The 2011 Miss Nigeria Competition – View Contestants

With no swimwear contest the Winner of the 2011 Miss Nigeria has the chance to win;

• Full Scholarship to be educated in an Institution of Higher Learning, anywhere in the world.
• Luxury Car
• One year’s salary package of N3million naira.
• VLISCO designer Wardrobe for 1 year from Vlisco 2012 Collection.
• Will also enjoy njoy an all expense paid trip to the Six Yards exhibition in Arnhem, Netherlands courtesy of Vlisco.

2011 Miss Nigeria- FIRST RUNNER UP
The First Runner Up of the 2011 Miss Nigeria Competition will receive a Scholarship Sponsored by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria to any Private Institution of Higher Learning within the Federal Republic of Niger1a.

2011 Miss Nigeria- SECOND RUNNER UP
The Second Runner Up of the 2011 Miss Nigeria Competition will win a Scholarship to any Federal Government Institution of Higher Learning within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Other Prizes:
2011 Miss Photogenic
The winner of Miss Photogenic will be announced during the 2011 Miss Nigeria Grand Finale- November 18, 2011 and will win $1000 plus an all expense paid trip to the Hilton Hotel, Dubai courtesy of Studio 24- Official Photographers of the 2011 Miss Nigeria Competition.

2011 African Hostess
The winner of African Hostess will be announced during the 2011 Miss Nigeria Grand Finale- November 18, 2011 and will win a trip to Dakar, Senegal courtesy of Arik Air- Official Airline of the 2011 Miss Nigeria Competition.

  

View below the 37 contestants of the 2011 Miss Nigeria Competition

Contestant 1:

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Name: Rachael Abiriba
Representing State: Miss Abia
Voting Number: M1 

Contestant 2:

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Name: Zimuzo Benson-Iloani
Representing State: Miss Adamawa
Voting Code: M2

Contestant 3:

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Name: Utibe Ibom
Representing State: Miss Akwa Ibom
Voting Code: M3

Contestant 4:

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Name: Joy Okoye
Representing State: Miss Anambra
Voting Code: M4

 Contestant 5:

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Name: Ifeoma Umeokeke
Representing State: Miss Bauchi
Voting Code: M5

In Pictures: Genevieve Nnaji, Aliko Dangote & Jim Ovia receive National Honours

 Genevieve Nnaji

On the 14th of November 2011, Nigerians including business leaders, politicians, academics and actors were conferred with National Honours by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

A break down of the awards shows one Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCON, 65 Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON, 38 Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic, CFR, 74 Officer of the Order Federal Republic, OFR, 69 Member of the Officer of the Order Federal Republic, MFR, 71 Order of the Niger, OON, 28 Member of the Order of the Niger, MON, two First Class Federal Republic Medal and three Second Class Federal Republic Medal.

Top on the list of the recipients are Alhaji Aliko Dangote who bagged the second highest award, GCON, while the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal was among the 38 CFR recipients.

The nine governors of Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Rivers and Jigawa states and nine former governors were among the 65 recipients that got CON.

About Nine top Nollywood stars, including Stephene Okereke and Genevive Nnaji and Osita Iheme (pawpaw) among others, led by Kanayo O. Kanayo and Olu Jecobs were also honoured.

 Photos below....

Osita Iheme

Diezani Alison-Madueke

Jim Ovia

Stephanie Okereke

 

View full list below

Professor Chinua Achebe Rejects 'NATIONAL HONOUR', President Jonathan Reacts

The Renowned Nigerian literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe, has for the second time in seven years rejected an offer of a National Honor by the Nigerian government. 

Professor Achebe, globally recognized as one of the world’s most outstanding novelists and intellectuals, rejected the “national honor”saying; 

“The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me. I must therefore regretfully decline the offer again.”

President Jonathan responded by issuing a statement via his spokesperson Reuben Abati...

Coming as it does, against the background of the widely acclaimed electoral reforms undertaken by the Jonathan Administration, the claim by Prof. Achebe clearly flies in the face of the reality of Nigeria’s current political situation.

As reflected in the immense improvements recorded in the conduct of the last general elections change the political architecture complained about by Prof. Achebe and other Nigerians. which were applauded within and outside the country as the most credible elections in Nigeria in recent years, the Jonathan Administration has made tremendous efforts to positively

Politically, Nigeria cannot be said to be where it was in 2004 as the Jonathan Administration has embarked on extensive electoral reforms to institute a regime of electoral integrity that all Nigerians can be proud of, believing that governance will be greatly enhanced in the country if the will of the people prevails at elections.

While President Jonathan acknowledges that there are still challenges in the path of Nigeria’s attainment of its full potentials as a nation, he believes that his Administration is moving the country in the right direction and therefore deserves the support, encouragement and cooperation of all citizens.

The President continues to hold Prof. Achebe in very high esteem in spite of his regrettable decision which may have been borne out of misinformation as to the true state of affairs in Nigeria and hopes that he will find time to visit home soon and see the progress being made by the Jonathan Administration for himself.

Prof. Achebe remains in President Jonathan’s consideration, a national icon, a Nigerian of high attainments, indeed one of the greatest living Africans of our time

Bola Tinubu's First Nation Airways Begins Operation

Ex-governor Bola Tinubu's new airline company - First Nation Airways (formerly Bellview Airline) has commenced operation.

The resuscitated airline, which the former governor and ACN Chieftain allegedly bought for $30 million, started operations on Thursday November 3, 2011, with its first flight plying Lagos/Abuja route.

Got milk? Kelly Rowland For ‘Make Mine Milk’ Ad Campaign

 

The former Destiny's Child singer has been unveiled as the new face of the Make Mine Milk campaign.

The singer says of the low-fat milk awareness campaign: 'I really believe that looking after your body makes you feel good on the inside and happy on the outside. 'When I'm feeling fit, I also feel confident and comfortable in my own skin.

  

She reveals: 

T.I. & Tiny's Reality Show To Debut December 5 (Promo Pics)

The show "T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle," will give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at T.I.'s most private moments as he is reunited with his wife, Tameka (a.k.a Tiny), and his children following a 12 month prison sentence.

According to T.I

"Tameka and I have a strong, loving family, in this family documentary, you will see the challenges of raising children while balancing a career. It's like a lot of families, only our home is in the spotlight." 

 

Wedding Video: Amazing Father Daughter Dance

Rapper Heavy D dies at 44

TMZ reports,

 

RAP legend, Heavy D....real name Dwight Arrington Myers was rushed to an L.A. hospital around noon yesterday and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1 PM. He was 44 years old.

We've learned a 911 call was placed from Heavy's Beverly Hills home around 11:25 AM to report an unconscious male on the walkway .

When help arrived, we're told Heavy D was conscious and speaking and was transported to a nearby hospital.

He died a short time later. 

 

Law enforcement tell TMZ ... Heavy D had just returned from shopping and walked up some stairs when he began having trouble breathing.  Adam Mills, a designer who was in the building and knew Heavy D, found him leaning against a railing and clearly in distress.  Adam tells us he cradled Heavy D in his lap as others called 911.  Adam says Heavy D was conscious and said to him, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."  When paramedics took Heavy D to the hospital he had a pulse.  People in the building are saying he died of a heart attack, but we have not been able to confirm that.  Law enforcement sources tell us ... no foul play was involved and so far they only know the cause of death was "medical."

Pictures: Emeka Ike and Oby Edozien pose topless for movie poster

The Actor and Actress posed almost naked for new shoot to promote their upcoming movie, MR & MR.

Joe Frazier, Former Heavyweight Boxing Champ, Dies at 67

 

Boxing Legend, Joe Frazier also known as Smokin' Joe, 67, died Monday night in a hospice in Philadelphia. He had been suffering from liver cancer.

In 37 career fights, he scored 27 knockouts. He won Olympic gold in Tokyo in 1964 and lost only four times twice each to Ali and Foreman. 

 

He was a blue-collar boxer who carried the personality of his home town  'Philadelphia' with him every time he stepped into the ring. 

 

His family released this statement:

We The Family of the 1964 Olympic Boxing Heavyweight Gold Medalist, Former Heavyweight Boxing Champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame Member Smokin' Joe Frazier, regrets to inform you of his passing. He transitioned from this life as "One of God's Men," on the eve of November 7, 2011 at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We thank you for your prayers for our Father and vast outpouring of love and support.

 

May his soul rest in peace.

Video! Saturday Night Live spoofs Kim Kardashian's divorce. Hilarious!

Oando Group Chairman, Wale Tinubu, Covers Forbes Africa

Forbes, the international business magazine recently launched its African edition – “Forbes Africa“.

The first issue of the magazine hit newsstands in October 2011 and featured South African mining magnate/billionaire, Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe on the cover.

The attention has shifted to Nigeria for the November 2011 issue with “The King of African Oil” Wale Tinubu chosen as the cover person for this edition.

In the issue, Wale discusses his journey from “a leaky tanker to millions”.

The magazine is now available for purchase at bookstores all over Nigeria and Forbes Africa will be celebrating their launch in Nigeria on the 30th of November 2011 in Lagos.

FG to reintroduce tollgates on highways

Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen

 

 

The Federal Government has concluded plans to reintroduce toll gates on the federal highways, beginning from January 2012.

 

Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, on Thursday told the Senate Committee on Works that the proceeds from the toll gates would be used to effect repairs on the roads, which are currently in a state of disrepair.

Onolememen said his ministry was working towards getting a draft policy on re-inventing tollgate collection before the end of the year.

He said, "We are going to raise a Bill to introduce a policy that will gradually lead to the rehabilitation of our roads by re-introducing tollgates across the country because it is one of the ways that can guarantee sustainable development of our road network. We realise that our road sector needs a major reformation effort.

"We have set in motion the necessary machinery that will lead to the maintenance and rehabilitation of Federal Government roads through formation of road maintenance policy."

According to him, the works ministry has conducted a tour around the six geo-political zones and discovered the extent of damage on the roads.

He said the government would introduce other fines for the violation of traffic on the highways, noting that in the process more funds would be mopped up for the maintenance and rehabilitation of federal roads.

Source: Punch

Baba Suwe finally set free

After 23 days in detention in the camp of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, over suspicions that he concealed nacortic substance in his stomach, ace comedian, Babatunde Omidina a.k.a. Baba Suwe was this morning set free on bail by an Ikeja High Court. 

This brings the 23-day ‘stand-up comedy’ to an end with its attendant huge embarrassment for the NDLEA.

At the resumed hearing of the matter before the court this morning, NDLEA lawyer, Mr. Femi Oloruntoba told the court that since Tuesday, nothing incriminating has been found in Baba Suwe’s stomach.

Oloruntoba informed the court that NDLEA is not opposed to Omidina’s release on bail but the agency requested that he should report at its office on Wednesday next week for further investigation.

World population is now 7 billion

This year marks the 7th 'billion-person' milestone in the planet's history. According to the U.N Population Fund, as of Oct 31, there will be 7 billion people sharing Earth's land and resources.

And according to reports Nigeria has 168 million people.

But this makes me wonder, just one person has over 2billion or more in his account, thats not counting other potentials and yet there are people suffering on every continent. Hmmmmm......

President Obama tops Forbes' list of World's Most Powerful

President Barack Obama tops Forbes’ Most Powerful People in the world list this year, beating out the likes of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Bill Gates and even Mark Zuckerberg.

The ranking takes into account four factors which are;

• How many people a person has power over
• The financial resources controlled by each candidate, whether that is revenues (for a company), GDP (for a country) or net worth (for a billionaire)
• Is a candidate influential in more than one arena, or sphere
• How actively the candidates wield their power

There are seven billion people on the planet. These are the 70 that matter....

1     Barack Obama
2     Vladimir Putin
3     Hu Jintao
4     Angela Merkel
5     Bill Gates
6     Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud
7     Pope Benedict XVI
8     Ben Bernanke
9     Mark Zuckerberg
10   David Cameron

Kim Kardashian Speaks Out On Her Failed Marriage

In a post on her official website, Kim Kardashian reveals that she should have ended her relationship with Kris Humphries before they got married but that she got caught up in wedding hoopla and didn't want to "let anyone down".

In a blog post, the reality TV star writes:

"This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write. I see all of the support and I am so thankful for my fans, friends and family who are helping me through this difficult time.

I am trying not to read all the different media reports but it’s hard not to see all the negative ones. First and foremost, I married for love. I can’t believe I even have to defend this. I would not have spent so much time on something just for a TV show! I share so much of my life on a reality show, that contemplating whether to even film my wedding was a tough decision to make, and maybe it turned out to not be the smartest decision. But it’s who I am! We filmed Kourtney giving birth, Khloe getting married, break ups, make ups, our best moments and our worst moments. These were all real moments. That’s what makes us who we are. We share, we give, we love and we are open!

Comedian AY Starts Record Label

The top comedian has just launched his own record, which he calls Premiere Music. AY explained why he went into the music business to an Encomium reporter.

'A lot of young music artists kept coming to my office with their demo CD's. In fact, I have over 1, 000 CD's from different artists in my office. An up-coming artist will say 'Bros, we appreciate what you are doing for comedians, we want to see what you can do for us too.' But I kept telling them I'm not into music, repeatedly. It got to a stage that I began to ask myself, what is wrong in trying to see what we can do, since the people believe so much in me. That was how I came about Premiere Music'.

Nigerian Prophet Turns His Teenage Daughter Into Sex Slave

He started having sex with me in January and he did so repeatedly. He threatened me that I would die if I told anyone and that he was the only one God had directed to have sex with me," these were the words of 17 years old Eunice Sonoye after her father, Prophet Elijah Sonoye, was arraigned in a magistrate court for the wickedness he perpetrated on her.

Elijah Soneye is not only the father of 17-year-old Eunice Soneye, but also her feared tormentor. The 53-year-old was on 21 October dragged before Mr. A Adenariwo of Ota Magistrate Court, Ogun State, on a two-count charge of maltreating and inflicting grievous bodily injuries on Eunice as well committing indecent molestation and abuse on her.

 

The court was alarmed to see a frail Eunice with grosteque swellings and deep cuts all over her arms and body. The adolescent girl was helped into the courtroom by her mother, Rebecca, and older sister, Sarah. The looks on their faces spoke of their trauma. Few minutes after, the crowded court room was stricken with fear when Eunice, drained of strength and unable to stand the rigour of the proceedings, simply fainted.

 

Elijah was alleged to have sexually assaulted Eunice on several occasions, by fondling and sucking her breasts and asking her to massage his genitals. The scruffy looking Elijah pleaded not guilty to the charge and was asked by the magistrate to be remanded in police custody while the case was adjourned till 17 November.

 

Court grants Baba Suwe bail

The court granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 yesterday and ordered NDLEA till Friday Nov 4 to either get the drug excreted or release him.

Bishop Oyedepo Completes N2 Billion Goshen City

 

Bishop David Oyedepo has completed a multi million naira Goshen project, called Goshen City, situated along Kilometre 26, Abuja-Keffi Road, in Abuja. The new Goshen City is a camp like Canaanland, which is situated in Ota, Ogun State.

Goshen City, which sits atop over 560 acres of land, has a primary school (Kingdom Heritage Model School), a secondary school (Faith Academy), a youth centre, a mini housing unit, a 15, 000-seater auditorium, printing press and so many other facilities. It cost the church a whooping N2 billion and three years to make the Goshen project a reality.

Video: Romanian hooligan punches football player, cracks eardrum

 

From Telegraph

The attack on unwitting defender George Galamaz happened during a tie between Romanian clubs Petrolul Ploiesti and visiting Steaua Bucharest. 

After the away side had just scored to take a 2-0 lead shortly before half-time, the home fan raced onto the pitch past seemingly lax security and made straight for Steaua defender Galamaz.

With the player waiting for play to restart and completely oblivious to the impending attack, the black-clad fan leapt into the air and punched him firmly on the side of the head. With Galamaz left in a crumpled heap, his Steaua team-mates then rushed to stop his attacker.

After bringing him down near the halfway line Steaua players exacted immediate revenge on the pitch invader, for which Serbian defender Novak Martinovic, who can be seen kicking the supporter while he is on the floor, and goalkeeper Razvan Stanca were sent off.

Finally police and security broke up the ugly scenes and dragged the hooligan off the pitch.

Play was eventually restarted but the match was later called off by the referee when a flare was thrown onto the pitch.

World Footballer of the Year 2011 - Ballon d'Or Nominations

The nominations for the Ballon d'Or, also known as World Footballer of the Year, have been announced, with eight Barcelona players making the short list of 23. Manchester United have two players included, while Manchester City and Liverpool both have one.

Below are the names;

Éric Abidal (France), Sergio Agüero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Diego Forlán (Uruguay), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Gerard Piqué (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suárez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

Kim Kardashian Files for Divorce from Kris Humphries, Khloe defends big Sister

From US Magazine

Just 72 days after their $10 million wedding, Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kris Humphries on Monday, documents at TMZ confirm. The reality star also confirmed the news to Ryan Seacrest. "Yes @kimkardashian is filing for divorce this morning," Seacrest tweeted. "I touched base with her, getting a statement in just a few minutes."

"There were rumors up until the wedding and after the wedding," Seacrest added Monday during his radio show. "Looks like this is true and she is filing this morning (Oct. 31)."

TMZ reports that Kardashian, 31, will not seek an annulment and plans to cite "irreconcilable differences in her filing."