Baby dies in blaze after mom locks door

Abuja - A seven-month old baby has met her demise after she was burnt to death in a fire incident, Punch reports.

The blaze, which broke out at the Ikota Housing Estate in Lagos, started when the child's mother left her stove unattended while the child was locked in a room.
Although officials from the Lagos Fire Service were called to the scene, there is little they could do to contain the blaze, as the structure had already been gutted.

Rasak Fadipe, Director of the State fire service, confirmed the incident and said that although firefighters arrived on the scene with 10,000 litres of water, the property had already been extensively damaged.
Fadipe warned the public of the dangers of refuse burning, saying that community members should police each other in order to avoid disaster.

Dream Team set to boycott U23 AFCON final against Algeria

Dakar - Tension in the camp of the Nigerian U23 escalated shortly after beating Senegal to secure a place at next year’s Olympic Games with players threatening to boycott Saturday’s final against Algeria.
The Dream Team VI, as the Nigerian U23 are otherwise called, beat hosts Senegal in the semifinal to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics, but their celebrations were short-lived as players threatened not to honour the final match against Algeria if their outstanding match bonuses and allowances are not paid.

As previously reported the News24, the players are yet to be paid their match bonuses and allowances dating back to the All Africa Games in September, while coaches have also not been paid their salaries for the last four months.
In a bid to abate the players’ restiveness, Coach Samson Siasia had to dole out $100 each to the players out of his own pocket shortly after they drew with Algeria to qualify to the semifinal of the competition.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation have continued to maintain that the body is cash strapped, with some officials blaming the Treasury Single Account (TSA) as reason for them not being able to access their funds with ease.

Buhari advised to dump upcoming Kaduna festival

Abuja - The senator representing Kaduna North, Shehu Sani, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to decline an invitation to the eagerly-anticipated Kaduna Music Festival.



The legislator denounced the staging of the fete in the face of economic and security challenges besetting the city, region and rest of the country.
The music show is slated for Saturday and Sunday at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium where RnB legend, Joe Thomas, from the United States is set to perform alongside top local acts.
While organisers have promised  a spectacle, Sani is not amused.
“The upcoming multi-million naira jamboree stands unreservedly condemned. The event is an indecent and immoral proposition and an affront to the people of Kaduna, the North and the whole of Nigeria struggling to survive economic hardships and pervasive insecurity,” Sani said.
He said it was “shameful, disgraceful, irresponsible and utterly insensitive” that such festivities could be held amid bloodshed and economic difficulties.
Sani cited the Boko Haram insurgency in the North as well as struggles by some state governments to pay workers.

“It’s callous and amounts to insouciance that at a time when thousands of civil servants and pensioners across the nation remained unpaid, multi million naira is about to be wasted in a musical event,” said the legislator.
“With over 25 000 innocent persons killed by insurgents, more thousands abducted and unaccounted for, over 2 million people displaced from their hamlets, homes, villages and towns in the north, and with soldiers on the frontline fighting and dying to restore peace and order in the north, the musical event is nothing other than playing the fiddle while Rome is on fire."
Sani said the musical jamboree was nothing but a complete waste of public and private resources that could have been channelled to address other social and economic needs and emergencies o
“It’s ironic that the very proposed venue of the event where millions of tax payers money will be wasted, the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, remains an uncompleted arena for the past 50 years,” said Sani.
“The Kaduna musical festival is a spit on the face of abandoned orphans, neglected widows and widowers ‘generated’ by the violence in the North. I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to reject the invitation to attend the charade.”

An African leader doing the continent proud

Malawi’s new president, Joyce Banda has decided to sell the country’s £8.4m presidential jet and fleet of 60 Mercedes government cars.

Joyce Banda, who came to power in April after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, recognised the importance of curtailing government exuberance, a problem that is endemic in so many nations across the African continent. By ridding the state of these liabilities which benefit so few and rinse the the state coffers by so much, Joyce Banda can now start to focus on bringing Malawi’s budget deficit into surplus.

Last month Banda was quoted in the local press saying that she had no problem “offloading it (the jet) as I can well use private airliners; I am already used to hitchhiking”.

Mutharika, the previous president bought the presidential jet in 2009, claiming it was less expensive than leasing an airplane every time he travelled. He subsequently came under fire for this claim and was also condemned for purchasing a 58-room mansion in his home district and granting his wife a salary.
This positive regime change has been welcomed by western countries such as Britain, whose high commissioner was expelled by Mutharika for branding him “autocratic and intolerant of criticism”. As a result, in May this year Britain pledged £23m to help stabilise a moribund Malawian economy and £10m will be given to boost the country’s health system.
Here at Naijaviral we say, keep up the good work Joyce, and may this altruistic style of state governance prevail across the continent in the future.

Former President Jonathan escapes death

Yenagoa - Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday escaped death by whiskers when some suspected militants allegedly working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State drove into his convoy, reports NewsDay. 
The militants intercepted and drove into a short motorcade conveying Jonathan from the Julius Berger bridge area of the state capital Yenagoa.
The men then trailed and chased the motorcade to the entrance of the Yenagoa private residence of the former President in the Kpansia area of the town.


They were, however, overpowered and arrested by a combined team of security operatives attached to the former President.
The men have been taken to the Bayelsa State Police Command for further investigation and interrogation.

Okonjo-Iweala rebuffs latest links to arms deal

Abuja - Former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has dismissed new accusations of corruption leveled against her.
According to her, Edo Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and other powerful and corrupt interests, have initiated a baseless story in some online media linking her to graft.
“These evil elements have distorted the contents of a memo dated January 20, 2015 in which the former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala responded to a request by the former National Security Adviser, Col Ibrahim Dasuki (retired) for funds to prosecute the terror war against Boko Haram, her Spokesperson, Paul Nwabuikwu, said.
Also Read: Oshiomhole dares Okonjo-Iweala to sue him
Dasuki is under probe for the alleged theft of US$2 billion theft and awarding of phony contracts in the controversial arms deal.
“The attempt to link the former Minister’s name to any misuse of these funds for any purpose other than security as far as she understood it is totally false and cannot stand,” said the former minister’s spokesperson.

The 7 coolest dressed African presidents of all time

When we look at the variety of presidents that have spanned the African continent since the early days of independence in the 1950’s, we can confidently say that some of them rocked it when it came to fashion.

1. Jean Bedel Bokassa

This despot ruled The Central African Republic for over 10 years by coming into rule via a military coup. Although he did bring some positive changes to the country like banning genital mutilation and building a more robust public transport system, his ego ultimately hindered any real progress in the C.A.R. The photo below shows him at his presidential inauguration in 1966 lavishly adorned in gold, sitting on a gold throne, wearing a gold crown, with a gold eagle in the backdrop. This whole ceremony cost the state over $400 million!

2. Haile Selassie

The kings of kings, Jah Rastafari, and Emperor of Ethiopia, there is no doubting that the forefather of Rastafari had style. Below is a picture of him with his lion cubs at his palace in Addis Ababa.

3. Hastings Banda

This suave southern African ruled Malawi for over 30 years, but during that time always made sure he looked sharp.

4. Jerry Rawlings

This flight lieutenant became president of Ghana via a coup d’tat in 1979, but always stayed looking cool whether it was in military attire or national dress.

5. Olusegan Obasanjo

Arguably Nigeria’s most successful president, he served two terms in office, and in that time bolstered sustained growth in Nigeria’s economy via large-scale reform in both industry and education. Below we see him wearing Yoruba national dress when meeting US president, Jimmy Carter.

6. Nelson Mandela

One of the most influential figures of the 20th century, period. His flamboyant shirts only enhanced his global popularity even more.

7. Goodluck Jonathan

Perhaps not the most popular Nigerian president to have been in office, but certainly one of the coolest dressers around.