Justin Bieber Mom Says She Knew Her Son Might Be A Singer.

 

Pattie Mallete, Justin Bieber’s mum says the first time she had her son cry at the hospital, his voice sounds like singing to her. It sounds weird but well it could be… because she says at some point she was advised to go and abort the baby. She says he sounds “like, ‘A hah, a hah.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it is so precious and amazing. I just want to squeeze him.’

Maheeda: "My Daughter Isn't Aware Of My Unclad Pictures"

  

In her most recent interview, singer Caroline Sam, better known to Nigerians as Maheeda, confessed that her 17-year-old daughter is yet to see the "adult" pictures of her mother.

"My daughter is not even aware these unclad pictures exist, even though she has seen pictures of me in bikini. She is not even allowed access to the social media," the celebrity disclosed.

"I am 31, and I had my daughter when I was 17. I do not think this is going to affect her in any way. If my mother did something like this, there is no way it would have affected me," she explained."Even if she [the daughter] gets to view them eventually, it's not going to mean anything to her because she has the European mentality.

Late double from Ronaldo seals Real win

Football | Spain

 

A late double from Cristiano Ronaldo put some gloss on a stuttering performance from Real Madrid as they beat Celta Vigo 3-0 to cut the gap at the top of La Liga to five points.
The pressure was on Real with leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid having won their first matches of the year.
However, with Ronaldo unusually quiet and record signing Gareth Bale only fit enough for the bench Real were frustrated by a Celta side who had several chances to score before Karim Benzema broke the deadlock midway through the second half.
Ronaldo poked in Real's second after 82 minutes and then thumped in his second of the night from substitute Bale's cross for his 400th career goal.
"It was not a good performance and we need to learn how to be tighter at the back," Real coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference. "We lacked balance as we had a lot of players going forward and were open to the counter-attack."

President Jonathan’s 11th private jet!

 

The Presidency has made a proposal for an upfront deposit of N1.5billion for a brand new private jet, which will become the Presidential Air Fleet’s (PAF) 11th aircraft. This figure is contained in the details of the 2014 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan through the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The Federal Government has budgeted another N1.52b for the maintenance of the 10 aircraft currently in the PAF in 2014 and it is now set to spend just about that amount on a new one. This prodigious squandering of taxpayers’ money is reckless and unacceptable.

The PAF already boasts two Falcon 7X jets, two Falcon 900 jets, Gulfstream 550, one Boeing 737 BBJ (Nigerian Air Force 001 or Eagle One), and Gulfstream IVSP. Others are one Gulfstream V, Cessna Citation 2 aircraft and Hawker Siddley 125-800 jet. The combined estimated value of the PAF is about $390.5m (N60.53bn). According to industry experts, it costs a minimum of 20 per cent of that figure to maintain them annually. So we’re looking at about $58.57m (N9.08bn) yearly for maintenance. Private jets are money guzzlers either in the air or on land.

The proclivity of this administration for frivolous spending is well documented.  The government has been severely criticised in the past for the colossal amount of embezzlement, rip-off and wastage that have been its hallmark. The rationale behind this new aircraft in the PAF must be condemned .

We are prepared to make sacrifices – Lecturers

 

As life returns to many universities after the New Year break, some lecturers have pledged to put in extra efforts to make up for the time lost during the recent protracted strike.

Life returned to many of the nation’s public universities on Monday.

Besides, resumption of normal academic work, business activities also picked up in many of the institutions.

Lecturers in public universities embarked on an indefinite strike under the aegis of ASUU on July 1, 2013.

The strike suspended on December 17, lasted for 169 days.

The University of Lagos-ASUU Chairman, Dr. Oghenekaro Ogbinaka, promised that members of the union would make sacrifices to make up for lost time. He spoke to News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

Ogbinaka said the union was satisfied with steps the government recently took to ensure that the country’s university system was on the same pedestal with those of many other countries.

He said UNILAG lecturers would ensure that areas that suffered during the strike were covered qualitatively.

He urged students to work hard to make up for the lost time.

According to him, the Federal Government has demonstrated willingness to create a conducive teaching and learning environment in public universities.

He said it was necessary for lecturers and students to play their respective roles well.

“The government, as part of its efforts to encourage us, has paid all our salary arrears; we are indeed happy with the development.

“The same government has set up a NEEDS Assessment Committee in public universities with members of other labour unions in the system well represented.

“With the development, we are optimistic that we shall be seeing a system that will be able to compete favourably with its counterparts in other climes.’

“Given this development, we see a situation where, not only students, lecturers and  parents will be happy,  but where the entire country will be better,” Ogbinaka, said.

Normal academic activities also resumed at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

The LAUTECH-ASUU Chairman, Dr Oyebamiji Oyegoke, told NAN that he was happy the school had reopened.

He said all hands must be on deck to avert disruption in whatever form on campus because it would be inimical to the students’ study.

Oyegoke stressed the need for both lecturers and students to be up and doing,

“We have to hit the ground running because of the limited time,’’ he said.

The Deputy Dean of Students’ Affairs, Dr Babatunde Lawal, also said that the resumption was the best gift of the New Year.

He urged the lecturers and students to work extra hard to cover the lost ground.

The Students’ Union President, Mr. Ayorinde Rufus, commended the management of the institution for the prompt resumption of students after the strike.

We used wooden guns to rob passengers – Suspect

An alleged highway robber has told men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos, that he and his gang members used toy guns to intimidate passengers.

It was learnt that the 37-year-old suspect, Mmaduabuchukwu Ibe, was arrested with a locally-made bullet proof vests inscribed with ‘police’.

According to police authorities, the suspect belongs to a gang which specialises in robbing commercial buses on highways.

Ibe was alleged to have been part of a gang of armed robbers which attacked two East-bound passenger buses along Sagamu, Ogun State, dispossessing passengers of their belongings on December 31, 2013.

During the robbery operation, the suspects were said to have ordered passengers to lie face down while they robbed them.

CBN defended naira with $26.6bn in 2013 – Report

In a bid to save the naira from devaluation last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria defended the currency with approximately $26.6bn from the nation’s external reserves; findings by our correspondent have shown.

Information obtained from the CBN website on Monday revealed that the bank sold about $26.6bn to currency dealers in 94 Foreign Exchange Dutch Auctions between January and December 2013.

According to the data, the central bank sold about $19.8bn to currency dealers in 72 auctions through the Wholesale Dutch Auction System between January and September last year, while it offered $6.8bn to the dealers in 22 auctions through the Retail Dutch Auction System between October and December.

The CBN had on October 2 last year replaced the WDAS with the RDAS because of the ineffectiveness of the former in order to address hitches in the foreign exchange market.

The data showed that the central bank sold the highest amount of dollar in the month of July, offering $3.3bn; while it sold $833,501,279 in January, the least for the year

Presidency, police insurance, bank charges to gulp N556m

 

The Presidency, ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Finance, as well as police formations and commands, among others, are to spend the sum of N555.98m on financial expenses such as bank charges and insurance premium this year.

The amount is contained in the 2014 budget proposals for the affected agencies currently before the National Assembly.

An analysis of the fiscal document, which was submitted by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to the National Assembly in December, showed that the police formations and commands, with a budget of N404.07m, have the highest figure for financial charges.

A breakdown of this amount shows that while about N402.98m will be spent on insurance premium, the balance of N1.09m is for bank charges.

Similarly, the budget details also indicate that the Ministry of Agriculture and its parastatals have earmarked the sum of N55.06m for financial charges, while the Presidency, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and its parastatals plan to spend N14.25m and N72.4m, respectively.

The Ministry of Finance has a budget of N2.55m for financial charges, while the Debt Management Office also has a provision of N1.6m for the same purpose.

Chukwu backs Eagles for CHAN title

 

Former Nigeria coach, Christian Chukwu, has tipped the team for success at the African Nations Championship, saying the Super Eagles team B will replicate the success the team A had at Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

Nigeria are in the same group with hosts South Africa, Mali and Mozambique and will play their group game against the West Africans on the opening day of the tournament, January 11.

It will be Nigeria’s first appearance at the competition after missing out on the first two editions in 2009 and 2011.

Chukwu told the News Agency of Nigeria on the telephone on Monday that in spite of the Eagles’ first appearance at the tournament, they have stand a good chance as bookmakers’ favourites.

Portuguese salute, mourn soccer great Eusebio

tens of thousands turned out in tribute Monday to Eusebio after the coffin of the Portuguese soccer great was put on public display and taken in a funeral cortege through the streets of Lisbon, AP reports.

People filed out of offices and cafes on a rainy afternoon and applauded as the hearse with a police motorcycle escort passed. Traffic was halted on the capital’s main roads, and the cortege stopped for a ceremony at city hall.

Earlier in the day, dozens of dignitaries and hundreds of fans, some weeping, filed past the coffin at the Lisbon stadium of Benfica, Eusebio’s longtime club. Some 10,000 fans at the Stadium of Light cheered and sang when the coffin was placed in the center of the field.

The government declared three days of national mourning after Eusebio’s death Sunday from heart failure at 71.

The funeral was attended by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and many soccer players, including former world player of the year and retired Portugal captain Luis Figo.