News & Announcements

Daughter of billionaire businessman and known Disc Jockey, Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, popularly known as DJ Cuppy, while still celebrating the Ferrari cars her father, Femi Otedola, bought for her and her two other sisters said they were still single.

This is even as popular singer, Davido, reacted to the gift, saying he would one day buy the same for her daughter.

“We are both single” – DJ Cuppy reveals relationship status of she and her sister, Tolani

The daughters of the billionaire who got the whole of Africa talking about his wealth, Femi Otedola, have revealed that they are both single and free. Probably this is an opportunity for any man who would want to cruise in their Ferrari, their father just bought for them earlier in the week.

She made this known while responding to tweets which were triggered by her disclosure of her father buying Ferraris for her and her two sisters.

When asked who she and her sister are dating, DJ Cuppy wrote in response; “We’re both single, LMAO”

Recall that Otedola, Nigerian businessman and father to popular entertainer, Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola (DJ Cuppy), has spoilt his three daughters with a Ferrari Portofino each.

The 57-year old philanthropist took his three kids shopping and bought the cars.

According to Edmunds, the least-expensive 2019 Ferrari Portofino is the 2019 Ferrari Portofino 2dr Convertible (3.9L 8cyl Turbo 7 AM). Including destination charge, it arrives with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of about $210,783.

AutoGuide gives a retail price of $215,000 for 2020 Portofino, the most basic of the Ferrari brands.

In naira (Nigerian currency) terms the cost will be between N240 and N251 million at the official exchange rate of N387 to a dollar. In the parallel market at N465 to a dollar, it means the billionaire has spent about N300 million on the gifts to his daughters.

Cuppy flaunted the cars on Twitter in a post that read “Papa took us shopping and bought one of each! #FerrariPortofino  #CuppyDat.”

The cars came with customized plate numbers.

News of the gifts has ignited a frenzy on Twitter, especially with Cuppy hinting the Ferrari may be the theme for a new song.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you… Cuppy in a rarri! Two heartsCupcake Skrrrr skrrrr!”

Davido, in a retweet, wrote: Congrats cuppy …. fire fire I will do the same for my daughters one day AMEN .. chai money good”.

According to a recent study, three-quarters of persons over forty years of age in Sierra Leone are at very high risk of cardiovascular diseases, thus creating what the study called a ticking time bomb of death and disability in the country.

According to a breaking report, researchers found that cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVDRFs) such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity is much more common in Sierra Leone than expected, whilst access to health care for these conditions is low.

The experts also warn that older people with such multi-morbidity are more likely to contract COVID-19, making getting on top of these conditions useful in reducing the impact of current and future pandemics.

Led by researchers at the University of Birmingham and funded by the Wellcome Trust, the group includes experts in Sierra Leone, USA and UK – publishing its findings in BMJ Open and noting that in the over 40s:

Hypertension was seen in over 50% of the population; Smoking is very common (around 25%), especially among younger men; Some 25% of people are obese or overweight; Access to care for individuals with diabetes and hypertension is low – fewer than 10% of sufferers are being adequately treated for these conditions.

They also discovered that CVDRFs are more prevalent among people living in urban areas, women, educated, unmarried, and relatively wealthier individuals – all of whom are more likely to receive care for these health conditions.

Dr. Maria Lisa Odland, from the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Applied Health Research, commented: “Hypertension, diabetes, and obesity are much more common than expected and access to care for these conditions is low. This is likely to result in premature death and disability and needs urgent attention from health authorities and policymakers.

“Over half of Sierra Leone’s over-40s have high blood pressure and most are not receiving any treatment for this. This alone is a health disaster in the making – a ticking time bomb of death and disability given the strong associations between stroke and high blood pressure.”

According to thesierraleonetelegraph.com, much of the country’s health funding comes from overseas aid. In 2017, Sierra Leone received $30 million in aid to tackle HIV/AIDS, yet by comparison received $510,000 for non-communicable diseases, including CVDRFs. Attention has been recently focussed on maternal and newborn health and infectious diseases, such as Ebola.

Professor Justine Davies, also from the University’s Institute of Applied Health Research, commented: “Our research has already informed a national non-communicable disease plan in Sierra Leone, but health system funders need to recognize the extent of the problem with CVDRFs in order to save lives and promote economic wealth.

“With its under-developed health system and high levels of poverty, Sierra Leone can ill-afford to be surprised by an epidemic of non-infectious diseases. We hope our research will help the Ministry of Health and external funders acknowledge what major issues CVDRFs, lifestyle changes and lack of access to care is in Sierra Leone.”

Professor Davies added that the group’s findings highlighted that forthcoming policies in Sierra Leone would need to consider nutritional strategies to prevent CVDRF and try to reduce impacts on the health services of treating these diseases. Future interventions should consider how to develop and enhance awareness about CVDRFs and their consequences.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease and its risk factors are major global health problems. Reduction in deaths from infections have led to an aging population moving towards a high-calorie, low-activity, urban lifestyle – causing a rising prevalence of NCDs in lower and middle-income countries (LMICs).

High blood pressure has become the world’s largest contributor to early death, and cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and stroke are the most common NCDs, globally responsible for an estimated 17.8 million deaths in 2017. More than three-quarters of these deaths were in LMICs.

Armed militiamen have killed more than 30 people in the Metakal zone of Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region, a senior opposition leader told Reuters on Thursday, in what is obviously the latest security headache for reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.

The attacks, whose victims included women and children, happened on September 6 and 13, said Desalegn Chane, a senior member of new political party the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA).

“Farmers and members of their families were kidnapped (and) brought to an elementary school in the area where they were handcuffed and shot one by one,” Desalegn said.

Abiy said a meeting on Thursday of the federal and regional authorities had “evaluated the sporadic security incidents that have been occurring, particularly in the border areas”.

“The 29 hostages taken in Benishangul-Gumuz region have been released,” Abiy wrote on Twitter, adding the attackers are “groups aimed at overturning the reforms journey”.

Benishangul-Gumuz is a region bordering Sudan.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said hundreds of civilians were displaced as a result of the violence and asked regional authorities to launch an investigation.

“There have been at least two rounds of killings of civilians and hundreds of civilians have also been displaced,” The commission said in a statement.

Sitotaw Aweke, a farmer and businessman, said he was told by survivors that his whole family had been killed in an attack while he was at the market buying clothes for his three children for Ethiopia’s New Year, which is celebrated on September 11.

“I couldn’t even bury them … every time I look at the clothes I bought for them, I cry,” he told Reuters by telephone.

In June last year, men in camouflage uniforms killed more than 50 people and injured 23 in the same area.

In the ongoing operations towards ridding the Northern Nigeria of Banditry and other criminal activities, the country’s military on Wednesday, said its Air Component of ‘Operation HADARIN DAJI’ has killed scores of armed bandits in massive airstrikes conducted in the Kwiambana Forest area of Zamfara State, North-Western part of the country. 

Major General  John Enenche, Coordinator of Defence Media Operations, (CDMO), who made the disclosure in an operation update, sad that the troops also destroyed their logistics facilities of the armed bandits.
General Enenche said this was achieved on Tuesday, 15 September 2020, as part of air interdiction missions being executed under subsidiary ‘Operation WUTAN DAJI 2’, to rid the North West of the country of armed bandits and other criminal elements.
“The location was designated for attack after Human Intelligence (HUMINT) reports and confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, established that the cluster of huts and other structures at the edge of the Forest served as a hideout for notorious bandits’ leaders ‘Sani Mochoko’ and ‘Damina’ and some of their fighters.
“Accordingly, the Air Component scrambled Nigerian Air Force (NAF) jets and helicopter gunships to attack the location.
“The attack aircraft took turns in engaging the target area resulting in significant damage to the bandits’ structures as well as the killing of several of their fighters,” the CDMO stated.

The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria has commended the United States Government on its fresh Visa Ban on Nigerian election riggers those undermining the country’s democracy.Recall that on Monday, the American Government came down hard on Nigerian, handing visa ban on those rigging the country’s elections, particularly the election in Logo and Bayelsa states. 

The party, which also urged the United States to also invite the European Union as well as other nations, particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, to impose similar sanctions on electoral violators, who are bent on destroying the democracy, enjoined the United States Department of State to include family members and assets of such anti-democratic agents who have destroyed the credibility of the electoral.
PDP, in a statement, by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, demanded an extension of the ban to the families as well as confiscation of assets of such individuals to serve as a stronger deterrents to protect innocent Nigerians who are left to bear the brunt of the misdeed of such unpatriotic persons.
“This visa ban, if taken across the globe,  would be a final warning to the leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC), as well as compromised security and INEC officials, being used by the APC to perpetrate electoral violence and manipulations.

“It is instructive to note that this announcement by the US, which reinforces the determination for resistance in Nigeria, is also an unambiguous cautionary to the sacked national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, the APC governorship candidates in Edo, Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his Ondo counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, over their plots to use violence to undermine the sanctity of the Edo and Ondo state governorship elections.

“Our party asserts that the position of the US Department of State is a confirmation that 2019 general elections, the November 2019 Kogi governorship election, as well as other elections under the Buhari regime were massively rigged with unrestrained violence against the people and rampant manipulations by the APC and their compromised security agents.
“The world is aware of how our compatriots were killed and maimed in Kano and various parts of our nation in the 2019 elections; how collation of results was compromised by relations of APC candidates and how compromised security operatives were used to frustrate the will of the people. 

“Without saying, Nigerians know the individuals who unleashed violence to rig the November 2019 Kogi state governorship election; who deployed thugs and security agents to shoot and kill voters, cart away ballot boxes, used police helicopter to fire tear gas on Nigerians, burnt an innocent woman, Mrs. Salome Abuh, alive, altered election result figures to make themselves winners,” it said.

The PDP said that the US ban is a firm support to its stiff resistance to plots by Oshiomhole and Ize-Iyamu, who have been overheating the polity in Edo state.
The party said that Nigerians know the faces of INEC and security officials used as political mercenaries to manipulate elections in Kogi, Ekiti, Osun, and other states, adding,  “our party vehemently rejects the deployment of same individuals to Edo and Ondo.
“The presence of such persons is an invitation to the crisis as the people of Edo and Ondo will use every means available and allowed in a democracy to resist them.
“Our party charges INEC and all security agencies to note that the world is watching and as such strive to act by the rules, knowing that a shameful end awaits those who undermine the will of the people.”
The PDP, in commending the United States, urges Nigerians, particularly in Edo and Ondo state to remain at alert and strengthen their resolve by voting and firmly defending their votes from the polling and collation centers to the final declaration of results, with the determination to unbridle the instrument of resistance to anybody, anybody at all, who attempts to undermine their will at any level of the process

Amidst growing opposition to his ambition of seeking a third term in office, President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast has been granted permission by the constitutional council to seek a third term in next month’s election, according to BNN Bloomberg.

As reported by iol.co.za, the channel also said the candidacy of two other prominent leaders was rejected by the council.

The council barred ex-speaker of parliament and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, as well as Laurent Gbagbo, Ouattara’s predecessor, BNN Bloomberg reported.

The constitution says the president may only stay in power for two terms, but Ouattara has argued that the publication of a new constitution in 2016 reset his presidency status.

“A judicial debate took place in a transparent manner. The constitutional council has settled the debate and I think Ivorians will do well to comply with this decision, to respect the decision and the authority from which it came,” said Ouattara’s lawyer, Abdoulaye Ben Meite.

Ouattara stated early this year that he would hand power over to a younger generation of leaders but reversed the decision in July after the death of his successor, Amadou Gon Coulibaly.

Ouattara said he would run again because of the challenges the country faced and in order to maintain peace and order in Ivory Coast.

Violent protests have spread since Ouattara, who has been in power since 2010, announced his candidacy for the upcoming elections.

More than a dozen people have died in clashes between protesters and police since August.

The Mail Online reports that the constitutional council has thus far approved only four of the 44 candidates for the October 31 presidential election.

The other candidates cleared include former president Henri Konan Bedie from the historically dominant Parti Démocratique de la Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), Gbagbo’s former prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, and Kouadio Konan Bertin, a dissident from Bedie’s party.

President John Magufuli of Tanzania has maintained his passive stance on the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on Monday during his ruling party, Champa Cha Mapinduzi (CCM)’s campaign trail in Chato Grits on the bank of Lake Victoria and close to the Rwanda and Burundi border, said the “coronavirus pandemic is satanic.

The Star reports that Magufuli called the Covid-19 pandemic “satanic” and said he had not instituted a lockdown as this would harm people’s livelihoods.

“How would those depending on fishing make ends meet? How would those working earn a salary? Those that were calling on a lockdown had no wisdom,” Magufuli said.

He continued: “I can confirm that there has never been and there will be no lockdown and we shall continue to roll because we believe in our God, who is bigger than any disease”.

The presidential candidate for CCM took a dig at other countries enforcing the lockdown, specifically Kenya, whose police force has been involved in several instances of police brutality and killings while enforcing the country’s dusk-to-dawn curfew.

He said: “You have seen elsewhere people have been killed for walking beyond recommended hours. Others walk and work throughout the day with nose and mouth covered. This is really unfortunate.”

Magufuli boasted about the increased number of health facilities the country has, before stating: “You cannot build an economy with a sick population, thus why investing in their health is key.”

Magufuli has on multiple occasions in June and July told the public how God defeated Covid-19 in Tanzania, according to the BBC and Daily Monitor.

No Covid-19 statistics have been communicated by his government since May 8. The World Health Organization (WHO) still reflects 509 reported cases of Covid-19 in Tanzania, with 21 deaths.

Political campaigns began and were unbanned on August 26 and will end on October 27. The election is scheduled for October 28, according to The Africa Report.

Previously, Magufuli imposed a blanket ban on political activities in 2016 until 2020, according to Amnesty International.

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill – released for public comment – does not reflect the spirit of the Constitutional Court ruling that decriminalised the private use of dagga, says the SA Drug Policy Initiative (Sadpi).

According to iol.co.za, affluent communities will benefit enormously from the bill as it stands, it said, but its requirements effectively exclude the millions of South Africans who lack the space to grow and consume cannabis in such strict conditions of privacy.

“It discriminates against the indigent by imposing a de facto prohibition on their use and cultivation of cannabis, and leaves vulnerable communities at risk of excessive penalties and continued human rights abuses by the criminal justice system.

“Equally as important, it has little prospect of reducing the scope for organised crime and corruption. A sensible, non-discriminatory approach, rather than one focused on criminalisation and punishment, is needed to control the use and trade in cannabis products,” Sadpi said.

The bill sets a maximum jail term of 15 years for anyone who deals in cannabis or sells it to a child. Anyone who smokes in public may be jailed for up to two years, while smoking around children can result in up to four years in jail.

Legal limits for personal, legal use at home are set to: unlimited for seeds and seedlings, four flowering plants for those living alone, eight for homes with two adults or more, 600g of dried cannabis if you live alone, or 1.2kg in homes with two or more adults.

Janet O’Donoghue of the SA Cannabis Community and Regulatory Association rejected the bill, saying: “This bill will further entrench economic discrimination against already marginalised ordinary citizens who could easily produce a substantial viable income through self-employment and micro-industries in a legal market with zero infrastructure costs in our climate.”

The story of Emmanuel Femi Gbenga Ajayi, a Professor of Law and former Head of Department of Law at Njala University is one that could have ended in tragedy if not for his exoneration.

The Nigerian was accused of using fake credentials to gain employment in a public institution in Sierra Leone, an allegation he denied, leading to his detention.

His ordeal started last year in Sierra Leone where he had live and worked for several years when he was alleged to have gained public employment through fake certificates.

Consequently, the Sierra Leone Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) whisked him away in a clear case of gross abuse of his fundamental human rights and gross injustices against his person. He was arrested and clamped into detention.

However, after  months of investigation, he was found innocent by the ACC, and vindicated. His qualifications are all in order.

The ACC found him innocent after after he was victimized, arrested, detained, and humiliated by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

But sadly, the professor has been left mentally broken, with his university career and reputation in tatters, while corrupt officials in high places in the government and parliament are protected from investigation and arrest by the ACC.

Speaking at a press conference two days ago, Professor Ajayi said: “No expression could possibly encapsulate what I went through, I nearly went mad! I lost appetite, could not sleep nor answer the call of nature properly. 

“Imagine waking up in the morning with nothing to do, for 231 days while I was under investigation by ACC? My ordeal is rather imagined, than experienced.

“The way ACC handled my case, to say the least, is very unfair. If I were a Sierra Leonean, would they have done that? And upon all the reputational damages done to me, there is no remorse and no apology.”

This is the statement released by Professor Emmanuel Femi Gbenga Ajayi last Wednesday 9th September 2020, telling his tragic story in his own words:

“I was invited for an interview scheduled for 18th July 2019 at 10 am by ACC, over anonymous allegations of forged results and impersonation, amongst other unprintable fabrications of lies, to “pull me down” (PhD).

“On arrival the interview started. All sorts of questions were posed to me by six officials, all my results were thoroughly examined, ditto my previous appointments, my publications, and copies of all my results were deposited.

“The interview turned to stressful interrogation and at about 4:30 pm, I was thoroughly fagged out and I pleaded that, I should be allowed to go home, and that if my attention is needed, I shall return. I was rudely told that I cannot until I meet with the ACC Commissioner. I was taken to his office and tersely, he told me that I was under arrest! ACC threw me into police cell, like a common criminal. I nearly fainted when the gates of CID HQs, closed behind me.

“What started like a drama, became an event that lasted for 231 days of humiliation, arrest and detention.

“On 18th July Sept 2019, the two certificates which were originally queried, arrived from Nigeria that I indeed earned them genuinely; but ACC did not believe the authenticity of the results, a development which prompted ACC to dispatch officials to Nigeria; thereat, six institutions spread across the vast country were visited and seven of my results that I obtained from Nigeria, were personally confirmed by ACC officials, as genuine.

“ACC officials came back from Nigeria in October 2019, and another round of investigations aimed at nailing me commenced, but I thank God for seeing me through the ordeal.

“I suffered so much that, despite my overflowing armory of grammatical expressions, I have not been able to find the right words, to express my feelings. You can imagine a bubbling person with such a very high academic profile, reduced to nothing by ACC.

“No expression could possibly encapsulate what I went through, I nearly went mad! I lost appetite, could not sleep nor answer the call of nature properly. Imagine waking up in the morning with nothing to do, for 231 days while I was under investigation by ACC? My ordeal is rather imagined, than experienced.

“The way ACC handled my case, to say the least, is very unfair. If I were a Sierra Leonean, would they have done that? And upon all the reputational damages done to me, there is no remorse and no apology.

“How do you make such hullabaloo over anonymous allegations? ACC should not have investigated those spurious allegations, better still, they could do so underground and if found guilty, then the press can be invited. My case went viral, all known medium of communications, to wit, Radio, TV, Newspapers and the Internet carried my news as a criminal, and that accounts for why I have not been able to get another appointment whether in SL or elsewhere in the world.

“Can you imagine that I was living in an incomplete house?; in my culture as a Yoruba man, only the lunatics live in incomplete houses; my gratitude in that respect, goes to those who housed me, they are Sierra Leonean UK based Mr. Lawal and USA based Ms Zainab Kebbie.

“I was able to survive the trauma by the special grace of God and people who stood by me. First, is the Nigerian Ambassador to SL, Dr. Ibrahim Habiss Ugbada, the HOC Sona Charles, President of Nigeria in Diaspora Engr. Abiodun Oyebola, Sec Gen Bala Tijani, Dr. Mrs Fela Adeyemi, Chief Mrs. Kemi Lawal, Engr Ola Ogunfehintimi, and Sierra Leonean Mr. Horace Kpakra, Mrs. Regina Kamara, Godfrey Sandi and above all, the Human Right Group Native Consortium headed by Edmond Abu that have been there right through till date.

“My profound gratitude also goes to Prof Mallam O. Sankoh the current Ag Vice Chancellor Njala University, for his intervention and support, and all my colleague lecturers and students, who in diverse ways empathize with me through those dark days of my life!!!

“As human beings, we are cannot do without hurting one another. All through my ordeal, I took solace in Late Nelson Mandela’s exemplary life and words on the marble, which neither rain nor shine, could obliterate.

“Regarding his words while stepping into freedom after 27 years of solitary confinement at Roben Island… He said, if I do not forgive the injustices done to me, I would for as long as I live, still be in prison.

“On above note, I sincerely aver that I have forgiven all the injustices meted to me. Am no longer bitter. If God were not with me…see Psalm 124

“Please quote me “Life is an experience…full of ups and downs… if everything is rosy and smooth, the propensity of self-celebration would be hyper; when you pass through storm, you cannot be same again. I think I am a better person now, having gone through storms, in the last fifteen months.

“Am profusely thankful to God and the people He used, to see me through. I fervently pray that what happened to me, shall not be your portion in Jesus name Ammmmeeeeennnnnn!!!”

Signed: Prof. EFG Ajayi, BSc (Hons), MBA, MA, M. Intl Law, LL B, LL M, PhD, BL, FIIU.

Two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies were shot on Saturday night in an apparent ambush and are in critical condition, authorities said.

“One male deputy and one female deputy were ambushed as they sat in their patrol vehicle. Both sustained multiple gunshot wounds and are in critical condition,” tweeted the Sheriff’s Department.

“They are both currently undergoing surgery. The suspect is still at large,” it said.

Both deputies were shot in Compton, a city situated south of downtown Los Angeles, and transported to a local hospital, according to the department.

Law enforcement officials were searching for a suspect or suspects after the attack.