HBD Comrade Ismail Olaitan Afolabi aka Marble

Happy birthday to you Comrade Ismail Olaitan Afolabi, the Editor-in Chief of Heartbeat Magazine and a quintessential up and coming journalist and human right crusader. May Allah continue to strengthen you and increase your wisdom and knowledge in good health. God Bless you, our own Hon Marble    

B/H's suicide bomber kills 26 worshippers in Maiduguri mosque

A Boko Haram's suicide bomber yesterday killed 26 worshippers in when he sneaked into a mosque along Ali Kotoko Road, near Monday Market in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.

 Security sources assisting in the evacuation of victims said told journalists that no fewer than 28 persons were also critically injured in the mosque where the incident occurred at about 3:45pm when Muslim faithful gathered to perform their afternoon Al-ashri prayer.

Many feared killed as Boko Haram terrorists fired several arsenals into Maiduguri

Most residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital had a sleepless night as suspected Boko Haram insurgents freely fired dozens of arsenals into residential areas using rocket propelled grenades (RPGs).

Many civilians are feared killed by the RPG bombs that landed and destroyed houses of civilians, witnesses said. Thunderous sound of blasts began around 12.25am and went on till around 3.30 in the morning. This made it difficult for people, especially those living in the outskirts of Maiduguri to sleep.

Buhari warned political forces over undue influences

The new President, Muhammadu Buhari has warned political forces in the country that he would not be answerable to them in the next four years as the President insisted that he belonged to nobody.

He gave the warning in his inaugural speech after he was formally sworn-in as the successor to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the nation’s capital on Friday.

In his inaugural speech, Buhari dressed in a cream-coloured kaftan with a brown cap to match stated that while he was prepared to serve Nigerians, who voted him into power on March 28, he would not be under the control of anybody.

CJN swears-in Buhari as President

Thirty one years after being ousted in a military coup, Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn-in by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, as the new civilian President of Nigeria.

The inauguration of Buhari, a retired General, who won the March 28 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, brought to an end the 16-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party on the political landscape of the nation and the five-year Presidency of Goodluck Jonathan, who became President in May, 2010.

APC chieftains including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola were also on the occasion.

Mahmud swore-in Buhari, who became the Head of State in a December 31, 1983 coup that ended three-month second term reign of Second Republic President, Shehu Shagari, at 10.51am on Friday, marking the beginning of his four-year tenure.

Abuja agog for Buhari

Global attention shifts to the world’s most populous black nation on the planet, Nigeria, where the country’s fifth democratically elected president, Muhammadu Buhari, will be inaugurated on Friday (today).

The event expected to be witnessed by many world leaders will take place at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the nation’s hilly capital city. As of the last count, no fewer than 20 world leaders have flown into the country in readiness to attend the ceremony. Activities at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, peaked on Thursday as Presidents and representatives from many countries landed at the facility and were subsequently driven to their various hotels.

Buhari Receives Handover Notes from Jonathan

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari said President Goodluck Jonathan chose the path of honour by congratulating him on the telephone and conceding defeat before the final collation of the results of the 2015 presidential election. 

Buhari said this inside the Council Chambers of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa Abuja yesterday after receiving the handover document from President Jonathan. The president-elect stressed that with that telephone call; Jonathan had changed the course of Nigeria’s political history and had earned himself a place in the country’s history.

Jonathan to pack out of Villa on Friday

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he would pack out of the Presidential Villa on Friday, the day his successor Muhammadu Buhari will be inaugurated. Jonathan spoke at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja while receiving members of the Universal Peace Foundation who conferred on him the Peace-Loving Global Citizen award.

The president said both Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which provided the platform for his election four years ago should share in the encomium showered on him.

“My singular act has made you now to come and honour us. Not just me, I ran the election with the vice president and if we had won, two of us would have been here; but by that act, two of us are packing out on Friday.

Fountain University holds pre-Ramadan lecture

Fountain University, Osogbo (FUO) held a pre-Ramadan lecture at its campus as part of activities to sensitise students, staff and members of public on the significance and benefits of month of Ramadan and the fasting. 

 A lecturer at the Department of Actuarial and Insurance, University of Lagos, Dr. Tajudeen Yusuf who delivered the pre Ramadan lecture emphasised on the need to educate Muslims properly and guide against dangerous radical views among the students. 

Non-indigenes speak joyfully of Osun

At a recent forum in Ijesa, Osun State, non-indigenes  look  back at   their many years of residence in the state.

They were in ecstasies as they danced to the traditional music provided by a cultural group.  Of course, they had every reason to be happy. Most of them have lived and worked in Osun State for close to 30 years and they are successful. Hundreds of people of Igbo origin under the aegis of the  Non-Indigenes Forum in Osun State converged in a hall, chatting, eating and making merry during the inauguration of the Ijesa Zonal Chapter the forum.
The non-indigenes could barely hide their excitement. From the way they were rejoicing, even the blind would know that they are happy living in the State. 

The Forum was formed to promote cooperation among the non-indigenes in Osun state and defend their interests. According to the  forum, the non-indigenes constitute about 40 per-cent of the population of the state, and have been partaking in the electoral process and many other activities in the state. 

Osun varsity gets $4.45m Canadian help to boost vegetables production

Canadian government has awarded $4.45 million to Osun State
University, Osogbo, to boost indigenous vegetable production and
utilisation technology in Nigeria, The grant was released by
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to the international
research consortium led by Professor Clement Adebooye of the
Agronomy/Crop Physiology of the Osun State University.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, the acting Vice Chancellor,
Professor Oguntola Jelil Alamu, declared that the project will be
implemented in the six states of the South-West, Kwara and Benin
Republic.