Check out Mark Zuckerberg and his Nigerian pal running a Marathon

Check out Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg grinding through the miles in the San Francisco marathon today,


His Nigerian homebody, Ime Archibong, can't help but grin and encourage him with a fist bump.


Yes. You can do it Mark!

Wikilieaks: Hilary's Euphoric Pry Win Faces Fresh Threat

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is boasting about how his group's release of hacked Democratic National Committee emails is affecting the US presidential election -- and says it has unreleased information about Hillary Clinton's campaign.

"We have more material related to the Hillary Clinton campaign," Assange told CNN's Anderson Cooper on "Anderson 360" Friday night. "That is correct to say that."

Assange has been coy about how WikiLeaks came into possession of internal Democratic party cyber information. The FBI and Justice Department are investigating a computer hack of Democratic nominee Clinton's presidential campaign in addition to its examination of intrusions of other Democratic Party organizations, two law enforcement officials told CNN.

The revelation comes just days after the leak of thousands of Democratic National Committee emails -- US officials allege Russian hackers -- prompted major turmoil within the party, causing the abrupt resignation of its chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Assange said release of the information was timed to coincide with the start of the Democratic National Convention.

"That's when we knew there would be maximum interest by readers, but also, we have a responsibility to," Assange said. "If we published after, you can just imagine how outraged the Democratic voting population would have been. It had to had to have been before (the convention)."

Cooper asked Assange if the hack was connected to his "personal animus" toward Clinton.

"There is a question whether you have a personal animus toward Hillary Clinton. You criticized her on a number of issues. You gave an interview to the British network back in June, suggesting you are more concerned about Clinton at least in terms of press freedom than Donald Trump," Cooper said. "Do you stand by that? Is this based on a personal animus?"

But Assange pushed back on the idea that he wanted to "harm" Clinton.

"You can go back and look at that interview. I never said I wanted to do harm to Hillary Clinton, anything like that," he said. "It was the presenter that used that term."

Assange also said more material is forthcoming that is "extremely interesting."

"We have more material related to the Hillary Clinton campaign. That is correct to say that," he said. "Those are extremely interesting. We will see what will come of them."

Assange spoke from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he faces extradition over sexual assault allegations.

CNN

Another Beauty Queen Gets Stripped of Her Crown

To

Instagram

Another day, another beauty pageant scandal. 

Miss Universe Honduras Sirey Morán was stripped of her crown and title, and she will not be able to participate in this year's Miss Universe pageant. The announcement came later this week as the organization claims that she had not complied with her contract, according to LatinTimes. After that, things got a little crazy. 

Of the incident outlined below, she issued the following statement to E! News: "It is very unfortunate this has happened and I am very disappointed and hurt, violence is never the answer. I am working with proper authorities here in the United States and Honduras and I am confident in how they are handling this situation for me."

Morán didn't stay quiet and quickly fired back at Carlos Rivera, the director of Carimaxx, which is the organization that has the rights to the pageant in Honduras.

Photos: Mi

Morán sent a statement to El Heraldo about an incident with Rivera that occurred on June 30 at his New York residence. According to the beauty queen, a discussion over her participation in an event turned sour and things escalated quickly. She says that Rivera and another male verbally and physically attacked her to remove her cell phone after they realized she had recorded the conversation. That's when she ran out into the streets and called the police. 

Rivera tells a different story, he spoke to La Prensa and adamantly denied Moráns allegations, "I never hit her. That is my truth." There is also an audio tape in question, which Rivera said Morán altered. When asked if the Morán was officially out of the pageant he said, "Yes. I am the owner of this show, and if I say she isn't going, she isn't going. I no longer want to work with her and Sirey knows that very well." 

According to Rivera, problems between him and the beauty queen stem from her work ethic. "She would go to many events without discussing them with us. She would also participate in photo shoots for magazines without our authorization. She would do whatever she wanted. I would always tell her, 'You don't do this, we have to protect your image.' She didn't obey the contract's clause. She thinks she's in charge of this organization, but that's not the way it is," Rivera said. 

E! News

Buhari Agreed to Restructuring... - Lt.Gen. Akinrinade

Lt. General Alani Akinrinade served in various capacities in the Nigeria Armed Forces, as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) from October 1979 to April 1980. He was also Chief of Defence Staff until 1981, during the Second Republic. He was later appointed Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development (1985–1986), Minister of Industries (1988 – 1989) and Minister of Transport (1989); he later became a member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a pro-democracy group, during the Sani Abacha regime.


What’s your take on Buhari’s statement that the 2014 National Conference report is best for the archives?

 At first, I wanted to believe that he was misrepresented, and that it was not the vein in which he meant what the media reported. But as time went, even his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said something almost to that effect: that the country doesn’t need restructuring, but diversification. The APC’s National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, also said something almost to that effect. Therefore, if it is true that President Muhammadu Buhari made such comment in respect to the conference recommendations, then that is the height of arrogance.
One of them even described delegates to the conference as ‘boys’ when he said the conference was ‘job for the boys’.
I think in a gathering, where someone like retired Justice Idris Kutigi, a chief justice of sound reputation seated as chairman, and Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, a former minister of external affairs for many years, as his deputy, and several high ranking traditional rulers across the country, former politicians and armed forces personalities and many others, it is bad for anybody to pass such a comment.
While one may disagree entirely with the term of reference, President Buhari’s comment on the conference was like shooting the messenger, but what of the message he delivered? There are lots of good things that came out of it and which really needed some sober reflections from people who were not there. There are other issues the conference addressed that affect the generality of the leadership of the country.
If President Buhari, in fact, said that the conference was not the first, and it may not even be the last, that is fine. But he should remember that he signed in fidelity to the manifesto of his party to restructure, when he gets into power, and on account of that, we voted for him. It is totally wrong of him to have made such remark on the 2014 conference recommendations.
I can vouch that the Southwest was the catch web. However rickety Nigeria has become, if there is a wholesome reconstruction and re-engineering of the system, it can work. That was the major reason the Southwest went along with the APC and Buhari, as the presidential candidate in 2015.
If Mr. President is now saying that he has some other methods of doing the restructuring in accordance to his party’s manifesto, I would have loved to examine the modalities he wanted to use. But to tell us that he didn’t read the recommendations and that it is best for the archives and that, in fact, restructuring is unnecessary and according to his vice, what we needed is diversification and whatsoever, I remain baffled. They didn’t even spell out the modalities for their diversification. They were just saying we would diversify into agriculture and solid minerals, as if the items will come from heaven.
The remark was uncalled for and it was a terrible mistake. If the APC fails to do something in that direction, I’m not talking about the 2014 conference report alone, but all others preceding it that have similar recommendations to restructure this country, then President Buhari may forget it and I’m saying he is likely to be the last president of this country. It is as bad as that.

What’s your response to the suggestion that the National Assembly should adopt portions from the various conference reports, as part of the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution?

 If you take a critical observation of what is really happening in the current National Assembly, even apart from the constitution amendment, the question is what have the lawmakers achieved since they were inaugurated?
They were talking about immunity so that when they steal, nothing can be done to them. They were talking about constituency allowances and projects, as if that is the major bane of the country today. Our lawmakers have never volunteered to jettison anything on behalf of the people. We don’t manufacture vehicles in Nigeria, but our lawmakers are changing vehicles as if they are changing cloths every time. They were talking about allowances for dressing, which I take as an insult for a legislator, at any level for that matter, to be asking us to buy shirts for him.
This kind of legislators cannot handle anything that will benefit this country. To me, they are not even in the frame of mind to legislate anything that will save this country from going into perdition. Our lawmakers do not even understand the country they are supposed to be legislating for. I do not think they see the serious nature of what Nigeria has become and the danger that is lurking ahead of us. Right now, I am not too sure that the street I live is going to be safe in the next few months for all of us, who reside there, so it is in many other areas, if we should continue the way we are going.
I don’t think anything is going to go away even if Buhari tries, in a small measure, in the fight against corruption. I’m sure as soon as the table turns around; things are going to turn much more badly, because the institutions for fighting corruption are themselves not entirely out of corruption.
I’m not also sure that our lawmakers have got it right; a constitution to be amended, first of all, has to be wholesome. It has to be a people’s constitution. The constitution our lawmakers are talking about is a Military Constitution foisted on us by few individuals.
When some eminent Nigerians challenged the legality of the 1999 Constitution in the court, the power that be ensured that the case was never concluded. The case is still in court till we speak. So what are they amending? They believe that this constitution that the military gave us could be amended and it can be superior to any one that the Constituent Assembly, where every strata of Nigerians were represented, will give? No!
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Engr. Babachir David Lawal, said the 2014 Conference was ‘job for the boys’
I don’t know the man. If he were to be someone that I know his pedigree very well, I would have known what to say. I cannot take him too seriously other than say he is just being arrogant. It shows that he is never part of this society at all. Let me conclude that his new assignment is intoxicating him, but it is important to learn how to relate with his type. I don’t think he understood the import of what he said.


How do you juxtapose the recommendation to create 54 states at the 2014 Conference to the idea of regionalism proposed in the Yoruba Agenda during the 2005 conference?


I didn’t support creation of any other state from Oyo in the first place. I said that was the smallest entity that the Yoruba can have as a state, but we created Osun State out of it then. To that extent, you will wonder why I raised up my hand to support creation of 54 states? The argument is very simple. If by chance, we keep this mode of constitution that we have now, everyone will continue to take his lorry to Abuja to collect monthly allocation. If you remember, the conference said equality of states, so, we are going to write off all these question of landmass, population and others, because we know they are all cooked up; Nigeria is yet to have a proper census. We will write off all these and ensure that whatever any state gets is what the other is going to get.
Why should the Yoruba stand in the way of other zones, so, we said let us itemise everything and everybody will carry his bag to Abuja and collect allocation; that was the overriding argument.
Secondly, we also considered the fact that there are a lot of other minorities in the country, which are still feeling oppressed within the system. They brought their cases before the conference. For instance, we still have small communities who are Christian, but lumped among Muslim majority. They really wanted to get out of their present predicament. It is all in the report how we arrived at 54 states.
Some of us suggested that these states should be called provinces and to have a very lean Federal Government. We also said these new states should be represented by two people in the National Assembly and not the present volume of senators and members of House of Representatives we have, who are just consuming our money. It was not in a vacuum that we arrived at creating 54 states at the conference, there were reasons for it.
It was a very shameful thing for anybody to say lets create 54 states if you look at the performances of the states that we have now. But if we talk about it in context, it is not so alarming the way people perceive it.


What would be yours advice to APC and its government on this burning issue of restructuring the polity?

First, the APC must be told, in no uncertain terms that it is fraudulent. They led us down the garden part, lying to us about what is in the end of the tunnel. What was in the end of the tunnel was restructuring and each one of them, the party chairman, the president, his vice, and in that order, are all talking from the other side of their mouths now. In other words, they lied to us in 2015 before the election.
My message to them is, they should embark on a very major exercise now to restructure the country, otherwise, how do they propose to settle the crisis in the South-South because it is becoming embarrassing.


What are we going to do about the Boko Haram crisis, are we going to wish away the agitations by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB)?

To me, people talk about marginalisation as if people are looking for position, but the answer is no. A man whose land you went to tap recourses and then he couldn’t farm or fish, because you bastardised his farmland and you then send back to him stipends from what you took away from his land, such a man can never be happy.
Is the APC thinking that the matter of religion, ethnicity and other crises across the country are just going to go away? Even the late Sardauna of Sokoto said so, that we are a disparate people and we must recognise that fact and use it to our advantage. Nobody is going to build Nigeria the way APC is going about it. I’m not too sure how many people sing our National Anthem again because they don’t even believe in it.
There is nothing like unity in this country. Unity can only exist when we all understand one another and there are some mutual relationships. If I know you are always cheating me by giving 44 local councils to Kano and give Lagos 20, which is not in the same parameter with Kano in terms of population, production and name it, how can I be happy?
You gave eight to Bayelsa and 44 to Kano, meanwhile if you consider the volume of what Bayelsa contributes to the national purse, compared with that of Kano, you become amazed. People are talking as if these matters are simple, but they are not at all. They are not difficult to see and understand, but our leaders just refused to understand.
The first interrogation of this restructuring started in a very low-key. We were just fortunate it didn’t snowball, then. It was Isaac Boro, who started it, but we had not developed to this level then. If Boro had succeeded at that time to organise something like the Avengers or Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) of today, then the country would have been far in the doldrums now, because we would have used all our resources to fight him. Eventually, Boro fought in the Civil War on behalf of Nigeria.
 The second one was an intellectual interrogation by Ken Saro Wiwa, who thought we are rational people. He wrote and staged drama to send the message of what is going on in the Niger Delta to us, and the international community but what did we do to him? We hung him. We think the matter was settled, I bet you it is not. Now we have the Avengers and if we are able to settle them, the question is who would be next?
What was the outcome of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s amnesty programme? Today we have MEND and Avengers. If we deploy the entire Nigerian military to the Niger Delta area today, we would just be wasting our money and resources to fight internal wars, because the crisis will not stop.
It is better not to allow guerilla war start, otherwise when the pioneer of the war dies, his son would definitely take over from him and carry the gun. The reason is because the course of the struggle and agitation has never been addressed. Government after government has failed to address the root cause of the Niger Delta crisis because we all go to Abuja every month to share money. Nigeria can do much better.
What are we doing about the crisis across the country? I heard the president say the military should go after the Fulani Herdsmen; does he know where they are? They are all over the country right now. Meanwhile, how can any herdsmen in my village be molesting my people and we will not find out or seek the means to protect our lives?
The Federal Government had expropriated all the powers of the military, police and other security agencies, leaving nothing to the governors, to even defend themselves in time of crisis. Even if the state is able to gather intelligent report about any impending attack, because it lacks the means to defend itself, there is nothing the governor can do to stop it. That is what is going on now and that is why people are accusing President Buhari that he is a Fulani man. I think it is in his interest and the interest of the country that all these crises be addressed on time; otherwise, one could be tempted to say that he is happy about it.
When he talked about ranching, he has not told us what he wanted to do, but the truth is people are getting more and more suspicious of him and I think they have the right to because of the ways things are going. It is unfortunate that Nigerians are getting suspicious of their leader, particularly their president. The people should rather support their president instead of suspecting him.
How would you react to feelings that the Yoruba are always the instrument the North uses to frustrate the restructuring of this country, going by the role the region played during Biafra, and the massive support the region gave to President Buhari in the 2015 elections and unfortunately, what Prof. Osinbajo said recently concerning the subject?
 I think the Yoruba measure their activities and whatever they do very carefully. The Yoruba fought former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha very well and we knew the role Obansanjo played. Efforts to compensate the Yoruba for Abiola’s death in the struggle for the actualisation of the June 12 Presidential election mandate, acclaimed to have been won by Abiola were almost impossible, because the North dared to put someone that they trusted in the person of Obasanjo, but the Yoruba understood where he (Obasanjo) was coming from and it was resisted.
The Yoruba didn’t trust Obasanjo because we knew his relationship with Nigerians and especially the Yoruba. If you remember, the Yoruba put their own candidate whom we thought understood that Nigeria needed a massive restructuring at that time. We preferred Chief Olu Falae to Obasanjo because he (Falae) was in the middle of the struggle for the restructuring of the country.
Obasanjo wasn’t part of that agenda because his activities were not wholesome and he didn’t believe in our struggle for restructuring.
If you also remember, Buhari’s coming in 2015 was not his first attempt at the presidency. He has tried several times but failed. But before the election last year, he told us that he had agreed, for the first time that Nigeria needed restructuring.
Secondly we thought he had enough followers in the north and that he must have convinced them that the country needed to be restructured. We also have no cause to doubt him; that was the reason we voted for him and this was stated in the manifesto of the APC.
The fact is, Yoruba are never really looking for positions, they want things done well. It is only now that they are also agitating, because of the general feelings that a particular region is cheating others.
Having said this, I think it is a political suicide for the APC to now turn around to say there was no such thing like restructuring in their manifesto. That would be dishonest of the party and I would be very disappointed that an ex-military man, Buhari, a general that I know and I trust would sign onto a document and later disown it; no I don’t think so. I don’t think we are hearing right yet. My conviction is the media is misrepresenting the party and its leadership.


Are you however convinced that the anti-corruption war is on course?
  I am not too impressed about the ongoing anti graft war, not because I support corruption, but those fighting corruption deceived us. They told us something and are now doing something contrary. We don’t have a country, Nigeria is a mere geographical expression, and therefore, it is very easy for all of us to lose all sense of shame.
Our leaders have no sense of shame; they don’t even have sympathy for the people they rule. That is why the fight against corruption is going to last for only few years, and after, nothing happens again. We’ve been hearing of seized properties as a result of corruption since the Obasanjo era, but have you ever seen any of the property seized being auctioned? I don’t have great enthusiasms for what they are doing because nobody is transparent in this matter.
Nobody has ever told us what has been realised from any sector, even from corruption. We don’t have the structure that can combat corruption. The country is in a quandary, we need someone that will restructure this country.


How do you see the trial of some retired military generals for corruption?


It would be a lie if I say I am not baffled, because I served for many years in the Ministry of Defence, and I knew, as a captain in the Nigeria Army those days, that the system did not allow for the stealing of government money.
From the day they stopped lining up our soldiers at the barracks to collect their pay at the end of the month, things have never been the same. I’m a bit baffled about the development. I really don’t know how it happened, but maybe they will tell us eventually how it happened and how to stop it. It is a shameful development.
This kind of things never happened before 1984. Soldiers started having money around 1986, 1987 and upward, when people are getting kickbacks. I am a bit surprised about the magnitude of this one. It is so mind-boggling I never imagine such amount of money exists anywhere in this country.
Some said military incursion into politics is responsible for their corruption
 The tragedy started in 1975, but corruption did not start then. The tragedy I am talking about is the institutional tragedy, where people do not have security of tenure in the armed forces, anymore. I am not averse to anyone who gets himself dismissed from service on the basis of misconduct and other offences, but when you cannot explain why people lost their jobs is worrisome.
In 1975, most people received the news of their removal or dismissal from service on the radio or inside their car while driving to their offices. I heard about a man, who drove into the Lagos lagoon on Carter Bridge, when he heard on the radio that he had been fired. And when you say dismissal, that means you don’t get anything at all, not even a terminal benefit for the services you think you had rendered for your country.
My concern was that the large percentage of the people that was thrown out then doesn’t deserve to be thrown out of the service. That alone must have impacted negatively on those who remained in service and the incoming ones.
That singular action, which started from Murtala-Obasanjo Regime, really put a lot of panic into the system.
I am not supporting corruption, but that is part of what we are saying in respect of restructuring.
For instance, few days ago, because the Buhari government wanted to go to the bottom of the police to pick someone it preferred as the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) several senior and capable officers were retired from the service before their time. Unfortunately, there is insinuation that the newly appointed IGP has something to do with Mr. President’s election into office.
We are not a nation but a country. We need a leader that can do things patently clear to us about how to move this county forward. But my fear is this is not likely going to happen under this current arrangement because, a Yoruba man is neither an Ibo man, nor a Hausa man. The problem of this country is that we always live under the suspicion of another, based on ethnic sentiments. There is the need to break down this present arrangement and refit it in a saner manner. This assumption that we should go on with one Nigeria in unity is absurd because things happening around us don’t support it. Reasoning doesn’t support it, our culture doesn’t support it, there is nothing that we have or claimed to have that supports it and because we are not together, it is going to be very difficult to produce a leader that would be trustworthy by all the ethnic entities. So, the earlier the better to allow all the entities to grow on their own, otherwise we are very close to Sudan.
If Buhari and the APC think that because they have the military and also have control of the arms and ammunition they will continue to force this nation together and intimidate the agitators to submission, they are missing it.


Some are of the opinion that Buhari’s appointments are largely in favour of the north

 What do you expect? We are not a nation; therefore, people will always cry marginalisation. The analysis someone did recently shows that Buhari’s appointment favours the Northeast and Northwest than other regions. I don’t know, but people have been saying it. Even in the North, some areas are not too impressed, because they felt that they were been shortchanged in recent appointments to public offices.
The fact is, I’m not too impressed with the recent appointment of the new Inspector General of Police, which I consider a very terrible waste of resources. There is nothing Buhari needed to balance, because he has everything inside his pocket.
Our major mistake is that we ought to have buried the 1999 Constitution, which Abacha made with him when he died and make another one for the country before we returned to civil rule in 1999.
The Guardian

Are Mariah Carey's ex Nick Cannon and TLC's Chilli dating?

New couple alert?

Nick Cannon and TLC's Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas are "hanging out," a source tells E! News.

"Nick and Chilli [have] been hanging out on the low. [They've] been friends for some time and just recently this summer they have been hanging out romantically," the source reveals.

Cannon added more fuel to the romance rumors on Thursday during an interview with E! News at the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary Gleason.

When Chilli was mentioned Cannon said, "She's amazing. She's an outstanding person but you gotta ask her what's going on."

What else did Cannon reveal about his personal life?

E! News

Inside Lamar Odom's Wild Week of Strip Clubs & Airplane Drama

Odom (left) goes partying again

Instagram

It's been, to say the least, an eventful week for Lamar Odom.

The former athlete was reportedly removed from a flight out of LAX to JFK Monday evening, but by Tuesday, he'darrived on another flight in his native Queens, New York. 

"He came to get his confidence back," a friend of Lamar's told E! News. "He's been through a lot this past year...He wanted to feel like himself again."

His return to the East Coast has, so far, included several visits to local strip clubs. On Thursday, Lamar and a few guy friends were at a restaurant called Made in Mexico from 11 p.m. until around 2 a.m., a source confirmed to E! News. From there, walked to Playroom Lounge uptown, where an onlooker noted he "was very friendly and took pictures" with fans as they approached him. At the end of the evening, Lamar and his friends went to a pal's home in Queens.

Lamar visited another strip club, Fantastic Lounge, with his cousin and a male friend on Wednesday, and on Tuesday, he frequented two different strip clubs. He started at Mia Sushi and Steakhouse—which turns into a lounge around 11 p.m.—where the club's promoter Nell V. told E! News he arrived around midnight with a mutual friend and stayed for an hour.

"He just sat, hung out and listened to the music," Nell said. "He had never really been uptown before so it was his first time. He really liked it."

Later that evening, Lamar visited CityScapes Gentleman's Club for their #2LiveTuesdays event. The owner of the club told E! News Lamar arrived around 3:15 a.m. and stayed until the club closed at 3:45 a.m.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, Lamar stopped by Sports in Effect Inc in Queens where he made several purchases and stayed for more than an hour. "He was well-managed and put together," a source told E! News. "He was in good spirits. Very quiet and very sweet. He was in a good mood."

That brings us back to Monday, when Lamar was allegedly kicked off a plane after drunkenly vomiting. The same day, he was spotted at 4Play Gentlemen's Club in L.A. with an unidentified woman.

Despite what at least appears to be a tumultuous week, a friend of Lamar's insists he's "fine," telling E! News, "He's just hanging out trying to get that old feeling back."

E! News

Meet Theresa May, new British PM

David Cameron has announced that he will be stepping down from his position as the UK Prime Minister on Wednesday (July 13), making way for Theresa May to take his place.

The 59-year-old British politician, who has served as the Home Secretary since 2010, will be receiving the job by default as no one else seems to want. The only other contender, Andrea Leadsom, quit the race on Monday.

Theresa was on the “remain” side of the Brexit vote, though she has promised to implement Brexit to go along with the wishes of the voters.

“We’re not going to have a prolonged Conservative leadership election campaign. I think Andrea Leadsom has made absolutely the right decision to stand aside and it’s clear Theresa May has the overwhelming support of the Conservative parliamentary party,” Cameron said in a statement. “I’m also delighted that Theresa May will be the next Prime Minister. She is strong, she is competent, she’s more than able to provide the leadership that our country is going to need in the years ahead and she will have my full support.”

“Obviously with these changes, we now don’t need to have a prolonged period of transition, and so tomorrow I will chair my last Cabinet meeting, on Wednesday I will attend the House of Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions, and then after that I expect to go to the Palace to offer my resignation so we’ll have a new Prime Minister in that building behind me by Wednesday evening,” he concluded.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian Hosts Soul Food Day

Snapchat

Even Kanye was impressed as his full plate of food quickly became squeaky clean. "No testimony needed from my husband," Kim joked while showing an empty dish.

As an added bonus to the afternoon gathering, Kim gave fans a glimpse of Saint West as she held him in her arms for a brief moment. The night would later come to an end after a game of Taboo and Cards Against Humanity.

While Kim and Kanye have been keeping their son away from the spotlight, baby Saint continues to be loved by his entire family.

"Saint is a really happy baby," a source recently shared with E! News. "North and Kourtney's kids love seeing Saint. Kourtney and Koko are helping Kim and giving baby Saint major love."

Our insider added, "Kanye is so amazing with kids. He has a very warm, gentle and protecting side to him."

E! News

US Blames Politicians over Inconclusive Elections in Nigeria

INEC

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, has said Nigerian politicians and not the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be held responsible for the recent inconclusive state of elections in the country.

Entwistle made the assertion at a press briefing with select journalists in Abuja at the weekend.

According to him, rather than blame INEC, Nigerians should hold politicians responsible for the recurring impasse in election results in Kogi and Bayelsa States and others.

The ambassador said: “Politicians often fail to adhere to the principle of nonviolence which leads to disruption of the electoral process.”

INEC had come under severe attacks for declaring elections held in some states inconclusive, especially in Kogi and Bayelsa States,

Speaking on the state of the nation’s economy, the American envoy advised the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to give priority to the power sector in other to bring the much needed change promised Nigerians during electioneering.

He said: “It is good that the expectations from Mthe president are very high. But I think people should remember what he inherited. And in my opinion, I try to be neutral and balanced, I think the pesident and his team have done a good job in this first year.

“He has done exactly what he said he would do. It’s clear that he has unleashed the investigative agencies to follow every evidence and information wherever it goes. I have been following the investigations of those arrested to see whether there is any evidence that they are politically motivated, I have not found any.”

Thisday

Foreign Affairs Minister to Appear before Senate Tomorrow on Ambassadorial Nominees

Senate Floor

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, will tomorrow appear before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to explain the reason for perceived lopsidedness in the appointments of ambassadors by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari had in May sent a list of 45 ambassadorial nominees made up mainly of career civil servants to the Senate for confirmation. But there has been a stalemate in the move to confirm the nominees by the Senate as a result of a series of complaints and petitions against the appointments from both senators and some citizens.

The development prompted the Senate to suspend the screening and confirmation of the nominees and eventually resolving to summon the minister and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) over the matter.

While THISDAY learnt last night that the minister had confirmed his preparedness to appear before the committee tomorrow, such assurance had not been secured from the SGF.

While summoning the duo before proceeding on its Sallah break on June 23, the Senate said the minister and the SGF must appear before the committee to explain the reason for the exclusion of representatives of some states in the list by the presidency.

Onyeama and Lawal are also expected to explain the rationale behind the nomination of some junior officers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in sheer disregard for the principle of seniority by civil service.

The Senate’s resolutions was spurred by a point of order raised by Senator Joshua Dariye (Plateau South).

Dariye while raising orders 42 and 52 in Senate Standing Orders, observed that the ambassadorial list was full of omissions and irregularities which he said must be corrected before the upper house could consider the list for approval.

He also said those nominated by Buhari from his state were not qualified pointing out that senior career officers in the foreign service from the state were sidetracked while their junior counterparts were nominated.

“Given the important role played by ambassadors, due diligence must be given and there should be a criteria to nominate qualified eminent Nigerians,” Dariye said.

He therefore moved that the Senate “should direct that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the SGF should appear before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs to explain the omissions and irregularities, and the processes by which some of these names came about.”

Seconding the motion, Senator Olusola Adeyeye (Osun Central), called for prompt action of the Senate in view of a number of petitions which the Senate had received on the matter.

The prayer was upheld by the politicians, leading to the invitation of the minister and the SGF.

Thisday

Nigeria’s Unity Only Sustainable by Consent of all Ethnic Nationalities, Afenifere, IPOB insist

The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s position that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable, saying Nigeria could only remain united if all ethnic nationalities agreed to live together.

ARG, a pan-Yoruba socio-political and economic organisation, also condemned a public statement made recently by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), in which it expressed strong support for the president’s position that the unity of Nigeria was non-negotiable.

A statement by its National Chairman, Hon. Olawale Oshun, pointed out the different reasons why the unity of Nigeria should be renegotiated.

In the statement, the ARG noted that neither Buhari nor ACF loved Nigeria more than those advocating the renegotiation of what binds it together as a country.

It said the unity of Nigeria was only sustainable by the voluntary acquiescence of the component ethnic nationalities and rejected the president’s position that Nigeria’s unity was non-negotiable.

The group added that the problems with the Buhari’s administration had “more to do with his conduct – utterances and perceived lopsided appointments – which appear to portray him as a north-centric president instead of a pan-Nigeria president”.

“Both the president and ACF need to take lessons on managing an all-inclusive, pan-Nigerian government. We wonder on what consensus or authority the so-termed non-negotiable unity of Nigeria stands.

“Is it based on government’s ability to silence all dissenters or the capability to manage a diverse society in a manner that makes every component proud?

“Nigeria was envisioned by its founding fathers as a federal republic, sadly its governance structure as dictated by its constitution is akin to that of a unitary state,” the pan-Yoruba group said.

It noted that the insistence of ACF and by extension the president to keep the provisions of Nigeria’s constitution from being renegotiated was the cause of many unsolvable agitations in the country.

“These agitations can only be managed successfully and sustainably when all Nigerians appreciate that they need one another to bequeath a strong country on the coming generations,” it said.

It said Nigerians of Yoruba ethnic stock would never agree “to becoming slaves in their country and the peaceful agitation coming from their space on the restructuring of Nigeria, as against the violent agitation in other areas, is to carefully underscore our belief in peaceful change, the mantra under which the last election was won and lost”.

The group added that all who wished Nigeria well should align with Prof. Wole Soyinka’s assertion that Nigeria’s unity was “bloody well negotiable”.

It noted that the unity of Nigeria and mode of governance were negotiable, adding that “the earlier we all start working towards this, the better for the development, peace and unity of the country”.

In its own reaction to Buhari’s position that the unity of the country was not negotiable, IPOB asked the president to wake up to the reality of the Nigerian situation.

IPOB, which prides itself as a famous worldwide revolutionary movement, vehemently condemned the idea that every component part of the “contraption called Nigeria must remain in the artificial marriage, which has not been working since 1914”.

“It is unfortunate that somebody in that cadre cannot ascertain and does not know that the situation in the country now calls for unity renegotiation,” IPOB said in a statement signed by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful.

The pro-Biafra group pointed out that the British colonial masters amalgamated the northern and southern protectorates without consultation in 1914, adding that no section of the country currently wants to stay with the other as evidenced by the agitation and militancy across the land.

IPOB said in view of the present realities, there was no need for Buhari and those like him to continue to live in the past.

“Rather, the government in power and the new generation of Nigerians should come together and discuss the basis for one Nigeria instead of forcing people to remain as one.

“Forcing people to maintain the citizenship of the country outside their indigenous identities is fraudulent and it will not work because the people of 1914 and 2016 are different and are not the same,” it stated.

IPOB said: “It is degrading and embarrassing that the APC-led government has continued to play the ostrich when things are already falling apart” and wondered if it lacked good advisers who have an idea of the precarious situation the country was heading.

The group reiterated its position that there was no going back “in the quest for the restoration of the nation of Biafra”, adding that “no human being can bring us back because it is the project of God Almighty”.

“More so, we the indigenous people of Biafra want to inform the general public that without the government of Buhari addressing this issue of Biafra and releasing our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, unconditionally the country will not have peace,” IPOB said.

Thisday

Bank Returns Reveal Increased Forex Allocation to Manufacturers

Trading by banks on behalf of their clients on the Nigerian Interbank Foreign Exchange (NIFEX) has shown increased foreign exchange (forex) allocation to the importation of raw materials and industrial machines by manufacturers.

A review of the returns on forex utilisation and source of funds for the week ended July 1, 2016, which was published by some commercial banks last week, revealed an increase in the volume of forex allocations to the sector.

For instance, Zenith Bank Plc’s returns on forex utilisation which put the volume of its transactions at $115,066,665.95 showed that it transacted business with a total of 434 customers.

Most of them were corporate customers who bought the greenback from the bank for the importation of industrial raw materials and spare parts, among others.

Also, Diamond Bank Plc sold the $42,158,753 it purchased from the NIFEX to 184 of its customers, mainly for the importation of pharmaceutical raw materials, raw materials for construction, agricultural machinery, cement silos for stationary block making, and importation of motorcycles in completely knocked down (CKD) parts, among others.

Diamond Bank’s returns on source of funds also showed that it purchased $42,210,497 from the market.

Similarly, Union Bank Plc’s returns put the volume of forex transactions by the bank at $142,118,110.69. The bank transacted business with 238 customers and details of the transactions showed that forex was sold for raw material imports, personal income remittances and payment of school fees, among others.

Stanbic IBTC Limited’s returns on forex utilisation also showed that it transacted business with 315 customers who bought dollars to import raw materials and for divestments, among others, just as the bank’s returns on source of funds put the amount of dollars it purchased at $51,761,247.42.

Also, FirstBank Nigeria Limited’s returns on forex utilisation showed that its Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), which was from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) special intervention was $26,601,760.48. The bank sold dollars to 139 customers, most of whom were importers of industrial raw materials as well as for petroleum products importers.

While First City Monument Bank Limited’s returns showed that it sold the greenback to 515 customers, its returns on sources of funds put the total amount the bank purchased from the market at $24,140,048.

Meanwhile, in furtherance of its efforts to engender transparency and professionalism in the forex market, the CBN at the weekend directed that all forex-related trades by authorised dealers (banks) and corporate institutions in the forex market, with effect from August 1, 2016, must be executed through the FMDQ-advised forex trading auction and surveillance system.

The central bank gave the directive in a one-page circular that was signed by its Director, Financial Markets Department, Dr. Alvan E. Ikoku, a copy of which was posted on its website.

“All authorised dealers (banks) are expected to execute all forex-related trades among themselves and with their clients (corporate institutions) through the FMDQ-advised forex systems.

“The deployment of the FMDQ-advised FX systems will only be to those corporate clients that have been screened and pre-approved by the FMDQ in line with its on-boarding eligibility criteria,” it explained.

The central bank also instructed all authorised dealers and corporate institutions in the forex market to ensure strict compliance.

Thisday

Nigerian Victim of S’Africa Xenophobia Seeks Compensation

Mr. Chika Emehelu, a 36-year-old Nigerian businessman in South Africa, yesterday appealed to the federal government to persuade the South African government to pay him compensation for the losses he incurred during the wave of xenophobic attacks in the country in 2013.

Emehelu, a native of Udi in Enugu State, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Johannesburg that he lost more than R800,000 (N12 million) in the May 2013 xenophobic attacks in that country.

The businessman, who is married to a South African and has three children, said his three shops at Portnolloth, a community in Northern Cape Province of South Africa, were looted during the attack.

Emehelu also said local authorities in the province came and took an inventory of the items stolen and destroyed, promising to pay him compensation.

He however said nothing had been done since then, adding that his family members were going through hard times.

Emehelu also said he had submitted all relevant documents to the South African authorities after the incident, adding that he was running a duly registered business outfit.

He also said officers from the Nigerian Mission in South Africa had visited his shops to take inventory.

Emehelu appealed to the federal government to remind the South African government to pay compensation to Nigerians who suffered losses during the xenophobic attacks.

“As I speak, I lost everything to the mob attack and I need government’s assistance to revive my business,” he said.

Mr. Ikechukwu Anyene, President of Nigeria Union in South Africa, said the body had compiled a list of Nigerians affected in the attacks and submitted it to the federal government through Nigeria’s consul general in the country.

Thisday

Yinusa "Yellow" Dahiru, alleged abductor of 14-year-old Bayelsa girl kidnapper, gets bail

Yunusa "Yellow"Dahiru, the alleged infamous abductor of the 14-year-old girl

The man accused of abducting a 14-year-old girl, from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Mr. Yunusa Dahiru, alias Yellow,  finally left custody after spending over four months in Okaka Prisons in the state capital.

It was learnt Dahiru was immediately taken to his state, Kano, in company with a team of his defence lawyers who usually flew into the state during court proceedings.

It was further learnt that contrary to speculation that no Bayelsa indigene was willing to stand surety for the suspect due to the ethnic and religious sentiments being whipped up, the person who eventually fulfilled the bail conditions was from Bayelsa. Dahiru’s team of lawyers had been battling to free their client from prison since March but without success.

The development followed the stringent bail conditions handed down to the suspect by Justice Ajiya Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court, Yenagoa.

Justice Nganjiwa had set N3m bail bond and two sureties in like sum, resident within the jurisdiction of the court as conditions for Dahiru’s release.

He had also ordered that one of the sureties must be a traditional ruler, while the second person must be a civil servant on Grade Level 12 or above.

The bail conditions also stipulated that the two sureties must submit their three-year tax clearance receipts and that the defence counsel must sign an undertaking that the suspect must not jump bail.

But Justice Nganjiwa later relaxed the conditions after he was approached by Dahiru’s lawyers that they were unable to meet some of the bail conditions.

The court had reduced the bail conditions to a Grade Level nine civil servant and further granted the prayer of the defence lawyers to also allow any traditional ruler from any community in the country to stand as surety.

Recently, the court sessions to hear the case had been done in secret, after Justice Nganjiwa granted the prosecution team’s prayer that journalists and members of the public should not be allowed to witness the girl's cross-examination.

But a source involved in the secret trial, when asked how she had been reacting on seeing Dahiru in the same chambers during sessions, said the minor had been very antagonistic.

Dahiru is currently facing a five-count charge of abducting, inducing by the use of deception and coercion, illicit intercourse, sexual exploitation and unlawful carnal knowledge of the minor.

Lead counsel for the Dahiru, Mr. Kayode Olaosebikan, confirmed the release of his client, noting that “his people have taken him away.”

He added that the cross-examination of the girl (Ese) would continue in the next adjourned date.

The 14-year-old was recently delivered of a baby girl and is still in the protective custody of the Bayelsa State Police Command, which is responsible for her upkeep in collaboration with the state government.

Her cross-examination by Yunusa’s lawyers will continue on September 13, 2016.

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