Alec Godwin and wife welcome baby girl

Barely five months after his second wedding, entertainment businessman and Gospel R&B singer Kefee’s ex-husband Alec Godwin is now a proud father of a baby girl.

Sources say Alec’s wife delivered at a Lagos hospital yesterday July 25, 2012.

Phone calls made to Alec’s phone were not responded to neither were text messages replied.

Alec ended his three-year marriage with Kefee Obareki in 2008 after protracted marital problems.

After Alec’s wedding in January, Kefee also tied the knot for a second time; she married popular radio host and show producer Teddy Esosa Don-Momoh popularly known as Da Fresh Prince.

Source: NET

FG sacks Nigerian Ports Authority MD

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday relieved the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr. Omar Suleiman, of his appointment.

The decision was contained in a statement made available to journalists by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati.

No reason was given for the sacking of the former NPA boss.

According to the statement, Mr. Habibu Abdullahi will take over from Suleiman as the new MD.

Abdullahi who hails from Kano State was the authority’s Acting Executive Director (Finance and Administration) until his new appointment.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Master’s degree in Public Administration.

In other changes made by Jonathan in Federal Government parastatals in the transport sector, Jonathan also approved the appointment of three new Executive Directors for the NPA.

They are Mr. David Omonibeke (Executive Director, Marine and Operations), Mr. Mohammmed Saleh (Executive Director, (Engineering and Technical Services), and Mr. Olumide Oduntan (Executive Director, Finance & Administration).

Similarly, the President approved the appointment of three new Executive Directors for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.

PUNCH

African first ladies begin summit amidst controversy, drama

It is expected to be an edifice for peace and conflict resolution in 12 months when it is projected to be completed.

However, the foundation for the African First Ladies Peace Centre was laid in the midst of intense security measures and controversy in Abuja on Wednesday by President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, Patience.

The atmosphere was enlivened by songs in praise of the President’s wife by scores of women dressed in resplendent white as well as traditional dancers from different parts of the country.

The venue of the foundation laying ceremony was the prime land situated between the Federal Secretariat and  Izon Wari, the Bayelsa State House, which had originally been allocated to non-governmental organisation, the Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation, belonging to former First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua.

The Board of Trustees of WYEF had approached an Abuja court to challenge the revocation of the 18,000 square metre land and reallocation of the same to African First Ladies Peace Mission chaired by Mrs. Jonathan.

Although, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice had requested for out-of-court settlement of the dispute, the conflict was yet to be settled before the foundation for the seven-storey edifice was laid on Wednesday.

As the first ladies approached the venue of the programme, Abuja Market Women led by Chief Felicia Sani, burst into Igbo songs in praise of the First Lady: Ahia oma n’ere onwe ya; Mama Patience, Ahia oma n’ere onwe ya; Anaghi ekwe ya onu (meaning: Good product that sells itself; Mother Patience, good product that sells itself; The price is not subject to negotiation).

As Patience made her way to the podium, the market women greeted her with two more songs: Patience, na you we know; Patience, na you we know; any other president, na them sabi; any other president, na them sabi.

Chelsea sign Brazil midfielder Oscar

Chelsea have completed the signing of Brazil playmaker Oscar from Internacional. The 20-year-old joins the European champions in a deal reported to be worth £25 million.
He is part of Brazil’s squad for London 2012 and played in the 2-0 warm-up victory over Team GB last Friday.

Oscar, full name Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior, is a product of the Sao Paulo youth set up.

Uche Jombo's Wedding pictures

Julie Odia owned WOW magazine, the celebrity magazine outfit that bought the exclusive right of Uche Jombo's wedding pictures, has finally released the pictures.

On Thursday, May 16, 2012, Uche Jombo took many by surprise when she secretly married her American lover, Kenny Rodriguez in a private beach wedding ceremony in Puerto Rico. Few days prior to her wedding, she denied any wedding plans when it was rumoured that she would be getting married soon.

Soon after her secret wedding, she returned to Nigeria without her husband. This further fuelled controversies over her wedding.

World Leaders Condole With Ghana Over Mills’ Death

United States President Barrack Obama, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma are among the world leaders mourning the death of Ghanaian President, John Evans Atta Mills.
President Obama, speaking through a press statement issued yesterday on his behalf by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said that late President Mills made a significant contribution to Ghana’s democracy and development, and forged a strong and positive partnership with the United States.
“As the third president of modern Ghana, he … promoted regional peace and reinforced Ghana’s reputation as a leader in Africa. President Mills was a champion for his nation and his loss will be felt around the world. My thoughts and prayers are with all the people of Ghana during this difficult time” Obama’s statement reads.
Also, UN Chief Ban Ki-moon said he is saddened by the death of Mills and offered his heartfelt condolences to the late leader’s family and the Government and the people of the country.
“President Mills will be remembered for his statesmanship and years of dedicated service to his country,” said a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson. “At this time of national mourning, the Secretary-General renews the commitment of the United Nations to work alongside the Government and the people of Ghana in support of their efforts to consolidate the country’s democratic and development achievements.”
In his reaction, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said Mills was “an inspiring leader of Ghana and a true Commonwealth champion, who will be sorely missed at home and internationally. He was a strong advocate and supporter of the Commonwealth, and our membership benefited enormously from his active participation in Commonwealth life and his wisdom.
“Ghana was the first independent nation from Africa to join the modern Commonwealth and made impressive strides under his leadership, in both the fields of democracy and development. I remember with great warmth, my official visit to Ghana in 2009 and the very fruitful interaction that we had.”

Leadership

Okonjo-Iweala to Reps: we can’t run budget 100% by Sept

The Executive fired back at the House of Representatives yesterday over its insistence on full implementation of the budget by September.
The lawmakers warned before proceeding on recess last week that failure to implement the budget 100 per cent will lead to impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan.
Yesterday, the Executive ruled out the possibility of full implementation of the budget. But Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala explained that 56 per cent of the budget had been implemented with about N404billion cash released.
The budget Bill signed into law on March 15 was N4.69trillion.
The third quarter fund will be released within the next two weeks, according to the minister.
She spoke to State House correspondents in Abuja. With her were Minister of Information Labaran Maku; Director General of Bureau for Public Procurement Emeka Eze and Director General of Budget Dr. Bridgt Okongu. She said there had been a lot of improvement in the implementation of the budget, saying the 39 per cent recorded for the month of May had increased to 56 per cent by mid-July.
“First, in my experience worldwide, there is hardly any country where you would implement 100 per cent even by the end of the year and this is based on very broad experience.
“But people try to get at least to 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the budget by September, you know September is the ninth month of the year, we will definitely be moving towards the figure.
“I think the point is that Mr President is determined to implement this budget as fully as possible and, therefore, we will be moving towards 90 per cent by the end of the year because the budget was made for the whole year.
“So you can see that there is no lack of effort, no lack of goodwill. If we could go from 39 per cent in May to 56 per cent by mid July, that shows a considerable leap and I’m quite confident that as we go month by month, we will be able to look at it and say yes a good effort has been made for the country.”
Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala also noted that the review of the implementation level of the budget by the Executive which has seen three ministers, Police Affairs, Interior and Agriculture appearing before the President to state key indicator performance of their ministries, was to be able to keep a tap on what have been achieved.
She went on: “As you know, we have released about N404billion so far, cashed back N324billion and the utilisation of that is 56 per cent. We will soon be considering the release of the third quarter funds, we hope to do that within the next two weeks or so.
Source