FORTUNE FOCUS

The Ooni of Ife, Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade is dead. He died today in London at the age of 85. Oba Sijuwade was the fifth Ooni of Ife. He climbed unto the throne on December 6, 1980. As the Ooni of Ife, he presided over the Ife territory, in the South West Nigeria but his influence went far and beyond. He came into office at the height of the supremacy fight amongst Yoruba Obas. The crisis pitched him against the Alaafin of Oyo. It festered on until Osun state was carved out of the old Oyo State. Before he became an Oba, he studied at Abeokuta Grammar School and later at Northampton College in the United Kingdom before he became a manager at Leventis stores. Oba Sijuwade’s term as Oba was characterised with political treachery, as he was one of the traditional rulers that meddled in politics. He was infamously instrumental to the annulment of June 12, 1993, elections won by late Moshood Abiola. The Ooni had also been severally fingered in the failed effort to have Senator Iyiola O...

NYSC DG, Brig-Gen. Johnson Olawumi The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig.-Gen.Johnson Olawumi, said on Wednesday in Kaduna that prospective corps members with First Class degrees would henceforth be posted to universities for their primary assignments. Also to be posted to the universities, according to Olawumi, are corps members who graduated with distinction from polytechnics. This is just as the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, stressed the need for positive orientation of corps members across the country. The governor, through the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youths and Sports, Kaduna State, Alhaji Ibrahim Balarabe-Musa, also hailed the decision to deploy first class graduates to tertiary institutions to serve. He added that with the lack of lecturers in the nation’s institutions of higher learning, the decision was a welcome development. Speaking at the inauguration of the 2015 Batch ‘B’pre-orientation workshop, the DG also disclose...

President Muhammadu Buhari The Presidency on Wednesday admitted that the issue of gay marriage came up during President Muhammadu Buhari’s four-day official visit to the United States. It said the President, however, rejected the idea “point-blank.” The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, disclosed this on his Twitter handle on Wednesday. Adesina said the issue of gay marriage was raised in one of the meetings that the President attended in Washington DC on Tuesday. He, however, refused to disclose the specific meeting attended by the President where the issue was raised. The presidential spokesman said when the issue came up, Buhari made it clear that sodomy is against the law of Nigeria and abhorrent to the country’s culture. “The issue of gay marriage came up here yesterday (Tuesday). PMB (President Buhari) was point-blank. Sodomy is against the law in Nigeria, and abhorrent to our culture,” Adesina posted on his Twitter handle. Among...

Greek banks are expected to reopen today, three weeks after they were shut down to prevent their collapse, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras prepares for a second parliamentary vote, crucial to securing a bailout. Greeks will regain access to some basic bank services, including the ability to deposit checks and access safe deposit boxes. Although customers will continue to face restrictions on cash withdrawals, the daily limit of 60 euros ($65) will be replaced by a cumulative maximum of 420 euros a week. The Athens Stock Exchange, which had also been closed during the month-long confrontation between Greece and its creditors, is expected to reopen, as trading was suspended only until the bank holiday ended. A spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment. Tsipras is seeking discussions with euro-zone governments on a third bailout after Greek lawmakers went along with their demands for more economic overhauls. Hours after the vote early Thursday, the European Central Bank appro...

Song of the year Mavins: “Dorobucci” (Nigeria) – Winner Best Collabo AKA, Burna Boy, Da LES & JR: “All Eyes On Me” (SA/Nigeria) – Winner Best Male Davido (Nigeria) – Winner Video of the year “Nafukwa” – Riky Rick; Director: Adriaan Louw Best Female Yemi Alade (Nigeria) – Winner Best Hip Hop Cassper Nyovest (South Africa) – Winner Evolution Award Dbanj (Nigeria) – Winner Best New Act Patoranking (Nigeria) – Winner Best Live Act Diamond (Tanzania) – Winner Best Group P-Square (Nigeria) – Winner Best Pop & Alternative Jimmy Nevis (South Africa) – Winner Best Francophone DJ ARAFAT OFFICIEL (Ivory Coast) - Winner Best Lusophone Ary (Angola) – Winner Personality Of The Year Trevor Noah – Winner

1 – 85%, yes 85% of all snakebites occur when people attempt to kill or capture snakes. Just leave them alone! They will NEVER strike out of pointless aggression (unlike humans, who are undeniably the world’s most destructive superpredator). 2 – The odds that you actually saw a venomous snake are super slim. Almost all snakes killed by people are not only harmless, but rare and beneficial creatures that have a hard enough time surviving as it is. Is the snake big and fat? No? It’s a slim snake? Then it’s harmless!  will give advice on how to kill a snake. You probably already know how to behead it with a shovel, shoot it with a shotgun, etc. But before you do kill a snake, I’m just going to say that in general, it’s only ignorant people who kill snakes. Seriously, that’s the only people who kill snakes – uneducated people who have never bothered to try to actually understand the world they live in.