2 years imprisonment or N250,000 fine: Nigerians blast court judgment on Police Pension Scam accomplice

Nigerians across the world have been reacting to what can be described as a ridiculous sentence handed out to a former head in the Police Pension Board, Yakubu Yusuf, who pleaded guilty to the embezzlement of N23.3 billion; an Abuja High court presided by Justice Talba Mohammed on Monday convicted him and sentenced him to two years imprisonment as well as forfeiting property valued at N325 million but he was given an option of N250 thousand to avoid the jail sentence. Commenting on the judgment, Tosin Awotesu, a legal practitioner in the United Kingdom suggested it was time to introduce jury trials for corruption cases in Nigeria.

“It may be time to introduce jury trials for corruption cases in Nigeria; that is if we still have an iota of hope in the ability of our justice system to deliver justice when it comes to such cases. This one man show is open to abuse as can be seen from this and other cases,” she said. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in March last year arrested a serving permanent secretary and three directors in the Police Pension Board in connection with a fraud of N2 billion in the Police Pension Office with reports revealing that one of the suspect arrested with ca cash of N2 billion being proceeds of the fraud. Among those arrested was a former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Atiku Abubakar Kigo who conspired with five other civil servants and diverted N32.8 billion from the Nigeria Police Pension Funds; the Mr Esai Dangabar, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yusufu, Mrs Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira. The accused went to court approached an Abuja High Court at Gudu, begging it to quash the entire 16-count charge preferred against them by the commission for want of evidence to which the EFCC filed a counter affidavit in opposition to the motion seeking to quash the charge against them maintained that its investigations revealed that the accused persons sequentially withdrew monies from Police Pension funds domiciled in an account at First Bank of Nigeria. The EFCC went further to tell the court that the withdrawn monies totaling about N32.8 billion were subsequently shared between the Permanent Secretary and the other accused persons who it said were signatories to the police pension fund account. And that the one of the suspects, Wada at a point collected N18 million from Unity Bank Plc as his reward for ensuring that the Police Pension Account was retained in the bank. But after pleading guilty, Yusuf was given what many described as a “pat in the back” by the judiciary. Though details of the judgement has not been obtained by goodnameafrica, Nigerians are already condemning the sentence and attacking the judiciary with one citizen describing it as being like a spider web that is too strong to catch the weak and too weak to catch the strong.

“Big criminals don't get the deserved punishment! If an ordinary Nigerian were to steal a plantain or Nokia 10 thief, he would have gotten 14 years jail term or some miscreants dangled a flaming tire around his neck,” Prince Ebere reacted. Effiong Uti was of the opinion that there may have been some plea bargaining behind the scene, a situation he said was making a mess of the judiciary and legal process in the country. “If EFCC catch anybody doing cyber crime, the jail term will be up to 30 years with that level of crime, then why all these mess by the Judiciary? What the essence of going to court? To hell with plea bargaining,” he said. Considering the fact that so many pensioners have died while waiting for their pensions to be paid, Maria wondered if the EFCC presented that evidence in their prosecution.

“He Should Have Been charged for murder of all the dead pensioners; While a guy gets four years for stealing a mobile phone, he gets two years for embezzling over N20 billion. If na poor man steal fowl, na 10yrs in prison. Justice Indeed,” she said. Andrew Ojiezel juxtaposed the sentence with that of a Magistrate Court sitting in Abeokuta, which on Wednesday last week sentenced a 49-year-old man, Mr. Mustapha Adesina, to two years imprisonment for stealing vegetables valued at N5, 000, “The judiciary and the legislature are the problem in this country and I believe that every person working in the judiciary should be ashamed of this miscarriage of justice. They are laying some precedent that would only encourage corruption,” he said.

The EFCC said they would study the judgment before making their next move. Apart from the jail term, the EFCC said the former assistant director of Police Pension office will forfeit 32 properties. They include two units of a 3 bedroom semi detached bungalow at R2, A and B, sunny homes, Dakwo District, Abuja; two units of 3 bedroom semi bungalow- detached at M24, A and B, sunny homes Dakwo homes, Dakwo District Abuja; four units of a 3bedroom semi- detached bungalow, managed by Daniel at sunny homes, Dakwo District, Abuja; eight units of an Estates of two bedroom flats, at Gombe, GRA; one unit Semi-detached Duplex at house 21, 4th Avenue, Gwarinpa, Abuja; four units of a 2 bedroom semi-detached duplex at Bricks city, Kubwa road, Abuja and one unit of Semi- Detached Duplex, at 14B Democracy crescent, Gaduwa, Abuja. The Nigeria judiciary has always delivered controversial judgments that analysts and human rights activists always question their integrity. Last year, a United Kingdom court found a former governor in Delta State, Mr. James Ibori, guilty on several counts of money laundering in a case where he got over 100 counts dismissed by an Asaba High Court.

AKpos the Warri Wonder: Lost and Found.

Akpos found a bag of money and called Raypower FM radio station saying; Akpos: 'Hello, I found a lost bag with $100,000.00, an ID card and a master card belonging to one Mr Victor James, Plot 4 Park .. View Estate, Ikoyi lag. Presenter: you are such an honest boy! So, I believe you want to return the bag? Akpos: No ooo, I dey craze? For what? I just want to dedicate a song to him...Please Play me, MY HELPER OOO, MY HELPER

El-Rufai eats humble pie: Apologizes over Controversial "Jesus Tweet"

Following barrages of attacks and condemnation over a controversial reproduction of a tweet conceived by many Nigerians to be blasphemous against the Christian faith, former minister for the FCT and frontline critic of the Jonathan government, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has tendered an apology over the tweet. El-Rufai who has since leaving office six years ago taken to social media networks to voice his opinion and criticism of the present government retweeted a tweet from one @zebbook who tweeted, “@zebbook: If Jesus criticizes Jonathan's govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with Mary Madgalene.”....LWKMD.....,” and for finding the tweet funny and reproducing it boot on his twitter and Facebook accounts, many Nigerians tackled him on what some described as his “insensibility” to the statement. But El-Rufi who has 132,974 followers on twitter and 163, 736 likes on his Facebook group page, has come out to clear the air on the matter. He explained in details that he was suprised at the reaction he got from the tweet which he said he reproduced and does not in any way mean he attempting to show godlessness. "Hello Friends. I have been travelling and try to catch some sleep in between the last 24 hours and missed all the furore arising from my retweet of Ogunyemi Bukola's (@zeebook) joke Maku eat al and Jesus. I must say I am taken aback by the extent of desperate misrepresentation of what was an innocuous attempt to show the godlessness of the Jonathanians to denigrate anyone that dares to ask them to be accountable. To those who were genuinely offended by the retweet, I apologize. I did not meant to offend anyone, neither did the @zeebook I know and featured as one of the Young Voices in my Friday Column. Jesus or Isa Alaihis Salaam is a respected prophet of Islam. Every Muslim accepts this in addition to his miraculous virgin birth. It is therefore absurd for any Muslim believer to disrespect Jesus Christ. I hope those in this class will see my point of view and accept my apologies for any offense or disappointment caused. And I advise everyone to read @zeebook's timeline and mine to read EXACTLY what was tweeted rather than the second-hand reports of certain people who ALWAYS twist whatever I write or not write to achieve their morally-repugnant objectives. To those in that class of liar - the political contractors who tried to attribute the entire statement to me to destroy perceived political capital, I say keep on doing that till the day your cups will be full. Everything these days is reduced to posturing for 2015,but those doing it do not even know which one of us will be alive to witness the events of that time. I leave all those to God and their conscience. To the Warriors of God, who misinterpret the Scriptures (both Bilble and Qur'an) and pretend to be capable of fighting His battles, please learn from history. The multiple Crusades and Jihads are yet to convert the entire human race into one religion. If God wished us all to be of one religion, He would have made us so. So please leave God's work to Him, and just be good to other humans. I thank all my friends who stood up for me in this saga. They know me better than what the desperate Jonathanians want to paint as El-Rufai. An those that wish to know me a little batter should please read my forthcoming book. Thanks and God Bless" he said. Nigeria with a predominantly Muslim North and Christian South has had series of religious crisis which is usually sparked up with the most mundane of issues. In November 2002, the Miss World Beauty Pageant billed to be hosted by Nigeria had to be shifted to London when an article by a ThisDay reporter made inferences about Mohammed which triggered violent religious riots that left more than 200 dead and 1,000 injured, while 11,000 people were made homeless. ThisDay's offices in Kaduna were torched, despite the paper's apology and retraction on the front page

Islamic scholar urges FG to regulate religious preaching

Sheik Muhammad Khalid, the Chief Imam of the National Assembly Quarters’ Mosque in Abuja, yesterday called for the establishment of a body to regulate preaching and religious activities. He said that the establishment of the body would aid efforts to ensure the security of lives and property in the country. “It is necessary to have a body that will check the activities of those who are not knowledgeable enough, while restraining them from propagating teachings that are capable of disturbing peaceful coexistence in the society,” he told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). “Let us have a body that will be on the lookout for those who are misleading people,” he said. Khalid said government should come up with modalities on how such a body would be set up, saying that it should have an absolute control over the activities of all the religious groups in the country. “I support the idea of government establishing a regulatory body on religious activities in Nigeria,” he added. The chief imam noted that the issue of security in Nigeria has become a serious issue, which required the collective responsibilities of all Nigerians, regardless of their religious affiliation. “As an Islamic scholar, I wish to advise all stakeholders, especially the government which has the duty of ensuring the security of lives and property, to look into ways possible ways of guaranteeing the safety of the citizens. “I am not saying that government is not doing anything but its efforts will not be good enough until when the nation is adequately secured.” Khalid appealed to the government to initiate a dialogue with the Boko Haram group, while granting its members amnesty so as to restore peace and harmony in the country. “I think it is important for the government to be sincere in starting a dialogue with the Boko Haram; it should also grant them amnesty in order to bring an end to this insurgency.” Khalid, however, urged the Boko Haram group to realize the devastating effects of its actions on the lives of the people, stressing that its actions had crippled socio-economic activities in some parts of the country. “A lot of damage has been done to this nation. It is important for the group to note that they can achieve whatever they want through dialogue with the government,” he said. He urged religious leaders to ensure that their followers conduct themselves in a peaceful manner so as to engender the unity and progress of the country.

$620,000 bribe: Farouk Lawan for trial this week

All is set for the trial of House member Farouk Lawan for allegedly receiving $620,000 bribe to doctor his committee’s report on fuel subsidy investigation. His trial will begin this week, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) said at the weekend. Lawan, Chairman of the House adhoc committee that probed the fuel subsidy payments by the Federal Government, is to face trial for allegedly receiving $620,000 from the oil magnate, Femi Otedola, to exclude Zenon Oil from the list of indicted firms. Otedola alleged that the Lawan-led adhoc committee demanded $3 million, out of which he gave $620,000. Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo last Tuesday threatened to begin private prosecution of Lawan should the AGF fail to bring the lawmaker before the court. But, the minister on Friday told reporters in Abuja that the trial of the law maker will start this week. Adoke spoke through Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), who has secured the AGF’s fiat to prosecute Farouk. Reacting to Keyamo’s statement on the issue, Awomolo said the office of the AGF is too responsible and busy to react to “market talk”, but that he is sure that the police have finished investigating the allegation, and they have made verifiable facts to the AGF to enable the government begin prosecution of the law maker. ‘’Verifiable facts can only come from the police that investigated the matter. You don’t investigate such matters base on what you read in the newspapers or heard over the radio and television. No; that is not investigation. The police, as a responsible organisation have investigated the matter and I can assure you that the AGF will not react to the market talk. The matter will be in court next week.’’ ‘’We will prosecute and not persecute. We are men of integrity, honour and learning. Nobody should think that he can use the market language or draw us to open debate on this matter. ‘’The AGF is the chief law officer under the Constitution and he will exercise his power responsibly and not irresponsibly to satisfy whims and caprice of civil society organisations. Prosecution is a serious business and a serious statutory duty; it is not a frivolous thing; you don’t do it to catch fancy or to make people to hail you. These are persecutors and not prosecutors.’’ Keyamo had requested Adoke to indicate whether he was prepared to prosecute Lawan or not. Keyamo accompanied the letter with a draft charge in readiness to begin prosecution of Lawan, if Adoke fails to do it.

Tina Turner bids US goodbye, takes up Swiss citizenship

Tina Turner is renouncing her American citizenship to become a fully-fledge Swiss citizen.The 'Proud Mary' singer, who was born in Nutbush, Tennessee, has been living in the Swiss city of Zurich for close to twenty years now and decided that it is time to make things official as she has handed her US Passport in and picked up a shiny new Swiss one instead. The American rock diva has lived in the Zurich suburb of Kuesnacht since the mid-1990s and speaks fluent German. The local Zuerichsee-Zeitung newspaper said on its website the local council announced its decision to grant the 73-year-old Turner citizenship in an official notice published in Friday’s edition. The decision still requires formal approval from state and federal authorities. The Proud Mary singer told a local German newspaper: ‘I’m very happy in Switzerland and I feel at home here. I cannot imagine a better place to live.’ Turner’s agent told Zuerichsee-Zeitung the singer wanted to ‘clarify her situation’. ‘Tina Turner will therefore also give back her US citizenship,’ she said. Tina’s move has sparked rumors she is following in the footsteps of Depardieu and Facebook’s Eduardo Saverin, who now calls Singapore, with its 18 per cent tax rate, home. Wealthy socialite Denise Rich, born Denise Eisenberg, renounced her U.S. last year. She was married to billionaire commodities trader Marc Rich, controversially pardoned by Bill Clinton his last day in office. Denise has written songs for Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and Jessica Simpson. But Forbes says of the singer’s move: ‘There’s little to suggest taxes motivate the decision, and Swiss rates are high.’ The mayor of Tina’s hometown in Brownsville, Tennessee, said he was surprised at the news. ‘Tina Turner – as she has gotten worldwide fame – has never forgotten her roots,’ Mayor Jo Matherne told Fox. ’We’ve been in recent contact with some of her people talking about some projects we have in Brownsville.’ Matherne said she was unsure how residents would react to the news of Turner’s citizenship swap. ‘I think anytime a person, whether they’re world-renowned or the most meek and mild, makes the decision to change their citizenship we need to step back and think what causes that decision,’ Matherne said. Although Turner has yet to make any official declaration of her new citizenship, local newspaper Zuerichsee-Zeitung has said that the singer has been granted citizenship in the country already and that it is only a matter of time now until things become official. One source close to Tina told the paper, "She appreciates the beautiful scenery, the friendly people, the game of the four seasons," adding, "She is happy, as it was included here, as they are treated in a friendly and unobtrusive." Beautiful scenery, mountains of chocolate, friendly people and of course, tax benefits on an unprecedented scale, what’s not to like? The singer, who has sold 200 million records, first came to Zurich with her longtime partner, German music manager Erwin Bach. They live in a lake house called Chateau Algonquin

Fire in Brazilian night club leaves 245 people dead

A fire swept through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil on Sunday January 27th, killing at least 245 people (and still counting) and leaving hundreds injured, police and firefighters told local media. Fire broke out at popular night club, Kiss Club, in the city of Santa Maria, while a band was performing. There were over a 1000 people at the club when fire started at around 2 a.m. A stampede ensued immediately as party goers pushed and shoved each other to escape. The cause of the fire is not yet known, officials said. A police spokesman told a radio station that a truck carrying 70 bodies arrived at the Municipal Sports Center, which they used as an improvised morgue. "Sad Sunday", the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul tweeted. He said all possible action was being taken and that he would be in the city later in the day.

Tweet about Jesus Christ: Nigerians attack El-Rufai on Social media.

The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mallam Nasir El-Rufai may have stirred up the hornet’s nest when a comment he made on social media attracted attack and criticisms from a cross section of Nigerians who showed their disgust for his disrespect of the religious rights of Christians. El-Rufai who has since leaving office six years ago taken to social media networks to voice his opinion and criticism of the present government retweeted a tweet from one @zebbook who tweeted, “@zebbook: If Jesus criticizes Jonathan's govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with Mary Madgalene.”....LWKMD.....,” and for finding the tweet funny and reproducing it boot on his twitter and Facebook accounts, many Nigerians tackled him on what some described as his “insensibility” to the statement. Though some of the responsers tried to make others understand that the El-Rufai, who has 132,974 followers on twitter and 163, 736 likes on his Facebook group page, may not have had any ulterior motive on his post, majority accused him of insulting Christians. One Osigwe David Sully commented on the post saying, @El-Rufai,Jesus Christ will fight for himself. Ask Gaddafi he called himself Kings of Kings where is he today? Obasanjo, said even Jesus can't conduct free and fair election in Nigeria. His daughter lost being returned a senator; his political son lost the gubernatorial election in 2011 polls. We can see how his political fortune is whittling down,” while Chimezie Stanley posted, “I hate this man with a passion because he plays ethnic and religious politics. Let my Muslim brothers learn from Christians over this because we can never burn or kill anybody because of [hell] Rufai tweets. Let God fight for Himself because God is a God of justice. [Hell] Rufai has shown that he is nothing but a flop and disappointment to few educated Muslims. He is stupid and myopic in thought and actions. Believe me that his so-called fans will desert him with this statement/joke. I hate this man and his tweet supporters. Muslims learn from our actions,” he warned. Damian Ihekoronye in his post said the action of the former BPE boos who is currently facing corruption charges was done out of idleness, “That’s what idleness can cause. Why on earth someone that calls himself a role model should be retweeting such things all in the name of criticisms against GEJ. Instead of educating his admirers, he is busy enjoying some nasty jokes. How many real Nigerian voters tweet and retweet? Mallam, you better get yourself engaged in a meaningful something,” he said while Ahiamadu Jackson Chukwukadibia Samuel said many of the responders got it wrong. “@Oraye and those supporting the "LWKMD" response of El-Rufai, his response is totally wrong. El-Rufai should have cautioned "Zebbook" about this joke because to me it doesn't make sense. His LWKMD response to my understanding means that He, El-Rufai finds the joke funny instead of distasteful. Let's mind what we support no matter the interest. Please sir, you owe all those who found your response to the joke distasteful an apology because it will go a long way to show and explain that you don't and will never support any insult on any religion.” Another social media user identified as Zaid Musa Zaid who claimed El-Rufai was his mentor apologized on the tweet cautioning his mentor to respect other people’s religion. “But d bottom line Sir (My Mentor) I am also not happy with you too. If we want others to respect our religion lets also respect theirs. On behalf of my Mentor ''Sorry My Christian brothers 'and for those who have began abusing our Holy prophets and Muslims, please it is uncalled for lets be civil and address issues line educated people,” he posted. But the appeal did not stop the show of annoyance on the responders following the thread. David Chuks posted, “I am happy we are beginning to see the bigotry in this Mallam. His disdain for Christians dates back to since when he was FCT minister. He only retweets things he believes and he will never retweet an insult to Prophet Mohammed rather he will call for holy war. I have always said that his hatred for GEJ is nothing but a fight against a Christian and southerners. THIS MALLAM is just like Buhari; CPC agenda unfolding.” Kabiru Abubakar posted, “Anybody who cursed, or insulted the messengers of Allah Isah (the son of Mary), Muhammad(SAW), Mallam you are the cause. But any good Muslim has a full respect for all the messengers of Allah, we believe in Jesus the son of Mary as we believed in Muhammad (SAW). So please my fellow Christians kindly accept our apologies.” Nigeria with a predominantly Muslim North and Christian South has had series of religious crisis which is usually sparked up with the most mundane of issues. In November 2002, the Miss World Beauty Pageant billed to be hosted by Nigeria had to be shifted to London when an article by a ThisDay reporter made inferences about Mohammed which triggered violent religious riots that left more than 200 dead and 1,000 injured, while 11,000 people were made homeless. ThisDay's offices in Kaduna were torched, despite the paper's apology and retraction on the front page

It was miraculous how I survived- Oladimeji (Man whose vehicle plunged into ocean from Third mainland bridge)

On Saturday 26th January 2013, news of an unusual accident on the Lagos Third Mainland bridge was trending across several media platforms. A car skidded off the bridge and fell into the Lagoon with a lone occupant, the driver, inside. Miraculously, he survived and was rescued by fishermen who were around the area at the time. Traffic officials said he was overspeeding which could have been the cause of the accident. However, Olusola Oladimeji, the driver and owner of the Toyota Sienna said he wasn’t. The father of three who is a minister of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church, said he was on his way home from work when the incident occurred. He narrated his experience to Punch:

“I work on the island and I left home for a meeting in the early hours of Saturday. After the monthly environmental sanitation, I started driving back home. I was driving at the speed of 60km/hr and was on the fast lane because the road was free. At Ebute Meta bypass, I saw two vehicles that had been involved in an accident but I kept on driving. Suddenly, everything went blank, I couldn't

see anything again, and I just found myself in the water.” He did not lose consciousness in the water and as such, he unfastened the seat belt and swam towards a ray of light. “I was not on high speed. When the car hit the railing of the bridge, the airbag was not released. After falling into the water, I unfastened the seat belt and noticed that one of the doors of my car had broken off, so I swam out of the vehicle to the surface of the water even though I don’t know how to swim. It was while I was waving my hand that fishermen saw me and quickly came to my aid. They took me away from the scene and took me to a clinic located on the water where they administered the first aid.” Oladimeji was later taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital where an X-ray scan was conducted on him. Although his leg was not fractured, it was cast with Plaster of Paris because he had a sprain. When Punch visited his home, members of his church were seen coming to felicitate with him. One of them, Praise Onanuga, a pastor at MFM, Berkeley Parish, said the victim had just bought the car eight days before the accident. “He bought the car just eight days before the accident and we were supposed to do the dedication today (Sunday) but we thank God that we were not put to shame. We will hold a thanksgiving for him soon because this is a miracle.” It is indeed a miracle and we are so glad he’s alive. (Culled from PUNCH)

The Ten Richest Sporting Events In The World

Ever doubt that soccer is king in the sporting world? Here’s a simple way to prove it: follow the money. In this the second annual Forbes list of the 10 highest-paying sporting events in the world, four of the top ten spots are occupied by soccer tournaments. No other sport comes close to its dominance. To construct this list, we focused on the prize money paid out to the winner of either a single event or a tournament. We did not include an event’s total prize money, or any season-long competitions that do not end in a playoff tournament, like the Barclays Premier League. The list:

1. UEFA Champions League Soccer $77 million The most prestigious club soccer tournament in the world pays like it. The English side, Chelsea, beat Bayern Munich for the title this year, behind the head and foot of striker, Didier Drogba. Teams are paid for a) qualifying for the Champions League b) games they win during the tournament and c) for the size of their market. The latter is one reason why Chelsea made $33 million more than last year’s winner, Barcelona. 2. UEFA European Football Championship Soccer $33 million

Some claim that the quality of this tournament—which features only European national teams—is on par with the World Cup. Money-wise, it’s a bit better. Spain won in 2008. The 2012 tournament, starting June 8, will be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Total prize money had risen to $246 million, up from $230 million in 2008. 3. FIFA World Cup Soccer $31 million

One might think the most prestigious soccer tournament in the world—and perhaps the most prestigious sports tournament in the world, period—would offer the most prize money to its winner. It doesn’t. But the spoils aren’t bad at all. Spain also won this title, in 2010. 4. The Super Bowl Football $15.5 million

Quarterback Eli Manning led the New York Giants to thrilling 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in February. Each of the Giants took home $172,000. Players on teams are paid for wins in the playoffs, as well, which is part of this total. The Giants scored because they started as wild cards. 5. The World Series Baseball $14.8 million

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers in seven games last October. Cardinals players each received $323,169 for their efforts. 6. FedEx Cup Golf $10 million

The four-event PGA Tour playoffs include the Barclays and ends with the Tour Championship, sponsored by Coca-Cola. The top 125 players on the Tour qualify initially. From there the field is whittled down to 30 players. The man who accumulates the most points during the four-tournament stretch wins the FedEx Cup—and an astounding $10 million check. Bill Haas did even better last year, winning the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, pocketing $11.4 million along the way. 7. The Dubai World Cup Night Horse Racing $10 million

The winner of horse-racing’s richest crown was a horse—Monterosso—owned by a prince named Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, who happens to be the son of the founder of the race. 8. UEFA Europa League Soccer $9 million

Once known as simply “the UEFA Cup,” this tournament is billed as the second most-prestigious club tournament in the world, after the Champions League. The Spanish side, Atletico Madrid, won in 2012, beating Athletic Club behind a grand performance by the Colombian star, Falcao. 9. The World Series of Poker Poker $8.7 million

At last year’s event, a then 22 year-old with the name of a ketchup Pope—Pius Heinz—won the main event, the $10,000 Buy-In No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em. 10. ICC Cricket World Cup Cricket $4 million

There was a time when disgraced financier and cricket fanatic, Allen Stanford, hosted an even richer cricket tournament. But while Stanford sits in jail awaiting sentencing after his conviction as a Ponzi-schemer, the World Cup has become the sport’s richest event. India won in 2011. The next World Cup is in 2015. (Culled from FORBES) –

Messi beats Ronaldo's hat trick record with four goals.

It was a case of 'whatever you do, I can do better' as Barcelona's Lionel Messi hit four to eclipse Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick for Real Madrid and leave his great rival in the shade once again. Ronaldo had inspired Real to a 4-0 win over Getafe early Sunday, before Messi stole the show to lead Barcelona to a 5-1 thrashing of Osasuna and become the first player to score in 11 consecutive La Liga matches. Messi, who recently beat Ronaldo to the prestigious Ballon d'Or award to win the prize for a record fourth time in succession, has now scored 33 goals in the league and 44 overall this season.

Boko Haram: Kaduna State turns to Britain for help.

With the unrelenting security challenges in the North and reckless abandon with which lives and properties are lost, the Kaduna State governor,Alhaji Muhktar Ramalan Yero, has pleaded with the British Government to intervene in tackling insecurity and other anti-development challenges facing the State.The governor made a plea for assistance in Kaduna, while playing host to the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Pocock at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House. Kaduna State has witnessed so many Boko Haram attacks which on many occasions has led to reprisal attacks within the state leaving scores of people dead. Governor Yero, who commended the intervention of the British Government in other areas of concerns in the State, particularly through its Department for International Development (DFID), argued that British intervention has assisted in supporting the state realize some of its human development and growth objectives.He said the DIFD launched five interventions recently “prominent among which is the Women for Women programme targeted at training female health workers.”

Yero, however, assured of his administration’s commitment to ensuring security of lives and property through short and long-term measures. The governor who was sworn in last month following the death of the Governor Yakowa in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa State, has a lot of religious tension and pressure to manage as there were reports of jubilation over the death of the late governor in some parts of the state. Yakowa was the first governor of the state that was Christian and his death created a huge divide between Christians and Muslims in the state in a manner that may cause bursts of religious crisis of which the state has a huge record of.

Meanwhile, the British Commission, in a press statement, said over 170’000 people travel from Nigeria to the United Kingdom for different purposes yearly. It pledges to continue welcoming genuine immigrants with openness.

Taraba State: His Acting Excellency visits his ailing Excellency in Germany.

Acting governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar over the weekend

jetted out of the country to Germany on a get-well visit to governor of the State, Mr. Danbaba Suntai. This is coming just as the state chapter of Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) charged the State Commissioner of Information to ensure that citizens of the state are inundated with Suntai’s state of health, failure of which it would be compelled to mandate the State House of Assembly to invoke the provisions of section 189 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. Suntai was flown to Germany on October 27, 2012 for medical treatment after surviving a plane crash which occurred at Yola on the October 25, 2012 and has remained there since. This is the first time Alhaji Garba Umar, who was appointed deputy governor by Suntai on October 5, 2012 and was declared acting governor by the State House of Assembly on November 16, 2012 would be visiting Suntai in Germany since he was flown abroad and hospitalised. On the trip to Germany with the acting governor, who is scheduled to return to the country tomorrow, are his two wives and former permanent secretary, Government House administration, Mr. Denis O. Nev, who retired from service two weeks ago. Top government functionaries particularly the Speaker, Taraba State House of Assembly, Hon. Istifanus Gbana; Chief Judge of the state, Justice Josephine Tuktur and Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ambassador Emmanuel Njiwah, had earlier visited Suntai in Germany and just returned to the country few days back.

Egyptian referee in charge of Nigeria-Zambia match sacked

The Egyptian referee, Ghead Grisha, who was at the centre in the Group C match between Nigeria and the defending champions, Zambia, in Nelspruit on Friday, has been sacked from the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, a top African football official has said. Grisha hugged the headlines on the negative side when he awarded a highly controversial penalty against the Super Eagles four minutes from time, which enabled the champions to draw level in the game played at the Mbombela Stadium. A top official of the Confederation of African Football confirmed on Sunday that the 36-year-old, who became an international referee in 2008, will take no further part in the on-going championship in South Africa. “He has been sent home. He will have no further action at this Cup of Nations. His decisions did not tally with best practices of therefereeing profession and we would not allow anyone to start re-writing the rules of the game here,” said the official, who did not want his name disclosed as he was not authorised to speak. A formal announcement is expected anytime soon. CAF’s decision came as the Super Eagles settled down at their Hunters’ Rest abode in Rustenburg, ahead of Tuesday’s must-win final Group C clash with the Walya Antelopes of Ethiopia at the Royal Bafokeng (Culled from Premium Times)