I Asked My wife To Marry Me The First Time I Met Her – Chinedu Ikedezie 'Aki'

                        
Nollywood actor, Chinedu Ikedezie, popularly known as Aki, has revealed how he met his wife. In an interview with Sun newspaper, the actor said he approached his wife the first time he met her and asked her to marry him.

“I met her just the way every other man meets his wife. I made the first move. I just told her baby, let’s do this and the rest is history.”

                                   
On growing up, he said “Let me tell you something about my birth. My mum put to bed at exactly 12 am on the dot the day I was born; as soon as it was 12 am, I popped out! One peculiar thing about my mum is that she goes to the labour room with her wristwatch and once she gives birth, she records the time.

And God has so blessed her, she delivered like the Hebrew women; she never had complications. I came into the world at exactly 12 am on the dot on the 12 day of the 12 month of the year so that means there is something unique about me (laughter). Growing up, my parents wondered how I would end up because they couldn’t even dictate to me. You know, parents have a way of knowing what their kids would be in the future. They would be like this one is going to be a medical doctor and that one is going to be an engineer. In my case, they couldn’t tell where I was headed because I seemed to have a knack for everything; that’s the making behind my life and who I am today.”

He further talked about how he met and became very close with fellow actor, Osita Iheme.

“I started acting in 1998. He came into the industry three years later in 2001. I was in school then and we had a job so he had this opportunity to shoot in Enugu. He had just started acting then. We met in the hotel lobby where we were lodged. We talked and I discovered he was a very shy fellow. Before then, Amayo Uzor had been telling me that ‘Chinedu, just hang on, there is boy I have seen that looks just like you and guess what, he is in the industry and I am working on a script for the both of you.’ After our meeting, they called us and gave us scripts; that was the first time I did pure comedy. The movie was entitled Aki Na Ukwa”.

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44-Year-Old World's Fattest Man Keith Martin Is Dead

44-year-old Keith Martin, who was officially the fattest man in the world who weighed an astonishing 70 stone at his heaviest died Today from pneumonia following a lengthy battle with his weight.

His death came just eight months after Martin had undergone a successful gastric sleeve which removed three-quarters of his stomach.

The surgeon who tried to save his life with life-changing weight-loss surgery is calling for the government to swiftly impose a fast-food tax.

Unemployed Martin admitted much of the weight had come from eating huge amounts of super-cheap fast food.

He would gorge on 20,000 calories a day - almost 10 times the recommended amount - having six-egg fry-ups for breakfast then pizzas, kebabs, Chinese takeaways and Big Macs for lunch and dinner all washed down with six pints of coffee and two litres of fizzy drinks.

He'd also snack on sandwiches, chocolate, crisps, sweets and biscuits. His surgeon Kesava Mannur said: "Martin, like many people, had some emotional issues and he turned to food for comfort.

"That type of behaviour is nothing new, but what is new is how easy it is for people in that situation to buy a lot of cheap junk food."

Following his death in March, Martin left behind his two sisters - Sharon and Tina - who cared for him for many years leading up to his death. Speaking from the home they shared in west London, Tina said "We're still grieving. We miss him very much."

Head surgeon Mr Mannur, who operated on Martin at Homerton Hospital last year, wants more obese people to be offered gastric surgeries on the NHS.

He said if Mr Martin had lived he would have lost hundreds of pounds and regained his ability to walk and live a normal life.

Mr Mannur said: "The government needs to make unhealthy fast food more expensive.

"Otherwise we'll continue to see more and more people like Martin. In the past few years I have treated several people who weighed between 45-60 stone.

A hopeful Martin had previously said: "I'd resigned myself that either I was going to die in my bed or I was going to kill myself.But now I think 'you stupid person'.I'm a lot more confident than I used to be. I feel a lot happier.

In a few months' time I want to be up and walking .I know the only person to blame is me. All those years wasted. I'm not going to waste anymore of it. "

Having been stuck in his house for ten years and bedridden for several years due to his size, Martin was able to drop 25 stone in order to qualify for the surgery after switching to a 2,000 calorie a day diet.

But just a week after the procedure he discharged himself from the hospital, against doctors' orders, because he was homesick.

By October 2013 he was back in hospital with septic shock and dehydration.

Two weeks later he contracted pneumonia. Martin spent four months in hospital before he was released in February 2014, having been deemed medically fit.

His weight had dropped to 39 stone After being transported home he said: "I feel great about surviving the operation.

 "It gives me a chance now to go do some of the things I wanted to do - to get myself up and walking, take my dog Benji out for a walk.

"This is the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new chapter. Where it takes me I don't know, but it's going to be fun finding out."

But just a month later he was dead.

 Culled from StellaDimokokorkus

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My Relationship With Fashola Remains Intact - Bola Tinubu

Read below a press statement from the former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu...

For a while now, I have noticed and read many published political stories on Lagos politics in particular and the personalities involved that are either concerted, unsubstantiated, pure conjectures or outright falsehood. In this instance, I reference a recent story ran by a major newspaper concerning my successor and me. There is no doubt political charlatans and enemies are at work fueling unnecessary rumour and insinuations and seeking to drive a wedge in an otherwise cordial and respectful political relationship. My relationship with Governor Fashola remains cordial both at the personal level and at the level of commitment to ensuring Lagos State remains on the path of political stability, growth and development.

Whether Governor Fashola had a specific candidate or not isn’t the issue here. What is important is to have a transparent process in the spirit of democracy to which we both subscribe.  We often debate, agree or  disagree. But when it comes to concluding on the interest of Lagos State, we are on the same page. The current situation and issues around the Lagos Gubernatorial primary are being overblown.

What we have done is ensure that no one is denied his or her rights to participate and compete for any elective position. Such a disposition should not translate into anger and divisiveness of the party as it is being peddled. Conflicts and disagreements is part of every political process. The capacity to solve these conflicts in-house and not on the pages of newspaper is a tradition in Lagos.

We warn the people of Lagos state against speculative, self-serving stories aimed at destabilizing the party and its leadership. The media must be weary of accepting or publishing stories that seek to pursue a narrow political agenda. Rather, they should make their paper a platform for proper news dissemination and constructive analysis such that can help our country tackle the current security problem, create jobs.

While we appreciate, recognize and respect the right of every media house to publish any story, it is important not to be part of the feeding frenzy and not to mislead the unsuspecting public.

At my age and with my level of political experience, I am expected to seek for solutions, work for reconciliations and find a common ground where disagreements exist. That is what I have dedicated myself to in the larger interest of Lagos State and Nigeria at large. That is what Governor Babatunde Fashola and myself are about. That is what Lagos state deserves as Nigeria’s pacesetter in terms of democracy and development.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

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Black Man Shot Dead After Police Mistook His Pill Bottle For A Gun

A Phoenix  white police officer on Tuesday December 2nd, shot dead Rumain Brisbon (pictured above)  a 34 year old father of four, after he mistook Brisbon's pill bottle for a gun. 

According to Phoenix police report, Brisbon was suspected of peddling hard drugs. Following a tip-off, he was approached by a 30 year old white police cop to asked him to come down from his Cadillac SUV for a search which he agreed to.

According to the police version of events, while coming down from his vehicle, Brisbon was said to have 'appeared to be removing something' from the rear seat. The officer instructed him to show his hands but instead Brisbon placed one or both hands in his waistband area before fleeing to a nearby apartment building. 


 

The police officer pursued him and they claim he refused the officers command asking him to get on the ground. Then they claim he began insulting the officer who he struggled with after he was caught.

The police report said “During the struggle Brisbon put his left hand in his pocket and the officer grabbed on to the suspect’s hand, while repeatedly telling the suspect to keep his hand in his pocket,”.

The two men tumbled inside an apartment after a door was opened. The officer believed he felt the handle of a gun while holding the suspects hand in his pocket”, the statement continued. Having become “unable to maintain his grip on the suspect’s hand”, the officer shot Brisbon twice in the torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A search of Brisbon’s pocket showed the item was a vial containing several oxycodone tablets. Police report said a handgun and a jar apparently containing marijuana was found inside Brisbon’s SUV. Brisbon was found to have a criminal record including a burglary conviction.

The officer, who has worked for the department for seven years, was not harmed. Police said he was in the area to investigate an alleged burglary but was told by two people that men inside a black Cadillac SUV were engaged in a drug deal. 

Brandon Dickerson, a friend of Brisbon  who was driving with him at the time of the incident told the Arizona Republic that Brisbon was at the apartment building where he was shot dead to deliver fast food to his children. The newspaper reported that “on Wednesday evening, strewn french fries still littered the front porch”.

Marci Kratter, an attorney for Brisbon’s family, told the newspaper they were considering a wrongful death lawsuit.

“It was a senseless tragedy,” she said. “He was unarmed and not a threat to anyone. We intend to pursue this to the full extent of the law.”

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Open Letter Of Sylvester Monye As He Joins Delta 2015 Gubernatorial Race

 Find the open letter below...

1st December, 2014

Open Letter to my People

Governorship of Delta State

On Friday 31st October 2014, I formally declared my intention to contest the 2015 gubernatorial election of Delta State under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). On the same day, I became the very first candidate to release a Social Contract with the good people of Delta State.

 

2. I am writing this letter to you to intimate you on why I decided to seek election to become the Governor of Delta State in 2015.

3. Being Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation exposed me to the efforts of government to improve the people’s quality of life through various programmes and projects. It also exposed me to the impediments to government’s plans and projections. Yet, the best lesson that I learnt as Special Adviser to the President is encapsulated in these words of a past American President, Theodore Roosevelt who says that “It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, if he fails, at least he fails while DARING GREATLY”.

4. Yes, I have embraced those words to heart – to dare greatly as governor of Delta State and make it a SUPER STATE; fantastic, splendid, superb and really outstanding Delta State. Yes, I intend to make the state superior to others, and to give the people enough reason to actually and reasonably feel special.

5. From day one, Delta was built with the ingredients for greatness. So, luckily, I will not be starting from the scratch. At Independence in 1960, the area that comprise Delta State were just the Benin and Delta provinces of the Western Region – a region whose memories still provide a heightened sense of pride to many. Yet, the people of the two provinces needed more than what the Western Region could provide and so in 1963, they became the Midwest Region – under the brilliant leadership of the much respected late patriarchs - Dr. Dennis Chukwudebe Osadebay and Olorogun Samuel Jereton Mariere. When the Region became the Mid-West State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia built on the uncommon foundations he inherited, and made it outstanding. Thus by mid 1970s, things unheard of in other States were common fare in Bendel – inter-city luxurious bus service, a state-wide library service on wheels which covered the State every two weeks and from which people borrowed books and returned them, a “book depot” that was filled with books and which serviced the State, an array of respected secondary schools even in the villages and which brimmed with academic and sports competitions, that formed the foundation of a system from which world beaters sallied forth to challenge and mesmerize the nation and the world.

6. Delta has retained some aspects of Bendel’s glorious past. Here, the immediate past democratic administration and the present one continued to build on that glorious foundation, such that even now, the Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan Administration has opened up a new route: “Delta Beyond Oil”.

7. My administration will further the manifest destiny of Delta State to lead the way for other States to follow. I will appoint as Commissioners, people who will be as earnest and sincere as an Old Testament prophet, imbued with quick intelligence, elevated principles, high social conscience, with active minds and proven abilities, realistic, precise (instead of wavering) and positively believing in the ability of man to transform a given society through ingenious leadership. I will search out the best and the brightest who will appreciate the urgencies of the moment and prove themselves as crisis managers. Yes, managers in the crisis of under-investment in education, housing, health, recreation, community decency and order, to help bring the needed focus on the scandal of great deprivation amidst plenty and thereby mount a charge against poverty.

8. The focus of my admiration will be the man or woman in the dusty village byways. For him or her, I will provide opportunities for mum and pop small-scale businesses to fire the economy, improve the internally generated revenue base, provide employment, and restore dignity to many. For their children I will retool the entire school system and dignify public schools by raising standards across board. Schools will be subjected to strict inspections to maintain acceptable standards. I will reintroduce school sports competitions and enhance the ones, such as soccer, which the Uduaghan Administration has introduced – so that tennis (lawn and table), basketball, etc, will have yearly state championships. In sports, I will further equip the stadiums the Ibori Administration built in the Local Government headquarters, making them natural hosts of the various inter-school competitions. Education will not only remain free but it will be made really compulsory and parents who keep their wards off school will be prosecuted. No child will be left behind.

9. The Local Government councils will be made to matter in the lives of the people; they will be designated nuggets of developments in the State and should enforce some minimal accepted levels of hygiene in the markets, villages, etc and thereby reduce sources of disease infections. My Administration will place a strong emphasis on primary healthcare delivery and make hospital treatment free for pregnant women and children, and for everybody in school uniform.

10. No, this is not an attempt to reproduce my Social Contract with Deltans; no, I have just given you a glimpse of it to show the seriousness of the quest to which I am humbly inviting you to accompany me – by your understanding, goodwill, advice and support.

11. Millions live in Delta State. Through purposeful leadership, I will raise the quality of their lives tremendously. The State not only possesses the ingredients for greatness, the foundations for such greatness actually exists; the all-conquering will of the people and unalloyed pride in their glorious Bendel State. With such a State made up with such a people, all it takes to arrive at a super State that will beat out a path for other States to follow, is just character, good governance and accountability in leadership. These are the fundamental principles upon which my aspiration is anchored. 

12. And it is to provide such leadership that I am seeking to be the next governor of Delta State. I crave your support for this noble quest in the coming days and weeks. 

13. With my warm personal regards.

Professor Sylvester Monye, MFR

GovernorMonye2015

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Photos: Armed Robbers Chased Oritsefemi’s Range Rover SUV To Crash In Surulere

Oristsefemi's management released a press statement regarding the crash of the new Range Rover Evogue he got from his record label less than a week. They said armed robbers caused the SUV to crash. Find the statement below...

Unknown Armed Robbers have chased Oritsefemi’s Range Rover SUV to crash early Saturday morning, 6th December 2014on Ikorodu Road, Lagos.

“The incident happened we were going to finish up a meeting my traveling arrangement today with Big Brother Africa’s officials in order to perform at the grand finale of the event in South Africa on Sunday 7th.

Yusuf ‘Danku’ Adepitan who was driving the Ranger noticed unknown gun men were chasing me-Oritsefemi- behind, on approaching Funsho Willams Road, Barrack Bus Stop, Surulere, and the suspected gunmen approached the driver. They ordered him to stop.

Pointing guns at him, but Danku refused to stop. He accelerated trying to escape. While he was struggling with the robbers, a truck conveying loads of Cement hit the vehicle accidentally. Range driver’s side was smashed. Danku lost control. The truck hit him by the chest through the driver’s side. The airbag came out immediately”, Oritsefemi revealed the accident.  

“I was at the back the back seat with my brother. I quickly cried for help before Good Samaritan rushed out from unknown area in Surulere to rescue Danku who had already been in coma. He could neither talk nor see anyone at the point”.

He has been hospitalized at a name withheld hospital in Ikeja receiving treatment.

“I thank God for my life and manager. No life was lost. My fans should pray for me”, Oritsefemi Concluded.

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Forbes Mag List Toyosi Akerele In 2014 ‘20 Young Power Women In Africa’

The Forbes Magazine has released 2014 edition of the annual 20 Young Power Women in Africa list and Toyosi, the founder and CEO of Rise Networks, Nigeria’s leading Social Enterprise for Youth Development is on the list and has also just returned from Baku, Azerbaijan, where she represented Nigeria at the very first United Nations Global Forum on Youth Policies.

 

According to Forbes, these women are “20 young, extraordinary and inspiring African women, aged 45 and under, who are making the most dramatic impact in individual African countries in the world of politics, business, technology, policy, diplomacy and media. Meet the 2014 class of the 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa: the continent’s emerging power brokers, the Amazons to watch, and the custodians of tomorrow.”

Reacting to the exciting news, the brilliant, newly wedded Toyosi, said that ''this huge acknowledgement challenges her to higher responsibility in her commitment to capacity building and human capital development for the Youth of the Continent''. She further stated that ''it is timely as Africa is the next port of call for some of Rise Networks’ Initiatives and Forbes has only emphasized the need to deepen engagements across Africa in a way that brings development to Nigerian Young People across Africa and the World''.

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Photo: Fake Soldier Sentence To 7-Years Imprisonment For N1.5m Job Scam In Benin

Find the EFCC Press statement below

Justice P.I. Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Benin, Edo State toady convicted and sentenced one Emmanuel Sunday (alias Umoh Sunday Iyang, Iyang Samuel Chukwudi) to seven and half years imprisonment without an option of fine for obtaining money under false pretense.

The convict was arraigned by the Economic and Financial crimes Commission, EFCC, on March 19, 2014 on an 8-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence. He pleaded not guilty to the count charge.

After diligent prosecution, Justice Ajoku found him guilty on the 5-count amended charge and sentenced him to thirty months imprisonment each of the counts. The court also ordered that the convict forfeit his two (2) phones to the Federal Government.

The journey to prison for Emmanuel started when he was arrested in Benin on August 13, 2013 by the Nigerian Army, 4 Brigade/sector 1, Operation Pulo Shield, for posing as an Army Captain to defraud one Igue Endurance of the sum of N1, 545,000.00 (One Million Five Hundred And Forty- Five Thousand Naira) in the pretext that the said amount be used to facilitate her recruitment into the Nigerian Army.

One of the charges read, “That you Emmanuel Sunday ( also known as Umoh Sunday, Inyang Samuel Chukwudi) on or about May, 2013, at Benin within the Jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud did represent yourself to be a captain with the Nigerian Army and obtained the sum of Three Hundred Thousand Naira only(300,000.00) from one Igue Endurance, which said money you used part of it and paid the sum of Eighty Thousand Naira into your Diamond bank plc, account 0001857059, under the pretence that the said sum would be used to get Igue Endurance recruited into Nigerian Army, a pretext which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act”

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Photo: Nigerian Man Who Scams Women Of £100,000 Have Been Arrested In UK

                         
A Nigerian man, Adewale Adewole based in the UK (pictured above) , is facing a jail time after admitting to four-count charges of fraud.


According to Daily Mail reports, Adewole is married with two kids, allegedly scammed a women of almost £100,000 after pretending to be a Royal Marine on Match.com, named Timmy Francis, who owned an orphanage in Africa. On one of his profiles, he had the nickname ‘Charismatic Brit,’ and on the other, ‘To live and love.’ He claimed he was looking for love.

Adewole is said to have used a picture of an actual Royal Marine Commando called Joshua McGowan, as his display picture.




Sources say he told the women he had been robbed at his “orphanage,” and so they sent him money and paid his bills. Unknown to them, Adewole was diverting the money into his wife’s bank account. He also spent the money on expensive designer clothes, iPads, and TVs.

Investigations revealed that whenever he set up dates with the women, he would never show up.
Prosecutor, Charlotte Brandon told the court.

Adewale told the women that on a trip to Africa, he was the victim of a crime and needed money.

The crime meant he could not access his own funds.

He said they would get their money back and would be sent letters from the World Health Organisation to show that he would be able to pay them.

These letters were sent, but from an M30 Manchester postmark. He also sent them links to websites which, when logging in with details he gave them, appeared to show that he had a huge bank balance and would eventually be able to pay them back.

One woman was asked to pay for a hotel for him.

When she rang the number he gave her for the hotel, they also confirmed the information and she agreed to pay it.

She later received a cheque addressed to him for £35,000 to prove he had money, but this was later discovered to be a stolen cheque forged in his own handwriting.

Over a number of months, each woman transferred significant sums of money via bank accounts and Western Union moneygrams and sent items to the defendant’s home address.

They bought electronic items, took out credit cards and loans and bought clothes from Next.

When police searched his house in 2012, they found a digital camera, which had been purchased by one of his victims. It contained pictures of the accused, along with his wife and children. They also found several SIM cards in his wallet, which contained the women’s contact information.

He was also in possession of  two Blackberry phones which had three different email accounts linked to the two Match.com accounts. In addition, £4,500 was found under his bed. He was subsequently arrested.

However, Adewale has denied the allegations, and has blamed the fraud on his flatmate Samson Ajayi.

He told police that Ajayi had told him to help him transfer money to his relatives. He also claims that he vaguely remembers using match.com.

“The fraud was Samson’s idea. I got involved because I had a few financial difficulties at the time".

“I did not speak with the complainants. I did not know money was being sent to Nigeria but I knew it was being sent to my bank account and my wife’s bank account".

“I do not know where Samson is at the moment. He travels a lot. I have no idea about the details of this fraud. I didn’t even know how many victims there were".

“But I pleaded guilty because if I had not let my bank account or flat be used, these women would not have suffered in the way that they did".

“Samson said he was expecting some money. He said he had no bank accounts to receive the money so I wanted to help him. He was owing me rent at the time and this was the only way he could pay me”, he said.


The court hearings is still on.

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Boko Haram Planning To Bomb Apapa Seaport In Lagos- Western Ports Police Command

Western Ports Command of the Nigeria Police has raised the alarm over threat by the Boko Haram sect to bomb Lagos, with the nation’s seaport in Apapa as its likely target, Tribune reports.

 

Commissioner of Police in charge of the Western Ports Command, Mrs Hilda Ibifuro-Harrison stated this at the inauguration of new executives of the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN) in Apapa, Lagos.

She stated that based on intelligence report it received three months ago, the deadly Islamic sect could be planning to bomb Lagos and possibly target the seaport.

“We are not taking the threat lightly at all and we encourage all stakeholders who visit the port to keep their eyes and ears open in case of the activity of the sect,” said Ibifuro-Harisson who was represented by the Assistant Commissioner in charge of administration, Salem Machree.

 

She said as part of measures put in place to check the threat, the Police had beefed up security within and around Lagos including the port environment, just as she disclosed that Police would remain alert and vigilant at ensuring that the violent sect did not hit the ports.

It will be recalled that at least four persons were confirmed dead, when two explosions suspected to have emanated from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off near the Folawiyo Energy Depot on Creek Road, Apapa on June 25th of this year.

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