Biggest Statue of Jesus in Africa Unveiled in Nigeria

In Nigeria on Friday ,was the unveiling of the nine-metre tall statue of Jesus Christ carved from white marble, thought to be the biggest of its kind in Africa. In Abajah is a village in Imo State, south-east Nigeria
Standing barefoot with arms outstretched, the "Jesus de Greatest" statue weighs in at 40 tonnes.



More than 100 priests and hundreds of Catholic worshippers attended the nine-metre (30-foot) statue's official unveiling in the village of Abajah in southeastern Nigeria.
It was commissioned by Obinna Onuoha, a businessman who hired a Chinese company to carve it and placed it in the grounds of a 2000-capacity church that he built in 2012.

In his homily at a Mass before unveiling the statue, presiding bishop Augustine Tochukwu Okwuoma said it would be a "very great symbol of faith" for Catholic worshippers and passers-by alike.

"It will remind them of the importance of Jesus Christ," said Okwuoma.
Earlier in the week, Onuoha told AFP it would be "the biggest statue of Jesus on the continent."

The 43-year-old boss of an oil and gas distribution company timed the statue's unveiling to coincide with his parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

"We think religions can exist side by side," Onuoha said. "We hope that people can live in harmony." He said this in connection with the diverse religious group in Nigeria.

He said the idea of building a giant statue of Jesus came to him in a dream nearly 20 years ago.And when his 68-year-old mother fell seriously ill a few years ago, she made him promise that he would build a church if she survived.

Nigeria Decides 2015: Live News So far...

At the break of dawn, today the year of our Lord 28th March 2015 ;) so many plannings and schemes for the past three month had culminated to what the next 24hrs or less would bring. From the north to south ,from the east to the west Nigerians are out in droves to exercise their civic rights.These are some of the latest that has been happening all around the country,more live updates;

Hacking of inec website:

The official website of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) was hacked today, by a group identifying itself as the Nigerian Cyber Army.

“Sorry xD Your Site has been STAMPED by TeM Nigerian Cyber Army FEEL SOME SHAME ADMIN!! Security is just an illusion” a statement read on the hacked INEC site.

Boko Haram Attacks Voters In Gombe

Boko Haram appeared to carry through their threat to disrupt the general elections as suspected insurgents attacked two polling stations in Gombe, leaving at least two voters dead.

One election official said after the shootings in Birin Bolawa and Birin Fulani: “We could hear the gunmen shouting, ‘Didn’t we warn you about staying away from (the) election?’” 

Polling stations had earlier opened at 8:00am across the country but the late arrival of officials and materials delayed the accreditation process before voting proper from 1:30pm.

Handheld technology to read biometric voter identity cards is being used for the first time, which the country’s electoral commission hopes will cut voter fraud that has blighted previous elections

Bomb Blast in Enugu State

A bomb went off at the WTC primary and secondary school premises. There are five polling booths in the WTC complex and according to a female witness, who lives very close to the premises, the first bomb went off with a deafening blast at 7.38am.

The noise attracted policemen and residents around the area to the sight of the blast including early voters. But the regular policemen, worried that there could be more bombs, warned people off while they waited for the arrival of the police bomb squad.

With the arrival of the Bomb Squad, it was learnt that the first bomb was planted in a Honda saloon car. The Commissioner of Police who was drafted in the area for the election exercise, Dan Bature was at the scene as well.

As at the time of filing this report, the Bomb Squad had detonated three other bombs and were still trying to detonate others.

Addressing journalists, Bature confirmed that a Honda Accord car with registration number KUJ 971 LB was abandoned in the WTC “and our men were alerted. The Bomb Disposal Department discovered some well-placed Improvised Explosive Devises (IED).

Bature said, “we don’t know their motives or who they are. No lives were lost. We are here in full strength and we are on top of the situation. All is well and we will ensure those who are here to vote will vote.”

Police Arrest Man for Distributing Stolen PVCs in Ebonyi

A man identified as Ozoemena Odenta has been arrested by the police in Ikwo Division of Ebonyi state Police Command for allegedly distributing stolen PVCs in Ekawoke ward in the area

The suspect was accused to have stolen the cards, numbering over 300, from INEC officials during the last distribution exercise and disappeared, only to resurface on the election day with the cards, which he distributed based on his discretion to his loyalists.

Confirming the incident, the Deputy Coordinator of Goodluck/ Sambo 2015 Project in Ebonyi state, Ambassador Frank Ogbuewu noted that the culprit was among the suspects that had already been fingered for the crime when the act was committed.

The Coordinator bemoaned the National chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega for using the card readers to experiment election as sensitive as the 2015 general election.

Instead, he should have assessed the efficiency of the machines in the conduct of bye- election in either national assembly or state house of assembly election.

On a lighter note Google Nigeria page is polling station of its own.Take a look.LOL

Nigeria Deploy Mercenaries to Aid in Boko Haram War.

Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Pitched Private Fighting Force To Nigeria For War Against Boko Haram 

A year after Prince proposed private troops for Nigeria, Nigeria is now using mercenaries. Prince’s old firm, Blackwater, used to contract with the U.S. to protect convoys and officials, and train foreign armies — but caused controversy when its employees killed Iraqi civilians.

Erik Dean Prince ,Founder Blackwater 

Nigeria’s government is deploying South African mercenaries in its effort to battle the Islamist Boko Haram militia that’s wreaking havoc in the northern part of the country, the New York Times reported last week. The Times didn’t mention Erik Prince, the American businessman and defense contractor who founded the controversial Blackwater Worldwide company, which he left in 2010. (Blackwater later changed its name to Xe and then Academi. Prince met with the President Goodluck Jonathan and gave him a business proposal: to deploy foreign “contractors” for hire, the same type of mercenary force Nigeria is now reportedly using.

Two sources familiar with the meeting in Nigeria said that Prince told the country’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, that his company could assemble a well-trained fighting force of non-Nigerians to battle Boko Haram. The terrorist group kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls last April and recently swore allegiance to the Syrian and Iraqi rebel force Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), known for beheading Western captives. The mercenaries — though Prince himself never uses the term — would lead the combat operations against insurgents, taking the load off the Nigerian military, which has often been accused of corruption and human rights abuses.

It is not clear that the South African mercenaries now reportedly operating in Nigeria are in fact doing the job that Prince had bid to do or even whether they are employed by Prince’s company. Two sources said that Prince’s business pitch was declined by the Nigerian government, which would mean that the mercenaries who are operating in the country are not connected to Prince.

But one source familiar with the deal said that Nigeria’s government did agree to do business with Prince. This source said that he believed the South African mercenaries are indeed part of a force affiliated with Prince.

Boko Haram terrorist network shows the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau. 

Prince is a U.S. citizen, and State Department arms trading rules generally require Americans who broker foreign defense service deals to obtain licenses and get advance approval.Prince is best known for his role in Blackwater, the most active of the private military companies that flourished over the last decade and a half during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In 2004, four Blackwater guards were savagely killed in Fallujah, where their bodies were burned and displayed, sparking a massive U.S. assault against the city and changing the tenor of the war. And in 2007, Blackwater guards in counterassault vehicles in Baghdad’s Nisour Square killed 17 innocent Iraqis in an unprovoked massacre. Last year four of the Blackwater guards were found guilty in a federal trial in Washington, D.C.

In the company’s heyday, it ran security for the State Department and CIA officials throughout Iraq, protected U.S. convoys in the Middle East, trained Afghan forces, and provided aviation services to the U.S. military in Afghanistan. The CIA even briefly hired Prince to set up an assassination wing to kill terrorists, according to former officers and published accounts, though that effort was canceled.

The government of Nigeria did not respond to request for comment on this story. But President Jonathan told the Voice of America news service last week that the foreign contractors were “technicians,” and a government spokesman has been quoted in the BBC saying that foreign troops were acting as trainers.

NIGERIA DECIDES 2015

Who would you vote for?

Top 100 Businesses in Nigeria in 2014

Top 100 Businesses in Nigeria in 2014

These are the businesses worth  taking note of in this new year. If you are looking for a job or a business to invest in . Oil and gas companies still hold the top positions  on the list, telecom companies banks and energy companies make up the bulk of the list.

Learn how to make and keep wealth this new year:
http://targetdex.blogspot.com/2015/01/7-ways-to-build-your-wealth-in-2015.html

Rich List of 2014-Africa

In 2014 the money came rolling in for some and rolling out for others. The high points on the richest people on the planet was Bill Gates return to the top of the pack after five years hiatus, Jack Ma of Ali baba becoming the richest man in china and making his way to the billionaires's club. Allahaji  Aliko Dangote of  Dangote group still leads the pack in Africa. Below are excerpts of the rich list. 2015 list, here i come ;)

                     

	Rank	Name	Net Worth	Age	Origin of Wealth
	#1	Aliko Dangote	$21.6 B	57	cement, sugar, flour
	#2	Johann Rupert & family	$7.3 B	64	luxury goods
	#3	Nicky Oppenheimer & family	$6.8 B	69	diamonds
	#4	Nassef Sawiris	$6.1 B	53	construction
	#5	Christoffel Wiese	$5.4 B	73	retailing
	#6	Mike Adenuga	$4.6 B	61	telcom, oil
	#7	Mohamed Mansour	$4 B	66	diversified
	#8	Isabel dos Santos	$3.7 B	41	investments
	#9	Issad Rebrab & family	$3.2 B	71	food
	#10	Naguib Sawiris	$3.1 B	60	telecom
	#11	Youssef Mansour	$2.9 B	69	diversified
	#12	Folorunsho Alakija	$2.5 B	64	oil
	#13	Othman Benjelloun	$2.4 B	82	banking, insurance
	#14	Yasseen Mansour	$2.3 B	53	diversified
	#14	Patrice Motsepe	$2.3 B	52	mining
	#16	King Mohammed VI	$2.1 B	51	diversified
	#17	Koos Bekker	$2 B	62	media, investments
	#18	Stephen Saad	$1.9 B	50	pharmaceuticals
	#19	Onsi Sawiris	$1.9 B	84	construction, telecom
	#20	Aziz Akhannouch & family	$1.8 B	54	petroleum, diversified
	#21	Miloud Chaabi & family	$1.3 B	86	diversified
	#22	Theophilus Danjuma	$1.1 B	76	oil
	#22	Sudhir Ruparelia	$1.1 B	59	real estate
	#22	Samih Sawiris	$1.1 B	58	real estate, hotels
	#25	Anas Sefrioui	$1.1 B	57	real estate
	#26	Rostam Azizi	$1 B	50	telecom, investments
	#26	Tony Elumelu	$1 B	51	investments
	#26	Orji Uzor Kalu	$1 B	55	diversified
	#29	Femi Otedola	$900 M	48	oil
	#30	Jim Ovia	$850 M	61	banking
	#31	Mohammed Dewji	$800 M	40	diversified
	#32	Lauritz (Laurie) Dippenaar	$730 M	66	banking, insurance
	#33	Mohamed Bensalah	$700 M	44	financial services
	#33	Abdulsamad Rabiu	$700 M	55	cement, sugar, flour
	#33	Bhimji Depar Shah & family	$700 M	-	consumer goods
	#36	Desmond Sacco	$680 M	72	mining
	#37	Mohammed Indimi	$670 M	66	oil
	#38	Gus Attridge	$660 M	54	pharmaceuticals
	#39	Tunde Folawiyo	$650 M	55	oil, telecom
	#40	Moulay Hafid Elalamy	$620 M	55	insurance
	#41	Hakeem Belo-Osagie	$600 M	60	telecom
	#41	Strive Masiyiwa	$600 M	54	telecom
	#41	Ali Wakrim & family	$600 M	-	gas
	#44	Said Salim Bakhresa	$575 M	66	manufacturing
	#45	Reginald Mengi	$560 M	-	media, mining
	#46	Naushad Merali	$550 M	64	diversified
	#46	Oba Otudeko	$550 M	71	manufacturing, telecom
	#48	Ahmed Ezz	$520 M	56	steel
	#48	Jannie Mouton	$520 M	68	financial services
	#50	Gerrit Thomas (GT) Ferreira	$510 M	66	banking, insurance