Federal Government Has No Plan To Remove Oil Subsidy, Says Okupe

The Federal Government stated yesterday that contrary to the speculation in the media that the government was planning to withdraw the remaining subsidy on petrol, such plan is not on its table for now. They said for now o! :-)

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, released the statement saying:

"We wish to state categorically that, the removal of oil subsidy is not on the table of the Transformation Agenda of the President. The statement made by President Goodluck Jonathan at the recent Economic Summit held in Lagos was a frank, intellectual and well articulated contribution by the President to the discussion on the Nigerian economy at the said summit, and it was from a honest and sincere leadership perspective."

"It is an undeniable fact that every responsible leadership, genuine stakeholder and patriot must be worried when a nation spends about  N1 trillion, an equivalent of about 20 per cent  of the national budget, on subsidy paid out to a few companies and enjoyed in the main by very few elites, while the common man benefits only minimally.

"However, it is an incontrovertible fact that sufficient allocation for fuel subsidy has already being made in the 2013 budget; therefore, there is no cause for alarm on removal of subsidy. The President and this administration are not insensitive to the plights of the Nigerian masses and will continue to pursue and execute policies and programmes that are in the overall interest of majority of Nigerians and that will bring the greatest good to the greatest number of our teeming population.

"Finally, for the avoidance of doubt and at the risk of being repetitive, this administration is not considering the issue of removal of fuel subsidy in the nearest future and certainly will not embark on any such programme without extensive consultations and engagements across the various segments, interests and stakeholders in the Nigerian polity."

Signed
Dr Doyin Okupe

V Channel Host Super Star Rugged Man,Mr 2kay and others at Troy Lounge

V Channel Host Super Star Rugged Man on friday at the Troy Lounge, featuring Mr 2kay, Mbryo and Fedi. Date is 29th Match 2013, at 1 Oladele Kadiri Street Ogba, Lagos.

The Super Star Rugged man will be given audience melodious sounds with his sensational Rapping skills and along side the Water Side Boy aka Mr Bubugaga who is currently making waves in Nigeria and Overseas.

Mr 2kay aka Mr Bubugaga will go on a tour with the Super star Rugged Man Nation wide to perform in clubs.
The new spanking single titled Bubugaga is in a high demand currently and the fast rising star will also be in Bonny island in River State to perform in this Easter to support his community.

If you are in Lagos, make sure you don't miss this great event.....

The Forbes Five: Hip-Hop's Wealthiest Artists 2013

1. Diddy - $580 million: The bulk of the Bad Boy Records founder’s wealth comes from non-musical ventures, namely his deal with Diageo’s Ciroc. The agreement entitles him to eight-figure annual payouts and a nine-figure windfall if the brand is ever sold—and Ciroc’s value has never been higher

2. Jay Z - $475 million: He’s still rolling in cash from megadeals like his $204 million Rocawear sale in 2007 and his $150 million pact with Live Nation the following year. He continues to hold stakes in Roc Nation, Carol’s Daughter, the Brooklyn Nets and, more significantly, the Barclays Center itself, while adding new partnerships with the likes of Duracell, Budweiser and Bacardi’s D’ussé Cognac

See the last three after the cut...

3. Dr Dre - $350 million: It's thanks mostly to his Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. A year after selling 51% of the company to handset maker HTC for $300 million in August 2011, Dre and his partners bought back half of the half they sold in 2012—and their investment continues to soar in value due to Beats’ whopping 65% market share of the premium ($99 and up) headphone market.

4. Bryan “Birdman” Williams - $150 million: Riding from his Cash Money/Young Money empire. His roster includes Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne (the latter crossed the $100 million threshold for the first time this year, by our estimates, but remains just outside the top five). Birdman also recently launched a YMCMB clothing line and a spirit called GT Vodka.

5. 50 Cent - $125 million: The bulk of his fortune came from heavy sales of his music, merchandise, video games and books in the wake of his smash debut Get Rich or Die Tryin’- and particularly from his payout for the sale of his stake in VitaminWater parent Glacéau to Coca-Cola in 2007.

Akon: Why I'm A Change Man

Akon is a Senegalese-American multi-platinum selling singer, well-known for his successful solo work and his impressive roster of collaborations.

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In pictures: Akon's career

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Akon is Senegalese-American multi-platinum selling artist and producer
• He has collaborated with stars including Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga
• Akon is releasing his fourth studio album in summer
• He says he wants to make a big impact in Africa

(CNN) -- He calls it "my spaceship."

From the soundproofed walls and floor to the large sofas and keyboard racks, there's only one prevailing color inside Akon's state-of-the-art personal studio.

"It is all white," says the multi-platinum selling artist, of the studio where he has recorded and produced several of his R&B and hip hop hits. "It helps me think a lot easier," he adds. "This is my place of creation -- I am self-engineered, I pretty much work everything in here myself."

Read this: Roaring success of 'Lion King' musician

It's also here where the Senegalese-American singer is putting the final touches to his fourth studio album, expected to be released in June, nearly 10 years after he first rose to fame with his 2004 debut offering "Trouble."

Akon looks back on tough childhood

Akon: I was a bad role model

Akon: I'm investing in Africa

Since then, Akon has sold millions of albums around the world and collaborated with countless pop and hip-hop icons such as Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dog and Eminem.

Along the way, he's also stirred up controversy on several occasions, catching criticism for exploiting his criminal past, as well as for his sexually explicit lyrics and concert shenanigans.

Born in the United States to Senegalese parents, Akon, or Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, spent his early years in the West African country.

"What I remember the most really was just running wild there," he says. "Barefooted, swimming in dirty lakes, selling fruit, picking mango trees, hoping not to get caught because they don't take kindly to thieves in Africa," he adds, laughing.

Read this: Healing a wounded nation through music

At around the age of 8, Akon left the "jungle" of Senegal for the "concrete jungle" of New Jersey. Yet, the transition into his new environment wasn't easy.

"Making friends was the hardest part," says Akon of his school years in the United States. "I didn't speak any English; it was a different culture, dressing different. I would get teased a lot -- not playing the bully card -- but I found myself always trying to find ways to fitting in. I was always fighting."

Akon says that it was this reality, coupled with a desire "to be cool," that sent him off the rails during his teenage years. Aged as young as 14, he was running with a bad crowd, involved in illegal activities including stealing cars -- which led to a six-month jail stint.

Africa was really expecting me to represent them well and at that time I don't think I was doing that.
Akon, singer

Today, Akon says he feels "lucky" to have left that lifestyle behind him.

"The guys I came up with, none of them are here right now," he says. "Four of them are dead, three are doing double life," he adds. "It's more of a bitter-sweet success story for me because I was the one that actually slipped away and its only because I made the decision to change my life over after that one experience."

Read this: Afrobeats going global

But it was this background that shaped Akon's first steps in music. In 2004, he released his first single, "Locked Up," to great success. Two years later, his second album, "Konvicted," reached triple platinum with three million copies sold in the United States and more than five million worldwide by the end of 2007.

But despite "Konvicted's" mega success, Akon says that period was a "confusing" time for him.

"All these records being broken and all the money made, you almost want to make yourself believe that you are invincible," he says. "I wasn't sure what I was becoming."

During a notorious Akon concert in 2007, the singer threw a 15-year-old boy off the stage and onto a teenage girl who suffered a concussion. "I was charged for it -- to this day, if I could have changed that, I wouldn't have did it."

During those days, Akon says, he let down Africa.

"I was the first to break it internationally, on that level, from Africa," says the rapper. "Africa was really expecting me to represent them well and at that time I don't think I was doing that."

The person you see today is not the one from yesterday.
Akon, singer

But that year also marked one of his most high-profile collaborations, working in the studio with Michael Jackson on a duet called "Hold My Hand." Akon finished the vocals in 2009, after Jackson's death, and the song became the first single released on the King of Pop's posthumous album titled "Michael."

"We snuck off to go to the movies, he had a disguise on," says Akon, recalling his collaboration with Jackson. "It was me and his three kids and we were on the escalator and the people were like 'Akon, oh my God, Akon,' and I am signing autographs and laughing, thinking 'you don't even know who is beside me' -- the whole time, he is standing there laughing."

Looking ahead, Akon says his goal is to give back to his continent. He's set up Konfidence, a Senegalese foundation that's working to build schools and hospitals in the country, he says.

"I have learned a lot along the way and I am glad that I never regretted enough because my past made who I am today," he says. "Just do understand that the person you see today is not the one from yesterday.

"I am going to keep advancing, doing as much as I can, but I really want to make the biggest impact in Africa."

2 Nigerian girls seek Pres. Jonathan's intervention from deportation from Canada

Got this email from Funmi Macaulay, a US-born Nigerian presently living in Brooklyn, NYC, and the founder of Nigerians Unite Against Boko Haram (NUABH). She wrote an article about the plight of Ihuoma and Victoria, two young Nigerians living and studying in Canada who are on the verge of being deported back to Nigeria. The two girls have been holed up in a church basement the last nine months and . See Funmi's article below...

I am surprised that I have not read in any media, local or international, about efforts by the Nigerian government to help two Nigerian students who have been on deportation list in Canada for a 'crime' that makes mockery of the very ideals that western societies proud themselves on - hard work. Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma Amadi, 20 and 21 respectively, having been holed up in the basement of a church in Canada - not for document forgery. No, not for 419, internet scam or fake marriage, but for attempting to work and earn decent stipends to augment what they get from home.

See the rest after the cut...



The news media in Canada has been awash with the reports since June 2012 when the two University of Regina students took refuge in a church hoping that the Canadian authorities will forgive them for working in Walmart for two weeks. The issue here is that the student visa they carry permits them to work on campus but not outside.  The students have in their various interviews stated that they stopped the Walmart jobs immediately they became aware of the restriction.  But the Canada authorities have simply refused to budge.

Maybe the situation has lingered the way it is because of the green color of the passport they carry.  I doubt that the Canadian authorities would have held their grounds the way they've done for almost a year now if these two students were Americans, Indians, Chinese or even South Africans. As one born of Nigerian parents in the US, I have the privilege of knowing how it feels traveling with the Nigerian passport and that of the US.

It is instructive that while Walmart that employed the students have gone without any rebuke from the government, these two young ladies have remained imprisoned in a church basement for more than nine months now without knowing what day light looks like.  While immigration authorities accepted that Walmart had made an honest mistake in their hiring practices, the same leniency wasn’t granted to the students.

“Walmart was given the benefit of the doubt, while the students weren’t,” said Michelle Stewart, an associate professor in the University of Regina, who's been campaigning for the release of the two Nigerians.  “The most common response to this type of infraction is a fine of $320,” said Stewart.  "This is Canada, but it feels like hell for us," Ihuoma said in an interview with CBS Canada. "We feel forgotten here, nothing is happening at all."

Friends and well-wishers of these two students have in the last nine months mounted pressure on the Canadian government, but not much has been achieved. I have been involved in the social media campaign to drum support for these innocent young Nigerians, but much as the protests on and off line continues to grow, the Canadian authorities have remained hard-heartened.
Canada holds strong trade relations with Nigeria and is hoping to grow its economic presence in the country as a springboard to reach the rest of Africa. Being Canada's largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa should serve as an incentive in extracting the right government action on diplomatic matters like this. This is the time for Nigeria to flex some diplomatic and economic muscles.

I remember when the reclusive North Korean government arrested two US journalists and sentenced them to 12 years imprisonment with hard labour for illegally entering the country.  President Obama sent former president Clinton to the country and in 24 hours those two lady journalists were released to join their families. Nigeria, by virtue of its economic and strategic might, can achieve similar result when efforts are made from the top. Don't think I'm naive.

I expect President Jonathan's government to act now.  Please save Victoria and Ihuoma from what their lawyer has described as 'honest mistake'.
Funmi Macaulay wrote in from New York

Spanking New Female Act 'Pryzz'

Ibiye Precious Fred aka Pryzz is born on the 31st January 1990 from a family of 7 and she is from Buguma Town in Asari Toru Local  Government Area - Kalabari Kingdom in Rivers State.
She grew up in Lagos, attended Ronik Comprehensive School Ejigbo.
She started singing at the age of 10 at the children choir at Four Square Gospel Church llasamaja Lagos and the Redemeed Christain Church Port Harcourt till date.

She had her first track in the year 2011 after much thought of what to do with her life,she was in search of what to do with her God giving talent then she seek advice from friends,family members and close friends who truly saw her dreams agreed with her to forward her musical career.

She came up with the first track titled 'A Girl Like Me'. her inspiration on this song was because of how she became an artiste, l call 'it the process' and she also said the inspiration of this song was shown to her in a dream.
She has decided to step up her game. She also have another song in her kitchen getting ready to come out any moment.

The word 'any moment' may be tomorrow, a day after that her new single will be dropping.
She may be dropping songs like pure water according to her.
By the grace of God she wish to be connected to a record label because she will be needing a label that will take her to next level.

She has performed in various event where the crowd loved her songs and even asked of buying her Cd's if the album is ready.
Expect more songs from this sexy belemacious queen from the South South of Nigeria...
 You can listen and download her song here... for inquires and booking contact 07034286440

click here to DOWNLOAD

Niger Delta Boys - Jah Reigns

Jah Reigns is a creative Rapper who has done alot in the music industry.

He has currently released another single titled Niger Delta Boys which signifies where he came from and the struggle in general.

As once a body builder with his sexy looks, the artiste is going back to training soon. He will be more sexy than Iyanya.

He is performing in different states starting from good friday to easter monday.

we learn that two record label are hunting for him but he said he is still taking it's time to scale the best record label that will take him to next level... He said there is room for more record label to come in.

You can download and listen to Niger Delta Boyz here...

 Click here to DOWNLOAD