Another lesbian story? Why Amanda Ebeye loves Sylvia Ukaatu so much

Its no longer a strange   happening to have persons   of the same sex dating each other as man and woman. At least, we have heard so many confessions out of the movie industry of lesbianism and homosexualism.

So, when Amanda Ebeye, a Nollywood actress and now a producer reeled out her greetings to Sylvia Ukaatu, another Nollywood actress on her birthday, it got tongues wagging. The birthday message was so emotion-laden that many began to question what may be the big deal between the two movie stars.

Sylvia Ukaatu

Amanda-Ebeye

But as it turns out; there is nothing extraordinary between the two girls. If any, it was just a fondness one person feels towards the other, for some extraordinary experiences shared. Amanda, who produced her first film recently, Agwonma, took time out to explain why Sylvia is very special to her.

“Let me tell you something about Sylvia Ukaatu. When I was filming in Ghana I caught chicken pox. Everyone started avoiding me and of course, I couldn’t blame anyone . But Sylvia stayed with me all through. She took care of me and rubbed calamine lotion on my body. When I was hot, instead of allowing me to scratch she would fan me. She stayed with me till I got better. And you know the truth? She never had it before and miraculously she didn’t catch it after. Happy birthday dear. God bless you forever” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Amanda has just tried her hands at movie production and she has in the market as Easter gift, her movie Agwonma featuring veteran movie actor Ejike Asiegbu, Francis Duru, Prince Eke, Joy Helen and others.

Man charged with stealing church’s musical equipment

By Bartholomew Madukwe

An Isolo Magistrate’s Court in Lagos has remanded in prison custody a 26-year-old man, Cheka Samuel, for allegedly stealing musical instruments belonging to a church.

Presiding Magistrate, Mrs Joy Ugbomoiko, after granting the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 with one surety in like sum, ordered that he be remanded in prison custody at Kirikiri, pending when he will perfect his bail.

However, when the charge was read to the accused, he pleaded not guilty.

During interrogation at Ajao Estate Police Division, the accused allegedly revealed that he had no intention to steal the instruments, but was compelled to do so because he did not find any money in the offering box.

Governorship primary: The untold intrigues in APC

The emergence of Prince Abubakar Audu as the All Progressives Congress, APC governorship candidate in the forthcoming Kogi governorship election was achieved using all tricks and traction available to him.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara;Senate President, APC Chirman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun Dr. Bukola Saraki and President Muhammadu Buhari at the APC NEC Meeting.

By Kingsley Fanwo

Prior to last Saturday’s governorship primary, many had on the strength of his visibility tipped Alhaji Yahaya Bello to trounce the 27 other aspirants. That was despite allegations and counter allegations of plans to manipulate the process by almost all the aspirants.

The decision of the National Working Committee of the party to appoint the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai as the Chief Returning Officer underlined the party’s determination to ensure a free hand in the primary election. The past experiences in which the panel for membership registration and another for the National Assembly and State House of Assembly primaries were hijacked by some forces within the party informed the choice of the no-nonsense governor.

On arrival in Lokoja, Gov. El-Rufai told all that he was poised to create a level playing ground for all aspirants. He said the party was ready to test-run some innovations in conducting a free, fair and credible primary.

Credible primary

This changed the entire political permutations in the party as aspirants jacked up their consultations with delegates to woo them into their camps.

The horse trading that had been going on for most of the campaigns reached a peak on Friday, the day before the election. Delegates were camped in different hotels by the aspirants in a bid to safeguard them from being poached by rivals.

Focus was basically on delegates from Kogi West with their leaders clearly against Prince Abubakar Audu. Efforts by the former governor to placate the Kogi West leaders were rebuffed ostensibly to repay the former governor for his alleged role in imposing candidates on the party in the last primaries in the state.

With the prospects of losing votes from Kogi West and Kogi Central, Prince Abubakar Audu on election eve, drew up fresh strategies to help him penetrate the hostile zones.

First, he alleged at a meeting with chairmen of the nine Local Government Areas from Kogi East that their zone was about to for the first time lose the ticket of the party, and possibly, their grip on power in the State. Affirming that the Igalas could not afford to lose the governorship, the nine party chairmen that day in Audu’s Lokoja residence, endorsed his candidature.

The chairmen thereafter proceeded to reach all their ward chairmen that the Igala  votes should be given wholly to Agaba Idu, as Prince Audu is fondly called.

This became the masterstroke that boosted Prince Audu’s chances.

The second card was to reach out to Otunba Dino Melaye, the Senator representing Kogi West. Sources said Melaye while mindful of the determination of his people for power shift was also conscious of the fact that Audu was instrumental to his own victory in the APC Senate primary. The case against him is under hot dispute at the tribunal where Senator Smart Adeyemi is proving a strong threat

To clear the way for Prince Audu, the second joker was deployed.

Foot soldiers were deployed to split the ranks of other aspirants.

Indeed as it became obvious that Bello was about to get a massive boost as it was alleged that some aspirants from the Central District were on the verge of stepping down for him, Audu’s camp allegedly promised one of the aspirants from Kogi Central the position of Deputy Governorship. At this point, associates of Senators Dino Melaiye and Mohammed Ohiare started campaigning for the said candidate.

Rousing ovation

The idea was to boost the spirit of the delegates from Kogi Central that their best chance was not Yahaya Bello. It was gathered that the same promise was made to another aspirant from the central.

The aim of the plot was to split the votes of the delegates from Kogi Central since it was obvious that Kogi West had agreed to support Yahaya Bello.

Meanwhile, indications to the unanimity of Kogi East around Audu was unveiled when Audu stormed the election arena and was given a rousing ovation by the delegates. It was obvious to all at that time that Audu had secured Kogi East.

Sources also told Vanguard that passionate appeals were made to a national leader of the party in Lagos to appeal to Prince Babatunde Irukera to drop out of the race to reinforce the plan for splitting Kogi Central votes. It was at that point that many discovered that the support of Sen. Mohammed Ohiare for Alh. Abubakar Sanusi Gamji was a decoy to ensure Kogi Central was unable to present a common front in the primary election.

The outcome of the election justified the intrigues that predated the primary. In the end, Kogi Central shared their votes to three aspirants; Kogi East massively supported Prince Audu while Kogi West supported Yahaya Bello.

Also, Prince Abubakar Audu used the old warhorses in the former ANPP to penetrate the ranks of the delegates to achieve victory.

Political pundits

Political pundits in the state believed Kogi Central handed the governorship ticket of the party to Prince Audu. With Bello’s 709 votes, Nurudeen Abatemi’s 400 votes and Sanusi Abubakar’s 301 votes; Kogi Central would have clinched the ticket with a consensus arrangement. The alleged failure of Nurudeen Abatemi and Alh. Sanusi Abubakar to attend a meeting convened by the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, HRM Dr. Ado Ibrahim to appeal to Ebira aspirants to ensure consensus is an indication of the fact that Prince Audu used his political sagacity to checkmate the immediate desire for power rotation in the state.

Bello remains the beautiful bride of the contest. His smart move to congratulate Audu when many others were threatening to defect is viewed by analysts as his own way of aligning with the Audu forces. Many are even tipping him for the Deputy Governorship ticket of the APC. But his close confidants confided in Vanguard that the Okene-born business mogul is weighing his political future. Wherever he chooses to go, he will surely command cult-like followership as the flagship of generational shift in Kogi politics.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/governorship-primary-the-untold-intrigues-in-apc/#sthash.Lbsuiavk.dpuf

Photos: Sean Tizzle weds on stage in Lagos

Sean Tizzle created a spot of drama onstage at last Saturday’s Star Music Trek finale when he carried out a mock wedding onstage while performing his hit track “Perfect Gentleman”.

Coming on a night of high drama and thrilling entertainment at the annual national music tour sponsored by Nigerian Breweries, the crowd appreciated the onstage spectacle and cheered wildly as the pop star first took off his bracelets, then his watch, then his coat, and finally his tie and threw them into the delighted crowd.

The night also witnessed performances from 2Face, Sound Sultan, Immaculate, MI, Joe El, Cynthia Morgan, Seyi Shay, Young Grey C, Runtown and many others,

See pictures from Sean Tizzle’s ‘wedding’ below:

Sean Tizzle

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/photos-sean-tizzle-weds-on-stage-in-lagos/#sthash.HA35rINx.dpuf

3 feared dead, 20 wounded as pro-Biafra group, security agents clash in Anambra

By Vincent Ujumadu
Awka- THREE persons were feared dead and about twenty others wounded on Sunday when members of a new pro- Biafra group, the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and security operatives engaged in a shootout in Onitsha.

It was not clear what caused the trouble, but one of the injured persons, Mr. Chinwendu Ikechukwu said the group was carrying out an evangelism programme on the need for people to embrace Biafra Republic in parts of Nkpor , Idemili North local government area after their routine meeting, adding that it was while they were on the street that security operatives opened fire on them.

He said: “On reaching Okpoko junction, we were accosted by a detachment of policemen who fired tear gas on our members numbering about 5000, but they later allowed us to go since we were non violent.

“However, on reaching Uga junction close to the Niger Bridge Head, the Naval men on duty there opened fire on us. In our defenseless state, three of our members were shot dead, while about twenty others sustained injuries. Even the police who initially allowed us to go later joined in shooting our members.”

According to him, the injured persons were initially rushed to the nearby Paragon Hospital, Fegge before they were distributed to other hospitals.

The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Okechukwu Ali however denied the involvement of police in the shooting, adding that the police were in a ‘Show of Force’ operation in Onitsha as at the time of the incident.

“We never shot at the group, even though the law of the land has outlawed all pro -Biafran groups,” he said.

Also, a naval officer who refused to give his name said the group was lying, insisting that nobody died. According to him, “if they claim that three of their members died, they should provide their bodies.

Workers scamper, as Fayose pays unscheduled visit to State Secretariat

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State Governor, has frowned at the lateness to work of civil servants in the state, warning them to shun every act of lateness and truancy.

Some of the Ekiti workers pleading with Fayose over their lateness

Fayose, who paid an unscheduled visit to the state Secretariat, on Monday, by 8am, caught unawares over 30 civil servants who came late to work, and directed that disciplinary committee be set up to try them with appropriate sanctions.

This is even as he warned that whoever engages in late-coming and truancy may be shown the way out of service if such a one remains recalcitrant.

However, many of the civil servants on sighting the Governor scampered around to avoid being apprehended, even as some others who encountered the governor one-on-one knelt down pleading with the governor for forgiveness.

The Governor stated that the unscheduled visit will continue until appropriate discipline has been entrenched in the civil service, adding that his next port of call could be at the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, anytime soon.

He noted that if the government is working round the clock to ensure the workers salary are paid as at when due inspite of the economic downturn, the workers should reciprocate the gesture by being alive to their responsibilities.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/workers-scamper-as-fayose-pays-unscheduled-visit-to-state-secretariat/#sthash.7im5YJFd.dpuf

Breaking news: Akpabio escapes death in Abuja auto crash

Rushed to National Hospital Abuja

By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

Immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has been admitted at the National Hospital Abuja after being involved in a motor accident this morning.

Akpabio

His siren-blaring convoy was said to have crashed into other vehicles, with the former governor sustaining injury. The extent of his injury was not disclosed by the doctors at the National Hospital, who claimed that it was the family that had the right to do so.

But Governor Udom Emmanuel has visited his predecessor at the National Trauma Center of the National Hospital.

‘A Sinner in Mecca’ documents gay Muslim pilgrimage

The confession of a Pakistani murderer. Overzealous religious police. An Arab angered his pregnant wife was molested in the holiest site known to Islam. A new film made by a gay Muslim pilgrim offers a English-speaking Western audience a warts-and-all view of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in a documentary that has attracted death threats and an online hate campaign.

It is a rebuke of Saudi Arabia and its strict Wahhabi form of Islam, but it is also deeply personal — a man trying to reconcile his faith with his sexuality. From that perspective which includes footage of his wedding to his American husband in New York, millions of Muslims will likely find “A Sinner in Mecca” provocative if not offensive.

But director and pilgrim, Indian-born New Yorker Parvez Sharma, sees it as a wake-up call for a faith followed by nearly a quarter of humanity which he believes has been hijacked by a violent minority. “Islam is imploding upon itself right now and there’s a huge crisis,” Sharma told AFP.  “It (a reformation) is happening, but it is happening too slowly and we’re running out of time.”

“The change needs to happen with Wahhabi Islam — that is the root of all the problems,” he said. Sharma associates with the Sufi branch of Islam common in his homeland India, which unlike Wahhabism embraces music and a more mystical — and less dogmatic — approach to faith.

Wrong end of the stick

He performed hajj in 2011, four months after Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden was killed and seven months after the Arab Spring began. He says the timing was deliberate. “I felt that it would be the most interesting time to go with all this churning going on in the Muslim world.” Most striking is his footage, filmed on a mobile phone and two tiny cameras without permission from Saudi authorities, then smuggled out of the country.

“Early on,” he explains, “my iPhone was taken away by the religious police and they deleted initial early footage,” he said. “These guys walk around with sticks and hit you if you’re doing something they consider un-Islamic, and I was on the wrong end of the stick several times.” He captures the crush encircling the Kaaba, the sacred site in whose direction Muslims pray, the giant shopping mall next door where you can get a Starbucks coffee and the discomfort of standing on a bus an entire night to go to Mount Arafat.

“There is nothing kind about this process,” Sharma says in the film. He calls his first experience at the Kaaba “probably the most violent night of my entire life.” He says he strung his iPhone around his neck and just let the camera roll.

Threats

Most of the film focuses on him. But he also includes two of more than 50 interviews he said he conducted. An Arab man in the film complains that his wife was touched by other men, and a man from Lahore, a city in eastern Pakistan, confesses to seeking atonement for taking part in a so-called “honor” killing.

It has been shown at film festivals in Britain and North America, and goes on cinema release in New York on Friday before being aired on European television and Netflix in coming months. “Sharma’s constant filming of his own face and his reactions to what he’s seeing give the film a sometimes annoying ‘selfie’ perspective,” wrote reviewer, David Savage, in Cut Print Film.

But he called it “an important and rare film” given “the threats of violence and death that have suppressed many of his fellow Muslim gays into hiding.” Sharma says much of the response has been positive. But he has received a torrent of hate mail and online death threats coming from servers in countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

He says the Iranian government has denounced it. He tells of being accosted by yelling Saudi women at a festival in Britain. “I hope that Muslims will eventually react positively,” he told AFP.

Jonathan and democracy in Africa

WHAT made the last general elections more significant is that for the first time in the political history of Nigeria, a sitting president was defeated in an election in which he was a candidate. The truth and reality is that in most countries of Africa “the power of incumbency” has largely been used often to subvert the will of the electorate. Nigeria has not been an exception until, of course, the last presidential election.

This, in itself, is a point to note in favour of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who, it could be recalled, made a firm promise during his campaigns that under his watch, the general elections would be free and fair.

So, in what today is being referred to as historic move, President Jonathan conceded victory to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, hours before the results were concluded.

Not a few Nigerians have, however, argued that the action had no significance as, according to them, the former President had no choice but to do what he did. I beg to disagree. Such Nigerians may have forgotten the incident of June 12, 1993, when a military President stopped the collation of election results and declared the whole exercise inconclusive, null and void.  Also such people have only to look at countries like Somalia of today, Rwanda, Southern Sudan and of course Liberia to realise the worth and character of the sacrifice made by former President Jonathan.

Take Liberia for instance, although that country is today comparatively stable under the Presidency of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia was enmeshed in years of bloody civil war that almost consumed its multi-ethnic groups. It was an aftermath of an attempt by then incumbent President, Samuel Doe, to subvert the result of the Presidential election in that country in 1985.

This sparked off a protest which resulted in an attempted coup by one General Thomas Quiwonkpa and other members of the original junta that seized power with Doe in 1980.  Though the coup was suppressed, it further degenerated into ethnic tension and civil war prompting the formation of ECOMOG, a sub-regional intervention force led by Nigeria, which finally brokered the peace that is in Liberia today.

But, most commendably, President Jonathan chose that path of honour and conceded victory to his opponent instead of contesting the results or taking any other available option that could possibly scuttle that election.  After all, it is not as if he, or indeed his Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was bereft of support from Nigerians. As a matter of fact, the President was standing pretty at the time of the elections based on his administration’s notable achievements across various sectors of the economy.  Such sectors include Agriculture, where significant efforts were made to return the country to the green days when palm oil from the East, cocoa and rubber from the West and groundnuts from the North constituted the mainstay of the nation’s economy.

And Transportation where the hitherto comatose Nigerian Railways across the country has been fully revitalised. Also, in spite of the poor performance of the energy sector under his watch, it is evident today that he made significant impact in that sector given the fact that there has been a significant improvement in the supply of electricity across the country while our refineries are about to commence full capacity production. All these go to show that there was indeed significant groundwork under the former President as the said improvements couldn’t have been achieved by the incumbent government in just less than three months of assumption of office.

But at the time of the general elections, the tender rope that bound the nation together seemed clearly under stress. With what was going on in the North East of the country where insurgents held sway, and are still do, as well as other long standing disenchantment which predated his administration, if the former President had contested the results of the election,  rancor could have set in; and given the fragile nature of the polity, ambitious politicians would have taken advantage of it to create confusion, a scenario which clearly is against the humane nature  of the former President who had sworn, and indeed made spirited efforts during his tenure, to protect the unity of the country above all other interests .

The scenario of a Nigeria engulfed in a modern warfare is simply unnerving. Take for example the menace of the Boko Haram in parts of the North East today. Just think of the heavy military hardware that the insurgents use to inflict holocaust on the population. A Nigeria in a modern war, therefore, is likely to be disastrous. Firstly, insurgency may become more pronounced with other militia groups rising to take up arms. The nation would also be exposed to infiltration by foreign murderous groups like the Al Qaeda.  And with these modern weapons in the hands of the unorganised and largely illiterate Nigerians, coupled with the not too skin-deep hate syndrome that pervades the different ethnic, religious and even political segments that make up the country, such a war will certainly set the country ablaze in record time.

What would be the implication of such a war to the rest of the African Continent? The first implication of course is that of refugee management. Where would 180 million people migrate to? Most of Nigeria’s neighbours are poor and dependent on Nigeria for sustenance. On the whole, the implication of a war in Nigeria would be disastrous for Africa both economically and security wise. That former President Jonathan took the bold step to save this nation, and by extension the Africa continent, from what would have certainly been a disastrous consequence, he deserves commendation

Nigeria, the Giant of Africa, is no mean burden to be shouldered by just any country.  The short and long term impacts would be that the economy of the continent would be adversely affected and many countries in the region would

be in trouble as the economies of most are tied to that of Nigeria.

Again, many countries in the region would face political crises since Nigeria has provided stability for them. . Of course, organising a regional intervention force such as in the case of Liberia would be near impossible without perhaps assistance from the United Nations. Nigeria has always been at the lead of such interventions across Africa.

Therefore, for the fact . Of course, the former President has already got loads of both national and international commendations since he took that bold step. The truth remains today that no matter the failings and mistakes attributed to the former President (which is natural, after all no man is without fault), that historic action will remain a legacy for him in the annals of this nation. It will also remain a lesson for other leaders at whatever levels, both incumbent and upcoming, to know when to put the interest of the people, for whom they are called to serve first, above selfish partisan interests.

Mr. Eni Blessing, a political analyst, wrote from Lagos.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/jonathan-and-democracy-in-africa/#sthash.FsDTCJ97.dpuf

P-Square escapes death in auto crash

Peter and Paul Okoye of the popular pop duo, Psquare, on Sunday, escaped death by whiskers in a ghastly auto-crash along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

P-Square

The Sensational R&B duo, suffered a crash in their ox-blood coloured Range Rover Sport Jeep on their way back from a concert staged in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

Peter who took to Instagram, narrated that an oncoming lorry bashed their as they were returning from a show alongside their assistant manager and lead drummer, Papi J Ameh.

Peter said, “Fans pls help us thank God. Myself @rudeboypsquare @papiijameh and our assistant manager @wandoskie had an accident early hours of today on our way back from a show in Ibadan. Along Lagos-Ibadan Express Road. A Lorry hit and dragged us for over 12 seconds. But Our Lord and Our God is always faithful and quick to show Mercy. Thank God we survived.”

Their ox-blood coloured Range Rover Sport Jeep

Oshiomhole has forgotten so soon

By Reno Omokri

On July 17, 2012, a recently re-elected Governor Adams Oshiomhole visited the Aso Rock Presidential Villa and on his way out he had a chat with State House Correspondents and said as follows “what the Edo election has confirmed is that when the President and Commander-in-Chief puts the country first and conducts himself as a statesman, not just as a party leader, credible elections are possible, because people were apprehensive that the Nigerian Army could be misused. But of course, I told them I didn’t think they were right, but the President’s clear directive was that the votes must count.

The former labour leader continued in his praise of then President Jonathan saying “We need to appreciate the President and encourage him to sustain this principle of truly reminding all of us, who hold political office, that we are at the mercy of the electorate, not of the Presidency. I think the President has done that. The President has demonstrated statesmanship. I think there is hope for Nigeria”.

Going by the statement he made above, many Nigerians were shocked to read his recent statement on August 23rd, 2015 where he said inter alia “if the Igbos were marginalized, it was President Jonathan and the PDP. If Nigerians know what these people did, they will stone them to death – jungle justice.”

How is it possible that three years ago, Governor Oshiomhole saw President Jonathan as a well behaved statesman who rose above partisanship to put the nation first and then make a 180 degree turn to attack the same person and suggest that he be stoned by the public?

Reno and Jonathan

Anyone who knows Former President Goodluck Jonathan knows that the first description of him by Governor Oshiomhole is correct.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan is a man who does not lust for power and refused to reach out to grasp power even when it was within his reach in 2010 during the saga occasioned by the tragic illness of his boss, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

Jonathan demonstrated loyalty, patience and complete submission to the will of God and God elevated him.

When Dr. Jonathan lost the March 2015 Presidential election, he did not wait for the Independent National Electoral Commission to finish declaring results before calling then candidate Muhamnadu Buhari to concede.

As a result, for the first time in her history, Nigeria does not have any judicial challenge against the winner of a Presidential election.

President Jonathan is a man of honour who does not deserve the treatment being meted out to him by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

The Comrade Governor should come to an awareness that his party, the All Progressive Congress, is now in power. They are no more in opposition.

The Jonathan administration remains the only administration in Nigeria’s history that promoted freedom of Speech by signing the Freedom of Information Bill into law so Nigerians could have access to any information they so desire.

Versions of the Freedom of Information Law are also in force in Western nations including the US.

Only on August 21st, 2015, an investigation by Leadership Newspapers (whose publisher is an APC chieftain and former Presidential Aspirant on the platform of the party) revealed that no US official ever told Governor Adams Oshiomhole or any other person that one minister stole $6 Billion under President Jonathan’s watch and challenged the Comrade Governor to name the US official that said so and the minister involved.

Governor Oshiomhole may want to take advantage of the FOI law by ensuring that his aides use it to verify any allegation he may have before he going public with it.

For example, he could have accessed freely available information from the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, as to the total cost of the 2nd Niger Bridge and he would have established that the entire cost of the bridge was ₦108 billion. How is it then possible to pay a consultancy fee of ₦140 billion for a project of ₦108 billion as the comrade Governor alleged?

When the comrade Governor said that the Agricultural Transformation of the Jonathan administration was a hoax, did he know that the International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI, revealed in their annual Global Hunger Index that hunger in Nigeria reduced while Jonathan was President?

Oshiomhole

This fact was carried by no less a medium than Premium Times and most Nigerians would know that Premium Times would not publish anything good about the Jonathan administration if it was not true.

Governor Oshiomhole should note that four years is not such a long time. Every time spent in distracting President Buhari from the task of governance by attacking ex-President Jonathan is borrowed from time that should have been spent in helping the new administration succeed.

You do not try to please a man who may be kind to you by demonizing a man who has been kind to you. When you do that, you are sending two messages.

First, you are telling the man who has already been kind to you that he was foolish for being kind to you. Secondly you are communicating to the man who may be kind to you that he will be foolish if he goes on to extend kindness to you.

I pray that my Christian advise does not meet with the bombastic response that previous attempts at engaging the Comrade Governor have received. I mean no harm as I only want to draw the attention of Governor Oshiomhole to the fact that no condition is permanent on earth.

Reno Omokri is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center in California, author of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God and Why Jesus Wept and the host of Transformation with Reno Omokri (Thursday at 10pm on the Impact Network, Chanel 268 DISH and Monday at 12am on San Francisco’s KTLN, Chanel 25 on Comcast).

DSS arrests 21 Boko Haram suspects in Lagos, Enugu, others

By Chris Ochayi
ABUJA—The Department of State Services, DSS, said yesterday that it had arrested notable commanders and front line members of the notorious Islamic sect, Boko Haram, from different parts of the country, especially, those responsible for the coordination and execution of the suicide attacks in Potiskum, Kano, Zaria and Jos.

DSS, in a statement by Tony Opuiyo, said a number of the terrorists were also arrested in Lagos, Kano, Plateau, Enugu and Gombe states, following re-strategized counter-terrorism measures deployed to combat the menace of insurgency in Nigeria.

DSS noted that the group’s new pattern of movement and spread is necessitated by the pressure being put on them in their core areas of strength in the North-East.

The services gave the names of masterminds of suicide attacks in Potiskum, Kano, Zaria and Jos, currently in its custody to include, Usman Shuaibu, alias Money; Ahmed Mohammed, aliasAbubakar; Adamu Abdullahi, alias Babpa; Ibrahim Isa, alias Mohammed Sani, and Muttaqa Yusuf, alias Mudtaka.

Confessions

According to the statement, “during interrogation, Usman Shuaibu revealed that he coordinated the attacks under reference with N500,000, which was provided by his Amir, one Isa Ali.

It said: “He claimed that the said Isa Ali has links to the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, from where he collects funds for operations undertaken by their Markaz. Also, he revealed that he had participated in several Boko Haram attacks, including the attacks at Gwoza Divisional Police Station in 2014.

“Shuaibu admitted being the leader of the team of nine sect members that was dispatched from Sambisa Forest to carry out the attacks. He disclosed that four out of the nine members were used as suicide bombers.

“Another suspect, Ahmed Mohammed, who is an improvised explosives devices, IEDs, expert, confessed to the preparation of the IEDs used for the attacks. He also averred that he (Abubakar) was the one who strapped the suicide bombers, notably Sule and his wives, with IED vests, which they used in the attacks in Jos.

“Adamu Abdullahi has confessed that Usman Shuaibu motivated him to work closely with Mohammed in the preparation of the IEDs used in the attacks under reference.”

Ibrahim Isa, DSS said, confessed that he was the one who carried out reconnaissance on the targets in Jos ahead of the attacks.

Muttaqa Yusuf, in his confession, disclosed that one Aliyu, believed to be Aliyu Gombe, in Sambisa Forest, was the one that ordered the serial attacks which the syndicate carried out. He further confessed that he assisted Usman Shuaibu in planning and executing the said attacks.

Arrested in Lagos

Other terrorists suspects arrested by the service include Bakura Modu, arrested on July 20 at Kara, Isheri Berger, Ikeja LGA, Lagos State; Mustapha Alli Jamneri, arrested on July 24, at Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Alimosho LGA, Lagos State; and Abuyi Sherriff, arrested on August 7, at Ebute-Meta, Lagos Mainland LGA, Lagos State.

Others are Babagana Ali and Babagana Koloye, who were arrested on August 7, at Eric Moore, Bode Thomas Street, Surulere LGA, Lagos State; Abba Modu Sagma, arrested on August 9, at Ijora Badiya, Apapa LGA, Lagos State.

Grema Abubakar and Tijani Bagudu were arrested on August 10, at Amukoko, Ijora Badiya, Apapa LGA, Lagos State; and Baba Alhaji and Abass Ibrahim, arrested earlier on the same day, at Alaba International Market, Alaba, Ojo LGA, Lagos State.

Enugu, Kano

Also in the custody of DSS were Ibrahim Audu, who was arrested on August 19, at New Artisan Market, Enugu, Enugu State, and 30-year-old Ibrahim Haruna from Kanawa village, Sumaila LGA, Kano State, who was arrested on August 21, at Kwomi village, Kwami LGA, Gombe State.

Mal Ali Mohammodu, a 33-year-old suspect, was arrested on August 22, at Ibrahim Taiwo Road, Fagga LGA in Kano State, and Adam Wakil Abdul Jilbe, arrested on August 23, at Obanikoro Area, Mushin LGA, Lagos State. Mohammed Usman was arrested on August 25 at Atuashe Estate, Gbagada, Kosofe LGA, Lagos State.

DSS said: “Nigerians and indeed the general public have to note that the arrest of Usman Shuaibu, alias Money, and the core members of his cell, stemmed the spate of bombings by the extremist sect.

“Money and his group were arrested on their way to Bauchi State, to execute another bomb attack.

“Furthermore, the sudden influx of Boko Haram members into Lagos State points to the determination of the sect to extend its activities to  other parts of the country.”

why do we kiss

·         Presented by
Melissa Hogenboom

When you think about it, kissing is strange and a bit icky. You share saliva with someone, sometimes for a prolonged period of time. One kiss could pass on 80 million bacteria, not all of them good.

Yet everyone surely remembers their first kiss, in all its embarrassing or delightful detail, and kissing continues to play a big role in new romances.  

At least, it does in some societies. People in western societies may assume that romantic kissing is a universal human behaviour, but a new analysis suggests that less than half of all cultures actually do it. Kissing is also extremely rare in the animal kingdom.

So what's really behind this odd behaviour? If it is useful, why don't all animals do it – and all humans too? It turns out that the very fact that most animals don't kiss helps explain why some do.

According to a new study of kissing preferences, which looked at 168 cultures from around the world, only 46% of cultures kiss in the romantic sense.

The study overturns the belief that romantic kissing is a near-universal human behaviour

Previous estimates had put the figure at 90%. The new study excluded parents kissing their children, and focused solely on romantic lip-on-lip action between couples.

Many hunter-gatherer groups showed no evidence of kissing or desire to do so. Some even considered it revolting. The Mehinaku tribe in Brazil reportedly said it was "gross".

Humans lived in hunter-gatherer groups for most of our existence, until the invention of farming around 10,000 years ago. If modern hunter-gatherer groups do not practice romantic kissing, it is possible that our ancestors did not do so either

However we cannot be certain of this, as modern hunter-gatherer groups do not live in the same ways as the ancestral hunter-gatherers, because their societies have changed and adapted in the meantime.

Regardless, the study overturns the belief that romantic kissing is a near-universal human behaviour, says lead author William Jankowiak of the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Instead it seems to be a product of western societies, passed on from one generation to the next, he says.

There is some historical evidence to back that up.

Kissing as we do it today seems to be a fairly recent invention, says Rafael Wlodarski of the University of Oxford in the UK. He has trawled through records to find evidence of how kissing has changed.

Is kissing something we do naturally?

The oldest evidence of a kissing-type behaviour comes from Hindu Vedic Sanskrit texts from over 3,500 years ago. Kissing was described as inhaling each other's soul.

In contrast, Egyptian hieroglyphics picture people close to each other rather than pressing their lips together.

So what is going on? Is kissing something we do naturally, but that some cultures have suppressed? Or is it something modern humans have invented?

We can find some insight by looking at animals.

Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, do kiss. Primatologist Frans de Waal of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, has seen many instances of chimps kissing and hugging after conflict.

As far as we know, other animals do not kiss at all

For chimpanzees, kissing is a form of reconciliation. It is more common among males than females. In other words, it is not a romantic behaviour.

Their cousins the bonobos kiss more often, and they often use tongues while doing so. That's perhaps not surprising, because bonobos are highly sexual beings.

When two humans meet, we might shake hands. Bonobos have sex: the so-called bonobo handshake. They also use sex for many other kinds of bonding. So their kisses are not particularly romantic, either.

These two apes are exceptions. As far as we know, other animals do not kiss at all. They may nuzzle or touch their faces together, but even those that have lips don't share saliva or purse and smack their lips together. They don't need to.

Take wild boars. Males produce a pungent smell that females find extremely attractive. The key chemical is a pheromone called androstenone that triggers the females' desire to mate.

Animals often release these pheromones in their urine

From a female's point of view this is a good thing, because males with the most androstonene are also the most fertile. Her sense of smell is so acute, she doesn't need to get close enough to kiss the male. 

The same is true of many other mammals. For example, female hamsters emit a pheromone that gets males very excited. Mice follow similar chemical traces to help them find partners that are genetically different, minimising the risk of accidental incest.

Animals often release these pheromones in their urine. "Their urine is much more pungent," says Wlodarski. "If there's urine present in the environment they can assess compatibility through that."

It's not just mammals that have a great sense of smell. A male black widow spider can smell pheromones produced by a female that tell him if she has recently eaten. To minimise the risk of being eaten, he will only mate with her if she is not hungry.

The point is, animals do not need to get close to each other to smell out a good potential mate.

On the other hand, humans have an atrocious sense of smell, so we benefit from getting close. Smell isn't the only cue we use to assess each other's fitness, but studies have shown that it plays an important role in mate choice.

Men also make a version of the pheromone that female boars find attractive

A study published in 1995 showed that women, just like mice, prefer the smell of men who are genetically different from them. This makes sense, as mating with someone with different genes is likely to produce healthy offspring. Kissing is a great way to get close enough to sniff out your partner's genes.

In 2013, Wlodarski examined kissing preferences in detail. He asked several hundred people what was most important when kissing someone. How they smelled featured highly, and the importance of smell increased when women were most fertile.

It turns out that men also make a version of the pheromone that female boars find attractive. It is present in male sweat, andwhen women are exposed to it their arousal levels increase slightly.

Pheromones are a big part of how mammals chose a mate, says Wlodarski, and we share some of them. "We've inherited all of our biology from mammals, we've just added extra things through evolutionary time."

You could forego kissing and start smelling people instead

On that view, kissing is just a culturally acceptable way to get close enough to another person to detect their pheromones.

In some cultures, this sniffing behaviour turned into physical lip contact. It's hard to pinpoint when this happened, but both serve the same purpose, says Wlodarski.

So if you want to find a perfect match, you could forego kissing and start smelling people instead. You'll find just as good a partner, and you won't get half as many germs. Be prepared for some funny looks, though.