Nigerian Girl Emerges Best Graduating Student In The American University

A 20 year old Delta state born Merrilyn Akpapuna (pictured above) on May 10th 2014 emerged overall Best Graduating Student of Dillard University, an Ivy league school in New Orleans, USA .  Merrilyn, the daughter of a dental surgeon, graduated with a first class honors in Psychology. She also won two other awards for highest academic achievements for the College of Arts and Sciences and College of General Studies. Her feat made her share the podium with US First Lady, Michelle Obama, who attended the school's convocation. Merrilyn is pictured above with the President of Dillard University, Dr Walter Kimbrough. Congrats to her. What an inspiration.Three other Nigerians also shined at the convocation ceremony. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>>

Unemployed Graduates To Start Earning Allowance In Nigeria

The Federal Government should be paying all unemployed Nigerian graduates in Nigeria a monthly salary of 19,800 Naira, same amount being paid to National Youth Service Corp members. According to, Committee on Law, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Reform made the proposal and is doing it utmost best for it to be accepted at the plenary and by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The committee believe this is a major way of curbing the high rate of crime in the country. The committee also urged the federal government to do the needful for the increasing number of jobless graduates in the country.

We have done our part, it is now left for the delegate to accept or decline at the plenary, a member of the committee said.National Conference is accepted by the Federal Government. The move is said to have been suggested by the Committee on Law, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Reform at the Confab.

Members of the committee urged the government to pay unemployed graduates the same allowance that is given to members of the National Youth Service Corps. Currently, youth corpers around the country are being paid a stipend of N19,800 monthly.A member of the committee said the recommendation was one of the ways the committee members felt that crime could be reduced in the country. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>>

Caleb University Release Statement On Students' Riot On May 14th

A statement from the school's PRO, Olusola Emiola, below : The protest by male students on campus on the 14th of May 2014 had nothing to do with religion. A certain man, a non student was apprehended by our security personnel for trying to bring prohibited items into the school. After much interrogation, he mentioned the names of the culprits involved. An official went to the male hostel to get the students mentioned, one of whom was praying in the hostel. The students involved along with other students faced with student disciplinary committee cases took advantage of the interruption of prayers to start the protest. The university properties worth millions were destroyed and this act was carried out by the male students. The students have been sent home on recess to resume back 2nd of June 2014. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>>>>

List Of Top Notable African Women You Should Know

There are always lists of professionals who embody leadership and excellence promoted in mainstream media, bringing prestige, pride and sometimes added scrutiny, especially when minorities are omitted or excluded for whatever reason.

Well, I was more than happy to read a recent list lauding 40 African women leaders on the continent and in the diaspora by The AWP Network, a Web platform and global movement that offers African entrepreneurs business resources, educational tools and community support.

“The AWP Network Power List” includes several leaders who have received global recognition from both mainstream and minority media outlets, but also includes a diverse list of other women who may be under the radar but exemplify excellence in leadership and advocacy. Each serves as inspiration and motivation for all power women on the come up.

Check out a few notables from the list, as detailed by The AWP Network, and be encouraged to push for your own global boss moves as power women on the rise:

Omobola Johnson (Nigeria) Early in the year, AWP Network founder, Mary Olushoga wrote an article asking if African Female Techpreneurs are Lagging Behind? and what should be done to ensure the inclusion and participation of girls in ICT. Honorable Omobola Johnson takes ‘person of the year’ because by the end of the year, she took action and used her very influential position to create programs and policies that will ensure that Nigerian girls become active participants in the ICT sector by launching the ‘SmartWomen Initiative’ and the ’1000 Girls in Training’ program. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>

Who Are The Richest People In Britain? 2014 Richest People In Britain Are Even Richer Than They Were Pre-Recession

Richard Branson, chairman and founder of Virgin Group Ltd, is among the top 25

The number of billionaires living in Britain has risen to more than 100 - more than triple the number from a decade ago.

The combined wealth of the Britain's super rich is now ahead of the pre-recession levels of 2008, when the total wealth of the UK's 75 billionaires was £201 billion.

A decade ago, a personal fortune of £700 million was needed to be among Britain's 50 wealthiest people. The entry point to the UK top 50 today is £1.7 billion.The 104 billionaires in the UK today have a combined wealth of more than £301 billion.

It means Britain has more billionaires per head of population than any other country, while London's total of 72 sterling billionaires is more than any other city in the world, the study found.

Indian-born brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja top the list of the UK's wealthiest billionaires with a fortune of £11.9 billion.

The London-based pair, who run the global conglomerate Hinduja Group, saw their wealth rise by £1.3 billion in the last year, the study found. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>>

China To Build New East Africa Railway Line

Regional leaders and visiting Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang attended the signing ceremony

Continue reading the main story

Construction work on the standard gauge line is expected to start in October this year, and the 610km (380-mile) stretch from the coast to Nairobi is due to be finished in early 2018."The costs of moving our people and our goods... across our borders will fall sharply," Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told a news conference after the signing also attended by the leaders of China, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan and representatives from Tanzania, Burundi and the African Development Bank. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>>

Aliko Dangote To Invest $2.3bn In Northern Nigeria

Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, says he would be investing $2.3bn in rice and sugar production in the north. The billionaire industrialist made this known recently at the just concluded World Economic Forum, WEF Africa. He said creating job opportunities is the surest way to end the Boko Haram scourge. He also revealed that he would be investing a total of $12billion in Nigeria, and $4bn outside the country over the next four years.

OAU Student Built A Car That Runs On Solar And Wind Energy

Segun Oyeyiola is about to change the world, With scraps and ₦1 million,  Segun Oyeyiola, a final year engineering student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has successfully converted a petrol engine Volkswagen Beetle into a car that runs on solar and wind energy. Using scraps and materials that have cost him close to ₦1 million, Oyeyiola has spent the past year working on the project which, in his own words, is driven by the need to reduce global warming: “I wanted to reduce carbon dioxide emission[s] going to our atmosphere that lead to climate change or global warming which has become a new reality, with deleterious effect: seasonal cycles are disrupted, as are ecosystems; and agriculture, water needs and supply, and food production are all adversely affected.”  SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>>

‘If You Hit My Sister, I’ll Hit You': Could This Be The Cause Of Jay Z & Solange Knowles Elevator Tussle.

Solange Knowles getting physical in an elevator at The Standard Hotel after the Met Gala. Speculations have been flying around about what could have caused the family tussle on a night like that. It’s been almost 24 hours since TMZ released the video of Beyonce’s husband, Jay Z, and her sister. A Twitter user shared the screenshot below, claiming that Solange posted the tweet yesterday, allegedly giving her reason for engaging in a squabble with her brother-in-law, but later deleted it.

See the tweet below AFTER CUT>>>>>>>>

Britons Blast David Cameron For Carrying #BringBackOurGirls Sign

A Briton, Joseph L Walker, minutes ago took to twitter to call out British Prime Minister David Cameron to act and do something about the missing Chibok girls instead of carrying the #hashtag. He expressed his anger after seeing the Prime Minister and CNN's Christiane Amanpour holding the #bringbackourgirls protest placard. No be only us dey abuse our leaders

Dangote: Creation Of Jobs Will End Boko Haram

Africa's richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, MFR, GCON has provided a solution to the Boko Haram insurgency that is threatening the oneness of Nigeria as a nation. The Nigerian billionaire said creating jobs fir the teeming Nigerian youth is the only way to solve the terrorism and insurgency which has defaced the northern economy and dented Nigeria's image. is a business magnate in Nigeria. This was Dangote's position at the  opening plenary session of the ongoing World Economic Forum on Africa holding in Abuja. The business mogul the recognisation of the need for job creating in such volatile areas is why his company is investing in the North West, Adamawa in particular. SEE MOREA FTER CUT>>>

Photos: D' Banj Currently In Abuja At World Economic Forum

Nigeria's forest Entertainment  star D'banj AKA KOKO MASTER is a delegate at the on-going World Econimic Forum Africa taking place in Abuja. He's on the Agriculture panel. (He's pictured above with Tony Elumelu). Good for him, SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>

With A Street Dude Looks This Nigerian Student Bags A 5.0 GPA

The Oakland teen, who is a senior at Technical High School, has a 5.0 GPA, scored a 2100 on his SATs and has been accepted into Yale, Brown and Columbia. 

18 year old Akintunde Ahmad (pictured above) doesn't look like your average brilliant student. He could be and has been mistaken for a street thug, because of his looks, his sweatpants, gold chain and dreadlocks, but you know what they say, never judge a book by its cover.Tunde was recently on the Ellen Degeneres show were he announced he has decided to attend Yale. The talk show host invited Tunde to her show after hearing about the many obstacles he had to face to get to where he is today. Ellen wanted to do something for him that he'll never forget."I didn't even know you could get a 5.0 GPA ... Have you always been a good student?" Ellen asked Tunde. "Yeah, I guess it started when I was young - just got on like a good path, when I got home from school after practice and sports, always right to homework," Tunde said.

Ellen presented Tunde with a check for $12,000 to help with tuition.. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>.>>

Motivation: Monday To Remember

I often get asked, "How did you stick with it?" Referring to the craziness that was my corporate finance life, training 80-100 mpw, with a long commute, The answer was, and still is, simple: I want it. I wake up every day and truly want it. I want to prove to myself that I am capable. That I am strong. That I can do something impossible.

At a lot of the presentations I give, I hear so many people say that they've tried a million times to start exercising, eating healthier, losing weight, to stop smoking or another bad habit... the list of resolutions is endless. How will this time be any different?

My advice? Spend some time to define your true goal and what motivates you to get there. Can you find a motivation or multiple reasons in you that is so strong that you're willing to trudge through a hundred bad days before you start seeing progress? That even on the 100th bad day, you'll still wake up and still just want that goal?

Define why you want to start, so that when the days and the journey get tough, you can remember why you started.  What's your motivation? What keeps you going? SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>

15 Most Important Questions Nigerians Want President Goodluck Jonathan To Answer During Presidential Media Chat Tonite.

See 15 questions the Nigerian President must answer during the Presidential media chat which would commence at 7pm today and they have urged the journalists who would interview him to ask these questions;

1. Kidnapped GGSS female students: a) How much time the government needs to ascertain the number and identity of girls kidnapped; b) (More important) When would the girls be freed?

2. Is it true that the government is negotiating with the kidnappers to free the girls? If yes, then would you consider paying ransom for their release?

3. Would you say the emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States has been effective?

4. Do you plan to extend the state of emergency in the North-East?

5. Do you have remorse for dancing at a political rally in Kano barely 24 hours after Abuja bomb blast?

6. What would be your next steps in fighting insecurity in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, and other North-Central states? SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>

Nigerian Student Wins $350,000 Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship

A Nigerian student of Hubert Flowers High School named Oloruntobi Dare, is among the 1000 beneficiaries to win the coveted Bill Gates Millenium scholarship worth $350,000. Oluwatobi who is a naturalized American has shown a consistent display of talent and brains since her pre-school in the USA.  Aside from winning the Gates scholarship, she has won other awards including, Most Outstanding Science Student, Hubert Flowers High School, Maryland; Winner, Prince George’s Community Church’s 8th Annual African American History Essay Contest; 3rd place winner, Maryland Coalition for Gifted and Talented Education Essay Contest 2014; and Maryland Representative at the commemoration of the 70th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Day Parade. Congratulations to her.

Linda Ikeji Denies Affair With Jude Okoye: ‘I Won’t Have Sex Till I’m Married’

Nigeria's Popular blogger, Linda Ikeji denies claims that she is/was dating P-Square’s manager and video director, Jude Okoye. Linda took to her blog to correct the notion widely held by many that she and Jude were an item. According to her, “Meanwhile, where did all this I dated Jude Okoye come from? I saw all the comments in the previous post (his engagement) and I was like…what? Lol. I’m sure he’s a great guy but nah, not happening. I’m not into celeb men. I’m an Igbo girl, that one na bad market. Hehe. I gossip for a living, imagine if I were dating any Naija celeb guy, I won’t be able to write about his colleagues na, they will be reporting me to him everyday. Lol. No, biko, I stay far away from them. I’ve only met Jude and his brothers twice in my life, briefly, at events,” she stated. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>

NERC Orders Discos: Stop Reckless Billing Of Electricity Customers

Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) have been ordered by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to immediately end reckless billing of consumers across the country.The directive was handed at the April CEOs meeting in Abuja by the Chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi. Briefing journalist at the end of the monthly meeting with generation, distribution and transmission companies, Amadi stated that that the Discos were still engaging in arbitrary billing to which they must put an end. He stated that it is their responsibility to provide customers with pre-paid meters, adding that in the absence of meters, the Discos must ensure that estimated billing follow the guidelines provided by the NERC. “We have made it very clear that it is the responsibility of the Discos to meter the customers even though we have time gap to bridge the metering deficit but we want to see real action on that. We expect to see a robust metering plan but we have also insisted that in the interim before everybody is metered, the reckless estimation must stop immediately,” Amadi said. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>

National Conference: Call For True Federalism & Other Matters Seek Extension.

The National Conference Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government have all agreed that the SouthEast zone should be at par with others. The Southeast has five states; others zones have a minimum of six states. Jubilant Southeast delegates praised the magnanimity of the Committee. The Committee also adopted a simplified procedure if states wish to merge. Members of the Committee were unanimous in supporting the creation of additional state for the SouthEast. But Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange warned that the creation would lead to a deluge of demands from other parts of the country. This, in his view, may be difficult to manage at the critical stage. He said the viability of additional states should be considered as only five could be said to be viable of the 36 states. He said fiscal federalism would put a stop to agitation for state creation.

Senator Ahmed Aruwa said the Southeast demand is legitimate as the request had been on for long. States, he said, should be created where necessary in line with conditions spell out in the Constitution. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>

Dangote, Okonjo-Iweala Now Listed In Time's As One Of 100 Most Influential People In The World

Africa’s wealthiest man and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, were on Wednesday named among the100 most influential persons on earth by the Time Magazine, Bill Gate, Microsoft Founder and Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation wrote a tribute in honour of Dangote in commemoration of his listing by the magazine.

Gate dwelt extensively on the philanthropic gestures of the business mogul in the areas of health especially polio eradication and job creation efforts. While Gate was lavish in his praises of the timely response of Dangote to the need for a health alliance by the private sector SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>>>>