Jerry Douglas' Blog

According to a top security operative, police detectives are studying audio and video tapes of the sermons in which Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, asserted that the late governor of Kaduna State, Mr. Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa perished along with former National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi while strategizing against Northern Nigerian Muslims. Gumi allegedly affirmed that Yakowa had been engaging in an anti-Muslim agenda, and that it was therefore necessary to avoid the emergence of non-Muslims as governor of Kaduna State in the future, a point that some senior citizens of Kaduna State raised in a detailed memo in which they expressed concern that Gumi’s weekly sermon was likely to cause serious ethno-religious crisis in Kaduna town. According to the source, the eminent personalities from Kaduna are of the view in view of the volatile nature of Kaduna State, urgent intervention and consultation has become necessary. "The prominent people from Kaduna...

Victims of the April 2011 post-election violence in Kaduna State yesterday got the sum of N150,000 as compensation for the losses they incurred during the crisis in the state. Kaduna State Government paid out a total of N401 million to victims of the April 2011 post-election crisis where several lives and properties were lost. Flagging off the presentation ceremony of the cheques to the victims, Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero said the amount was being paid to only victims who lost their houses, churches or mosques. Therefore, he said N150,000 is been given for each house lost and N100,000 for each church and mosque affected by the crises. A total of 2,502 houses, 151 churches and 141 mosques were affected by the crisis which spread across the three senatorial districts of the state, and to ensure that only genuine victims of the crisis were assisted, the committee under his (then deputy governor) chairmanship painstakingly carried out a confirmation exercise of all the claims m...

Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Alex Barde yesterday disclosed that the Nigerian Air force will today commence the deployment of Nigeria war planes to check the activities of Islamist fighters in Mali. Barde who stated this in Enugu when he paid his maiden visit to Enugu Airforce Unit, added that the action was in compliance with President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive that a military contingent be sent to assist the country of Mali to contain the jihadists liked to terror group, Al Qaeda. He said: “As I speak to you now,” he said, “our air planes have arrived in Port-Harcourt. In fact, I’m on my way to Rivers State now and tomorrow morning we are beginning our deployment to Mali and that’s what I am going to witness. “I am going there to bid them a sort of farewell and go-and-fight-well greetings as they depart. “We expect them to do what Mr. President directed that we do; he has directed that we should go and assist Mali in repelling the jihad fighters there because you know...

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Serious war might soon brew between Liz Da Silva's long time fiancée, the Oshodi transporter and strong member of National Union of Road Transport Worker, Musiliu Akinsanya popularly called MC Oluomo. The popular transporter, who’s said to have dated so many Yoruba actresses, is allegedly said to be responsible for the recent pregnancy of Yoruba actress, Lizzy Da Silva. According to gossip in the city, Lizzy Da Silva, who is four months gone, was said to have disclosed to a family friend that she is not even sure who’s responsible for her pregnancy- Akeem, the long time boyfriend or MC Oluomo who she also had sexual relationship with. What precipitated this confirmation is the actress’ recent movement as she`s said to always be the cynosure of all eyes at MC Oluomo’s office in Oshodi and she was also one of the VIP guests at the Oshodi carnival day where she was on the high table with MC Oluomo sporting her slightly heavy tummy. Lizzy has been reported to be very excited with h...

On Thursday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the embattled Chairman of Bi-Courtney, Wale Babalakin, along with 4 others, before a Lagos High court in connection with criminal conspiracy and money laundering to the tune of N4.7 billion on behalf of the convicted former Delta State governor, James Ibori. The EFCC had on Wednesday issued a statement, in which it was said, "The businessman, who was supposed to report to the commission today [Wednesday]  preparatory to his arraignment on a 27-count criminal charge before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court tomorrow, January 17, 2013 failed to do so, and has gone underground." Based on the  non-appearance of the businessman the EFCC’s office , the agency had declared Mr Babalakin wanted. However, the Bi-Courtney boss had faulted the action of the EFCC saying, "I have been in regular touch with the EFCC and have reported to the commission every other day." When the char...

After getting harsh reactions from the public for posting  some uncompromising pictures online , controversial and 'movie-scarce' actress, Cossy Orjiakor has disclosed that she regretted her action.  "Now I wish I didn't upload them last nite. I bet I was soooo in d mood. My bad," a 'regretful' Cossy posted on twitter.  The pictures Cossy posted received sharp criticism from many who labelled her 'daughter of the devil'. She is known for posting such compromising pictures but the recent pictures were more daring than the others she has posted before as she falunted her backside in these recent ones.  Meanwhile, Cossy has announced her intention to sign a first male artiste unto her 'Playgirl Records', a music label owned by her. Dready Lee is the male singer Cossy is about to sign and she described Dready Lee's songs as 'mad'.  Cossy's foray into music has not yielded any much success at the moment.

The rot in the police training colleges in Nigeria does not only affect the infrastructure but also the welfare of the trainees. A typical meal time at the Police Training College, Ikeja Privileged to film a meal-time at the training college at Ikeja, Lagos, Channels Television’s crew watched as the cadets struggle to get their bellies filled with substances not fit enough to call food. About 50 trainees were seen sharing one head of fish. The Deputy Commandant of the Police College, Ikeja, Jonah Mavah said current the recruits get N150 daily meal allowance. "N50 per meal is to merger," he said. The scenario is not different from those in the six other police colleges in the country. A fresh graduate from the police college in Maiduguri, who requested to stay anonymous, said though there were toilets at the college, the trainees preferred to ease themselves in the surrounding bush. There are 7 police colleges in Nigeria and a total of 18,500 constables graduat...

G.O.O.D music boss, Kanye West and reality TV star Kim Kardashian are planning to exchange vows in a pledged ceremony. Kim who is expecting her first child can’t have a proper wedding because her divorce from her ex-husband Kris Humphries hasn’t been finalized. The couple has decided to hold a commitment ceremony, where they will declare vows and exchange rings. A source close to Kanye has revealed: "Kanye is very traditional. He’d have liked to marry Kim now they are having a baby. But with Kim still married to someone else, there is not much he can do. It won’t be official like a wedding because Kanye wants that to be extra special when the time comes. But they will still exchange rings – they just won’t wear them on their wedding fingers." The ceremony will take place at a mansion in Malibu. An insider said the event would be "a lot more low-key than a wedding". Kim, 32, and Kanye, 35, announced their news at the beginning of the year. The baby is tho...

Following the demands for quality service delivery in 2013, three of the GSM Service providers in the Country namely; MTN, Etisalat, and Starcomms have taken proactive steps to improve on their network through immediate upgrade. The Three Telcos in total estimation, plan to invest about $1.9 billion(N297.9 billion) on mobile Network in order to boost the capacity, service delivery, reach and accessibility to subscribers in the Country. From the breakdown, Etisalat will spend $400 million to improve and boost network service, while Capcom, owners of Starcomms will provide about $210 million to upgrade current facilities of the network, while the South African based MTN will spend about $1.3 billion. Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr Brett Goshen said last year that the company will improve on its investment in Network service delivery, because it was key and vital to unlocking the numerous potentials in the mobile technology Industry.   Mr Goshen said “We invested...

A 9-year-old Indian boy has officially become the youngest Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist in the world, breaking a record previously held by 12-year-old Dubai-based Babar Iqbal. Times of India reports that Pranav Kalyan is currently a 4th grade student of Willow Elementary School in California and has been writing software programs from the age of six. He passed the exam in ASP.NET Framework 3.5 on January 12, the source adds. “As a toddler, Pranav was more fascinated by computers than toys. He started writing small software programs at the age of six. He is capable of solving problems in differential calculus and integral calculus. His efficiency in mathematics helped him write programs,” Kalyan, the boy’s father, said in a statement. Becoming the youngest Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist in the world is not an easy task. The boy studied for the exam for a total of 18 months, while spending approximately eight hours a day working on the computer.

Despite dominating the match from start to finish, Arsenal needed a goal four minutes from time - a firecracker from Wilshere - to earn a 1-0 win and book a trip to Brighton in the fourth round. The Gunners blew a host of chances, but Wenger said he was always confident his side would, in the end, find away through. "I always had faith" he said. "I always felt maybe one (chance) will go in. It was unbelievable that we didn't score (earlier). At least we scored before the end." Wenger says Wilshere's return to full fitness after his long lay-off with injury is a huge boost to the team. And against Swansea the 21-year-old excelled in a more attacking role than usual. "What is pleasing is that he's ahead of schedule. Jack is completely back to his best and I would never have believed that would have happened as soon as January," he said. "He can play everywhere - he can defend and attack. He has got back his burst with the bal...

The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, yesterday, called on the Chief of Army Staff, General Abdulrahman Dambaza  and Commissioner of Police,  Federal Capital Territory, FTC, Command to investigate the allegation that some men in army uniform abducted and raped some women in Abuja under the guise that they were prostitutes. Executive Director of NHRC, Prof. Bem Angwe, in a statement, noted that the commission monitored the report of the incident as aired by Federal Radio Corporation on January 16, 2013. It was reported that on December 20, 21 and 22, 2012,  some women were allegedly abducted by men in army uniforms in an unidentified black Hilux van in Wuse 2, Abuja, under the guise that they were prostitutes and taken to an unknown destination, where they were allegedly beaten and raped. Angwe appealed to Army and Police authorities to investigation the matter.

Nollywood top actress and mother of four, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has decided to return to music, as she prepares to release a new album this year. It would be recalled that since the release of her first album titled ‘Gba’ in 2006, the actress has not done any major work in terms of music. Omotola who has been kept off music by her busy schedule in the movies and most recently, her reality show, ‘The Real Omosexy’, is back in the studio with plans to feature award winning, Senegalese-born star, Akon as a special guest in the new album.   In preparation for her forthcoming album, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde disclosed she has “enlisted help from the producers of Akon’s Konvict Music.” ‘I am currently working with Grammy award winning producer Kendrick Dean and Verse Simmonds from Konvict music and we are working towards featuring a special guest’, she had told NET.

As part of efforts to check the activities of terrorists in the in the county, security agents, last week, arrested and detained 26 final-year students of King Faisal University of Chad on suspicion of belonging to the dreaded Boko Haram sect. The students were arrested in Yola, Adamawa State. According to the Nigerian Tribune, the students, who were mostly from South-Western Nigeria, were said to be going back to Chad and were passing through Adamawa State when they were stopped and arrested by security operatives who suspected they were going to Chad for Jihadist training. The students were allegedly quizzed for several days and locked up in a cell in Yola while the investigators from the security services checked through their papers. It was gathered that efforts by relatives of the students who were alerted by one of the students before his phone was seized proved abortive, as reports indicated that the Joint Task Force in the state was almost taking over the matter. Howe...

The 34-year-old Frenchman arrived at the Stadium of Light on a one-year deal in the summer after being released by Tottenham, but has failed to impress boss Martin O'Neill - not starting a single Premier League game. O'Neill is reportedly preparing a number of drastic changes following the Black Cats' embarrassing FA Cup exit at home to Championship club Bolton, meaning other well-known names could be following Saha. Speaking to the Shields Gazette, O'Neill said: "We have told Louis he is free to speak to other clubs and to leave if he can fix himself up somewhere. "We have come to an agreement whereby we will cancel the remainder of his contract, shake hands and go our separate ways." O'Neill added that a move to South Africa was a possibility for the former Manchester United striker.

The Senate yesterday resolved to investigate all the recruitment exercises conducted by all the Federal Government agencies in the last two years, with a vow to punish perpetrators of employment scams in the country.   The decision followed allegations of widespread recruitment irregularities that include selling of job slots to job applicants for as much as N500,000 per slot.   Two of the senators gave personal testimonies on alleged cases of selling jobs, with one of them confessing that he offered money for a job slot to help a well-qualified job applicant from his constituency. Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (PDP, Borno) told the Senate that, out of compassion, he once paid a sum of N200,000 for a job offer in a government agency for one of his constituents, a second class upper graduate of Geography.   Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba also disclosed that many of his constituents had approached him to no avail for N500,000 per job offer in government agencies...

The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday asked an Abuja Federal High Court to stay the execution of a judgment, which sacked its National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, from office. The application for stay of execution was filed less than two days after the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, replaced Oyinlola with the Deputy National Secretary, Solomon Onwe, in acting capacity. Investigations showed that as Tukur had adopted strategies to ensure that Oyinlola did not return as national secretary, most members of the National Working Committee were determined to save him. While the PDP chairman is loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan, most members of the NWC are backed by PDP governors and former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The PUNCH had on Wednesday reported that Tukur planned to hold a congress in the South-West, where Oyinlola’s replacement would be picked. The move is part of measures to seize the control of the party in the South-West from Obasanjo ...

Discussions regarding a new deal have dragged on for some time, sparking speculation that Walcott was readying himself for an exit from the Emirates. With the England winger set to become a free agent at the end of the season, the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United were said to be closely monitoring his situation. Arsenal have, however, remained optimistic throughout regarding their chances of putting fresh terms in place. It has taken longer than both sides would have liked for a compromise to be reached, but it would appear as though Walcott is set to put pen to paper on a lucrative new deal. That is the indication Wenger has been given and he will continue to put all of his efforts into convincing Walcott to commit his future to Arsenal before dipping into the January transfer market. He said after Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Swansea in an FA Cup third round replay: "Let's first try and finish the deal and see what we can do from there. "I ho...

In its effort to right the wrongs of the past relating to the degradation of Oil  Producing Communities in the Country since 1958, the Federal Ministry of Petroleum alongside the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation  have redesigned the Local Content policy to improve the living condition of people in such region. It will be recalled that Former Petroleum Minister Dr Rilwanu Lukman who was one of the architects of Local Content Policy, said several years back, the Government had identified with the challenges of the area, and was determined under the policy to focus resources on developing and transforming the region. The Local  Content Act developed in the year 2010 by the Oil  and Gas Industry, has also created a platform for Indigenous Oil Firms in the Country to spring up and boost their potentials in the Energy Industry.   Companies like Oando, Seplat and  Nestoil  have shown that they can become strategic players in the Country...

The No. 2-ranked Sharapova overwhelmed Japan’s Misaki Doi in 47 minutes on Wednesday, even less time than she’d needed to beat fellow Russian Olga Puchkova two days earlier in her first competitive match of 2013. As rare as it was, she said, an almost flawless start wasn’t entirely what she’d come to Melbourne to achieve. No woman had posted back-to-back 6-0, 6-0 wins at a Grand Slam since 1985. Yet it didn’t excite the 25-year-old Sharapova, who wasn’t even alive when Wendy Turnbull did it at the Australian Open. ‘’It’s not really the statistic I want to be known for,’’ Sharapova said in her most matter-of-fact way. ‘’I want to be known for winning Grand Slam titles, not that I won two matches 6-0, 6-0.’’ Tennis is all about Grand Slam titles for Sharapova who, with her drought-breaking victory at the French Open last year, now has a complete set of four major championships. And she knows it won’t be easy against the 32-year-old Williams, who has won seven. ‘’Well, you...

Before their departure from Faro, Portugal, where the team had been camping for the past two weeks, head coach, Stephen Keshi declared that his main task was to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians. Speaking in Faro, Keshi said, “the level of concentration has been high, high level of discipline and team work. I pray they continue like this throughout. “What I have noticed that needs to be improved upon is their attitude. Their attitude in the game must improve and we are working on that. I am happy that the boys have been talking to themselves. “I am happy the boys have realised it and they have to step up our game for us to achieve anything tangible for Nigeria in South Africa.” Asked if he was under any pressure to do well at the tournament, Keshi smiled and said, “I am not under any pressure from any quarters. Perhaps, the only pressure I am under is from my own quarters. It’s from myself because I want to bring back smiles to the faces of Nigerians. “People always wa...

He needed 18 points to reach the milestone and came away with 25, as well as 10 assists and seven rebounds. It helped the Heat improve to 25-12, the best record in the Eastern Conference. Aged 28 years and 17 days, James beat the previous record-holder - Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers - by more than a year. Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook scored 32 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder never trailed, beating the Denver Nuggets 117-97. As the Thunder improved their league-best record to 31-8 with their fifth straight win, Kevins Martin and Durant added 20 points apiece. Also in action was Austin Rivers, who got one over on his dad as he and the New Orleans Hornets beat the Boston Celtics - coached by Doc Rivers - 90-78. Rivers added eight points off the bench, whilst Al-Farouq Aminu led the Hornets with 18 points and nine rebounds. Jeff Teague secured 28 points and 11 assists to help the Atlanta Hawks to a 109-95 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Zaza Pachulia had 13 points, 11 ...

TRANSFER GOSSIP Ince left Liverpool for the Seasiders in 201 Blackpool forward Tom Ince, 20, has seen his dream return to Liverpool put on hold - because the Seasiders are refusing to take Reds manager Brendan Rodgers' calls. Full story: Daily Mirror Striker Theo Walcott, 23, has agreed the framework of a new three-and-half-year, £100,000-a-week deal and Arsenal are expecting him to sign it next week. Full story: London's Evening Standard   Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert may hijack Fulham's bid for Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk midfielder Derek Boateng, 29. Full story: Daily Mirror   Arsenal are set to miss out on a deal for Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente, 27, with Juventus said to be in advanced talks over a transfer. Full story: Metro   Manchester United will make a formal bid for Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, 20, in the next 48 hours - but will play hardball with the Championship club by making a cash offer as low as £6m. Ful...