Jim Iyke confirms the death of Muna Obiekwe

The uncertainties surrounding the death yesterday of Nollywood actor Muna Obiekwe seem to have been settled, through an Instagram post by fellow actor Jim Iyke. 

The post made about three hours ago at the time of writing this report says, “Candle in the wind… Adieu Bro. Find rest on God’s bosom. Words fail me.” 

News broke Sunday January 18, 2015 about the death of the 36 year-old Obiekwe in a hospital in Festac, Lagos, Nigeria. But none of the news sources and blogs quoted any credible source.

Jim Iyke_Instagram But this post from Iyke is a confirmation, coming more than 24 hours after the initial news broke, and considering the fact that nothing has been heard from the actor himself. 

Muna Obiekwe reportedly suffered from kidney illness. 

Malivelihood Delivers Gold Plated Iphone to 2face

2face Idibia has received a personalized 24-carat gold-plated iphone 6 ahead of Nigeria’s 2015 general election.

 

According to The Net, The singer took to his Instagram account early sunday morning to show off the new customised phone, which bears Nigeria’s coat of arm alongside the description – ‘VOTE NOT FIGHT.’

The phone, with the theme of an electoral campaign, was delivered to him by popular jeweller, Malivelihood who is responsible for gold-plated accessories in the possession of many celebrities.
Nigerian celebrities who have taken delivery of gold-plated accessories from the celebrity jeweller include 2face’s wife, Annie Idibia who also got a gold-plated iPhone and  Tiwa Savage who received a gold-plated microphone.

“I will never put condoms in my husband suitcase” – Stella Damasus

Nollywood Actress, Stella Damasus has spoken about what she thinks was the answer to the question she asked her listeners last week, where she inquired to know if it was proper for a wife to put condom in her husband’s suitcase because she doesn’t believe in divorce.

After several responses, she made her opinion know on her ‘Undiluted with Stella Damasus’ show on i2radio in Atlanta.

“If a man cheats once and you catch him, your reaction to his cheating would determine what happens the next time. If I have tried everything and he continues, then I’m sorry, I wouldn’t stay there. I would never be the one to put condoms in his suitcase.

However, she adviced women not to promote such an unworthy act and suggested a better approach to the matter. “I’m sorry darling; your putting a condom in a suitcase will not change him. Instead of putting condoms, write a note telling him how much you love him and ask him to protect you and your home,” she said.

FBI Says Sony Hackers 'Got Sloppy', Posted From North Korea Addresses

FBI Director James Comey said on Wednesday that hackers behind the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures provided key clues to their identity by sometimes posting material from IP addresses used exclusively by the North Korean government.
The hackers, who called themselves "Guardians of Peace," sometimes "got sloppy" and failed to use proxy servers that would hide their identity, Comey said at the International Conference on Cyber-Security in New York.
"The Guardians of Peace would send emails threatening Sony employees and post online various statements explaining their work. In nearly every case they would use proxy servers in sending those emails and posting those statements," Comey said.
"But several times they got sloppy. Several times, either because they forgot or they had a technical problem, they connected directly and we could see it," Comey said.
"We could see that the IP addresses they used ... were IPs that were exclusively used by the North Koreans. It was a mistake by them. It was a very clear indication of who was doing this. They would shut it off very quickly once they realized the mistake, but not before we saw them and knew where it was coming from," he added.
Sony's network was crippled by hackers in November as the company prepared to release "The Interview," a comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The attack was followed by online leaks of unreleased movies and emails that caused embarrassment to executives and Hollywood personalities.
Comey urged the U.S. intelligence community to declassify information that showed the hackers used such servers. Critics of the FBI and spy agencies have accused the government of failing to back up assertions that North Korea was responsible.
Comey said investigators still do not know how hackers got into Sony's systems. But he said technical analysis of the malware used showed strong similarities to malware developed by North Korea and used last year in attacks on South Korean banks.
He said language used by Guardians of Peace also matches language used in other H@ck attacks attributed to North Korea.
Comey said the FBI would deploy more cyber-security experts to work in the offices of its foreign partners in order to "shrink the world" the way hackers have done.
U.S. officials familiar with investigations into the attack say while U.S. agencies believe North Korea initiated it, they are also looking into whether Pyongyang hired outside help.
One of the officials said investigators believe the North Koreans could either have hired foreign hackers to help with the attack or got help from disgruntled Sony insiders. They do not believe North Korea had help from any other government.
Speaking before Comey at the cyberconference, James Clapper, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, said the Sony H@ck was the most serious cyber-attack ever targeting U.S. interests.
Clapper said cyber-attacks offered the North Koreans "global recognition at a low cost with no consequences."
He added that he had watched "The Interview" over the past weekend. "It's very clear to me that the North Koreans don't have a sense of humor," he said.

If Zuckerberg is the next Oprah, Facebook is in trouble: Washington Post opinion

By Dominic Basulto

When Mark Zuckerberg makes a New Year's resolution, people notice. This year, of course, the Facebook chief executive has segued from learning Mandarin to creating one of the Internet's largest book clubs. His "A Year of Books" Facebook page, which encourages Facebook users to read one new book every two weeks and then discuss online, has already picked up more than 218,000 likes and helped to drive record sales for the first book selection (Moisés Naim's "The End of Power.") It's no wonder people are already comparing Zuckerberg to Oprah and surmising that he's done something wonderful like unlocking the future of mobile commerce for Facebook.

Please stop.

If Mark Zuckerberg is really the next Oprah, Facebook is in more trouble than you think. The fundamental problem is that if you think of yourself as the head of a media company and not as the head of a technology company, you are also thinking of yourself as the head of a company dependent on advertising, and that's going to influence all of your strategic thinking. Instead of thinking up great new experiences for users, you start thinking up great new experiences for advertisers.

If Facebook really plans to become a successful media company, it needs to grow its audience to maximum capacity (done that!) and then find a way to (a) charge for its content (b) find deep-pocketed advertisers willing to pay or (c) figure out how to make money from online commerce. Not many people are willing to pay for Facebook quite yet (although some people do pay to promote posts), so that leaves one basic option - getting advertisers to pay.

For Facebook, that means experimenting with new ad units, trying to attract advertisers with new page formats, or loading up the News Feed with the types of middlebrow content and safe community experiences that appeal to big advertisers. Stuff like Internet book clubs, for example.

Remember - this is not the first time that Zuckerberg has told the world that he views Facebook as a media and content play rather than as a pure social networking company. Remember last year when he launched the mobile app Paper and told us that he planned to create "the best personalized newspaper in the world?" When you think like the leader of a media company instead of a technology company, apps are just new distribution channels - just more ways to get your content into the hands of users.

"Deep down, nobody in the critical 18-to-34 demographic really wants to use the same social network their parents (or grandparents) use."

 

You can see this type of media company-inspired thinking infecting other Silicon Valley companies as well. Take Twitter, for example. The company appears to be having a permanent identity crisis: Is it a media publishing platform or a social network? Just as Facebook is experimenting with new video ad units (the latest ones are post-roll ads for the NFL and Verizon), Twitter is also busy rolling out new options for hosting videos. And other types of incremental innovations from Twitter just keep coming - everything from new page formats to new ways to view your tweet stream.

In a best case, all of this innovation leads to something such as YouTube, arguably one of the most successful examples of a tech company - Google - creating a media property. In a neutral case, you get something like Yahoo - a company with Silicon Valley DNA that often acts more like a New York media company than a West Coast technology company. And, in a worst case, you get something like AOL. (And have no doubt, it's easy to find "Facebook is the new AOL" scenarios on the Internet.)

Which brings us back to Oprah. The No. 1 reason why Facebook is in trouble if Zuckerberg is the next Oprah is that it means that Facebook is going to have dive even deeper into bland, advertiser-safe media experiences that are all but certain to drive young, hip users away. Deep down, nobody in the critical 18-to-34 demographic really wants to use the same social network their parents (or grandparents) use. It's the same perverse logic why some authors would rather their books not appear in the Oprah book club - it basically all but corrodes their hipster street credibility with the literary set.

What Zuckerberg needs to keep in mind is that there is a very real potential for users to leave Facebook. Already, young users appear to be abandoning Facebook, in search of online experiences that are just cooler and hipper. If your friends and family are not using the network, it's useless to you. So once some friends begin to leave, others leave, and if enough people leave, well, you end up with a MySpace scenario.

It doesn't have to be that way. Every now and then, Facebook actually makes the type of acquisition or strategic move that returns it to its Silicon Valley early beginnings. The deal for Oculus, for example, was brilliant. That's because the types of people willing to strap on an Oculus Rift VR device are so vastly different from the types of people who are willing to flip on a TV to watch Oprah. Virtual reality is not yet in the mainstream and it is all but inscrutable to the types of advertisers who would want to show ads on "Oprah."

In short, the problem with thinking like Oprah is that you start thinking in terms of audience size and advertising innovations rather than technological innovations. Every new product or offering becomes a way to build audience, a way to distribute content. Before you know it, you're not innovating for the tech early adopter, you're innovating for the Oprah audience.


(c) 2015, The Washington Post
New York-based Dominic Basulto writes about innovation for The Washington Post and foreign policy for Russia Direct.

Deadliest attack in history of Boko Haram. More than 2000 Killed

YOLA — Hundreds of bodies — too many to count — remain strewn in the bush in Nigeria from an Islamic extremist attack that Amnesty International suggested Friday is the "deadliest massacre" in the history of Boko Haram.

Mike Omeri, the government spokesman on the insurgency, said fighting continued Friday for Baga, a town on the border with Chad where insurgents seized a key military base on January 3 and attacked again on Wednesday.

"Security forces have responded rapidly, and have deployed significant military assets and conducted airstrikes against militant targets," Mr Omeri said in a statement.

District head Baba Abba Hassan said most victims are children, women and elderly people who could not run fast enough when insurgents drove into Baga, firing rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles on town residents.

"The human carnage perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists in Baga was enormous," said Muhammad Abba Gava, a spokesman for poorly armed civilians in a defense group that fights Boko Haram.

He said the civilian fighters gave up on trying to count all the bodies. "No one could attend to the corpses and even the seriously injured ones who may have died by now," Mr Gava said.

An Amnesty International statement said there are reports the town was razed and as many as 2,000 people killed.

If true, "this marks a disturbing and bloody escalation of Boko Haram’s ongoing onslaught," said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International.

The previous bloodiest day in the uprising involved soldiers gunning down unarmed detainees freed in a March 14, 2014, attack on Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri city. Amnesty said then that satellite imagery indicated more than 600 people were killed that day.

The five-year insurgency killed more than 10,000 people last year alone, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. More than a million people are displaced inside Nigeria and hundreds of thousands have fled across its borders into Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Emergency workers said this week they are having a hard time coping with scores of children separated from their parents in the chaos of Boko Haram’s increasingly frequent and deadly attacks.

Just seven children have been reunited with parents in Yola, capital of Adamawa state, where about 140 others have no idea if their families are alive or dead, said Sa’ad Bello, the coordinator of five refugee camps in Yola.

He said he was optimistic that more reunions will come as residents return to towns that the military has retaken from extremists in recent weeks.

Suleiman Dauda, 12, said he ran into the bushes with neighbors when extremists attacked his village, Askira Uba, near Yola last year.

"I saw them kill my father, they slaughtered him like a ram. And up until now I don’t know where my mother is," he said at Daware refugee camp in Yola.

Source: BdLive

Former MBGN contestant, Esther Kanu dies at 24

Former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 2013 contestant and Queen of Aso 2012, Esther Kanu has passed on. 

According to reports, the former beauty queen slumped and was rushed to the hospital yesterday Wednesday 7, 2015 where she was later confirmed dead. 

Director of Queen of Aso Nigeria, Desmond Agboola confirmed the news when contacted, saying the late Esther represented Abia State at the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 2013 pageant. 

She died at the age of 24 and we pray that her soul rests in peace.

Davido loses Temper on Twitter

Davido has taken to social media to insult an undisclosed person. The popular artist took to twitter to insult who many suspected to be a fan or client of the musician.

Davido tweeted:

“Ur downfall is coming u bastard, ungrateful broke fool!”

This is not the first time Twitter fans will hit at the award winning singer. A little more than a year ago, a fan referred to the artiste as a “daddy’s boy” and this did not go down well with him. The fan queried the sudden wealthy status of the musician and said he was living off his father’s billionaire status. Davido responded heavily to the fan’s attack.

Davido after having a wonderful 2014, on Tuesday took to Twitter to rant about someone he helped being ungrateful.

His tweet continues,

“Niggas forget who helped them so quick …. God don bless me I do my thing dey go keep my name out urmouth !! WHO U DON HELP IDIOT?”

It’s not yet known who his tweets were directed at.

Unbelievable! Bride Dumps Groom on Wedding Day

Ekene Uzoigwe (Groom)

It was a sad day at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Umuchu in Aguata Local government, Anambra. Where a bride-to-be refused to show up at the church that she can't get married to her supposed groom because he is a school drop out.

According to PM News, the woman, Ifunanya Igwebuike was supposed to get married to Ekene Uzoigwe but refused to show up to the wedding on Saturday, 3 January, 2015.

Guests were already present to witness the ceremony at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Umuchu in Aguata Local government, Anambra. Uzoigwe and the guests waited for Igwebuike for several hours. She eventually, sent a message to the Parish Priest, who was supposed to conduct the wedding, Rev. Father Lawrence Maduagwu, informing him that she was no longer interested in the wedding.

Igwebuike reportedly stated that she cancelled the wedding because she is a school graduate, and couldn’t marry a school drop-out like Uzoigwe.

Uzoigwe is a business man based in Abakiliki, Ebonyi State. He had met and fallen in love with Igwebuike in their hometown, Umuchu.

He subsequently proposed to her, and she accepted the proposal based on the agreement that he would pay her tuition fees. They had agreed to get married after her final year in school.

Uzoigwe who paid the school fees as promised. She attended Federal Polytechnic, Oko. He also took care of her, sending her money frequently.

The groom expressed shock at her sudden change of heart, as all seemed to be well prior to the wedding day.

He had already paid the bride price, and given her parents N160,000 to prepare for the wedding.

“If she had informed me, I would not have made arrangements. We had already cooked food and bought drinks for the wedding,” he said.

Her parents have agreed to pay him back all the money, stating that they couldn’t force her to get married.

Revealved! Why I Quit My Marriage - Moji Olaiya

The Popular Nollywood Actress Moji Olaiya during an interview with Saturday Vanguard revealed why she quits her marriage and unfolds some the closed chapters in her life.

Read the excerpts from the interview below;

On the things she will love to change in Nollywood:

Many of us lack discipline and the industry is now over flooded. In the past, people came into the industry because of the passion they had for acting but not anymore. Most of them now want to be famous quickly even when they do not have the talents. The ladies in particular, most of them go around almost naked. These ladies forget actors and actresses are like evangelists who preach through the television screen.  

On if she ever felt like quitting acting? 

Coming into the industry was borne out of passion, so I cannot quit acting for anything in the world.

Even marriage?

I can never quit acting for any marriage. I have said it in many interviews that even when I re-marry, the man will have to love me and my profession.

 You once said you are an evangelist in one interview.

I have never said I was an evangelist. I only likened acting to preaching through our movies. So that is it.

 You came into limelight in an English soap, Super Story, but now you feature more in Yoruba films.

I have many English soaps running at the moment so it is not as if I have left the English scene.

 On if she is a Muslim or a Christian;

I am a Muslim

But you were once a Christian, what happened?

 Yes, I converted. I fell in love with Islam. I am not saying Christianity is not an acceptable religion but as an adult, I am at liberty to choose any religion I like. I might decide not to practice any religion tomorrow. 

On her relationship with popular Veteran Musician Victor Olaiya?

 I don't want to say much about this. If these people say I am his niece, does that not also make him my relative. And as relatives, I can also call him father. So this issue is not logical regardless of their arguments. He is my father.

On how she has been coping after separation from your husband?

A woman needs a man in her life. There are things a man would do that you cannot do as a woman but I have no regret leaving my marriage.

Why did you say you have no regrets?

I have no regret leaving my marriage but I regret not being under a man's roof. It is not respectable in this part of the world. But I try to comport myself even as a divorced woman and as a typical Yoruba woman and to avoid scandal. I have a daughter to protect and cater for. 

What was the cause of your failed marriage?

The marriage was not working so I had to quit. My partner went as far as abusing me so I had to leave to protect myself and my daughter. 

You mean domestic violence?

Yes, domestic violence is just the right word.

Any man in the picture at present?

I am in a relationship but I am yet to be legally separated from my husband.

Were you legally married?

Yes. So at the right time I will reveal who the man is. I need somebody beside me.

Is your new film, Monsurat, born out of your marital experience?

Our mothers tell us that being over protective of one's husband does more harm than good. Monsurat is a story of a jealous woman who became a tigress in protecting her marriage. She went diabolical and this affected her husband's business. Later on her husband found solace in the arms of another woman and that was how she lost all. It is a story meant to educate our women to keep their space in the hearts of their men.