Angry wife shoots husband's scrotum for cheating on her

A woman in Florida has been arrested for allegedly shooting her husband's scrotum because he had an affair with another woman.

According to Brevard County police, the 60-year-old woman identified as Victoria Reid, fired a gun at her husband's private parts while discussing his affair with another woman.

Police investigation revealed when her husband came home from work, Reid pulled a gun and demanded they have a discussion about his extra-marital activities.

She ordered her husband to sit on the couch and told him that she was going to disfigure him because she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Reid then threatened her husband that she will shoot him in the face and chest and then fired a shot at his groin area. She was aiming for his left knee but the bullet traveled up his thigh and lodge in his testicles.

Reid was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon domestic violence, kidnapping and aggravated assault domestic violence.

She was booked into the Brevard County Jail, and her bail was set at $35,000.

FG urged to arrest, prosecute those selling fuel above official rates

A former chairman of Kazaure local government area of Jigawa state, Alhaji Saleh Yahaya Taki, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to arrest and prosecute dealers of petroleum selling above government’s approved rates.
Speaking in an interview at the weekend in Kano, Taki said those selling petroleum products above government prices were criminals and saboteurs, and urged the President to identify them, withdraw their licences and prosecute them.
According to him, if this is done there will be sanity in the sector and those into this dubious practice will stop henceforth.
“It is not the duty of the President, once he fixes prices or regulates how certain things should be done, to again monitor how it should be implemented; he has Ministers, Advisers, Governors and other supporting staff to do this for him. None of our refineries were bombed. The petroleum minister should invite those who built the refineries to look at them and change what should be changed for them to work again, but corrupt officials of the refineries do not want government from repair them, so, they should be identified and prosecuted.”
He called senators to immediately remove Bukola Saraki as their president “since he is facing trial before a competent court of jurisdiction; this is the only reason our senators would concentrate on their jobs.”
Taki said he had to dump his former party, the PDP, to support President Buhari in 2015 “because PDP ruled Nigeria for 16 years and virtually destroyed the country and had nothing to offer again.”

Bayern wary of a slip-up against ‘dangerous’ Benfica

Bayern Munich’s Spanish head coach Pep Guardiola

Bayern Munich are eager to avoid suffering another Champions League slip-up to Portuguese opposition in the Champions League quarter-finals when they host Benfica on Tuesday in the first-leg. Pep Guardiola’s Bavarians were humbled 3-1 away to Porto at the same stage of the competition last season in the first leg before roaring back with a 6-1 victory in Munich to reach the semi-finals with a 9-2 aggregate win.
After Bayern beat last season’s finalists Juventus 6-4 on aggregate in the last 16, the German media seem to think their passage into the semi-finals is a foregone conclusion before they even face Portuguese league leaders Benfica over two legs.
But the Bavarians insist on taking nothing for granted.
“The game is dangerous. We have to remind ourselves about what we experienced in Porto last year,” said Bayern’s forward Mario Goezte.
Germany’s World Cup winner hopes to face Benfica after his powerful run led to Franck Ribery’s spectacular winning goal in Saturday’s 1-0 league win over Eintracht Frankfurt in a lacklustre performance from the Bavarians, who remain top of the Bundesliga.
Striker Robert Lewandowski admitted they were already thinking of the Benfica game while playing Frankfurt.
Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has warned Bayern need to produce more than Ribery’s stunning bicycle kick against Benfica: “That won’t be enough on Tuesday”.
The Bavarians know they can ill afford a repeat offkey display as they hunt a fifth straight appearance in the Champions League semi-finals.
History is on the Bavarians’ side.
Bayern have won all three previous meetings with Benfica in European competition on their way to winning the 1975/76 European Cup, reaching the 1981/82 European Cup final and lifting the UEFA Cup in 1995/96.
Nevertheless Rui Vitoria will bring his Benfica side to the Allianz Arena knowing it will be “very difficult, but we are up for a challenge”.
Benfica have won 19 of their last 20 games in all competitions, the exception being their 2-1 home defeat to Porto in February.
Brazil striker Jonas has scored 18 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions in 2016 to keep his side top of the Portuguese league.
Bayern have lost at home just once this season when Mainz took their chances and hit Guardiola’s side on the counterattack at the Allianz Arena to seal a 2-1 league win in Germany’s top flight nearly five weeks ago.
Guardiola will be without Netherlands captain Arjen Robben, who has a groin injury, but France winger Kingsley Coman should be fit after missing their win over Frankfurt with a leg knock.

Pastor Okotie advises El-Rufai on preaching bill

The Chairman, Fresh Democratic Party, Pastor Chris Okotie, has advised the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, to change his plan to introduce a law that would require preachers to obtain a licence before preaching in the state.
Okotie, in a statement issued by his media aide, Ladi Ayodeji, on Saturday, said the proposed law would adversely affect the image of the All Progressives Congress.
He said, “The governor should also consider that religion is on the exclusive list, and the parameters for effectively executing such a widely berthed licensing action are beyond the purview of government understanding of the numerous religions.
“The criteria for licensing would be impossible for the government to decide.”
Okotie said he was aware that the new law was intended to check the activities of religious extremists in the state, but warned that it could cause an outrage.
The cleric warned that any action that could upset the growing amity between various religious groups in the country must be avoided.
“Instead, we should all unite with the governments in its battle to contain cult
violence, street crimes, kidnapping, child abuse and youth restiveness across the country.
“It is not good for the governor to enact a law that could inflame religious passions at a time when his party, the APC, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, appears to be defeating the Boko Haram insurgent, with the hope of their final defeat clearly on the horizon,” the statement added.
Okotie also commiserated with the family of the late Dr. Tunji Braithwaite.

Arms Deal: Prove your innocence - EFCC tells Metuh

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, to disprove the allegation of fraud and money laundering against him rather than seeking to malign the judge with the aim of scuttling his trial.
The EFCC argued that Metuh’s unsubstantiated allegation of bias against Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and his claim that they (Metuh and Justice Abang) were mates at the Law School do not constitute a sufficient ground to ask the judge to quit the trial .
EFCC is prosecuting Metuh and Destra Investment Limited on a seven-count charge of fraud and money laundering in relation to the N400 million he allegedly received unlawfully from ex-National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki and the $2 million he allegedly got as gift at the last PDP national convention where ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was adopted as the party’s sole candidate for the last election.
They have been on trial in Justice Abang’s court since January 15 till the prosecution closed its case after calling eight witnesses, who were cross-examined by defence lawyers.
When they were to begin their defence, Metuh and his company, represented by a team led by Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), made a no-case submission, which the judge, on March 9, dismissed on the grounds that the prosecution made a case against them, which required them to enter a defence.
The EFCC, in its counter affidavit against their motion for the judge to quit and another for indefinite adjournment until the determination of their application at the Court of Appeal for a stay of proceedings at the Federal High Court, argued that Metuh and his company were trying to scuttle the trial.
Lead prosecution lawyer Sylvanus Tahir noted, in his written submission to the counter affidavit, that the allegations of bias and other claims by Metuh and Detra were intended to frustrate the trial as they had submitted to the court’s jurisdiction even when Metuh knew he was the judge’s schoolmate.
“All manner of allegations, as stated by the defendants, were cooked up by them just to justify frustrating the stalling of proceedings. We submit that the antics and gimmicks deployed by the defendants are nothing but mere afterthought and pure blackmail aimed at intimidating the court to drop the case in the guise or pretext of bias by the judge.
“The allegations of bias levelled by the defendants against the court relate merely to the exercise of judicial powers by the court, without any evidence of facts or circumstances that suggest that the court did, in fact, favour one side unfairly,” Tahiir said.
On Metuh’s claim that he was the judge’s school mate, Tahir argued that by virtue of the oath of office subscribed to by a judicial officer, a judge handling a case was only required to administer justice without fear or favour, irrespective of parties involved.
“In the circumstances of this case, even if the judex and the 1st defendant (Metuh) were classmates, one would have thought that relationship would have given more concern to the prosecution than the defence for obvious reasons. The prosecution would have been the one to entertain fear that the court may favour its classmate,” he said.
In response to Metuh’s allegation that there had been a “frosty relationship” between him and the judge , Tahir argued that Metuh’s refusal to duel on what constituted the supposed “frosty relationship” amounted to mere allegation without substance.
“The 1st defendant suddenly woke up when it is time to open his defence to remember an alleged ‘frosty relationship’ that had existed over the years. This is blackmail of unprecedented proportion, which cannot be a ground to disqualify his lordship (the judge),” he said.
Tahir also faulted Metuh’s claim that the judge frustrated his appeal by allegedly refusing to release records of proceedings, noting that the only decision of the judge, which Metuh appealed against was that given on March 9 and for which the judge released to him, a type-written copy of the proceedings on March 17.
“Other tendentious and mundane allegations of bias remain unsubstantiated and unproven. Even the normal practice of a litigant (either in civil or criminal cases) standing either in the dock or witness box until his counsel draws the attention of the judex, with an oral request for the litigant to sit down, which is acceded to by the court, has become an issue of bias.
“Another germane issue on the allegation of bias is that the test of real likelihood of bias is that of a reasonable man, not that of a man, who has made up his mind to pull down the institution of justice in a desperate bid to undermine the judicial process and get off the hook by all means,” Tahir said.
The prosecution lawyer urged the court to refuse Metuh’s application for indefinite adjournment pending the Court of Appeal’s determination of his (Metuh’s) motion for a stay of proceedings in relation to the trial.
Tahir faulted the application, citing sections 396(3) & (5) and 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, and Section 19 (2) and 40 of EFCC Act. He argued that the defendants, knowing that their application for indefinite adjournment was unknown to law, failed to “state the particular rules of court under which the application for adjournment was brought.
“The point needs to be stressed that this is a criminal proceeding. The applicants did not bring their application for adjournment under any relevant section of the ACJA, 2015 to enable the court grant the application.
“The motion, brought pursuant to Section 6 (6) of the Constitution, is hopelessly incompetent and should be dismissed without much ado,” Tahir said.
Justice Abang is expected to entertain parties’ arguments on all applications by Metuh and his company on April 8, following which it would be determined whether the defence would be accorded the last opportunity to open its case or the judge to quit, for proceedings to commence afresh before a new judge.

Soldiers clash with suspected cultists in Rivers

There was a heavy shootout on Sunday between soldiers and some suspected cult members in Ubete community in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Though the casualty figure could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the shootout began on Saturday after soldiers raided some of the criminal hideouts within the area.
Sources said the soldiers had stormed four local government areas in the state, including Ahoada West, where crime was believed to have gone to a worrisome level, with a view to arresting those involved in violence and other crimes.
The deafening shootout in Ahoada West, according to sources, forced some residents of the area to stay indoors.
It was gathered that the armed youths, who appeared not to be scared by the heavy presence of soldiers in the areas, had engaged the security operatives in a fierce gun battle.
An indigene of the area, who gave his name as Joseph, said, “We learnt that a rival cult group killed a member of another cult group on Saturday. While the deceased was about to be buried, his colleagues decided to unleash mayhem to show their anger.
“I learnt that nobody was killed, but motorists and other people making use of the main road in the community were molested. I think that is why some soldiers came. Policemen were also around yesterday when the tension was building up in the community.”
Confirming the shootout between the soldiers and suspected criminals, the Assistant Army Public Relations Officer of 2 Brigade, Captain Eli Lazarus, said the Army had embarked on an operation in Ahoada West.

‘Nigeria’s problems cannot be solved in one year’

Alhaji Muktari Mapia, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Sokoto State has urged Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in its efforts to reposition the country.
Mapia told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto on Monday that such support was necessary as the nation’s problems cannot be solved in one year.
He stressed that what the administration requires at this critical stage, was the collective support and understanding of all Nigerians.
He said that the administration inherited myriads of problems, urging Nigerians to be patient and align with the change mantra of the Federal Government to reposition the country.
Mapia advised Nigerians irrespective of religious and political affiliations to pray for God’s intervention in the nation’s socio-economic and political activities.

Chelsea appoint Conte on a three-year deal

Italian national soccer headcoach Antonio Conte

Chelsea have appointed Italy’s national team coach  Antonio Conte as new coach on a three-year contract.
A message on the club’s website said Conte, whose formal appointment came earlier than the summer generally expected, will begin work in London following his country’s participation in this summer’s Euro 2016 tournament.
The 46-year-old said: ‘I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea Football Club. I am proud to be the coach of the national team of my country and only a role as attractive as manager of Chelsea could follow that.
‘I am looking forward to meeting everyone at the club and the day-to-day challenge of competing in the Premier League.
‘Chelsea and English football are watched wherever you go, the fans are passionate and my ambition is to have more success to follow the victories I enjoyed in Italy.
‘I am happy we have made the announcement now so everything is clear and we can end the speculation. I will continue to focus on my job with the Italian national team and will reserve speaking about Chelsea again until after the Euros.’
The manager would be be the fifth Italian to manage Chelsea, following Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo.

Jonathan bastardised Nigeria – Shettima

Governor Kashim Shettima

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has said the All Progressives Con­gress (APC)-led Federal Government is trying to re­build the country after it was bastardised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ad­ministration led by former president Goodluck Jona­than.
Governor Shettima, who is also the chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum, assured that the fuel scarcity being experienced in the country at the moment would end in a couple of weeks.
BORNO State Governor, Kashim Shettima, has said the All Progressives Con­gress (APC)-led Federal Government is trying to re­build the country after it was bastardised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ad­ministration led by former president Goodluck Jona­than.
Governor Shettima, who is also the chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum, assured that the fuel scarcity being experienced in the country at the moment would end in a couple of weeks. He said President Muhammadu Bu­hari has put necessary ma­chinery in place to get things right.
Shettima stated this in Ow­erri, Imo State, yesterday, while fielding questions from newsmen when he visited Governor Rochas Okorocha with the governors of Ni­ger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sanni Bello and Jigawa State, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar Monmni. He noted that “the hiccups faced by the nation at the moment was expected, as the APC government is in the process of rebuilding the nation from the bastardized state it was left by the PDP.
“When PDP was misrul­ing the country, the price of oil was hovering around 140 dollars per barrel. The price has now plummeted to less than 40 dollars per barrel. It is to the credit of President Buhari that the nation is still moving despite the decline in revenue. If the PDP had con­tinued in power, the nation would have disintegrated,” Governor Shettima said.
He continued: “The in­tegrity of the president has earned Nigeria respect in the global community as corrup­tion has reduced drastically and impunity is a thing of the past now. Nigerians should give President Buhari the benefit of doubt because he has shown sincerity in his de­sire to build a nation of our collective dreams and aspira­tions.”
Governor Shettima said Boko Haram has been dealt a deadly blow by the APC-led Federal Government as all the roads that were pre­viously closed have been reopened while the local governments have been re­covered from the insurgents.
“The APC government has scored a great deal in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. All the roads in Borno State have been opened for business unlike before when Boko Haram was occupying some local government areas”.
Also speaking, Gover­nor Okorocha said: “There was enough evidence that Nigeria was almost go­ing down the drain before the emergence of the APC government. God loves this country and that is why he brought APC at this point in time to save the nation from imminent collapse.
He said President Muhammadu Bu­hari has put necessary ma­chinery in place to get things right.
Shettima stated this in Ow­erri, Imo State, yesterday, while fielding questions from newsmen when he visited Governor Rochas Okorocha with the governors of Ni­ger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sanni Bello and Jigawa State, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar Monmni.
He noted that “the hiccups faced by the nation at the moment was expected, as the APC government is in the process of rebuilding the nation from the bastardized state it was left by the PDP.
“When PDP was misrul­ing the country, the price of oil was hovering around 140 dollars per barrel. The price has now plummeted to less than 40 dollars per barrel. It is to the credit of President Buhari that the nation is still moving despite the decline in revenue. If the PDP had con­tinued in power, the nation would have disintegrated,” Governor Shettima said.
He continued: “The in­tegrity of the president has earned Nigeria respect in the global community as corrup­tion has reduced drastically and impunity is a thing of the past now. Nigerians should give President Buhari the benefit of doubt because he has shown sincerity in his de­sire to build a nation of our collective dreams and aspira­tions.”
Governor Shettima said Boko Haram has been dealt a deadly blow by the APC-led Federal Government as all the roads that were pre­viously closed have been reopened while the local governments have been re­covered from the insurgents.
“The APC government has scored a great deal in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. All the roads in Borno State have been opened for business unlike before when Boko Haram was occupying some local government areas”.
Also speaking, Gover­nor Okorocha said: “There was enough evidence that Nigeria was almost go­ing down the drain before the emergence of the APC government. God loves this country and that is why he brought APC at this point in time to save the nation from imminent collapse.

Iceland’s Prime Minister urged to resign after Panama Papers leak

Iceland’s prime minister was under pressure to quit Monday after the leak of the “Panama Papers” tax documents showed he and his wife used an offshore firm to allegedly hide million-dollar investments. A former prime minister urged Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to resign after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism on Sunday released 11.5 million financial records detailing the holdings of a dozen current and former world leaders.
They included Gunnlaugsson of Iceland’s right-wing Progressive Party and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir, as well as criminals and celebrities.
“The prime minister should immediately resign,” former Social Democratic prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said in a message posted on Facebook.
More than 16,000 Icelanders have also signed a petition demanding his resignation, while the opposition has said it will seek a vote of no confidence in parliament, likely to be held this week.
According to the documents, Gunnlaugsson and Palsdottir purchased the offshore company Wintris Inc. in the British Virgin Islands in December 2007. He transferred his shares to his wife in 2009 for the symbolic sum of one dollar.
Gunnlaugsson on Sunday denounced the release of the documents and called it a witch hunt against him and his wife.
“She (Palsdottir) has been adamant to pay taxes on it (Wintris) to the Icelandic society rather than saving money by paying taxes abroad.
“She has neither utilised tax havens nor can you say that her company is an offshore company in the sense that it pays taxes abroad rather than in Iceland,” Gunnlaugsson said on his website.
Gunnlaugsson was elected in 2013 by promising full transparency but he has been in the hot seat since his wife acknowledged the existence of the company in mid-March.
In an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT that aired Sunday in Iceland, Gunnlaugsson stormed out and refused to answer any questions when pushed to explain the nature of the offshore company.
“There have not been any of my assets hidden anywhere,” Gunnlaugsson said.
“It’s like you are accusing me of something,” he said.
His spokesperson told SVT that the couple had followed all Icelandic law and had declared all income and property since 2008.
Despite media requests, his tax records had not yet been publicly released.
A demonstration calling for Gunnlaugsson’s resignation was to be held Monday evening in Reykjavik.
“People should not have a prime minister they are ashamed of… The prime minister expressed a distrust of the currency and the Icelandic economy by putting money in a tax haven,” said Sigurdardottir, the former prime minister.

We’re clearing 16 years of PDP’s mess – Tinubu

Senator Bola Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should be held responsible for the ongoing crises in the power and petroleum sectors of the country.
He also said the APC was kept busy repairing the damage the PDP left behind, and as such, Nigerians must be realistic and objective.
The APC chieftain stated this in the face of lingering blackouts, scarcity of petrol and biting economic hardship nationwide.
Tinubu told newsmen at the weekend in Lagos: “We want to stay focused and redirect Nigeria. We want to reverse the decay of 16 years. We are hearing comments from the PDP left and right. We are saying we want to clear the mess they created. For 16 good years, the PDP destroyed the country. We should not be lamenting over petrol queues today if they had seen what was necessary and done what was necessary for this country.
“We can’t be emotional and live in self-denial. They should have done the Awolowo Road and the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. If they put priority on our railroad, if they put priority on electricity generation and distribution, we will not be in this mess today.
“Nigerians are not impatient with the APC government; they just want to see the direction of the economic policy and want to be certain of the future. They want to be assured that we will not continue the leaderless, directionless and hopelessness of the past 16 years.
“The fact is that Nigerians do not want the importation of toothpicks to continue, we can make toothpicks out of our bamboo trees. Nigeria does not want to import rice or plastic. Nigeria does not want to continue in the direction of the past 16 years.
“What did they leave behind in our account? Why should certain things that we bring into this country become our priority? Why do we have to import those things that we can produce? The country needs surgical operation in the hands of a very honest Nigerian.”

3 things that make marriage awesome

Marriage as we know is a union from God, approved by God to be between a man and a woman meant for each other.
According to the bible, there are many benefits of marriage which a lot will enjoy once they get into the union.
Marriage is a lifetime thing, so it is only wise to carefully choose a partner you are very comfortable with. I am not writing this to counsel you (not yet anyway), I just need you to understand why marriage should really be the normal way of life out there, not co-habiting, not single parenting. Here are some of the things that make marriage magical:
It is profitable for the Economy
Imagine if you just have kids and just dump them on the road–who will take care if them? The Government? With who’s money? Taxpayers! Now, if you marry before you have these kids, you all live in the same house, you take care of your kids…everyone is happy!
Marriage continues to be the most profitable union out there. Children who grow up in stable families have much less risk of being either the perpetrator or the victim of a crime. In addition, married men are more successful and earn more money than single men, which means they give back to the economy more than any unmarried man does. You are welcome.
Your children will thank you (later)
Like I talked about earlier, children who are raised by both of their married parents are more likely to not breakup there own marriage. This creates a stable, safe environment for children-one where they have been proven to do better psychologically, academically, and socially. So, by getting hitched to your best friend, you automatically give your children a leg up on tackling the big bad world? Sign me up for marriage!
What is in it for you?
It only human to want to know the benefit of anything you want to get into. Okay let us outline the perks of marriage:
Less depression and fewer problems related to alcohol
Greater social and financial mobility (the ability to move from poverty to wealth)
A longer life
The men make 20% more money
The women have greater physical and psychological health
Both of you experience better sex
Both of you are happier
But are there such things as unhealthy marriages-even abusive ones? Absolutely. And those kinds of marriages are awful, no doubt about it. They are also the reasons a few of us shy away from the union. Do not worry about it, just make the right decision for yourself and you would be fine. So, is marriage hard work? I heard it is a lot of work. But is it worth it? I know it is for me! And, from the looks of it, it seems to be more than worth all of the hard work for everybody else, too. So why not?
However, I’m not saying that all of you bachelors and bachelorettes have to go find yourselves a spouse right now or else you’ll be a menace to society-that’s rubbish. However, when the opportunity to marry comes along, don’t cheat yourself and avoid it, or even worse settle for cohabitation. Put a ring on it and spread the good news!

by Chidera

FUEL SCARCITY: Blame it on PDP, Tinubu tells Nigerians

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has asked Nigerians to blame the Peoples Democratic Party for the lingering fuel scarcity that has plagued Nigerians in recent times.

Tinubu who spoke with journalists in Lagos on Saturday, said the PDP ruined Nigeria during its 16-year rule and refused to pursue relevant things necessary for the growth and development of the country.

He said:

"We want to stay focused and redirect Nigeria. We want to reverse the decay of 16 years. We are hearing comments from the PDP left and right. We are saying we want to clear the mess they created. For 16 good years, the PDP destroyed the country. We should not be lamenting over petrol queues today if they had seen what was necessary and done what was necessary for this country. 

 "We can’t be emotional and live in self-denial.  They should have done the Awolowo Road and the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. If they put priority on our railroad, if they put priority on electricity generation and distribution, we will not be in this mess  today.”

The APC chief also debunked reports that Nigerians are dissatisfied with the Buhari-led government.

He said:

“Nigerians are not impatient with the APC government; they just want to see the direction of the economic policy and want to be certain of the future. They want to be assured that we will not continue the leaderless, directionless and hopelessness of the past 16 years. 

 “The fact is that Nigerians do not want the importation of toothpicks to continue, we can make toothpicks out of our bamboo trees. Nigeria does not want to import rice or plastic. Nigeria does not want to continue in the direction of the past 16 years. What did they leave behind in our account? Why should certain things that we bring into this country become our priority? Why do we have to import those things that we can produce? The country needs surgical operation in the hands of a very honest Nigeria.

Biafra will be actualised using international law – IPOB

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has reiterated its resolve to pursue the actualisation of the independent state of Biafra using international law.A statement by the Spokesperson of the pro-Biafra group, Emma Powerful said Biafra had been in existence before the coming of British colonial masters, adding that it has the right to pursue its actualization even now.
The statement reads, “We will pursue for the actualisation of the sovereign state of Biafra using the International law, many other great nations in time past tolled the same part, a perfect example of this is the United Kingdom where the Scots, Welsh, Irish and the Anglo-Saxons maintain their indigenous identities as different people but of the British citizenship. In the same way, the indigenous people of Biafra are Nigeria by citizenship but Biafra by indigenous identity,”
“The Ancient Map of Africa in 1662 showed the three kingdoms in West Africa from where the new country called Nigeria was created by the colonial masters. The three kingdoms were as follows: The kingdom of Zamfara in the North, Kingdom of Biafra from the East: and the kingdom of Benin in the West.
“These three kingdoms existed on the map of Africa for more than 500 years before Nigeria was created in 1914.
”The kingdoms of Biafra and Benin shared common boundaries and had the Atlantic Ocean in the South with direct access to the sea, through their bays known as Bight of Biafra and Bight of Benin.”

WWE's Highest-Paid Wrestlers

forbes report:

We saw the exciting display of WrestleMania 32 last night.
The details of wrestlers pay are notoriously hard to come by, and even a year ago, when we provided a breakdown of how WWE’s booking contracts work, we could shed very little light on exactly how much wrestlers are paid. No longer. Over the last year we’ve pored over court documents, SEC filings and WWE’s booking contracts and spent hours speaking with industry sources, allowing us to construct the first ever FORBES list of WWE’s Highest-Paid Wrestlers.
We estimate that last year the highest-paid wrestler made nearly $10 million, and the 10 top-paid stars collectively hauled in more than $30 million. That doesn’t come close to the checks cashed by the top earners in American sports and entertainment — guys like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant make over $20 million a year just in salary, while Hollywood’s top five actors were paid over $260 million combined last year — but it’s still far above what the average pro wrestler makes.

Leading that list is none other than John Cena, who we estimate made $9.5 million. The face of the company for the last decade, Cena not only boasts the highest base salary among weekly performers, but he’s also unrivaled when it comes to moving merchandise. If you need proof, just flip on any episode of Monday Night RAW and eye the rows upon rows of neon-clad fans cheering for the face that runs the place.

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And Cena’s earnings should only increase as he continues to follow former colleague Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson from the squared circle toward a second career in Hollywood. Last year Cena scored minor roles in comedy films Trainwreck, Sisters and Daddy’s Home. Next month he’ll start showing up on network TV as the host of American Grit, a new Fox reality competition show that will feature contestants taking on military-themed physical challenges.
Following Cena is Brock Lesnar, who made $6 million in earnings last year. Unlike Cena, who still mostly works a full-time schedule, Lesnar is a rare sight in WWE programming. Last year he entered the ring fewer than 20 times, and most of those occasions simply consisted of ominous standing while Paul Heyman performed his magic on the microphone. But when he does wrestle (or dismantle a Cadillac with an axe, for that matter), Lesnar is more entertaining than just about anyone else on the roster.
And that sort of drawing power, coupled with an unmatched resume (NCAA wrestling champion, UFC heavyweight champion, youngest ever WWE champion and, dare we forget, the one in 22-and-one), grants him the leverage to negotiate tremendous deals. Back in 2003 Lesnar signed a seven-year contract that gave him a $1 million base salary and an increased share of merchandise sales. Over a decade later his contract negotiations became headline news thanks to an apparent bidding war between UFC and WWE. After the latter promotion won out, locking Lesnar into a three-year deal last March, the “Beast Incarnate” announced the news on SportsCenter.
Cena and Lesnar are far ahead of the other top earners — no other wrestler made over $3 million last year. We estimate that WWE’s 10 highest-paid performers made over a combined $31 million. While that’s nearly two-thirds of the money the company spent on its in-ring talent last year, half went to Cena and Lesnar.
As we detailed a year ago, wrestler pay is essentially comprised of two key components. The first is base salary, also referred to as a wrestler’s guarantee or downside. Those downside values are almost entirely tied to performer tenure. Longtime veterans receive the biggest guarantees, which have typically been capped at $1 million, while even the most popular youngsters are limited to the low six figures.
The second, and often more important, area is bonus pay. WWE has long functioned on the principle that employees, whether in-ring talent or board room executives, ought to be rewarded for demonstrated success. Thus wrestlers receive bonus payouts for events worked, scaling from pay-per-view main events down to a house show’s preliminary match, as well as a share of their merchandise sales (typically 25% of profits from licensing and 5% of direct sales, either at shows or via WWE’s online store).

Those bonuses can be sizable even for the less active performers. Take Triple H as an example. No. 3 on our list with $2.8 million in earnings, Triple H has a booking contract that pays him a $1 million base salary, and last year he made over $700,000 in bonus money despite rarely taking a physical role in the ring (the rest of his total earnings are made up by executive compensation). In other words, he added more than 70% of his downside in bonus pay. Far more active and/or popular entertainers can do much better — we figure the likes of Cena and Seth Rollins made multiple times their base salaries in the form of event and merchandise bonuses.
Rollins is an ideal example of how a heavy workload and popularity among fans can pay off. Fifth on our list with earnings of $2.4 million, Rollins absolutely carried WWE last year from a storyline perspective. He performed in 11 pay-per-view events, all but once with the WWE championship on the line. And on just three of those occasions did Rollins fail to take part in the main event, only getting topped by the Royal Rumble, Lesnar vs. Undertaker at Hell in a Cell and Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan for a WrestleMania title shot. To put his eight main events into context, consider that no other wrestler performed in more than five last year. Perhaps most impressively, Rollins accomplished all of that despite missing the last two months of the year with an ACL tear.

Seth Rollins was a constant main event presence and carried the WWE championship for 220 days last year, only dropping it after a knee injury put him out of commission. (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images)

And when it comes to workload Rollins is joined by two former teammates and fellow top-paid stars: Roman Reigns (No. 6, $2.1 million) and Dean Ambrose (No. 10, $1.1 million). In fact, the latter of the two did more than just about anyone last year — by our count Ambrose worked nearly 200 events. That count includes more than 100 house shows, a feat matched by just four other performers (Luke Harper and The New Day trio of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods).
Yet Ambrose spent little time at the top of the card. He had just four pay-per-view main events and only one was at a major show (a Survivor Series title match against Reigns). Consider that Rollins worked 81 house shows and was in the main event in all but five of them. Ambrose, by comparison, main evented just 36 of his non-televised events. And as described in WWE’s booking contracts, a wrestler’s live event pay is “consistent with the nature of the match in which [he] appears,” ranging from dark matches up to main event.
As noted above, our earnings numbers are built off information gathered from court documents, SEC filings, WWE’s booking contracts and interviews with industry sources. We’ve only included currently active wrestlers, which explains why you won’t find The Rock anywhere on the list (for those who are curious, FORBES pegged his earnings at $31.5 million for the 12 months to June 2015). Also omitted from consideration are stock options that have not yet vested; last year Triple H earned some $600,000 in WWE stock, but those shares won’t fully vest until the summer of 2018.

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Plenty of Internet ink has been spilled on the subject of whether WWE’s stars are underpaid. From some perspectives that certainly seems to be the case. We figure that last year WWE paid its in-ring talent roughly $50 million, or just 8% of its $659 million in total revenue. Contrast that with the NFL and NBA, which share around half of league revenues with their athletes. Putting wrestling up against pro sports is obviously a case of apples and oranges, particularly in the sense that pro athletes benefit from collective bargaining while wrestlers are independent contractors who usually don’t even have agents to negotiate their contracts. But wrestler pay hasn’t risen nearly as much in recent years as that for other athletes and entertainers, and that’s in spite of WWE revenue surging, up 36% from $484 million in 2012.
The reason, according to many, is that WWE no longer has a true competitor threatening to outbid the company for top talent. One of the most famous such instances came in 1996 when Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left then-WWF for rival WCW, where both performers ranked among the promotion’s top-paid stars throughout the late 1990s; from 1997 through 2000 the duo collected a combined $9.4 million. When Bret Hart jumped ship to WCW a year later, he received $2.5 million in base salary plus a $6,500 bonus for any event worked beyond his limited schedule.
And when it comes to guaranteed payouts it’s hard to beat Hulk Hogan’s 1998 contract with WCW. Though he’d been with the company since 1994 (which in turn followed a decade with WWF), he apparently had a tremendous amount of leverage: Hogan’s 1998 deal included a $2 million signing bonus, paid at least $675,000 per PPV event and ensured Hogan at least 25% of ticket revenue from any weekly shows he performed at. On top of that he received a staggering 50% cut of merchandise profits and was even given creative control (more specifically, “approval over the outcome of all wrestling matches in which he appears, wrestles and performs”). According to WCW pay documents, in 1999 Hogan made $4.6 million, and that doesn’t appear to include the $4 million he was guaranteed for working a half dozen PPV events.
Today WWE has no such spend-happy competition to contend with, and the company has arguably taken on the vulture role. In January reports surfaced that WWE was after some of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s top performers. Those rumors were proved true just weeks later when veteran AJ Styles entered the Royal Rumble, and the following month WWE officially announced the signing of Shinsuke Nakamura, arguably NJPW’s biggest star. Those additions came just three months after WWE brought back Alberto Del Rio from Mexico’s AAA promotion, purportedly because they made an offer that AAA couldn’t match.
That spending power comes via WWE’s undeniable financial success. The $1.3 billion (market cap) company made a major gamble on its WWE Network two years ago, moving away from the decades-old pay-per-view model. The online-only network got off to a slow start, but as of the end of 2015 WWE was averaging 1.2 million paid subscribers, putting the company ahead of its projected break-even point. Last year WWE’s media division tallied $390 million in revenue, up 33% from $292 million the year before. And other parts of the business are thriving as well, with consumer products revenue up 26% to $98 million.
Heading into WrestleMania 32, WWE’s stock price sits at just over $17. That’s down from the $20-plus prices of six months earlier but is still well above the $11 floor that WWE shares hit after the company’s stock tanked in the spring of 2014. Some analysts are touting WWE as a top growth stock pick in 2016.
As for the future, it seems WWE’s biggest concern is keeping its top moneymakers healthy. Cena, Rollins and Randy Orton (No. 4, $2.7 million) have all been sidelined by injuries and will likely miss their major WrestleMania paydays. Meanwhile fan favorite Daniel Bryan was recently forced into retirement due to medical concerns, and wrestling legend Sting may also be at the end of his career after suffering a neck injury that required surgery.

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But fans will be no stranger to WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s supposed “brass rings,” the keys to success that are up for grabs by any performer willing to put in the necessary work. So while the rash of injuries is obviously a huge blow to WWE’s creative plans, they’ve also seemingly created opportunities for others in the company to step into the spotlight. Should any succeed, we may very well see some new names on next year’s list of WWE’s top earners.

Billionaires, Former Billionaires Outed For Offshore Wealth By The Panama Papers

forbes' Report:

One of the world’s largest data leaks, called the Panama Papers, is shedding light on the world of offshore financing, used frequently by many of the richest and most powerful around the globe. An anonymous source reportedly tipped off Suddeutsche Zeitung, an investigative newspaper in Germany, which then shared the information with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
After a yearlong investigation, ICIJ and 100 reporting partners around the world began publishing a series of articles on Sunday based on the Panama Papers, which involved the leak of 11.5 million files including emails, invoices and bank records. The leak comes from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm in Panama that is reportedly one of the world’s biggest creators of shell companies. According to ICIJ, the files span decades, from 1977 to December 2015, and include details on 214,000 offshore entities with links to 140 politicians including the President of Argentina, Iceland’s Prime Minister and the King of Saudi Arabia. It also has details on at least 33 people and companies blacklisted by U.S., including Mexican drug lords and terrorist organizations. Mossack Fonesca issued a response to ICIJ’s report stating that as a registered agent it is simply helping its clients incorporate companies and that the law firm conducts thorough due-diligence, “one that in every case meets and quite often exceeds all relevant local rules, regulations and standards to which we and others are bound.”

Georgia’s former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is one of numerous billionaires mentioned in the Panama Papers

Some of what has been detailed so far sheds light on people Forbes has long followed. In fact, the ICIJ report states that it includes information on “29 billionaires from Forbes list of top 500 Richest” as well as movie star Jackie Chan who Forbes profiled, and soccer star Lionel Messi, who ranked fourth on Forbes’ 2015 list of highest paid athletes. Many of the 29 billionaires have yet to be identified, but Forbes went through and found references to a number of them, names that none too surprising to our magazine’s readers.
Below is a short, so far incomplete list of billionaires and former billionaires who are mentioned in stories reporting on The Panama Project or have ties to entities mentioned. The actual documents that were leaked have not been made available yet. Forbes has put in a request to see the documents related to the 29 billionaires. Forbes is also reaching out to all the billionaires mentioned below for comment and will update with any responses.
Dmitry Rybolovlev
For years many sources suggested that Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev was using offshore vehicles in part to hide assets from his ex-wife Elena. She sued him in 2012, saying that the $88 million Manhattan apartment the billionaire bought their 22-year-old daughter through an offshore vehicle was a ploy to hide assets in their divorce. Now the details of the role that offshore vehicles played in that divorce are apparently in the leaked documents. The documents, according to ICIJ, show how Rybolovlev used offshore vehicles to hide his wealth.  Xitrans Finance, for instance, which law firm Mossack Fonseca set up in the British Virgin Islands for Rybolovlev, held such assets as paintings by Picasso, Van Gogh and Monet plus Louis XVI furniture. According to the leaked document from Mossack Fonesca, he moved the items from Switzerland to places his ex couldn’t touch. Dmitri and Elena Rybolovlev both apparently declined to comment to the ICIJ.

Bidzina Ivanishvili
 Ivanishvili, who lives in a 108,000-square-foot compound in the mountains overlooking Tbilisi, was elected prime minister of Georgia in October 2012. (Forbes profiled him a few months before the election.) Thirteen months later he stepped down, after his party won the presidential elections, saying he’d fulfilled his task. Georgia’s richest person by far, he made his money in Russia and moved back home in 2003. According to the leaks, the British Virgin Island’s Financial Investigation Agency asked Mossack Fonseca for information about the ownership and activities of Lynden Management in 2011. Its Singapore office confirmed that Ivanishvili was a beneficiary of a trust set up by Credit Suisse. Two years later, according to the ICIJ, Mossack Fonesca BVI identified Ivanishvili as a “Politically Exposed Person” and asked its Singapore office for documents proving Ivanishvili’s identity and the source of funds for Lynden Management. Singapore, according to the ICIJ report, was unable to obtain them and later asked if Credit Suisse could handle the due diligence. A Swiss firm representing Ivanishvili apparently responded to ICIJ and said that he was willing to be transparent about his use of offshore companies and that banks like Credit Suisse regularly propose use of them.
Boris & Arkady Rotenberg
Suleiman Kerimov
Alexei Mordashov
Thanks to leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca, reporters discovered that musician Sergey Roldugin, a longtime friend of Vladimir Putin, had set up offshore companies that likely received money from companies close to the four billionaires listed above, as well as other Russian businessmen. For more on what they found, please read The Secret Caretaker by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and  All Putin’s Men: Secret Records Reveal Money Network Tied To Russian Leader.
Putin’s son-in-law, Kirill Shamalov, whom Forbes outed as a billionaire this year, was also mentioned in The Secret Caretaker. Apparently Ozon, a Russian company that got favorable loans from Roldugin’s company, bought land that became mountain ski resort Igora, the site of Shamalov’s wedding to Katerina Tikhonova, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
According to ICIJ’s analysis of the Mossack Fonseca data, Ukraine’s president became the sole shareholder of Prime Asset Partners Limited, which Mossack Fonseca set up for him in the British Virgin Islands in August 2014. That was just around the time of Russia’s bloodiest attacks on Ukraine. According to one of the articles, while he was fighting Russia, the now former billionaire, who was known as Ukraine’s chocolate king for his successful confectionary business, was looking for a copy of a utility bill to help set up the offshore company. His representatives apparently responded to the allegations, saying that  it was part of a restructuring to help sell his candy business.

Rooney says he has ‘a few years’ left for Man Utd and England

Wayne Rooney has said he has at least a “few years” left to make meaningful contributions to Manchester United and the England national team and is ready to kick on for club and country.
Rooney, 30, has been out of action for both United and the Three Lions with a knee ligament injury that was first reported on Feb. 17, ahead of his club’s Europa League date with FC Midtjylland.
In his absence, England youngsters Dele Alli and Harry Kane, along with Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, have carried the load for England, while Marcus Rashford has emerged as somewhat of a revelation for Man United.
However, retirement is far from the thinking of the current captain of both his club and international team, especially after scoring his 50th goal to break Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record for England.
“I’ve still got a few years left I feel,” Rooney said in an interview with the PFA’s “4 The Player” magazine which is set to be published on Monday.
“I’ll keep trying to, first and foremost, help the team be successful and if I can score the goals to help achieve that then that’ll be great.
“Over the last two years my form for England has been really good, I’ve scored a lot of goals. The record stood for more than 40 years so to be the one to break it means a lot. For Sir Bobby [Charlton] to present me with the award as well, that makes it even more special.
“But it’s something I’m looking to expand now, I’ve got the record and I just want to carry on scoring as many goals as I can.”
Rooney added: “I was playing really well before that injury so it could’ve been different but that’s in the past and you have to look forward.
“I think I’m a different player now to what I was then so I don’t compare myself. I’m always just thinking about what comes next and making sure I’m at my best for the summer.”
England manager Roy Hodgson is on the record saying that Rooney will almost surely be on the squad that makes the trip to France for the Euros this summer, but his place in the starting XI is anything but certain.
“I’ve never said he’s an automatic starter and I’ve not ever said anyone is an automatic starter,” Hodgson said. “If you say does he have a good chance to be a starter with his track record, ability and experience? Of course he has.”
England begin group play on Saturday, June 11, vs. Russia in Marseille.

Reps okay Buhari’s decision to scrutinise budget before signing

Contrary to expectations, President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to scrutinise the 2016 budget as passed and transmitted to him by the National Assembly has been accepted by the leadership of the House of Representatives.
Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Media, Abdulrazak Namdas, in an interview, yesterday said that the lower House had no problems with the president taking another look at the budget.
“There shouldn’t be a problem with the president looking at the budget line by line. Our duty in the National Assembly is to work on the budget and to send the document as passed. We have also promised to send the president the details of the budget in two weeks and this we shall do”, Namdas said.
The House of Representatives passed the 2016 budget of N6.06trillion into law following a motion by the Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin.
Buhari had said in Washington last Thursday that he would not sign the 2016 Appropriation Bill into law until he took a look at every single detail of the document passed by the National Assembly on Wednesday, March 23.
The president had presented the 2016 national budget before a joint session of the National Assembly, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives, on December 22, 2015.
Soon after, it was dogged by allegations and counter-allegations, including claims that it was missing or padded. The president’s statement that he would scrutinise the budget came
as a surprise. This was because the National Assembly which had severally dismissed claims that it would pad the budget, also stated that for the first time, it reduced the total sum of the budget by N17 billion.
This was even as it told the press that it did not tinker with parts of the budget considered to be top priority to the president. Speaking with National Assembly correspondents immediately after
the passage of the budget, the Joint Committee on Appropriations said it was the first time since 1999 the country was witnessing a reduction in aggregate expenditure.
Jubrin, who first spoke on behalf of the committee, said though the budget estimates were huge, contrary to widely held belief that the National Assembly would add to it N17 billion was reduced from the initial estimates.
“We all know the challenges that accompanied this bill and often times, with overheads being most contentious. We engaged the executive and the Budget Office on it because we also discovered that
several critical items were not in the budget. We had to allocate funds to those areas.
“We also had to tilt some allocations in favour of security, anti corruption drive in order to strike a balance with the policy thrust of the government,” he said.

MTN launches SunStream for mobile devices

MTN South Africa has launched its new promotional package featuring World Panel’s SunStream which allows users to stream electricity from the sun directly into their mobile devices.
The new bundle was announced at an event in Mthatha with executives from MTN and World Panel Inc. present. The event was held outside the MTN store at Mthatha Plaza with product demonstrations and branded promotions.
The MTN/SunStream bundle carries an MSRP of R219 and includes a SunStream and free airtime on the MTN network. This promotional package is available at MTN stores in Mthatha and the SunStream expected to roll out across South Africa.
“The SunStream was developed with exactly this customer in mind: someone who views their mobile device as a lifeline, but lacks the power to keep it charged,” said Hennie Botha, World Panel’s Managing Director for South Africa.
“The reliable, affordable power offered by the SunStream can be a game-changer, and we are therefore pleased to launch this bundle with MTN.”
World Panel’s SunStream product line was introduced in late 2015 after years in development. Built to international standards, the new technology bypasses the need for chipsets or PC boards, which are notorious for breakage on typical solar charging devices. The highly durable SunStream products can charge most feature phones at or near the same speed as a wall plug and can perform even while submerged in water.

UK Government replies to Nnamdi Kanu’s plea for intervention

Following the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu’s call on the British Government for intervention in his case, the United Kingdom has responded by saying it has been visiting the arrested and detained leader in prison.
The spokesman for the British High Commission, Mr. Joe Abuku in an email to news agency, Punch, revealed the development.
The British High Commission in a statement said; “We have provided assistance to Mr. Kanu since his arrest in October last year, including visiting him regularly in prison and attending court appearances in an observational capacity.”
This comes in response to the plea statement released by the IPOB leader through his lawyer which reads in part; “It is repeating the obvious to state that our client is a full British citizen, by virtue of which position he is entitled to all rights, privileges and protection, guaranteed under the British laws and conventions.”