Sanusi’s Courage Is Scarce Says Pastor Bakare

The Serving Overseer of The Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, and running mate to General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) in the 2011 presidential elections, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Sunday said that the suspension of Mr. Lamido Sansusi as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria would have negative consequences on the nation and its government.
The fiery preacher described Sanusi’s
suspension as ego-driven and destructive power game
In a prepared text, which he delivered during the Sunday service, Bakare said that the suspended CBN governor was being persecuted for exposing the rot in the oil industry.
He warned that the action of President Goodluck Jonathan in suspending Sanusi on February 22 could have negative consequences on the investing public and even government revenue
Bakare said, “The suspension of Sanusi is an ego-driven, counter-productive and destructive power game that will have very dangerous consequences for the nation and the government.
“It is important not to demystify the institutions of the country. Personalities and people will go but the institutions must remain; the institutions must remain strong to enhance the growth and peace of the society.
“You can imagine the negative consequences of this suspension on the investing public, on shares and even on government revenue”.
The cleric, whose text was with the theme, ‘Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the Federal Government of Nigeria: Aitete m’ole, ole m’oloko’, said the suspended CBN governor became a victim because he delayed blowing the whistle about the corruption in the oil industry.
According to the cleric, ‘Aitete m’ole, ole m’oloko’ a Yoruba proverb means that “when the owner of the farm fails to apprehend the thief in time, the thief will apprehend the owner and label him the thief”.
Bakare, who is the convener of Save Nigeria Group, trailed the origin of Sanusi’s ordeal to a letter he wrote in September 2013 to President Goodluck Jonathan accusing the Nigerian National petroleum Corporation of failing to repatriate $49.8bn (about N8trn) into the Federation Account between January 2012 and July.
“In order words, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, undeniably a crusader of truth and justice, may have blown the whistle indicting the very heads of the crime economy just too late”, Bakare said.
He said, “The opportune time to blow the whistle should have been when the CBN, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the PPPRA, the NNPC and other agencies provided conflicting figures as to actual subsidy payments to the Adhoc Committee on the management of fuel subsidy”.
According to him, the NNPC had been spared of any indictment in all the three reports “from the 2011 KPMG report to the 2012 Farouk Lawan Committee Report and from the 2012 Nuhu Ribadu Committee Report to the 2013 Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative report.
“When Save Nigeria Group raised the bar during the fuel subsidy protests and maintained that government-backed corruption fueled by NNPC was the main issue, perhaps a corroborating voice by the CBN governor would have added weight to the outcr”, Bakare said.
He, however, commended Sanusi for speaking up against corruption and urged him to take solace in the words of William Curren Bryant, who he quoted as saying, “Truth crushed to earth, shall rise again”.
Bakare added that “Make no mistake about it; few men have the courage of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
“Few men have the aristocratic dignity of a man who time and again, while in public office, raised his voice against profligacy and monetary imprudence especially among the legislators and sometimes among the executive; perhaps, no serving government official has been as outspoken against misgovernace as the suspended CBN Governor”.

Comeback? Venus Wins First Title in 16 Months

Venus Williams, the seven times former Grand Slam champion, won the WTA Dubai Open on Saturday to silence some of the doubters who said she could never make a significant come-back at the age of 33.
Williams produced a magnificent performance by outplaying the tournament’s sensation, Alise Cornet, 6-3, 6-0 to earn her a first title in 16 months.
Williams only gained entry into the Dubai Open with a wild card after falling outside the top 40, yet completed five fine wins.
In doing so she avenged the defeat which the French player had inflicted on her sister Serena Williams in the semi-finals, captured her first Premier level title since 2010, and ensured she would climb back into the world’s top 30.
Williams’ face was afterwards wreathed with enormous smiles, while Cornet twice dissolved into tears during the match, aware from an early stage that she was unlikely to find a way to halt one of the game’s most formidable attacker two nights in a row.
“It’s great to be back,” she said, referring to her capture of the Dubai title four years ago.
“I was expecting to be playing Serena, but Alize played an amazing game in the semis, so congratulations on that.
“I have continued being able to practise, and I have been getting healthier,” Williams went on, referring to the long term effects of the immune deficiency which has been threatening her career.
“It hasn’t been easy. I have to thank the tournament for a wild card, and my family and Serena for encouraging me. They all kept me up when I was down.”
- consistent excellence -
Despite her consistent excellence, the first blow was Cornet’s.
Combining two great forehand drives, which dragged her opponent in different directions, she reached deuce on the Williams serve, and then immediately prospered from a double fault, perhaps induced by the return of serve pressure she created on the previous point.
Williams saved that break point, but conceded the next one with a moderate second serve, which Cornet thumped back hard and deep, forcing an error.
It gave Cornet a break, a lead of 2-1, and feeling that she was not out of place in this final.
But from that moment Williams, sensing the danger, raised her game, struck the ball better and, often roaring loudly, began to exert more dominance.
She broke back at once, with some help from Cornet who took a couple of risks too many in trying to maintain the initiative, and it propelled Williams to a run of four games which did much to alter the character of the contest.
Cornet bravely saved two set points in the eighth game, but Williams concluded it with a brilliant inside out backhand, which swung itself snugly into a small gap in Cornet’s forehand corner.
Williams began the second set by breaking serve for the third time in four attempts, even though Cornet produced the shot of the match, a running forehand sidespin passing shot which Nadal might have liked.
It was a brief interlude in the plot which saw Williams increasingly able to find telling blows while Cornet was forced to stretch and strain to contain.
Another break took Williams to 3-0, which she converted to 4-0, despite having to recover from 15-40. During also profited from an uncharacteristically prodigal miss by her opponent, causing Cornet’s eyes to fill with tears, and making her drop her racket.
It took several seconds for her to recover, but although she fought on bravely the momentum of Williams’ onslaught did not cease, and she finished the match with yet another flurry of fierce drives.
Cornet’s consolations were that she had achieved her first final on a hard court surface, and that she had managed four top 20 scalps, including a career best win to reach only her second Premier level final.
She is now very close to being back the top 20 for the first time in five years, a better player than she was then, and with every prospect of further progress.
With her sequence of five wins in this tournament Venus has remained ahead of sister Serena as the active player with the most WTA Tour wins (647 to Serena’s 641). Her dream of continuing till the Rio Olympics may yet be alive.

Uti & I Are in Lover says Saeon

“I don’t like to put my personal business out there. I have known Uti for a while. He was in my only video. I met him prior to shooting the video because he helped me to bring some of the things I used in the video from England. We started talking, hanging out and then this!
We are in love. He is a honest and genuine person. People will always say things about him, which obviously are not true. But this will not stop him from being him. He is God-fearing, funny and, of course, good-looking. This affair is no publicity stunt, even though I know Uti is a big brand and I am only an emerging brand.” Seun Oni (Saeon).

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She is suppose to be a role model, is this how she intend to lead?

Kelly Rowland learns some Yoruba while chatting with Tosyn Bucknor On Phone

On valentine’s day, February 14th, singer, actress and reality television judge, Kelly Rowland had a chat on the very popular morning radio show in Lagos- Top Of The Morning With Tosyn Bucknor. It was a quick fifteen minute conversation in which the former Destinys’ Child singer spoke with Tosyn about her must-have fashion accessory, her biggest fear, what X Factor finalists, Jeff Gut and Lillie Mccloud are up to recently, how she intended to spend her valentine’s day, plus, some advice for girls who may want to know if the partner they are currently with, was ‘the one’.
The highlight of the conversation which got everyone, including Kelly, laughing was when Tosyn Bucknor a radio and television host on Top Radio 90.9 taught Kelly Rowland how to say “I am happy” in Yoruba, one of the languages spoken in Nigeria. Kelly got it right first try but immediately wanted to know what it meant. When Tosyn told her, she repeated it excitedly.
Kelly Rowland was in Nigeria for the #LLAM2 (Love Like A Movie 2) concert, the second installment of the popular concert series by Darey and Livespot Productions. Kelly Rowland would later go on to perform songs like ‘Gone’ her song featuring Wiz Khalifa, ‘When love takes over’ her collaboration with David Guetta, ‘Motivation’ as well as a medley from the Destiny’s Child collection.
Watch this video to find out what Kelly’s must have fashion accessory is, advice she has for ladies who want to know if the person they are with is ‘the one’, and what her plans are for the rest of the year. And don’t forget- “inu mi dun!”

Osita Iheme’s Birthday Party With Colleagues On Movie Set

Socrate Sarfo and president of Actors’ Guild hits hard at Yvonne Nelson for saying they did nothing for her during her ban from acting

Nii Odoi Mensah, President of the Ghana Actors Guild (GAG) has described actress Yvonne Nelson as a very ungrateful person. His comment is in response to her recent statement that the Guild did not come to ‘her rescue when she was banned from acting by the Film Producers of Ghana (FIPAG) in 2010. “When my issue came up, the Actors Guild did nothing for me. They only came, sat, had some meetings and that was all. They did nothing for me,” Yvonne Nelson stated when she appeared on the Hanging Out With KOD television show over the weekend.
This has however not gone down well with the GAG president who has challenged the credibility of Yvonne’s statement. “If Yvonne Nelson really said that, then she is a very ungrateful person and I would be very disappointed in her. If she was able to say that the Actors Guild did nothing for her when FIPAG banned heir, then I have to fear human beings. How can she say such a thing when there are records, witnesses and documents to prove that the Guild did a lot for her when the issue came up?
“I personally like that actress a lot so when her issue came up, we went out of our way and held several meetings with FIPAG, pleading with them to drop the ban. You can call any executive of FIPAG to ask about this and they would tell you that the Actors Guild was very instrumental in get-ting the ban reversed.
“Meanwhile Yvonne Nelson would not even attend meetings or pay her dues. But we still stood behind her, pleaded on her behalf and got the ban reversed,” Odoi Mensah disclosed on Neat FM’s new entertainment show “Entertainment Ghana” on Tuesday morning February 18.
Socrates Safo, who was the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for FIPAG at the time Yvonne was banned, also confirmed that FIPAG revoked the ban on the actress because of the pleas from the Ghana Actors Guild.
During the arbitration, there was a time FIPAG even got angry with the Actors Guild for being over protective-of Yvonne and defending her when she would not even attend any of – the mediation meetings in person, Socrates said.