President Jonathan's visit Gombe!

Photos:

President Jonathan on arrival at the Emir of Gombe's palace December 3rd, 2013.

Roving Informant: Now that the Whistle has been blown, what next?!

Roving Informant: Now that the Whistle has been blown, what next?!: With the ' two BMW armoured cars  unauthorized purchase '  saga that engulfed the nation which emerged from revelations, conseque...

Dramatic rescue of man who survived days underwater!

Harrison Okene

As a South African rescue diver probed the wreckage of an overturned tugboat in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nigeria this summer, it was assumed that all he'd be doing would be recovering the bodies of those who perished.

However, as he was swimming through the murky water inside the capsized boat on May 28, a hand suddenly reached toward him out of the gloom.

It was the ship’s cook, Harrison Okene, who had somehow survived for approximately 60 hours in only his underwear in the freezing cold water by breathing from a small air pocket and taking sips of Coca-Cola.

Video of Okene’s dramatic rescue in May shows the moment his hand penetrated the darkness to alert the diver that he was still alive. Then it a shirtless Okene is shown from the waist up.

"He's alive! He's alive!" the diver exclaims to a colleague on the surface who is guiding him. 

"Just reassure him,'' the diver's colleague says. "Just reassure him. Pat him on the shoulder." 

Okene was the only one of 12 crew members who survived when the Jacon-4 tugboat capsized on May 26 in heavy Atlantic storm swells after assisting an oil tanker that was filling up at a Chevron platform. Divers recovered 10 other bodies; one other crew member was never found.

The young cook was in a bathroom at 4:50 a.m. on May 26 when the tugboat began to turn over and water started pouring in. Okene forced open the bathroom door and was soon swept down a hallway into another bathroom, where he survived by breathing from a small air bubble and keeping his head above the slowly rising water. It was May 28 by the time Okene saw the light mounted on the diver's head and reached out to grab him.

The diving team put Okene in an oxygen mask and diver’s suit and brought him to the surface, more than 2 ½ days after the ship initially capsized. Okene then was put in a decompression chamber for another 60 hours because he had been underwater so long that his body pressure needed to slowly return to normal to ward off potentially fatal exposure to regular air pressure. 

This illustration shows how Okene was able to survive by breathing in a small air pocket in the capsized ship that kept him alive long enough for the rescue divers to find him 2 1/2 days after the ship capsized.

Ex- Bank PHB boss wants court to dismiss charges!

Francis Atuche

A former Managing Director of Bank PHB, Francis Atuche, on Tuesday asked an Ikeja High Court to dismiss the N25.7 billion theft charge preferred against him.

Elizabeth Atuche

Mr. Atuche and his wife, Elizabeth, are standing trial before Justice Lateefat Okunnu. They are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside a former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Ugo Anyanwu.

Ugo Anyanwu

Mr. Atuche’s application was premised on a judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on November 21.

The appellate court had, in the judgment, struck out a theft charge preferred against a former Managing Director of Finbank Plc, Okey Nwosu and some others.

The Court of Appeal held in Mr. Nwosu’s case that the Lagos High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the charge because it emanated from capital market transactions.

The appellate court held that such a capital market-based case should be handled by the Federal High Court.

Mr. Atuche’s Counsel, Anthony Idigbe, argued in the application dated November 27 that his client’s case was similar to Mr. Nwosu’s.

He said: “Your lordship will see clearly that the pith and substance of this charge is alleged fraudulent conversion of sums of monies into shares.”

“This court cannot reach a fair, just and whole decision at the end of trial without considering exhibits bordering on capital market issues on which it lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate.”

“In view of all the foregoing, we urge your lordship to decline jurisdiction at this stage in order not to further engage in exercise in futility.”

However, the EFCC Counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, in preliminary objection, urged the court to strike out the application for “being frivolous and vexatious”.

Mr. Pinheiro said that the Court of Appeal’s decision in Nwosu’s case was inapplicable to Atuche’s case.

The court has adjourned the case till December16 for further hearing.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Oshiomhole apologies to widow, offers her employment!

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has offered employment to the widow, Mrs Joy Ifije, whom he upbraided, penultimate week.

The sum of N2 million naira will also be given to Mrs Ifije whose goods were seized by men of the State War Against Indiscipline for obstructing the Mission road in the state capital .

This was contained in a statement signed Monday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Peter Okhiria.

The statement read: “The Governor who announced the job offer to the woman, in addition to a N2 million grant for her to get a shop and trade, said during a breakfast meeting with her at the Government House, yesterday, that her job would be to join State’s War Against Indiscipline in the campaign against street trading and to keep the state clean.”

The Governor who again apologised to the widow said “when you put your things on the road a vehicle can run into you and they have killed some people like that and that was why I said if you are a widow do you want more people to be widowed? But when I said go and die, that one was said in a fit of anger. And I am really sorry”, he said.

“I want you to join us. We would employ you and pay you salary. You would help us to campaign to other women not to trade on road sides. We should not use poverty as a yardstick. We would also talk to taxi and bus drivers not to block roads when carrying passengers”, Oshiomhole said.

“You will assist me to talk to women and traders not to litter the roads and sidewalks so that people walking and driving can have free road. If they want to park they can park properly so as not to disturb others.”

The Governor said government was trying to change Benin City from its old status adding “as you can see Benin is becoming a modern city. So you join us now and every month you begin to get salary so that you can look after your children”.

“For your child who is preparing to enter into the university, my daughters and myself have agreed to support him. If he does well as we pray he does, he would assist the family. Maybe this is the way God wants it. That is why I asked them to look for you so that I can personally offer my apology, but also to support you, so that God helping you, you can overcome the pain of widowhood”, he said.

“As a single mother I want to see how I can help you to train your children and God can use any of them to become a leader of our country. Please resist the temptation to do anything that would break the law. The law is the law; it is no respecter of persons. If Government does not enforce the law there would be confusion”, he remarked.

The Governor who gave the woman a cash gift of N2 million said “in addition to working with the War Against Indiscipline, I am also giving you the sum of two million naira so that you can hire a shop, trade inside the shop and not roadside and I pray that God will bless your decision on how you utilize the money. This money is not for you to share or distribute but to help you as a working capital”.

Responding, the widow, Mrs Joy Ifijeh thanked the Governor for the gesture and promised that she would be part of the fight to keep the City clean.

She apologized to the Governor for blocking the road with her wares, saying she recognized that what she did was wrong but she did not know that the Governor was on inspection that day.

According to her, she had been a victim of theft by a truck pusher who went away with her goods, a week before her encounter with the Governor, that was why she was on the road with her goods that day as she no longer trusted truck pushers not to do away with her goods.

Why I was arrested in Benin Republic – Asari Dokubo!

Niger Delta activist, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari said he was arrested by the Beninoise Police over an allegation that he was that he was a member of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

He also said the allegation of being a member of the terrorist group was made from Nigeria.

Dokubo-Asari, however, attributed his arrest in Benin as the handiwork of those opposed  to the 2015 re-election ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The NDPVF boss who appeared unperturbed by the arrest also said the crises “has raised my profile in that country.”

Speaking with Journalists on Friday night during his arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja he also described as lies, reports that President Jonathan sent a Presidential Jet to fly him into Nigeria from the Republic of Benin.

He said, “Crisis is normal, it can also happen here in Nigeria, it can happen anywhere in the world. The people and government of Republic of Benin have no problem with me. But if people alleged that somebody is a leader of Boko Haram, the government of that country will investigate the person.

“The allegation has much to do with 2015 because when your read comments on social media, you find out that somebody who is against President Goodluck Jonathan, said they should vilify me and make sure I die before 2015. But they are not going to succeed. I am not going to die. I will be present in 2015, and I will do what I am going to do to ensure that Jonathan wins in 2015. There is nothing they can do about it. This is their last fight and it is so unfortunate that the way and manner they are going with it shows how immature they are.”

He also denied that he was flown into Abuja in a Presidential Jet saying it is not true.

Asari said, “I just arrived from Cotonu. I drove in my car from Cotonu to Lagos Airport where I boarded Aero Contractors flight to Abuja. The report is not true. No presidential jet was sent to me.

“That report is an instigated falsehood. Most of the things that have always been written against President Goodluck Jonathan is also falsehood. A section of the press in Nigeria is manipulated and instigated.”

“I do business in Cotonu, and I have been living in Cotonu since 2008. Politically, people who are in Nigeria are trying to fabricate lies, which are not verifiable, and send it to the government of Republic of Benin. So I was taken for interrogation and they found that the allegations were false, and I was promptly released with over 20 of my staff who were also taken in.”

Asari also spoke on his meeting with officials of government of Republic of Benin after his interrogation.

“I have met with the top and powerful people in Republic of Benin, since I went to that country. I have never had any reason to meet with their government officials, but this crisis has made it possible for me to meet with all the top government functionaries of the Republic of Benin. The crises has raised my profile in that country”, he boasted.

Source: Punch News Papers

Paul Walker Shares Life Lesson: "Go With the Flow"!

It's no secret that Paul Walker made the most of every moment. 

While promoting the diver flick Into the Blue in 2005, the movie star shared his life philosophy. "By nature, I go with the flow. I just kind of let things roll," said the star, who would lose his life just eight years later in a tragic car accident. "Things happen when they're supposed to."

"Sometimes I'll get down on myself and be like, 'You know what? Maybe if you were a little more aggressive and tried to make things happen, a lot more would probably come around,'" he continued. "So I chase that angle, and sure enough, nothing happens. Five years later, it falls in my lap. So I'm like, 'Man, I'm just gonna be the way I am.'"

It's sound advice from a star whose famous friends would later describe him as "sweet and simple," "really nice" and "a  beautiful light in the world."

Walker died at age 40 on Nov. 30. The Skulls star is survived by daughter Meadow, 15.

Adieu.