PHOTOS: Meet 27-Year-Old Nigerian Whose Incredible Sketches Look Like Digital Photos

Kelvin Okafor, 27, graduated from Middlesex University in fine art and is now making waves across the country.

His subjects include popular music artists Tinie Tempah, James Morrison and Adele.
He has also picked out tragic figures from actor Heath Ledger to the late King of Jordan, King Hussein – and with each, he tries to evoke an emotion in the viewer.
Finally, he has used friends and colleagues for the impressively accurate images, which look like soft focus digital photos.
Last year, the artist from Tottenham, north London, exhibited at numerous major art galleries and won a clutch of prestigious national awards for his remarkable work.
Each of his pieces takes around 80-100 hours to complete, over approximately three weeks in the studio.
Mr Okafor creates each piece only in black and white – using graphite pencils, charcoal, black coloured pencil and sometimes grey pastels.
Yet he believes that the range of tone, shade and texture is almost endless.
He draws on a combination of life and photographs, working on his art for up to 15 hours a day.
He admits he is ‘passionate about precision’.
‘I aspire to create art as vivid as eyes could see,’ the artist writes on his blog.
‘I want my drawings to prompt an emotional response, making viewers feel as though they are looking at a real live subject.
Mr Okafor describes the pencil as ‘a humble instrument’, but says this is part of its appeal.
‘I’ve always been creative, but fell in love with using pencils in particular.
‘It amazed me, that with only one shade of lead, you can create so many tones and textures, and almost create the illusion of colour.
‘It was only when my images started to create a buzz with other Middlesex University students that I realised their impact.’
He was selected as one of the top two pieces of work at Cork Street Gallery’s Winter Show in 2012 and recently won the Catherine Petitgas Visitors’ Choice Prize, part of the National Open Art Competition.
His work is currently on display at the The Watercolours + Works on Paper Fair at the London Science Museum, until February 3.
Before starting a piece, Mr Okafor spends a few days analysing a photo, concentrating first on the subject’s eyes, which are central to his works’ impact.
His pieces are now selling for on average £8,000-£10,000, depending on the scale.
‘The attention I’m receiving is surreal and hasn’t really sunk in yet,’ he added.
‘I’m usually sheltered from it in my studio as I continue to build my portfolio, but I’m really humbled and honoured that so many people appreciate my work.
‘I hope to have my own gallery in the future.’
He has now had more than 50 commissions, and the dedicated artist cites his role models as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo – because they not only mastered the arts but branched out into other fields including engineering, poetry, science and maths.
Twitter users describe his work as ‘incredible’, ‘extraordinary’ and ‘astounding’.

Doctors Mystified: Girl Grows Nails Instead Of Hair Due To Skin Condition

A rare skin condition is causing one 28-year-old woman hair to grow human nails instead of hair.
Criminal justice student Shanya A. Isom first saw signs of the condition in 2009, when she had an asthma attack that doctors treated with steroids.When Isom had an allergic reaction to the medicine, she developed bumps on her leg and her skin tone began to darken, the New York Daily News reports.

Memphis doctors attempted scores of treatments, for conditions ranging from eczema to staph infections.None were successful. "They've tested me from A to Z, and everything was coming back negative," Isom told the National TV channel.
In August 2011, Isom was admitted to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where doctors determined that her hair follicles were producing 12 times as many skin cells as hair cells.
This meant that her hair follicles were producing nails, instead of hair. The diagnosis, and subsequent treatment, has generated a slight improvement in Isom's quality of life. Isom, who says she is the only person in the world with her condition, has set up the S.A.I. Foundation to raise money to cover her bills and help others who may develop similar symptoms.
"If it [my condition] means me dealing with this to help someone else, I'm willing to go through it," she said.

EFCC Arrests 20 Yahoo-Yahoo Boys In Benin City

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested twenty suspected internet fraudsters. The arrest, which was carried out in a joint operation with officers of the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Benin, followed intelligence report on their activities. They were nabbed in a surprise raid on their Cyber office tucked in an old building located on Siluko Road, Benin City.

At the point of arrest, the fraudsters had in their possession forty five (45) laptops of different make, twenty eight (28) telephone sets, eight (8) internet mobile modems and one Nissan car with registration number USL 375 AG.
The suspected fraudsters who are mostly in their twenties includes: Idehen Obabueki, Adesa Lucky, Usuagu Uche, Eloghosa Olikiabor, Larry Edomwonyi, Amowie Maike, Francis Ezegbede, Itua Samuel and Endurance John Egbeifo. Others are Amego Ovenseri, Iyen Ighodaro, Philip Agbodori, Lucky Robinson, Nnadi Obinna, Osabuohien Osahon, Chinenu Eze, Peter Sunday, Solomon Ogu, Niyi Femi and Osagie Aghedo.
The suspects have made useful statements. Most of them confessed to be engaged in online dating of foreigners particularly widows. They also confessed to using different pseudo names and faces to deceive their prospective victims. They will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

Pictures: Journalist Exposes Her Privates While Interviewing Prime Minister On TV

An X-rated TV prank has left the prime minister of Serbia feeling a little overexposed after he was flashed by a glamorous presenter during an interview.
The country's Socialist party leader Ivica Dačić was midway through a discussion about Balkan politics when the young woman, wearing a particularly short mini dress, uncrossed her legs to reveal she wasn't wearing any underwear. The YouTube video, a clear copy of the famous scene starring Sharon Stone in the 1992 film Basic Instinct, has already had more than 1.2million hits.
The stunt was a clear attempt to recreate the famous scene starring Sharon Stone in the 1991 film Basic Instinct The stunt was a set up by a candid camera show called Nemoguca Misija - which translates as 'Mission Impossible'. It begins with producers discussing the best way to embarrass Mr Dačić before he arrives for the interview. As he walks into the building, the presenter is seen removing her underwear, off camera in another room.
In scenes that are about as far away as you can get from the sort of political debate Jeremy Paxman delivers on Newsnight, the shocked politician stumbles over his words while having a quick look.
She greets the Prime Minister with kisses on each cheek before sitting down opposite with her legs crossed. After asking Mr Dačić some political questions, the presenter appears to be listening intently before casually uncrossing her legs. Fortunately the camera covers her modesty with a 'censored' sign, but the look of shock on the Prime Minister's face shows he has clearly noticed the wardrobe indiscretion. He stumbles across his words but appears to keep his cool remarkably well.

My Father is an Armed Robber –Girl Takes Police to Dad's Hideout

My Father is an Armed Robber –Girl Takes Police to Dad's Hideout

A17-year-old girl identified simply as Simi has exposed the hiding place of her robber-father to operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, Lagos State Police Command.

Her father, known as Ife, according to what Olufamous.com gathered, was the leader of a 10-man robbery gang that killed four policemen in Ajah during a robbery operation two weeks ago and also responsible for several other high-profile robbery cases in Lagos.

The killed policemen were said to be responding to a distress call when they were ambushed by the deadly robbery gang led by Simi's father.

However, Simi did not give her father up easily. She gave the information the police needed to arrest her father after she was subjected to a four-hour non-stop interrogation.

Ironically, it was the love that Taiye, Simi's mother, had for her that first alerted the police to the existence of the daughter, leading to the arrest of the Ife and his wife, Taiye.

On the day that the gang killed the policemen, they left the area in a hurry. In their haste, Ife mistakenly lost his handset. The police picked the phone, downloaded the numbers on the phone and after a thorough screening, they were able to get the telephone number belonging to Taiye, his wife. They subsequently tagged the number.

Meanwhile, Taiye has a frozen food and drinks shop at Sola Arodoye Street, Ijaye, Lagos. A resident in the community told the Punch that Taye had not been coming to the shop for about two weeks.

She said, “We noticed that she stopped coming to the shop for a while. Even Ife was absent at that period of time. It was Simi who was left to run the shop. Taye had introduced Simi to us as her younger sister. It wasn’t until her arrest last week that we knew that Simi was her daughter.”

Ife and his wife were said to have switched off both their phones and afterwards fled Lagos. But last week Thursday, Taye finally made a call with her phone to check on Simi. She called on one Funke, who lives close to the shop to give the phone to Simi so she could speak with her.

Two hours after that call was made, some SARS operatives traced Funke to her place of work at a nearby school and arrested her.

A police source said, “Funke was interrogated for more than five hours. The SARS operatives thought she was a member of the gang too. Eventually they discovered she knew nothing about Ife except as a neighbour. It was Funke who led the SARS operatives to Taye’s shop at Sola Arodoye street.”

The team then arrested the young girl, Simi, after Funke identified her and took her to Ojokoro Police Division.

For four hours, Simi repeatedly denied knowledge of her parents’ whereabouts. When the police showed no intention of stopping the interrogation, she eventually agreed to cooperate with the SARS team.

The team accompanied the teenager to her parents’ home at Beckley estate, U-turn bus stop at Abule Egba. Ife and Taye had just returned from Abeokuta where they had fled to.

“Ife tried to escape but was shot in the process. In his wife’s travelling box were hidden two pistols, one AK 47 rifle and a locally made double barrelled gun. Clearly, Taye was aware that Ife was an armed robber,” the police source said.

One of the residents at Sola Arodoye said they thought that Ife was a worker with a paint manufacturing company.

She said, “Some of us had often wondered what Ife did for a living because he was usually at his wife’s shop all day till she closed at night. Those who dared to ask said Taye had told them Ife worked in his father’s paint company.”

PHOTO: Justin Bieber Kisses And Grabs Female Fan's Breast In Public

Justin Bieber appears to get very friendly with a young female fan at a meet and greet session.
The teen heart-throb was pictured with a hand on the youthful Belieber's chest while he kissed her on the cheek.
The teen heart-throb was posing for pictures with devoted followers at the event in Miami when he seems to have casually placed his hand underneath the girl's boob, his other arm wrapped gently around her shoulder.
The girl in question is seen smiling awkwardly in the image - which was later posted in a photo gallery on his fan club website BieberFever.Com before being removed.

The pair are also seen whispering to one another in a second snap on the site.
The image emerged just days after the once clean-cut star was accused of verbally abusing a US radio presenter in the gym.
Justin, 18, was in Miami for the last night of his US tour yesterday and seized the opportunity to flash his well-honed abs at photographers during a day relaxing poolside at a $24million mansion.
He recently confessed that he is struggling to get over his break-up from actress Selena Gomez.
In an interview with Billboard magazine when quizzed about their split he said: "I'm not in the happiest place that I've ever been.”

EXCLUSIVE: Actress, Taiwo Aromokun's Marriage In Fresh Trouble

Some weeks ago, news filtered everywhere that Yoruba actress, Taiwo Aromokun was secretly married in London to a London-based lover, Olayemi Abimbola popularly called 'Ogun Re' by many in Holland.

Soon after the wedding to 'Ogun Re', the actress took a swipe on Nigerian men living in Nigeria claiming that all they know how to do is to use and dump 'celebrities' like her.

Thorough investigations carried out by Nigeriafilms.com on Taiwo Aromokun's husband, Ogun Re revealed some shocking secrets.

According to our source in London, 'Ogun Re', Taiwo Aromukun's hubby, had been in Holland for over 13 years. We learnt that he has no legitimate job he does over there. What he does for a living is known to us now, but we would reveal that soonest as that is another big story to watch out for.

'Ogun Re', reliable sources maintained, has two kids he had from a Surinam woman in Holland. Suriname is a Dutch colonised region. What we can authoritatively inform you is that the Surinam woman, as at the moment, doesn't know that Ogun Re is now married to Taiwo Aromokun, the popular Yoruba actress in Nigeria.

His first child, a son, is well over six years old now. Few years ago, when he clocked one, 'Ogun Re' staged an elaborate birthday bash for him in Holland. It was Pasuma Alabi, the Fuji musician, that thrilled the guests that day.

About few years ago, after living in Holland without legitimate papers, and hiding from the Dutch authorities by escaping deportation, he was finally granted amnesty or what is commonly called pardon by the Dutch authorities to stay in Holland when the government pardoned some illegal immigrants who have lived in Holland for over 10 years, a category he fell into.

The Dutch government gave political asylum seekers and others, who could prove to have been in the Netherlands on or before April 1, 2001, an amnesty. But that didn't give him a Dutch citizenship passport.

But with the pardon he presently has, 'Ogun Re' cannot enjoy full benefits of a citizen or a holder of a Dutch passport, but he can only live in Holland without hiding from the authorities like he used to.

On his reported wedding in London, Nigeriafilms.com can authoritatively tell you that 'Ogun Re' can never legitimately enter London or the UK because of his papers (his pardon by Dutch authorities) doesn't permit him to legitimately enter the UK, but he can enter Schengen countries legitimately. To enter London, he would need to apply for a visa with prove of a legitimate job or a social benefit.

Sources in London sworn to us that the wedding didn't take place in London as reported by the Nigerian media, unless he illegally sneaked in, which might put him into trouble.

"I can tell you that Ogun Re can never do that wedding here in London. He wan thief am (pigin English)?" our source asked.

As it is now, our source informed us that Taiwo Aromokun cannot join her 'husband', 'Ogun Re', in Holland just as 'Ogun Re' may not also relocate to Nigeria to live with Taiwo Aromokun because of two things 1. His babymama and kids in Holland and 2. He may not be able to live like a guy that has spent over 15 years abroad because he would be expected to live like a rich guy in Nigeria.

71-Year-Old Woman Arrested For Prostitution (Photos)

Authorities arrested an elderly woman on prostitution charges following a raid at a Glastonbury hotel.
According to agent James Kennedy of the Glastonbury Police Department, authorities were tipped off to 71-year-old Sygun Liebhart's alleged prostitution activities by an advertisement in the classified section of Backpage.com.
Liebhart, according to police, promoted herself in the escort section of the website under the name "Lola." The ad is now defunct, however a cached version of an ad for a "Lola" who was working in that area at the time reads:
"Older is Better … A well preserved beauty. All natural and busty 38DD. Sexy, fit, warm and friendly."
Similar ads indicate "Lola" went by various ages from 60 up and turned tricks for $150. An apparent small sum compared to similar ads by much younger women who request $300 plus for sexual services.
"A truly mature escort with over 25 years experience in delivering a symphony of luxury and sensual delight to discriminating professional gentlemen both younger and older who can afford the best and who prefer their women a bit older but a lot better ... My background is French and German mix with soft beautiful skin, perfectly groomed from head to toe. Fine lingerie is a must to complete this picture of sensuous refinement and elegance," reads another "Lola" ad posted at eros-hartford.com.
Kennedy told The Huffington Post members of the East Central Narcotics Task Force saw the ad Friday and an undercover officer answered the ad. Liebhart allegedly agreed to a "deal for sexual acts" and instructed an undercover agent to meet her at the Homewood Suites in Glastonbury.
Surveillance units were dispatched to the hotel and took Liebhart into custody.
Liebhart, a resident of nearby Westport, was charged with a single count of prostitution and bond was set at $500.00 non-surety. It is not clear Monday if Liebhart has an attorney. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.
Check out her photos:

Interesting Facts about Animals

1. A Cow's only sweat glands are in it's Nose.
2. A domestic Cat can frighten a black Bear 2 climb a tree.
3.D poison Arrow frog has enough poison 2 kill 2,200 pple.
4. An elephant can be pregnant for up to 2 years.
5. Chickens can't swallow while upside down.
6. A snail's reproductive organ is in it' head.
7. The Giraffe has d highest blood pressure of all animals.
8. A typical hen lays 19 dozen eggs a year.
9. A swan is d only bird with penis.
10. A rat can go without water longer than a camel can.
11. It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs
12. Dogs nd humans are d only animals with prostates.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ‘I Am Not A Mad Man' - Majek Fashek

It took me a while to find my way to the Sewage Road, Gowon Estate residence of Majekodunmi Fasheke, popularly known as Majek Fashek.

As I knocked on the gate, a young man named Ogaga came to attend to me. I introduced myself as a Journalist from Nigerian Entertainment Today (NET) and explained my mission. He tried to dissuade me from seeing the rainmaker, insisting that I needed to speak with the management before I could chat with him.

But Majek heard our dialogue, rushed to the gate and insisted that I come in. The nineties hit-maker was dressed in a denim shirt and jeans. It was 10am in the morning of Friday January 25. Majek  was already reeking of alchohol.

Since Ogaga had warned me against having an interview with the veteran reggae artiste, I left  the premises and waited not too far from the house, hoping to catch Majek coming out of the apartment.

I was determined to speak with the man who many say has become mentally imbalanced, about to roam the streets.

And it was my lucky day, as 25 minutes later, Majek wandered out of the house. I approached him and he readily suggested a place we could go and drink talk.

For a man who was admired all over the world, and tipped to be the next big thing after Bob marley, Majek has become a shadow of himself.

After agreeing to buy him a bottle of Big Stout, while also giving him N500 (he asked for N4,000), we get to sit down for a quick, albeit  revealing chat…

Your album was scheduled to be released sometime this month, is that still possible?

The album is ready. It will be released next month. It is titled ‘I Am Not Afraid.’

Who are the artistes that you featured on the album?

I featured Blackface and Tuface.

Reports have it that you are having problems with your label?

Yes, we are having problems. Haija (his manager) wants to cheat me. We had an agreement that she would get me accommodation, a car and other things. I’m in this house now and there’s no light (electricity). I have been here suffering. They also monitor my movement as if I am a child. The Mercedes Benz they gave me is lying out there broken.

They say they need four hundred thousand naira (N400,000) to repair the vehicle. Here I am, I have nothing. Little Wizkid has a jeep while I have nothing. I have a green card, I can always go back to America, but God said I should not go yet. I allow Hajia to do as she pleases because she is a woman and she is like a daughter to me.

Do you have children or family you could have been staying with?

I have four boys, and they are all in America with their mother, an Igbo woman. I can’t ask my children to come to Nigeria because if they experience NEPA, they won’t like me again. The eldest is in college now and he is a rapper. He has just been signed by the American rapper, Lil Wayne. You know you can’t compare American rap with Nigerian rap. Nigerians can rap but they don’t have the swagger of the Americans.

So which young Nigerian artistes that you like?

You know these days they use a drum machine. There are hardly any real musicians amongst them. I like Wizkid and 2face. They play good music. I don’t like that other boy they call D’banj; those ones that went to join Illuminati. How can you go and sell your soul to the devil because you want to be famous? I don’t even like his music anyway.

Have you read stories saying you’re going mad?

I didn’t read it, I was told by my boys in this beer parlour. Look at me, am I mad? I’m a strong man. I may look old and rough right now, but I know what I’m saying and what I’m doing. Many people think that Majek has gone and that Majek is no more, but I’m still here and I’m probably going to live longer than a lot of you.

Your label also reported you missing. Where were you the whole time?

I was in heaven. I went to see Fela Anikulapo Kuti in heaven. I was in heaven the whole time they were looking for me. Fela was not happy with me. He told me that some people want to kill Femi (Kuti). He said that Femi is his heir and that there are some elements that are trying to assassinate him. He told me that he will hold me responsible if anything should happen to Femi. He even gave me this ring I’m wearing.

Did he say who was trying to kill Femi?

He said the government.

Did he mention a specific name?

He just said the government.

Do you still use cocaine?

I have never ever used cocaine. I don’t do drugs. It is just me, my beer and my ogogoro (local gin).

Are you saying you didn’t do drugs in America?

I never did drugs. It was just a conspiracy to get me off my music because I was speaking and singing the truth.

Conspiracy by whom?

By the powers that be. Powers in high places.

You sound like a very spiritual person…

I am a very spiritual man. I am a ‘juju’ on my own. Sometimes I can go into a trance and relate with spirits in the spirit world. The ‘Cele’ tried to stop me, they couldn’t. The ‘aladura’ also tried but they couldn’t tame me. As I am, no spirit can do anything [to me].

Do you miss the glory days when you were one of the biggest artistes in Africa?

I’m still in my glory days. I’m still a legend. I still play my music every Friday night in this joint. In America we have what we call royalties, money paid the artiste for each time his music or video is played. I still get my royalties. I still have my guitar and I play it all the time

Photos: See The Woman With The Longest Hair In The World

Dai Yue Qin, better  known as Miss Dyq, is the Queen of long hair in China. Born in April 1964 in Tong Xiang (Zhejiang province, South China), she began to grow long hair at about 14.
Everybody admired her two long and thick black shiny braids so she decided to cut it off never.
After graduation she worked in a carpet factory in Suzhou for 10 years, then returned to her hometown and worked at a big hotel. As her hair-length of 3,30 meters raised more and more attraction she joined several long hair competitions and has won prizes till now.
In 2001 she moved to the U.S. where her friend lives. In 2005 she visited her family and friends in China and again attended some contests and long hair shows. It takes her about 1 to 2 hours to comb her tresses which are 420 cm in length now (almost 14 feet!).
The washing of that shiny flood of hair needs 5 to 6 hours every two weeks.
View pictures below and let us know what you think...

Facebook admits it is powerless to stop young users setting up profiles

Director of policy for UK and Ireland admits company 'has not got a mechanism for eradicating problem' of underage users

Facebook: has a rule that under-13s are not allowed to have profiles. Photograph: Paula Solloway / Alamy/Alamy

Facebook has admitted that there is almost nothing it can do to stop young users setting up profiles, with academic research suggesting that more than a third of UK 9-12 year olds now have their own page on the social network.
The world's biggest social network, with more than 1 billlion registered global users, has a rule that under-13s are not allowed to have profiles and also has strict rules for policing explicit content and preventing bullying and grooming.
However, there is no stringent verification system to prove the age of Facebook users and some research estimates just over a third – 34% – of 9 to 12-year-olds in the UK have a profile on the social network. The estimate for this demographic globally is that a quarter have Facebook profiles.
Simon Milner, the director of policy for Facebook UK and Ireland, admitted that it was a "tricky" topic for the company. "We haven't got a mechanism for eradicating the problem [of underage users]," Milner said.
"Facebook does have a rule that users have to be over 13, as does YouTube, which not a lot of people know," he added, speaking at the Oxford Media Convention on Wednesday. "It is not because we think that Facebook is unsafe but because of a US law about children's online privacy. So we have it as a global rule."
Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics, told the Oxford event that her research has shown that 34% of UK 9 to 12-year-olds have a Facebook profile.
"I would assume that [figure] is going up and would assume younger children are also having profiles," she said. "If parents would only say to young children, 'don't go on Facebook', we have found that they listen. Teenagers don't, but younger children do."
Milner responded: "I am very well aware of the research that a lot of 11 and 12-year-olds and younger have Facebook accounts and lie about their age [during the online signup process] … and that in some cases parents actively help.
"In that environment it is increasingly difficult to know what to do. You can't make everyone prove their age … that would get privacy advocates up in arms."
Milner, who pointed out he was a parent and did not let his young children use Facebook, said he does not "condemn" parents for helping kids use the networking site.
"We don't condone it, don't support it and don't condemn it either," he said, pointing out that it is similar to parents making a decision to take children to films such as the Harry Potter series that they may not strictly be allowed to attend under movie age classification rules.
He also said that Facebook monitors its own site with strict rules on content such as nudity and pornography and that the company would never allow an outside firm to take on the role of policing it.
"We apply standards and the idea of having someone outside make those decisions is anathema to us," he added. "The focus is very much on harm [to users], not offence. We do leave a lot of offensive speech up there, that is true also of a lot of similar platforms."
He added that Facebook has tough policies on eliminating bullying and attempted grooming on the social network.
Milner said that a particular concern is when young children decide to state their age as over 18 on Facebook. Users under this age do not appear in the Facebook profile search function and strangers cannot see their connections with friends.
He added that parents are most worried about bullying, grooming, self-harm and suicide-related content, followed by explicit content such as pornography.

Pictures: Nigerian Comedians Splash N100m On Luxury Cars!

Pictures: Nigerian Comedians Splash N100m On Luxury Cars!

They don’t ‘shout’ as much as their musician colleagues, but Nigerian stand-up comedians have been making big bucks for many years. And they’re still in the business, building revenues that’ll shock and surprise you, and living the life many can only dream of.
From I go Dye to Basketmouth and Ali Baba, these men are not only making us laugh; they’re making their bankers happy too. And they’ve since gone past those days when they had to convince patrons that being funny is serious business.
Following recent acquisitions revealed by NET investigations, we went out to find out what they’ve been spending their money on lately…
What was once a job which was looked down upon (just like doing music in the 90s), is now a craft that rakes in millions. And theses fellas have the evidence to show they are living large with their houses, expensive lifestyle but most notably their automobiles.
In the last few months, at least eight comedians have acquired expensive four-wheel toys or sedans that’ll have you contemplating a career change.

Basketmouth
The comedian has been busy with his job as host of The Big Friday Show but not too busy to go car shopping.
Basketmouth now drives a 2011 Toyota Venza which cost about N6.5m

Julius Agwu
The long-time comedian for his 40th birthday this year got for himself a gold coloured Mercedes Benz GL 550. The 7-seater SUV costs N19m.

 MC Abbey
The rising comedian who recently welcomed his first baby has also joined the big league, with the acquisition of a blue Toyota 4Runner SUV which is valued at N8m.
 
AY Comedian
In late December 2012, the comedian-TV host acquired a white ‘Acura ZDX AS’ as a Christmas present for his wife Mabel Makun. A brand new one costs N9m.
 
Ali Baba
The revered stand-up comic and MC rakes in the big bucks every year, little wonder he can maintain an expensive hobby: collecting cars. His latest gadget? A wine colour Mercedes Benz SL 500 valued at N20m
 
Teju Babyface
His new relationship status isn’t the only thing Teju is happy about. If you have a Lexus LS 600h hybrid executive car parked in your garage, it’ll be hard not to have a bright smile on your face. The automobile’s selling price is N12m. Teju also drives a Toyota Landcruiser.
 
Tee A
Mr Tunde Adewale has a thing for Mercedes automobiles. He has added to his Benz collections a blackMercedes Benz ML. Cost; we are looking at some N9m here! Tee A also owns a 2011 C-Class.
 
Bovi
AY isn’t the only comedian who’s showered love on his wife – Bovi, who’s been a close understudy of Basketmouth also bought for his wife Christabel a Range Rover. Average cost of that is N8.5m. The couple have a three-year-old child together.
 
Buchi
Onyebuchi Ojieh in early January acquired for himself a white 2009 Land Rover Discovery 3 which goes for N8m.

Man Builds Light Plane in Bayelsa

Unemployment or underemployment need not keep anyone from fulfilling their dreams says a young man from Brass in Bayelsa state, who in homestead has built a light plane that he hopes will fly someday soon.
36 year old Ifiemi Felagha, works with an oil servicing firm but spent all his free time in the past eight years working on living his light plane dream and he’s seen it through by building a light plane, named Destiny.
According to the parent of this young man without tertiary education, has had a knack for putting things together since his childhood.
The aircraft is however yet to take-off because Ifiemi is not a trained Pilot. He is now consulting with aviation experts but for now, he keeps moving the aircraft on his make-shift runway.

BITTER SUNDAY: ATLEAST 245 KILLED IN BRAZIL NIGHTCLUB FIRE

Sao Paulo, Brazil -- A fire swept through a popular nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing at least 245 people, state media reported, citing police.

The death toll was expected to climb as firefighters continued to pull bodies from the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, said Col. Adilomar Silva, the regional coordinator of civil defense.

Most of those killed appeared to have died of smoke inhalation, Silva said. Hundreds are believed to have been injured, though an exact count was not immediately available.

Many people were trampled in the panic to leave the club, one security guard tell us

The fire started "from out of nowhere" on a stage at the club and quickly spread to the ceiling, witness Jairo Vieira told Band News.

Smoke billowed outside the front of the building as the stench of fire filled the air, said Max Muller, who was riding by on his motorbike when he saw the blaze.

Muller recorded video of a chaotic scene outside the club, which showed emergency crews tending to victims and dazed clubgoers standing in the street. Bodies lay on the ground beside ambulances.

Friends who were inside the club told him that many struggled to find the exits in the dark. Muller, who was not inside the club Sunday morning but has been there twice before, said there were no exit signs over the doors. It is rare to see such signs in Brazilian clubs.

Video from the scene showed firefighters shooting streams of water at the club and shirtless men trying to break down a wall with axes.

Hours later, families and friends searching for information were outside a nearby sporting complex, where bodies were taken for identification, the state-run Agencia Brasil reported.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff became teary-eyed as she spoke of the tragedy to reporters in Chile, where she has been attending a regional summit. Rousseff said she was heading to Santa Maria later Sunday.

"The Brazilian people are the ones who need me today," she said. "I want to tell the people of Santa Maria in this time of sadness that we are all together."

The fire started at about 2 a.m. after the acoustic insulation in the Kiss nightclub caught fire, Silva said.

There was a pyrotechnics show going on inside the club when the fire started. Authorities stopped short of blaming it for the blaze, saying the cause was still under investigation.

The incident called to mind a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island where pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited a blaze that killed more than 90 people.

Pyrotechnics were also involved in a 2004 night club fire in Argentina that killed 194 people and a 2009 explosion at a night club in Russia that left more than 100 dead.

The Kiss nightclub is popular with young people in Santa Maria, drawing between 2,000 and 3,000 people a night on the weekends.

The blaze broke out during a weekend when students were celebrating the end of summer. Students at many Brazilian universities return to school on Monday.

Santa Maria is home to the Federal University of Santa Maria as well as a number of other private universities and colleges.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s Grammatical Boo-Boos

For those who don’t know, "boo-boo" is an informal American-English term for "an embarrassing mistake." Every Nigerian knows that good grammar isn’t President Goodluck Jonathan’s strong suit. I was probably the first to publicly call attention to this fact in my April 16, 2010 article about then Acting President Jonathan’s visit to the US.
In the article, titled "Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, that was embarrassing," I observed, among other things, that during the Q and A session at the Council on Foreign Relations Jonathan "couldn’t articulate a coherent thought, hardly made a complete sentence, went off on inconsequential and puerile tangents, murdered basic grammar with reckless abandon, repeated trifles ad nauseam, was embarrassingly stilted, and generally looked and talked like a timid high school student struggling to remember his memorized lines in a school debate." I concluded that he was "unfathomably clueless” and not “emotionally and socially prepared for the job of a president—yet."
Almost three years after, the president hasn’t changed a bit.
But his January 23, 2013 interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour will probably go down in the annals as his worst international outing as a president, particularly because of the insensate ferocity with which he murdered elementary rules of English grammar.
This isn’t an attempt to ridicule the president’s deficiencies in English. Nor is it an analysis of his interview. Since I write about grammar, I thought it was appropriate that I use the president’s CNN interview, which millions of Nigerians watched, as a teaching moment. This is precisely because the usage patterns of the elite of any country, especially of the president who is the most important political and cultural figure in a country, tend to get naturalized and imitated by the general population over time.
I have listed below some of the rankest grammatical bloopers that the president committed during the CNN interview.I have left out clumsy, semantically puzzling constructions that, in my judgment, were the consequence of the familiar, excusable pressures of impromptu dialogic exchange.
1. "Thank you." Christiane Amanpour started the interview by saying "Goodluck Jonathan, thank you very much for joining me from Davos." The president’s response to this courteous expression of gratitude was "thank you." Again, at the end of the interview when Amanpour said, "President Goodluck Jonathan, thank you for joining me," the president responded by saying "thank you."
That is not the conventional response to an expression of gratitude in the English language. When someone says "thank you" to you, conversational courtesy in English requires you to respond with such fixed phrases as "you’re welcome," "(it’s) my pleasure," etc. Other less familiar responses are "think nothing of it" and "don’t mention it" (which is chiefly British, although it’s now going out of circulation in contemporary British English.) In very casual contexts, it’s usual for people to say "(it’s) not a problem," "sure," "you bet," "not at all," "any time," etc.
It is neither conventional nor idiomatic to say "thank you" to a "thank you."
2. "Committed to work with…" In response to a question about the insurgency in Mali, President Jonathan said, "And that is why the Nigerian government is totally committed to work with other nationals, other friendly governments to make sure that we contain the problems in Mali." In grammar, the verb that comes after "committed to" is always in the progressive tense, that is, it always takes an "ing" form. So the president should properly say "we are totally committed to working with…"
3. Subject-verb agreement. This rule states that a singular subject agrees with a singular verb (that is, a verb with an "s" at the end) and a plural subject agrees with a plural verb (that is, a verb without an "s" at the end). It is obvious that the president has a continuing challenge with subject-verb agreement. This comes out clearly in all his media interviews and extempore speeches. For instance, in response to a journalist’s question about the Libyan crisis during a "State of the Nation" media chat in 2011, the president famously said, "Libyan crisis is like a pot of water dropped and everything scatter."
Of course, it should properly be "everything scatters" since "everything" is a singular subject that always agrees with a singular verb. Perhaps, the president was interlarding his speech with Nigerian Pidgin English (where the phrase "everything scatter scatter" popularized by Nigerian pop-singer Eedris Abdulkareem is standard and means "everything is upside down").
But during the Amanpour interview, in response to another question on Libya, the president again said, "the issue of Libya try to create more problems in the sub region." Well, it should be "the issue of Libya tries to create…" because "the issue," which modifies the verb in the sentence, is a singular subject. The president clearly has not the vaguest idea what subject-verb agreement means.
4. "Ghaddafi was thrown." Who threw Ghaddafi? From where was he thrown? The president probably meant to say "Ghaddafi was overthrown."
5. "Weapons enter into hands of non-state actors." This is undoubtedly Nigerian Pidgin English where "enter" functions as a catch-all verb for a whole host of things such as "enter a bike" (for "ride a bike"), "enter ya shoes" (for "wear your shoes"), etc. The president meant to say "weapons got into the hands of non-state actors."
6. "And I have said it severally…" Here, the president fell into a popular Nigerian English error: the misuse of "severally" to mean "several times." This is what I wrote in a previous article titled "Adverbial and Adjectival Abuse in Nigerian English": "Perhaps the trickiest of the adverbs we misuse is the word ‘severally.’ We often use the word as if it meant ‘several times.’ It is typical for Nigerians to say ‘I have told you severally that I don’t like that!’ or ‘I have been severally arrested by the police.’ In Standard English, however, ‘severally’ does not mean ‘several times’; it only means individually, singly, independently, without others, etc., as in ‘the clothes were hung severally.’ This means the clothes are apart from each other and don’t touch each other. Strikingly odd, not so?"
7. "They should try and filter the truth." This is the full context of this odd sentence: Amanpour told President Jonathan that the US State Department has said that police brutality has killed more Nigerians than Boko Haram has. This outraged the president who said the following in response: "The State Department from the United States they have, they have the means of knowing the truth. They should try and filter the truth."
Now, to filter (out) is to "remove or separate (suspended particles, wavelengths of radiation, etc.) from (a liquid, gas, radiation, etc.) by the action of a filter." Example: "Filter out the impurities." By metaphorical extension, if someone "filters the truth," as President Jonathan is urging the US State Department to do, they are actually removing the truth which, in essence, means they are lying. In other words, Jonathan is asking the US government to ignore the truth and embrace falsehood. Of course, that is not what he meant. But that is what he comes across as saying.
8. "…before the bulb can light." This is a semantically and structurally awkward construction. It’s probably the translation of the president’s native language, which is fine. But it is confusing for people who don’t speak his language. You can light a bulb with something, such as a battery, but can a bulb "light"? The bulb has no agency. Perhaps, the president meant to say "before the bulb can light up." "Light up" is a fixed verb phrase.

Shocking: The Nigerian Horror In China

Shocking: The Nigerian Horror In China

Their original anger, frustration and bitterness have crystallised into melancholy. Apparently helpless, dejected and depressed, they are crying for justice. They are friends and relatives of Nigerians who are languishing in various prisons in far-away China, for offences ranging from illegal entry and expired travel documents to drug trafficking. There are also, cases of Nigerian inmates who did not know why they were arrested.
They just found themselves in the prisons. Ever since Sunday Sun in its issue of December 25, 2011, reported that over 1000 Nigerians were languishing in China prisons, the families of the inmates have been making frantic efforts through several civil and government agencies to secure the freedom of their loved ones, many of whom are allegedly there on trumped up charges. However, the matter took a new turn on January 1, 2013, when at about 1am, a Nigerian prisoner who identified himself simply as Paul, cried out from Beijing Prisons in China to Sunday Sun, to help tell the world that they were grappling with the worst kind of treatment prisoners could face anywhere in the world. Again at about 3am on January 16, 2013, Paul screamed again that they were dying and this time, he gave an disturbing figure of over 700 Nigerians still rotting in Chinese jails.
“Please my brother, we are dying. We are over 700 hundred Nigerians in various prisons here. Our health condition is very terrible. If you are sick, nobody takes you to the hospital. The kind of food they serve us here is better not tasted. It is tasteless. In fact, I lack the proper word to describe the kind of food they serve us. We spend heavily on our feeding from the money our families in Nigeria send to us. It is really bad and I hope you understand what I mean when I say it is bad. What is bad is bad and it is bad,” Paul said in subdued tone.
On what he wants done for them, he said: “We want our president, Goodluck Jonathan to hear our cry and come to our aid. There is a new policy here in China that empowers other countries to come and take their citizens back to their countries for prosecution. We call on Nigerian government to take advantage of that law and rescue us from this hell called prison. “We would gladly like to face prosecution back home if they say we committed any offence because here, we are not prosecuted. They just dumped us in the cell, even when most of us did not do anything to warrant being here. We appeal to the President and all Nigerians to remember that their kith and kin, most of who are innocent, are languishing in China and they should do something to save our lives.”
Corroborating Paul’s tale of woes, another jailed Nigerian who identified himself as Ayowale, said he was released on Tuesday last week, and returned to Nigeria on Wednesday, January 23. He said he went to China in 2004 and had been doing business in that country until he was arrested on February 22, 2006 on charges of credit card fraud. He told Sunday Sun that although he told the Chinese authorities that he was innocent because he was engaged in buying shoes and baby clothes and sending same to his people in Nigeria who usually remit the money to him after sales, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on March 10, 2007.
“I was a businessman based in China and my business was buying shoes and baby wears and sending them back home after which the money is remitted to me for more purchases. Sometimes, I would even go to Thailand and Malaysia to buy products that I would send home for sale. That was my business until I was arrested and charged with credit card fraud. “It is better not to go to court because they will provide a lawyer who will do the government’s bidding. Whatever you tell your lawyer will be used against you in the court of law. And you can’t get a lawyer of your own except the one provided for you by the government”, he said.
The man who served in Beijing prisons number two, where it was gathered, over 70 Nigerians are languishing, said life in jail was terrible. He said they worked until recently when the authorities introduced the work system. “I refused to do any work since I had almost finished my term when they introduced it. I also don’t know the kind of work they do in the factories but from what I observed, the work is so tedious and terrible because it tells on them. They wake up early in the morning, go to factory and come back around noon but by 2pm, they are back in the factory to work till night. They no longer sleep or rest as before.
These are the people that are very sick. Now tell me, how do you want them to get well? We went out once in a week and they allowed us only one hour. People are dying there in the prisons,” he stated. Narrating his ordeals in jail, Ayowale said: “You serve your sentence by points but the way they calculate the point is confusing. People die like fowls in the prisons. It is in their law that people above 65 years of age should not be in prison, but we have people that are more than 70 years in our prison.
There was a Japanese who was above 90 but he was in the same prison with us. “Life is really terrible there. Look at my skin. When I was arrested, my skin was smooth but look at what the condition in the prison turned my skin to. You can see the infections I contracted from inside the prison. I pleaded with the prison authorities for more than six years to take me to the hospital but nobody listened. I cried day and night but nobody listened.” Accusing the Chinese government of treating the Nigerian embassy officials in China with disdain, he said: “Each time we complained to our Embassy, the embassy would write to them and they (Chinese) would book appointment with the Embassy but they never honoured the appointments.
They toy with our Embassy as they like and they are not straight- forward. I want our government to know that the Chinese government does not respond to the Nigerian Embassy the way they respond to other countries that have embassies there. The way they treat Nigerians is painful. They are rude to our government. I urge our government to find solution to the way Chinese government treats our Embassy and citizens there. Nigerians are dying in prison.” On the quality of food in the prisons, he said: “We feed ourselves because even pigs cannot eat the kind of food they give us. They serve us white rice without stew in the morning, afternoon and night. A lot of people have become diabetic; some have developed vision impairment due to what they eat.
They injected some of us three times daily to suppress the effect of the diabetes. They can’t take you to the hospital where you can get proper medical care. We feed ourselves and we spend $60 every month to do that.” Ayo, who is worried that he didn’t know the kind of skin infection he contracted, urged the Nigerian government to do something urgent to save the lives of Nigerians in Chinese jails who are the brink of death due to illnesses like diabetes, High Blood Pressure, chronic cough and weakness of the bones.
He lamented: “I don’t even know the kind of infection that I have contracted. All I know is that it comes and disappears, leaving black spots on my skin as you can see. Sometimes, it appears after I have eaten certain food. For six years and 11 months, I battled with the disease without any assistance from the prison authorities.” Another Nigerian who came back recently to Nigeria from Dun guan City Prisons in China, painted a more dreadful picture of life in Chinese jailhouses.
The source that identified himself as Ejima, a native of Ebonyi State, said he travelled to China in January 2006 but was arrested on November 10, 2007. He said he was jailed for seven years but spent five years and two months before he was released on January 10, 2013. According to him, he was released before his seven years term because he worked hard in the factory as a prisoner. Ejima summed up the situation the fate of Nigerians in China thus: “We are not seen as human beings; they see us as animals, especially Nigerians.”

TONTO DIKEK CONFESSES HER LOVE FOR TERRY G

Nollywood Actress, Tonto Dikeh will not cease to swim in controversies. If you're a follower of the Nollywood goddess on Twitter, you would have noticed that she has included something in her profile.



Read this:- "Who eva said Succezz waz a slow procezz waz mos defntly not talking abt Mii/Businezz tycoon/Nollywood Actress*#IAMPOKO#Teamlovethyself#I luv Terry G."

She has recently included her last line and I hope Terry G feels the same as she does. Meanwhile, a close friend of the sultry actress said that she and Terry G will make a good companion. Reason being that, Terry G is a drug addict and Tonto, being a drunk, would make her the perfect partner.

Shocking: Five Fresh Human Heads Found in Fulani Representative’s House

By Seriki Adinoyi
A Shocking find of five fresh human heads has been made in the residence of former Special Adviser to the immediate past Chairman of Mangu local government area of Plateau State, Alhaji Saleh Abershi, who is also a representative of the Fulani in Mangun ward.
Different versions of the story have it that Abershi was a Boko Haram accomplice who tip off was given on before he was swooped on by security agents while another version has it that an arrest of a Boko Haram suspect who allegedly mentioned his name led to special agents from Abuja storming his residence where the human heads were found.
It was gathered that following a security tip off, over five hilux vans conveyed security men all the way from Abuja to raid his residence. Saleh was subsequently arrested and whisked to Abuja.
Another version said it was in the process of interrogating a Boko Haram sect suspect in Abuja that Saleh was mentioned as an accomplice leading to the deployment of the security personnel for his arrest.
Confirming the incident, the current Chairman of Mangu local government, Isah Shikben described the incident as revealing, urging residents to remain calm and allow security operatives do their jobs.
Meanwhile, Plateau State Government has condemned the recent resurgence of violent attacks in some parts of the state “just when the state had been enjoying steady peace for some time”, describing it as unprovoked, and deliberately aimed at plunging the State into larger and perpetual theatre of conflict.
In a statement by the Commissioner of Information, Mr. Abraham Yiljap, the state said the recent attacks have resulted in the loss of many lives especially, and caused pain among the people.
The statement added that “the latest attacks in some parts of Jos South, Barkin Ladi and Wase Local Government Areas appear deliberately aimed at plunging the State into larger and perpetual theatre of conflict.”
The state however said it is in consultation with security agencies to adopt various measures to stop it from spreading.
“Government has also directed Local Government Management Committee Chairmen of the affected areas to adopt specific pro-active measures to douse tension and maintain the peace of the areas.
Culled: Thisday

Obama Urged To Resign Over Beyoncé Scandal

A rising chorus of congressional Republicans are calling on President Obama to acknowledge that the pop singer Beyoncé lip-synched during his inaugural festivities on Monday and resign from office, effective immediately.

“By lip-synching the national anthem, Beyoncé has cast a dark cloud over the President’s second term,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). “The only way President Obama can remove that cloud is by resigning from office at once.”

While many in the media have blamed Beyoncé for the lip-synching controversy, Mr. Paul said, “We must remember that this happened on President Obama’s watch.”
Mr. Paul said that the White House’s refusal to comment on the Beyoncé crisis “only serves the argument that this President has something to hide.”
“If Beyoncé lip-synched the national anthem, how do we know President Obama didn’t lip-sync his oath of office?” he said. “If that’s the case, he’s not legally President. But just to be on the safe side, he should resign anyway.”
Mr. Paul also blasted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her testimony on Benghazi before the Senate today: “Her tactic of answering each and every question we asked her didn’t fool anyone.”

Police arrests Bisi Komolafe's husband over property

The family of late actress, Bisi Komolafe have used the police to arrest and detain Tunde Ijaduola for failure to return the properties of the late actress.

MetroNews exclusively gathered that Tunde was arrested on Tuesday at his family house in Epe and was brought to State Anti Robbery Squad office in Ikeja where he is currently cooling off as a guest.
It could be recalled that the family of the late actress have been at war with Tunde after the death of the actress over her properties which they believe are in possession of Tunde.
Last week,he returned the Honda Pilot car to her Ikorodu house but still took a Tv set which he claimed was his inheritance from his late dad.