Edeson Online News: 10/01/12

Monday 1 October 2012

Bayelsa State Govt Plans To Immortalize Late General Sani Abacha::

To mark the 16th anniversary of the creation of Bayelsa State, the state government has announced its decision to immortalise late General Sani Abacha.

It has concluded plans to lay the foundation stone for a 150 duplex housing estate which would be named after late General Abacha whose government created Bayelsa State as Head of State on the 1st of October, 1996. Governor Seriake Dickson announced the decision today in his broadcast to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the creation of the State and the 52nd independence of the country. According to Governor Dickson, government in partnership with the Ijaw National Congress (INC), has christened the main

A 29-year old, Plateau state-born teacher, Lohnan Joseph, has been arrested while trying to board a Saudi Arabia bound flight at Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto on Sunday.

Joseph, a Christian and a former teacher at Global Kids Academy, Sokoto, was said to have joined the screening line of Zamfara State intending pilgrims, who were about to board the flight in the early hours of yesterday. Speaking to newsmen, Alhaji Mukhtari Lugga, the Zamfara Commissioner for Environment and one of the state’s Hajj officials, who was among the people who spotted and consequently intercepted the suspect, said that “Joseph just came from nowhere and joined their line during the screening.”

One of the most populous countries of African continent, Nigeria is the fastest growing economies of the world. Like other countries, the independence day of Nigeria is celebrated with great zeal and festive fervor. It falls on 1st October every year and is also observed with unmatched nationalistic ardor throughout the country. The significance of Independence Day in Nigeria lies in the fact that it binds all the Nigerians into one chord not only within the country but also in the far off lands of America

Sir A.Tafawa Balewa: Prime Minister 1960-1966, He was the first prime minister of an independent Nigeria. Born a commoner in the north of colonial Nigeria, he trained as a teacher. Balewa entered the government 1952 as Minister of Works, and later served as Minister of Transport. In 1957, he was elected Chief Minister, forming a coalition government between the NPC and the National council for Nigeria and the Cameroons, led by Nnamdi Azikiwe.He was overthrown and killed in a military coup on January 15, 1966, as were many other leaders, including his old companion Ahmadu Bello. His body was discovered by a roadside near Lagos six days after he was ousted from office Balewa was buried in Bauchi.The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in his honour.

Ghana on Sunday joined Nigeria to qualify for the quarter finals of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan. Ghana defeated China 2-0 and moved on to the knock-out stage of the competition, just as Nigeria defeated Colombia 3-0 to qualify for the quarter finals. The West African country’s victory came through a brace from Jane Ayieyam’s double strikes, propelling Ghana to a duel against Japan on Friday. Oct. 5. Ayieyam had also in Ghana’s opening two Group D games, saved her best for the last when finding the net twice in the final section encounter against China.

Actress Anne Hathaway married fiancé Adam Shulman at a wedding on the scenic coast of Big Sur, California, celebrity media reports said on Sunday. Hathaway, 29, known for roles in "The Devil Wears Prada," "The Princess Diaries" and "The Dark Knight Rises," married jewelry designer Shulman at a private estate on the rugged Pacific Ocean coastline south of San Francisco, according to reports in People and Us magazines which included pictures of Hathaway in a white gown with veil and train.

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‘Today in History’:

Today is October 1, 2012 and Nigeria is marking her 52nd Independence Anniversary. However, The federal government has announced that today October 1 to be declared as public holiday to mark Nigeria’s 52nd independence anniversary. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as urging all Nigerians to continue to fervently pray for enduring peace and progress in the country, urging all and sundry to resolve to build a more united and virile nation that would be the pride of all Nigerians wherever they lived.

A bomb blast and gunfire shook an area around an Islamic boarding school in northern Nigeria on Sunday, leaving two of the alleged attackers dead and at least three others wounded, officials said. It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast in the city of Zaria, but Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has been blamed for hundreds of deaths as part of its insurgency in northern and central Nigeria. The boarding school is run by prominent Salafist cleric Awwal Adam Albani, known for outspoken criticism of Boko Haram. He was also arrested last year over a bombing and arms possession, but later released for lack of evidence.

DELTA State Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Hope Eghagha, has been kidnapped. His security aide was killed in the process, while his driver, who was hit by bullet, is receiving medical attention at an undisclosed hospital. Reporters gathered that the commissioner was abducted at Abavo, Sunday, on his way from Warri for the 52nd independence anniversary thanksgiving in Asaba, the state capital. A reliable source told Edeson Online News that the official Prado jeep of Prof Eghagha, riddled with bullets of the suspected kidnappers, was abandoned alongside his mobile phones.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, said the suspected kidnappers were yet to establish contact with Eghagha’s family.

Gist making the rounds says a black American woman named Valerie Spruill from discovered that her late husband and father of her three children was actually her own real father. She went to live with her grandparents when she was three months old. During her childhood she was always told that her grandparents were her mother and father, and that her actual mother was a "family friend". The truth however was that her biological mother, Christine, was a prostitute and her biological father Percy Spruill was a casinova. Percy met Christine when he was 15 years old. Because of her biological mother's "profession" and her father's irresponsible character, her grandparents raised her as their own child. It was not until Valerie was nine years old that she learned her father was actually her grandfather

Singer George Michael has cancelled the Australian leg of his tour due to "major anxiety" following his battle with pneumonia at the end of last year. In a statement on his website, Michael said the cancellation of nine concerts "breaks my heart". He confirmed he would still fulfil his UK dates in October but would then undergo treatment for his condition. Michael suffered from life-threatening pneumonia and spent a month in a Vienna hospital last winter.The ex-Wham singer added in his statement: " I have tried in vain to work my way through the trauma that the doctors

Actress Lindsay Lohan was attacked by a man in a New York hotel on Sunday, her spokesman said, in what media reports described as a scuffle over her demands that photos of her be deleted from his cellphone. Lohan suffered minor injuries following the Sunday morning attack, spokesman Steve Honig said in a statement. Her assailant was arrested, Honig said. A spokeswoman for the New York City Police Department did not immediately comment. Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing sources close to the actress, identified the attacker as a man Lohan met at a New York nightclub.The two began arguing in Lohan's hotel room after she noticed he was taking pictures of her with his cellphone, TMZ and E! News reported.

Alhaji Mohammed Bello, the Chairman, National Hajj Commission (NAHCOM), says that the commission is now ready to resume the transportation of prospective pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, which it earlier suspended for two days. Bello said this at a news conference held in Abuja on Saturday to clarify issues surrounding the repatriation of some female pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and the suspension of the transportation of intending pilgrims. He said that NAHCOM decided to resume pilgrims’ transportation after its meeting on