when the army opened fire on them. The village head of Tudun Amba, Abubakar Abdullahi, who confirmed the incident to newsmen in his palace, said the soldiers shot and killed the boys without any provocation as they were arrested without any weapon. Abdullahi said three of the victims died instantly while two died in the hospital, with two other lying critically in the hospital w...

Prison inmates in Zamfara Medium prison last weekend averted what could have been a major prison break by 10 inmates in the early hours of Sunday. Leadership learnt that the prison atmosphere became chaotic when some of the inmates raised the alarm that 10 of their co-inmates have planned to escape from the prison. It was leant from some eyewitness that the prisoners planned to escape through the walls of the prison which was heavily guarded by armed mobile policemen who immediately swung into action and re-arrested all of them and forced them back into custody. The comptroller of the prisons service in the state, Alhaji Tahir Dabai who was contacted for comment over the issue, declined to respond, but however said, “I don’t really have much to tell the press at this moment.” Inside sources however confided in our correspondent that 10 inmates actually attempted to escape but the attempt was averted by the timely action of the prison authorities. The anonymous source, expla...

Almost a month after the National Assembly passed a harmonized N4.987 trillion budget for 2013, it is yet to transmit the complete document to President Goodluck Jonathan for assent. It was learnt the budget may be presented to the Presidency today. Daily Sun gathered at the weekend that the National Assembly joint committees on Appropriation spent last week fine-tuning the budget details and only concluded work in the early hours of Thursday. Related  News:  Senate Keeps Mum on 2013 Budget The lawmakers had last month forwarded the approved new budget to the Presidency but without accompanying details. A source on the committee noted that it was the norm to send the details at a later date. Checks, however, indicate that the National Assembly missed the January 9 deadline to transmit the complete budget to the President “because it just wasn’t ready then, owing to alleged undue interference.” But some National Assembly sources disclosed that lawmakers were angry at “t...

The 27-year-old forward's deal with the Spanish champions runs out in 2015. Portugal international Ronaldo has been the subject of speculation since he admitted to being "sad" for professional reasons in September last year. The player has rejected suggestions he is looking for a move, although he did admit he does not know what the future holds beyond the end of his current contract. Speaking to fifa.com in an interview conducted at last week's Ballon d'Or awards - at which Ronaldo was beaten to the top prize by Barcelona's Lionel Messi - the Madrid player said: "I want to see out my contract at Real: I'm very clear about that. "After that, well, I don't know what'll happen in the future."

While Nigerians and indeed the political class are already jostling ahead of the 2015 elections, the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 elections and officiating pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare has expressed doubts over the possibility of having the much anticipated elections in 2015. Bakare, the running mate to General Muhammdu Buhari (rtd), who spoke with journalists after preaching a sermon titled: 'Corruption and the Soul of Nigeria' at his church in Lagos, said rather than 2015, the expected election in Nigeria will come earlier, in 2014. "I don’t believe there will be an election in 2015. Instead, the election will come up in 2014. There are issues that will come up that will make the election happen in 2014," he said. The cleric lamented the deteriorating conditions in the country and blamed the backwardness, especially the retrogressive indices common with Nigeria in internati...

Contrary to media reports that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Vice-Chairman (South-west), Chief Segun Oni, was being touted to replace Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the national secretary of the party, Oni has declared that he is not interested in being PDP national secretary and that the position is not vacant. Reacting to the media reports through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Lere Olayinka, the national vice-chairman, who said the South-west PDP remained solidly in support of Oyinlola, added that, “the last Friday judgment had already been appealed against and stay of execution filed.” He described the media report insinuating that the party was considering dropping Oyinlola for another candidate from the South-west as part of the mischief of those whose ambition was to destroy the party in the zone, saying, “on this matter, they have failed in their quest to sow seeds of discord among us.” On the Federal High Court, Abuja, judgment, which nullified the elect...

The Nerazzurri are reported to be interested in re-signing the controversial Italian striker in the wake of his training-ground bust-up with Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini. Sporting director Piero Ausilio revealed last week that Inter have a buy-back option on Balotelli - inserted when they sold him to City in August 2010 - but Stramaccioni insisted he has not been involved in a move for the 22-year-old. He told Mediaset Premium: "Balotelli? Let's ask the president or the sporting director, but it's a negotiation far from us." Despite Inter's claims of a buy-back clause, city rivals AC Milan remain strong contenders to sign Balotelli, while Serie A champions Juventus are also said to be interested.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has called for the immediate prosecution of House of Representatives members, Farouk Lawan and Boniface Emeluno, for collecting a bribe of N93,000,000 ($620,000) to cover for oil dealer, Femi Otedola, whose companies were indicted in the oil subsidy scam. Mr. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said he is compelled to make this call after both politicians made confessional statements to the police that indicted them for bribe taking. “In their separate statements, they confessed that they collected the bribe of $620,000 from Mr. Femi Otedola. Indeed, Honourable Lawan further revealed that he had informed the EFCC that he was under pressure to collect the bribe,” Mr. Falana said. The activist lawyer said the police had since concluded its investigation and handed the case to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke. No reason has been given why the accused have not been arraigned in court even after the AGF had appo...

Less than one month following the fatal accident involving Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada, which killed his Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Mr. Idris Muhammed, who was an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), a mother and her son whose identities could not be ascertained yesterday, were crushed to death by a truck in Lokoja. The vehicle involved was carrying some building materials to Abuja. As gathered, the driver disappeared from the scene when he discovered that the duo were dead. The woman and her son, according to eyewitnesses, were going to church before they met their untimely death. Another death involving a man on a motorcycle occurred at the same spot. He was also crushed to death by a Volkswagen Golf car that was also heading to Abuja. Eyewitnesses disclosed that he was killed and his body could not be identified as he attempted to cross the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway. Also, the driver of the car was said to have sped off from the scene of the accident. Recall that the...

With his screen twin brother, Chinedu Ikedieze (Aki) already married and expecting a first child with Nneoma, his darling wife, Osita Iheme famously known as Pawpaw is quietly crying and eagerly searching for a wife and soul mate this New Year. And to prove how serious his search for a life partner is, the Nollywood phenomenon has taken his case to God in supplications. Speaking in an exclusive interview with EE, the Imo State-born entertainer who was raised in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, disclosed that he would like to settle down this year with his missing rib. “But the challenge is that I do not know whom to marry. I’m not really searching per se, of course, I have many female friends and fans. Some of them intimate, but picking the person I will spend the rest of my life with is what is delaying my settling down. God will help me decide soon, because with Him all things are possible.” On how soon he is expecting to hear from God on the choice of a life par...

The Belgium international will be at Albion's disposal until at least the summer after his parent club opted not recall him. Interim Blues boss Rafa Benitez instead strengthened his striking options by luring Demba Ba from Newcastle but Lukaku - a £19m signing from Anderlecht in 2011 - admits he is enjoying regular football in the Midlands. "At this time I'm just looking at my own (situation) and West Brom. I don't really care about what Chelsea are doing at the moment," Lukaku, who scored twice against Reading on Saturday, said. "The next two years will be good for me at West Brom. They will help me build up for a great career, that is for sure. Hopefully, after the January window, we will be able to start talking about that. "We have a good squad. We have a manager who is very good, we've very good players that can help him every day and hopefully if I continue like this I will get more regular football. "You have to be somewhere...

Reports reaching our newsdesk from the oil city of Bayelsa, indicate that the mother of Rt. Hon Kombowei Benson, Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, has been abducted by unknown gunmen in the early hours of (today) Monday. The woman was reportedly kidnapped from her hometown at Korokorosei community. in Southern Ijaw council area of the state, by some daredevil kidnappers.   Details shortly.

Their wedding in July 2012 was one of the celebrity weddings of the year, now Nigerian rap star Naeto C and his wife Nicole Chikwe have even more great news as they are expecting their first child. Naeto C was a guest on M-Net’s entertainment and lifestyle show,  53 Extra . He was interviewed by 53 Extra co-host  Eku Edewor  who slyly asked him about the big plans he has for 2013 including being a dad. The star seemed surprised by the question but happily confirmed that he plans to be a great dad and is excited about the new stage in his life. There had been speculation that Naeto C and Nicole were expecting after she was spotted with “ a baby bump ” in late 2012. Though there was no official confirmation until now.

AY is back with another Comedy Skit titled 'A Lovely Night', this time featuring Ay, Jackie Appiah, John Dumelo and Rukky Sanda. AY Live comes up on Easter Sunday, 31st of March, 2013 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. Watch video below

Governor Sullivan Chime, who has been missing from Enugu State since September 2012 when he applied accumulated leave that ought to have lasted only one and a half months, is battling heart disease in London’s Cromwell Hospital, sources have told SaharaReporters. Despite efforts to ferry him home to quell public restlessness in the State, the condition of the governor, whose medical sojourn started in India, has remained dire. The prolonged absence of the Governor has left the state under the complete control of his Chief of Staff, Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo. Deputy Governor Sunday Onyebuchi, who is a neophyte, is limited to monetary spending limit of not more than N500,000k at a time. Before becoming governor, Mr. Chime was Enugu state's Attorney General in the government of now-indicted former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani. During Chimaroke's reign in the state and for eight years, several assassinations, including that of Victor Nwankwo, the business manager of the vocal activ...

The JTF had placed a N25 million bounty on the suspect. The Joint Task Force, JTF, Operation Restore Order, in Maiduguri, Borno State, said it arrested Mohammed Zangina, a high profile Boko Haram Commander on Sunday at about 12:30 p.m. A statement by the spokesperson of the JTF, Sagir Musa, said Mr. Zangina was arrested in the Government Reserved Area, GRA, of Maiduguri. The statement also said Mr. Zangina was in Maiduguri to plan several deadly attacks against “civilians and security personnel any moment from today”. It also added that Mr. Zangina, a.k.a Mallam Abdullahi, often referred to as Alhaji Musa is the leader of the North Central part of Nigeria and Coordinator of most of the suicide attacks and bombings in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Jos and Potiskum. According to the statement, Mr. Zangina, who is a key member of the Supreme Council of the sect known as the Shura Committee of the Boko, is among those declared wanted and a bounty of N25 million was placed on him by th...

So I got a mail yesterday from an IT person revealing a lot about what some of our Nigerian celebs are doing on Twitter. Quite a number of them are artificially inflating their Twitter followers to make themselves appear popular online. It’s like a big competition now; who has the most followers, who has the biggest fans etc…hehe! I have names and numbers…and how much some of them are paying to get these fake followers, but I will leave all that out, there’s no point! . One celeb went from 73k followers to 150k followers in less than one week. Choi! Lol. They do it in a way that people who are following them do not even know they are following them, and when you find out you are following them, you can’t even unfollow them. But the good thing about it is that the Twitter accounts they target are mostly those of foreigners. And it cost less N1.5k per follower..in case anyone is interested…:-)   US presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, was recently called out for his fak...

he bodies of four suspected vandals were found at the scene of Saturday’s pipeline explosion at Arepo, Ogun State on Sunday.   The bodies, which were found in the swamp around the explosion site, had little sign of burns. Even though the fire had reduced when our correspondents got to the scene on Sunday, emergency workers said the situation was still precarious as there was need to completely put out the fire. Spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said evacuation of the bodies would begin later on Sunday. He said, “Our assessment show that more bodies will still be inside the swamp. This is why we cannot give a specific number of casualties at the moment. “Two of the bodies found seemed to have floated up from the water. It is likely that more bodies may float later. But we will start the recovery of the bodies found as soon as Red Cross officials and medical team of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation arrive.” Far...

Nigerian First Lady, Patience Jonathan, is scheduled to visit hospitals in Germany and Spain in a few days, according to medical sources in Abuja. Mrs. Jonathan, who returned to Nigeria last year after a prolonged stay at a German hospital, is officially headed for Spain but our source said she is scheduled for medical treatment in Germany to ready her fit enough so that she can attend an African First ladies event scheduled for Addis Ababa later in the month. Since her tumultuous return from her extended trip abroad last year, Mrs. Jonathan has remained largely marooned inside the Presidential villa only attending few public events and church services in Abuja. Although the media fully reported on her medical excursion in Germany throughout her absence from Nigeria, she claimed not to have been in a hospital. A source said the First Lady has been struggling with a variety of ailments that have refused to go away, some of them being complications relating to the surgery she e...

Chairman of Enugu State Christian Pilgrim Board and Bishop of the Enugu Anglican Communion, Emmanuel Chukwuma is not happy with the way the family of the Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, has been handling issues, relating to the present state of the governor’s health. In his view, the governor’s immediate family should be blamed for the present call for the application of the Doctrine of Necessity in the state. In this interview, the cleric also said since no human was insulated from falling sick, it was wrong for the governor’s family to shroud his health status or whereabouts to the citizens of the state, especially the spiritual fathers. Excerpts… Many people have expressed concern over the continued silence in the Enugu Lion Building over the health status of Governor Sullivan Chime. Some are even calling on the state Assembly to apply the Doctrine of Necessity. What is your view? My reaction is that the whole scenario is very unfortunate. There is quite a lot of d...

Parents and guardians in Abia State are currently bemoaning the high rate of fees in private schools in the state, and called on the government to place a ceiling on how much the institutions could charge. They also lamented that despite the regular, indiscriminate upward review of fees, private schools had no corresponding facilities to show for the high fees. The parents and guardians also accused proprietors of the schools of effecting increase in fees without recourse to the Parents/Teachers Associations. Beside the high fees, the parents noted that most of the projects in the schools were executed by PTAs, wondering what the high fees were meant. Parents, who spoke to Vanguard in Aba and Umuahia, were unanimous in condemning the indiscriminate increase in fees and called on the government to properly monitor private schools in the state. “We are fed up with the practice in these private schools over the way they increase fees in the schools. They now do it at will, at ...

Acolytes of former Nigeria President, Olusegun Obasanjo, plan a two-day long birthday celebration for him despite not knowing his real date of birth.   The group will hold a series of events on January 18 and 19, at his presidential library in Abeokuta in Ogun State. As part of the event, former Ghana president John Kuffour will deliver a public lecture entitled, "Obasanjo in the eyes of history." the former president is also working hard to launch another international foundation to rival that of former US president Bill Clinton to revamp his badly battered international repution after he failed in a bid to stand for third term in office in 2006. President Goodluck Jonathan is recorded on the invitation card as the "guest of honor" in an event that is being viewed as a political gathering of Obasanjo loyalists, but sources close to Obasanjo said Jonathan has not responded to the invitation. Vice President Namadi Sambo has indicated he will attend.  ...

The Federal Government has slammed a fine of $1 million on owners of the ship, M.V Marevia, that brought in two containers of toxic materials. Meanwhile, the Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, has written to the State Security Service, SSS, informing the Service of the need to take action against importers of the offensive cargo, (names with held). Related Article:  DANGER! Shipload Of Toxic Waste At Lagos Port Disclosing this to Vanguard, Director General of NESREA, Dr. Ngeri Benebo, said the Minister has directed that the owners of the vessel pay a fine of $1 million to serve as a deterrent to others. Benebo said her agency had written to SSS to take action when it got intelligence report that some suspected deadly consignments were on their way to the country. She informed that NESREA wrote again to the security outfit last Friday when it was confirmed that the cargo actually contained toxic waste. She explained that the agency got the info...

Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, weekend, extended an olive branch to other Yoruba monarchs, saying, he was ready to attend any meeting with prominent royal fathers that would lead to enthronement of peace among them. The Alaafin, who spoke during the visit of Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom in Ilaje Local Government area of Ondo State, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, Okoro Ajiga 1 to commiserate with him over the fire that gutted his palace, equally explained why he had appeared so controversial to some people. According to him: “It is only a person that is having something to hide that will not want to hold meetings. I’m ready, for the sake of our people, because where two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” The monarch and Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade have been at daggers’ drawn for ages over the control of Yorubaland and this has resulted in verbal outbursts and heated arguments on the origin of Oyo and Ife. Oba Adeyemi gave kudos to Olugbo for his mediatory ro...

Imo State governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has inaugurated three judicial panels of inquiry to look into all contracts awarded by the Ikedi Ohakim administration, the local government system, as well as autonomous communities and traditional rulers. While the retired Chief Judge of Imo State, Justice Paul Onumajulu, was asked to probe the local government system, Justices Goddy Anunihu and T. E. C. Chikeka were charged with the responsibility of probing the autonomous communities and traditional rulers. Although Okorocha explained that the essence of inaugurating the commissions was not to witch-hunt anybody in the state but to establish and bring back the lost glories of the state and traditional institution, observers, however, insisted that the current development might be connected with the growing altercation between the governor and loyalists of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state. Okorocha and Ohakim Justice Anunihu was asked to identify all contracts award...

Chief Bode George The Peoples Democratic Party has come under criticisms for appointing an ex-convict, Chief Bode George, into a panel to reorganize its Board of Trustees. A Lagos High Court convicted George in 2009 for fraud after he served as Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority. He spent two years in prison. Legal practitioners as well as civil rights groups, Anti-Corruption Network and Coalition against Corrupt Leaders, on Sunday, condemned the PDP’s action, saying the party had no respect for the public. Executive Secretary of ACN and former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dino Melaye, and the Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, said the PDP’s decision was akin to legalising corruption. Melaye said, “Almost everybody in the party (PDP) is an ex-convict, only time will tell. The party is about corruption, so corruption and corrupt persons mean nothing to them. He (Bode George) is still carrying our national honours and so you can ...