2019: Atiku Visits Fayose

Former Vice President and 2019 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday visited Ekiti State for a meeting with Governor Ayodele Fayose.

While in Ekiti, he rallied support for Kolapo Olusola, the PDP candidate in the state in the July 14 governorship election.

A statement from the office of the Director General, Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCO), Gbenga Daniel, also disclosed that the campaign team will be in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State capital on Tuesday in continuation of Mr Abubakar’s nationwide tour.

The statement noted that Mr Abubakar will be in Rivers State on a two-day visit between Wednesday and Thursday where he is expected to commission some projects executed by Governor Nyesom Wike in the State.

Nicki Minaj Abstaining From Sex While Single For The 1st Time: Only A ‘King’ Can Have My Body

For the first time since she started dating, Nicki Minaj is a single woman — and she’s not using this time to sleep around! In a new interview, she reveals why she’s abstaining from sex instead.
Nicki Minaj is a changed woman now that she’s single. “Spiritually, I’ve experienced more growth in the last six months of my life, of my career, than I have in the last eight years,” she tells Elle. She credits that change with the fact that this was the first time in her life since she was 15 years old that she hasn’t had a serious boyfriend. The time alone has given Nicki the power to realize that she can do just fine as an independent woman who does NOT need a man.
“I remember feeling like I could do anything at one time in my life,” she continues. “And somewhere along the line, I just started second guessing myself, for whatever reason. As soon as I realized that I could actually live and breathe, and eat and slep, and walk and talk without having a boyfriend, something clicked in me. Becoming single was one of the things that made me feel strong and powerful. The fact that I am a young woman who doesn’t need a man for money. I don’t need a man for a job. I’ve never had to f*** for beats. I’ve never had to f*** for a record deal. I on’t have those pressures.”

Boko Haram fighters celebrate Sallah in Sambisa

A video of Boko Haram insurgents celebrating Sallah in Sambisa forest has surfaced online.

In the five minutes, 17 seconds video, the insurgents held prayers with guards welding rifles.

The clip was released a day after 20 persons, including children, were killed by suicide bombers in an attack in Damboa local government area of Borno state.

The federal government has continuously claimed that the Boko Haram sect has been decimated.

But in the clip which surfaced on Tuesday, three insurgents were heard thanking their god for a successful Ramadan.

Melania Trump calls for end to immigrants’ family separation

Melania Trump, U.S. First Lady, has called on both Democrats and Republicans to join forces to stop federal authorities from separating children from their parents when apprehended at the border. In a statement issued by her office, the first lady expressed empathy for affected families, saying the country should be governed “with a heart”. “Mrs Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform. “She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with a heart,” the first lady said in the statement by her Spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham.
Nearly 2,000 children were taken away from their parents in a six-week period ending in May under the new policy of President Donald Trump’s administration. The first lady’s statement echoed the president’s words on Friday saying: “I hate the children being taken away”. Trump, however, blamed the Democrats, adding: “The Democrats have to change their law – that’s their law”. Laura Bush, wife of former President George W. Bush, has also launched an outspoken attack on the policy in a statement in the Washington Post. The former first lady said:

Should the affected states scrap the anti-grazing laws?

It is within the legislative powers of state Houses of Assembly to make laws for the good governance of the affected states. If in the wisdom of the states concerned, they decide to repeal any existing piece of legislation; it is within their powers to so do. This is my personal opinion and not that of the NBA. Any individual who feels the law adversely affects his rights as a citizen; such a person can seek redress in court. I am afraid there is no place for sentiments in the eye of the law, the courts are there to deal with issues of the law.

My main worry is that the government has been unable to curb the incessant killings of Nigerians in most of the affected states. If suspending the law in this case is what is required for peace to reign, we could explore other options such as dialogue with herdsmen if it is established that they are responsible. Since the government has failed in its responsibility to protect, we are not going to scrap the law; we keep the law in abeyance and dialogue. It could also be decided that the law will not be enforced for now so that if that will curb the killings, we could explore it.

We have the military and the police and other security agencies, yet the killings are going on. The security agents should do their intelligence gathering. They keep on saying it is Boko Haram today, another day, herdsmen, and maybe some foreigners another day. Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why do we have a government, if it cannot do its job?

German Leader, Merkel Faces Ultimatum From Ally Over Migrants

Hardliners of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc are poised Monday to give the German leader an ultimatum to tighten asylum rules or risk pitching the country into a political crisis, as tensions over migration reignite across the EU.

Three years after her decision to open Germany’s borders to migrants fleeing war in Syria and Iraq and misery elsewhere, Merkel is still struggling to find a sustainable response to the complaints from her Bavarian allies CSU over her refugee policy.

Monday is “destiny day for Angela Merkel. For the government,” wrote the mass-circulation newspaper Bild on Sunday.

European Union countries are once again at loggerheads over migration, triggered by Italy’s recent refusal to allow a rescue ship carrying 630 migrants to dock.

Malta also turned the vessel away, sparking a major EU row until Spain agreed to take in the migrants.

In Germany, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer of the CSU has been one of the fiercest critics of Merkel’s liberal stance, under which a million asylum seekers have been admitted into Germany since 2015.

He now wants to turn away at the border new arrivals who have previously been registered in another EU country — often their first port of call, Italy or Greece.

But Merkel says that would leave countries at the EU’s geographic southern periphery alone to deal with the migrant influx.

"We Will Beat Iceland, Argentina To Qualify" — Rohr

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has put aside Nigeria’s shock 2-0 defeat in the hands of Croatia as he insists that Nigeria still has the chance of going through from Group D.


Nigeria occupy the last spot at the bottom of the Group but the German coach who blamed the defeat on defensive naivety from set pieces by Croatia said that Nigeria can roar back to reckoning by beating Iceland and seeing off Argentina in their last group game to go through.


‘’Everything is possible in football. “It’s important to make at least four points if you want to qualify,” Rohr added.

Afghan Taliban frown at militants' Eid ceasefire selfies

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Taliban official also said Pakistan had wanted the Taliban to include U.S. and other foreign troops in the ceasefire, but the Taliban’s leadership and supreme commander, ‎Sheikh Haibatullah Akhunzada, did not agree.

“Last night, an emergency meeting was called and all the commanders were informed and directed to take strict disciplinary action against all those Taliban members who visited citizens and took pictures with the Afghan authorities,” he told Reuters.

Some Taliban seen taking selfies w‎ith Afghan government forces and officials had been warned, the Taliban official said.
Both the Afghan government and the militants declared temporary ceasefires for the end-of-Ramadan Eid al-Fitr holiday, leading to fraternization between the two sides as militants emerged from their hideouts to enter towns and cities.

The government ceasefire did not include the Islamic State militant group and the Taliban did not include U.S.-led foreign forces in theirs.

The Taliban ceasefire ended on Sunday. The government extended its ceasefire with the Taliban, which had been due to end on Wednesday, June 20, by 10 days.