Okonjo-Iweala to Senate: Nigeria not broke, cash problems normal

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Thursday, tried to douse the controversy set off by the implementation of the budget by the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Okonjo-Iweala spoke at the Senate when she appeared before the special joint committee on the performance of the 2012 budget.

Asked if the country was broke, she said, “The country is absolutely not broke. And I want to repeat that again, because there are those who would want to push that idea. The country is not broke, (though) the country may have cash flow problems from time to time. That is normal and is to be expected because a person may be very wealthy, he may have a lot of assets but at a particular point in time the stream of income may delay.

“You are running a business, you can be assets rich therefore you cannot be broke but you may have a temporary month when the flow is not as it should be because the price of that product may be lower. The time for you to collect money from that product may take a little longer because you extended credit to people by selling to them and then telling them you will collect later. So, sometimes there may be temporary cash flow issues, but the country broke? The answer is no.”

BREAKING NEWS!!! EMIR of FIKA survives suicide attack at Friday prayers

Emir of Fika and Chairman of Yobe state Council of Chief, Mohammed Abali Ibn Idrissa, escaped a suicide bomber’s attempt on his life this afternoon.
The bomber had tried to get close to the chief after the Friday prayers at the Potiskum Central Mosque located at the Emir’s palace but was stopped by a police aide to the chief.
Eyewitnesses said the suicide bomber then brought out a gun when he saw he was going to be prevented from reaching his target. However, the bomb exploded before he could make further progress.
3 people have been confirmed injured from the blast.
Two Emirs have been targeted in less than a month
Barely one month after a bomb explosion in Maiduguri Central Mosque almost killed the Shehu of Borno, the Emir of Fika, Muhammadu Abali Ibn Muhammadu Idrissa, today narrowly escaped bombed to death in a another suicide attack at the Potiskum Central Mosque.
Reports say the suicide bomber and the Emir’s police orderly died instantly after the bomb went off.
More details later..
They claim to be fighting for Islam and are still killing in the month of Ramadan,Are they really Muslims?

LASG signs law to test, jail traffic offenders

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola on Thursday signed the state’s Road Traffic Law which recommends psychiatric, breath and urine tests, fines and prison terms, among others for traffic offences.

Fashola, during a short signing ceremony at the State House, Alausa, Ikeja, said the law was in response to the growing challenges of road traffic management in the state.

He said while his administration was addressing transportation challenges, the law would complement government’s efforts. He urged motorists to see the law as a means to change the state for the better, adding that it would be good if motorists complied rather than be arrested.

He said, “There are rules like this in many cities that we have travelled to and we comply. Why is it difficult to comply at home? “The deputy governor and I are the only ones that have immunity from arrest, but we will subject ourselves to the law because no one will be above this law.

Task force arrests 52 sex workers

The Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit has arrested 52 commercial sex workers.

The ladies, whose ages range between 18 and 34 years, were raided at different spots in Isaac John and Toyin streets in Ikeja by policemen attached to the unit.

It was learnt that the exercise, which took place between 10pm on Wednesday and 1am on Thursday, was as a result of several petitions by residents of the areas against the sex workers.

The source within the task force, said, “We started moving round Toyin Street and later Isaac John Street to know where the prostitute usually stand to solicit for customers. “As soon as we were satisfied, we started arresting them. The excercise did not last for more than three hours.”

Task force Chairman, Bayo Sulaiman, a Superintendent of Police, confirmed the arrest.

He said, “There had been complaint by residents against a surge of commercial sex workers on Isaac John and Toyin streets. “Isaac John Street is where we have the Government House and it is a criminal offence to solicit for sex by roadside.”

He warned that the task force would extend its raids to Lagos Island, Ikoyi and Victoria Island where he said commercial sex activities had been on the increase.

Gabby Douglas

American teenager Gabby Douglas has been wowing the world with grace, style, and of course, the women's all-around gymnastics gold medal. Nevertheless, much of the chatter on social media and online platforms has been about the upkeep of her hair, and not all feedback is positive.
Douglas, one of the few African-American gymnasts ever to compete in the Olympics and the first to win all-around gold, is an inspiring story. Read it HERE
Also She won Olympic Gold in gymnastics, certainly among the marquee individual events at the Olympics;
- She is the first American gymnast to win both individual and team Gold at the same Olympic Games, so she made some performance history;

Khloe Kardashian Would LOVE to Host The X Factor

A few weeks after word spread that Andrews, a new Fox correspondent, was interested in hosting Season 2 of this singing competition, Khloe Kardashian has come out and reiterated her interest in the gig.

"I'm a big fan of The X Factor," Khloé told E! News at some random Beverly Hills launch party yesterday. "I've always wanted to do hosting or talk show hosting, so it's definitely something that I would love to do and would be honored to do."

Has Kardashian actually met with producers? She wouldn't say. But she did gush over the head producer, Simon Cowell.

"I think he's amazing. I love personalities like that because I'm someone who is very straightforward and I tell it like it is. That's what he's doing. He just doesn't want to blow smoke up people's asses."

 She's reportedly up against other hosting contenders such as Mario Lopez, Kelly Osbourne and Stacy Keibler.

*FingersCrossed

David Mark cautions on budget implementation controversy

The Senate President, David Mark has urged Nigerians not to generate unnecessary controversy over the performance of 2012 budget but rather show concern with its actual implementation.

Senator Mark, who was speaking at the NTA-STAR TV launch in Abuja, noted that the rift between the Executive and the Legislature over the 2012 budget has been over-exaggerated.
According to him, the country does not need to further distract the process of implementation by concentrating on percentage performance but worry more about the impact of the budget on the ordinary Nigerian.

Al-Mustapha’s mother dies at 67

Hajiya Fatima Al-Mustapha Nguru, mother of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer to the late head of state General Sani Abacha has died.

She passed away at a hospital in Kano on Wednesday at the age of 67 after a protracted illness.
Her funeral prayer was held at the family residence on Lamido Crescent area of Kano metropolis after which she was buried at Kofar Mazugal cemetery in Kano city at around 5:30pm.

$620,000 bribery scandal:Investigations will be completed in two weeks- Force PRO

 
The ongoing investigation on the bribery scandal involving the former chairman, House Commitee on Fuel Subsidy Probe, Farouk Lawan, and oil magnate, Femi Otedola will come to a close in two weeks.
Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, told Punch Newspaper that the Special Task Force(STF)  handling the matter was close to concluding its investigations.

Woman tied to bed and set on fire by lover

Juliana, the mother of 21-year-old Tolu Esuola, who was found burnt to death on her bed in Oyo, Oyo State, on July 24, has said that Kunle, the suspect arrested in connection with the incident, was seen in the house on the fateful day by her neighbours.

The woman, who spoke to Punch correspondent in Oyo on Thursday, said, “Some of our neighbours told me they saw Kunle in our house that day. Juliana said Kunle had impregnated her daughter but terminated it, resulting in a frosty relationship between the duo.
She told PUNCH Metro, “Kunle was like our son. My husband took him in about four years ago after we converted him from Islam to Christianity. He began going to church with us.
“We did everything for him as if he was our son. I was shocked when I was told that he had impregnated her.”

Why I changed my name to Safarie' Singer, Ego Omalicha opens up

 

The sexy singer explains:

We are two Ego's in the music industry and we get mistaken for the other most of the time. For example, she got nominated for an award and people started congratulating me, and I had to explain to them one after the other that it wasn't my Ego. At times a song that one of us did is usually mistaken for the other. I realized that this issue just kept dragging me back, because I was sharing my brand name with someone else and yes, she has been there before me. So, I just decided that it would be better for me to create my own brand name and style that would be originally me without any controversy.

Floyd Mayweather Released from Prison

Floyd Mayweather has been released from prison, and just in time, too: the poor guy was totally wasting away in there!

The boxer served two months of a 90-day sentence for domestic battery and walked out of Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas yesterday. He hugged various friends and family members - including 50 Cent - on the way to his car, but did not say anything to the media.

Mayweather was jailed on June 1 after pleading guilty to an incident in September 2010 where he got physical with Josie Harris, the mother of his three children.

It's unclear, boxing-wise, what the future now holds for the undefeated champion.

One injured as three-storey building collapses in Lagos

An unidentified woman sustained injuries after a three-storey residential building at 3, Anikantamo Street, Lagos Island, collapsed on Wednesday. It learnt that the building, which is said to be about 10 years old, houses over 30 people.

One of the occupants of the building, Gabriel Areo, said they were warned by officials of the state government in 2011 of the imminent collapse but the landlord promised to renovate it. He said, “In 2011, some government officials came to the house and gave a warning that the building might collapse. The landlord promised that he would renovate the building and even collected two years rent from us. He however did not keep his promise.

“In the morning, I just went out briefly and by the time I came back, I just saw that the building had collapsed. I thank God that no one died but I’ve lost most of my belongings.”

PHOTOS:P-Square's Mum Burial

P-square's mum was buried in Anambra yesterday, i wasn't there but have compiled pictures from different websites for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!!!

JUST PICTURES!!!

Kin K & Kanye

Oge Okoye