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Portuguese Star and Real Madrid play maker, Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the winner of the 2014  ‎#BallondOr‎ after he was announced just moments ago by former Arsenal Legend Thiery Henry who presented the award.

In the total votes casted, the, Ronaldo beat the two other contenders to emerge...‎
 results of #BallondOr voting:
 Cristiano Ronaldo (37.66%) 
Lionel Messi (15.76%) 
Manuel Neuer (15.72%)

This is Ronaldo's ‎second consecutive #BallondOr and his third title.

Other winners were...‎ 
 – Women's Player of the Year: Nadine Kessler (Germany)
– FIFA Puskas Award for Goal of the Year: James Rodriguez
- FIFA World Coach of the Year for men's 2014 is German National coach Joachim Low.
– Women's Coach of the Year: Ralf Kellermann (Wolfsburg)
– FIFA Presidential Award: Hiroshi Kagawa (Japanese journalist)
- The FIFPro World XI: Neuer, Lahm, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Ramos, Di Maria, Kroos, Iniesta, Robben, Messi, Ronaldo.

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Malam Ya'u the  father of a 13-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped by four youths in Tudun Rubudi, Ungogo local government in Kano has finally accepted the bizarre request from one of the suspects to marry his daughter.

According to reports, the assailants identified as Sani Isa, Usaini Ja'afar, Jamilu Sani and Isa Musa were arrested on December 2014 by the Kano State Hisbah Board's Dala Command after they were found naked at an uncompleted building shortly after they had forcefully raped the girl.

During interrogation, Hisbah officials said, three of the suspects had confessed to the said crime. The case took a funny twist  when one of the suspect known as Ja'afar asked to marry the girl, begging the father to give his blessings.

Speaking to a correspondent, Malam Ya'u confirmed the story saying he feels sad and disheartened over the plight of his little daughter.

"We were searching for the whereabouts of my daughter when we received the sad news. Being a mechanic, I was at my garage when the Hisbah called me. I couldn't believe what I heard," he said.

"But when all of them showed remorse, especially the one pleading to marry her, Ja'afar, I decided to temper justice with mercy," he said.

He further disclosed that Ja'afar has shown his seriousness about the marriage proposal by introducing his family to him.

"He came with his uncle, who it turned out I already knew and had a cordial relationship with," Malam Ya'u told Weekly Trust. "So I accepted the request and will marry her off to him. In fact, the date for the wedding has been fixed since. I decided to allow him marry the girl because our consultations with our Malams (Islamic clerics) showed that there is nothing wrong about that,"

"I told him the implication of what he's done and advised him to become a more responsible person who would be useful to himself and society."

"After pleas from all angles, I succumbed. However, we haven't taken chances, ensuring she undergo medical tests. Results have shown that she's okay," he added.

Meanwhile, Kano-based Islamic scholar Sheikh Fadlu Dan Almajiri Fagge has said that Islam does have a problem with a rapist marrying his victim, provided certain conditions are met.

He said, "First, the girl has to observe Istibira'i, a month period to ensure absence of pregnancy. The girl should not also be among those prohibited for the rapist. Provided those conditions are met, marriage can take place with the consent of the girl and her parents."

But while he said the sin of committing zina (adultery) and its punishment would be there for the rapist, "That cannot stop the marriage."

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President Goodluck Jonathan speaking today in Ibadan, Oyo State, while meeting  supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of the February 14 election. Jonathan promised to provide 2 million jobs annually amounting to 8 million jobs in 4 years if re-elected.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, quoted the president as saying he will generate jobs for the teeming unemployed population in Nigeria.

He did not say how that will happen, after largely failing to provide as many jobs in the last six years as president.

Besides corruption and insecurity, the Jonathan administration is persistently criticised over the huge unemployed population in the country.

The government has always pointed to its Small and Medium Scale support programme, Youwin, which gives grants to only 1,200 people yearly.

The government says the programme has engaged hundreds of thousands, a figure that has been questioned.

The government has also failed to defend its claim that it created 1.6 million jobs in 2013.

At the Ibadan campaign, Mr. Jonathan also lauded South-West leaders for promoting equity, human rights, saying he will continue to respect and work with people from the zone.

The president also said the votes of Nigerian women will either liberate or sanction them to the kitchen, urging women to vote for PDP.

Critics however, have said the president is only mouthing what he cannot achieve. A Lady at the venue said, the President should first prosecute all those behind the failed Immigration recruitment before any confidence can be reposed in his administration. 

 At least 69 people died over the weekend in Mozambique after drinking home-brewed beer, a local government official told state television.

The mass poisoning occurred when people attending a funeral on Friday in the village of Chitima in central Mozambique fell ill, with seven fatalities initially confirmed on Saturday morning.

"As we prepared to determine the cause of death of people we began to receive a lot of people with diarrhea and other muscle aches. After that we began to receive dead bodies from several neighborhoods," Paula Bernardo, the district director for Health, Women and Social Action, told the public broadcaster.

She said at least 169 remained in hospital. Samples of the brew and suspicious objects found inside the drum have been sent to the National Laboratory in the capital Maputo for testing.

Home brews concocted from corn, sorghum or other crops are commonly consumed in many parts of Africa and funerals on the continent are often accompanied by drinking and feasting.

The outgoing president, Armando Guebuza, declared three days of national mourning.

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As we go to the poll come February 2015, we must begin to set agenda for political parties and candidates. 

While the opposition has failed to live up to the motto of the party as they represent no fundamental change from the ruling party, the ruling party on the other hand has also failed to give power to the people given the increasing shortage of power supply in the country.

Truly we need change in Nigeria but definitely not the change practiced by the opposition party. A change that would evict poor traders from their market stalls and transform the stall into edifices that would then be priced out of the reach of the traders on completion. The change we seek is not one that would price public education out of the reach of the ordinary man; it is not one that would pull down a school building and build up a shopping mall in its place. The change we seek is not one that would impose heavy taxes on road users and then expect them to still pay tolls for road usage. These are just pockets of what change represents in many of the states governed by the opposition.

To the ruling party, power must be given to the people but ironically Nigerians have spent more days in darkness than in light since it took over power in 1999. Despite having spent over N5 trillion ($31.45 billion) from 1999 till date, the ruling party has only been able to increase the country's electricity generating capacity by about 2,500 mega watts over the last 14 years.  It remains at lost as to how genuine power can be given to the people who needed it badly. The purchasing power of the people has been highly eroded in the face of increasing inflation rate and a weakened Naira note. Nigeria's inflation rate increased to 8 percent in December last year according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Similarly, the Naira fell to an all time low against the dollar and other foreign currencies at the interbank and parallel exchange markets late last year despite measures announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The 2015 elections provide an opportunity for Nigerians to elect new set of leaders to address the myriad of problems facing the country. The election is coming at a critical time in the history of the country. A time when insurgency has risen to an all time high. A time when all economic indicators say nothing but failure about Nigeria.

More than ever before, Nigerians are yearning for change – a shift from the status quo. While many see that change in a shift in power – a replacement of the current central government by the opposition, others hold strongly to the transformation agenda of the government with the belief that more time is needed to transform all sectors of the economy.

But beyond the craze for change, a critical analysis of all candidates and political parties must be done at all levels. In determining who to vote for, the antecedent and of each and every candidate must be put under serious check. What positions have they held in the past? What are their track records? These are questions that must be answered going into the elections.

Ideally, manifestoes are published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer. Anything short of this is unacceptable. Each and every candidate must come out with their manifestoes stating their intentions for the performance of their constitutional responsibilities and national development in general. When they tell us they will fight insurgency and defeat Boko Haram, let's be bold enough to ask them "how?",  When they tell us that they will develop our education sector and provide 10 million jobs for our teeming unemployed youths, let's not fail to ask them "how?".

Permit me to paint a clear picture of what I mean here. In the build up to the 2011 elections in Lagos State, I, along with other student leaders of Lagos State University (LASU) paid a courtesy call on the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola who was seeking re-election for a second term. I could recall that one of the issues we discussed with him was the development of the only state-owned university – LASU into a world-class institution. After His Excellency painstakingly listened to our plea for massive investment in infrastructural development and academic facilities, he assured us of his commitment to our demand. And true to his promise, few weeks after his victory at the poll, he paid a surprise visit to our school and he surprisingly visited the student union building where he once again expressed his commitment to developing LASU into a world class varsity. But unknowingly to us, his plan would mean an end to the academic aspirations of many.

Few months after this August visit, the state government announced a 725 percent increase in school fees resulting into an upward review from N25,000 to as high as N345,750. It took 3 years of protests and rallies to get the same governor to reverse the fee hike policy.

We must consciously engage all public office seekers in debates on policies and programmes including revenue generation and management, as well as resource allocation. When they promise us good roads, we must ask if the construction will be funded from the public treasury or from our private pockets in form of outrageous toll or tax payments. When they promise us improved power supply, we must ask them if that is tantamount to increased electricity tariff.

While they prepare their manifestoes, we must also prepare ours detailing our needs in order of priority as well as our expectations of them. They must be compelled to see this as a social contract between them and the people they want to serve. And when they fail to perform, we must not hesitate to fully exercise our right of recall.

The character of the two leading political parties is not one that all Nigerians are proud of; however, we must exercise our constitutional right by voting in the forthcoming elections. And in doing that we must look beyond age, ethnic or religious background in choosing the next set of people that will steer the affairs of our great country for the next four years. Let their antecedents and manifestoes speak for them.
 
By Ewebiyi Keye James
Youth activist and Social Media Consultant
Twitter: @Keyestine

Ewebiyi Keye James
Tel: +234 (0) 7064981943 , +234 (0) 8088902609
Email: keyeewebiyi@yahoo.com, keyeewebiyi@gmail.com
Twitter: @Keyestine l FB: www.facebook.com/ewebiyikeye
Skype: Keyestine  l Blog: kekstar.blogspot.com l Instagram: Kekstar1 Google+: google.com/+EwebiyiKeyeJames

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FEW months after the demise of the oldest preacher in Nigeria, Pa Akinbode Sadela, another televangelist and spiritual leader and founder of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Ayo ni o, Gabriel Olubunmi Fakeye, popularly called G.O. Fakeye has died.
Special Apostle Fakeye,78, was said to have died of an undisclosed ailment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital LASUTH. Other sources, however, told Vanguard last night that Fakeye who would clocked 79 years on March 11, 2015 died in a US hospital.
Special Apostle Prophet (Dr) Gabriel Olubunmi Fakeye (known popularly as "The Psalmist") was an engineer by profession. He started preaching when he was a youth.

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I consider it pretty much necessary right
now as I can't continue living this way and I
need u guys to help me out. I am 27 yrs old,
a banker in one of the leading banks in
Nigeria. I also own a business of my own,
but I am seemingly addicted to sleeping
with prostitutes.
You might like to call it
"Aristos", "Rungirls", "Oloshos" or what have
you. I had always lived in Abuja and in
Abuja you would rather pay than keep. But
this is killing me right now as I cannot even
save reasonably.
This ill habit started about 11yrs ago when I
was about writing WAEC, my friend & I went
to a neighboring brothel pretending we
wanted to buy ice cream as we both knew
pretty well such is never sold in a place like
that.
We just wanted to satisfy our curiosity
about prostitutes, see them and stuff like
that. But here I am today I have graduated
to the highest class of prostitutes "aristos".
It is as bad as sleeping with a girl for N
30,000 per night & this I do almost once in
every week.
I can hardly save N 200,000 in my acct, as I
have parents that still give me money, so I
particularly don't do anything with my
salary. Worse still I have a girlfriend & my
girlfriend says we can't have sex until we
get married. She doesn't know I patronize
aristos though.
My greatest fear at the
moment is if I don't desist from this I might
never get a life of my own. Am good looking,
drive a good car, very caring, energetic,
down to earth, with a good sense of humour
yet I keep patronizing aristos. Please I need
your help.

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Sugar Daddy Killed In Female Student Hostel In Abakaliki: Girlfriend,  Ebonyi State University. EBSU Student & Boyfriend Arrested For Murder
These are certainly not the best of times for the Okorie family of Isiakpu village, Okposi Okwu in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. As other families revel in the New Year festivities, the Oko­ries are dressed in the robe of despair and sorrow. Indeed, the family has been enveloped by a thick pall of grief following the untimely demise of their father and breadwinner.

The Okories are not only crying because their father is dead, but also the manner in which death came. It was learnt that the man who was in his late 60s and father of four allegedly died in the loins of his girlfriend, Nneoma (sur­name withheld), a Banking and Finance student of the Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki.
Okorie, who owned a block-mak­ing factory, was allegedly lured to the 'nest of death' near the Presco campus of the university by the lover girl who allegedly acted in concert with another boyfriend of hers, whose first name was given as Alex. Investigation revealed that on the day Okorie died, he received a call from Nneoma, asking him to meet her in a five-storey hostel off Goddy Ogbaga Avenue in Abakaliki, the state capital. On getting there, it was learnt, they began to do those things that lovers do and her school boyfriend, Alex, appeared suddenly on the scene like a ghost. And the man died in the process.

Interestingly, the late Okorie, Nneoma and Alex hail from the same community.
A police source said: "What happened was that the man was lured by a girl he has been assisting as a family friend and/or lover to somewhere in Abakaliki. Thinking that all was well, he went to honour the call. Unknown to him, the girl's boyfriend had already made some arrangements to either threaten or intimidate and extort money from him. But in the process, while in the so-called boyfriend's room, he died

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Traditional rulers in Abia State have disowned a chieftaincy title conferred on the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari, by the traditional ruler of Eziama Aba autonomous community, Eze Isaac Ajuonu Ikonne.
The Eziama Aba monarch had on Friday honoured Buhari with the chieftaincy title of Ogbuagu I of Aba kingdom (meaning lion killer, signifying a mark of valour) when the APC presidential candidate and his entourage paid him a courtesy visit during his presidential campaign rally in Aba.
But the leadership of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers faulted Eze Ikonne for going beyond his domain to give a chieftaincy title encompassing the entirety of Aba, which comprises over 400 communities spread across two local government areas, namely Aba North and Aba South.
Addressing journalists at Umuahia on Sunday, the chairman of the state Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Eberechi Dick, who is the traditional ruler of Mgboko in Obingwa local government area, chided Ikonne, the Enyi I of Eziama for usurping the powers of other traditional rulers in Aba and acted as if he was the only traditional ruler in Aba.
"Eze Isaac Ajuonu Ikonne of Aba North has no powers to install Buhari as Ogbuagu I of Aba Kingdom," he said.

He explained that since "Aba in stricter sense is made up of two local governments, namely Aba North and Aba  South while as a zone, Aba is made up of nine local government areas with over 400 communities" Eze Ikonne has no power to act on behalf of the entire royal fathers whose domains are located within Aba.
"Ikonne is therefore incompetent to give somebody title on behalf of Aba. Abia traditional rulers, hereby condemn Ikonne's resort to politics," the Abia royal fathers council chairman stated.
Dick further upbraided Ikonne delving into politics by using the occasion of the visit APC chieftains, including Buhari, Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, who is also the Director General of Buhari campaign organisation, to attack Abia State Government and the Federal Government of Nigeria
"We disown him and his statements," the enraged monarch said, adding that "reports reaching the state traditional rulers indicate that Ikonne was influenced to do what he did (hence) we shall investigate it and take appropriate actions."

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Anthony Agbazuere, who was present at the press conference, accused Ikonne of turning himself into an opposition party by his consistently but incoherently misdirected attacks on Abia State government led by Governor Theodore Orji.
He said it would do Ikonne a lot of good by defining his role as a royal father and choose between being a traditional ruler and active opposition politician, adding that there was no way the Eziama royal father could operate effectively if he failed to retrace his steps.

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It took an 84th minute Salomon Kalou winner to stop the home-based Eagles from sharing honours with star-studded Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire in an international friendly played in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
The Eagles 'B' team selected mainly from the Glo Premier League, held their own against the Ivorians who are favourites to win the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations starting in Equatorial Guinea this weekend.
The first half ended on a barren note despite the presence of nearly all the top stars the Elephants paraded at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.‎
The lads tutored by Assistant Coach, Daniel Amokachi, in the absence of out-of-contract Stephen Keshi, almost went in front from a corner kick in the early stage of the game but the final touch was not there to trouble the Elephants.
Kano Pillars' Gambo Mohammed played a delightful through ball for Mfon Udoh to latch on in the 15th minute but the Ivorian goalkeeper, Sylvain Gbohou, was quick to shut him out.
In the 28th minute,  Gervinho brilliantly out-paced Eagles' Solomon Kwambe on the right and crossed for Yaya Toure whose shot was blocked by Chigozie Agbim. The rebound was cleared into safety.
Serge Aurier got behind a Serey Die corner kick but could not keep his effort on target as the Ivorians upped the tempo towards the end of the first half with Yaya Toure leading the charge.
The chances were far between each other as Eagles were able to contain their more illustrious counterparts at the end of the first half.
Swiss-born midfielder Steven Ukoh came on for Kingsley Sokari in the second half after the Enyimba player picked up an injury early in the second half.

The Super Eagles were gaining in confidence as Rabiu Ali and new entrant Ukoh pulled the strings for Nigeria but lack of decisiveness in the final third was their bane.
Gervinho, though isolated for long periods of the game was always a constant threat and only a last ditch tackle from Azubuike Egwuekwe in the 63rd minute prevented the Roma man from getting through at Agbim's goal.
The game dragged into a drab fest as the game got into the deep with end with both sides content to hold on to the ball around the midfield areas.
Rabiu Ali then gifted Ivory Coast their winner. His mistake gave Cheick Tiote the chance to run into the Nigerian defence and cross for Salomon Kalou to score for the Elephants in the 84th minute.
Kalou had another chance two minutes later to put Ivory Coast in the driver's seat but could not connect his header on target as the game fizzled out as a contest.
The Super Eagles will continue their United Arab Emirates tour on January 17 when they take on the Falcons of Jediane of Sudan in Abu Dhabi.

Nigeria team:
Chigozie Agbim, Solomon Kwambe, Chima Akas, Nelson Ogbonnaya, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Kingsley Sokari (Steven Ukoh), Rabiu Ali, Gambo Mohammed, Stanley Dimgba (Gbolahan Salami), Nathaniel Joseph, Mfon Udoh (Christian Obiozor).

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Over 20 people were killed at Kasuwar Jagwal GSM market in the commercial capital of Potiskum, Yobe State, yesterday, when two female suicide bombers, one of them aged about 15, blew themselves up in the crowded market.
The blasts came just a day after a young girl thought to be aged about 10 killed 19 at a Chicken Market in Maiduguri, in the neighbouring Borno State.
Potiskum is in the west and about 100 kilometres from Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, that witnessed series of bomb blasts including the suicide bomber that hit a police formation weekend.
Residents said the suicide bombers invaded the crowded market at about 3pm and detonated their Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs.
A resident of Potiskum, Mallam Aliyu Usman, told Vanguard on phone, yesterday, that the death toll could rise as most of those who sustained injuries had lost much blood due to bleeding before security operatives could reach the scene.
Unconfirmed sources said over 20 people were killed, adding that their mangled bodies were seen at the scene of the blast.
Earlier on Saturday, two people were killed when a car exploded outside a police station in Potiskum.
"We evacuated six bodies including those of the two female suicide bombers to the hospital, 21 people were injured in the attacks.
A security source involved in the rescue operation told AFP of Sunday's bombings: "One of the bombers looked 23 and the other 15.
"The first bomber — the 23 year-old — detonated her explosives just outside the entrance of the market, where volunteers were screening people going inside the market with metal detectors.
"The second bomber was terrified by the explosion and she tried to dash across the road but she also exploded."
Both the security official and a nurse at the Potiskum General Hospital said six people were confirmed dead and 21 injured.
Witness Ibrahim Dambam said the second blast went off as people fled the first.
Sunday is Potiskum's market day and attracts traders and shoppers from all over Yobe State and beyond.
Panicked shoppers fled and traders abandoned their stalls at both the mobile phone market and the city's main market, which is just next door.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attacks but suspicion is likely to fall on Boko Haram, which have increasingly used female suicide bombers since last June.
Some security analysts believe that older women may willingly become human bombs as they share the Islamists' radical ideology or are out to avenge the death of loved ones at the hands of the military.
But the young ages of some of the bombers — such as the girl in Maiduguri — and the actions of the 15-year-old in Potiskum suggest that coercion is being used.
A civilian vigilante who witnessed the Maiduguri bombing said of the young bomber: "I doubt if she actually knew what was strapped to her body."
Another eye-witness said it appeared that the bomb was remote-controlled, which chimes with testimony from other attacks across the wider north of Nigeria.

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The leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Asari-Dokubo, has said the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) is a faceless organisation which no longer existed as far as the struggle for people's emancipation in the region is concerned.

Speaking against the background of the controversial statement issued last week by MEND endorsing the candidacy of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), the former militant leader described the acronym, MEND, as a pseudonym being used by the imprisoned Henry Okah to deceive ignorant persons.

Asari Dokubo also said the name, Gbomo Jomo, who always signed statements on behalf of MEND, was not known to belong to any nationality in the Niger Delta region.‎
"Our people say birds of a same feather flock together, it is not strange that this organisation is endorsing  Buhari. First, I have always maintained that there is nothing like MEND.
"When I was in prison, the organisation I lead, NDPVF, the NDPSF and other organisations came together to stop arrest and they formed a faceless organisation, some guys, including Henry Okah, were sent to me in Kuje prison for us to get a name and my opinion on what they were going to do, I accepted though majority of members of NDPV resisted it, I told them that we should be faceless and so they formed MEND.
"General Taminu was supposed to be the head, but it does not exist, Alaibe was supposed to be secretary, it does not exist. Gbomo Jomo, which is not a name known to any nationality in the Niger Delta does not exist," he said.

On the allegation made by President Goodluck Jonathan that Henry Okah planned to assassinate him, Dokubo said: "What the president said is belated. The president had known since 2007 that Henry Okah wanted to kill him. For saying it, it is the fault of Ijaw leaders including Chief E.K Clark who have been sweeping this thing, it under the carpet. And one day, the debris under the carpet will become too much that the carpet will be undulated.
"Now, it is undulated, the stench is coming out and the President could no longer hold it. He has now come out to say Henry Okah wanted to assassinate him which was true. Henry even said the President and myself are not Ijaw people.

He debunked media reports credited to him that he was going to invade Yoruba land, saying "There was no such statement. Everybody knows that when I make a statement, I own up to it. There is no such thing. I never made it. You know, a lot of times, they ascribe a lot of things to me."

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