Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

BY:FUNMI OJUROYE The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday said it had uncovered over 93,000 ghost voters in Anambra State, ahead of the forthcoming governorship election scheduled for November 16. The Chairman of the commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said this in Abuja during a stakeholders’ conference with media professionals and Cicil Society Organizations on voter register optimisation where he also spoke on INEC’s plans to appeal the recent court judgment which nullified the de-registration of some political parties. According to him, the 93,000 ghost voters figure represents 5.6 percent of the total voting population in Anambra state adding that the commission will soon commence prosecution of those involved in the act.

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested one Kingsley Mudi over alleged ATM fraud. He was picked up at about 11 pm on August 2, 2013 at Fidelity Bank ATM on Airport Road, Warri, Delta State following an intelligence report. At the point of arrest, 30 ATM cards of different banks with which he allegedly withdrew a total sum of five hundred and fifty thousand naira (N550, 000) were found in his possession.  Eight signed UBA cheques belonging to sundry persons were also found on him. Kingsley Mudi, who claimed to be a Disc Jockey and an operator of a barbing salon, has volunteered useful information. He will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Governor Rochas Okorocha has moved to the All Progressives Congress. The National Chairman of  All Progressive Grand Alliance  (APGA), Victor Umeh, on Monday expressed confidence that APGA would win in Imo in the 2015 general elections. Mr. Umeh, who made the declaration in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, said that “we are very eager to rebuild the party in Imo against 2015. He attributed the rebuilding to the sudden defection of G overnor Rochas Okorocha of Imo to the just registered All Progressive Congress (APC). He said that the party’s National Executive Committee unanimously resolved to dissolve the Imo executive committee of the party because it was the only available option now. The chairman said the party would not leave anything undone until its aim was achieved in Imo and other places. “Imo has been APGA state since 2003, we won and it was stolen away from us and we could not retrieve it at the tribunal. “In 2007, the...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Abuja -The Federal Government has declared Aug. 8 and Aug. 9 public holidays to mark the 2013 Eid-el-Fitri celebration. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the Minister of Interior, Mr Abba Moro, on behalf of the Federal Government. The statement was signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs Fatima Bamidele. It urged Muslim faithful to use the spiritual benefits of Ramadan to contribute to the development of the nation. The statement also urged Nigerians to exploit the spiritual benefits of love, joy and peace in their daily living and to use the opportunity of the holidays to reflect on the imperative of peace in nation building. It wished all Nigerians a rewarding and peaceful celebration.

BY:FUNMI OJUROYE A UK based NGO, through its Nigerian affiliation, Special Needs Children Charity, recently held a one-day-seminar/workshop for challenged children at Wesley School for the Hearing impaired, Surulere, Lagos. Commenting during the event which attracted experts in child care, parents and challenged children, UK based Sharon Cole, the coordinator of Special Needs Children’s Charity said: “We are here to interact with care givers and parents of special needs children. Our intention is to shed light and educate on the challenges challenged kids face on a day to day basis and how to overcome these challenges. At the end of this workshop, participants would learn how to cope on a day to day basis with anything that has to do with emotions, finding help, how to get information and how your kid can progress academically without being dependent on you or a care giver among others. We also talked about the emotional part which deals with stress, misconceptions and discri...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE WILLIAM HAZLIT in his book says  ” the least pain in our finger gives us more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions”. Selfishness is the key here. The whole activities of man on the surface of the earth is to employ every possible means to  outdo his neighbour criminally towards achieving his own personal goal. Aftermath effect of his activities is none of his business. The drama that took place between President Goodluck Jonathan and the four Northern Governors in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, was an ominous sign of what to come. Both actors in the scene arrived in the capital city separately to be anointed by ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo. But the show got twisted when the four Governors decided to hide in order to avoid their own President who was holding a secret meeting with the same Obasanjo they came to see. The drama got more interesting when Nyako said” we have come to greet the most accomplished Nigerian and to...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE Fresh attacks by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram left at least 35 persons dead and several others injured in Borno State, military officials said. The spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Lt Col Sagir Musa, said Boko Haram terrorists who had threatened to launch massive attacks as Ramadan ends lived out their threat by launching coordinated attacks on Sunday. Mr. Musa said “troops have successfully repelled Boko Haram terrorists attack on Mobile Police Base and Bama town.” “Terrorists using sophisticated weapons and Improvised Explosive Devices launched attacks at about 6:45am on 4th August, 2013′. “The encounter led to the death of one policeman and 17 Boko Haram Terrorists; two soldiers were also wounded,” he said. Mr. Musa also said two soldiers were killed when Boko Haram staged another attack on the operatives of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF). The soldiers were able to kill15 Boko Haram terrorists during the attack, he ...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE A total of 48.3 million telephone subscribers actively browse the Internet on their mobile phones, investigations have shown. Statistics obtained from the Nigerian Communications Commission on Friday showed that Internet subscriptions through the telecommunications operators increased by 26.44 per cent between May 31 and June 30, 2013. Active Internet subscription as of the end of June, but it was, however, 16.29 per cent less than the total Internet mobile subscriptions. At the end of June, a total of 57.7 million telephone subscribers had Internet subscription, although only 48.3 million were active subscribers. This means that a total of 9.4 million Internet subscriptions were inactive. At the end of May, the active mobile Internet subscription stood at 38.2 million. This means that within a period of one month (between May and June), 10.1 million active subscribers started using the Internet on their phones, a difference of 26.44 per cent. The ...

By: Funmi Ojuroye The football leagues across Europe are slowing stirring from hibernation after the summer break and as always, Nigerians are making their impact felt. In the United States and China, veterans, Obafemi Martins and Yakubu Aiyegbeni have continued to display that the saying, “Wine gets better with age” is apt, as they both scored for their respective clubs at the weekend. Unheralded talent, Sylvester Igboun is fast turning out to be a precocious talent worthy of mention as he rattled in yet another goal for Midtylland in Denmark’s Superliga. Elsewhere, there was the small matter of a certain Emmanuel Emenike who has roared back to fitness after an injury-blighted 2012/13 season. The forward has now scored for the third week running and his strike helped Spartak Moscow earn a share of the spoils against Kuban Krasnodar in the Russia Premier League. It was indeed a weekend to remember and supersport.com has now selected the best of the action involving Nigerian ...

BY FUNMI OJUROYE The commissioner for  Basic and Secondary Education, Patrick Muoboghare, has been petitioned by students of a popular public school in Nnebisi, Asaba, Delta State (name withheld), over the continuous sexual activities between some of their teachers during school hours. The  petition signed by the senior prefects of the school, Jackson Isieche and Mariam Okpara, was titled: “Sex at random in our school.” In a copy obtained by newsmen, the students confirmed that sexual intercourse among some of the male and female teachers have persisted during school hours.

BY FUNMI OJUROYE Ademola Fashola, father of the Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola, is dead. He died this morning in Lagos. He has been ill. Last year, he was flown to the United States for medical treatment in the heat of the Lagos Doctors’ strike.

BY FUNMI OJUROYE British police on Monday apologised to relatives of a man who died after being pushed to the ground during protests against the G20 summit in London in 2009, and confirmed a settlement had been reached with his family. Ian Tomlinson, 47, was hit with a baton and shoved by a riot policeman and later collapsed and died as thousands of protesters took to the streets. His widow Julia Tomlinson said the apology and settlement — the amount of which has not been disclosed — was “as close as we are going to get to justice”. Tomlinson’s fatal encounter with riot policeman Simon Harwood was filmed by a US hedge fund manager, who passed the footage to The Guardian newspaper. It showed Tomlinson — who had a history of alcoholism and was estranged from his family — walking away from a group of police officers, and falling to the ground after he was hit and shoved by Harwood. Harwood was sacked last year after being found guilty of gross misconduct. Tomlinson’s wife said th...