Incredible! Another World Champ from Nigeria... Femi Kuti breaks world saxophone record

Photo: thenet.ng

Femi Kuti has broken the World record for the longest single note held on a saxophone at the New Africa Shrine.

He reached the feat at the New Africa Shrine on Sunday as revealed by his sister, Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti on her Instagram page @yenikuti;

“This evening 7th May at the New Africa Shrine, Femi Kuti broke the world record for the longest single note on a saxophone note set in 1997 by Kenny G.

Really! This is amazing! Again, we have a world champ.

Sen. Ben Murray-Bruce, the deputy high commissioners of Netherlands and The United Kingdom, was among the large audience who witnessed the event.

Kenny G was the first saxophonist to set the pace, when he held an E-Flat for over 45 minutes, precisely 45mins 37 seconds in December 1997. However, Femi Kuti broke this record by holding a key for 46 minutes 38seconds.

Kenny G was reported to have used a technique called Circular Breathing, which keeps a steady stream of air flowing through the saxophone even as the player breathes.

It is yet uncertain what technique Femi used or even, the member of the sax family he used to achieve the massive feat.

It was reported that Femi started playing the sax when he was 15 and joined his father’s band “The Egypt 80.”

He later formed his own band, named “Positive Force’’ in the late 80s.

Femi, a four-time Grammy award nominee, is skilled on other musical instruments including the trumpet and the piano.

Femi awaits an official recognition by the Guinness World Record, according to media reports.

Musiliu Obanikoro, the former minister of state for Defence has left PDP to join APC

Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who was the former  minister of state for Defence, has decided to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which he joined while in the Senate over a decade ago.

Photo: punchng

According to The Nation, Obanikoro who ran in 2011 as governorship candidate of the PDP in Lagos State will soon pitch his political tent with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Nation quoting reliable sources said  Koro, as he is fondly called, has been making overtures to leaders of the ruling party as part of efforts towards his joining the APC.

The Newspaper said baring last minute changes, the former governorship candidate of the PDP will join APC in a matter of days.

According to sources within the ruling party in Lagos State, leaders of the APC will be discussing the defection plan of Obanikoro this week.

The decision to look into his request to join the party followed what some sources described as a positive nod from the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

However, it was gathered that Tinubu was initially reluctant to Obanikoro’s return to his political camp which he deserted over a decade ago to join the then ruling PDP. But the national leader soft pedalled on his stance after the former Minister reached out to some prominent Lagosians to intercede on his behalf before Tinubu.

The Nation gathered that Tinubu eventually agreed to meet with his erstwhile godson after much pleading. “It was after the two met that Obanikoro started getting good response from APC leaders in his quest to join the party. Many prominent Lagosians, including monarchs and business moguls, intervened on his behalf.

“And when he met Asiwaju, he apologized profusely for his past misdeeds and political miscalculations. You know Asiwaju has a large heart. It appears he forgave him and gave a positive nod to his quest to join the APC. Following that, Obanikoro met and discussed with several other party leaders.

“It is likely that the party leadership will formally discuss his request to join the APC this week. It is most likely that he will be considered positively. On his part, the former Minister is not leaving anybody in doubt that he is ready to join the ruling party. There are even talks that he nurses a return to the senate on the platform of the APC come 2019,” our source added.

Source: NAN

Buhari not oldest president in Africa, he can rule beyond 2019 – Cousin

Malam Adnan Na-Habu, a cousin to President Muhammadu Buhari and the official spokesman for the family has stated that the president has the chance of staying in office beyond 2019.

photo: dailymail.com.ng

Na-Habu insisted that age had nothing to do with the president’s leadership style, adding that there are other leaders in Africa who are far older than him.

Speaking with Sun, Na-Habu dismissed the concern that President Buhari’s health condition may render him incapable of running the affairs of the country.

He said, “People should not forget that when this administration came in to power, Nigeria was virtually grounded, nothing was working , take electricity as an example, the generation capacity was also below 400 mega watts, but no matter how cynical one may be, he knows that electricity supply has improved. Many areas that spend weeks or months without light are now enjoying 6 to 10 hours of electricity.”

Asked whether age is affecting the performance of the president, Na-Habu said, “I know some Nigerians especially the critics of this administrations have been using age and sickness to propagate the idea that Buhari should not run this country now and beyond 2019.I don’t think there is a problem with his health as I said earlier. You see there is difference between sickness and being aged.

“When someone is aged we believe that, he cannot act the way you and I can act because of the age. Be it as it may, Nigerians should judge Mr. President by his performance not based on his age, because in Africa, there are leaders that are far older than him, and they are still in power, managing their country successfully.

“So being aged is not a deformity. Instead, the person will be given more wisdom to reason. I believe that most of the statements are coming from his opponents. It is purely politics. Obviously, by 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari has chance to continue, provided he chooses to re-contest the presidency.”

Source: dailypost

69-year-old British doctor arrested for sexually abusing minors

 A 69-year-old British doctor has been arrested for paying girls as young as 12 years old for sex in Cambodia.

Clive Cressy from Hove, East Sussex, was arrested at a cafe in the capital Phnom Penh last Thursday after a police investigation. During the arrest, a suitcase packed with children’s clothes and Barbie dolls was found with him.

Police accused him of paying for sex with four girls aged 12, 13, 14 and 15. He was also said to have paid up to £2,300 to have sex with a virgin.

Apart from what was found on him, after raiding his address, the police are alleged to have found a stash of lubricants and sex toys.

The report also has it that his Vietnamese girlfriend Chea Sokthy, 27, was also arrested at his apartment after being accused of procuring the youngsters.

The pair appeared at the The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday and were both charged and remanded at the Prey Sar prison to await trial.

Investigations are on on the matter as the police are saying there might be more children who had been abused by the duo.

A Cambodian news portal, NKD news, claimed Cressy had been in Cambodia for a while as a tourist and that he had been under investigation for some time after the police received complaints from the mothers of the girls who had allegedly been abused.

Source: punchng.com

This is amazing! Banky W announce his proposal to Adesua Etomi

Wow! Nigerian singer, rapper and actor, Banky W, has officially proposed to his girlfriend, Actress Adesua Etomi. This is simply making the Wedding Party real

Photo: thenet.ng

Adesua and Banky W have acted as lovers in a music video and the blockbuster movie, The Wedding Party, and now it is for real.

Banky took to his Twitter and Instagram handles to officially announce his proposal to Adesua and talked about how they created chemistry in the movie, The Wedding Party.

“We didn’t know the chemistry lasted into reality.”


Source: theeagleonline

The Party Would Pay Reasonable Minimum Wage to Workers if It Returned to Power in 2019 – PDP Chairman

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, said the party would pay reasonable minimum wage to workers if it returned to power in 2019.

Photo: informationng.com

In a statement signed by his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, on Monday in Abuja, Sheriff congratulated the workers on the 2017 Workers’ Day and urged them to put in more efforts in making Nigeria great.

He said the appeal was important as the country needed everyone to be involved in the rebuilding process that would take it to greater heights.

Sheriff said: “When we take over power, we shall address minimum wage that will ensure workers’ pay will not only take them home, but will be able to also cater for the families and pay school fees.

“We understand the difficulties the nation is going through at the moment, but a government can only be changed through the ballots.

“2019 will be another opportunity to change power; then, the workers will know what it means to have PDP back in power.”

Sheriff said the PDP was not just seeking to take over power, but was also looking forward to partnering Labour to emancipate citizens, no matter their tribes or religions.

Source: The Eagle Online

"I’ll beat Joshua with one arm" - Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury insists he will take on Anthony Joshua without a warm-up fight and would beat him with “one arm tied behind my back”.

The British heavyweight rivals have accepted each other’s challenge on the back of Joshua’s sensational 11th-round stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday night, at a sold-out Wembley Stadium.

Fury offered his congratulations to the WBA and IBF champion from his training base in Marbella, Spain, but is adamant he would regain two of his old world titles by inflicting a first professional defeat on ‘AJ’.

Photo: irishmirror.ie

“It was an excellent fight, very entertaining and enjoyable and I was screaming for AJ to smash him,” he exclusively told Sky Sports.

“I wonder what people would be saying today if Klitschko had done him in the sixth. I was screaming, pulling my hair out – or what little hair I’ve got left – because I was worried it would cost us millions!

“He showed a lot in that fight. He showed he can get dropped and come back, which is what champions are made of. He showed he can recover from taking big shots.“There’s only one fight out there, the biggest fight in the world and everyone knows that. It is the heavyweights, it is me and AJ, no one else.

“It is the only one the world wants to see and I am here, I am the lineal champion, I am still number one in the world and everybody knows that.

“We all saw [his career] had a life and death situation against Klitschko, but Klitschko couldn’t land a glove on me.“Styles do make fights but I am sure I can beat AJ with one arm tied behind my back.”

Fury won a unanimous decision over Klitschko back in November 2015 and still has to wait to see if the British Boxing Board of Control returns his licence at a hearing next week. The unbeaten heavyweight admits he was impressed with Joshua’s power of recovery after the sixth-round knockdown at Wembley, but is confident it will be a totally different test if they get it on.

“I don’t even need a warm-up if he wants this,” he said.

“I have been out of the ring as long as Klitschko but the difference is, I am not 41, I am 28.

“AJ did really well to come back but I am not 41 or getting old. He is just a pumped-up weightlifter but [Klitschko] couldn’t land one of those of those hooks on me, at all.

“It is a total clash of styles, a total clash of personalities, the complete opposites.

“I would just like to congratulate AJ for getting through the nip-and-tuck, life-and-death situation, against an old man, so well done.

“But let’s face it, I am the man, the number one in the division.

“There can only ever be one heavyweight, especially in our part of the world, and it’s me. It definitely isn’t a pumped-up heavyweight, I can tell you that.”

Source: The Eagle Online

MAY DAY RALLY TURNED PROTEST

photo: aitonline.tv

On Monday, it was reported that government dignitaries fled the Eagle Square venue during the May Day rally in Abuja, some of the dignitaries are the: Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara; and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita. This followed the mayhem that arose from a protest by workers.

The rally, which was organised by the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress, turned disorderly and violent as workers interrupted reports over the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The workers objected the continued absence of both Buhari and Osinbajo from Workers’ Day celebrations since 2015, when he came into power.

They argued that the President, Muhammadu Buhari should have at least sent his vice – Prof Yemi Osinbajo to represent him, in commemorating the National Workers’ Day.

However, President Muhammadu Buhari was represented at the rally by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, After the departure of the dignitaries following the refusal of the workers to allow proceedings to continue, the few labour unions that took part in the march past had no dignitary present to take the salute.

Reps probe missing petroleum products worth N11b

The House of Representatives, on Thursday mandated its Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to investigate the disappearance of N11 billion worth of Petroleum products belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.This followed a motion moved by Yusuf Tajudeen.

Tajudeen said according to reports, about 84 million litres of petroleum products belonging to NNPC disappeared in February 2017. He added that the product, the report noted, was stored in private tank farms in Lagos.

He expressed concern that the sudden disappearance of the petroleum products had led to humongous revenue loss to the Federal Government at a time when the country was experiencing massive economic downturn. Tajudeen said: “We are aware that in its bid to make petroleum products readily available for consumers, NNPC on a regular basis has subsisting agreements with owners of Tank Farms for storage of petroleum products.

“Also aware that the owner of the Tank Farm, when confronted, confessed to having lifted the products without authorization and agreed to either return the products or pay the monetary value within seven days.

“However, the owner failed to do so, hence the NNPC had to report to relevant security agencies.

“The owner of the Tank Farm was invited by the Department of State Service which released him after a few days and the NNPC set up a fact finding panel which merely recommended the retirement of a few of its officials who may have connived in the deal.”

The lawmaker expressed concern that the levity with which the matter was being handled may embolden other owners of Tank Farms that had storage

agreements with NNPC to divert products to the detriment of the nation’s finances.

The motion was unanimously adopted by members when it was put to voice vote by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

The committee to investigate the matter is expected to report back to the house in four weeks for further legislative action.

Source: The Eagle Online

UBA launch a New App - EmailMoni

Banking becomes easier with the new app EmailMoni launced by UBA. 

EmailMoni is an all-in-one secure platform which enables you to perform your financial transactions with just your email.

For more information: visit: https://itunes.apple.com/ng/app/emailmoni/id1154479901?mt=8     or 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seergate.emailmonimobile&hl=en

Transcorp Group Reports 20% Growth in Revenue

Lagos, Nigeria – April 26, 2017 - Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), a leading Nigerian conglomerate has announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2017. The Group’s total revenue increased from N13.2bn to N15.8bn representing a 20% increase when compared to the Group’s performance in the corresponding period of 2016.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:

Income Statement

• Revenue: N15.77bn, significant growth from N13.19bn in Q1 2016 (20%YoY increase);
• Gross Profit: N6.94bn, improves from N5.91bn in Q1 2016 (17%YoY increase);
• Operating Profit: N4.23bn from N3.25bn in Q1 2016(30%YoY increase);
• Net Finance cost: N2.81bn compared to N1.52bn in Q1 2016;
• Tax: N238mn compared to N524mn in Q1 2016;
• Profit Before Tax: N1.73bn compared to N1.72bn in Q1 2016;
• Profit After Tax: N1.49bn compared to Profit After Tax N1.21bn in Q1 2016 (24% YoY increase)
• Total Comprehensive Income: N2.1bn compared to N1.1 in Q1 2016 (92% YoY increase)

Balance Sheet

• Total Assets: N244.87bn up from N232bn as at 31 December 2016
• Shareholders Fund: N88.56bn up from N86bn as at December 2016.

Commenting on the result, the President and Chief Executive Officer, Transcorp, Mr. Emmanuel Nnorom said “Transcorp’s resilient performance is drawn from the diversity of our various business offerings. The closure of the Abuja Airport negatively affected occupancy for our hotel business, however this was buoyed by top line Year-on-Year growth in our power business following improvements in gas supply.

We expect to recover the lost ground brought on by the Abuja airport closure in Q2 2017. The reopening of the airport will pave the way for aggressive marketing that will improve traffic and occupancy at Transcorp Hotels. In addition we expect to see continued improvement in our power sector revenue as gas supply stabilises following the increased capacity of our plant arising from the recent commissioning of Gas Turbine 15.

Transcorp Appoints Jibunoh President/CEO

One of Nigeria’s leading listed conglomerates, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) has appointed Adim Jibunoh as its new President/Chief Executive Officer.

Jibunoh will succeed Emmanuel Nnorom, who has been appointed President of Heirs Holdings, a Lagos-based pan-African investment firm. Transcorp operates in the power, oil and gas, hospitality and agro-industry sectors. 

The Director of Resources, Napoleon Esemudje, stated that Jibunoh, who is currently Director, Business Development at Heirs Holdings, a strategic investor in Transcorp, will assume his new position beginning June 2017. 

A first-class graduate in economics from the University of Port Harcourt, Jibunoh has spent seven years at Heirs Holdings, holding a series of senior positions and has a background in banking, serving as an Executive Director of Standard Trust Bank Plc and Chief Executive Officer of Continental Trust Bank.

He is also a non-executive director of Avon HMO and Heirs Insurance Brokers, other members of the Heirs Holdings group of companies. 

Commenting on the new appointment, Chairman, Heirs Holdings and Transcorp, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, said: “Adim has made a considerable contribution towards the growth of Heirs Holdings. He is highly respected within the Group and has a record of outstanding leadership and the ability to innovate and execute.” 

He added: “Transcorp has a very special mission in Nigeria – we want to be the biggest provider of power to the Nigerian economy; we want to put light in homes, schools and hospitals; we want to provide the power for Nigeria’s industrialisation; and when foreign investors come to Nigeria, we want to host them in our Transcorp Hilton hotels across Nigeria; and we want to supply indigenous oil and gas to power our industries and infrastructure.

I am very certain that Adim will help us deliver on these big dreams.” Commenting on his new role, Jibunoh expressed his commitment to helping Transcorp reach its strategic objectives. He pledged to continue to work and live by the company’s values of “execution, enterprise and excellence”, while honouring the Group’s commitment to creating jobs, community empowerment, and improving the quality of life of all Nigerians

REdTV, UBA Commemorate Lagos @50 With Jazz

photo: todayng

REDTV a dynamic online lifestyle channel, supported by United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, that puts the spotlight on Africa with a distinct global appeal, has announced its sponsorship of the Runway Jazz Festival as part of events lined up for the commemoration of Lagos @ 50.

The Runway Jazz Festival scheduled to commence on  April 29  and close on the  April 30th,  is organised by Sweet Sound Production in conjunction with Lagos State Government.

The event, a  fusion of world class Jazz performances and fashion,  coincides with the international Jazz Day  themed “Promoting Peace, Unity and Dialogue through Art”.

Speaking at the press conference held in Lagos at the weekend, Obinna Okerekeocha, Creative Director, Red TV,  said the partnership will afford REDTV’s teeming viewers and lovers of contemporary Jazz  the  opportunity  to experience a world class Jazz concert in Lagos.

Headlining Runway Jazz 2017, according to Okerekeocha are two Grammy awards winners;  American Saxophonist, Najee and UK Singer-songwriter, Joss Stone.

Others billed to perform at the event to be held in Eko Hotel Convention Centre are some of Nigeria’s finest entertainers including Waje, Yinka Davies, Dede, Heavywind, Tosin Alao, Xerona Duke and host band, Sweet Sound.