Agbani Darego Still On Top Of The World

When Agbani Darego was crowned Miss World 2001, she became the first Black African to win the contest. She has gone on to build a career for herself as a model following her win.
After Miss World Darego launched a successful modelling career, signing to Next Model Management, she then moved to Ford Models in New York.  In May last year Darego graduated with a degree in psychology from New York University. Her degree came a decade after she abandoned her studies in Computer Science and Mathematics at Port Harcourt after winning Miss World.
She was born in Lagos and raised in Port Harcourt, Rivers State along with her seven siblings. She developed an early interest in fashion through her mother a rice trader who stocked her second business - a boutique - on frequent trading trips. Her mother passed away from breast cancer when Darego was only 10 and she went to boarding school.
Following the competition she moved to London where she spent two years. Thereafter she moved to New York. While in New York she appeared in several top titles including Vogue, Essence, Elle, Marie Claire, Allure, Cosmopolitan, and Trace.  In 2011 she was named the face of Arik Air, she has also been the face of several other high profile brands including L'Oreal.
She turned 30 at the end of 2012 and announced her plans for the future in January 2013. In a recent This Day Style article she revealed that she will launch her denim line AD by AGBANI DAREGO this year.

Africa’s Richest Woman: 6 Facts

Forbes has announced that Isabel Dos Santos is Africa’s richest woman and the first to be worth more than a billion dollars. But her riches appear to have little to do with hard work or doing smart business. Here are 6 facts about Isabel and her suspicious wealth...

She’s The Daughter of Angola’s President
Dos Santos, age 40, is the oldest daughter of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, a noted autocrat and perhaps even a despot. She was born to his first wife, Tatiana Kukanova, who her father met while studying in Azerbaijan. They divorced before he became president of Angola in 1979 and Isabel lived with her mother in London, where she studied electrical engineering and business management. The president is known to indulge his children: Isabel is often called ‘The Princess’ by sneering Angolans for the opulence bestowed on her. José Eduardo recently handed control of Angola’s $5 billion sovereign wealth fund to his son José Filomeno dos Santos.

Business In Angola Is Very Political And Shady
Corruption and a lack of transparency has become a hallmark of Angola. Oil and diamonds keep the country flush in cash, yet the average Angolan survives on a mere $2 a day. There is only one daily newspaper - and it is state-run. But the biggest indictment of Angola’s civic rot is the reign of President José Eduardo dos Santos, who despite a four year term limit has been in charge since 1979 - the second-longest in Africa. His opponents also have a habit of being intimidated, arrested and dying. He retains the power to manage the state budget as he sees fit, with no scrutiny, interference or transparency.

Her Early Failed Business Ventures
Dos Santos was named Angola’s entrepreneur of the year in 2012 by Jornal de Angola, the state-owned - and only daily - newspaper in Angola. But her business career doesn’t make it clear how she qualified. Dos Santos started her first business at age 26, a Luanda-based restaurant called Miami Beach. It was a failure and badly managed. She followed with a garbage collection business, which also failed despite ‘winning’ contracts that were arranged by her father. Critics say there is a long list of similar failures and Dos Santos has proven more successful at owning stock and sitting on the boards of businesses arranged through her political connections.

The Sources Of Her Wealth
Being crowned Africa’s richest woman is a remarkable achievement. Dos Santos did so through investments in numerous Angolan and Portuguese businesses. Forbes reports that she owns significant shares in a Portuguese media conglomerate and at least one bank. She also has similar respective stakes in an Angolan bank and telecoms firm. But how she acquired these is not so clear: analysts agree that her wealth is due to her father’s long reign and Angola’s notoriously corrupt government.

 

The Questions About Her Wealth
Dos Santos may be rich, but she is far from a self-made billionaire. It is an open secret that the inner circle of Angola’s ruling party hold a lot of business interests through political strong-arming. According to activists, much of Dos Santos’ wealth come from deals arranged by her father and transferred to her. Many of the shares in Portugal were bought by Angola’s oil giant Sonangol, which were then transferred to her. Media in Portugal have also questioned her use of political connections in the country and allegations of insider trading have been levied against her.

2Face Idibia: African Superstar

2Face

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Once upon a time, a Nigerian music group by name Plantashun Boyz existed. The trio consisted of Innocent Idibia (2Face), Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo, also known as Blackface and Chibuzor Orji (Faze).
The group triggered a music movement that went on to prove inspirational to thousands of other young hopefuls. They inspired many. Plantashun Boyz enjoyed relative success until the group’s members started having thoughts of going their separate ways. 2Face was first to leave the group, in pursuit of what he felt was a dream that needed to be chased single handedly. His exit came as a huge shock to the other two, as they struggled with the daily thought of not having one of their strongest pillars intact. He insisted going solo was a good decision, and that they were better off pursuing individual projects than stay together as a three-piece unit.

In no time 2Face blew up, achieving local and international success with the hit song African Queen. The Plantashun Boyz tag was no more relevant, as he quickly worked his way up to be recognised as a stand-alone act.

Boko Haram commander declares Nigeria ceasefire

Nigeria cautiously welcomes claimed Islamist ceasefire

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria | Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:37am EST

(Reuters) - - Security forces in Nigeria's volatile northeast welcomed on Tuesday a ceasefire declaration by a commander of the Islamist sect Boko Haram, but said they would not lower their guard.
Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, a man local security sources say is a Boko Haram commander, called on sect members to halt attacks that have left many hundreds dead since it launched an uprising to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria in 2009.
But it was not immediately clear if Abdulazeez was speaking on behalf of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau who has neither publicly backed, nor denounced the commander who also called for dialogue in November last year.
In a statement to journalists in Maiduguri, the sect's headquarters, Abdulazeez urged security forces to reciprocate.
"Conflicts are resolved through dialogue, hence the declaration of ceasefire by the sect's leader is a welcome development," Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for joint military and police forces (JTF) in Borno state, said by phone.
"Be that as it may, the JFT will remain in a staging position to continue maintaining law and order ... in its area of operational responsibility," he said.
The doubts over the authority of Abdulazeez raise questions about possible rifts within the secretive militant movement. He may represent only one faction within Boko Haram, which is seen as the main security threat to Africa's leading energy producer.
Hours before he spoke, gunmen in Borno state killed eight people in an attack that bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, but which could also have been one of several criminal gangs profiting from the growing lawlessness in Nigeria's northeast.
The timing of the alleged ceasefire has been seen as curious given Nigeria's involvement in military efforts to dislodge Islamists in Mali, with whom Boko Haram are known to have forged links. Security agencies had been braced for a backlash.
A spokesman for Borno state governor Kashim Shettima also welcomed the ceasefire.
"The governor has regularly advocated that, unless we want to engage in an endless war, the best way out of the crisis is dialogue," his spokesman Isa Umar Gusau said.
President Goodluck Jonathan has alluded to links between Boko Haram and Saharan Islamists as a reason for joining efforts by allied French and West African forces fighting them in Mali.
But critics say Nigeria's insurgency is largely a home-grown problem that can only be resolved with a political settlement.
(Reporting by Ibrahim Mshelizza; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Eight killed in Northeastern Nigeria

(Reuters) - Gunmen killed eight people in a town in remote northeastern Nigeria over the weekend, witnesses said, in an area plagued by an Islamist insurgency and armed banditry.
A spokesman for joint military and police forces in Borno state, the epicenter of a campaign of violence by Islamist sect Boko Haram, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, confirmed the attack on Gajigana town but did not have any further details.
Modu Bukar, a trader in the town, saw the bodies after the attack, which sent panicked residents fleeing, adding that he had heard gunshots during the attack.
"I saw eight bodies afterwards - three of young men, and another five who were heads of households," he said, adding that he did not know who was behind it. "The burial is today."
Remote northeastern Borno state, which shares porous borders with Cameroon, Niger and Chad, on the threshold of the Sahara, has suffered increasing lawlessness since Islamist sect Boko Haram launched an uprising against the government in 2009.
The sect has become the number one security headache to Africa's leading oil and gas producer.
Gunmen killed 23 people in northern Nigeria last week in attacks targeting gamblers and people selling bush meat that Islamist militants disapprove of.
Militants have killed several hundred people in the past three years in a campaign to impose sharia, Islamic law, on religiously mixed Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. Their targets include the security forces and churches.
A general breakdown of law and order in the areas where the sect operates has also created space for armed criminal networks and ethnic militias with scores to settle, both of which sometimes kill dozens in overnight attacks.

Lance Armstrong: sued for fraud by two readers

Adding to athlete Lance Armstrong’s troubles, two readers are suing him and the publishers of his books, Penguin Group and Random House. The readers are pursuing a class action lawsuit because they say the athlete, Penguin, and Random House all committed fraud and false representation by touting Armstrong’s memoirs as fact. The plaintiffs are Rob Stutzman, a public affairs adviser who worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jonathan Wheeler, a chef.
The complaint was filed on Jan. 22 in federal court in California, reading in part, “Throughout the book, Defendant Armstrong repeatedly denies that he ever used banned substances before or during his professional cycling career… [The books were bought] based upon the false belief that they were true and honest works of nonfiction when, in fact, Defendants knew or should have known that these books were works of fiction.”

Stutzman and Wheeler are represented in court by California and New Jersey-based law firms.
Representation for Armstrong had no comment, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Penguin published Armstrong’s memoir, “It’s Not About the Bike,” which was released in 2000. His book “Every Second Counts” was published by Random House in 2003.
The literary world saw a somewhat similar case when writer Greg Mortenson was sued for fabrications in his memoir, “Three Cups of Tea,” which detailed his work building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. When significant pieces of Mortenson's story were discovered to be untrue, four readers sued Mortenson, his co-author David Oliver Relin, Mortenson’s school-building organization, and his publisher Penguin Group. However, the federal judge who took on the case in Montana dismissed the lawsuit.
“The imprecise, in part flimsy, and speculative nature of the claims and theories advanced underscore the necessary conclusion that further amendment [of the complaint] would be futile,” US District Judge Sam Haddon said.

Chris Brown in Trouble Again

Frank Ocean And Chris Brown Reportedly Involved In Studio Brawl

Chris Brown (photo: WireImage)Grammy nominees Chris Brown and Frank Ocean were reportedly involved in a brawl at a Los Angeles recording studio Sunday night.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed receiving a call about six men fighting over a parking space, the Associated Press reported. The fight scene had dispersed by the time police arrived.
Though police did not name Ocean in the statement, Brown was listed as a suspect. "The altercation allegedly led to Chris Brown punching the victim," the police said in a statement.
In a Sunday night post on Twitter, Ocean accused Brown of assault. “got jumped by chris and a couple guys. lol. I only wish everest was there,” he said. Everest is Ocean's Bernese Mountain dog.
Ocean added that injuries sustained in the altercation will affect his upcoming Grammy performance. “cut my finger now I can’t play w two hands at the grammys,” he added via Twitter.
Frank Ocean (photo: WireImage)According to reports from TMZ, the confrontation occurred as Brown attempted to exit Westlake Studio after listening to music from an artist with whom he works.
When Brown was walking out, “Frank Ocean and his crew blocked Chris from leaving,” Brown’s associates told TMZ. Ocean is accused of saying, “This is my studio, this is my parking spot.”
A member of Ocean’s entourage attacked Brown after the “Forever” singer attempted to shake Ocean’s hand, sources told TMZ. One of Brown’s friends intervened, hitting Ocean’s associate, TMZ reported.
Individuals associated with Brown claim that Ocean charged at Brown. Brown reportedly retaliated by pushing Ocean and a fight ensued.
When police arrived, Brown had reportedly left the scene, however, authorizes were said to have spoken to Ocean.
In 2011, the R&B singers were involved in a feud via Twitter.
If Ocean's cut to his hand does affect his Grammy performance, it would be the second time one of Brown's violent incidents impacted the music award show. As a result of Brown's 2009 felony assault on Rihanna that occurred on the eve of the event, both artists canceled their scheduled performances.
Brown has also had other outbursts since. Last March, following an interview on Good Morning America, he had a meltdown and was accused of throwing a chair into a window in his dressing room. And in June, he and rap star Drake and their entourages fought in a New York nightclub. In the latter, bottles were thrown resulting in San Antonio Spurs player Tony Parker being injured by shattered glass cutting his eye.

Tension in NNPC over $13.35 billion oil project

An alleged questionable recommendation on a contract under the $13.35 billion offshore Egina project by the Group Executive Committee (GEC) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is creating tension in the oil corporation, Sunday Vanguard can reveal.

Highly dependable sources claimed the recommendation is characterized by claims to justify the imposition of particular contractors

The NNPC GEC noted  that there was the need to re-align the faulty Floating Production, Storage and Offloading,  FPSO, bid evaluation process and award of the contract to the actual lowest, most competitive bidder in line with the original contracting strategy and due process requirement.

The NNPC GEC also touts Samsung’s $3.3 billion bid for the Egina FPSO as the lowest bid, whereas the bid submitted by Hyundai and duly recommended by both NAPIMS, Total and endorsed by the NCDMB is for $3.1 billion.

The NNPC GEC claims that it arrived at the $3.3 billion at a negotiated price for the FPSO ranging between 5% and 10% of Samsung’s quoted price.
The Egina main field is a 1993 production sharing contract located offshore Nigeria within OML 130 in water depths ranging 1150-1750m. The block is operated by Total Upstream Petroleum Nigeria 24% on behalf of the NNPC in partnership with Brasoil 16%, Sapetro 10%, on the PSA half side of the block and NNPC 50%.

Top level sources described the action of the GEC as frightening. “If sets a very bad precedence”, one of  the source  noted.

“You just can’t jettison the recommendations of both NAPIMS, Total and the NCDMB, and invite a contractor to negotiate on your own, it runs against the grain of due process. If you are not satisfied with the processes, the best thing would have been to demand a re-tender exercise,” another sources stated.

The recommendations and observation of the GEC also indicted NAPIMS, Total and the tenure of Mr. Andrew Yakubu as group executive director; exploration and production. Yakubu is the current group managing director of the NNPC .

Although the NNPC, GEC claims that $238 million (taxes, VAT, NCD) was calculated and added by Total and NAPIMS to the Samsung tender on the basis of 7% as against 6% or $186.9m and zero per cent to Hyundai, investigations revealed that Samsung did not quote taxes, VAT and NCD in its commercial bid submitted in December 2011.

Hyundai’s commercial bid however included all the taxes, VAT and NCD Fund in line with the bid requirements. The 7% represents Nigerian Withholding Tax 6% and 1% statutory contribution to NCD Fund.

The NNPC GEC also claimed that $525m was added to Samsung’s bid, while $336m was added to that of Hyundai, but failed to explain to the Board that the different additions were a result of a post-bid clarification meeting with each bidder in February 2012.

NAPIMS, Total, NNPC GMD indicted
In a submission that completely indicts all those who superintended the bids evaluation, including NAPIMS, Total and Yakubu, the NNPC group executive director in charge of exploration and production at the time, the GEC claimed that the evaluation team compromised the tender process.

“The FPSO package analysis revealed several issues and inconsistencies in the evaluation prices, especially the differences in values between the initial round and subsequent rounds of bids evaluation,” the GEC stated.

“We noted that the FPSO tender evaluation team opened negotiation process during the commercial evaluation exercise, which compromises the entire tender process where ridiculous figures were assigned to one of the two bidders in order to arrive at a conclusion.”

Our investigations further revealed that even though these submissions appear far -fetched and designed to justify the imposition of Samsung, Yakubu endorsed the indictment of his tenure as GED exploration and production.

Efforts to reach the NNPC GMD proved abortive at the time of filling this report. A text message urging him to respond was also not answered.

CAF fires ref who officiated Nigeria-Zambia match

Ghead Grisha confronted Nigerian goalie Vicent Enyeama

The Egyptian match official who refereed Nigeria’s Group C game against Zambia last Friday at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Gehad Grisha will take no further part at the 2013 Afcon in South Africa.

Grisha awarded a highly controversial penalty to Zambia late on in the game leading to an angry reaction from the Nigerian camp.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) subsequently dispatched a strongly-warded protest to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

CAF has ostensibly ruled in favour of the NFF and Grisha has been sent home from the Afcon.

An official of CAF confirmed the news on Sunday.

‘He (Grsha) has been sent home. He will have no further action at this Nations Cup. His decisions did not tally with best practices of the refereeing profession and we would not allow anyone to start re-writing the rules of the game here‘, said the official.

 Nigeria needs a win on Tuesday in Rustenburg against Ethiopia to confirm its place in the quarter finals of the Afcon.

Culled from Supersport

Photo credit:  Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

Night Club Fire: 233 People Dead

SÃO PAULO—A blaze apparently accidentally ignited by performers swept through a crowded nightclub in the small town of Santa Maria in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing at least 232, mainly college students.

A fire swept through a crowded nightclub in Santa Maria, a small town in southern Brazil, claiming at least 232 lives and plunging the nation into mourning. The WSJ's Brazil bureau chief tells us more about Brazil's deadliest fire in decades.

On Saturday night, hundreds of mostly students of agronomy and other subjects at the nearby Federal University of Santa Maria had packed into a nightclub called Kiss to hear a popular group called Gurizada Fandangueira play a raucous version of Brazilian country music that features the accordion. The students were heading back to class at the end of their school break.
Around 2 a.m. Sunday, according to several witnesses who spoke on local radio programs, at least one performer lit what they described as an emergency traffic flareor a piece of firework and waved it around to the beat.
"We were in the middle of the second band, and someone started waving this artifact, doing a show, when someone yelled, "It's catching fire!" " said one female witness who spoke to Radio Estadão.
Members of the band, which promoted its use of pyrotechnics, weren't immediately reachable for comment. At least one member of the band was reportedly killed.

Fire Rips Through Nightclub

Agencia RBS/AFP/Getty Images

The disaster ranks among Brazil's deadliest fires in decades, and plunged the South American nation into mourning. President Dilma Rousseff, who launched her political career in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul where the fire took place, cut short her stay at a summit of Latin American and European leaders in Chile to travel to the scene.
"It's a tragedy for all of us. Who needs me now are the people of Brazil and it's there that I need to be," said Ms. Rousseff, who appeared to fight back tears during a brief news conference in Chile before flying to Brazil. Ms. Rousseff visitedwith survivors at a local hospital late Sunday.

An early morning fire killed over 200 people in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria. Local police confirmed that 245 dead and 48 injured at the scene. Note: Video has no sound. Photo: Associated Press.

Images of the aftermath—some recorded on the cellphones of survivors and many unprintably gruesome—brought the awfulness of the scene into sharp relief. In one photograph, the camera peers in through a broken wall on a macabre scene of intertwined bodies, some shirtless, piled together so thickly that the nightclub floor is all but covered. The bodies seem to fill the frame from the foreground all the way to the dark, far recesses of the nightclub.

Earlier

February 2003: Rhode Island Nightclub Fire Kills Around 100

Several shots show mobs of concertgoers outside the nightclub trying to tear metal siding off the club walls in order to open an exit. Another depicts a young screaming man as he runs away from the club, carrying a limp body in his arms.
A rescue worker told reporters there were so many bodies it was hard to reach the back of the club. Cellphones in the pockets of the dead inside the club rang eerily as rescuers searched the venue, officials said.

Enlarge Image

Reuters

A police officer helps a woman next to Kiss nightclub in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria. At least 232 people were killed in a fire at the club.

"I saw many people trampled in their desperation to get out," Michele Pereira, a 34-year-old office assistant, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.
The owner of the nightclub couldn't be reached.
The tragedy adds to a chilling list of nightclub disasters that appear to follow an eerily similar script: Fire transforms a crowded nightclub celebration into a terrifying deathtrap, where dozens of youths perish in the smoky chaos of a cramped and darkly lit room, dying either crushed in a stampede or suffocating searching for a way out in the darkness. In the largest of them, 309 died after a fire spread in a nightclub in Luoyang, China, on Christmas Day in 2000.
Improvised pyrotechnic performances inside nightclubs were to blame in at least three other such tragedies, including one that killed 194 in Buenos Aires in 2004 and another that killed 152 in Russia in 2009.
In one of the deadliest nightclub fires in the U.S., a pyrotechnics display during a 2003 performance by the rock band Great White at a Rhode Island nightclub set a blaze that killed 100.
Brazilian officials are expected to investigate key issues that have figured in past blazes such as whether the exits were clearly marked and whether the nightclub had exceeded capacity.
In the heated aftermath of the deaths, there were conflicting reports about whether exits were open. According to some witnesses, security guards tried to prevent people from leaving, thinking they were trying to avoid paying their bill in a country where concertgoers settle up at the end. Other survivors interviewed on the radio said that the exits were unimpeded.
Police said only that the accident was being investigated.
The overnight fire was among the deadliest in Brazil since some 500 died in a fire at a circus near Rio de Janeiro in 1961.
In what passed for good news Sunday, authorities lowered the death toll to 232 after earlier reporting that at least 245 had perished. At least 116 were injured, many from inhaling smoke, and the Brazilian military used helicopters to transport grave cases to hospitals in the state capital Pôrto Alegre.

DO YOU KNOW YOU EAT SPIDERS WHILE AT SLEEP

1. If you are struck by lightning, your skin will be heated to 28,000 degrees Centigrade, hotter than the surface of the Sun.

1.2. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

2. If you trace your family tree back 25 generations, you will have 33,554,432 direct ancestors – assuming no incest was involved. 

3. The average distance between the stars in the sky is 20 million miles. 

4. It would take a modern spaceship 70,000 years to get to the nearest star to earth. 

5. An asteroid wiped out every single dinosaur in the world, but not a single species of toad or salamander was affected. No one knows why, nor why the crocodiles and tortoises survived. 

6. If you dug a well to the centre of the Earth, and dropped a brick in it, it would take 45 minutes to get to the bottom – 4,000 miles down. 

7. Your body sheds 10 billion flakes of skin every day. 

8. The Earth weighs 6,500 million million million tons. 

9. Honey is the only food consumed by humans that doesn’t go off. 

10. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters.

11. A donkey can sink into quicksand but a mule can’t. 

12. Every time you sneeze your heart stops a second. 

13. There are 22 miles more canals in Birmingham UK than in Venice. 

14. Potato crisps were invented by a Mr Crumm. 

15. Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in their correct order.

16. Eskimoes have hundreds of words for snow but none for hello.

17. The word “set” has the most definitions in the English language.

18. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating its letters is uncopyrightable.

19. Windmills always turn counter-clockwise.

20. The “Sixth Sick Sheik’s Sixth Sheep’s Sick” is the hardest tongue-twister.

21. The longest English word without a vowel is twyndyllyngs which means "twins".

22. 1 x 8 + 1 = 9; 12 x 8 + 2 = 98; 123 x 8 + 3 = 987; 1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876; 12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765; 123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654; 1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543; 12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432; 123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

23. The word "dreamt" is the only common word in the English language that ends in "mt".

24. Albert Einstein never wore any socks.

25. The average human will eat 8 spiders while asleep in their lifetime.

26. In space, astronauts cannot cry because there is no gravity.

27. Hummingbirds are the only creatures that can fly backwards.

28. An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

29. Cockroaches can live 9 days without their heads before they starve to death.

30. A flamingo can eat only when its head is upside down.

31. The lighter was invented before the match.

32. The average left-handed person lives 7 years LESS than a right-handed person.

33. The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year!

34. Scientists with high-speed cameras have discovered that rain drops are not tear shaped but rather look like hamburger buns.

35. The first Internet domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com on March 15, 1985.

36. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone back in 1876, only six phones were sold in the first month.

37. Approximately 7.5% of all office documents get lost.

38. Business.com is currently the most expensive domain name sold: for $7.5 million.

39. In 2001, the five most valuable brand names in order were Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE, and Nokia.

40. In Canada, the most productive day of the working week is Tuesday.

41. In a study by the University of Chicago in 1907, it was concluded that the easiest colour to spot is yellow. This is why John Hertz, who is the founder of the Yellow Cab Company picked cabs to be yellow.

42. It takes about 63,000 trees to make the newsprint for the average Sunday edition of The New York Times.

43. On average a business document is copied 19 times.

44. The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system in India, employing over 1.6 

million people.

45. Warner Chappel Music owns the copyright to the song "Happy Birthday." They make over $1 

million in royalties every year from the commercial use of the song.

46. All babies are colour-blind when they are born.

47. Children grow faster in the springtime than any other season during the year.

 

48. Each nostril of a human being registers smells in a different way. Smells that are made from the right nostril are more pleasant than the left. However, smells can be detected more accurately when made by the left nostril.

49. Humans are born with 350 bones in their body, however when a person reaches adulthood they only have 206 bones. This occurs because many of them join together to make a single bone.

50. May babies are on average 200 grams heavier than babies born in other months.

MEND Threatens Deadly Offensive That Might Bring Down Country

 Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, the umbrella body for all militant groups in Nigeria's Niger Delta on Saturday broke its more than a year-long silence with a stern warning to the government in South Africa to stop meddling in Nigeria's internal politics or risk dire consequences.
The group also threatened to attack Nigeria like never before, in a manner that might lead to the disintegration of the country.
In a strong worded statement dated January 23, 2013 and signed by one Comrade Azizi, MEND said last week's conviction of its leader and founder, Henry Okah by the South African Supreme Court on all 13 counts charge of complicity in the 2010 Independence Day bombing in Abuja amounted to a betrayal.
Describing the conviction as part of "Aso Rock politics on a man simply because he refused to be bought over", the militant group said its High Command is compelled to advise South Africans to tell their government to stay away from Nigeria.

TRIANGLE BRAIN TEASER

HOW INTELLIGENT ARE YOU?

5 Indian sailors held hostage in Nigeria are freed

Five Indian sailors kidnapped in Nigeria have been released. They were held captive for more than a month

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Five Indian sailors kidnapped off Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta and held captive for more than a month have been released by their abductors, a spokesman said Saturday.

The sailors had been seized Dec. 17 as their ship, the SP Brussels, sat about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off the coast of the Niger Delta.

The men were in good health after their release and received medical checkups before being flown back to India, said a statement released Saturday on behalf of the ship's operator, Medallion Marine.

"Medallion Marine wishes to express their admiration for the crew and their families who have shown great courage and fortitude throughout this very difficult situation," the statement read.

Martin Baxendale, a spokesman for Medallion Marine, declined to comment Saturday on the exact circumstances of the sailors' release. Typically, most foreign hostages are held for days or weeks until a ransom amount is negotiated. Foreigners can attract ransoms into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Foreign oil companies have pumped oil out of the Niger Delta, a region of mangroves and swamps the size of Portugal, for more than 50 years. Despite the billions of dollars flowing into Nigeria's government, many in the delta remain desperately poor, living in polluted waters without access to proper medical care, education or work. The poor conditions sparked an uprising in 2006 by militants and opportunistic criminals who blew up oil pipelines and kidnapped foreign workers.

That violence ebbed in 2009 with a government-sponsored amnesty program that offered ex-fighters monthly payments and job training. However, few in the delta have seen the promised benefits and sporadic kidnappings and attacks continue. The end of the year in Nigeria usually sees an increase in criminal activity, as criminal gangs target the wealthy returning to the country to celebrate the holidays.

BloggersFORCE Explained

We might not be in Tahrir Square or "Martyr Square"!
But here we are gathered in Bloggers Square championing our future! 

BloggeraFORCE! A Blog Mightier Than The Surd!

Bill Gates Hates Cash. Here's Why

Bill Gates

Billionaires are known for not keeping a lot of spending green in their wallets. But that’s not why Bill Gates hates cash. He hates it because of its effect on people at the opposite end of the wealth spectrum—the world’s poor and unbanked. The Better Than Cash Alliance, which was founded last September and is partially financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, hosted a breakfast at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Speakers from the Philippines, Colombia, and the U.S., among other countries, made the case for why electronic transactions are better than cash payments.

Top five reasons, according to the alliance:

Transparency: Less corruption and theft when payments can be easily tracked. In Afghanistan, U.S. aid agencies use it so workers aren’t so vulnerable to robbery.

Security: The money gets where it’s supposed to go.

Financial inclusion: Electronic payment is a way for unbanked people to establish a record of on-time payment of their bills. This can be an “on-ramp” for them to get other services, such as loans, speakers said.

Cost savings: Moving physical cash around is costlier than zipping electrons. Many poor people, however, still find it cheaper to use cash, because some cashless networks charge high fees.

Access to new markets: This benefit is mainly for providers of financial services.

Kenya is a role model for the developing world when it comes to cashless payment. Its M-Pesa network, launched in 2007, has agents “on every block,” says Neal Keny-Guyer, chief executive of Mercy Corps, a nonprofit that’s a member of the alliance. Mauricio Cárdenas, Colombia’s minister of finance and public credit, said in an interview that he hopes within the year the national legislature will pass a law allowing nonbanks to take in cash and issue electronic vouchers.

The key is ensuring that the people who take in the cash are as well-supervised as bank tellers. “We see this as a first step,” Cárdenas said.

Burkina Faso tops Group C as Zambia, Nigeria draw

 

Zambia's goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene, left, celebrates after scoring from the penalty spot a goal against Nigeria during their African Cup of Nations group C match Friday, Jan. 25 2013 at the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit, South Africa. The two other teams in group C are Ethiopia and Burkina Faso. Photo: Armando Franca

Burkina Faso earned its first victory at the African Cup of Nations in 15 years on Friday, and could be on the verge of eliminating one of its more illustrious group opponents.
Burkina Faso beat Ethiopia 4-0 to go top of Group C with four points — two more than defending champion Zambia and continental power Nigeria.
Zambia and Nigeria drew 1-1 in the day's earlier game at Mbombela Stadium, leaving both teams needing a win in their final group matches to avoid an embarrassing first-round exit.
Burkina Faso had one the most convincing victory of the African Cup of Nations so far, despite having goalkeeper Abdoulaye Soulama sent off for handling the ball outside his penalty area. Having gone ahead 1-0 in the first half, Burkina Faso added three goals in the last 16 minutes to put the game away.
"When we scored the first goal you saw Burkina Faso was released to play the game," Burkina Faso coach Paul Put said. "And I think when we were down to 10 men we kept very disciplined and we scored another three goals so I'm very happy."
Alain Traore netted two of the goals and now tops the tournament scoring charts with three in two games.
The other match of the day was decided by two penalties, with Zambia goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene the winner in both instances.
Mweene first saw Nigeria's John Obi Mikel send a spot kick onto the outside of the post in the first half after diving the right way, and then scored one himself at the other end to equalize the game in the 85th minute.
Nigeria striker Emmanuel Emenike's smooth finish in the 57th minute had left Zambia's hopes of retaining its title hanging by a thread. But they were handed a lifeline when Egyptian referee Ghead Grisha awarded a penalty for a foul by Ogenyi Onazi — a decision which drew heavy criticism from the Nigerian camp.
"It was a bizarre call for a penalty. It really was one of the worst calls I've seen in the history of football," Nigeria captain and goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama said.
"You don't see such calls for a game of such magnitude as Nigeria versus Zambia. I don't know what's really happening about the officiating. I'm really mad."
Mweene's penalty-saving prowess was one of the keys during Zambia's winning campaign in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea last year, and he showed his ability at the other end when he slotted the spot kick into the top right-hand corner.
On Saturday, Ivory Coast will play Tunisia in Group D with coach Sabri Lamouchi hoping the tournament favorite can improve on its underwhelming 2-1 win over Togo.
"This is not a life-or-death game," Lamouchi said Friday through a translator. "Tomorrow, what is more important to me is the performance of the Elephants. Of course, taking the maximum points is also important, but we need to play better. We have to try to avoid making the same mistakes as we did the last time."
The other Group D match in Rustenburg is between first-round losers Togo and Algeria.
Togo coach Didier Six missed the official pre-match press conference on Friday, sending an assistant in his place.
Six had walked out of the post-match news conference on Tuesday after saying just a few words, apparently upset with the referee's decision to disallow a Togo goal in the second half.
The team did not explain why Six was not at Friday's conference, though he has reportedly been at loggerheads with the federation over interference in selection matters.
In Durban, South Africa's injury list was growing along with the expectations from home fans that Bafana Bafana would make the quarterfinals after a sluggish start.
Tokelo Rantie joined fellow striker Lehlohonolo Majoro on the sidelines with a twisted ankle from the 2-0 win over Angola.
Majoro was already out of South Africa's final Group A game against Morocco on Sunday with a gash on his shin, while Rantie was now a serious doubt, leaving just Katlego Mphela and Bernard Parker as striker options.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Burkina-Faso-tops-Group-C-as-Zambia-Nigeria-draw-4224565.php#ixzz2J4NnPzqB

Mayuka nd Yobo tangle

Daggers out for Nigeria, Zambia battle

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by George Akpayen 25 January 2013, 01:18

Nigeria's Super Eagles and their Zambian counterparts, the Chipolopolo or Copper Bullets, will go up head-to-head in the 2013 Afcon on Friday.
For both teams, it is a tie they must win to inject life back into their ongoing Africa Cup of Nations campaigns in South Africa after being held to draws by unfancied opponents in Group C.
Nigeria head coach, Stephen Keshi is under pressure to guide his troops to a win after an emergency meeting with the leadership of his nation's FA this week.
Certainly Keshi will make changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Burkina Faso on Monday with Kenneth Omeruo likely to fill in at right-back for suspended Efe Ambrose.
Chelsea striker, Victor Moses could also be in line to make his Afcon debut after he missed out on the game against Burkina Faso owing to a knock in training.
Keshi, who has managed Mali and Togo to the Afcon in the past, even jettisoned celebrating his birthday after turning 51 on Wednesday to focus on the crucial tie against the Chipolopolo.
Just like their opponents, Zambia will seek to avoid the embarrassment of crashing out in the first round as defending champions after stunning the continent to emerge winners of the 2012.
The only worry for Zambia head coach, Herve Renard, is Chisamba Lungu who sat out in training this week after suffering a bruised leg.
Renard will continue to bank on Free State Stars goalkeeper, Kennedy Mweene as he comes face-to-face with Nigeria's pacy frontmen.
The Frenchman could also thrust 19-year-old teenage midfielder, Mukuka Mulenga into this game to play alongside experienced captain Christopher Katongo and striking duo of Collins Mbesuma and Emmanuel Mayuka.
Both teams definitely have a score to settle as favourites to progress from their group due to the history of head-to-heads between them in the tournament.
The Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit will offer Nigeria the chance to inflict a first defeat on Zambia since they last lost in the 2010 Afcon quarterfinals via penalties and to the West Africans.

Tuface acquired two new mansions

African Queen crooner,Innocent Idibia popularly known as 2face has been explaining why he decided  to acquire two multi-million Naira houses last week in addition to his growing fleet of properties scattered in Lagos and Abuja.

*2face

According to the ace- musician, identifying himself with a very good product that is fully made in Nigeria is a way of life. “I decided to invest with Haven Homes by buying two units from its exquisite stable of very contemporary houses because the company build very beautiful homes that are fast becoming a trend among celebrities.

You will marvel at the increasing number of celebrities who are buying and living in their lifestyle homes. I have only identified with a very good product that is fully made in Nigeria,”  he said.

However, speaking at the exchange of contracts ceremony, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company,  Mr Tayo Sonuga  said “ The confidence displayed by 2Face in buying not just one but two units of properties from us is a watershed of our achievement in creating lifestyle homes and earning our reputation as celebrity developers.”

No sooner than the deeds were sealed, an excited 2face immediately sent a broadcast tweet ‘Just bought  two Haven Homes’ and attached a picture of himself signing the deeds.

Showtime gathered that ace-comedian, Ayo Makun popularly known as A.Y  and his wife, Mabel, are among celebrities who recently bought their new homes from the developers. We also learnt that the likes of Ini Edo, Funke Akindele, Oge Okoye, Desmond Elliot, Bob Manuel Uduokwu, Aki & Paw-Paw  and others who have graced the inauguration of the developers’  homes and visited their various show homes located both on the Island and Mainland of Lagos State.

Living Dead: Majek Fashek Runs Mad?

Majek Now!

Majek Before!

Despite all effort to reinvigorate the dwelling career of this reggae legend, Majek Fashek, it’s obvious that he needs serious attention spiritually and otherwise.

Recently, the living but half dead reggae legend was sighted staggering and murmuring some inaudible at Ogba area of Lagos. Veteran reggae artist, Majek, no doubt is now a shadow of his former self, the once handsome looking, bubbling fellow is now in a pitiable condition.

He is now mentally unstable and sources say he is already in rehab but from a recent report, the ‘Send Down the Rain’ crooner is not getting any better. A source informed www.nigeriafilms.comthat he was spotted last Friday at Ogba, Ikeja Lagos clutching his guitar, staggering with a cigarette in his mouth, murmuring incoherent words. Though, he resides at Gowon Estate of Egbeda area of Lagos, his mission at Ogba was not known.

Majek Now!

Majek now!

“Fashek is gone; I’m not sure any kind of rehab will bring him back. He messes up in the estate; he drinks and staggers around with crowd gathering around him. He’s dried up. He has body guards and a deep blue jeep, but most times, I think he sneaks out of the house and ends up misbehaving. The first time I saw him, I thought he was a mad man. He’s gone!,” said a source who reside close to him.

The main cause of Majek’s condition is none other than his addiction to marijuana, cocaine and alcohol (three of the most dangerous hard drugs in the world).

Sometime in 2012, we heard he got a music deal of N15 million naira and was scheduled to release an album…no one has seen any album or heard any single but from the look of things, all did not go well. We only pray he recovers and God help him quit hard drugs otherwise Nigeria might lose another musical gem.

Nigeria under attack

Boko Haram militants suspected of deadly attacks in Nigeria

 

 

• Army 'atrocities'
• 'Christians living in fear'
• Boko Haram's shadowy leader
• Who are Boko Haram?

Suspected Islamists have been blamed for the deaths of at least 23 people in separate attacks in north-eastern Nigeria.

Witnesses say gunmen apparently targeted hunters selling bush meat in Damboa on Monday, killing 18 people.

Another five people died on Tuesday when a group of men playing draughts was attacked in Kano.

The militant group Boko Haram, which is fighting to create an Islamic state, has staged many attacks in Nigeria.

Boko Haram has been blamed for the deaths of some 1,400 people in central and northern Nigeria since 2010. Last year alone, the group was linked to more than 600 deaths.

On Monday, gunmen opened fire at a market in Damboa in Borno state, targeting hunters selling meat from animals such as monkeys and pigs, local government official Abba Ahmed told journalists.

Strict Muslims are forbidden to eat this type of bush meat.

"Gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram came to the town market and shot dead 13 local hunters on the spot while five others died from their injuries at the hospital," the official said.

Damboa is located near the capital of Borno state, Maiduguri, the stronghold of Boko Haram. The militant group was founded in the city in 2002.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged of a deadly attack in Kano, the main city in northern Nigeria, 500km (310 miles) west of Damboa.

Gunmen riding on motorbikes opened fire on people playing an outdoor board game, police and witnesses say.

Gambling is also strictly forbidden under Islamic law.