Messi Beats Ronaldo To Raul's Record

The Argentine struck another hat-trick at APOEL on Tuesday and is now the all-time top goalscorer in the Heineken Champions League with 74.

Just three days after becoming La Liga's all-time leading goalscorer, Lionel Messi has broken another significant record, surpassing Raul's milestone as the Champions League's most prolific marksman.

The Barcelona striker’s 38th minute goal was his 72nd in UCL history, moving him past Real Madrid legend Raul for the most in history. He added two more for a hat trick, bringing his total to 74 by the end of the match.

The record breaker came when Messi stepped forward to redirect a shot home for a goal that gave Barca a 2-0 halftime lead over APOEL Nicosia.

Pastor Oritsejafor's Jet That Smuggled $9.3 million Had Nigerians Aboard

New documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES in Johannesburg have shown that the private jet owned by President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor that conveyed $9.3 million cash from Nigeria to South Africa for an arms deal between the two countries, had Nigerian crew members, and passengers from Israel and Austria. 

PREMIUM TIMES obtained the manifest of the jet that transported the huge sum, and has confirmed the identities of the passengers and crew who delivered the controversial package.

South Africa seized the money early September, accusing the Nigerian government of violating its laws regulating the transfer of cash.

Another payment by the Nigerian government for arms to combat the extremist Boko Haram sect, was also confiscated. The second transfer, totalling $5.7 million, was wired through the banks.

The South African ambassador to Nigeria was later quoted as saying the money had been returned to Nigeria, a claim that has yet to be verified.

Jonathan has performed more than you and others, Presidency tells Obasanjo

A new war of words have started  between former president Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan. 

The former president threw the first shot in a recent statement by rating the administration of President Jonathan below average.

In a statement yesterday night in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, former President Obasanjo’s comments do not in any way tally with the facts on ground, just as he boasted that President Jonathan had performed more than him ( Obasanjo) and other presidents in Nigeria’s history. 

“Chief Obasanjo had at an event over the weekend declared that he rated the President Goodluck Jonathan administration “below average”.

Agbani Darego Covers Mania Magazine November 2014 Issue

 

Nigeria's Former Miss World and fashion entrepreneur Agbani Darego graces the November Edition. She reveals to the magazine about her retail brand AD by Agbani Darego and her future plans. This lady is a born achiever.

Too Bag Super Eagles!

The Super Eagles yesterday failed to book a spot in the 2015 African Nations Cup now to be hosted in Equitorial Guinea.The boys came from behind to draw 2-2 with the Bafana Bafana. Sorry boys! Who should be blames - Keshi or the players?

Boko Haram Shoots Nigerian Army Brigade Commander

According to Sahara Reporters, acting Brigade commander of 23rd Brigade in Yola. Colonel Popoola was shot in the shoulder three days ago in the thick of a battle to regain control of Gombi and Hong in Adamawa state from the Islamist militant sect, Boko Haram.

 Colonel Popoola reportedly led a new crop of soldiers drafted from Jos into battle against the insurgents in a renewed battle to retake several towns from Boko Haram. 

The troop was able to recover two armored tanks from the militants after the battle was over. An army source in Abuja told SaharaReporters that the senior army officer has been evacuated to UCH Ibadan where he is expected to receive better and further treatment in the coming days.

Rochas Plans To Relocate Street Traders In Owerri

Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha, has charged the Imo Civil Guards to rid the city of Owerri of street traders on Douglas and other roads to maintain sanity in the state capital.


A statement delivered by his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo, said on Friday that the governor  gave the order while addressing officers of the guard in Owerri.

The civil guard is a security outfit set up by the state government to maintain peace and order.

Okorocha urged them to assist the state government to relocate the street traders on Douglas Road to the Relief Market in order to de-congest the state capital.

He said the aim was to make Owerri one of the cleanest cities in the country.

World Bank Approves $150m for 10 Nigerian Varsities, Others

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved US$150 million to finance 19 university-based Centers of Excellence in seven countries in West and Central Africa, 10 of which are Nigerian universities.

According to the World Bank, these competitively selected centres will receive funding for advanced specialised studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-related disciplines, as well as in agriculture and health.

This landmark Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) project, which will equip young Africans with new scientific and technical skills, will be financed through IDA* credits to the governments of Nigeria (US$70 million), Ghana (US$24 million), Senegal (US$16 million), Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Togo (US$8 million each).

"President Jonathan Is Nice, But Surrounded By Incompetent Frauds" - Sanusi

Nigeria’s former Central Bank chief, Lamido Sanusi on Sunday described the president who sacked him as a simple man doing his best for the country who has been undermined by incompetent and fraudulent aides.

Sanusi was suspended by President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday over alleged financial misconduct, a decision seen by many analysts as politically motivated.

Sanusi has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) of misappropriating $20 billion (14.5 billion euros), allegations that earned him powerful enemies across the government.

In an interview with AFP in Lagos, Sanusi labelled many of the people advising Jonathan as sycophants who do not speak frankly or honestly about the extent of corruption in government.

“When you sit with President Jonathan himself he appears a nice simple person who is trying his best to do his best,” Sanusi said.

Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion

Some great news for Whatsappers in Naija. Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock, as the world's largest social network looks for ways to boost its popularity, especially among a younger crowd.

The acquisition of the hot messaging service with over 450 million users around the world stunned many Silicon Valley observers with its lofty price tag.

But it underscores Facebook's determination to win the market for messaging, an indispensable utility in a mobile era.

Combining text messaging and social networking, messaging apps provide a quick way for smartphone users to trade everything from brief texts to flirtatious pictures to YouTube clips — bypassing the need to pay wireless carriers for messaging services.

And it helps Facebook tap teens who will eschew the mainstream social networks and prefer WhatsApp and rivals such as Line and WeChat, which have exploded in size as mobile messaging takes off.

"People are calling them 'Facebook Nevers,'" said Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed and an early investor in Snapchat.

WhatsApp is adding about a million users per day, Facebook co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on his page on Wednesday.

"WhatsApp will complement our existing chat and messaging services to provide new tools for our community," he wrote on his Facebook page. "Since WhatsApp and (Facebook) Messenger serve such different and important users, we will continue investing in both."

Guys, Mr. Zuckerberg is forming the Federal Republic Of Facebook!

Basketmouth Snubs Kim Kardashian At Darey's Concert Last Year

Go Naija! We are taking over the entertainment world!!

RCCG To Build University, Sport Complex and Golf Course in USA

The Redeemed Christian Church of God was founded in Nigeria in 1952, and is now spreading across North America.

For centuries, European and American missionaries have gone to Africa to spread the word of Christ. That trend is now working in reverse, with a Nigerian minister in Texas who plans to build churches as numerous as Starbucks coffee shops.

Drive an hour north-east of Dallas, and you will find yourself staring off into a barren, flat horizon. One out-of-place building rises above the landscape: a 10,000-seat auditorium.

It is the centrepiece for the Redeemed Christian Church of God in North America, a Pentecostal movement that started in Nigeria in 1952.

It is one of Africa’s largest and most influential Christian movements, claiming more than five million followers worldwide, mostly in Nigeria.

KC-Presh Turns Oil Tycoon

Who say oil business na for only politicians?

This is surely good times for  KCee the Limpopo King, as he seems to have veered into the oil and gas industry.

The fast rising singer whose current single, ‘Pull Over’ is currently tearing the charts in the country, is the Vice President of Five Star Music, a label he manages with his elder brother, shared pictures of the new oil vessels he has acquired for the take-off of Five Star Oil and Gas Company.

The former member of music group, KC-Presh, has regularly told anyone who cares to listen that he has plans to diversify into other businesses and the oil business is just one aspect of the diversification.

KCee shared photos from the oil vessel with the caption “Dreams to come true.”

Jonathan Appoints Bamangar Tukur as Nigeria Railway Corporation Chairman

Just about a week after resigning his office as National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur has been handed another public office by the federal government. He is to serve as Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

Mr. Tukur’s appointment as Railway Corporation, NRC, chairman was announced in a statement by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sam Nwaobasi.

The position of NRC chairman was formerly held by Kawu Baraje, the former factional chairman of the PDP who has since led his faction to fuse into the All Progressives Congress. Mr. Baraje resigned in the height of the PDP crisis in late 2013.

This is what we call power recycling!!

Police arrest gay 'suspects' in 5 Nigerian states, Amnesty International

Amnesty International has reported that Nigerian police have arrested 10 people suspected of being gay in four majority Christian southern states in the highly religious nation.

It says the arrests came after President Goodluck Jonathan's signing of a law outlawing gay organizations and meetings as well as same-sex marriage.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that 38 "gay suspects" have been arrested in the mostly Muslim northern state of Bauchi since Christmas. Amnesty says police in Bauchi are keeping suspected gay people under close watch.

Nigerian human rights defenders say they fear further persecution of gay people under the law in a notoriously corrupt country where police are known to make arrests to extort money and blackmail victims.

Jonathan signed the law, which includes penalties of up to 14 years in prison, over international condemnation.

Haha..It's more arrests and more money for the police!!