Iran President; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Nigeria

An Iranian diplomat in Nigeria says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit this weekend as the West African nation assumes the rotating presidency of the United Nations’ security council.

Iran’s ambassador to Nigeria said Thursday that Ahmadinejad planned to visit Nigeria. The president previously visited Uganda and Zimbabwe in April on visits seeking to build alliances against stronger U.N. sanctions for his country’s nuclear program.

Nigeria will serve as president of the security council for the month of July. Gabon served as president in March.

2011: OKOTIE declares for President again!

Senior Pastor, Household of God, Reverend Cris Okotie, yesterday declared his intention to contest the 2011 presidential election. The cleric, who would be contesting for the presidency for the third time, is seeking to actualize his ambition on the platform of the Fresh Democratic Party (PDP).

Okotie, who contested the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections and lost, said he was motivated to re-contest by a divine call to salvage the country from the “inept, corrupt and purposeless leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”
He promised to restore the country to a path of growth, stability and security if elected president.

The funky pastor never gives up init?
Hmnnn! No comment!!!

Ex-NDLEA boss bags 16-yr jail sentence

Bello Lafiaji

Former Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Bello Lafiaji on Monday bagged 16-year imprisonment on a six-count charge of conspiracy and official corruption. He was jailed along with his Personal Assistant, Usman Amali, who is also to be behind bars for the next seven years.

However, Lafiaji would spend four years in prison since the sentence would run concurrently while Amali would spend two years. In the seven-count charge preferred against the duo by Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), they were said to have in November 2005, conspired to unlawfully receive 164,300 euros from a suspected drug baron, Ikenna Onochie who was arrested for allegedly engaging in trafficking of heroin.

Onochie’s property including the money had been seized by the NDLEA. The money was said to have been collected to release him and his vehicles from custody.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Olusola Williams of the Lagos High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square held that the former NDLEA boss had done well for the agency by raising its standards but he rubbished his reputation and career when he and Amali used their offices to enrich themselves.

Women Rise Against Yerima in Zamfara State

Women, under the umbrella of Zamfara State Joint Youths Islamic Organisation, yesterday took to the streets of Gusau, the state capital, protesting against the child rights bill.

The protest followed the controversy surrounding the marriage of former Governor Ahmad Sani Yerima to an Egyptian minor.

Yarima’s action has been condemned by women rights organisations and other rights groups.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the protesters, comprising school age girls and women, thronged the streets in a peaceful demonstration against Yerima’s chastisement..

They went to the state secretariat, Government House and House of Assembly, waving placards with inscriptions that condemned the child rights bill.

Some of the inscriptions read: "No to Zionism", "Islam is my religion" and "We reject child rights act".

The protest, scheduled to terminate at the House of Assembly, rounded up at the group’s secretariat, following the refusal of the Assembly to grant the protesters audience.

The group’s leader, Hajiya Safiaya Haidara, said: "The child rights bill is a contravention of Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution which grants every Nigerian right to practice his or her religion."

Safiya, who was represented by the secretary of Muslim Sisters’ Organisation, Hajiya Binta Mohammed, described the bill as an infringement on Muslims’ rights to practice their religion.

The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr. Iniobong Ememobong, yesterday said the body would sue Yerima for contravening the Child Rights Act.

Describing the ex-governor’s marriage to a minor as demeaning and embarrassing, Ememobong said: "Nigerian students will not rest until Yerima is made to face the law over his despicable action.

"We do not want him to portray Nigeria as a lawless country. A man of his status is not expected to marry the age mate of his granddaughter, no matter the urge."