Photos: JJ Okocha and wife dance and merry at her birthday party

Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha’s wife Nkechi turned a year older two days ago and he threw her a small get together at their home. The couple, who have been married for 17 years, looked very much in love as they danced and laughed together. See more photos after the cut

Nigerian Man Jumps White House Fence

23-year-old Nigerian man, Dominic Adesanya has been arrested after jumping the fence of the White House

Another security breach has occurred at the White House as a 23-year-old man jumped the fence of the presidential residence on Wednesday, October 22.

Dominic Adesanya is said to have entered the premises and stood on the North Lawn before being attacked by Secret Service dogs.

Adesanya was unarmed at the time of the incident but the White House was put under a 90-minute lockdown as a precaution.

Edwin Donovan, the spokesman for the Secret Service confirmed the incident to Reuters saying: 'Dogs got him.'

West African Travelers Limited To 5 Airports In The US

According to Sahara Reporters, the US Department of Homeland Security has announced that arrivals from West African countries experiencing the Ebola outbreak will have to use one of five airports specially-equipped to screen for the Ebola disease.

Only travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea will be affected by the new measures that the US government has put in place to help prevent travelers from bringing the Ebola virus into the US.

Gbenga Obadara Embarasses Journalists At KEDCO Meeting, Says They 'Stole' My Phone

Journalists who attended an event at the headquarters of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company [KEDCO] in Kano today felt deeply embarrassed when the visiting Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Gbenga Obadara, raised a false alarm that his telephone set was missing and that reporters might have stolen it,Premium Times reports.

Once Mr. Obadara made the claim, officials of KEDCO quickly locked up the venue of the event and ordered that all journalists at the event should be thoroughly searched.

Man Who Abandoned Children In School For Eight Years Speaks At Last

Mr Segun Adepegba, the father of the three children abandoned in a boarding school for eight years in Abule-Iroko in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, Mr Segun Adepegba, on Wednesday, reached out toPunch Metro.

Adepegba said hardship pushed him to the wall and that was why he could not take care of his children. He, however, promised to visit them before the end of the week.

The father of three, in a telephone interview with Punch Metro, recounted his ordeal, saying, “life has been very tough for me.” He said he left the children because he was jobless and had no house to accommodate them.

Bill to end degree, HND dichotomy passes second reading

The Bill for an Act to Abolish and Prohibit Dichotomy and Discrimination between First Degrees and Higher National Diploma in the same Profession/Field and related matters on Wednesday scaled second reading in the Senate.
The bill, which scaled second reading after heated debate at plenary on its relevance, seeks to resolve controversy over wage disparity and gross discrimination against HND holder in public and private sectors of the economy.
The Senate President, Sen. David Mark in his remarks, said it would be difficult to legislate on the bill, given that polytechnics were not originally established to be degree awarding institutions.
He said rather than canvass for abolishion of the dichotomy, polytechnics should be changed to degree awarding institutions.

Ini Edo’s Bakery Business Crumbles After Failed Marriage

Nollywood actress, Ini Edo, might have been faced with matrimonial crisis, but that has not stopped her acting skill, which gave her fame and fortune. Shortly after her marriage to Philip Ehiagwina crashed, it was reported that she acquired an expensive ride, which has not been confirmed yet.

When the going was rosy, the actress went on social media to announce her venture into the bakery business with the introduction of ‘Ini Delicious’, which took over the Ojota metropolis with many asking for it.

But latest report by E247 magazine has shown that the business is as good as dead. It was reported that the store has been locked and this may be connected with the recent crash in Ini Edo’s marriage. It was said that several court notices were pasted on the entrance of the store.

Liverpool To Discipline Mario Balotelli After Anfield Loss

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed his unhappiness with Mario Balotelli's behaviour and would discipline the player for swapping jerseys with Pepe at half time

  Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers said that the would deal with Mario Balotelli for swapping shirt with Pepe at half time in the loss to Real Madrid in Anfield on Wednesday night
(Guardian)

Mario Balotelli’s unimpressive display at Anfield on the night Liverpool lost 0-3 to Real Madrid has raised questions regarding the player’s rating and place in the team

The coach, Brendan Rodgers is growing increasingly frustrated by the form and behaviour of the 24 year-old Italian striker; he is also planning of reprimanding him for swapping jerseys with Real Madrid defender, Pepe at half time

Rodgers confirmed his displeasure and unhappiness with the player’s decision and at a time Real Madrid had finished scoring the three goals in the first 45 minutes; Balotelli could be disciplined as Mamadou Sakho was when he did the same with Samuel Eto’o in a game between Liverpool and Chelsea last December

“We will deal with it,” Rodgers said. “We had an incident with a player last year and we did it internally. It is not something I stand for. If you want to do that, you do it at the end of the game. It is something I will deal with”

Rodgers also conceded that Balotelli has not been working very hard enough, and so he was substituted at half time

Massimiliano Allegri expects Juventus to stay in UEFA Champions League

Massimiliano Allegri is still backing Juventus to qualify from UEFA Champions League Group A despite their defeat against Olympiacos.

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The Serie A champions suffered a second successive 1-0 loss in Europe's premier club competition courtesy of Pajtim Kasami's first-half strike at the Karaiskakis Stadium on Wednesday.
Olympiacos were indebted to goalkeeper Roberto, who produced an outstanding second-half display to thwart the Turin giants.
Juve are now third in Group A behind Atletico Madrid and Olympiacos, but coach Allegri expects his side to progress.
"I'm full of optimism and I'm convinced we'll manage to go through." he said.
The former Milan coach, however, knows Juve must raise their game in order to turn around their fortunes in Europe.
"We didn't play well in the opening period. We were stretched and unable to get at them high up the pitch. Technically we were poor." said Allegri.
"We fell behind but then after the break we pushed up more. We need to improve in certain areas, against teams like this who chase and harry a lot. Even if you're not on your game, you can't let them have three or four breaks like we did.
"They pressed us a lot and the whole team generally found it hard. We needed to show more movement when we were in possession but we didn't do that."
Andrea Pirlo was substituted early in the second half, but Allegri backed the playmaker to come good.
Allegri said: "Unlike some other players, I think Andrea needs to be playing to find his best form. I thought he would be key to slowing down the tempo of our opponents.
"In any case he'll soon be bang on form again. He has a starring role to play for us in Serie A and our Champions League campaign."

APC Governors back Consensus Candidacy for Presidency

The Progressives Governors’ Forum has declared its support for consensus in choosing presidential and other candidates for the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2015 general election.

The PGF Chairman, Rochas Okorocha, who announced this to journalists after the forum’s meeting in Ilorin, Kwara State on Wednesday, added that neither the forum nor the party had adopted any candidate for the 2015 presidential election.

He said the forum which comprises APC governors was in support of consensus so long as there would be no imposition of anyone on members of the party.

The governor said, “On consensus, our forum is in full support of consensus as one of the ways to produce our presidential candidate or any candidate in the party for as long as it is done with regard to respect for internal democracy. There will be no imposition of candidates in our party. 

“Our party has not adopted any candidate neither has the forum but we shall encourage consensus and dialogue within the leadership of the party and aspirants to see how we can come up with a candidate but where that is not possible, like true progressives, we shall have a free and fair primary.”

Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, who also attended the meeting, is the only progressive governor that had openly kicked against a consensus arrangement. He however made a U-turn recently.

It is widely believed that the APC leadership and many of the governors are rooting for a former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, as the party’s consensus candidate for 2015.

According to Punch, during Buhari's declaration last week, many of them attended unlike when another aspirant and a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, joined the race.

When contacted, the Atiku Campaign Organisation said there was nothing alien about the PGF decision on consensus candidacy.

The organisation however argued that “the best form of consensus is the decision of voters in a free and open contest.”

Explosion at Nigerian Bus Station Leaves 5 Dead

An explosion Wednesday near a bus station left five people dead and 12 more injured in northern Nigeria, police confirmed Thursday morning.

Aftermath of Nigeria bus bombing

Reuters

A large explosion near a bus station in northern Nigeria left five people dead and 12 others injured, police said Thursday morning.
The blast occurred Wednesday night in Azare town in Bauchi state, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) north of the capital, Abuja, police spokesman Mohammed Haruna wrote in an e-mailed statement.
A man left a bag filled with explosives outside a bus station in the town, which went off, witnesses stated.
Residents reported hearing loud explosions at around 9:45 p.m. local time, and said that the scene was chaotic with dead bodies being loaded onto trucks.

Constitution Amendment: Senate approves LG autonomy, independent candidacy …retains immunity for President, Governors, others

Federal lawmakers have approved autonomy for local governments and endorsed independent candidacy in elections.
The Senate at its proceedings on Tuesday approved several provisions adopted by the conference committee made up of lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives on the amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
However, the conference committee rejected the removal of the immunity clause for the President, Vice President, Governors and their Deputies in the proposed new constitution.
Another amendment that was approved by the conference committee and endorsed by the Senate was provision for immunity of legislators in respect of verbal or written statements in the course of their legislative duties.

You are too old to rule Nigeria” – Sheik Gumi tells Buhari to step down for younger leaders

Buhari

Controversial Islamic cleric and activist, Sheik Ahmed Gumi, has advised a former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, to drop his presidential ambition.
Gumi opined that the retired general should allow a younger person to run for the position.
The cleric in an open letter to Buhari via his Facebook page on Tuesday said Nigerian has moved beyond Buhari’s age, adding that his tenure would cause more harm than good.
The message reads thus:
Assalamu Alaikum
The Humble People’s General.
I know I have access to you privately but this is meant for others to learn also.
The Prophet -peace be upon him- told one of the most honest and truthful of his companions, Abu Zar Algafary: “Oh Abu Zar, I truly love for you what I love for myself. I indeed see that you are weak so never accept to lead even two people and never accept safekeeping of the orphans wealth.”
An honest and candid advice from the prophet that is still valid today for any leader whose weakness borders on leadership qualities.

AFCON 2015 qualifiers: Amodu invites IK Uche, 65 others for Congo and South Africa

Interim manager of the Super Eagles, Shuaibu Amodu, has drawn up a 66-man list of players, that will face South Africa and Congo in Nigeria’s remaining two matches in the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
A notable inclusion is in-form Villarreal of Spain striker Ikechukwu Uche, who was snubbed by Stephen Keshi since the 2013 AFCON tournament which Nigeria won.
Amodu also included some home-based players in the squad, as he tries to secure qualification for next year’s competition.
The Edo State born coach also revealed that he almost turned down the chance to return to the Eagles’ fold. According to him, he did not want Keshi to be sacked. He has however demanded that the technical department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), give him all that is necessary for him to carry out his task.