US Maintains Stand on Alamieyeseigha’s Pardon

Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Dipreye Alamieyeseigha

The United States of America Wednesday said its position on the pardon granted the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Dipreye Alamieyeseigha by President Goodluck Jonathan, had not changed. The Political Counsellor of the US Embassy in Nigeria, Gregory Lawless, told journalists at a teleconference on US-Nigeria Bi-National Commission in Abuja, that “The situation has not changed.”

He said his country had not departed from its earlier statement where it condemned the action. He, however, added that whatever the disappointment was, the US had since moved on with its relationship with Nigeria.

Two Nigerians Named Yale World Fellows

President of Yale University, Richard C. Levin

Two Nigerians, Tokunboh Ishmael and Lai Yahaya, were yesterday named as Yale World Fellows. “While Ishmael is an impact investment pioneer, Yahaya is an oil sector transparency advocate,” the President of Yale University, Richard C. Levin, said as he announced them as the 2013 Yale World Fellows.

Ishmael is an investment professional with over 20 years’ experience spanning investment banking, private equity investing, technology and new business development. She is co-founder and Managing Director of Alitheia Capital, a fund management and investment firm based in Nigeria that channels private equity investments into businesses and broadens access to finance, energy and housing for 

SMEs and low-income households.

Ishmael's previous roles include Country Partner for Aureos West Africa, and Mergers and Acquisition banker at Salomon Smith Barney. Ishmael is passionate about transforming lives through meaningful investments that drive job and wealth creation.

Yahaya, a policy entrepreneur, is currently Team Leader of the Facility for Oil Sector Transparency and Reform (FOSTER), a donor-funded programme that supports government and civil society in a bid to push for greater transparency, accountability and reform in the Nigerian oil sector.  Previously, he was a technical adviser on the Nigerian Presidential Taskforce on Power and worked on the Roadmap for Power Sector Reform. He is an ardent activist for probity, efficiency and best practice in government and the private sector.

Three Arrested for Murder of 12 Policemen in Bayelsa

Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar

Following the killing of 12 policemen by aggrieved militants in the creeks and waterways of Bayelsa State, the police in conjunction with operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Wednesday arrested three members of the group who allegedly carried out the killing.

The policemen, who were among a 50-man contingent deployed in Azuzama to provide security at the   burial of the mother of a repentant Niger Delta warlord, Kile Selky Torughedi, alias General Young Shall Grow, were killed in an ambush in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

The bodies of 10 of the slain policemen were recovered Tuesday and deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa.

Psquare's Paul Okoye and long-time girlfriend welcome son

The new father with his son, Andre

With his twin brother's girlfriend and constant

 baby mama; lola omotayo, popping out two 

kids already, Probably not ready to be seen 

as slacking in the baby-making department, 

P-Square's Paul Okoye and his longtime girlfriend 

Anita welcomed a son, Andre Okoye, today in 

Atlanta, USA. 

Boko Haram: Nigerians Will Know Outcome Soon, Says Maku

Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku

The federal government is still working on the proposal to grant amnesty to Islamist insurgents under the aegis of the Jama’atul Ahlus Sunnah Lidda’awati wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, and will provide information to citizens in timely fashion as events unfold.

The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku stated this Wednesday in response to a question while he was briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

FG Approves N2.1 b for Permanent Voters Cards

Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku

Ahead of the 2015 elections the federal government has approved the sum N2,117,500,000 for the printing of permanent voters' cards, which contract has been awarded to ACT Technologies Limited and is scheduled to be completed in six months.

This was one of the outcomes of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting Wednesday, at the close of which the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku told State House correspondents that the approved sum will cover the production of 33.5m voters’ cards that will be utilised as national identity cards for future elections.

ROTIMI AMAECHI: Imperatives of Popular Mandate

Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi

Whatever may have happened to our institutions in recent years, the Nigerian media remains one of the avenues of hope in a troubled land. Our media may not be totally insulated from the moral and ideological crisis that wracks our society. But it has a history and heritage of being compulsively adversarial to negative authority. That is its redeeming feature. More importantly, our media culture has an inbuilt self -cleansing mechanism. All media that have been established to champion specific individual, partisan or divisive causes have died a natural death. So, I believe that our media is inherently nationalistic.

While thanking the Vanguard Media group for the generosity of this award as "The Person of the Year", I want to ask their permission to pass on this plaque to the people of Rivers State to whom it rightfully belongs. As an individual, I could not possibly have made the contributions that have been catalogued in the citation for the award. Our actions are only a response to the yearnings of our people.  I am an errand boy on a mission designed by my people and the burdens they have borne for decades.  My team and I are their servants and their mandate remains for us a sacred trust.

Five Feared Dead as Police Raid Illegal Train Commuters

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

No fewer than five persons including a pregnant woman, were yesterday feared dead as policemen allegedly attached to the Lagos State Police Railway Command, raided an Ikeja-bound train for illegal commuters.

Whilst the raid lasted, the PWD end of Agege Motor Road was in chaos leading to a terrible traffic snarl that lasted for hours. It was gathered that over 20 persons were later arrested by a combined team of policemen from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and the railway police command, and recovered the suspect's weapons and ammunition.

Police Come Under Heavy Criticism as Leadership Journalists are Released

NUJ President, Mr. Muhammad Garba

Notwithstanding their release Tuesday night, the police came under fire for detaining four journalists from the Leadership Newspapers. All the four journalists, detained at the Force Headquarters in connection with a story on a purported “presidential directive” on dealing with the opposition, were released after spending two days in custody.

Two of them however were given conditional release, as they would still have to report to the police on a daily basis, a situation which the newspaper management, in a statement Tuesday, described as unacceptable.

Bodies of 10 Slain Policemen Recovered in Bayelsa

IGP, Mohammed Abubakar

Five days after they were slain by gunmen in the creeks of Bayelsa State, the bodies of 10 of the 12 slain policemen have been recovered. The bodies, which were in various stages of decomposition, were recovered Tuesday by a combined team of soldiers and policemen along the creeks and waterways of the Azuzama community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

The policemen, who were among a 50-member contingent deployed in Azuzama to provide security for high profile visitors going for the burial of the mother of an ex-militant, Kile Selky Torughedi, alias General Young Shall Grow, were killed in an ambush on Bayelsa waterways. Twelve policemen were said to have been killed in the attack.