Update On Ahmed Gulak's Sack: PDP Says He's Very Arrogant

Since his unceremonious sack from Aso Rock as Special Adviser on Political Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, the unapologetic Ahmed Gulak has been going about lying that he left government because people of Adamawa State are calling on him to contest for the office of governor in 2015.

Anyway, his lies have been exposed. In a veiled reference to the recent sacking of Gulak, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Adamu Mu’azu, on Wednesday warned that ahead of the 2015 general election, the party will no longer tolerate arrogant members in its fold.

Mu’azu noted: “I have told the president that whoever does not remain focused, cool nerved, humble cannot belong to this party. Those who want to insult me should do so; one day it will be over. 

“I am ready to stoop to conquer. That is the spirit I want to put in us, to remain focused, calm and preserve through anything we are going through in the party. I don’t want anybody to imagine Nigeria without PDP.”

Mu’azu stated this while receiving a communique from the Akwa Ibom State chapter of PDP on their meeting which held on April 22.

The communique had lambasted Gulak for coming to Akwa Ibom State and inaugurating a sectional and an unknown support group in favour of President Goodluck Jonathan without calling on the state’s party leadership. 

The communiqué, which further advised Jonathan to caution his aides who were bent on causing disaffection in various states of the federation, specifically warned “Alhaji Gulak to desist from further interference in the affairs of the state as we do not need the assistance of any outsider to campaign here for Mr President.”

Gulak’s sack, a political lesson – Gov Nyako

Meanwhile, Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako, has described the sudden sack of Ahmed Ali Gulak as one of the lessons of the laws of power.

Schoolchildren In Nigeria, In South Korea

The events leading up to the resignation of the South Korean Prime Minister, Chung Hong-won, has made us in Nigeria realise that the mindless killings by Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, as recent discoveries have revealed – ritualists and the abduction of 230 schoolgirls from their school in Chibok, Borno state, will not be tolerated on any scale in more civilized societies where human lives are considered worthy and sacrosanct.

The Sewol ferry with 476 people aboard – over 300 of them, school children and their teachers - sank off South Korea on April 16 while on a trip to the holiday Island of Jegu. Over 92 people are still missing.

The sober Prime Minister cited corruption and "deep-rooted evil" for the sinking of a passenger ship that left 187 people dead. The families of the victims vented out their frustration and anger over the slow response of authorities to the tragedy even as Chung Hong-Won admitted he had not been up to the task of overseeing rescue operations after the Sewol capsized offering his unreserved “apology for having been unable to prevent the accident from happening and unable to properly respond to it afterwards." 

Here is the part that Nigerian leaders never get:

"As the prime minister, certainly, I had to take responsibility and resign." That is a man of honour. A leader who understands what it means to take responsibility especially as it affects the lives of the citizenry.

Compare the ongoing thorough inquiry by prosecutors into why the ferry sank to the already forgotten investigation into various acts of terrorism and other acts of injustice against the Nigerian people. There is a disturbing silence as regards the investigation of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) stampede that led to the death of about 20 unemployed graduate Nigerians.

The 325 South Korean pupils on excursion in the ship had their Vice Principal aboard. He was among the survivors. South Korean Police reported that Kang Min-kyu, 52, was found hanging dead from a pine tree on Jindo, an Island near the sunken ship where survivors have been housed. His suicide note said he felt guilty for being alive while more than 200 of his students were missing.

Bring it home, barely 48 hours after the lethal Nyanya explosion that left 75 persons dead and over 200 wounded at a bus station in Abuja, throwing the victims’ families into lamentation and mourning, President Jonathan was caught on camera dancing Azonto over the graves of the deceased in Kano state in the name of a political rally. Responsible leaders elsewhere will be commiserating with the families of those caught up in the blast, while overseeing efforts by security agencies to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the explosion. Politics must not stand in the way of decency

Nigeria is a failed state. Our leaders have failed the country as well. The lack of purposeful leadership has been the bane of Nigeria’s development. We crave a new crop of leaders capable of taking responsibility and willing to be held accountable for project Nigeria

A cursory look at the trajectories of countries like Singapore and post-apartheid South Africa reveal that the quantum leap they have made in the last three decades or so cannot be divorced from Lee Kuan Yew and Nelson Mandela respectively, both are visionary and astute leaders. Be it an institution, organization, state or nation, its altitude is ultimately determined by the quality of leaders piloting its affairs.

This skewed political arrangement of ours that throws up incompetent and mediocre leaders has done too much damage. The subsisting political framework and electoral process makes it difficult for competent leaders to offer themselves for public office let alone win election. 

The problem of leadership is as much as that of followership. The dictum: “A people deserve the kind of leadership it gets,” has already gained relevance in Nigeria. For so long, Nigerians have resigned to fate. They have given the ruling class the liberty to run the rule over their lives while watching helplessly on the sidelines - the ruination that has become of the Nigerian state. Nigerians are the architect of the leadership misfits currently in power. They have chosen, encouraged, permitted and supported mediocre leaders. Countries like the Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and more recently, Ukraine, have shown how people power can bring about change. The Nigerian people have failed to hold their leaders accountable for their transactional rather than developmental attitude to governance.

It is a problem of followership that rented crowds still throng the venue of such campaign rallies like in Kano. Discerning followers in more civilized societies will boycott such rallies and if anyone turned up, it will be to pelt the president with stones. Nothing short of a low profile is expected from the presidency in these trying times. 

The sombre mood that pervades South Korea is a sharp contrast to the fanfare with which the current administration strut the country on 2015 campaign rallies ignoring news of daily insurgency by dare devil terrorists.

When you juxtapose Nigeria and South Korea today, the latter, use to be a country devastated by war, misruled until the early years of its independence. “Korean Miracle” is a term that now describes the astounding sporadic economic growth, how a country moved from a highly impoverished nation to becoming the 12th largest economy in the world. 

The outcry for the whereabouts of the missing schoolchildren in the ferry that sank resonates the agony of parents of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria. The unconvincing nature of the rescue effort from the Nigerian army has compelled the parents of the missing girls to comb the dreaded safe haven for terrorist – Sambisa forest – for their beloved children, not minding the dangers that lurk therein. 

PDP blames the opposition, APC, for the incessant Boko Haram menace, claiming the leaders and governors of the progressive party are sponsors of the insurgents. Abba Moro made excuses and even blamed the applicants for the death of Nigerians in his poorly planned and executed recruitment exercise.

Our leaders have abdicated their responsibility as enshrined in the constitution and in the oath of office they took to provide security for the lives and properties of Nigerians.

The trappings of public office – power, unhindered access to loot, fawning loyalists and all the jazz that comes with political office in this part of the world will perpetually perish any thought of resignation upon any allegation of wrong doing. Here, sit tight is the name of the game. It is a country where a serving Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, seeks to use a court injunction to stop the House of Reps from probing her alleged splurge of N10billion of tax payers’ money on a chartered private jet for her private trips. This illustrates the kind of leaders we have. 

Chinua Achebe’s book entitled, The Trouble with Nigeria, succinctly describes our leadership problem: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”

By Theophilus Ilevbare

Ilevbare is a public affairs commentator. 

Engage him on twitter, @tilevbare. 

He blogs at http://ilevbare.com.

Bad Girl Actress Daniella Okeke Shows Off Her Physical Assets

  

You guys have seen enough of her natural assets, she thinks it's time you see her achievements. Big girl thinz!

FAKE LOVE: Naija Guy Dupes American Woman Of N52million

The Special Fraud Unit of Nigeria Police Force, Ikoyi, Lagos, has arrested a 29-year-old man, Henry Ogu, for defrauding an American woman of N52.5m ($350000). His accomplice, 42-year-old Yunusa Okonkwo, was also arrested in connection with the fraud.

“The victim, a US citizen resident in New Jersey, alleged that sometime in April 2013, she met Ogu on a dating site and both started a relationship which lasted for months until the suspect manipulated and made her to believe that he was in financial trouble in Nigeria. 

“She further stated that she sent $350,000.00 to the two account numbers that Ogu provided. The account numbers were Skye Bank Account Number 36204796 and Ecobank account No.04087350 belonging to Faneece Business Services International.”

A statement by the SFU Police Public Relations Officer DSP Ngozi Isintume-Agu, said the unit had received a petition via email from the American lady, who couldn't believe that a man who loves her will do such.

Police investigation revealed that the account belonged to Okonkwo of No. A1 Giwa Road, U/Muazu, Kaduna, where he was subsequently arrested. Upon his arrest, Okonkwo was said to have led police detectives to apprehend Ogu, the principal suspect.

According to the statement, Okonkwo, a native of Amuri Nkanu West LGA of Enugu, was a patent medicine dealer and also ran a Bureau De Change.

It said, “Okonkwo confessed that he was the account holder of Faneece Business Services International and admitted that he had provided his two bank accounts for the illicit transactions.

“He also said Ogu had provided him with his account number, where he transferred the money after converting it to naira. He gave Ogu’s account details as Diamond Bank account No. 0021206871 with account name Raydeus Synergy Nigeria Limited.

“Okonkwo added that he had deducted his commission of N2 per dollar before paying the money to Ogu.”

A native of Amafor – Ishingwa Umuahia, Abia State, Ogu allegedly claimed to be one of the Directors of Raydeus Synergy Nigeria Limited. He was said to have confessed to the alleged crime; he sent Okonkwo’s account details to the victim who in turn paid the sum of $295,000.00 into the account which Okonkwo converted to naira before paying into his Diamond Bank account.

The statement said, “Ogu confessed that he deceived the victim into believing that he wanted to marry her, but was stranded in Nigeria and needed financial assistance. He said that he had spent all the money; N9m was used to purchase a heavy duty generator which has been recovered by the police. He had also purchased a plot of land for N800,000 along the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway. A cash sum of N2m was also recovered from him.

“Investigation is ongoing. Effort is being intensified towards the recovery of the remaining money that was fraudulently obtained from the complainant or its proceeds. Suspects will be charged to court to serve as a deterrent to others.

“The Commissioner of Police, SFU, Mr. Umar Idris, uses this medium to reassure the public of the Unit’s commitment to fight internet fraudsters and advises that such cases should be promptly reported to the unit.”

AMAKA IGWE IS NOT DEAD

Amaka Igwe lives. The tears we shed for her are futile. She lives. The shock we express over her passing on is carthatic. She lives. Amaka Igwe did not die. She just built her loving ‘house of commotion’ in our hearts. Commotion with co-relation; commotion with emotions. 

The brilliant lady who could unarguably be credited as the progenitor of Nollywood as we know it today still lives. Immortalised in our hearts. If there was no ‘Checkmate’, that superb soap opera which had a chart-topping five year run on national television, there would have been no Nollywood. For the tested and trusted actors from ‘Checkmate’ were mostly cast in the trend-setting ‘Living in Bondage’. Amaka had groomed a new generation of Nigerian actors through ‘Checkmate’, she had prepared our minds for something explosive with her creation. There is yet to emerge a soap opera since then which has all the thrills and frills and popular appeal like ‘Checkmate’. Forget all these tin imitations. Amaka’s soap was solid steel. Unbreakable. Unbeatable. And you say she is dead? But Amaka lives! 

She created characters which blew our minds.

Anne Harthrope, Segun Kadiri, Chief Fuji, Peaceful Peace, Alika, Akpan, Barry Hughes, Nduka, Bennie etc. She held the nation spell-bound for five years every Thursday 8pm on the network service and gave people gossip points for the next week before the next episode. ‘Checkmate’ was her creation.’Checkmate’ was her success. She brilliantly wrote all the epsodes, over 500 of them and produced carefully. She was far ahead of her time. The most intriguing thing about her concerning ‘Checkmate’ was that she knew when to pull the plugs. She broke our hearts by resolving the plots and finishing the soap opera on one Thursday evening in 1995.

The country was shocked and mourned. But Amaka was done with the soap. She had checkmated our expectations to see the soap opera run forever. She just knew when to stop. And that last episode of ‘Checkmate’? The best ending I have ever seen in Nigeria for any serial and come to think of it anywhere in the world. It was so brilliant. Amaka ended the plots and sub-plots and showed us all why the serial was titled ‘Checkmate’. Anne Harthrope (played by Ego Boyo who was replaced by someone else for a few months while she was on ‘maternity leave’) married Segun Kadiri ( played by RMD who gave the character a brilliant interpretation with a raspy voice and finger-on-the-cheek affectation) and just as we all sighed that at last the two enemies had fallen in love and tied the knots, Amaka gave us a twist. Anne cleverly ‘divorced’ Segun Kadiri, warning him that she only married him to give her baby a father but that she would never sell or hand over her company to him! The last scene ended with a stupefied Kadiri laughing in shock, knowing he had been ‘checkmated’. 

So classic. And that was not all. She brilliantly had the cast talk to the viewers before the end credits in scripted lines about how the soap opera made its run. That episode was so good and popular that NTA Network had a re-run of it the next week. 

On the set of ‘Violated’ in 1996 ( her post-’Checkmate’ opus in which I was cast as Jide, the banker) she told me how agonising it was to write that final episode. ‘I was pregnant then and I would write and discard. I can’t count how many scripts of that final episode I wrote and tore. The denouement just was not clicking. Then, finally I got the muse. And I just kept scribbling on my bed. When I finished I was so happy and screamed out to Charles (her husband) ‘Honey, I got it!’ and we both screamed and hugged ourselves!’ That piece of information stuck on my mind. 

But Amaka is not dead. With enduring works such as ‘Violated’ (which re-defined and triggered the romantic drama genre in Nollywood) ‘Rattlesnake’, ‘To live again’, ‘Forever’ and ‘Fuji House of Commotion’ , how could she be dead? This lady who has been the subject of various dissertations and academic theses changed our creative landscape. 

Her contributions to the creative industry cannot be quantified. She was an advocate for professionalism. She was a stickler for excellence. A cerebral contributor to Nollywood’s trudge of progress. She wanted what was best for the industry. She was behind the founding of the Movie Practitioners Council of Nigeria bill (MOPICON) which has been gathering dust at the National Assembly for years. That bill is supposed to be to Nollywood what NBA is to the Lawyers and NMA to the Doctors. Amaka wanted this bill passed. Could our fractured Nollywood please unite to ensure that this is done if only to honour and immortalise her? 

Thank God she got a National Honour from President Jonathan a couple of years back. An MFR. A well-deserved national honour for an Amazon of Nollywood. She believed in young talents and had an open door policy for any talent who came to her office. She had an academy too, where young and ambitious filmmakers were trained. 

What about her film and television bi-ennial festival in Abuja; Best of the Best (BOB) TV? Or her radio station, Top FM? Or her painstaking contributions to the committee set up to give guidelines for the 3 billion naira grant given to Nollywood by the President? She fought tirelessly for the industry to maximally benefit from the grant. 

And with all these achievements, you say Amaka Igwe is dead? No, she lives. Her footprints on the sands of achievement on the beaches of our creative economy are there for all to see. Too large to fill. 

Written by Charles Novia

a respected Nollywood film maker

SEE PHOTO: What Is Wrong With Tiwa Savage's Husband?

Tiwa Savage's 'new' husband, Tee Billz doesn't look happy. Their honeymoon is over in four days, they've left Dubai and back in Lagos. While on board he couldn't even fake a smile. Is something wrong? I hope not!

Northern Governors Have Failed The Citizens of Nigeria

Apart from Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state, one has to come to terms with the fact that many governors and elders of the north have woefully failed the citizens of Nigeria, northern, southern and the visitors from abroad in their states.

When there is gross insecurity and free-flowing genocide of people in your ward, the reaction of a normal human being is not to wait for 2015; it is not to simply task the Presidency to come fix the problem; no, the reaction of any normal, God-fearing human being is to raise global awareness to the problem and engage in decisive steps to counter the problem at all levels, strategic and tactical.

If the Federal security forces fail to secure your domain, if they fail to arrest a single sponsor of terror when many of these are well known, you should take determinate steps to accord the people in your ward the necessary security they deserve. In the pogroms of our painful history, the northern leadership failed to aggressively abate the inhumane acts of violence and carnage to the people, most especially southerners in the north; again today, as massacres akin to the pogroms of the day, eliminate entire villages in the north, the elders and governors fail to act strongly to protect life. Northern leaders have a complaisant reaction to death of theirs and foreigners; this is the reality we must come to terms with.

Though many may disagree with Governor Murtala Nyako's blunt approach and outburst, it is recognized that anyone who has such spate of continuous, recurrent easy massacres of people within his state, which the Federal authorities fail to check for a span of four years, would begin to accuse the government of complicity at the very least.

If the ongoing spate of killings were happening in any part of southern Nigeria, we know the elders and governors would have done and reacted ten times the combined reaction of all northern leaders. In fact, what obtains in the north today can frankly never obtain in the south of Nigeria with things remaining as same-stuff-different-day; and it is time we point fingers where they should be--at the northern leaders.

There are decisive steps that should be taken. In Algeria between 1991 and 1999 in what was called the black decade, as I recently penned in the article, "Self-defense Militia: How Algeria Checked Its “Boko Haram” crises in the 90′s Black Decade", when similar terror massacres occurred across Algeria, the government immediately trained and armed locals to defend themselves and broadcast this thoroughly on national television to get the terrorists informed on what they will encounter when they go to villages. Why have the northern governors not forced for this similar measure? Do the northern leaders not know as the entire world does, that Nigeria does not have a rapid response squad? 

And that the Federal slow-response is inefficient? Why then to they still leave their citizens to call on and wait for government forces when their villages come under Boko Haram attack? The Bama attack earlier this year was a typical case where the village head called the army ahead of the attack, but the Federal army failed to come for the eight full hours of free carnage. All other attacks have been similar including the recent Zamfara massacre which spanned an entire 3 hours with no security intervention.

With such continuous attacks and exposure of citizens to unlimited Boko Haram terror, would well-meaning governors not have clamored loudly for the right of the people to defend themselves with arms as coordinated, supervised and monitored by state security?

What solution to this problem are the northern governors and elders working on? 2015? Who knows who will be alive till then and what this unlimited terror would have done to the country by then. Is this the best solace they can offer to the families of the abducted 234 Chibok school girls from around Nigeria? Is waiting on Abuja the best hope they offer the girls being married off to Boko Haram terrorists in the bushes of Sambisa that the army refuses to enter? Should the northern elders not lead a campaign for armed vigilantes to raid the forests and border territories for the missing girls immediately?

Related to this, we noticed in a recent news release that some senators promised to raise a motion to impeach the President for serous offenses they had listed and to raise the noise of his failures globally. This initially read as impressive, and action at last, till it was noticed in the last sentence of the news release that they were only deciding to do the dutiful because their seats were threatened. The paragraph in Vanguard of April 28th, read: “Since the President does not want peace and he is going for our jugular, it’s a fight to finish this time around and he stands to lose more at the end of the day.” Pathetic! They will only stand for "justice" and deliver the bulky evidence they have of crimes against humanity, when they personally feel threatened, and not immediately the evidence precipitates in the best interest of 168 million suffering, dying and abducted Nigerians.

It is time Nigerian citizens come to terms with the fact that the leadership, both state and Federal does not care about them, is addicted to politics, and safe in their bullet and bomb proof vehicles, will only pursue the maths of electoral victory and maintaining power; never taking off the gloves and standing up to determinately secure the people's lives and their future. It is time the Nigerian masses think of and for themselves as the treacherously detached leadership does, northern, southern and between.

We ask the northern leadership: what is your plan and when is your plan?

By Dr. PeregrinoBrimah

http://Ends.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something]

Email: drbrimah@ends.ng Twitter: @EveryNigerian

Happy New Month & Happy Workers' Day

You're going to get knocked down more times than you care for. People will tell you that you can't succeed, that you can't do it. They will say you're not good enough, not strong enough, that you don't have what it takes. They will laugh at you, make fun of you, talk behind your back. Your seeming failure will make them feel good. They want you down so that they can keep stepping on you. As far as they are concerned, your life is not going anywhere. But you have to understand one thing, they are not your God. They don't know you like that. They don't know what drives you, what motivates you, what shines inside of you. They don't know your strength, your will or your power.

They forget that you are one thing and one thing only. You are a divine being, specially created. You are a deity in jeans and t-shirt. You are magnificent, you are brilliant and there's absolutely nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it. They can't tell you what you can or can't do, what you can or can't be! You have a strength inside of you that even you are not aware of. You are stronger than you think, braver than you believe. There's a god in you. Whenever you are in doubt, look inside of you, there's a source of strength deep inside that will always spring up when you look. Go out and achieve, not because you want to shut people up but because your dreams are worth it. You are worth it!

Happy New Month people..and Happy Workers Day!
Kisses

Nigerian doctor pleads guilty to illegal distribution of painkillers

A Nigerian doctor is getting some time in the US for the illegal distribution of painkillers. Apparently it's the same doctor who was convicted of molestation 2 years ago and suspended from the Physicians Association in Indiana.

Wishtv.com reports

An Indianapolis doctor has pleaded guilty to illegally distributing painkillers. According to the Marion County Prosecutor’s office, Dr. Segun Rasaki pleaded guilty Wednesday to two felony dealing charges.  Officials say the doctor was writing prescriptions to multiple patients, even after his right to do so had been suspended.

In 2012, Dr. Rasaki was convicted of sexual battery and battery against two patients.  The doctor received a one year sentence for that conviction. Rasaki is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27.

Check out the 7-carat diamond ring George Clooney gave new fiancee

I heard a few days ago that chronic bachelor George Clooney was engaged but I decided not to carry it until I saw a ring. It was hard to believe, especially because he's only dated this woman for less than seven months. But praise be to God, the news is true. George reportedly proposed the traditional way - on bended knee - to Lebanese-born, Oxford-educated lawyer, Amal Alamuddin on April 22nd with a 7-carat emerald-cut diamond ring with two tapered baguettes set in platinum, which he helped design.

People magazine has exclusively obtained a pic of the ring and it's beautiful. There are reports that they are planning to marry before September. When a man knows, he knows! Congrats to George. Continue...

Amal is a top lawyer whose work includes issues related to Syria, drones and Wikileaks and is also anadviser to former UN Secretary general Kofi Annan, now the special envoy to Syria.

Amal reportedly got George very interested by turning him down twice when he asked her to dinner. She said she was too busy but agreed to the third date. Six months later, she did what no woman has been able to do in over 20 years, get a ring from George

This will be the second trip down the aisle for Clooney. He was married to Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993

Nigerians are world’s heaviest users of ATMs - Report

According to a recently released study by EY, a global business and financial advisory firm, Nigerian bank customers have been rated the heaviest users of Automated Teller Machines in the world. The study also rated Nigeria as one of the top three countries whose bank customers use social media when making decisions on selecting a financial service provider. The study also shows that Nigerian bank customers have the highest banking sensitivity and are the second highest globally to close accounts based on poor experience.

 

EY’s Advisory Banking Sector Leader for Africa, Mr. Colin Daley said in a statement that they came to the conclusion after sampling 32,000 bank customers in 43 countries including Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

"Nigerian bank customers have the highest level of trust for primary financial service providers in Africa and second globally behind India. Twenty-four per cent of Nigerian customers have experienced a problem with their banks that required resolution. Seventy-two per cent of customers were either very satisfied or satisfied with the response that they received. However, 28 per cent were less than satisfied

Rapper M.I Asks Critical Questions On Abducted Chibok School Girls

God help Nigeria. No one knows what is really happening. Rapper M.I also lends his voice to the unknown fate of the abducted school girls in Chibok, Bornu state.

Keri Hilson reaches out to Nigeria on missing Chibok school girls

There's actually a petition going on right now for @bringbackourgirls. If you care to sign it, go here

Jennifer Lawrence beats Rihanna as FHM's sexiest woman in the world

Apparently the girl on the right is sexier than the one on the right. (wusai!) Oscar winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has been named the sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine. Rihanna came third while Beyonce came 7th and Scarlett Johansson is number 10. Their annual FMH 100 Sexiest was released today. 

Peter Okoye shares behind the scenes pics from new music video

The brothers are currently in South Africa to shoot music videos for their new singles. These are pics from the set of the video shoot for O Set. According to Peter Okoye, they will also shoot the video for Testimony. See more photos after the cut...

More Photos Of Kanu Nwankwo's Adorable Family

Kanu Nwankwo and his wife Amarachi have been married since 2004 and have three adorable children, two boys and a cute baby girl born in 2012. These photos are from Pinky Amarachi Kanu Nwankwo christening ceremony last year. 

See Photos: Women protest in Abuja over missing school girls

Some women took to the streets in Abuja today to protest the missing schoolgirls that were abducted from their school at Chibok on April 14th. Former Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili and front-line Human Rights lawyer Femi Falana are part of the protesters. See more pics after the cut...

P-Square's publicist releases statement, says he never said it was all a publicity stunt

Yesterday P-Square's publicity Bayo Adetu was quoted as saying the fight between the brothers was all a publicity stunt, and that they all decided to play along. Well, after the backlash from fans, Mr Adetu has backtracked and claims he never made those comments. A statement he released below.

My attention has been drawn to one magazine interview quoting me that the purported P-Square break-up tale was a ‘publicity stunt.’ It was indeed a misconception on the part of the writer. I never said the rumour was a ‘publicity stunt.’

There is no way I could have granted an official interview and speak in such denigrating manner as being portrayed by the magazine in question. 

I can remember talking to Star FM and NTA2, and it is on record that I never spoke in such unprofessional manner! Most importantly, I never said it was a ‘publicity stunt’ because that amounts to toying with the emotions of P-Square fans. I cherish the fans more than Diamond and therefore, I will never disrespect or toy with their emotions. Thanks for your understanding.

Read the interview he supposedly granted to Icon magazine after the cut...

 Greetings, Bayo, we heard that the Okoye brotherS have finally reconciled, can you give us an insight on what really happened?
After a long laugh… My brother, I’m telling you this as a friend, there was no fight at all. The whole thing started after Jude tweeted some days back and bloggers feasted on it and gave it several interpretations which never existed, and that was how we got here. 

Are you saying there wasn’t a fight at all, how then did Peter and Paul keep releasing comments through their Facebook accounts?
My guy, I can authoritatively tell you that neither of the P-Square brothers, nor even Jude operate their Facebook accounts anymore. Whatever Facebook posted was from an impersonator, pretending to be anyone of them. P-Sqaure is active on twitter, not on facebook, so you see, the whole thing was founded on lies. 

If what you are saying is true, why did they all tweet a reconciliatory tweet this morning indicating that they have mended fences?
There’s one thing you should know, P-Square are not politicians, neither are they businessmen to be worried about what one useless blogger or the other has to say about them.

In this game, bad publicity is good publicity. When we read those funny posts, we decided to play along with the general public and what they were meant to believe.

Yesterday, Thursday, April 24, 2014 was Jude Okoye’s birthday and he also used the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend while we laughed at the stupidity of some Nigerian bloggers.

We later decided to further play into their hands by reaching a consensus to tweet what they have termed the ‘reconciliation tweet’.

However as a journalist, I am pained that trained journalists allow themselves to be remoted by Linda Ikeji, a mere blogger without any professional training to stall them from investigating serious news material like this. These days, immediately Linda posts anything on her blog, journalists just go there and copy and paste the story without any checks and balances, it is outrightly wrong, I’m really upset about this.

She called me after posting the story and I just decided to ignore her calls, because I didn’t think we had anything more to say when the milk has been split.

I have taken my time to explain to you this way because, you are a friend and did not join the bandwagon.

As for those bloggers out there, I allowed them to write whatever they like; after all, they are consuming their Internet data, not mine.