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Our ears are still ringing from the concussive noises and boycott threats after a second consecutive year of all-white Academy Awards nominees were announced only days ago. Now comes the disclosure that Joseph Fiennes, a white actor best known for playing the title role in the 1998 Oscar winner "Shakespeare in Love," has been cast to play another artistic icon: Michael Jackson. No, this website didn't just morph into The Onion before your eyes. These are the facts: The British-based Sky Arts cable channel is scheduled to broadcast a road movie speculating on what might have happened if, as urban legend has it, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando and Michael Jackson, who were all in New York when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred, drove together back to Los Angeles. Stockard Channing has been cast as Taylor, Brian Cox will play Brando and Joseph Fiennes will play the late, much lamented King of Pop. News of what's now titled "Elizabeth, Michael & M

Having gone through the dictionary to check the word "ineffectual buffoon", I cant help but to weep for my country. A worthless fool? Read:  More than 30 years ago, a young general swept to power in the fifth of Nigeria’s military coups since independence in 1960. The country he inherited was a mess: bled dry by pilfering politicians within and hammered by falling oil prices without. Last year that general, Muhammadu Buhari, became president again—this time in a democratic vote. The problems he has inherited are almost identical. So are many of his responses. In the eight months since Mr Buhari arrived at Aso Rock, the presidential digs, the homicidal jihadists of Boko Haram have been pushed back into the bush along Nigeria’s borders. The government has cracked down on corruption, which had flourished under the previous president, Goodluck Jonathan, an ineffectual buffoon who let politicians and their cronies fill their pockets with impunity. Lai Mohammed, a

A full panel of Nigeria’s Supreme Court of Nigeria today in Abuja sacked the entire contingent of senators and members of the House of Representatives from Anambra State. The decision swept away a host of lawmakers from Anambra State who were illegally foisted on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) by former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience Jonathan. The court’s ruling ended the senatorial tenure of former Aviation Minister and first term senator, Stella Oduah, and aborted the legislative career of former presidential aide, Andy Uba. Also affected are members of the House of Representatives elected on the ticket of the PDP. Chris Uba, younger brother to Mr. Andy Uba, and Prince Emeka are expected to take over seats vacated by Mr. Andy Uba and Stella Oduah respectively. Former Senator Annie Okonkwo is in line to represent the PDP in a forthcoming election to fill a senatorial seat held by Uche Ekwunife who was sacked last December by the Court of Appeal. Toda

President John Dramani Mahama has said the latest Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) gives a clear indication that the nation is on the right path in the fight against corruption. “From 2012 until 2015, Ghana climbed up no less than eight places in the world hierarchy which, no matter what others might say, is an unparalleled achievement,” he wrote on his Facebook wall yesterday. “Without a doubt, Ghana’s results clearly show that we’re on the right path,” the President said. The CPI ranking In the latest edition, Ghana was ranked 56th out of 168 countries, with a score of 47, which makes it the seventh best African country on the index. The score is below six Africa countries, namely, Botswana, 63; Cape Verde, 55; Seychelles, 55; Rwanda, 54, and Mauritius and Namibia, which scored 53 each. A statement from the local chapter of TI, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), last Wednesday announcing the score said, “The CPI 2015 scored Ghana

The agenda of Thursday's Fox News-hosted Republican debate, like the agenda of the Republican party itself, was pretty plainly to undermine Donald Trump. He is a threat to the party and is at war even with Fox News, so it was unsurprising that the first round of questions was explicitly designed to prompt each and every candidate to condemn the field's front-runner. The very first question, which went to Ted Cruz, sent the clear message, like many that followed it, that the candidates and moderators all oppose Trump: "Donald Trump has chosen not to attend this evening's presidential debate. What message do you think that sends to the voters of Iowa?" But once the Trump-bashing ritual had ended, and Fox News had done its duty in the GOP's campaign to bring down Trump before Trump brings down the party, something curious happened. The discussion shifted to terrorism. And every candidate on stage — as well as the moderators themselves — announced that Am

ABIA: In a bid to create jobs, eradicate poverty and increase the internally generated revenue of Abia,the state government said it has concluded plans to establish poultry villages in the three senatorial zones to encourage youths and others who have interest in poultry farming, but with little or no funds, to realise their dreams.Obinna Oriaku, Abia State commissioner for finance who made the observation on Monday, said the poultry villages would have feed mills, veterinary sections, cold rooms and marketing sections, noting that farmers would be allowed to rent facilities at the farm village at subsidised rates. The commissioner also said government would partner investors in the project to empower young farmers with funds. He expressed happiness over the successes so far recorded by the present administration in the state, especially on the ongoing road construction and rehabilitation in Aba and other parts of the state, and promised that the Governor Okezie Ikpeazu-led a

Former General Officer Commanding for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) Government Ekpumupolo, alias Tompolo, made a volte face, Thursday, saying that he would appear before the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, which issued a bench warrant for his arrest, January 14, but “at the appropriate time.” The bench warrant followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which had filed different charges against Tompolo, including diversion of N34 billion belonging to the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to personal use and laundering of N22.6 billion. Tompolo, who spoke through his Media Adviser and Consultant, Mr. Paul Bebenimibo, also said he would never commence war against the Federal Government, having accepted amnesty in 2009, reiterating that he was not party to the recent three-day bombing of crude oil and gas pipelines in Delta state. “Tompolo has no reason to bomb pipelines because of the EFCC case… h

The new tariffs approved for electricity consumers across the country will become effective on Monday and will enable the power distribution, generation and transmission companies to acquire needed infrastructure, the acting Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Anthony Akah, has said. Akah, who said this when he led top executives of the regulatory agency on a courtesy call on the National Orientation Agency in Abuja on Thursday, also said there was no going back on the new tariffs. The NERC boss said the lack of cost-reflective tariffs had hindered the electricity companies from acquiring the necessary infrastructure, adding that with the new tariffs, they would not have any excuse for not delivering on agreements they entered into with the government. He said the Nigerian power sector reform must provide an appropriate pricing template, which had been lacking, leading to deficiency in revenues from power. This, he added, necessitated the new Mu

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, decrying the high cost of running the National Assembly. He accused the lawmakers of devising disingenuous methods of making all manners of illegal allowances and other allocations to themselves, different from the statutory provisions by the Constitution and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, which is charged with the responsibility of fixing emoluments of the three arms of government. In particular, Obasanjo criticised the purchase of official cars for the legislators, when such items had already been factored into the official allowances for the lawmakers by RMAFC. Regarding also the purchase of official cars for committees, the former president suggested that maintaining a few cars for each Chamber would suffice for any committee chairman or members for any specific duty, maintaining that the waste

A Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has berated the immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, describing her service to Nigeria as one based on lies, deceit and disregard for due process. The senior advocate said this in a three-page statement on Wednesday while reacting to Okonjo-Iweala’s diatribe against him. Okonjo-Iweala had on Monday described Falana as an ‘integrity-challenged charlatan’ who was being sponsored by corrupt elements. The former minister had also slammed Falana for attempting to implicate her in the $2.1bn arms scam and drag her before the International Criminal Court. However, Falana said it was hypocritical of Okonjo-Iweala to attempt to extricate herself from the corruption that characterised the last administration. He said her service record was that of scandals and scams. He noted that the N2.5tn fuel subsidy scam, the $2bn arms scam, the mismanaged $1bn Gen. Sani Abacha loot and many other episodes of fin

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday introduced two bills to the National Assembly to strengthen the war against money laundering. The bills were titled, “The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2016” and “The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2016.” The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, read the letter containing the bills at plenary on Wednesday while at the House of Representatives, the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, read Buhari’s letter conveying the bills to members. Buhari in the letter stated that the first bill sought to repeal the existing Money Laundering Act, which was enacted in 2011 to provide for stiffer penalty for money launderers to discourage the illegal act. On the second bill, the President explained that its aim was to make provisions that would enable Nigeria to seek international assistance in recovering looted funds. Part of the letter read, “This bill seeks to facilitate the provision and obtaining by Nigeria o

KOGI: Business man and politician, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has been inaugurated as the Governor of Kogi State. The inauguration ceremony, which was held at the 25,000 capacity Confluence Stadium, attracted thousands of residents including the the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and other APC chieftains. The deputy governorship candidate of the party in the governorship election, Mr. James Faleke, was however absent at the inauguration. Faleke had condemned the choice of Bello as replacement for the late Prince Abubakar Audu, insisting that the party was supposed to have made him the governorship candidate following Audu’s death. A correspondent of the   News Agency of Nigeria   at the venue reports that gorgeously dressed women and men started arriving at the stadium as early as 8am to witness the historic event. Tight security in and around the venue is being provided by a combined team of policemen, operatives of the Depar

The Zika virus, an alarming and disturbing infection that may be linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains, is spreading through the Americas. Some areas have declared a state of emergency, doctors have described it as "a pandemic in progress" and some are even advising women in affected countries to delay getting pregnant. But what is the virus, how is it spread and how can people minimise the chances of catching it? Tulip Mazumda explains. The infection, which causes symptoms including mild fever, conjunctivitis and headache, has already been found in 21 countries in the Caribbean, North and South America. It has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains and some countries have advised women not to get pregnant. No treatment or vaccine is available. The virus was first detected in 1947 in monkeys in Africa. There have since been small, short-lived outbreaks in people on the continent, parts of Asia a

SECURITY   operatives hunting for the militants who bombed oil pipelines in Delta State have invaded the riverine Bolowoh community in Ondo State, in search of a former commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Bibopre Ajube, aka Shoot-At-Sight. It was   learned that the security agents were hunting for the former militant leader, a partner of former General Officer Commanding, GOC, of MEND, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo. Meanwhile, former Commander of MEND, Victor Ebikabowei Ben, alias ‘General’ Boyloaf, has dismissed the recent statement by the JTF, in the Niger Delta that it would hold community leaders responsible for attacks by militants on oil facilities in their areas. Boyloaf, in an interview with   Vanguard , said, “Truth is, the JTF cannot hold any community leader responsible for any attack that has taken place in the past or in the future, and they know it,  because the community leaders are not empowered to secure or watc