Tuesday, 26 January 2016

REPORT | Governor Ortom Unable to Pay Salaries After Borrowing N60 Billion in 7 Months


ortom white2


ortom white2

In the midst of Benue State government’s inability to pay salaries, several Benue State indigenes who spoke to SIGNAL on Monday on condition of anonymity lamented Ortom’s flagrant wastage of the state’s resources on frivolous projects that have no direct or indirect bearing on the welfare of Benue State workers, the latest being the political campaign of Daniel Onjeh.

“What is the relevance of Daniel Onjeh’s election to Benue State that the governor pulled out N100 million from the state’s treasury for his declaration on Saturday when I am being owed 4 months salary?”, a concerned Benue civil servant who did not want to be named queried in frustration.
A top official of the Benue State government who spoke to this newspaper decried Ortom’s excessive borrowing since he came into office. “The first month he came he borrowed N10 billion. The second month he borrowed N5 billion. Then he got a bailout of N28.1 billion. Just a few days ago, he wrote to the Benue State House of Assembly seeking permission to borrow another N15 billion. What is all this borrowing about? These are debts that Benue State will continue to pay for the next 60 years. What it means is that Ortom has mortgaged the future of Benue State for the next 60 years. Despite all these borrowing, he is seven months in office and owing 4 months salaries. So where is the money going to? Benue State is in a mess”, the source lamented painfully.
Ortom, SIGNAL gathered pulled out the sum of N100 million for Saturday’s declaration ceremony of Daniel Onjeh who is contesting for the Benue South Senatorial district election under Ortom’s All Progressives Congress (APC).
Efforts to reach the governor’s media assistant for a reaction have proved abortive.
But supporters of the governor are quick to argue that the governor is borrowing to start up government and set a base for looking into the critical financial challenges faced by the state workers. They also claim the issue of unpaid salaries was an inheritance from the past administration.
Notwithstanding, Governor Ortom recently collected N28.1 billion bailout funds released by the federal government as interest free loan to the state. The money, Benue State indigenes had expected would be used in settling a backlog of unpaid salaries of workers.
Seven months after Ortom entered office as governor; workers in the state are being owed salaries for the past 4 months. This is even more shocking as the governor is said to have borrowed a gigantic N60 billion so far in just seven months raising critical questions as to where all the funds have vanished into.

Eritrean government asks men to marry at least two wives or face imprisonment


By Ahmed Lotole
Kenyans have received the news of mandatory polygamy by men in Eritrea with a mix of bewilderment and excitement.
Activists have posted a memo allegedly by the Government of Eritrea asking men to marry at least two wives due to acute shortage of men occasioned by casualties during the civil war with Ethiopia.
In the statement written in Arabic assures of government support to the polygamous marriages.
The activists translate it thus, “Based on the law of God in polygamy, and given the circumstances in which the country is experiencing in terms of men shortage, the Eritrean department of Religious Affairs has decided on the following .”
First that every man shall marry at least two women and the man who refuses to do so shall be subjected to life imprisonment with hard labour.
“The woman who tries to prevent her husband from marrying another wife shall be punished to life imprisonment,” alleges the activists in their translation.
The Standard could not immediately authenticate the document nor the translation and it was not clear why the statement was not in the other two national languages, Tigrinya and Tigre.
The May 1998 to June 2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian war saw 150,000 soldiers killed from either sides but having a bigger impact on male population in the tiny Eritrea nation who were then just 4million people in total.
via Standard Kenya

Thursday, 14 January 2016

Oscars 2016 Nominations: Complete List of Nominees



Is this the year Leonardo DiCaprio will finally win his Oscar? Many feel so. See the full list of Oscar 2016 nominees below..

 

Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revneant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate WInslest, Steve Jobs
Best Directing
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrhamson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Best Film Editing             
The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Foreign Language Film
Colombia, Embrace of the Serpent
France, Mustang
Hungary, Son of Saul
Jordan, Theeb
Denmark, A War

Best Original Score
Thomas Newman, Bridge of Spies
Carter Burwell, Carol
Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sicario
John Williams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Production Design
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Best Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room
Best Original Screenplay
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton


Best Animated Feature Film
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
Best Cinematography                       
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario
Best Costume Design
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Best Documentary – Feature
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
Best Documentary – Short Subject
Body Team 12
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Last Day of Freedom


Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Mad Max: Fury Road
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant
Best Original Song
"Earned It," Fifty Shades of Grey
"Manta Ray," Racing Extinction
"Simple Song No. 3," Youth
"'Til It Happens to You," The Haunting Ground
"Writings on the Wall," Spectre
Best Animated Short Film
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay's Super Team
We Can't Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
Best Live Action Short Film
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
Shok
Stutterer
Best Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Sound Mixing
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Thursday, 24 December 2015

Star Wars actor, John Boyega was one of the last people to see Damilola Taylor alive, says Richard Taylor

Star Wars: The Force Awakens star, John Boyega was close friends with Damilola Taylor and according to Taylor's father, Boyega was one of the last people to see his son alive. Damilola was killed just a few days to his 11th birthday by two brothers, Danny and Ricky Preddie, aged 12 and 13 at the time, in south London.

Richard Taylor disclosed this in an interview with the mirror, adding that the 23-year-old actor and his sister Grace were both close to young Damilola.
 
Damilola (pictured left) with John and Grace, 13 at the time (blurred, on the right) in CCTV footage taken shortly before he died

 "John and Grace were looking after Damilola when he arrived in the UK, because they went to school together. The three of them were captured in the CCTV recording that the police used when they asked people to come forward to assist with the investigation.
 
"Grace became so close to Damilola – it was almost like boyfriend and girlfriend."

He added: "They were the last to see him. They wanted to escort him home, but he said he was going to be OK. They left him by the junction then he went around the corner and the gang were waiting for him."

Mr Taylor recently found out that John Boyega had nominated the Damilola Taylor Trust to receive a donation from the film’s launch.

"I was overwhelmed. It filled me with joy."

He said Boyega’s success makes him wonder about how his own son’s future could have unfolded.

"I thought: 'Oh wow, Damilola could have been working with him as an actor. Damilola was acting in primary school – in Christmas plays, school plays, reciting poems and all that kind of thing."

Damilola had moved to Britain from Nigeria a few months before he was stabbed in the thigh with a broken beer bottle by a gang of youths as he walked home from the local library after school.

The youngster was found bleeding to death in a stairwell near his home in Peckham, south London, where local workmen tried to save his life.
 
The Preddie brothers were convicted of Damilola's murder six years after it happened.

Miss Colombia finally speaks days after the Miss Universe disaster


Days after Miss Colombia was crowned the Miss Universe...for two minutes, the world's famous runner-up is speaking out. Ariadna Gutierrez took to her Instagram page on Tuesday and wrote:
"After the storm comes the calm. I want to thank each and everyone of you who have sent messages of support and strength. Every one of you has become an incredible human being in my book and I am the most fortunate and thankful for having the support not only from one country but from the whole entire world.
Your destiny is written for you. And my destiny was this. I was able to bring happiness to my country after becoming Miss Universe for only a couple of minutes... Today because of that COLOMBIA and the LATIN COMMUNITY are being talked about in every corner of the world. I also want to congratulate the Philippines for their new Miss Universe. The happiness that you must be feeling must be incredible. Life continues and in the future we will find out why things happen the way they happen. Thank you all for your LOVE SUPPORT and KINDNESS."

'My husband went back to Nigeria last Christmas to wed a secret new wife' - British woman reveals (photos)


Found this very interesting and intriguing story on The Sun UK. Biko, follow me read below...:-)
When her hubby of ten years had to spend Christmas with his relatives in Nigeria, Tracy Akingbogun hoped he’d return with a special gift to make up for their time apart. David, 43, had sorted out a present — for himself. He had secretly married another woman in Nigeria on Boxing Day.
Mum-of-four Tracy only discovered the shocking news through a friend months later — and kicked him out. Heartbroken Tracy, also 43, says: “While I was at home with the kids missing him at Christmas, his present to himself was a new bride. “I still can’t believe he did that to us after more than ten years together. “I did some research and saw that the ceremony was a religious one and not a legal one. So he hadn’t committed bigamy. “His dad had five wives during his lifetime, so I suppose David thought he could do that too. “But not when he was living in the UK and not when he was married to me.”
Tracy, from Gravesend, Kent, adds: “This Christmas it will be just me and the children again, just like it was last year. But this time I’ll be over the moon that David isn’t with us.”
Tracy was a single mum to Cameron and Alysia — now 17 and 13 — when she met David in a nightclub while she was on a rare night out in March 2004.

She recalls: “I was watching a group of lads on the pull, but one of them wasn’t. He was just leaning against the bar enjoying himself. He saw me watching him and came over to chat.
“His name was David and he was really kind and gentle. He’d only arrived from Nigeria three months before.”
David moved into Tracy’s home just six weeks later and Tracy was delighted to discover she was pregnant.

Their son Kayodo, now 11, was born in December 2004 and they married two months later.

Tracy says: “It was a small ceremony with a few family and friends. David read out a poem and told me he really believed in me and our future together.
“From then on he called me ‘Wifey,’ his pet name for me.”
The next year the happy family went to Nigeria to meet David’s relatives.
Tracy says: “They were lovely to us and even went through the traditional ceremony of washing our feet when we arrived.”
Their second son Olalekan, now four, was born in December 2011.

Tracy busied herself bringing up her brood while David turned his hand to various businesses from buying and selling cars to running a market-stall. He also tried to set up an internet cafe.
But two years later she found messages between David and a Nigerian woman.
Tracy says: “One read: ‘When you were last here I wish I’d kissed you.’ I shouted at him, and wanted him to explain himself.
“He said she was someone he used to date before he came to the UK. He said it was nothing, they were just friends.
“I told David it was her or me. He said it was me, I was his wifey and that was that.
“Over the next few months he tried hard to show he meant it and we got back to normal.”
Then David announced he would have to go to Nigeria over the 2014 festive period. Tracy says: “I was furious. I told him he should be here for his sons — for our family. He kept insisting he had important family business.”
David flew out the day before Christmas Eve and Tracy was upset the family would be apart.
She says: “I was so angry with him, but I wasn’t going to let the children know that.
“It was Christmas so I was going to make it a good one.”
She messaged David, reminding him to call their boys on Christmas morning.


Tracy says: “David finally called at 9pm. I gave him an earful but let him speak to the children. I was so angry with him.
“On Boxing Day I didn’t hear from him, but I spoke to him and his family the next day and they were all friendly and normal.”

But, on David’s return, Tracy felt something had changed.
She says: “When he wasn’t away working he was on his laptop. He was hardly speaking to me or the boys. I would encourage him to spend time with them, but he’d snap at me and say he was busy.”
Tracy tried to make her family life as happy as possible but in May came a bolt out of the blue.
She got a message on Facebook from the partner of one of David’s friends in Nigeria, a woman Tracy had met when she visited.

She says: “The message read that he’d got married to another woman on Boxing Day — everyone knew apart from me. She didn’t think that was right.
“The world I loved had been whipped from beneath my feet. Tears streamed down my face. I’d known something was up.
“I confronted David but he denied it. He seemed so cool and calm. So I messaged her and said there must be a mistake.”

What came next wiped away any trace of doubt Tracy had.
Tearfully, she recalls: “She ended up sending me photos of the wedding ceremony via WhatsApp and confirmed it to me. There was no denying that.”
Shaking, Tracy managed to guess his Facebook password and logged in. There, she read messages between him and his new wife, the woman she’d caught him messaging two years before, who was also his ex-girlfriend.
Tracy says: “I was so angry I couldn’t speak. He couldn’t get married — he was my husband!
“I confronted him and he tried to deny it again but this time I told him I’d seen the photos and read the messages. I told him to pack his bags and get out.
“I don’t take calls from his family, as they were in on this and went to his wedding last Boxing Day while lying to me.
“He abandoned his children and me to get married to another woman. He’s made his choice and now he’s stuck with it.”
David said: “I can do what I want. It’s nobody’s business. What do you want me to do?”

Saturday, 12 December 2015

Is it over?Pretty Cassie says she's single on instagram


Diddy has been spotted a few times with his babymama Kim Porter in the last few weeks and it looks like girlfriend Cassie is done with him. This evening she posted a pic and wrote something like "I can sleep better now knowing no one is cheating on me with a Smiley face" and quickly deleted it before I could screengrab it. You can see comments from another post on her instagram from fans asking her why she deleted the post.

Update: Found the deleted post. See it after the cut..



Photo: Will Smith spotted goofing around behind wife, Jada Pinkett


Photo: Will Smith spotted goofing around behind wife, Jada Pinkett
Bad Boy Actor Will Smith was spotted at last night's Diamond Ball making naughty hand gestures at his wife's butt...