Maria Cue the bling! Mariah Carey is engaged to her Mariah Carey is engaged to her boyfriend, James Packer, her rep confirms to Us Weekly. According to Carey's rep, the pair got engaged on Thursday, January 21, in New York City.
The “Hero” singer and the Australian billionaire businessman, 48, have been dating under a year. The two lovebirds just got some R&R while aboard Packer’s yacht in St. Bart’s earlier this week.
The pair first stepped out together in June during a Capri getaway. “He’s wooing her,” a source told Us at the time.
This will be the third marriage for Carey, who split from estranged husband Nick Cannon in August 2014. The America’s Got Talent host filed for divorce from Carey in January 2015.
During a recent interview with Dujour magazine, Cannon said he “highly doubts” he’ll ever marry again.
Carey and Cannon are the parents of 4-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe. Prior to Cannon, Carey was married to Tommy Mottola for five years.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and founder of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, in prison custody.
Justice James Tsoho made the order on Wednesday after Kanu, who has since October 14, 2015 been in the custody of the Department of State Service, was arraigned along with two others on charges of treason and others bordering on his agitation for the secession of the Republic of Biafra from Nigeria.
Kanu was arraigned along with two others – Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.
The judge in ordering the remand of the accused in prison overruled the request by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Mohammed Diri, for an order further remanding the accused persons in the custody of the DSS.
The ruling of the court ordering Kanu’s remand came as a relief to the defence team, led on Wednesday by Mr. Chuks Mouoma (SAN), who had complained that the accused persons had been denied access to their families and lawyers since their arrest by the DSS on October 14, 2015.
Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Service since October 14, 2015, the day he was arrested in a Lagos hotel, on the allegation that he was plotting the secession of Republic of Biafra from Nigeria.
The accused persons all pleaded not guilty to all the six counts preferred against them.
The Punch
Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole Tuesday announced the escape of a Lassa fever patient in Ebonyi state.
The patient, whose identity was not made public, it was learnt escaped from the health facility where he was receiving treatment.
The minister made the disclosure during the emergency meeting of National Council on Health in Abuja. The National Council on Health is the highest advisory body on health in the country.
The minister also inaugurated the 15 member Lassa fever eradication committee, to address the outbreak of the disease and other communicable disease in the country. The committee is headed by Prof.
The minister while the meeting was on announced to the entire gathering that he just received a text that a Lassa fever patient had escaped from a health facility in Ebonyi while undergoing treatment.
The minister therefore urged the relevant agency and the state government to do everything possible to trace the patient and those who might have had contact with the patient.
The Emergency session of the National Council on Health (NCH) on Lassa Fever Outbreak approved that a high index of suspicion should be maintained and the surveillance systems should be robust enough to detect further infections.
Other decision reached at the meeting also approved the inauguration of the Multi-Sectoral Lassa Fever Eradication Committee and also implementation of the Multi-Sectoral Response Strategy.
The meeting broadly aimed to lay the foundation for a Multi-Sectoral Response to the Lassa Fever Outbreak which has claimed about 46 lives since the outbreak of the disease in August 2015 in Niger.
Council received a presentation from Prof. Isaac F. Adewole, Hon. Minister of Health titled “Laying the Foundation for a Multi-Sectoral Response to Lassa Fever”. The presentation elucidated the Multi-Sectoral Response Strategy for the control of Lassa fever and other similar diseases.
He called on all the States to strengthen their surveillance systems, report all cases and collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Health in the successful implementation of the Multi-Sectoral Response Strategy. Six Councils also received a presentation on Epidemiological Situation of the current Lassa Fever Outbreak in Nigeria including available Response Infrastructure/Resource requirements by Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, National Coordinator/CEO, NCDC; updates from Lassa Fever affected states who detailed the progression of the outbreak(s) in their states and current efforts to contain and prevent further spread of the disease and reassure the affected Communities; as well as updates from CMDs/MDs of Federal Tertiary Health Institutions located within the affected States on their response and high index of suspicion towards all cases coming to their institutions, their management of confirmed cases, and measures being implemented to prevent nosocomial spread within their facilities as well as their community outreach efforts.
The Council also observed that unlike Ebola, Lassa fever is treatable if detected early and there are adequate treatment centres spread across the country. Council therefore reassured the Public on the adequacy of the response to the outbreak and urged the Public, Community and Religious leaders to cooperate with the Health Agencies in their States to ensure prompt reporting of any suspected case.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the inaugurated Lassa fever committee, Prof. Oyewole Tomori has disabused the mind of the people on the possibility of eradicating the disease.
Tomori said that as far as there are rodents it will be impossible to eradicate the disease.
He however said that what the committee will work hard at is to ensure that the disease is brought under control to the point that it is no longer an epidemic.
He said: “We cannot eradicate Lassa fever but we can control it as not to allow it to become an epidemic.”
He further tresses that it is not that the country does not know what to do but “We don’t put our money where our mouth is.”
He therefore added that “this committee is not about Lassa alone but one that tackles all communicable diseases.
On the expected challenge the committee might encounter, Prof. Tomori said main challenge the committee might encounter could be in the area of funds.
He however said with the assurance given by the minister, it is believed that is over.
Tomori also said that it was important for the committee to properly utilize the funds that will be released to it in a transparent manner.
Like a scene out of a horror movie, a 10-year-old girl, Damilola Fasanya, who went missing on Saturday, January 9, 2016 in Ipaja area of Lagos, came home two days later to recount horrific tales of her short time in the hands of her kidnappers.
In fact, after her captors released her, she was so traumatised by what she saw that she could not gain her memory back for two days.
If Damilola’s parents did not vouch for her truthfulness, many would have dismissed her story as mere product of an imaginative mind.
Damilola said that on Saturday, she was on her way back from the errand she ran for her father around their street at Ipaja when a vehicle double-crossed her.
She said she was about rebuking the strange men in the vehicle for blocking her path, when two of them jumped out and forced her into their car.
“There were three of them in the vehicle. I became dizzy and did not know where I was again when one of them hit me with a strange object inside their vehicle,” Damilola said.
The girl said she faintly remembered that while they were on their way, a police patrol team stopped the men but the kidnappers sped off.
“The police started chasing the vehicle but the men escaped. The police van could not catch up with them. When we got to their boss, I noticed that it was a street.
“There were many houses there but I still did not know where I was. There were other children and older people in the house too. Their boss then told them to bring me before him.”
Damilola said she noticed that none of the men sounded like Yoruba. According to her, they were conversing in pidgin English.
According to the girl, a very strange thing happened when she was brought before the man.
“Immediately I got to his presence, he became angry. I noticed that blood started coming out of his body. He told his men, ‘See blood all over my body now. You brought an abomination to me.’
“He then dipped his hand inside his clothe and brought out a gun. He shot one of his men – the man who had touched me with the object while we were in the car.
“The one that was shot then fell down bleeding. There was blood everywhere. I did not know whether he died or not. The boss was angry. He said next time, they should not bring the wrong candidate to him. He then told the rest to pack him up and throw him away.”
Damilola said the man then told his men to go and dump her somewhere too.
Later, she said they dropped her around Super Bus Stop along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, where some sympathisers who saw her roaming the area took her to the Isokoko Police Division.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that she was too traumatised to remember anything when the police asked her where she was.
Her father, Mr. Femi Fasanya, said her daughter could not even tell the police who her parents are.
“The police kept her with them till she regained her memory back. Two days later, she told them that if they took her to Iyana Ipaja, she would know her way back home. When they took her there, her memory came back completely. The police then brought her to us.
“I cannot stop thanking God. Her mother and I have not eaten since that Saturday she went missing.
“Damilola told us that when the kidnappers asked for my phone number, she told them she did not know it even though she does. If not because of her wisdom, they probably would have kept her with them and asked us for ransom money.
“We thank God that they did not strangle or shoot her before they dropped her somewhere. You cannot imagine what we have been through these past days. We are Christ Apostolic Church members. Our church in Lagos and Ondo mobilised for marathon prayer on our behalf while residents of our street also mobilised to help out.”
The case of Damilola, who just finished her primary education and is about starting secondary school is another evidence that kidnap-for-ransom or kidnap for ritual purpose as the case may be, has continued to fester in a city where the police struggle with other numerous forms of crime.
The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Mrs. Dolapo Badmus, who confirmed the story, said the police are working on the girl’s testimony to investigate the activities of the kidnappers.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu
12288
•Crude production cost almost equals selling price
This is an uncertain period for the Nigerian economy due to the continuing fall in the price of crude oil, the nation’s main revenue earner, and projections for the petroleum industry are indeed grim, ’FEMI ASUwrites
With crude oil trading around $30 per barrel in the international market from a peak of $114 in June 2014, production from Nigeria now faces a decline as some fields face an imminent shutdown if the low oil price persists.
Industry players say operating some of the fields in the country is becoming uneconomic, with the selling price of oil being driven down close to the production cost level.
The price of the Nigerian crude oil, Bonny Light, has fallen to $29.47 per barrel, according to the latest data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“When oil price drops, we are all in serious trouble, because if the oil price and your unit operating cost are almost the same, it means that when you sell the oil, there is little profit or you are at a loss. Many companies are not far from there,” the Project Director for the Uquo gas field development, a joint venture project by Frontier Oil Limited and Seven Energy, Alhaji Abdullahi Bukar, told our correspondent.
“The unit technical cost of many of our producers is not far from $30 per barrel. So many companies are in trouble,” he added.
According to Bukar, the average production cost for many of the fields in the country is $24 to $25 per barrel.
“For some fields, the production cost is well above $25, maybe $28. For some fields, it is well below $20 and $25. Many of the older fields, which are mostly with the International Oil Companies, have got high production costs,” he said.
Global financial services firm, Morgan Stanley, on Monday joined banks such as Goldman Sachs, City Group and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in warning that prices could slide to $20 per barrel.
Bukar said, “The production in Nigeria is going to suffer. In the last five years, we have not invested as much as we should to develop additional reserves. Once, we keep going like that, whether there is price change or not, the amount of oil Nigeria is going to be producing will go down.
“When the price drops as low as $20-$30 range, people who have got those old fields or fields where oil production cost is above the selling price will shut them down. There is no point in producing oil to sell at a loss.”
Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, relies on crude oil for most of its export earnings and government revenue. Oil production in the country has continued to hover between 1.9 million barrels per day and 2.3 million bpd in recent years.
President Muhammadu Buhari had projected crude oil production of 2.2 million bpd for this year’s budget, down from 2.2782 million bpd in the 2015 budget, with oil-related revenues expected to contribute N820bn.
Industry experts also say the continued decline in global oil prices would stall a number of deep-water projects in the country.
The Chief Executive Officer, Petrosystem Nigeria Limited, Mr. Adeola Elliott, said, “Obviously, the plunging price will affect investment in new fields. I had a discussion with a top official in one of the IOCs operating in the country. What they have done now is to just keep maintaining the facility they have now and producing what they producing now. There is no more new investment.”
Prior to the drop in prices, several IOCs had in recent times shifted more of their focus to the offshore areas of the Nigerian oil industry as a result of onshore risks, with a number of planned deep-water projects expected to come on stream in the coming years.
Deep-water oil projects that have yet to achieve Final Investment Decision include Bonga Southwest and Aparo (Shell); Zabazaba-Etan (Eni); Bosi, Satellite Field Development Phase 2 and Uge (ExxonMobil); and Nsiko (Chevron).
An energy expert and Technical Director, Drilling Services, Template Design Limited, Mr. Bala Zakka, said with oil at $30 per barrel, the profits and projects, including Corporate Social Responsibility activities of many oil firms would be negatively affected.
“Major deep-water projects will be affected because they are very expensive. If oil continues to fall, a lot of exploration and drilling campaigns will reduce. A lot of marginal field operators will not be able to drill new wells. There is every possibility that companies will retrench to be able to stay afloat,” he said.
The Head, Energy Research, Ecobank Capital, Mr. Dolapo Oni, said, “Our production is really having issues, and I think it might be worse in 2016. Our production is likely to reduce this year.
“There are not as many fields likely to come on stream this year. Most companies just want to focus on their existing production. So, it is possible we won’t see as much new production come on stream to reverse the trend of decline in major fields we have. That might make production go down.”
Oil prices could reach as low as $10, Standard Chartered warned, stating, “Given that no fundamental relationship is currently driving the oil market towards any equilibrium, prices are being moved almost entirely by financial flows caused by fluctuations in other asset prices, including the dollar and equity markets.”
Wood Mackenzie, the energy consultancy firm, said in a report last week that since the oil price collapse in 2014, 68 major upstream projects containing 27 billion barrels of oil equivalent had been deferred.
This, it said, amounted to $380bn of capital expenditure deferred by total project spend in real terms.
It stated, “As oil prices continue to fall and capital allocation tightens, we expect the list will grow further. The level of production impacted by these deferrals is material in a global context.
“The FIDs on many of these projects have been pushed back to 2017 or beyond. Deep-water is hit the hardest. Over the next five years, $170bn of potential investment currently hangs in the balance across these 68 projects.”
Wood Mackenzie says, in all, some 27 billion barrels of oil equivalent in reserves, or 2.9 million barrels per day of liquids production, will not come on stream until early in the next decade, later than envisaged.
High cost deep-water fields, particularly those in Angola, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico, requiring heavy upfront investment, account for more than half of that deferred production.
Tourists take pictures in front of a shoe-shaped church in southern Chiayi on January 11, 2016. The church, which measures 55 feet tall and 36 feet wide, took two months to build. (Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images)
(CNN)The marvels of modern architecture abound around the world. There's a building that looks like a banknote in Lithuania, a building called the "friendly alien" in Austria, and now, a church shaped like a high-heeled shoe in Taiwan.
The church, a tinted blue glass structure, is 55-feet tall at the top of the heel, and 36-feet wide. Based on that and guessing it's roughly 75-80 feet from toe to heel, we'll call it a size 880.
The structure has been created by local government officials in Taiwan and will be used primarily for weddings and and photo shoots, but not regular services, the BBC reports.
New York magazine quotes a regional official as saying the completed building will include features like "chairs for lovers, maple leaves, biscuits, and cakes."
The design of the glass slipper was inspired by the story of a local woman whose wedding was canceled after legs were amputated, and who lived out her days in a church, according to the BBC.
Cesc Fabregas has looked better in the last few weeks (Picture: Getty Images)
Time is running out for Chelsea to salvage anything from this season.
Saturday’s draw with Everton means that qualifying for any sort of European football through the Premier League now looks impossible so the Blues should focus all their energy on the cup competitions and prepareing for next season.
But what can Guus Hiddink change to improve Chelsea’s fortunes in the long-term.
The Dutchman has already reintroduced John Obi Mikel in place of the dreadful Nemanja Matic but there are still too many players within that squad that simply don’t pull their weight.
As such Hiddink needs to identify the players who don’t want to be there, make sure the club knows they need to be offloaded in the summer and then leave them out.
There is no point in playing players now who won’t be at the club next term.
One of the areas that Chelsea have struggled in is the midfield and, although Mikel has helped to remedy this, Hiddink could perhaps contemplate a return to a three man midfield in order to have an extra body to try protect what is a fragile defence.
Guus Hiddink has plenty he can do to improve Chelsea (Picture: Getty Images)
This would allow the Blues to control games from the middle of the park and would allow Cesc Fabregas to play his more natural attacking game, spreading the passes from a deeper role.
Hiddink is not blessed with options in central midfield but this itself is a Ruben Loftus-Cheek operate alongside Mikel and Fabregas?
This change would have one eye on the future as the young midfielder deserves a chance to impress and, with a probable lack of Champions League football next year, signings may be hard to come by.
Blooding one or two of your own youngsters into first team stars is going to pay dividends as well as saving cash.
Chelsea may need to dip into the January sales to pick up some support for Diego Costa, though.
Radamel Falcao was not worth the gamble and Loic Remy may seek a move for more regular action.
There’s also a case for the defence as Branislav Ivanovic simply has to be removed and Kurt Zouma needs a Ricardo Carvalho-type defender alongside him so he can attack the ball while the more measured centre half sweeps up, like Marcel Desailly used to do for John Terry when he was first coming through.
Hiddink may improve results in the short term but there’s a far bigger job for Chelsea to attend to as challenging for top four is far from guaranteed next season, and there’s much to be done this year in order to help get their house in order.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney pounced to score a 78th-minute winner as his side stunned eternal rivals Liverpool with a smash-and-grab 1-0 victory at a freezing Anfield on Sunday.
Presiding over his first game against United, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp watched his team dominate, but Rooney punished their profligacy with his fifth goal in four games, a close range snapshot after Marouane Fellaini had hit the bar.
It was United’s first shot on target, but it was enough to give visiting manager Louis van Gaal his fourth win over Liverpool in four games and a first away victory since the 2-1 success at Watford on November 21.
Victory took United to within two points of the Champions League places and allowed them to reclaim fifth place from West Ham United, leaving Liverpool six points back in ninth place, their top-four hopes fading.
They may be England’s two most decorated clubs, but Liverpool and United are not this season’s leading contenders and a scrappy, shapeless first half reflected both clubs’ recent difficulties.
Both teams had drawn 3-3 on their previous outings – Liverpool at home to Arsenal, United at Newcastle United – but there was to be no frenzied attacking to warm the 43,865 shivering souls at Anfield.
What quality football there was came chiefly from Liverpool and, in particular, Roberto Firmino, preferred once again to Christian Benteke as the nominal frontman.
He was involved in two early chances, first drilling narrowly wide after Jordan Henderson, freed by Lucas Leiva, had seen a header palmed away by the outrushing David de Gea and then releasing James Milner to slice wide with a fine, half-volleyed pass.
It was from a Firmino flick, meanwhile, that Henderson flashed a shot across goal and wide after a neat move also involving Adam Lallana.
The Brazilian looked poised to put Liverpool ahead six minutes before half-time, but as he cocked his right foot to shoot, Anthony Martial nipped in to intervene.
A ragged half for the visitors ended with Ashley Young hobbling off after appearing to injure his groin, with youngster Cameron Borthwick-Jackson coming on.
Stationed out on the left, Martial had to wait until first-half stoppage time for a sight of goal, but after driving into the box, his shot was blocked by Mamadou Sakho.
Injured United trio Michael Carrick, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo were among the fans in the away end and they could only look on with concern as Liverpool’s dominance continued in the second half, De Gea saving with his feet after Emre Can had flummoxed Chris Smalling with a step-over.
Martial threatened in the 56th minute, fizzing a shot wide after Borthwick-Jackson’s cross was deflected into his path, but Liverpool were soon back on top.
De Gea fielded a side-foot effort from Henderson and then plunged to his right to parry an effort from Can before springing up to claw away Firmino’s cross from the rebound.
Van Gaal sent on Juan Mata, match-winner in United’s 2-1 victory at Anfield last March, and Memphis Depay, but still Liverpool came, Mamadou Sakho heading Milner’s cross over.
They could not make their pressure count, however, and with 12 minutes remaining Rooney made them pay by slamming the ball past Simon Mignolet after Fellaini’s header came back off the bar.
Liverpool’s best chance of an equaliser fell to Firmino, but he could not control Milner’s mishit shot right in front of goal and as his disbelieving glance at the linesman testified, there was no offside flag to spare his blushes.
Attacks on oil installations in Delta State entered the third day, yesterday, as militants blew-up major crude oil and gas pipelines to the Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, Tank Farm in Warri South West Local Government Area of the state.
Blown up on Friday night was the main crude line from Makaraba through Otunana and Abiteye to Escravos while Olero to Escravos gas line was attacked in the early hours of yesterday.
Earlier on Thursday, the Escravos – Warri – Abuja – Lagos pipelines came under attack. The Itsekiri raised the alarm, yesterday, that the attacks could metamorphose into another Ijaw-Itsekiri war.
File…Militants
These acts of sabotage are coming at a time when global crude oil price continues its downward move.
THE military, yesterday, deployed army and naval personnel in the creeks of Delta State to contain the militants.
Our source, who spoke from one of the Ijaw communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area, at about 5.30 pm said, “The situation is not clear yet, but there are gunboats everywhere. It is a combined team of soldiers and navy people patrolling the creeks.
“Movement is restricted. The military personnel are going about to show their presence and scare the militants, who strike in the night and not in the daytime. But, at least, their presence has shown that the military was ready to confront them.”
The authorities, caught napping by the resumption of hostilities four days ago, reportedly saw the danger of allowing further bombings and mobilised to counter the militants.
After bombing the Escravos-Warri-Abuja-Lagos pipelines at about 10.00 pm on Thursday, the militants were emboldened to blow up Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL’s Utunana –Makaraba crude oil line at 10.30 pm on Friday and proceeded to bomb Olero gas line in the early hours of yesterday.
Their target it is believed is to cripple crude oil production and arm-twist the Federal Government. Already, CNL, heavily hit by the Thursday and Friday attacks, was considering shutting down operations, even as workers have been restricted to their camps in the affected locations.
The Itsekiri fear
Chair, Itsekiri Regional Development Council, IRDC, Chief Ayiri Emami, expressed concern, yesterday, that with attacks targeted at oil facilities in Itsekiri towns and villages, it might metamorphose into another Ijaw/Itsekiri war.
He said those carrying out the attacks were Ijaw militants known to the security agencies, state and federal governments, and challenged them to rein in the gunmen.
Meanwhile, ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, maintained, yesterday, that he had no hands in the bombings. His media adviser, Paul Bebenimibo, told Sunday Vanguard: “Tompolo has nothing to do with the ongoing attacks.”
Emami, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard on phone, said, “The situation right now is unpredictable. This was how the Itsekiri and Ijaw crisis started in 2003 and 2007. Government and security agencies know the person blowing up the pipelines and his boys, they cannot say that that they do not know them. I do not see how the entire local government area should be put on edge because of one person and his selfish interests.”
He went on “We are concerned because they have left their areas to bomb oil facilities in Itsekiri areas of Dibi, Abiteye and Kpokpo and the next thing now; they want to bomb Itsekiri villages. They started on Thursday night; government and security agents are looking at them, so they continued again on Friday night.
“Probably, they will continue again on Saturday night. That is why we are calling on government to stop them because we know their plan. They want to make this place ungovernable, but we will not fold our arms and watch them.
“It is the same set of boys who blew up the Escravos-Warri-Lagos-Abuja gas pipeline that they sent to blow up Chevron pipelines. They have been holding nocturnal meetings on where to bomb in the last few days.”
Last night, on industry source told Sunday Vanguard that CNL and other oil companies in the riverside areas of Delta State were on the verge of shutting operations out of fear of the unknown.
‘Tompolo stepped on toes’
Also, yesterday, the Warri Ijaw Peace Monitoring Group, WIPMG, Warri, Delta State, said Ekpemupolo stepped on powerful toes while executing his contract to protect gvernment oil installations and the forces have now coalesced against him.
The group, in a statement by its chair, Chief Patrick Bigha, condemning the bombing of crude oil and gas pipelines in Warri in the last few days, said the involvement of All Progressives Congress, APC chieftains in Bayelsa state, who are out to spite Tompolo should not be ruled out.
It said: “The Warri Ijaw Peace Monitoring Group wishes to condemn the renewed wanton destruction of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region. We are truly disturbed with this happening as the Nigerian economy is in a bad shape; therefore, we are calling on those behind this act to cease hostilities immediately.
“We are not happy over the incident as it look like a smear campaign against the person of High Chief Government Ekpemupolo,because of his position in the Bayelsa State governorship election as well as the issue with the EFCC, which is a legal issue that will be appropriately addressed.
“It is worthy of note that Tompolo will not embark on such self destructive mission as one that fervently believes in the Nigeria project, and has contributed to peace building and development of Nigeria.”
former President Olusegun Obasanjo was on Saturday awarded a master’s degree in Christian Theology by the National Open University of Nigeria.
SUNDAY PUNCH reports that Obasanjo was among the 10, 653 students who bagged degrees in various academic fields at the institution’s 5th convocation ceremony held at its permanent campus in Abuja.
About 15 of them graduated with First Class honours.
Obasanjo was said to have earlier graduated from NOUN with a first degree in Christian Theology and enrolled for master’s degree in the same discipline.
Others who graduated with him included the Emir of Hadejia, Adamu Maje, and Paramount Ruler of Agwu, Felix Okechukwu Asad.
He is expected to continue his PhD degree at the institution, according to the Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Joshua Tenebe.
He said, “It is interesting to know that former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, will be graduating with a master’s degree (MA Christian Theology), having met the requirements for the award during the convocation. Having been given admission to study MA/PhD in Christian Theology, Chief Obasanjo will continue with his PhD fully.”
Tenebe commended the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for releasing funds through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund for the construction of structures at the university’s permanent site.
He also appealed for more funds to be able to adequately equip and furnish the completed projects.
Other prominent Nigerians who graduated included an over 70-year -old retired naval officer, Rear Admiral Orissa, who graduated with First Class in Mathematics; 78-year-old Chief Femi Balogun, the Mayegun and Tunwase of Isara, who graduated from the School of Law; a blind student, Mr. Obinna Bede, who bagged B. Ed English from Abuja Study Centre, as well as Udo Ukeme Effiong, who emerged the best graduating student with highest First Class grade score of 4.71 in Environmental Sciences and Resource Management.
Claudette Dion, one of the 14 siblings, said that Daniel, 59, did not have long left to live. She said it was the third time he had been diagnosed with cancer.
"It looks a lot like René, he had cancer of the throat, tongue and brain," said Claudette. "Our family is very experienced."
Celine Dion and Rene Angelil in Quebec in 2013 Photo: AP
Claudette said part of the Dion family – including Celine's 89-year-old mother, Therese – were gathered at Daniel's beside on Thursday, after they were informed that Daniel was "dying."
"We are with Daniel, day and night," she said.
Celine, 47, has already cancelled her Las Vegas shows for Saturday and Sunday, following René's death on Thursday.
Celine Dion and Rene Angelil get married in Montreal, 1994 Photo: Rex
"We are heartbroken to hear this news, not only because René was a great friend and mentor and an extraordinary partner with us in these shows at Caesars Palace for the last 13 years, but even more because he and Celine were so devoted to each other; their relationship has been a model for us all," a spokesperson for AEG said in a statement.
She is expected to return to her Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on February 23.
Celine Dion and manager Rene Angelil arrive at the Oscars in 2011 Telegraph
Image copyrightAFPImage captionAfrican Union troops in Somalia are supporting the UN-backed government
BBC reports that the Al Shabab Islamist group says it has taken "complete control" of the AU camp and killed more than 60 Kenyan soldiers.Al-Shabab militants have overrun an African Union military base outside the southern Somali town of el-Ade.
Residents told the BBC that al-Shabab had raised its flag at a camp for Kenyan troops and said insurgents had paraded bodies through the town.
But Kenya's army spokesman said it was a nearby Somali base that was stormed and Kenyan troops counter-attacked.
The number of casualties on both sides was not known, Kenyan military spokesman Col David Obonyo said in a statement.
He told the BBC that reports of high Kenyan casualties were "normal propaganda from al-Shabab".
Kenya contributes more than 4,000 troops to the 22,000-strong AU force that is in Somalia helping the UN-backed government battle al-Shabab, which is part of al-Qaeda.
An el-Ade resident told the BBC by phone that he had heard a loud explosion at about 05:30 local time (02:30 GMT), followed by heavy gunfire.
"We then saw an al-Shabab fighter in the town. We also saw Kenyan soldiers who were fleeing from the camp.
"At the moment the camp is in the hands of al-Shabab. We can see military cars burning and dead soldiers all over the place. There are no civilian casualties but most people have fled the town."
Al-Shabab is keen to stress - both to the foreign forces in Somalia and would-be defectors within its ranks enamoured by so-called Islamic State - that it is a force to be reckoned with.
It is true that the group exaggerates the scale of its attacks but whether or not the death toll from el-Ade attack is as high as claimed, the African Union mission (Amisom) will have to recognise it still has a long way to go to gain full control of the country.
It says a lot for the insurgents to be daring enough to strike at the heart of an African Union base and engage troops in hours of combat.
They have done this before - in two major attacks targeting the Somali military last year, dozens of Burundian troops and Ugandans soldiers were killed.
Despite these setbacks, Amisom has achieved a lot recently by managing to push al-Shabab out of many parts of southern Somalia.
An al-Shabab official told the BBC that its fighters had attacked the base after morning prayers, starting with a car bomb before storming the facility.
"We took control of the base after one hour of fierce fighting," he said.
"We counted 63 Kenyan bodies inside the base. The other Kenyan troops have run away into the bush and we are hunting them down."
He said the militants were confiscating 28 of 31 military vehicles inside the camp and all arms and ammunition.
The two military bases - one for Somali troops and the other for AU soldiers - neighbour each other on the outskirts of el-Ade, which is in Gedo region, about 380km (240 miles) west of Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab was ousted from the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011, but still has a presence in large areas of southern Somalia and often stages attacks across the country.
It seems there is a wave of coordinated attacks parts of Africa. Earlier, USA Today reports that Gunfire and explosions are reported in the capital of the landlocked, West African country ofBurkina Fasoonly days after a newly elected president took office following an abortive coup in September by presidential guards against an interim government, according to news media reports.
The BBC quotes witnesses as saying two car bombs exploded outside the Hotel Splendid, which was then stormed by masked men. The four-story hotel in the central Ouagadougou, the capital, is frequented by the westerners and staff of theUnited Nations.
Gunfire and explosions are also reported by Reuters and the AFP news agency, which said a car had been set afire at the Splendid, a four-star hotel located near the airport. An Associated Press reporter near the scene said several cars were also ablaze at the site..
In addition, one witness reports that a nearby cafe-retaurant,The Cappuccino was also targeted, according to the French news agency. Another unconfirmed report on social media said six bearded men wearing turbans and masks went into the hotel.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, though jihadists have attacked hotels before in neighboring Mali, including a devastating attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in November that left 20 people dead. While Burkina Faso has largely been spared the violence wracked by Islamic extremist groups in Mali, a Romanian national was abducted last April
The U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou said on Twitter that it is "closely following the situation downtown."
The reported unrest follows growing tension in the wake of a coup that collapsed September after only a week. The newly installed government recently issued an arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro, the head of the National Assembly in neighboring Ivory Coast, for his alleged involvement in the failed coup attempt, which was led by presidential guards.
In addition, President Roch Marc Kabore, the new president, broke with the past on Wednesday by picking a cabinet packed with ministers who had not served under the previous administration of longtime leader Blaise Compaore, who was president for 27 years. Compaore went into exile in Ivory Coast after being ousted in a popular uprising in 2014.
The warrant was issued through Interpol and the foreign ministry, according to prosecutor Col. Sita Sangare, the Associated Press reports. It was not immediately clear if the latest unrest was directly related to the previous coup efforts.
Soro allegedly offered to give support to coup leaders in phone calls to Burkina Faso's former foreign affairs minister Djibril Bassole, Sangare said, adding that the calls will be used as part of the prosecution. The calls, however, have not yet been authenticated.
Bassole was arrested and jailed at the end of September on accusations that he helped support coup leader Col. Gilbert Diendere, who is also now jailed. Bassole has denied the allegations. Diendere has been charged with crimes against humanity for the deaths of 15 people and the wounding of about 250 others around the coup attempt.
Bassole was a high-ranking minister under former Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, who is now in exile in Ivory Coast after being ousted in a popular uprising in October 2014.
