Oba of Benin Is Hale and Healthy

In the past three weeks, the internet has been dominated by the story of the alleged ill health of the Benin monarch, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Oba Erediauwa. The story started making the rounds last December during the celebration of the Igue annual festival when the monarch didn’t appear before the crowd.

The story heightened after the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen.Muhammadu Buhari, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan, visited the palace during their campaigns in Edo State but could not see the monarch. However, the Benin Palace came out to dismiss the story of Oba Erediawa’s alleged death, last week, asserting that it was the figment of the imagination of the authors.

But what many may not know is that the Oba of Benin never dies, he transits from mortality to immortality. And from all indications, the Home Leopard lives and still reigns over his kingdom. In this interview, his younger brother and the Enogie (Duke) of Obazuwa, Prince Edun Akenzua, clears the air on the issue. He equally reacts to the call for the resignation of the Chairman of the Benin Forum and the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, by some groups loyal to the PDP, just as he explains why it will be difficult for the Binis to cast their votes for President Goodluck Jonathan during the general elections. Excerpts:

People have been worried over the health of the Oba. Can we know the true state of the Oba’s health?

I think the Secretary of the Palace has reacted on this matter. This rumour has been on since last year. I don’t know the source. The first time the Oba did not grant audience to President Jonathan, the rumour was on. But after that one, Jonathan came again and the Oba granted him audience, people kept quiet. I think one will say it is alright to know that a number of people show much concern but they should not be listening to rumours. If there is anything to say, it will be said. I have received calls from America, UK, South Africa and I told them that it is not true. Omo N’Oba is hale and hearty.

Esogban of Benin Kingdom and Chairman of the Benin Forum, Chief David Edebiri, recently declared that Binis will not vote for Jonathan because he has not done anything for them. But he has been criticized by the PDP over his comments, while some of their sympathizers also called for his resignation as chairman of the Benin Forum. What is your take on the issue?

Prince Edun Akenzua

I am a member of the Benin Forum. All those calling for the Esogban’s resignation have no locus to make such call. If they felt he said something they do not agree with, they should write to the Oba who nominated the Esogban as the Chairman of the Benin Forum, not call from outside that he should resign. The Esogban has the right to say that Binis tallies should not vote for Jonathan. What the Esogban said in that report about the Binis, with what I myself have been saying over the years that the Benin people, when you look at the votes that the President got in Edo, he got more than 50 per cent from Edo South, because we have the population.

Having done that, I am surprised that there is no Edo South man or woman in the President’s cabinet. Like the Esogban said in his interview, it was actually Oshiomhole who pleaded with us to support Jonathan in 2011. Some of us asked him why? He said because he is our son from the South South. And we told him if he was sure it will not backfire, and he said no. And if you observed, apart from the presidential election, that’s Jonathan’s election in 2011, PDP lost completely in Edo.

They won the presidency in Edo because Oshiomhole, who we trust, asked us to vote for Jonathan and we did so. So our sons and daughters who are PDP members must ask President Jonathan why he neglected the Binis in his administration and stop crucifying the Esogban. All the ministerial appointments, prime board appointments, all of them are from Edo Central.

Now they talked about Benin-Ore Road, they have been doing it since the tenure of President Obasanjo. Now they have completed Benin Ofusu axis, so it will be insulting the intelligence of the Benin people if they say that is what we have benefited from the Jonathan’s administration. They call it priority road in the time of Okotie Eboh when they started it. And that road does not terminate in Benin, it links the South East, South South and the North. It is for everybody, you cannot now say that is what they have done for Benin.

Benin politicians who are PDP members have a duty to ask the President what the Binis have benefited from his administration. Not long ago, a member of the PDP came here to say they influenced the Federal Government to re-plan the railway route to come to Edo. Initially, it terminated somewhere in Edo Central. The man who was talking said that it had been redrawn and now it will pass through Edo South to Warri. He said it but I have not seen the diagram. The Esogban said what he has observed, many people who love Edo South will tell you that he has not misfired.

On the issue of Ogiemwonyi, the former Minister actually told me he was not happy the way Jonathan treated him. He was supposed to be given Minister of Petroleum because that was his area of specialty but they made him a junior Minister under somebody who I don’t think was even an engineer.

Postponement of elections

I won’t say I am surprised with the shifting of the elections because I don’t have the facts which Jega has and he has the right to fix elections dates. The only thing that surprised me was that he told the Council of State that he was ready for the elections. And then in his press conference, he talked about security problems which he did not mention initially.

As if that was not bad enough, in the President’s media chat, he said he knew nothing about the security issue, that Jega did not consult him before shifting the polls. That sounded very funny because how can the NSA and Jega have such information concerning security without passing it over to the Commander-in-Chief? However, Jega has assured that he can still conduct elections according to the Constitution to ensure that May 29 is possible, so let us wait.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/oba-of-benins-health-omo-noba-is-hale-and-hearty-prince-akenzua/#sthash.siUQqDvW.dpuf

By SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin City
In the past three weeks, the internet has been dominated by the story of the alleged ill health of the Benin monarch, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Oba Erediauwa. The story started making the rounds last December during the celebration of the Igue annual festival when the monarch didn’t appear before the crowd.
The story heightened after the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen.Muhammadu Buhari, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan, visited the palace during their campaigns in Edo State but could not see the monarch. However, the Benin Palace came out to dismiss the story of Oba Erediawa’s alleged death, last week, asserting that it was the figment of the imagination of the authors.
But what many may not know is that the Oba of Benin never dies, he transits from mortality to immortality. And from all indications, the Home Leopard lives and still reigns over his kingdom. In this interview, his younger brother and the Enogie (Duke) of Obazuwa, Prince Edun Akenzua, clears the air on the issue. He equally reacts to the call for the resignation of the Chairman of the Benin Forum and the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, by some groups loyal to the PDP, just as he explains why it will be difficult for the Binis to cast their votes for President Goodluck Jonathan during the general elections. Excerpts:
People have been worried over the health of the Oba. Can we know the true state of the Oba’s health?
I think the Secretary of the Palace has reacted on this matter. This rumour has been on since last year. I don’t know the source. The first time the Oba did not grant audience to President Jonathan, the rumour was on. But after that one, Jonathan came again and the Oba granted him audience, people kept quiet. I think one will say it is alright to know that a number of people show much concern but they should not be listening to rumours. If there is anything to say, it will be said. I have received calls from America, UK, South Africa and I told them that it is not true. Omo N’Oba is hale and hearty.
Esogban of Benin Kingdom and Chairman of the Benin Forum, Chief David Edebiri, recently declared that Binis will not vote for Jonathan because he has not done anything for them. But he has been criticized by the PDP over his comments, while some of their sympathizers also called for his resignation as chairman of the Benin Forum. What is your take on the issue?

Prince Edun Akenzua

I am a member of the Benin Forum. All those calling for the Esogban’s resignation have no locus to make such call. If they felt he said something they do not agree with, they should write to the Oba who nominated the Esogban as the Chairman of the Benin Forum, not call from outside that he should resign. The Esogban has the right to say that Binis tallies should not vote for Jonathan. What the Esogban said in that report about the Binis, with what I myself have been saying over the years that the Benin people, when you look at the votes that the President got in Edo, he got more than 50 per cent from Edo South, because we have the population.
Having done that, I am surprised that there is no Edo South man or woman in the President’s cabinet. Like the Esogban said in his interview, it was actually Oshiomhole who pleaded with us to support Jonathan in 2011. Some of us asked him why? He said because he is our son from the South South. And we told him if he was sure it will not backfire, and he said no. And if you observed, apart from the presidential election, that’s Jonathan’s election in 2011, PDP lost completely in Edo.
They won the presidency in Edo because Oshiomhole, who we trust, asked us to vote for Jonathan and we did so. So our sons and daughters who are PDP members must ask President Jonathan why he neglected the Binis in his administration and stop crucifying the Esogban. All the ministerial appointments, prime board appointments, all of them are from Edo Central.
Now they talked about Benin-Ore Road, they have been doing it since the tenure of President Obasanjo. Now they have completed Benin Ofusu axis, so it will be insulting the intelligence of the Benin people if they say that is what we have benefited from the Jonathan’s administration. They call it priority road in the time of Okotie Eboh when they started it. And that road does not terminate in Benin, it links the South East, South South and the North. It is for everybody, you cannot now say that is what they have done for Benin.
Benin politicians who are PDP members have a duty to ask the President what the Binis have benefited from his administration. Not long ago, a member of the PDP came here to say they influenced the Federal Government to re-plan the railway route to come to Edo. Initially, it terminated somewhere in Edo Central. The man who was talking said that it had been redrawn and now it will pass through Edo South to Warri. He said it but I have not seen the diagram. The Esogban said what he has observed, many people who love Edo South will tell you that he has not misfired.
On the issue of Ogiemwonyi, the former Minister actually told me he was not happy the way Jonathan treated him. He was supposed to be given Minister of Petroleum because that was his area of specialty but they made him a junior Minister under somebody who I don’t think was even an engineer.
Postponement of elections
I won’t say I am surprised with the shifting of the elections because I don’t have the facts which Jega has and he has the right to fix elections dates. The only thing that surprised me was that he told the Council of State that he was ready for the elections. And then in his press conference, he talked about security problems which he did not mention initially.
As if that was not bad enough, in the President’s media chat, he said he knew nothing about the security issue, that Jega did not consult him before shifting the polls. That sounded very funny because how can the NSA and Jega have such information concerning security without passing it over to the Commander-in-Chief? However, Jega has assured that he can still conduct elections according to the Constitution to ensure that May 29 is possible, so let us wait.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/oba-of-benins-health-omo-noba-is-hale-and-hearty-prince-akenzua/#sthash.siUQqDvW.dpuf

By SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin City
In the past three weeks, the internet has been dominated by the story of the alleged ill health of the Benin monarch, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Oba Erediauwa. The story started making the rounds last December during the celebration of the Igue annual festival when the monarch didn’t appear before the crowd.
The story heightened after the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen.Muhammadu Buhari, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan, visited the palace during their campaigns in Edo State but could not see the monarch. However, the Benin Palace came out to dismiss the story of Oba Erediawa’s alleged death, last week, asserting that it was the figment of the imagination of the authors.
But what many may not know is that the Oba of Benin never dies, he transits from mortality to immortality. And from all indications, the Home Leopard lives and still reigns over his kingdom. In this interview, his younger brother and the Enogie (Duke) of Obazuwa, Prince Edun Akenzua, clears the air on the issue. He equally reacts to the call for the resignation of the Chairman of the Benin Forum and the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, by some groups loyal to the PDP, just as he explains why it will be difficult for the Binis to cast their votes for President Goodluck Jonathan during the general elections. Excerpts:
People have been worried over the health of the Oba. Can we know the true state of the Oba’s health?
I think the Secretary of the Palace has reacted on this matter. This rumour has been on since last year. I don’t know the source. The first time the Oba did not grant audience to President Jonathan, the rumour was on. But after that one, Jonathan came again and the Oba granted him audience, people kept quiet. I think one will say it is alright to know that a number of people show much concern but they should not be listening to rumours. If there is anything to say, it will be said. I have received calls from America, UK, South Africa and I told them that it is not true. Omo N’Oba is hale and hearty.
Esogban of Benin Kingdom and Chairman of the Benin Forum, Chief David Edebiri, recently declared that Binis will not vote for Jonathan because he has not done anything for them. But he has been criticized by the PDP over his comments, while some of their sympathizers also called for his resignation as chairman of the Benin Forum. What is your take on the issue?

Prince Edun Akenzua

I am a member of the Benin Forum. All those calling for the Esogban’s resignation have no locus to make such call. If they felt he said something they do not agree with, they should write to the Oba who nominated the Esogban as the Chairman of the Benin Forum, not call from outside that he should resign. The Esogban has the right to say that Binis tallies should not vote for Jonathan. What the Esogban said in that report about the Binis, with what I myself have been saying over the years that the Benin people, when you look at the votes that the President got in Edo, he got more than 50 per cent from Edo South, because we have the population.
Having done that, I am surprised that there is no Edo South man or woman in the President’s cabinet. Like the Esogban said in his interview, it was actually Oshiomhole who pleaded with us to support Jonathan in 2011. Some of us asked him why? He said because he is our son from the South South. And we told him if he was sure it will not backfire, and he said no. And if you observed, apart from the presidential election, that’s Jonathan’s election in 2011, PDP lost completely in Edo.
They won the presidency in Edo because Oshiomhole, who we trust, asked us to vote for Jonathan and we did so. So our sons and daughters who are PDP members must ask President Jonathan why he neglected the Binis in his administration and stop crucifying the Esogban. All the ministerial appointments, prime board appointments, all of them are from Edo Central.
Now they talked about Benin-Ore Road, they have been doing it since the tenure of President Obasanjo. Now they have completed Benin Ofusu axis, so it will be insulting the intelligence of the Benin people if they say that is what we have benefited from the Jonathan’s administration. They call it priority road in the time of Okotie Eboh when they started it. And that road does not terminate in Benin, it links the South East, South South and the North. It is for everybody, you cannot now say that is what they have done for Benin.
Benin politicians who are PDP members have a duty to ask the President what the Binis have benefited from his administration. Not long ago, a member of the PDP came here to say they influenced the Federal Government to re-plan the railway route to come to Edo. Initially, it terminated somewhere in Edo Central. The man who was talking said that it had been redrawn and now it will pass through Edo South to Warri. He said it but I have not seen the diagram. The Esogban said what he has observed, many people who love Edo South will tell you that he has not misfired.
On the issue of Ogiemwonyi, the former Minister actually told me he was not happy the way Jonathan treated him. He was supposed to be given Minister of Petroleum because that was his area of specialty but they made him a junior Minister under somebody who I don’t think was even an engineer.
Postponement of elections
I won’t say I am surprised with the shifting of the elections because I don’t have the facts which Jega has and he has the right to fix elections dates. The only thing that surprised me was that he told the Council of State that he was ready for the elections. And then in his press conference, he talked about security problems which he did not mention initially.
As if that was not bad enough, in the President’s media chat, he said he knew nothing about the security issue, that Jega did not consult him before shifting the polls. That sounded very funny because how can the NSA and Jega have such information concerning security without passing it over to the Commander-in-Chief? However, Jega has assured that he can still conduct elections according to the Constitution to ensure that May 29 is possible, so let us wait.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/oba-of-benins-health-omo-noba-is-hale-and-hearty-prince-akenzua/#sthash.siUQqDvW.dpuf

Polls: APC importing security services uniforms, recruiting thugs, planning to release prisoners – PDP

Polls: APC importing security services uniforms, recruiting thugs, planning to release prisoners – PDP

•Allegations baseless –Amaechi
By Henry Umoru
AHEAD of the general elections slated for March 28 and April 11, the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has alleged that the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, has concluded plans to import security service uniforms and recruit thugs for the polls, just as it said that the deployment of military to safeguard our elections was not new and must continue.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, yesterday, the PDP, through its Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, also accused the APC of plotting to release prisoners, especially in Rivers State, to participate in the elections, even as he stressed  that the APC was a propaganda freak such that every issue it raises  must be propaganda, to malign and blackmail the PDP.
In a response, Amaechi described the allegations as “irresponsible, repugnant and contemptuous.”
The ruling party claimed the APC was not campaigning to win the election, saying it has started mobilising public opinion in readiness for what it termed, an orchestrated strategy to discredit the result of the election. It added that the APC has commenced this line of action with contrived polling results they had bombarded the international and domestic media with even prior to the campaigns claiming that it would defeat the ruling party.

Secondus, who noted that the PDP was prepared for the election before the postponement from February 14 and still prepared, said that the party would win the election, just as he said that a vote for the PDP was a vote for continuity. “We alert Nigerians to the seriousness of these plots. While the PDP is making effort to sell its manifesto to Nigerians, the APC is busy perfecting schemes that would derail our democracy. If they don’t win, they are trying to cause disaffection within the security services, inciting one religion against their own country.
“But you see the APC is a propaganda freak that on every issue, there must be propaganda in order to malign and blackmail the PDP. It is not correct, rather it is them who are cooking up these stories in order to cause confusion in the country”.
He warned the APC against pushing the country crisis that enveloped Nigeria in the past.
On APC and  deployment of soldiers, he said, “ It isn’t new, it has been done before, soldiers aren’t involved in elections, but they are kept in strategic places to safeguard the nation. Whoever that is afraid of the security provided by the army or the police and want to have their own private army to conduct the election, is the one that wants to throw this country into crisis.
Don’t forget that the United States has predicted that there would be no country in 2015, God forbid”.
When asked on the Rivers State crisis, Secondus noted that Governor Rotimi Amaechi was the problem and alleged that he was sewing uniforms and planning to release prisoners for the election.
On Amaechi’s allegation that some pastors were bribed with N6 billion by the PDP, the PDP Deputy National Chairman, who asked the governor to come up with names of those involved, said, “But the other pastors and bishops are asking, name the person who received the money? You don’t make wide allegation. Ameachi, the onus is on him to name the person who received it and the bank or where the money is.
“But let me tell you, this is aimed at causing confusion in the body of Christ”.
Meanwhile, Amaechi said, last night, Secondus “danced naked in the market square as he  continued on his grossly irresponsible, repugnant and contemptuous, albeit, feckless mission of denigrating and disparaging the person and office of the Governor of Rivers State and the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum(NGF).”
“Secondus, who has woefully failed the state and its people, shamelessly told a press conference in Abuja that Governor Amaechi is the main problem of the state, amongst other reckless, spurious allegations,” a statement by Rivers State Government House last night said.
“This is the same Secondus who, just a couple of years back, hailed Governor Amaechi as the best thing to happen to Rivers State.
“Rivers people know that it’s rather Secondus and this PDP cabal that are obviously our problem. They want to return Rivers State and its people to the dark days of the pre – Amaechi.
“Contrary to the wild claims of Prince Secondus, Governor Amaechi has never and will never be in alliance with cultists. It is a known fact, nationally and internationally, that when he became Governor in 2007, Amaechi chased away these cultists from Rivers State. Many were arrested and prosecuted. He openly condemned them and their criminal activities that had then ruined the economic, social and political life of the State. How can this same Amaechi now be in bed with the same cultists he condemned, fought, arrested, prosecuted and chased way from Rivers State?  That is simply not possible.”

Why I don’t wear pants -Baby Blanche

Due to the kind of clothes she likes to wear and is comfortable in, Baby Blanche has revealed in an interview with Showbiz that she hardly wears panties when she’s going out.

Baby Blanche

“I love all kinds of lingerie that make a woman feminine because I’m a woman, but I hardly wear panties. This is not because I don’t want to wear them but because the clothes I love to wear wouldn’t permit me to,” she told Showbiz.
“I try as much as possible to act as a lady and not to let my panty lines show just because I like to wear dresses that hug my figure. So if I wear clothes and the outline of my panty is glaring like that I don’t like it,” she explained. “Being a lady is not only about wearing make-up and Brazilian hair but also comprises the propriety of whatever you’re wearing,” says Baby Blanche. She adds that she does not worry much about thoughts that she may be sexually assaulted by unscrupulous men because she makes sure she doesn’t go to awkward places at awkward hours.

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Believe it or not, I’m still a virgin! — Adokiye

I think I can handle everyday sex – Adediwura

irst meeting with Adediwura Adesegha almost got off on a wrong footing because both of us somewhat had our heads below water. But before we could really had a go at each other, we found a click somewhere and hit it off on a good note. It was then I realised this ebony beauty is something special. Even though I got off without being scratched she still managed to leave me with bitter after-taste; “ You are free to write whatsoever you deemed fit, I laugh over news,” she sternly told me.
Long story short – I met this Yoruba Nollywood damsel, in her late thirties, who would rather shoot prisoners than take them in and we got talking, on any issue under the sun. She’s a graduate of English from Lagos State University and has been acting since 2008. Her friends and fans call her the Blackgold on account of a role she played out at a point in her career.
Like I said before, she doesn’t take prisoners, and when we got talking about sex and what it could mean to her getting landed with a guy that has all the manly qualities without the drive to satisfy a woman in bed. she wouldn’t hold anything back, she let me have it all. “My lifestyle doesn’t revolve around any man, if you can’t satisfy me in bed, I will let you know you cannot satisfy me .We will find a way out. Is it not about making love? I will tell you this is the way I want you to do it. Give it to me this way. I am an adult, I see no reason why I should shy away from that if I really think he is okay enough for me,” she said
“Sex is a free style, it depends on one’s opinion. If you are an adult why shouldn’t you have it? It has to do with the individual. It is not something to be discussed generally. My own view about sex is enjoying yourself. If I feel like having it, I will. If I don’t feel like,then I keep myself. I can decide to have it Monday to Friday, if I have the strength and if the man is there for me. I think my power can condone everyday sex.It depends on what I want at that moment,” she added. But as a heavily frontally endowed woman, Adediwura believes her huge boobs are not the biggest in Nollywood, she believes there are others who are ahead of her in line. “I will put myself in category C or may be category B. I have people who are in the category A like Ronke Oshodi Oke or Foluke Daramola,” she said
(Note: look out for her full interview on Saturday Jan’ 24th)

My back is hotter than my front – Anita Joseph

Nollywood actress cum singer, Anita Joseph, isn’t just a girl that would get up close and personal with you without some emotions running wild – real wild! Unlike most women who are blessed with either the front or back, Anita has both in abundance and when she isn’t throwing them at you, you feel they somewhow reaching out to you anyways.
She has been romantically linked to governors, senators, musicians and footballers. Not for any other reason but because she has a sensuality that tends to reach out and grab at your conscience. She recently told Potpourri she cannot be a complete housewife, but then who would expect such a time-bomb all locked up behind closed doors.
She has so many luscious pictures on the internet with either the boobs or the backside running free and  mean but when Potpourri caught up with the diva and asked her the million dollar question; which has caused men more pain, her boobs or backside?,
she replied: “ My backside is hotter than my boobs, even though I have both in good measure. Guys find them hard to resist. A guy once tapped my ass and when I turned, he just ran away. My backside has such effects on men”.