Just Call Her Dr. Washington. Kerry Delivers Commencement Speech At GWU

Kerry Washington gave the commencement speech at  George Washington University on Sunday May 19.
“So honored and truly humbled to be giving the commencement address this morning at George Washington University,” the actress tweeted before the big day.
“Year after year, GW sends its graduates into the world on the wings of advice from esteemed leaders and thinkers. And this year—you got me,” joked the Scandal star and GWU grad. “I know what some of you are thinking. You’re thinking, ‘We’re celebrating our academic and intellectual achievement with that lady who’s having an affair with the president on that TV show?’ I play a character that is smart and successful and powerful. Olivia Pope could give you awesome advice on making it to the top, but in real life, I’m just an actor. I play pretend. I tell stories. So bear with me, because that’s what I’m going to do.”
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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Robben dogged by finals hoodoo

Despite having won league titles in four countries, Arjen Robben knows that Saturday's Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund may represent his last chance to prove he is not one of football's nearly men.
The 29-year-old Bayern Munich winger lacks neither silverware nor ability, but the recent stages of his career have been scarred by a series of traumatic missed opportunities.
In the past four years, Robben has played in two Champions League finals and one World Cup final, only to finish on the losing side on all three occasions.
Bearing down on goal in the 60th minute of the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg, he had a chance to engrave his name in Dutch football folklore, but his former Real Madrid teammate Iker Casillas saved his shot, and Spain prevailed 1-0 in extra time.
Last season, he stood over a penalty that would have put Bayern 2-1 up in the Champions League final against his former club Chelsea, but Petr Cech repelled his spot-kick, and the trophy went to Stamford Bridge.
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Don Jazzy, D Prince, Wande Coal and Others for Big Brother Grand Opening

As we await the  big Sunday May 26th  2013  for the commencement of Africa’s Biggest Reality TV show Big Brother Africa – The Chase , we also look forward to a grand opening that will usher in the event. We are also excited about the 28 new housemates that will soon be introduced. The opening ceremony is going to be a big bang with performances from Nigerian, Kenyan and South African acts that will usher us into the show with a Big Brother spirit This year, Don Jazzy, D’ Prince and Wande Coal are set to invade the stage at the launch, alongside South African Mafikizolo . Popular Kenyan Rap queen, STL will not be left out too. 

Check out the  live show screening from 19:00 CAT on AfricaMagic, AfricaMagic Entertainment, AfricaMagic World, DStv channel 197 and 198 as well as on the Big Brother Africa website.  We are excited about ‘The Chase’ ? Are you?

Watch Out for Brother’s Keeper

Undoubtedly, Nigerian movie producers and directors are putting in extra effort to ensure that Nollywood can compete with America and Europe conveniently. Recent releases  so far have been spectacular and can be best described as top notch. The soon to be released movie Brother’s  Keeperwhich stars award winning Nollywood actress Omoni Oboli and Ghollywood actor Majid Michel star alongside Beverly Naya, Moyo Lawal and Barbara Soki in Ikechukwu Onyeka‘s is one that should not be missed.

In the movie, Mena’s (Omoni Oboli) life almost falls apart when her husband’s (Majid Michel) twin and one of her twin sons are murdered. Her husband who is badly affected by the death of his brother, starts acting cold, aloof and distant. Things get heated when she starts suspecting him of cheating with his late brother’s ex.

The suspense, action, passion and deceit in Brother’s Keeper will keep your glued. Don’t miss it.

Get Ready for the Unveiling of Star Trek

This year’s line-up of information for “Star Trek” will be unveiled today,Wednesday, May 22 2013. Star trek is an annual concert organized by Nigerian Breweries Limited, makers of Star Lager Beer. The event celebrates Nigerian music with cross country dates and brings to the stage some of Nigeria’s finest music acts with no discrimination to genre. Last year’s event was tagged “Nigeria Rocks” and music lovers witnessed eclectic performances from the likes of Flavour, J Martins and 9ice. It also featured rap acts, MI and Naeto C, former MoHits Topnotch acts, D’banj and Wande Coal, fuji act Obesere, music divas, Tiwa Savage, Waje and Omawumi. AfroPop legend 2face was a headline act last year as the stars toured Lagos, Ibadan, Akwa Ibom, Abakaliki, Markurdi and five other cities. Our fingers are crossed as we wonder who and who will the take centre stage in this year’s music tour.

‘I have finally made up my mind, I’m coming back home’ – Dbanj

The latest buzz in town no one would want to miss is that Dbanj is staging a comeback into the Mavin Records family like a prodigal son.

The gist that D’banj and Don Jazzy may be getting back together may be still a rumour but he has been quoted by an unnamed source.

Dbanj was quoted to have bore his mind thus: “I want to be clear on something, that I maintained a close relationship with Wande, Don Jazzy, Sid and everybody in Mavin (former Mohits), even when we were not together again.

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Beauty Queen, Isabella Ayuk addresses rumored romance with Deputy speaker

The 2012 Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria has recently debunked rumors that she is in a relationship with Deputy Speaker, House of Reps, Hon Emeka Ihedioha.

This is what she said in a recent interview:

“As an MBGN winner, there will always be stories about one thing or the other. It’s a normal thing. The story is hilarious and not true. People should learn to get their facts right. These people actually do not have names or faces. At first, it was the story of how I lied about my age, and then came the dethronement story.

Now this! Where were these people when I went for MBGN twice and finished top 10 and won best traditional costume award? And in 2012, with determination and persistence, I won and people who were obviously not happy about my victory cooked up stories. I can’t bother about what people say because some people are just on this earth to talk about others.

People should really get their facts right. The poor girl may not sound perturbed about the rumors but she definitely isn’t finding it funny

It’s Jonathan or no peace – Annkio Briggs

Says Nigerian presidency is not the birthright of Kaita’s family    …
Annkio Briggs is undoubtedly one of the leading female activists to have come out from the Niger Delta region. President of the Agape Birthright, spokesperson of the Ijaw Republican Assembly (IRA) and also the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), Briggs in this interview responds to issues concerning the 2015 presidential election and assertions by some Ijaw activists on the sustenance of the Jonathan presidency. Excerpts:
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Jesse Jackson backs amnesty for Boko Haram

American civil rights leader and Baptist minister, Rev. Jesse Jackson, has thrown his weight behind the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to offer amnesty to members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

Jackson, a two-time United States of American presidential candidate, also said Nigeria “is divided, not so much by religion, region and tribe but by greed.”

Speaking in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on Friday, Jackson, who was a guest speaker at a lecture organised by the state government as part of activities marking the 2013 edition of Isaac Boro memorial anniversary, said if properly handled, the amnesty programme would tackle insecurity in the country.

For the programme to work, he said all its terms and conditions must be honoured.

According to him, the amnesty must involve economic restitution and rebuilding of mosques and churches destroyed by the terrorists. He described such rehabilitation as a goodwill that would sustain coexistence in the country.

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CABINET SHAKE-UP: Orubebe, three other ministers to go

Indications emerged, last night, that President Goodluck Jonathan might have concluded plans to offload four ministers from his cabinet in a reshuffle that is about to take place this month. The four ministers; Elder Godsday Orubebe, Mr. Bala Muhammad, Stella Odua and Labaran Maku, are said to have indicated interest in the 2015 election and had obtained the tacit approval of the President to proceed with the process of contesting the gubernatorial elections in their respective states.
Minister of State for Education, Mr Nyesom Wike is also believed to be leaving the Federal cabinet to actualise his political ambition.
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2,000 flee Borno to Niger Republic

More than 2,000 Nigerians living in border villages in Borno State have reportedly fled as a result of the ongoing military operations targeted at routing insurgents from the area under the emergency rule.

The fleeing villagers were said to have headed to the neighbouring Niger Republic.

“Most of the residents of border villages of Borno have fled to Niger. About 2,000 people from Abadan, Malam Fatori and other villages are now refugees in Difa, Niger Republic,” a top security officer told one of our correspondents on Sunday.

The source said that the Joint Military Task Force was on the trail of members of the Boko Haram sect, who were dislodged from the Sambisa Game Reserve and other camps on Thursday in Borno State.

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Church attendance in Kaduna still low — Cleric

Bishop of Kaduna Diocese of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Josiah Fearon, has lamented the low turn-out of Christian worshippers to churches in Kaduna for Sunday service.

He said many road blocks and security check-points that people had to go through before getting to their churches had discouraged many Christians.

Fearon, in his presidential address at the Second Session of the 19th Synod on Friday in Kaduna, added that many had resorted to worshipping at their homes rather than risk being killed by insurgents.

The cleric noted that for the state to overcome the security challenge,  bombings must be stoppd, adding that even “businesses have dropped and the level of living has also dropped deeply in Kaduna.”

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We won’t arrest Asari-Dokubo – Police

The Nigeria Police Force has said there is no cause for any action on threats by the Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, over President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015. It says it has no cause to arrest or issue any warning to the ex-militant.

Speaking to our correspondent in a telephone interview on Friday, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, said those making inciting statements about 2015 could only be arrested when they had carried out their threats. He however did not state if they had been warned.

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JTF arrests 65 insurgents, kills 10 in Borno

As the emergency rule declared by President Goodluck Jonathan entered the third day, Special Forces have arrested 65 suspected Boko Haram members in Borno State.

The Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in an electronic mail on Saturday that the insurgents were arrested while trying to escape from various camps taken over by security forces.

He said the JTF also recovered 11 vehicles, four tricycles and 24 handsets from the fleeing terror suspects.

He said all the suspects were being interrogated by the JTF, adding that troops had taken over several camps of the fleeing terror suspects.

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Fake professor, others arrested for operating illegal varsity

THE Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission and the National University Commission on Friday arrested the proprietor of Richmond Open University, Enugu, “Professor” Mazi Chris Okoro for allegedly operating an illegal institution.

Also arrested were the son of the university’s proprietor and four other staff of the institution.

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I collected N4.2m from two women for ‘miracle babies’–Midwife

The search for the fruit of the womb has driven many women to take extreme steps.

When women are unable to conceive and bear children, the huge psychological toll makes them fall prey to fraudulent people and patrons of ‘baby factories’.

Desope Cecilia, 61, and Joy Ibe, 43, were among victims of a midwife, Oby George, who promised them ‘miracle’ twins and triplets respectively.

While the midwife was being paraded before journalists at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, on Friday, the victims told their stories, with faces covered for security reasons.

Cecilia said she had not been able to give her 78-year-old husband a child since they got married.

She stated, “A lady who knew I had tried to conceive without success for a long time, told me about the midwife (George). The lady gave me the phone number of the woman and I learnt her clinic is in Port Harcourt.

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NDPHC plans to add 4000MW to national grid by December

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company is working towards adding 4,000MW to the national grid by December.

The company’s Managing Director, Mr. James Olotu, told State House correspondents this on Friday at the end of the 28th meeting of the firm’s board presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo.

Olotu said as at Thursday, about 4,380MW of electricity was on the national grid at peak generation.

He said from the total 4,380MW, the NDPHC was contributing 32.17 per cent, which translates to about 1,200MW. He expressed the optimism that by December, NDPHC would have been able to generate about 4,000 additional megawatts to the grid.

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Canadian company writes FG over Amaechi’s jet – Investigation

The Canadian company which arranged how the Rivers State Government’s controversial Bombardier Global 6000 private jet was ferried into Nigeria last year has written to the Federal Government, explaining how the jet got to the country through Senegal, among other details.

The company, ACASS Canada Limited, stated how it assisted the Rivers State Government to take the delivery and possession of the aircraft from the manufacturer, Bombardier of Canada.

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Falling tree kills 31, injures 16 in Imo

Thirty-one persons, including two sisters, were killed when a tree at the Ukwu Uko evening market at Umuejinwaoke Umudagu village, Mbieri, Mbaitolu Local Government Area of Imo State, fell on them.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that 16 other victims sustained varying degrees of injury during the incident, which was caused by a rainstorm on Thursday night.

A resident of the community, Mr. Nnaemeka Emenyonu, told NAN in Owerri that the tree fell on the affected persons about 8:00 pm. He said the tree also destroyed the village hall.

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Kunle Afolayan Heads to Tokyo For Film Festival

Nollywood actor, producer and director, Kunle Afolayan would be heading for Tokyo, Japan on Monday, May 13 2012 to attend the Cinema Africa International film festival.
With his flicks, The Figurine and PhoneSwap to be screened at the film festival in Tokyo, the Figurine star is so ecstatic about the event.
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P-Square’s Videos Top as The Highest Viewed Nigerian Music on Youtube

P-Square now have the most viewed Nigerian music videos on Youtube.
Chop my money remix with Akon and MayD sticks at the top position with 14.9 Million views, while Beautiful Oyinye video featuring Rick Ross follows suit with over 12 Million views.
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I Need a Woman in My Life – Olu Maintain

Olu Maintain in a recent interview with an online news blog said that he has come of age. He is close to 40 now, single and with no child. “Before now, my career has been my wife and companion and that makes it necessary for me to start prioritising. It will be a safe assumption now to say I am seeking for something that is missing in my life.
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