Joel Williams Blog

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has declared that the country is in crisis because of poor governance, nepotism, marginalization and state-sponsored repression continue to do violence to national unity and cohesion. The governor also appealed to all well-meaning Nigerians to call on the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed to stop stoking the embers of disharmony and divisions in the polity with his irresponsible utterances and wild allegations against members of opposition political parties. He spoke while declaring open the All Nigeria Editors Conference holding in Port Harcourt today September 21st. "We are only pretending we think that all is well with our country. The country is in crisis as poor governance, nepotism, marginalization and state-sponsored repression continue to do violence to nation unity and cohesion. At times like this, the country needs forthright leadership and consensus building to steer the ship of state from the wrong direction it is headed to safe...

The Igbo community in Adamawa State on Thursday dismissed the agitation for Biafra. Leader of the community, Godwin Onemaka while addressing journalists in Yola, described the struggle for Biafra as unnecessary. Onemaka urged the agitators to consider the consequences of plunging Nigerian into chaos by divisive activities. Citing the effect of another Civil war, Onemaka maintained that Biafra agitation had failed and there was no need to restart it again. According to Onemaka, agitators should have a rethink because people of the South East extraction are looking for ways to develop there selves. Onemaka said, “Biafra agitation has failed and there is no need to restart it; the agitators should consider the interests of the Igbo in other parts of the country. “We, the Igbo in Adamawa, kick against the agitations for Biafra and we view it as an unnecessary capable of plunging the nation into crisis. “We advise the agitators to stop, so that Nigeria will remain un...

As reported by Daily Post The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Governor Nyesom Wike to publicly apologise to the people of the state and his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, over the ceding of Soku Oil Wells belonging to Rivers to neighbouring Bayelsa State. The oil wells in Kalabari axis of Rivers were allegedly ceded to Bayelsa during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to punish the then governor (Amaechi), the Director-General of Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign Organisation over his refusal to support the re-election of his Niger Delta kinsman (Jonathan). Rivers APC, through its Chairman, Chief Davies Ikanya, yesterday in Port Harcourt, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Public Affairs, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, described as shocking, Wike’s acceptance that the disputed Soku oil wells, which it insisted he (Rivers governor) and Jonathan connived to cede to Bayelsa, belonged to Rivers. Rivers...

A sixth man was arrested in Britain early on Thursday as part of the probe into the bomb attack on a London Underground train last week , police said. The man, aged 17, was detained under anti-terrorism powers in Thornton Heath, south of London, where a search is under way, a statement said. Some 30 people were injured in the September 15 attack at Parsons Green station in west London, which was claimed by the Islamic State group. Dean Haydon, an anti-terrorism officer, said the investigation was progressing rapidly. The bomb had been hidden in a large white bucket and it apparently failed to detonate fully during morning rush hour but resulted in what witnesses described as a “fireball ”. Some commuters suffered burns, while others were injured in the stampede to the exit that ensued. The bombing was the fifth terror attack in Britain in six months, which combined have claimed 35 lives.

France is set to put into use a new set of rules which won't favour the male specie. Men who usually harass women for their numbers or hassling of women in public have been advised to desist from such acts. A new ban which involves Wolf-whistling, bugging women for their telephone numbers and following them, according to France government, they are set to declare war on men. The crackdown comes after surveys show virtually all French women have been harassed on public transport, in the street or elsewhere at some time. France government us set to follow the steps of Belgium and Portugal who have banned such behaviour. Marlène Schiappa, the under-secretary for gender equality, defended the plan and gave an example of behaviour that would be illegal. She said, “You are a woman in an underground train. I am a man. I follow you. You get off the train. I get off. You get on another train. I get on too. I ask you for your telephone number. I ask again. I ask a third time. Yo...

Puerto Ricans is without electricity, officials have said, after Hurricane Maria’s strong winds and flooding knocked out the US territory’s power service. Island residents endured a day of punishing winds and life-threatening flooding on Wednesday from the category 4 storm, which was the third hurricane to pummel the Caribbean in as many weeks. Maria, now a category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph, is currently about 55 miles north of the Dominican Republic. It previously hit the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe and the US territory of St Croix, where Donald Trump has declared a major disaster. “Once we’re able to go outside, we’re going to find our island destroyed,” warned Abner Gomez, Puerto Rico’s emergency management director. “The information we have received is not encouraging.”

The Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday said the Commissioner of Police , Mr. Edgal Imohimi, led a team of policemen to Agbowa, in the Ikorodu area, to demolish five shrines. The police said the move was to rid the area of the Badoo cult. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, said a suspect, who claimed to be a native doctor, was arrested. Famous -Cole, who explained that the exercise was not entirely due to Badoo activities, added that the location, where the demolition was carried out, was one of the areas where Badoo members operated from. He said, “We discovered about five shrines, which have been destroyed. We got information about the shrines from some members of the public. The shrines were located in the Agbowa area of Ikorodu, Lagos State “ The operation was led by the Commissioner of Police , Edgal Imohimi. “ Other agencies like the Department of Department of State Services, policemen from the task force, as well as memb...

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has said that he will not yield to the threat by the Federal government to punish those who make “hate speeches”. Wike said the threat by the Federal government was merely aimed at instilling fear into members of the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party. The Rivers State Governor stated that he will not be cowed into ignoring the excesses of the Federal government, the ruling All Progressives Congress and its agents. Governor Nyesom Wike stated this while addressing the Bishops and the Laity of Anglican communion at the 12th general synod in Diobu. According to him, “I don’t know what they refer to as hate speech. I don’t know whether we should all keep quiet when things are going wrong. “For instance, I have continuously said anybody who is coming to Rivers State to rig election should be treated as an armed robber. Will you describe that as an hate speech?” Wike also said he does not belong to any c...

Irked by Enugu Rangers reluctance to distribute the N2m donations he made to players, after they won the Nigeria Professional Football League last season, famous Catholic cleric, Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka is calling for a refund of the donation. Besides, Father Mbaka is said to be angry with Rangers’ resort to fetish practice for good luck in their matches this season. There are allegations the club’s supporters sprinkled the blood of goat and pigeons on the pitch for luck. This is just as members of the dissolved board dismissed the allegations. A source close to Mbaka said: “He has given the dissolved management two weeks to give him back the money, so that he could share the money to the players himself.” Meanwhile the committee set up by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to unmask the reasons the club failed this season resumed work yesterday. The committee, inaugurated last week, is headed by Agu Caleb with Enugu State SWAN chairman, Norbert Okolie, FA represen...

Recently , a security and Police stakeholders meeting was held with the New Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohinmi. After the meeting, policemen are set to be issued with some new orders and directives. Below are some of the resolutions passed after the meeting: 1. All area commander will liase with various community leaders to form a non-arms bearing vigilante groups and 3 armed Policemen will be attached to each vigilante group for night duty patrol. 2. All uncompleted  and abandoned buildings will be routinely raided pending when the state government will take action on such buildings. Likewise no one is allowed to sleep in the market henceforth. 3. The Police now have shoot-at-sight order on any body found brandishing arms with intent to kill or maim. 4. All DPO's and Area Commanders should make themselves available for citizens complaints. 5. All Police Patrol vans are now mobile police stations and citizens can lodge their immediate and urgent complaints to...

Also, as Edo State prepared for the September 10th 2016 governorship election, Apostle Suleman at a church service said he did not see the election holding on the appointed date. Subsequently, the INEC shifted the election to September 28 2016, citing security challenges. “I see presidents being removed in Africa and presidents being installed”, the man of God declared in his 2016 prophecies. In that declaration, Suleman also asked for vigilance as he said he saw kidnappers entering school, adding that “President Buhari’s health needed serious attention; that America and China would have major crisis.”

A model and music video dancer lives in fear after her boyfriend was granted bail two days after he allegedly bashed her with a cricket bat. Nonhlanhla Mazibuko of Moroka, Soweto, spent a week in hospital after her skull was almost prised open by her DJ boyfriend last month . Mazibuko, 25, who features in the video of the song In The Mood by Preddy Ugly, featuring Saudi, said her 29year-old boyfriend beat her up after accusing her of seeing other men. This was after she bought a new cellphone and had a weave. She said her boyfriend had complained about her work as a model and wanted her to stop.

30-year-old, Cierra Alexis Sutton has been charged with the murder of boyfriend, Steven Coleman. According to the police as reported by CBS, Sutton fatally shot her boyfriend as he slept and then dismembered his body inside their home at Baytown, Texas on August 16. Friends reportedly say Sutton confessed and told them her ten-year-old daughter was in the living room at the time. Detectives say Sutton and the victim had gotten into an argument the evening the incidence occurred. Later while the victim was sleeping, Sutton allegedly fatally shot him in the head. According to court papers obtained by the Houston Chronicle, she then allegedly dismembered the remains with a machete, wrapped them in sheets and duct tape , loaded them into her Jeep and disposed of them at different dumpsters. She then filed a missing person report on August 18, the paper states. She showed up at a police station and said she ’d last seen Coleman two days before the killing and that he’d left...

As reported by Vanguard Saraki who spoke Tuesday night during a meeting with the South East Senate caucus, said that the National Assembly was spearheading the fight against calls for disintegration of the country, adding that the meeting became imperative because of the urgent need to save Nigeria from total collapse. Senate President Saraki had entered into a marathon meeting with the South East Senators as part of ways to find a lasting solution to the crisis between the military and the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. A source told Vanguard yesterday that his meeting with the South East Senate Caucus Tuesday night focused on the Federal government’s military show of force in the South East through its body called Python dance 11, presently taking place particularly in the remote villages around Umuahia the Abia State capital. At the meeting, Saraki was said to have told the lawmakers that they must all go to their constituencies to dounce tension as Nigeria as a country...

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre, is the third most stressful city in the world, according to a study. The study, conducted by UK-based drycleaning and laundry service, Zipjet, listed the world’s most and least stressful cities of 2017. Factors considered by the researchers include traffic levels, infrastructure, pollution levels, finance, citizens’ wellbeing, public transport, percentage of green spaces, debt levels, physical and mental health, and the financial status of citizens. The list ranked Baghdad as the most stressful city in the world, while Kabul was placed second on the list. On the list of stress-free cities, four cities in the top 10, including Stuttgart, Hanover, Munich and Hamburg are located in Germany. Others are Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; Bern, Switzerland; Bordeaux, France; Edinburgh, UK; Sydney, Australia, and Graz, Austria. No African country made the list of stress-free cities. The world’s most stressful cities, according to the ...

Saudi Arabia will lift a ban on internet phone calls , a government spokesman said, part of efforts to attract more business to the country. All online voice and video call services such as Microsoft’s Skype and Facebook’s WhatsApp that satisfy regulatory requirements will become accessible at midnight ( 2100 GMT), Adel Abu-Hameed, spokesman for the telecoms regulator CITC said on Twitter on Wednesday. The policy reversal represents part of the Saudi government’ s broad reforms to diversify the economy partly in response to low oil prices, which have hit the country’s finances. “ Digital transformation is one of the key kick-starters for the Saudi economy, as it will incentivise the growth of internet-based businesses, especially in the media and entertainment industries, ” a statement from the information ministry said. “ Access to voice over internet protocol (VoIP) will reduce operational costs and spur digital entrepreneurship that...

The Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, has warned the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government against its plan to deploy troops under the Operation Crocodile Tears to the Niger Delta region. IYC said that by deploying troops to the oil rich region, the Buhari-led Federal Government plans to colonise and cause chaos in the oil rich region. Warning that people of Niger Delta will resist any military exercise in the region, IYC said the Federal Government should rather send bulldozers to create development in the creeks and not the Military. President of the body, Roland Oweilaemi Pereotubo, in a statement sent to DAILY POST by his Media Aide, Alaowei Cleric said military drill in the Southern part of the country is not the panacea to agitation in the region. Pereotubo said rather than embark on Military drill, Buhari should employ the strategy of negotiation as a means of resolving agitations. He said, “The plan by the Nigerian armed forces to extend its ongoing military drill ...

Mswati III, the current King of Swaziland and head of the Swazi Royal Family has married a 19-year-old girl as his 14th wife. According to Buzz SA, King Mswati’s new bride, 19-years-old Siphelele Mashwama is the daughter of Jabulile Mashwama, a Swaziland Cabinet Minister. Siphelele Mashwama who graduated from Swaziland’s Waterford Kamhlaba World University College is currently in the United States with King Mswati, who is attending the United Nations general assembly. However, it’s a common tradition in Swaziland for the king to choose a wife every year. Last year, the King picked a new bride during the well-known Reed Dance ceremony, also known as Umhlanga.

As reported by NAN An Abuja based herbal doctor , Dr Bamidele Joshua , said the consumption of mango leaves helps in the treatment of kidney and gall stones among others. He told the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja that consumption of mango leaves also helps in the treatment of many health conditions . According to him , Mango leaves contain vitamins C , A and B as well as vital minerals such as Copper , Potassium and Magnesium. He explained that the leaves could be boiled to be taken as water or dried into powder form to be used in any food or drink . Joshua added that for medicinal purposes , the use of young and tender leaves was best for optimal benefits . The expert noted that the consumption of the leaves helps prevent and regulate diabetes , lowers blood pressure, fights restlessness and stops hiccups . “ Mango leaves are very useful for managing diabetes. The tender leaves of the mango tree contain tannins called anthocyanidins that may help in treating...

The Nigerian air force has deployed some of its air assets to give cover to ground troops currently on Operation Python Dance II. They are deployed to assist the Nigerian army 115 special operations group in Port Harcourt. Olatokunbo Adesanya, the director of public relations and information, NAF headquarters, said this in a statement in Abuja. Adesanya explained that it was in line with NAF’S commitment to national peace and security as well as providing the necessary air cover to the ground troops to enhance overall operational cohesion and efficiency. He explained that the wide expanse of area which the exercise covers necessitated the request by the Nigerian army for close air support. “The exercise is aimed at combatting security challenges in the region,” he said. “The deployment of air assets in support of the NA is in fulfilment of one of the constitutional mandate of NAF.” The operation which began on September 15 has attracted criticism owi...