Photos: Jonathan Butler, Bobby Ricketts, Yemi Sax, others thrill at the 2015 International Jazz

The 2015 International Jazz Day which was held at the Ocean View Marquee of the Eko Hotel & suites Lagos powered by Satchmoss Jazz Fest15 and supported by UNESCO was a huge success as both local and international artistes gave electrifying performances.

World renowned Guitarist “Jonathan Butler, International Saxophonist, Bobby Ricketts, the Africa’s Sax Oracle “Yemi Sax” and Tunde Jegede were all on hand to set the stage ablaze. 

FRSC sets June 1 for enforcement of speed limiting device

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has set June 1,2015 as deadline for the introduction of speed limiting device for commercial vehicles.
The device will ensure safety and security of road users at all times. It would also be introduced to private vehicles owners in the coming months.
The Zonal Commanding Officer (ZCO), Lagos revealed that they ‎
“have taken the sensitization drive to parks and garages, churches, mosques and market places and we have also implored the cooperation of the media to help in propagating the enforcement.”
Speaking at the sensitisation campaign for implementation of speed limiting device in Nigeria, the Corps Marshal, FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, revealed that 50% of fatal road accidents n the country are caused by excessive speeding.
“This is why introduction of the speed limiting device is good for the industry. If the device in installed, it would reduce fuel consumption, save lives, increase the lifespan of road infrastructure while the vehicle engines and others would last longer. With the device, there is no way your speed can increase beyond the maximum limit it is set with. “ He noted.

Nigerian visa goes for N100-N200 in 13 countries.

If the report on PUNCH website is anything to go then nationals of 13 countries namely; Mauritania, Monaco, Morroco, New Zealand, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Burma, Dominican, Chile and Colombia can obtain a single-entry Nigerian visa for between N100 and N200. Now that’s massively embarrassing!
PUNCH also learnt through the Nigerian Immigration Service website that visa fees are  multiplied by the terms of countries, visa type and number of entries applicants are seeking. 
Thus visa fees are a bit higher in countries like the United States, Britain, Russia and many more.‎
Visa fees of some other countries ‎
  • United States-  N14,000
  • United Kingdom: Between N9,700 to N16,200
  • Russia and other former members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: N10,500. 
  • Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Belgium and Spain: N6,000 to N9,000

Pep Guardiola denies Manchester City link

‎Bayern Munich manager, Pep Guardiola has put rumours of his possible move to Manchester City next season to rest. Reports of his link to the English club emanated at the weekend after he lost 3 goals in a row. 
“I’ve already said 200 million times – I’ll be here(Bayern) next season. That’s it. I have a year left on my contract.” He said in a video.

OJB Jezreel reportedly suffers kidney failure again.

19 months after he underwent a kidney transplant in India, ace producer, Babatunde Okungbowa popularly called OJB Jezreel has reportedly  suffered a relapse.
According to a report by Yes! International magazine, doctors at the General Hospital, Lagos where he is currently receiving treatment chided him for not going for post-surgery checkups.
“The medical experts who attended to OJB at the Lagos Hospital were shocked at the sudden relapse despite last year’s successful kidney transplant. They chided him for not going back to India for post-surgery check-ups as specified by the team of Indian doctors in the medical report given to him”. ‎ A source at the hospital disclosed.

"Let's be together again." Emmanuel Adebayor's begs him for forgiveness.

Emmanuel Adebayor’s brother, Rotimi Adebayor, who the Tottenham Hotspur striker accused in two separate facebook posts of stealing mobile phones and shirts have asked for his brother’s forgiveness..
In an interview with BBC, Rotimi apologised for his misdeeds and ‎ asked for the family to be together again.
“I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done wrong, I want to beg. Forgive me . I want him to try and be with us again. To sit like a family. Do things together . I pray to God that moment is coming soon. People are laughing at us but they will see us and they will cry…God’s time is the best. I wish my brother good luck”.

Opinion: Governor Ayodele Fayose: The Fool’s Self-Destruction | By: Bayo Oluwasanmi

In a sane world, by now Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State would be in Kirikiri federal maximum prison for his principal role in Ekiti election rigging video, aka Ekitigate that propelled him into office for the second time. But sanity hasn’t been seen around here – in Nigeria – in some time.

To date, I have written four articles on Fayose. Two of the articles – No! To The Return Of Prodigal Son and Don’t Forget  To remember  Ayo Fayose  Is The Message were published March 31, and June 19, 2014 respectively by SaharaReporters.
The two articles contain messages of woes and warnings to Ekiti people on the second coming of Fayose. I warned them of Fayose’s irreversible corruption, his affinity for violence, the doom ahead, the disaster that would come like a flood that would leave them in helpless despair and that they would be led away as captives. Today, Ekiti people are silently grinding their teeth in anger, frustration, and regret.
Ekiti State is led by the world’s number one fool and monster. Now we have undeniably a new world record holder in the category of the world’s most foolish governor of the 21st century. Only a handful beneficiaries of his “stomach infrastructure” may argue against my assessment. But does any one needs a microscope to see that the dude is not just a dumb or a dumber but the dumbest? Certainly not!
In fact, Ekiti people get embarrassed not just by Fayose’s filthy diapers but also by what comes out of his mind and mouth. Most Nigerians believe that Fayose is a lunatic. Most would certainly agree with these Nigerians. What is alarmingly disturbing is not how he chooses his words or how he presents himself before the national and international communities, but how deadlier his actions have become since his second coming.
A list of his imprudent utterances and actions would fill an eight gigabyte flash drive. You’re all familiar with the story of the Ekiti prodigal son Fayose. But for the sake of not making this a boring article to readers, I’ll only mention some of his latest gestapo acts which have turned Ekiti State into ashes.
Fayose had planted the seed of evil in Ekiti well before he assumed office the second time. But now he’s blaming the violence and instability in the state on others. By planting evil seed, he was able to create problems that never existed.
The Ekitigate was Fayose’s mustard seed of evil that he planted  that has now germinated into  big variegated branches of violence, instability, suffering, poverty, fear, terror, and insecurity of life and property in the state. He shut down the House of Assembly, while the staff are pinning away at home in hunger, sickness, and abject misery.
He deliberately instigated carnage in the state to secure and safeguard his position as governor by using thugs and other mercenaries. These merchants of death disrupted a court hearing instituted by the aggrieved 19 APC legislators against Fayose. The presiding judge was beaten, his clothes torn, court staff ran for dear life, court documents shredded, and pandemonium ensued. Ekiti State was pushed back to Stone Age.
Fayose pretends as if he was not the architect of the state’s ongoing darkening an indicative that the bloke is a Big Fool. While other states are making progress, Ekiti State is at a stand still. Fayose was busy creating and recreating a terror regime watering his seeds of evil on a daily basis. 
All the 19 members of the APC majority controlled House of Assembly were terrorized.  He denied them of their mandate and replaced them with seven illegitimate PDP legislators and threw the APC legislators at the back of pick up truck as it were, as if they were bandits and sent them into Siberia.
Fayose has successfully subverted the ideas and ideals of democracy in Ekiti by subjugating and imposing his will on the people. He illegally removed the 19 APC legislators including the speaker of the house. He believes as long as he’s surrounded with thugs of Okada cyclists, ambassadors of “stomach infrastructure” and other mercenaries of profiteers of misery, he’ll continue to rule Ekiti at his pleasure without any semblance of democracy – accountability, transparency, and citizen’s rights to freedom and human rights.
Fayose with the help of his mentor and partner in crime, President Goodluck Jonathan, Ado-Ekiti the state capital was under siege. With the collusion of the army and the police, all entrances to the city were closed. No vehicular or human movement was allowed. Schools and businesses were paralyzed.  
Fear and terror gripped every one. Residents of the ancient city were literally under house arrest. The judiciary and the house of assembly closed indefinitely. All because he didn’t want the APC the majority party in the house to commence impeachment proceedings against him.
The Afe Babalola brokered peace meeting between Fayose and the 19 APC legislators was abruptly canceled by the 19 APC law makers when they were tipped off that Fayose planned to kidnap and even kill them on their way to the campus of Afe Babalola University the venue of the meeting.
Why is Fayose doing all these? It is to satisfy the greed of a heartless monster that he is. Fayose is as brutal as a fire and as wile as a Satan. You only need to review his antecedents of violence, hooliganism, carnage, and terror he created in the state during his first coming.
History will record that Fayose is the world’s leading evil governor. It is a matter of time before history is made where Yorubas will be shy to name a child Fayose. That had happened in Germany after the fall of the Nazi regime to the Allied Forces. Germans nowadays decline to adopt the name ‘Hitler’ mainly due to the horrific atrocities Hitler committed during the Second World War using gas to kill his victims.
There is no shortage of Hitler style in Ekiti State under Fayose. To be fair to Hitler, people with common sense would argue that Hitler was less brutal and less evil than Fayose for two simple reasons: First, Hitler used gas to kill his victims. But Fayose used fire either to inflict much pain to his own people or to conceal his crimes. 
I think a death by fire is more painful and dehumanizing than a death by gas. Second, Hitler is bound to the Jews by humanity and blood. In simple terms, Hitler would be less keen to kill his fellow Germans than he would to kill the foreigners such as the Jews. In fact, it was his evil love for Germany being the world’s Super Power that led to his death after the extermination of the Jews.
There was no hesitation for Fayose to light the blood of his fellow Ekiti citizens. Fayose is driven by greed, evil, and power. It is his evil ambition to be a governor by any means necessary that pushed his atrocities to actions deemed odd, psychotic and barbaric.
“To err is human …” or so the saying goes. But to repeat those errors is both tragic and unnecessary. Fayose made foolish and naive decisions in his first coming and he failed to learn from them. An old Arab proverb says: “Take heed that your tongue does not cut your throat.” Violence, injustice, drunkenness, and greed remain the hallmark of Fayose’s decadent way of life.
Many a life ends in ruin because someone else planned it to ruin it for them. But few people plan to ruin their lives. The invitation you choose to accept will determine whether you’ll find virtue or vice. A good leader is one whose ears get more use than his or her mouth.
Fayose lacks inner integrity. He has put himself in jeopardy for his own misdeeds. He has chosen the fool’s path to self-destruction. He must be prepared to account for his sins at the appropriate time and place.


Deputy Gov, Tele Ikuru is the modern Judas- Rivers APC

Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru has been branded the modern Biblical Judas Iscariot by the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In a statement released yesterday by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, lambasted Engr. Tele Ikuru for his unprovoked attack on Governor Chibuike Amaechi, a man who picked him from the gutter and made him whom he has become politically.
“We read with shock the description of Governor Amaechi as ‘irresponsible’ by Engr. Tele Ikuru during his ill-fated press conference in Port Harcourt few days ago, which he addressed in his new capacity as the Chairman of the Transition Committee set up by Chief Nyesome Wike, the INEC-declared Governor of Rivers State. 


It is sad that after serving as Amaechi’s Deputy for over seven years, Ikuru, who several times in the past described Gov. Amaechi as the Hero of Rivers Politics and the best political exponent from the State, is suddenly singing a different tune. This is the height of ingratitude and paints Ikuru in his true colours as a Judas who is ever ready to sell his master for mundane gain,” Rivers APC said.
The party described Ikuru’s attack on Amaechi as unwarranted, saying: “Amaechi’s love for Ikuru is legendary. He chose him as his Deputy despite Ikuru having teamed up with Sir Celestine Omehia and others to frustrate Amaechi’s governorship ambition during the ill-fated PDP Primaries of 2007. With God’s intervention the Supreme Court in its wisdom revalidated Amaechi’s mandate as the authentic PDP guber candidate, thus making him the Governor.
“In 2011, against the advice of many well-meaning Rivers people, Amaechi went ahead to again select Ikuru as his running mate as he successfully sought re-election. It is also instructive that Governor Amaechi has refrained from either speaking ill of Engr. Ikuru or engineering his removal as Deputy Governor despite his defection from APC to the opposition PDP shortly before the 2015 elections. 
For Ikuru to now have the effrontery to describe his benefactor, a fellow who loves him with all his heart and who on various occasions left the running of Rivers State in his care, as a disgraceful leader does not only show him as an ingrate of the highest order but also indicates that Engr. Ikuru may need to subject himself to psychiatric tests.”
Rivers APC said while it is understandable for Ikuru to be tempted to engage in excesses in view of Wike’s promise to appoint him as the Secretary to State Government (SSG), he should tread with caution, especially as the declaration of Wike as Governor would soon be reversed by the Election Petition Tribunal.

The party congratulated the gubernatorial candidates of KOWA party, Mr. Kemka Elenwo; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Charles Harry; Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr. Minaibim Harry; and Labour Party (LP), Prince Tonye Princewill, for joining APC’s governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, to challenge Wike’s purported election at the Election Petition Tribunal.
 “With the evidences adduced by all these great Rivers State leaders, we are confident that bloodthirsty desperados who believe that they can seize the governorship seat by hook or crook will soon be put to shame and showed the exit door by the Tribunal,” Rivers APC stated.

Emmanuel Adebayor opens more can of worms on his family.

Togolese international, Emmanuel Adebayor is not done lifting the lid on his issues with his family members. Here’s the Part 2 of the “series” he aired on his facebook page few days ago. Read the Part 1  here

 “SEA, here is another part of the story I have kept inside since. Today I feel the constant need to let it out. If I share my stories, it is because I believe every story comes with a lesson. And the lesson is for anyone that is reading this. 


This is about a brother who keeps saying today that I am not a good support for our family. His name is Rotimi Adebayor. At the age of 13, he did something very bad. He and I know what he did. Because of that our parents had to send him to a village far from the big city.

When I started to be successful in football and I went to Togo for vacation; at that time one of my mother’s friend came from the village to visit us. As she explained how Rotimi was suffering in the village, I immediately asked them to bring him back into the city. As soon as he came back, I made sure I put him in school. For me that is normal.

In 2002, I went to play the AFCON in Mali and I had the huge privilege to swap my shirt with Marc-Vivien Foé. May his soul rest in peace. When I got back to Togo, I put that shirt in a secure place. My brother found a way to steal that shirt and sold it.


When I moved from Metz to Monaco, we reached an advanced stage in the Champions League and we played against Real Madrid. It was one of most beautiful day of my life because I was lucky enough to get a signed shirt from the football legend Zinedine Zidane. As I brought that shirt back to Togo, my brother still found a way to steal that shirt and sold it.


When I was in Metz, I was earning about €15,000 a month. I wanted to get something unique for my mom to thank her for all she did for me. I wanted to make her happy. So I decided to take an amount worth 3 months of my wages and I bought her a Cartier neckless for about €45,000. Rotimi and his friends Akim(@Yam Freedom) and Tao (@Sao Tao Oyawole) made a plan and stole that precious neckless. They sold it for about €800. 



When my mom and I found out, my mother asked me not to bother because he is the younger brother. Despite the situation, I would like to take this same occasion to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day!
In my house, I have a storage room where I keep some of my belongings when I travel back to Europe. I am the only one with that key but my brother managed to get a master key that was able to open every single door in the house. He frequently stole drinks and other items from that room.

After all this we kept saying”blood is thicker than water” and we moved on. Therefore, I decided to take him where I started my football in France. I brought him to a great football academy in France. You already know how this story ended. He stole cellphones from many of his teammates and they sacked him from the football academy. 



By the way, after I published the first story about him, he called me to say that he did not steal exactly 21 phones. He claimed that the number was lower than that. Still…Is that acceptable? He also added that I should be happy that he stole drinks and other items from my storage room. I asked him why and he replied: “Because I am your brother”.

Jacques Songo’o who is now a retired Cameroonian footballer also had his son in the academy and he was a good friend of Rotimi. Let me add that he was part of my development as a footballer and he always gave me good advices. I was in Togo on my days off when Songo’o called me; he sounded very angry. He explained to me how my brother stole his son’s PSP. When I asked my brother why he did that, he argued that he forgot it in his bag. How can you forget someone else’s device in your bag and travel with it from France to Togo? Since that day, my relationship with Songo’o changed and he has become pretty distant with me and my family.


I was still in Monaco when I decided to collect all football boots from my teammates so I could give them to people in Africa. I had a huge bag full of shoes. I brought that bag to Togo. A few days after when I decided to give the boots out to the people in need, I noticed the bag full of boots disappeared. Later on, I found out that my brother was the one who stole the bag and went to sell the shoes in Hedzranawoé (famous public market in Togo).


One day, my mom called me early in the morning when I was still in bed. She told me that Rotimi has gotten a Visa to go to Dubai so he can play football out there. He had to leave that day with his friend Kodjovi (@Denilson de Souza) who was in the same situation. It was either they went that day or the Visa would be suspended. I asked one of my guys at the time (@Agui Mozino) to go find tickets for my brother and his friend. We could not find any economy class ticket on that day so I had to get them both first class tickets. After all, it was an opportunity for him to make his own career in Dubai.


Only 4days later, Rotimi went back home. He explained how the lifestyle in Dubai was not made for him. He said he wasn’t free to do what he wanted to do because it is a strictly Muslim place. He couldn’t drink, party as much as he wanted or kiss girls in public.


The part 3 is coming out soon and it will be about the man that calls himself the father of the family @Kola Adebayor A.K.A Lion of Judah.”


Friends deserted me after my defeat – President Jonathan.

And that’s absolutely normal in life! Outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan during a farewell church service held in Abuja yesterday revealed that some of his friends, turned their backs against him shortly after he conceded defeat to General Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential poll.

“Some hard decisions have their own costs. No doubt about that. It is a very costly decision but I must be very ready to pay for it. ‎If you take certain decisions, you should know that people close to you will even abandon you at some point. I tell people that more of my so-called friends will disappear.” He said.

President Jonathan said he’s not surprised by the actions of some defectors adding that former South African president Frederik de Klerk faced a similar situation.

de Klerk’s marriage to his wife, Marike, broke down after he took that decision.‎But that is the only decision that made South Africa to still be a global player. If by this time we still have minority rule in South africa, nobody would have been talking about South Africa in the present generation,” he said.

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