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Opinion

Ifeanyi Ubah: Please Stop Embarrassing The Igbo – By Joe Igbokwe

Just recently the DSS invited a friend of mine and bonafide son of Nnewi, Chief (Dr) Ifeanyi Ubah of Capital Oil & Gas Ltd fame to come and give an account of the whereabouts millions of liters of PMS stored by NNPC on his Tank farms. Since this invitation, I have read some funny write-ups online in defense of the Nnewi Chief and some trying to read ethnic meaning to DSS intervention.
Now the truth is this: My good friend Chief Ifeanyi Ubah is capable of defending himself and Capital Oil & Gas Ltd. He has formidable structures in place and good lawyers to defend his case. He does not need yahoo, yahoo boys and girls and frustrated political hustlers to defend himself. He does not need internet rats and professional pay-me-I-write-for-you fraudsters. What I have been reading about this drama online is totally uncalled for. It is ridiculous, shameful and at best, clannish.
This brigandage did not start today. When Diezani Alison-Madueke was declared wanted by EFCC for fraud in the oil industry, we saw this kind of shameless intervention from people who should know better and those with full doses of Western education. When Stella Oduah was being probed for purchasing armoured BMW cars at astronomical prices, some Igbo leaders rose to her defense. They erected billboards in the South-East and celebrated her with a chieftaincy title, Ada Igbo Nile. The impression being created is that prominent Igbo citizens are being persecuted because they are Igbo. I call this PERSECUTION COMPLEX, LEADERSHIP COMPLEX AND DEFEATIST SYNDROME.
It is even annoying that Col. Sambo Dasuki’s defense is being done not by his northern brothers but Igbo who are sworn to bland defense of everything PDP. They are the most fanatical mourners of the loss of Jonathan and PDP even when the Ijaws have moved on.
NIA boss, Ayo Oke has been facing series of interrogations by the EFCC concerning the Osborne Towers 15 billion naira cash haul and I have not read any Yoruba defending him. Babachir Lawal, the suspended SFG, is being probed for contract scam and yet I have not seen his kinsmen rising in his defense. They allow investigations to go the whole hog.
There are litanies of such trials of corrupt people of all ethnicities and tribes going on everywhere in Nigeria, but it is only Igbo who defend their fellow tribesmen implicated in scandals.
Yet this was not always the case for Igbo. Indeed, Ala Igbo is noted as a land where our ancestors and forefathers abhorred evil and treated corruption with unambiguous disapproval from even pre-colonial times.
What is wrong with present-day Igbo? What we see today is not our tradition. It is not our culture. Let nobody rewrite our history, our culture, and our tradition of eziokwu bu ndu (truth is life).
We see this funny re-occurring decimal more in the South-East and South-South and it is becoming a national embarrassment. It must stop. I am told that stupidity is knowing the truth, seeing the truth but believing in lies. Igbo are a very hard-working, proud and successful tribe, but we need to come down from a 30,000-foot building to make sense to other Nigerians.
We need to stop this aberration that is demeaning and ridiculing Igbo in Nigeria today. We need to caution ourselves before we become objects of ridicule and butts of ribaldry of other Nigerians, as is dangerously becoming the fad in the country today.

Joe Igbokwe writes from Lagos.
 
Credit: Omojuwa.com

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Sports

Juventus are through to the Champions League final

Juventus have reached the Champions League final after beating Monaco 2-1 , 4-1 on aggregate in Turin today.  After their 2-0 win in last week’s first leg, goals from Mario Mandzukic and Dani Alves sent the Italian club to its 9th European Cup final. They conceded a goal for the first time in this season’s knockout stages.
According to reports, the club will collect a minimum of 126m euros in Champions League revenues.  Juventus haven’t lost at home since August 2015 and will now face either Real Madrid or Atletico in the final on 3 June in Cardiff, their 2nd Champions League final in 3 years. They have joined AC Milan as the two sides to have reached the most Champions League finals (6) since 1992.

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Entertainment

Mercy Aigbe's husband remanded in Kirikiri prison

The last has certainly not been heard of the domestic violence case between actress, Mercy Aigbe and her estranged husband, Lanre Gentry. He reportedly showed up in court on Tuesday after failing to appear twice. He was meant to appear in court on Monday after a physical assault charge was leveled against him by the Lagos State Department of Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team but failed to turn up, claiming he was indisposed and was admitted in a hospital.
He was arraigned at an Ikeja magistrate court on three-count charge of domestic violence, assault and threat to life and was later granted bail. He however failed to meet the bail conditions of N500,000 and two sureties who reside in Lagos and have landed properties and is currently being remanded in prison.
The case has been adjourned to July 12.
 
 

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Entertainment

Don Jazzy , Wizkid & Davido listed in Forbes’ top 10 richest African musicians list

Forbes’ list of the Top 10 African Acts For 2017 have been released and it features the following music acts; Akon, Black Coffee Hugh Masekela, Don Jazzy, Tinashe, Jidenna, Wizkid, Davido, Sarkodie, Mtukudzi. Forbes factored in their endorsement value, popularity, show rates, sales, awards, YouTube views, appearance in newspapers, investment, social media presence, influence and many more.
Profile of the top 10
1. AKON
Akon has over 35 million albums sold worldwide. He has won numerous awards including five Grammy Award nominations and has 45 Billboard Hot 100 songs under his belt. He tops the list according to Forbes Africa.
2. BLACK COFFEE, SOUTH AFRICA
The multi-award-winning artist’s real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo. He was born in South Africa’s house music province, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and raised in the Eastern Cape province, where Nelson Mandela hailed from, before moving back to KZN to study music.
3. HUGH MASEKELA, SOUTH AFRICA
Hugh was born in Witbank, east of Johannesburg. He has released more than 43 albums and performed with Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds, Fela Kuti, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Miriam Makeba.
4. DON JAZZY, NIGERIA
Don Jazzy is ranked fourth richest in Africa and also first in Nigeria. Like many artists, his real name is Michael Collins Ajereh, and he started playing music as a child in church before moving to the UK to pursue his career.
5. TINASHE, ZIMBABWE-AMERICAN
Tinashe was a child model by the age of three. The twenty-four-year-old sang before she could talk and made her first appearance in 2000 in the film Cora Unashamed. Her voice also starred in the cartoon feature film The Polar Express alongside Oscar-winning actor, Tom Hanks.
6. JIDENNA, NIGERIAN-AMERICAN
By the age of 10, Jidenna Theodore Mobisson knew he wanted to do music but was afraid to tell his father who wanted him to be an engineer. He is ranked sixth according to Forbes Africa.
7. WIZKID, NIGERIA
Wizkid is arguably currently the uncrowned king of African music. Grammy Award-winning artist, Alicia Keys and husband Swizz Beatz, danced to his songs Ojuelegba and Caro, with Keys posting a video on her Instagram account with the caption, “This song makes me happy”. Kylie Jenner also posted a video of herself dancing to Wizkid’s music on Snapchat.
8. DAVIDO, NIGERIA
Davido has claimed a high status in just five years. He said it was people like P-Square and D’Banj who made him believe this was possible. He became famous for his widely acclaimed 2012 debut album “Omo Baba Olowo”.
9. SARKODIE, GHANA
Michael Owusu Addo started out as an underground rapper and through the help of Duncan Williams, his former manager, his career was launched. Staying true to his identity, he is a big advocate of Azonto, a Ghanaian genre that is said to have been born out of Kpanlogo, a traditional dance.
His first single off his fourth album, Mewu, sold almost 4,000 copies on the first day of its release in Ghana. He was also the first Ghanaian to win a BET award.
10. OLIVER MTUKUDZI, ZIMBABWE
Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi has 65 albums under his belt, more than the legendary Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. It’s a remarkable career stretching back 41 years with songs that have enlivened parties all over the world. He is ranked 10th richest musician in Africa.

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Sports

Fabregas becomes the first player to assist 10 goals in 6 Premier League seasons.

The assist king!
Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas has become the first player with 10 or more assists in six different Premier League seasons. The new record was established during Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge on Monday. The 30-year-old Spain international delivered an assist to Diego Costa’s 23rd minute goal and then Nemanja Matic in the 65th minute.

“I feel the quality of my minutes whenever I’ve been on the pitch have been fantastic, so maybe my contribution has been even bigger than when I’ve played more in other seasons,” Fabregas said.
He has now surpassed Chelsea legend Frank Lampard last month with his 103rd assist in a 4-2 victory against Southampton but remains  56 assists behind Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs, who assisted on 162 goals during his career.
 
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Entertainment, Music

Femi Kuti breaks world record

Nigerian musician Femi Kuti has just smashed a saxophone world record set by American saxophonist, Kenneth Bruce Gorelick  better known as Kenny G in 1997. He achieved the feat at the New Africa Shrine on the 7th of May, 2017. While Kenny G  held an E-flat for 45 minutes via circulation breathing, Femi Kuti‘s longest single note on a saxophone for 46mins and 38secs.
The record for the longest single note ever was set in February 2000 by Vann Burchfield, after he held a note for a time of 47 minutes and 6 seconds. We are certain Femi would also surpass that soonest.
Congrats to the achiever!

 


 

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English Premier League, Sports

'He still needs to leave ". Our top 10 reactions to Arsenal Vs Man United game.

Arsenal Wenger did the nearly incredible today, beating his arch rival Jose Mourinho for the first time in an English Premier League game and ending Manchester United’s 25-match unbeaten run. Goals from Xhaka and Welbeck ensured that the Gunners kept their top-four hopes alive. Check out our top 10 reactions to the game.
https://twitter.com/PrideOfLondon86/status/861307939000397824
https://twitter.com/ClassicFergie/status/861255442084667392


https://twitter.com/TrollFootball/status/861265729945034752


https://twitter.com/DialSquare52/status/861323341692641280

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Sports

UEFA Introduces New Form Of Penalty Shootouts.

European football governing body, UEFA, is set to introduce a new form of penalty shootouts in football.
UEFA is looking to replacing the conventional alternating spot-kicks with the new system similar to the tie-break in tennis.
It was tried out at the European Under-17 Championship, which began in Croatia on Wednesday. Teams take turns in a shootout, with the choice of who goes first decided by a coin toss.
For example, team A goes first, then team B, then team A again. This new system is referred to as ‘ABBA’ and sees team A followed by team B – before team B goes again.
Team A would then get two successive penalties, until there is a winner.

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