DATING PRETTY AND POPULAR WOMEN GAVE ME FAME: SAMMIE OKPOSO CONFESSES!

 

           

                                           Singer, Sammie Okposo

 In this interview culled from LadunLiadi’s blog(im not sure of  the sources of this interview though), the Nigerian singer confesses that it was the women He has dated over time that brought him into limelight, and not the many awards he has recieved during the course of his career.

Read the excerpts from the interview below…….

 You were quite notorious with the women, why was that and what did these women see in you?

Unfortunately for me, all the women I had relationships with, were very popular and powerful women way ahead of me in the entertainment industry. I once dated a Miss Nigeria, a very popular actress and a few others. What made me popular was like a mystery. When people wanted to know who I was and how I got to date those women, they started digging and that was how I became relevant. It was not the awards I received that brought me fame; it was the ladies I was connected to.

Was it something you planned or was it deliberate? 

No, it was not planned. My band was jamming at Pintos then and the owner Mr Onabolu was one of the organizers of the Miss Nigeria pageant then. As part of the package, the winner of the Miss Nigeria was scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Pintos which was his joint. She had a fantastic voice and someone mentioned she should try singing with my band and that was how we met. We just struck a chord, got very friendly and that was where it started from.

 

Egypt president recalls ousted parliament

Egypt’s new president on Sunday ordered a parliament dominated by his Islamist party to reconvene, challenging the authority of the generals who had dissolved the assembly in line with a court order.

President Mohamed Mursi’s decree appeared to catch off guard the generals who handed power to him on June 30. State media said the army’s supreme council held an emergency meeting and a council member, declining to be named, told Reuters the generals had not been given prior warning.

The military had been running Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year. But, shortly before the handover to the elected president, the army put some curbs on the presidency and gave itself legislative powers.

The president’s decision hands those powers back to a parliament that was led by his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood.

After a little more than a week in office, Mursi’s move highlights the power struggle likely to define his term, pitting long repressed Islamists against generals used to calling the shots and an establishment full of Mubarak-era officials.

It also threatens a fresh legal wrangle over whether Mursi can overrule a decision by the Supreme Constitutional Court to dissolve parliament, creating more uncertainty at a time when the economy is creaking after 17 months of political turmoil.

“President Mohamed Mursi ordered the reconvening of the elected parliament to hold sessions,” according to a presidential statement read out by Mursi’s aide Yasser Ali.

Saad Husseini, a senior member of the Brotherhood, said he did not believe the military would challenge Mursi’s decree.

“We are confident the military council will not drag the country into a political whirlpool,” he said.

Analysts said they had not expected an easy relationship between the army and the Islamist president, but most believed Mursi would tread cautiously to avoid any swift escalation. The Brotherhood has repeatedly said it does not want confrontation.

“This is an early conflict. Everyone was expecting this to happen but not now, unless this decision was taken in agreement with the army council, but I doubt this,” said political analyst Mohamed Khalil.

Mursi’s decree was announced shortly after he received his first official U.S. visitor in the presidential palace, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, whose country gives $1.3 billion of aid to Egypt’s military every year.

Burns praised Egypt’s progress but said there was more to be done. “It will be critical to see a democratically elected parliament in place and an inclusive process to draft a new constitution that upholds universal rights,” Burns said after meeting Mursi and before the decree was issued.

source:yahoonews

OIL THEFT AND PIPELINE VANDALISM:RICH NIGERIANS SPONSOR US, SAYS SUSPECTS

A suspected pipeline vandal, Ismaila Sulaiman, has said rich Nigerian men are behind vandalisation of pipelines and theft of petroleum products.

Sulaiman, a member of a gang that specialised in stealing petrol from vandalised pipelines in Ogun and Oyo states, said this when he was arrested with four others by policemen attached to the Force Headquarters.

Explaining their modus operandi, Suleiman said as soon as a strategic NNPC pipeline was spotted, they would drill through the main pipeline and with the aid of valves easily transfer the petrol to their tankers.

“It is a very big business sponsored by very rich Nigerians. We load more than 10 tankers before we relocate to another spot for fear that law enforcement agents might trace us. I do not know how they got wind of this deal because we normally have a very strong security arrangement,” he said.

Sulaiman said they relocated to Oyo when the security in Lagos became too tight for them to operate freely.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the policemen, who are operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism Unit, arrested the suspects and impounded five tankers loaded with petrol.

Sulaiman, Nasiru Adamu, Abdullahi Isa, Garuba Lawal and Musa Abubakar were arrested around Olurunda at Ogun /Oyo border village.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Friday Ibadin, who is in charge of the Task Force, said the suspects were caught red-handed by the police during their regular surveillance of the area.

He said, “The police acted on an intelligence report that a major syndicate had been lifting several tankers from the bush. Detectives led by Oyo Sector Commander, Xpress Onioigue, successfully raided the areas and recovered five tankers filled with petrol.

“Meanwhile, we are on the trail of the kingpin known as Olugbenga who we gathered is being sponsored by some influential Nigerians. The police appreciate the help of residents of these communities who have tremendously helped to reduce to its barest minimum the vandalisation of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation pipelines.”

Adamu, another suspect, said he was introduced to the business by one Alhaji Abdullahi and is usually paid N180, 000 per trip.

Adamu, an indigene of Taku in Bauchi State said, “I am a petrol tanker driver and my boss is based in Bauchi. Whenever I’m idle, I use the tanker for hire, transporting fuel to where it would be sold.

“On that day, Abdullahi informed me that there was a job and we agreed that he would pay me N180, 000 and also fuel the vehicle. He bought 100 litres of diesel for my vehicle and I took two of my boys along with me.

“When we got to the place, they loaded my tanker, but when we were about leaving the police arrested us.”

On how they dispose of the product, Nasiru said, “All I do is to deliver the product to the petrol station that I am directed to. My tanker has Total written on it; therefore no one would suspect that the product is stolen. I do not know how much these products are sold, my duty is to deliver and get paid.”

What kind of nation is Nigerians turning to, when the people who are to be trusted are at the helms of corruption….. share your thoughts please, let me know what you think of this!

source:punchng.

NIGERIAN FEDERAL SENATOR,MANY OTHERS ASSASSINATED BY FULANI HERDSMEN IN JOS.

AFTER  a massive violence when Fulani  herdsmen killed a federal senator and a state lawmaker in troubled Plateau state yesterday, a curfew has been imposed on parts of Plateau State and soldiers have been deployed in the area with a view to forestalling reprisal killings.

The Senator representing Plateau North Dr Gyang Dantong and Majority Leader of Plateau House of Assembly Hon. Gyang Fulani were killed on Sunday while attending the mass burial of villagers killed on Saturday by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The Pam Ayuba,  spokesman for the Plateau state’s governor confirming the incident said  the senator representing Plateau north, Gyang Dantong, and the majority leader of the state assembly, Gyang Fulani and others were gunned down  by Fulani herdsmen,”

He added that the two were killed shortly after attending the mass burial for the victims of a Saturday raid, also blamed on the Fulani, a tribe made up of Muslim herdsmen.

After the burial, the officials went to a reception at the home of another local leader in the state’s Gashis district, roughly 90 kilometres (56 miles) from the capital Jos, Ayuba said.

“The Fulani herdsmen raided the house…they shot (the politicians) and some others but the key people who lost their lives are the senator and the majority leader,” he explained, saying he did not know the total number of casualties.

Another federal lawmaker “escaped death by a whisker,” he added.

The Plateau State government announced the dusk to dawn curfew after several political leaders were killed  by gunmen suspected to be Islamic militants in four local government areas of the state. The local government affected are Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Jos North and Jos South

Following the massacre of about 23 people by unidentified gunmen, Senator Gyang Dalyop Dantong, and Plateau State Asemblyman Gyang Fulani were killed along with many others at a funeral for Saturday’s victims.  A House of Representatives member Simon Davou Mwadkwon was critically injured.

The death of the politicians is reported to have led to reprisal killings along Barkin Lardi Riyom expressway, where motorists were caught unawares. Several commuters were reportedly killed by mobs.

In Jos, the state capital, at least four people were killed in reprisal attacks in front of Senator Dantong’s home on St-Finbarrs road.

source:TheGuardian

ON THE BOKO HARAM MENACE, US CONGRESS INVITES ORITSEJAFOR & OBAMA.

ON THE BOKO HARAM MENACE, US CONGRESS INVITES ORITSEJAFOR & OBAMA..

ON THE BOKO HARAM MENACE, US CONGRESS INVITES ORITSEJAFOR & OBAMA.

THE United States government is readying plans to get tougher with Nigeria on the issue of terrorism as its legislative arm is now considering enacting bill and piling more pressure on the Obama administration, which may lead to the designation of the entire Boko Haram group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO)

On Tuesday (July 10), the US House of Representatives will be holding what it calls an “oversight hearing” only few weeks after the State Department announced the designations of three notable Boko Haram leaders as terrorists.

 An oversight hearing is one that reviews or study “a law, issue, or an activity, often focusing on the quality of federal programmes and the performance of government officials,” according to several US sources.

Through such hearings, the American legislature ensures “that the executive branch’s execution goes with legislative intent, while administrative policies reflect the public interest. Oversight hearings often seek to improve the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of government operations. A significant part of a committee’s hearings workload is dedicated to oversight.”

In deed, a statement, by the US House of Representatives, gave a hint of what was meant to follow through the chosen theme of Tuesday’s oversight hearing —“U.S Policy Toward Nigeria: West Africa’s Troubled Titan.”

According to the statement, another indication of the determination of the US House to toughen their stance on Nigeria is the choice of invited speakers to the oversight hearing, which includes from Nigeria, the outspoken President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, whose views and those of CAN on Boko Haram are clearly more confrontational than that of the Nigerian Federal Government and the US State Department so far.

Representing the Obama administration at the hearing on Tuesday is the Assistant Secretary of State, Johnnie Carson.

But the US House is balancing the speakers’ list by also inviting Dr. Darren Kew, to witness at the Oversight Hearing.

culled from the Guardian