Nigerian economy out of recession, growing strongly—World Economics

The Nigerian economy is out of recession and growing strong, says United Kingdom-based World Economics.

The organisation, which is  dedicated to producing analysis, insight and data relating to questions of importance in understanding the world economy, said this development was reflected in the growth of its April Sales Managers’ Index, SMI, for Nigeria, which rose to 58.5 per cent from 56.7 per cent in March.

According to a report on its website, the organisation said: “April Sales Managers’ Index, SMI, data suggests that the Nigerian economy is continuing to grow out of the recession which saw 10 months of consecutive contraction in 2016.

“The Market Growth Index grew to 58.5 in April as the monthly Sales Growth Index ticked up to 56.7, its highest value since 2015 and representative of rapid growth. Price inflation for April, which is tracked by the Prices Charged Index, remained high at 58.7 – indicative of high levels of inflation. A slowing trend has, however, developed for the past nine months.”

(Vanguardnews)

Mozambique footballer is killed by a 16-foot crocodile

Estevao Alberto Gino (pictured) was dragged into the river by the crocodile after putting his hands into the water after jogging

A teenage footballer was snatched and killed by a 16-foot crocodile while training along the banks of a river in Mozambique.

Estevao Alberto Gino, 19, played for Atletico Mineiro de Tete, a club in Mozambique's second division, and was training near the Zambezi river in the western province of Tete.

His coach, Eduardo Carvalho, explains: 'He was training and after jogging he stretched his hands into the water and that was when the crocodile caught him.'

He was not with his team-mates at the time but two neighbours who witnessed the attack estimated the crocodile to have been about 16-foot long, and said 'they could not do anything' to save him.

Estevao, a centre back, had played for the team - named after a Brazilian team - for several years, starting in the youth team.

The club posted this image on their Facebook page, showing they were in 'mourning' (luto).

On their Facebook page they wrote: 'We are mourning our player, our brother, our friend, our son and our eternal central defender Estevao Alberto Gino, only 19 years of age with a promising future, who was the victim of a crocodile on the banks of the Zambezi river.'

They offered their condolences to his family and described his death as an 'irreparable loss'. 

Local police spokesman Leonel Muchina said the player's body has not yet been found.

Crocodile attacks are common along the Zambezi river. 

Last week villagers in neighbouring Zimbabwe cut open a crocodile and found the remains of an eighth years old boy inside the beast. 

Two neighbours who witnessed the attack in Tete, Mozambique estimated the crocodile to have been about 16-foot long (file photo)

Timaya sets Enugu on fire with legendary performance at Real Deal Experience

Headlining the Real Deal Experience music train for a record sixth time, Timaya ensured there was no single minute of boredom, wrapping up the crowd in a whirl of scintillating performances.

Ranked amongst the best and most popular annual music shows in Nigeria, the Real Deal Experience by Nigeria’s fastest growing stout brand Legend Extra Stout is one every fun-loving Nigerian always looks out for.

So when the train hit the capital city of Enugu last weekend, the expectations were very high and true to its usual billing, it delivered great fun, high level excitement, and enjoyment of the finest locally brewed stout, Legend.

And who else to light up this event and send the raving crowd of fun lovers to a heaven of musical bliss at the Polo Park Mall than the King of Dancehall himself, the Egberi Papa One of Bayelsa, Timaya.

In a manner reminiscent of a mass choir rehearsal, the fans joined in an hour-long sing-along daring the singer himself to outshine them in his own game.

Song for song, killer dance moves for killer dance moves, it was one night residents of Enugu and Timaya himself would not forget in a long while.

Timaya entertained the crowd with his hits, from his debut ‘Dem Mama’ to ‘Ukwu’ and the club banger, ‘I Concur,’ the A-List performer treated his fans to a bevy of his best songs as Legend Extra Stout made sure there was no shortage of premium Legend stout for everyone present.

The Tipsy Kelvano band and comedian, De Don also added to the spice with their fantastic performances to the applause of the crowd.

With a full complementary live band, a state-of-the-art stage, a crowd of loyal Legend stout consumers and fun lovers, and Timaya’s unparalleled stagecraft, trademark energy and bravado known across the length and breadth of Africa, there was really no way Real Deal Experience Enugu could have been anything short of a memorable night for the residents of the coal city.

An excited Timaya said, ‘It’s been a fantastic night I must say. There was too much love from the fans. I can only say a big thank you to them for the love.’

He added, ‘I’ve been on the Real Deal Experience train for a while and it just keeps getting better. The platform provided by Legend Extra Stout is a great one, not just for me as a musician but also for local acts.

‘You never know where you’ll get your break as an entertainer so I really commend Legend team for helping local talents too.’

And that was not all for the night.

For the first time in the history of the Real Deal Experience, a live simulation room was introduced to give Legend consumers a more enriched experience of the brand.

They got to watch the different unique elements that make up Legend stout.

There were also different game shows for the audience and hundreds went home with exciting prizes like flat screen TVs, generators, refrigerators and much more.

‘As the a leading stout brand in the country, we care a lot about consumer experience. We want to consistently engage our consumers by delivering real value to them wherever they are,’ Oluseun Lawal, Brand Manager, Legend Extra Stout, said about the night.

He went on to say, ‘The Real Deal experience will continue to bring Nigeria’s biggest acts to every neighborhood so fans can get to meet and interact with them on a more personal level, just as we continue to use the platform to promote local talents too.

‘We are happy people had fun and we’ll continue to delight consumers in every city with the Real Deal Experience. So with good music, A-list artiste, loyal fans and plenty bottles of the finest stout, of course, you can only get a perfect night of fun,’ he added.

Legend Extra Stout is a unique bitter tasting premium stout, fully brewed from the finest ingredients and bottled under the highest quality standards.

And the Real Deal Experience is Legend’s signature annual nationwide music tour launched to better interact with the brand’s customers.

The tour takes Nigeria’s biggest music stars to grassroots areas around the country to entertain Nigerians and give fans the wonderful experience they crave for.

It also rewards Legend’s consumers with exciting gifts such as flat-screen TVs, generators, and refrigerators.

The Real Deal Experience has been to Nnewi and Enugu this year and will visit other cities in Nigeria in the coming weeks.

So expect the Real Deal Experience in your neighborhood soon.

(Thenet.ng)

US drops 'largest non-nuclear bomb' in Afghanistan area populated by Isis members

The US has dropped the "mother of all bombs" - the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the US military - on an area of eastern Afghanistan known to be populated by Isis-affiliated militants.

The Pentagon said the strike was the first time the 21,000lb weapon had been used in combat operations.

A spokesperson for the US Department of Defence confirmed to The Independent that a MC-130 aircraft dropped a GBU-43 bomb at 7pm local time.

The weapon is known in the US Air Force by its nickname MOAB, or "mother of all bombs". MOAB stands for massive ordinance air blast.

Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said the bomb was dropped on a cave complex believed to be used by fighters affiliated to Isis in the Achin district of Nangarhar, close to the border with Pakistan.

The mission had been in the planning stages for months, the Pentagon said in a separate statement. However, they "did not have the information" on whether the mission was being planned during the previous Obama administration.

US Army General John W Nicholson, commander of the country's forces in Afghanistan, said in a written statement that the strike was designed to minimise the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the Achin area "while maximising the destruction" of Isis fighters and facilities. He said Isis has been using improvised explosive devices, bunkers and tunnels to strengthen its defences.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the US had used a “large, powerful and accurately-delivered weapon” to disrupt the movements of militants in the country. 

“This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against Isis,” General John Nicholson, the head of US and international forces in Afghanistan, it said in a statement. 

Though the Pentagon confirmed to The Independent that the "signoff" went up to General Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, they could not say whether the order went all the way up to the White House.

A source said Donald Trump may have authorised the use of the bomb but he does not have to. There has been no official confirmation of the President’s involvement in the strike.

Source (http://www.independent.co.uk/)

‘Someone has won but the nation stays losing’ – Seun Kuti says about Big Brother Naija

Son of the Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti, Seun says there is no cause for celebration when the whole nation is suffering.

According to him, ‘I believe that the fact someone from the Niger Delta won the BBA nonsense is very accurate. I mean what other region has been fucked by international extractors more.

‘While the majority jubilate when one of them is given peanuts in return for their suffering. Someone has won but the nation stays losing! Another big L for Nigeria and I don’t mean the late talent.’

He went on to state that Big Brother Naija mobilised youth more than the 2015 general elections did.

‘When Big Brother’s celebration of senseless consumerism and misdirection gets more young people voting than our national elections and candidates, we just need to raise better people, shikena.

‘I mean I thought we Fela kids were the ‘no do wells’ and the uncouth! How come we care so much? Re evaluate yourself.

‘What have you learnt in the past 90 days that you couldn’t have learnt just paying attention to your own life?’

Do you agree with him?

United States Federal Court Rules Females are Free to Display Their Breasts in Public

Evolution of the human species started from nakedness. The concept of indecency didn’t exist. As we developed into complex beings, we found reason to cover ourselves – to protect ourselves from the weather.

But in this so-called modern era, morality and ethics have become a highly contested issue among academics, governments and society as a whole; some people are of the opinion that a person should be granted an unlimited right, including allowing nudity in public places.

For some, this argument is considered profane and injurious to the social fabric of modern society. In conservative societies such as Africa and the Muslim world, certain dresses are considered indecent. Wearing them can be considered offensive, and the culprit, mostly women, can face punishment. There is no room for the debate of nudity in such societies.

This sharply contrasts with the Western world. People in the West are permitted to wear what they like. In Europe, for example, there are selected places where nudity is allowed. There has been a significant surge in places such as beaches and hotels where people can take all their clothes off without the worry of repercussion.

In the United States though, the issue of sex and the body is not that lax. Some municipalities have their own laws on how people should cover their bodies in public. Although there has been rising pressure from activists to get rid of these laws, towns and cities officials are determined to protect them.

The Municipality of Fort Collins in the state of Colorado passed an ordinance (No. 134) in November 2015, banning girls and women older than nine from exposing their breasts in public unless they were breastfeeding. City officials argued that allowing females to publicly expose their breasts would likely cause distraction among drivers and pedestrians. This, they believe, has a tendency to disrupt public order.

The law was quickly challenged in court in May 2016 by the activist group Free the Nipple. Free the Nipple is a movement that started from a 2012 film of the same name. The group staged protests throughout the city in the past, gathering topless in public spots. Commentators even suspect the activities of the group made city officials pass the law that banned them from exposing their breasts in public. Free the Nipple went to court demanding an injunction on the law.

The gender equality group said the ordinance was restrictive and discriminatory against women in the city. The group explained that if the law was fair, it should have banned both genders from exposing their breasts in public. But city officials countered this by saying the law did not discriminate because male and female breasts are different.

When the facts of the case were presented before the court, District Judge R. Brooke Jackson granted a preliminary injunction on ordinance No. 134. Jackson ruled that the law is discriminatory against women, as well as perpetuating stereotypes that sexualized female breasts.

The court stated that the primary difference between male and female breasts is the ability to breastfeed.  Although the court noted the physical differences between the two, it stipulated that it was not enough to warrant different treatment from the government.

“I find that the ordinance discriminates against women based on the generalized notion that, regardless of a woman’s intent, the exposure of her breasts in public (or even in her private home if viewable by the public) is necessarily a sexualized act. Thus, it perpetuates a stereotype engrained in our society that female breasts are primarily objects of sexual desire whereas male breasts are not,” Jackson wrote in his ruling.

Although this is not the final ruling of the case, Jackson wrote that he granted the injunction in part because he believes he will ultimately find that the ordinance passed by the city violated the Equal Protection Clause.

He stated: “The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment bars state governmental entities from discriminating between the sexes unless they have an ‘exceedingly persuasive justification’ for doing so. In this case, Fort Collins has on the books an ordinance that on its face discriminates against women.”

City attorney, Carrie Daggett said in a statement after the ruling that the city will review the judge’s decision and consider the next steps. It now looks as though the city is reluctant to give up on the case.

Source (Amando Flavio-AnonHQ.com)

Check out photos from the white wedding of Liz Benson’s daughter

Sequel to her traditional wedding about a week ago in Akwa Ibom, Liz Benson's daughter, Lilian's white wedding held today, April 8. Here are first photos of the bride from the wedding.

Source(thenet.ng)