Will Smith’s Unlikely Bromance

Will Smith’s Unlikely BromanceJustin Bieber and Will Smith are so close, they're practically family. On Wednesday, the "Beauty and a Beat" singer shared a pic on Instagram of the unlikely pair captioning it, "Me and uncle Will." Judging from the photo, Smith is equally as fond of the 19-year-old. The 44-year-old Hollywood vet has his arm around Bieber's shoulder and is flashing a peace sign at the camera. Back in April, Will defended Justin against critics who scrutinize his every move, telling U.K.'s Capital FM, "There are things that are just simple and normal for a 19-year-old to do. When I was 19 there was no Twitter, the things that I was doing — I was able to have privacy because everybody's phone didn't have a camera on it." The Biebs was quick to acknowledge Smith coming to his defense, tweeting, "Will Smith is the Man." But this isn't the first time the young megastar has paid tribute to the "After Earth" star.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says that"everything has been resolved" regarding the future of Luis Suarez. Arsenal has pursued the Uruguayan for much of the summer but has not upped its bid from its most recent, which was said to bemore than £40m, and the Reds boss was adamant on Friday that the saga would not"sabotage" his club's season. The forward was in attendance as Liverpool openedthe Premier League campaign with a 1-0 victory over Stoke City, and Rodgersseemed content that there would be no more question of an exit. "The only thing I will say about Luis is that Iam very satisfied how everything has been resolved and now we can moveon," Rodgers told reporters. "He is a part of this team and thisclub. The supporters are a class act here, and it is the classic Liverpool wayto support the players and the manager." Suarez is unavailable for the next five games as hecontinues to serve a 10-match ban incurred last season for biting Chelsea'sBranislav Ivanovic.

Ini Edo bounced!

Last Sunday, August 11, was one that may not have ended on a happy note for Nollywood diva, Ini Edo. It was a day when telecommunication giant, Globacom, launched its Lagos edition of the Glo Slide and Bounce concert and all the ambassadors of the brand were expected to attend and perform at the event. Among these were chart-bursting artistes in Nigeria: Tuface, Naeto C, Psquare, Burma Boy, Waje, Omawunmi as well as top Nollywood actors. Honouring the call in her capacity as an ambassador of the brand, Ini Edo arrived promptly, a little earlier than the scheduled time of 6pm and made her way to the back entrance of the Oriental Hotel, Lekki which led to the main hall. However, she was prevented entry by overzealous bouncers who advised her to wait till 6.pm. The actress complied and hung around the car park, but it was not until 9.pm that a visibly offended Ini Edo was spotted being led into the hall by the duo of Jumobi Mofe-Damijo and Desmond Elliot. This untoward treatment continued when the compere, Okey Bakassi, acknowledged the presence of all the Glo ambassadors present, calling out their names one after the other, but leaving out Ini Edo's name! This he did twice in a row and this must obviously have irked the actress. When Bakassi remembered to acknowledge her presence during his third announcement, Ini Edo had gone.

ASUU strike: N' Assembly wants NNPC, CBN, TETFUND intervention

The National Assembly is reaching out to three key agencies of the Federal Government in efforts to  end the strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities. The agencies are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund. Findings by The PUNCH on Sunday showed that the Senate and House Committees on Education initiated the joint move "as an urgent intervention strategy to save university education from crumbling." The Minister of Finance,  Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had stated  last Wednesday  that meeting ASUU's demands would cost the government N92bn. She claimed that the government could not afford the money due to an already bloated recurrent bill. However, ASUU, replied her, saying that its demands would cost government  N87bn and not the N92bn. Our correspondent gathered that the National Assembly mediated in the more than two-month old strike by setting up a contact committee, which met with ASUU leaders and  government officials. The committee reportedly reviewed ASUU's demands and "assessed the financial implications before looking into possible funding options outside the regular budget provided by the Federal Government." A source privy to the details of the committee's work, informed The PUNCH that it "penciled down the NNPC, CBN and TETFUND, among other agencies of government that can assist in providing support funds to resolve the problem." It was gathered that the agencies had indicated interest in contributing funds to rescue university education, though it was unclear as of Sunday how much each of the agencies was ready to contribute. The Chairman, House Committee on Education, Mr. Aminu Suleiman, confirmed the intervention efforts of the legislature to The PUNCH on Sunday. Suleiman said it was the contact committee that would prepare a report on what each agency would contribute. He  clarified  that TETFUND already had a constitutional duty to fund tertiary education, while the other agencies had legal backing in their enabling laws to support education one way or another. The committee chairman   said, "The way we are looking at this intervention is that  these agencies will tell the committee what they will be able to contribute. "Whatever is left as the balance will have to be shouldered by the Federal Government. No two ways about this." The lawmaker also revealed that the contact committee would meet on Tuesday (tomorrow) and take a final decision on the amount the agencies could contribute. Asked whether the ongoing efforts  could  make ASUU to suspend the strike, Suleiman  said the union's    leadership had proposed a meeting for Monday (today). He added, "We have been in touch with ASUU and  they have  assured us that they would meet on Monday (today) to see whether they can convince their members to suspend the strike. "ASUU is a democratic body; it has to consult before taking any decision. But, the union officials have assured us that they would meet   ahead of our  (committee) talks  on Tuesday (tomorrow)." While commenting on  the  strike during a meeting with commissioners of finance and accountant-generals of the states,  Okonjo-Iweala had said that the university lecturers were asking for N92bn of extra salaries and allowances. She claimed that the government was still grappling with the effect of the 2010 salary increase and could not afford to carry the additional demands by the lecturers.  But, in faulting the minister's figure, the union said it only asked for N87bn as part of the yet to be implemented agreement it signed with the government in 2009. The University of Ibadan  branch Chairman of the union, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, who reacted to Okonjo-Iweala's figure, argued  that the N87bn was a compromise by ASUU, which had initially asked for  N127bn. Ajiboye explained that the N87bn was for computed allowances of lecturers for three and a half years. He  had stated,  "I want Nigerians to ask the minister where she got her figure of N92bn from. There was never a time that ASUU made a demand that is up to N92bn. I think the N92bn is just the imagination of the minister. "But, that is not to say that this government did not enter into an agreement with us. "This is a government that signed an agreement with us on January 24, 2012 to the effect that they would inject N100bn as funding into the universities in the first one  month and that before the end of 2012, they would inject another N300bn.''

Asuu Slams Okonjo Iweala; We demanded N87b, not N92b.

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday faulted the statement credited to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, that the union demanded for N92bn, describing the claim  as false. ASUU said it never demanded such amount as earned allowances in the 2009 agreement it reached with the Federal Government. Okonjo-Iweala had on Wednesday in Minna, said  the Federal Government couldn’t meet the N92bn allowances as demanded by ASUU. The univerisity lecturers, in a statement by the University of Ibadan  branch chairman, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, described the amount mentioned by the minister as “a the imagination of the minister.” Ajiboye explained that the earned allowances, the union and the governemnt calculated in the 2009 agreement, amounted to N87b, which covered allowances for three and half years for the lecturers in the nation’s universities. He said, the N87bn was a compromise made by ASUU to scale down from N127bn. He added that the N87bn was computed based on 15 per cent of the yearly recurrent expenditures of some nation’s universities. The statement stated, “I want Nigerians to ask the minister where she got her figure of N92bn from. There was never a time that ASUU made a demand that is up to N92bn. I think the N92bn is just the imagination of the minister.                         “But that is not to say that this government did not enter into an agreement with us. This is a government that signed an agreement with us on January 24, 2012 to the effect that they would inject N100bn as funding into the universities in the first one  month and that before the end of 2012, they would inject another N300bn.’’

For Beverley, Scandal is like wine

2013-08-14  As the Big Brother Africa show draws to an end, the chances of one of Nigeria's representatives, Beverly Osu, seem to be getting brighter despite her baggage of controversies, JAYNE AUGOYE writes If controversies are enough to make a star out of anyone, it is then safe to say that Beverly Osu, one of Nigeria's representatives at the ongoing Big Brother Africa competition, is on the way to the top. Within a short period of time, 21-year-old Beverly (as she is called in the house), who is a video and lingerie model, stands out of the pack as a result of her blunt, though arguably licentious, nature. The Babcock University model who has featured in music videos of the likes of the late Goldie, Ice Prince, Djinee and 2shotz - who she once reportedly dated – is famous as the contestant with confessions weird enough to leave a listener in shock. Upon her arrival in the Big Brother House, the Babcock University undergraduate made her presence felt by shocking her fellow housemates with the tales of how she was expelled from the convent. Unknown to them, that was just the tip of the iceberg, as she has since gone ahead to reveal several other sensitive information about herself. Such include the fact that she once terminated a four-month old pregnancy, extorted money from men along with her friends and that her mother was allegedly once deported from the U.S. because of drugs. Just when many were still trying to come to terms with the startling revelations, Beverly, who claims she is currently single, threw caution to the wind by getting under the sheets with her South African love interest, Angelo. That single action, carried out under the cover of darkness but viewed by millions of viewers across Africa and beyond, was like the proverbial last straw that many felt would break the camel's back. Yet,  all the criticisms have not been enough to send Beverly, who started modelling at age 15, packing. The controversies and scandals aside, Beverly, who is the last and only daughter of her parents - she has two older brothers – can best be described as a lucky child for many reasons. Her rating has continued to soar in spite of the many controversies she has courted. On her foray into modelling, she says it was by a stroke of luck. "I brought models for Djinee's Over-Killing video shoot and was helping Bolaji, the stylist, to get set and I was forced to do it. I was shy to my bone marrows but then again, I thank God for the forceful opportunity." Also, amongst the many 'qualified' Nigerian hopeful that were auditioned for a spot in the Big Brother House, the Delta State native was selected alongside fellow model, Melvin. While  Channel O VJ, Denrele Edun, is being rumoured as the person who encouraged her to enter for the competition, the eccentric TV personality has kept mum,  what with the many scandals his protégé, who describes herself as a B.A.D girl (beautiful and different),  has courted. Despite all the criticisms Beverly has been receiving from Nigerians following her actions, she appears to have the blessings of her mother. This is if comments by her best friend, Charity Owoh, in a recent interview, is anything to go by. According to Owoh, her friend's parents are looking forward to her return to Nigeria.   She says, "Bev and her mum are best friends. Her mum just called me now, she's our best friend. She's like the third person in our circle because whatever we do we tell her. If you watch the show, you will see that there are three people she calls every time, Charity, Denrele, and Mummy Suzy.  "Their relationship is very tight. Before Bev dates anybody, she tells her mom. (About Bev and Angelo's relationship/sex) She knows. She has seen everything. "There's the good and bad. Of course,  she's a mother;  so, she would feel the way mothers would feel but she's very proud of her daughter. She is already redecorating her room, so she would welcome her back like any mother would." If she does not get evicted this weekend, Beverly may be on the verge of making history as the first Nigerian Big Brother contestant to make it to the finals amidst a legion of scandals and controversies. Punch News.

INEC UNCOVERS OVER 93,000 GHOST VOTERS IN ANAMBRA STATE

The INEC chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega speaking in an interactive session with media professionals and civil society organisation on voters register optimisation in Abuja, said the INEC had uncovered 93000 fake voters in Anambra state, ahead of the governorship poll in November 16 in the state.
According to Prof. Mega, the figures represents 5.6% of the voting population in anambra.
The offenders would face prosecution, he said, as the inec is working with the NBA to bring the culprites to book.
Jega affirmed that the inec was putting measures in place to curtail the lapses of the 2011 general elections.the case of multiple registration etc.
He rightly stated, "we have prosecuted over 200 people involved in electoral malpractices, it is an enormous work. We have a small legal unit. We are getting to a point where we will collaborate with NBA so that more people will be prosecuted".