Gist Arena

The nature of two holes on the late Professor Festus Iyayi’s body gives life to suspicions by his colleagues that he may have been shot. Along with grief, anger will be the dominant emotion when Professor Festus Iyayi is buried this week in his hometown, Ugbegun in Edo State. The two feelings have mixed, predictably with unsavoury outcomes, since the former president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, died on 12 November in an auto accident on the Lokoja-Abuja Expressway. Iyayi was travelling to Kano in the company of three other ASUU members for a meeting on the ongoing strike by members of the union when a police escort van in the convoy of the Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State rammed into the bus the university teachers were travelling. Iyayi died instantly, while three his colleagues were seriously injured.

A man who was jailed for 10 years for having sex with a female goat came face-to-face with his victim in a Kenyan court.  The goat watched quietly from the corner of the court room in Malindi while Katana Kitsao Gona, 28, was jailed for bestiality.  According to Jimmy Kimaru, chief prosecutor, Gona was caught sexually assaulting the goat in a bush in Dabaso, Kilifi county, on November 25.

Is this story for real? According to a report by  Daily Trust , the Nigerian Senate is set to pass law seeking 7 year jail term for social media critics. The newspaper reports that the Senate has reached an advanced stage to pass a bill that seeks seven years jail term for social media critics found guilty of inciting the public against the government.   The proposed legislation which has scaled second reading in the upper legislative chamber is also proposing a stiffer punishment for internet fraudsters and scammers in Nigeria as those convicted will face a seven years imprisonment.  “Anyone who intentionally propagates false information that could threaten the security of the country or that is capable of inciting the general public against the government through electronic message shall be guilty of an offense and upon conviction shall be sentenced to seven years imprisonment or N5 million (fine).” Section 13 subsection 3 of the bill proposes S ay what? Continue...

 The  President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr. Nasir Issa Fagge, yesterday, gave conditions for the suspension of the six month old strike. Fagge who spoke on  Channels  Television, yesterday morning, said once government opens the bank account with N200 billion,  requested by the union, the strike would be suspended. He said “once that is done, and the committee that is supposed to disburse the funds starts working, our members will have no reason not to suspend the strike action”.   Dr. Faggie said the union insists on documentation. He asked: “Why won’t government make available this money so that we know the money is there and the universities commence drawing from this money to address the problem of decay in infrastructure, teaching and research facilities? When that is done, our members will suspend the strike.”

There are many of you out there who are equally concerned as I am, about the leaders of the country continuing to behave like a stubborn mule, creating more problems for the country than solving them. Is all well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC? Anyone paying attention to the goings-on in the EFCC in the last couple of weeks should pray for an intervention, divine or otherwise, to free the anti-corruption agency from the shackles of government. I am not in particular, talking only about the rising number of political cases, manifested by increased visitations to states controlled by the so-called “rebel governors”. Why should I make excuses for governors with sticky fingers? Some of them have some explaining to do. While this is going on, the country continues its increasing reputation as Africa’s hotbed of scams. Africa’s biggest financial and drug crimes originate from here. The most horrific cases of kidnapping, robbery and piracy on the continent ...

the pregnant teenage girls being rescued by the police The Police Command again has uncovered another baby-making factory in Egbu, near Owerri the State capital, arresting the proprietor, one Dr. James Ezuma who runs a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and a clinic. 16 girls were rescued in the process. The girls were kept in two rooms in the building that houses his NGO, with no windows while repulsive odour oozed out from their rooms The girls, aged 14-19 were encouraged to get pregnant and take home the sum of N100,000 at delivery, on the condition  that they would abandon their babies who would be eventually used for purposes ranging from child trafficking to rituals.

Quite a number of people from different parts of Africa blasted US singer Brandy for posting pics on her instagram page that they felt 'portrayed Africa in a bad light'. Brandy, who was in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire a few days ago to perform, posted the photo above and called it 'Beauty'. She posted another pic of three young boys in tattered clothing and called it 'depth'.   Africans didn't see the 'beauty' or 'depth' in the photos. More When you click On Read More

Maiduguri— SOME survivors and residents of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday, recounted their experience and narrow escape from death, when about 300 Boko Haram insurgents armed with sophisticated weapons invaded the state capital targeting military formations and police stations, Monday. When Narrating his ordeal  to Vanguard , Mallam Yakubu Gashua, who resides few metres away from the destroyed 79 Composite Group, Nigerian Air force Base, NAF, said:  “I thought my days on earth was over on that day. “My wife and I were in bed and all of a sudden, I started hearing heavy sounds of gunshots, as if it was in my compound. We immediately woke up and started reciting some protective verses in the Quran. “The gunshots became more intense with ceaseless explosions all over the place. “At a point I told my wife and my uncle, who came from Gashua for a visit, that our days have ended.

In this image made available Tuesday Dec. 3, 2013, Harrison Odjegba Okene looks in awe as a rescue diver surfaces into the air pocket which has kept Okene alive for nearly three days, recorded by the diver’s headcam video the full impact of the miraculous encounter becomes plain the see. AP LAGOS, Nigeria — Entombed at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in an upended tugboat for three days, Harrison Odjegba Okene begged God for a miracle. As the temperature dropped to freezing, Okene, dressed only in boxer shorts, recited the last psalm his wife had sent by text message, sometimes called the Prayer for Deliverance: “Oh God, by your name, save me. … The Lord sustains my life.” To this day, Okene believes his rescue after 72 hours underwater at a depth of 30 meters (about 100 feet) is a sign of divine deliverance. The other 11 seaman aboard the Jascon 4 died. Divers sent to the scene were looking only for bodies, according to Tony Walker, project manager for the Dutch company DCN...