PHOTONEWS: How Protesters Forced Senator Akinyelure To Recant Vote On Child Marriage

Posted: July 24, 2013 - 01:29

Senator Akinyelure wept and recanted during the protest

A crowd of protesters yesterday stormed a town hall meeting in Akure, the capital city of Ondo State, where Senator Ayo Akinyelure (Ondo Central Senatorial District) spoke. Armed with placards with abusive inscriptions, the protesters demanded the senator’s removal following his vote for a widely condemned measure that approved early child marriage.
jThe protests drove Mr. Akinyelure to tears as he explained that his vote was misunderstood and also apologized to his constituents.
Among the protesters were elderly women, widows and clergymen. Many of the demonstrators were teenagers who chanted angry slogans and urged voters in the state to register displeasure with what they termed the “barbaric attitude” of Nigerian senators who endorsed the idea of marrying off teenage girls.
Policemen in Akure battled it out with the protesters when some thugs reportedly hijacked the protest by barricading the Adegbemile Cultural Center, the venue of the town hall meeting. A visibly angry leader of the thugs threatened to deal with Senator Akinyelure. “We will smash his vehicle and give him the beating of his life for voting and supporting the bill,” he said.
Several sources stated that the thugs rough-handled some government officials and members of the Ondo State legislature. However, the police stepped in to restore calm.
After a strenuous effort by the police to quell the chaos at the venue, Mr. Akinyelure managed to enter the hall. Popularly called “All Over,” the senator appeared rattled by the demonstrations against him. In a quivering voice, he stated that his stance on the issue of child marriage was widely misunderstood. Denying that he ever supported under-age marriage, the senator explained that he voted out of error.
“My voting ‘No’ was in clear error of misinterpretation and I had no opportunity to correct what is deemed to be my error now, because voting was done electronically. If voting were to be done by show of hands, I would have been able to correct my error before the voting was concluded by the Senate,” said the embattled senator.
Mr. Akinyelure clarified that the vote was specifically on the process for renunciation of citizenship and not child marriage, emphasizing that as a true Yoruba man he would not have intentionally voted in support of child marriage.
He said the question before the Senate for which he voted in favor was whether a married woman could be deemed to be of full age to renounce her Nigerian citizenship and not whether a female can enter into marriage before attaining the age of 18 years.
“This is quite different from voting in favor of under-age marriage as widely reported in the media. And [in order] to avoid possible religious crises and security challenges that may likely result from deleting this clause in question from the constitution, I voted for the clause to remain,” he explained.
The tearful senator denied ever collecting a bribe from any of his colleagues to vote as he did. The allegation had been widely reported on social media.
Fielding questions, Mr. Akinyelure said his constituents had been mounting pressure on him over reports of his purported involvement in a scheme to legalize child marriage. He assured the people of his effective representation at all times.
“I can never in my life support under-age marriage bill. I will do what is humanly possible at my disposal to ensure that it is removed from the constitution,” he added.
Last weekend, protesters staged massive protests in different parts of Nigeria to condemn the Senate’s passage of a resolution to retain Section 29 (4) (b) of the 1999 Constitution. Under the section, a married underage girl is deemed to be an adult for the purposes of renouncing her Nigerian citizenship.

PHOTONEWS: Electric Generator Room At Ikeja Mall Gutted By Fire

Posted: July 22, 2013 - 19:00

A fire that started at the generator room of the multib-billion Ikeja Mall caused panic in Lagos, but a swift interbvent by men of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) took out the fire before it could spread.

Meet 7 Internationally acclaimed Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Nigerian [PHOTOS]

In a report, seen on Naij we get to meet 7 people you probably never knew were Nigerians. While it is public that Sade Adu, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chamillionaire, Wale, Tine Tempah and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje are Nigerians, there are still a couple more in the entertainment industry that you never knew. Have a quick dive in.

This list has dug a little deeper and discovered 7 more celebrities you never thought could be Nigerian.

Get ready to be shocked as we present you 7 well-known International celebs who are Fellow Nigerians;

1)  Hugo Weaving-  Do you remember Agent Smith in Matrix? Yes! Neo’s arch-rival is Nigerian. How? Well the 53 year old actor was born in Nigeria at the University College Hospital in Ibadan. This makes him Nigerian by birth. His parents moved back to England a year after. Hugo Weavinghas acted in several blockbusters such as V For Vendetta, The Matrix Trilogy and Lord of The Rings Trilogy, Transformers Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy and Captain America. Who said Ibadan boys don’t go far?

2)  Taio Cruz- The 25 year old British singer is of Nigerian heritage. He was born to a Nigerian father and Brazilian mother. Taio Cruz who started penning songs at 12, began writing professionally 7 years later. He released his debut album Departure in 2008. The following year he released his sophomore Rokstarr which featured the hit song ‘Dynamite’. He dropped his 3rd album TY.O three years ago. Taio Cruz has won several awards including the BRIT Awards, Billboard Music Awards, ASCAP Awards and American Music Awards.

3)     Tyler the Creator- Yes, do not be shocked. The ‘Black Eminem’ is Nigerian. Tyler the Creator’s actual names are Tyler Okonma. His father is Igbo. The leader of the music collective ‘Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All’ claims he never met his father. Maybe that is why he is not too fond of him. In 2009 Tyler released his first album Bastard. His buzz started growing from then on mainly backed by his offensive, homophobic and disgusting lyrics. He released his second albumGoblin two years later and became a national sensation without the backing of any major record label in America. He released his third album Wolf this year.

4)  Dizzie Rascal- Dizzie (Dylan Kwabena Mills) is one of the most respected rappers in the UK and also happens to be Nigerian. His Nigerian father died when he was young and he was raised by his Ghanaian mum. He had a rebellious childhood and that’s how he got the name Rascal. He was a friend of Nigerian footballer Danny Shittu when he was a kid. At 16 he produced his first single ‘I Luv U’ and in 2002 formed the collective Roll Deep Crew. Dizzie Rascal has released 5 solo albums till date making him one of the biggest rappers in the UK. He performed at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London and won the Best International Act at the BET Awards in 2010.

5)  Richard Ayoade- This is another Brit-Nigerian. Richard  Ayoade was born to a Nigerian father and Norwegian mother. The 36 year old comedian, actor and writer has written several awards winning stage plays in the UK. He is also a known face on British TV having starred in the highly popular The IT Crowd. He made his Hollywood debut in 2012 after starring in the comedy The Watchalongside Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill.

6) Donald Adeosun Faison: Fans of the popular television Comedy-drama “Scrubs” would know this one. Not only is he one of our favorite character,  you probably didn’t know this American actor’s middle name is Yoruba.

7) Lemar: Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), professionally known simply as Lemar, is an English R&B singer–songwriter and record producer. His Nigerian fans probably didn’t know that the UK singer who was born in Tottenham, England is son to Nigerian parents of Enugu State, South Eastern Nigeria.

Attack on bus carrying workers kills 3 From Sarah Sirgany, for CNN

Attack on bus carrying workers kills 3

From Sarah Sirgany,

People inspect the site of an attack on a bus carrying workers in the North Sinai town of Al-Arish, on July 15.

An attack on a bus carrying workers left three dead and 15 injured Monday in Egypt, health officials said.

A terror group attacked as the workers headed to a cement factory in northern Sinai, the military said in a statement. The rocket-propelled grenade was aimed at a police car, but missed and hit the bus, the statement said.

In a separate incident, one person died in a shooting on a police station under construction in central Sinai.

Objective of 2020 mission to Mars: Signs of life, NASA says

That's the question facing the NASA team responsible for putting together the objectives for 2020 rover mission to Mars.

"We're still on the quest to answer the grand question: Is there life somewhere else in the universe?" John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, told reporters Tuesday in a teleconference.

Previous missions to Mars have found definitive signs that water once flowed in a crater and rock samples that show signs of clay minerals.

"We really needed to go back to the surface, and go to the next stage. ... Did Mars ever have life?" Grunsfeld said as he previeweda 160-page report prepared by the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team, a group assembled by NASA to outline the objectives of the 2020 rover mission to Mars is considered essential to meeting President Barack Obama's challenge to send a manned mission to the planet in the 2030s.

Among the objectives of the 2020 rover mission will be the search for signs of life, the collection of samples to possibly be returned to Earth and testing technology that may allow for a manned mission to Mars.

Astronauts would face high radiation on Mars trip

"We want to be able to seek signs of life: Had life been there, did it leave a mark?" said Jack Mustard, a member of the development team and a chair and professor of geological sciences at Brown University.

As part of the preparation for the mission, NASA plans to conduct an open competition. It is planned by NASA for the space technology and scientific instruments that will be carried by the rover and used in the mission, according to the report.

In addition to the 2020 mission, NASA is scheduled to launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission in November 2013. That mission is set to explore the compounds of the Martian atmosphere, which scientists say will offer a glimpse into the planet's climate and habitability.

In 2016, a collaboration between the European Space Agency and Russian Federal Space Agency is expected to launch an ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter -- a mission to map methane and other gases on Mars.

The European and Russian space agencies plan to launch theExoMars rover in 2018.

"What we have over the next 10 years is a very comprehensive series of international missions to Mars," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division in Washington.

Researchers: Newly found planets might support life

PHOTONEWS: Nigeria’s Street Kids: Unprotected And Hopeless

Posted: July 11, 2013 - 23:22

The United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported in May 2005 that more than 7.3 million Nigerian children of school age were not in schools. The ugly statistic has its grave social consequences, including the spiraling rate of illiteracy and the dramatic rise in crimes committed by homeless street kids in Nigeria’s major towns and cities.
Across Nigeria, there are millions of children who are neither cared for nor have the prospects of personal fulfillment for the future. Their forlorn outlook paints a graphic portrait of their state of helplessness. Bereft of hope and cut off from the sustenance of family ties, these children roam the streets in a daze. They appear unkempt, emaciated, a picture of innocence defiled. Speak to them and they reveal a total absence of hope regarding their future. They make their “homes” in some of the filthiest, most dangerous parts of cities and towns, including abandoned buildings, underneath overhead bridges, and near refuse dumps which they scavenge for food.
They usually retire to their dangerous “abodes” at dusk and dash out early in the morning before they are seen by the prying eyes of the police or rightful owners of some of the structures that serve as haven.
In a country where the vast majority of the populace is racked by abject poverty, the state of street children is particularly grim.
Fela Awosika, a photojournalist who documents street kids across Nigeria, sets out to keep the future of these disadvantaged children firmly before our eyes.