Rihanna has responded to rumors that she is expecting her first child with boyfriend, A$AP Rocky.

Earlier this week rumours circulated on the internet that Rihanna is pregnant with boyfriend ASAP Rocky’s child after footage of her at the Barbados Republic ceremony surfaced online.
The fan wrote to Rihanna, “Can I come to the baby shower sis!? True or not your babies are going to be beautiful. Sorry everyone’s up in your uterus right now ”


Rihanna responded, “Haaaaa! Stawwwp! You ain’t came to the first 10 baby showers! Y’all breed me every year dammit lol”

2023: There ‘ll Be Turbulence In PDP Over Choice Of Presidential Candidate – Wike

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has predicted that there would be disagreements in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over which part of the country will produce the party’s presidential candidate in 2023.

This is as he said that the presidential candidate of the PDP must be someone who will be ready to confront the All Progressives Congress (APC) even as he doubts the readiness of the ruling party to hand over power in 2023.

Wike, who spoke on Thursday during a live television programme monitored by our correspondent in Port Harcourt, vowed never to support any presidential aspirant that is not prepared to confront the APC.

The governor said: “The fact that the PDP national chairman came from the North and the one that just left came from the South, that does not in any way mean that we have chosen where our presidential candidate will come from. People are assuming that, that being the case, that is what will happen. That may be correct and that may not be correct.


“We will choose a candidate that is prepared to face the All Progressives Congress and their government. We are praying to God to help us, guide us to arrive at that choice. But that does not mean in arriving at this, there won’t be turbulence.

“There are two types of turbulence; the one that leads to crash and the one that you pass through and it does not lead to crash. Our own turbulence will not lead to crash because we will come out of it but APC’s turbulence will lead to crash.

“If I tell you in PDP, we won’t go through turbulence, then, I am not being fair. There will be serious disagreements but it is not the type of turbulence that we can’t come out of. The turbulence in APC is so severe that it will crash but our own turbulence is normal turbulence.”


Wike stated that although everybody has the right to aspire to run for the office of the President on the platform of the PDP, he will not support any aspirant that just want to bear the title of former presidential candidate.

“Everybody has the right to aspire to be the presidential candidate of our party. If you want to run for President under PDP, I will not support somebody who just want to bear the name as former presidential candidate. I won’t do that.


“I must see that you are prepared to confront the evil called APC because when you are fighting evil, you must be serious to fight evil. APC is a party that can do anything and can go to any length. So, you must be ready for this evil.

“I will not support an aspirant who already has who will be Chief of Staff or who will be this and that. You must show how prepared you are to win this election. You must get someone who is very serious to confront APC and not what prophets and marabouts told you.

“Whether you are bringing marabouts from Senegal or prophets from Israel; no, I am not going to do that. APC are not people you think will hand over power. They will not agree; they will make sure it did not happen,” Wike stated.

Netflix, Other Streaming Services May Cause Choas, We’ll Regulate It – Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has revealed plans to regulate Netflix and other streaming services in Nigeria.

He spoke on Wednesday, saying the streaming platforms may be exploited to “cause chaos” and undermine Nigeria’s democratic processes.

He stated this at a two-day conference which was to discuss “the implication of Nigeria censorship laws and regulatory framework for Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming services and content providers in Nigeria.”

Mohammed further stated that the popularity and demand of streaming services in the country has increased following the outbreak of Coronavirus, hence the need to regulate it.

The Minister who was represented by the Director, Information and Technology in the ministry, Comfort Ajiboye, pointed to the belief that social media and streaming services can be used “to cause chaos and undermine democratic processes.”

The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) organised the conference in Lagos, along with practitioners and stakeholders in the entertainment and creative industry.

The Executive Director and CEO of the NFVCB, Adedayo Thomas, in his open remark said the conference was to brainstorm on creating policies to regulate streamers and content providers in Nigeria.

Thomas said, “With over 50 per cent internet penetration, it has become imperative to convene this conference to bring together stakeholders and legislators in a conversation so as to come up with crystal policies on the regulation of streamers and content providers.”

He further stated that streaming service providers are unable to self-regulate, reason why their operations are now being discussed at the conference with the theme, “Nigeria Digital Content Regulation”.

Thomas, however, noted that “the goal of regulation is not to stifle creativity but to create sanity and encourage healthy competition for socio-economic gains.”

The Netflix Director of Public Policy, Sub-Saharan Africa, Shola Sanni was a panellist at the conference.

Participants include members of the various Guilds in Nollywood which included the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN).

Others are the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Theatre and Movie Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), among others.

Also were representatives of local and international streaming services, Free To Air (FTA), Pay TV operators and other content creators.

BREAKING: PDP National Leaders Hold Closed-Door Meeting With Orji Kalu

Senator Orji Kalu, the Chief Whip of the Senate, on Thursday afternoon received newly elected officials of the People’s Democratic Party in his Aso Rock, Abuja residence.

The team was led by the National Secretary of the PDP, Senator Samuel Anyanwu alongside other newly elected officials of the party.

Anyanwu, a former Senator and other newly elected officials of the PDP arrived at the residence of the Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District at precisely 12.28pm.

Anyanwu who wore a navy blue native attire was welcomed by Kalu’s associates and then led straight with his executives to meet the principal officer of the upper chamber.

On sighting one another, both men engaged in pleasantries and embraced each other then proceeded for an indoor meeting.

As the meeting progressed, other executives of the party arrived in turns at Kalu’s residence to join the meeting.

The visit comes amidst strong talks that the former Abia State governor was being positioned for the 2023 presidency to succeed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

Kalu, a founding member of the PDP, formally joined the ruling All Progressives Congress, In 2016

He contested and won the 2019 Senatorial election.

Three Cases Of Omicron Variant Confirmed In Nigeria

Three Cases Of Omicron Variant Confirmed In Nigeria

Three cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant have been confirmed in Nigeria, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has disclosed.

The Omicron variant also known as the B.1.1.529 lineage, was confirmed in travellers from South Africa who arrived in Nigeria on a day the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, arrived the country on an official visit.This came as Canada has also banned travellers from Nigeria, Egypt, and Malawi over fears of spread of the new variant, bringing to 10 the number of African countries targeted by Ottawa.

This is even as the Federal Government yesterday began enforcement of its began vaccine mandate policy for its employees, barring them from accessing their work places without proof of vaccination.

Director-General of NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adefila, who broke news of the presence of Omicron in Nigeria yesterday, said in line with the routine travel test required of all international travellers and genomic sequencing at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, through Its National Reference Laboratory, NRL, Abuja and network of other testing laboratories confirmed Nigeria’s first case of the Omicron variant, also known as the B.1.1.529 lineage.

According to him, samples obtained for the stipulated day two test for all travellers to Nigeria were positive for this variant in three persons with a history of travel to South Africa.

These cases, according to the NCDC boss, were recent arrivals in the country in the past week.

He said follow-up to ensure isolation, linkage to clinical care, contact tracing and other relevant response activities had commenced, adding that arrangements were also being made to notify the country where travellers originated according to the provisions of International Health Regulations, IHR.

Adefila said NCDC assumed Omicron was widespread globally, given the increasing number of countries reporting the variant and that it was a matter of when, not if, more cases would be identified in the country.


He said: “We continue to expand our sequencing capacity in-country at the NCDC-NRL, through our network of public health laboratories and other partners.

‘’Our focus is to complete sequencing of recently accrued samples of SARS-COV-2 positive travellers from all countries, especially those from countries that have reported the Omicron variant already.”

He said since reports of the emergence of the Omicron variant, the Federal Ministry of Health, through the NCDC, had intensified public health response measures to COVID-19 in the country.

“The national travel advisory has also been revised by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and now requires all inbound travellers to Nigeria to present a negative COVID-19 test result done not more than 48 hours before departure.

“Pre-booking and payment for all-day 2 and day 7 COVID-19 PCR tests are prerequisites for travel. In addition, all outbound passengers regardless of the requirements of destination countries are expected to present evidence of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test done not later than 48 hours before departure.

“We appeal to Nigerians to adhere strictly to these travel protocols and other public safety measures to protect themselves, families, friends, the community at large and to prevent a fourth wave of COVID-19 in the country as we combat the pandemic and these emerging variants including the Delta variant,” Adetifa stated.

He explained that, according to preliminary findings in countries where this variant was earlier detected, there was insufficient evidence to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron were different from other variants, adding, however, that it might be more transmissible.


According to him, there is still a lot to learn about the Omicron variant, which requires the guidance of scientific evidence.

He noted also that since the emergence of the Omicron variant in some parts of the world, the Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH, through NCDC with the guidance of the World Health Organisation, WHO, had intensified public health response measures to COVID-19 in Nigeria, based on the assessment of the risk of spread of the virus.

“This includes there view of the national travel protocols by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC-COVID-19) has announced that travellers to Nigeria now must present a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours before boarding.

‘’We appeal to Nigerians to adhere strictly to these travel protocols to prevent a fourth wave of COVID-19 in the country as we combat the pandemic and these emerging variants, including the Delta variant,’’ he added.

While noting that given the risk of increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, it was essential to curb community transmission, Adefila recommended that states should ensure sample collection and testing remained widely accessible so that people who had symptoms or had been exposed to a positive case got tested quickly in healthcare and other settings.

He said this could be achieved through increased COVID-19 testing, using approved antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests, RDTs, being rolled out by the NCDC and partners as well as PCR-tests where applicable.

Adetifa explained that vaccination also reduces community transmission, recommending that states should effectively implement ongoing mass vaccination campaigns and encourage citizens to make use of every available opportunity to get vaccinated.

Speaking further, he added that continued transmission as seen in largely unvaccinated populations from which the new variant had emerged also encouraged the emergence of newer and possibly more dangerous variants.

Noting that interrupting transmission of the virus remained the country’s best defence against the virus and path to returning to normalcy, Adefila said: “We can only achieve this through vaccination and adherence to the proven safety measures, such as wearing face masks, regular hand washing and physical distancing.

‘’We appeal to business owners, religious leaders, and people in authority to take responsibility by ensuring people in their premises adhere to these measures.’’

In a similar development, Canada on Tuesday banned travellers from Nigeria, Egypt, and Malawi over fears of the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, bringing to 10 the number of African countries targeted by Ottawa.

“Foreign nationals who have transited or stayed in these 10 countries cannot enter Canada if they have been in those countries in the last two weeks,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, told a press conference. The measure took effect yesterday.

According to Duclos, any Canadians or permanent residents who have been in any of the 10 countries will need to quarantine on arrival and take a COVID test.

“In the coming days, all air travelers arriving from outside Canada, apart from the United States, will now need to be tested for COVID-19 at their point of entry, and isolated until their test results are available,’’ he added.

First reported to the WHO less than a week ago after being detected in Southern Africa earlier in November, the Omicron variant has appeared in well over a dozen countries, stoking global fears about a coronavirus pandemic that had killed more than five million people and savaged economies worldwide.

“The pandemic is not over,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra added. “Travel measures could change at any moment.”

Canada last Friday banned entry to all travelers from seven Southern African countries, including Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

On Sunday, Canada confirmed it had detected its first cases of the new Omicron strain, in two people who had traveled recently to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government yesterday began enforcing its vaccine mandate policy for its employees by barring them from accessing their work places without proof of vaccination.

Government’s action began on the day it had directed its staff from grade level 12 and below who had been working from home, following outbreak of COVID-19, to resume work.

Recall that a circular signed by the Head of Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan, dated November 26, 2021, had explained that the vaccine mandate policy was in line with the recommendation of the Presidential Steering Committee, PSC, on COVID-19.

Consequently, workers who resumed work at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, yesterday, were stopped by security agents from entering their offices without proof that they had been vaccinated.

Those who presented proof of vaccination or negative PCR tests were allowed into the complex, while those without proof on the other hand, were denied access.

The implementation of the policy by the government has caused a surge at the various designated centres within the city centres as the affected staff rushed to be vaccinated.

While a large number of staff were seen still hanging around the area at press time, some other were seen returning to their homes in en masse.

The Boss Mustapha-led presidential steering committee on COVID-19 had directed that civil servants without proof of vaccination and negative PCR tests would not be allowed to access government buildings from December 1, 2021.

This had attracted the attention of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria which appealed to government to shift the deadline to March, 2022.

However, the appeal failed.

 

35-Year-Old Woman Arrested In Nasarawa For Attempting To Sell Kidnapped Three-Year-Old Baby

The Police in Nasarawa State says it has arrested a 35-year-old woman, Rifkatu Haruna, for allegedly stealing a three-year-old male child in the state, according to online reports.

During a parade of the suspect and 18 others on Wednesday in Lafia, the state Commissioner of Police, Adesina Soyemi, noted that Haruna was apprehended in Garaku, in the Kokona Local Government Area of the state.

He said the suspect, who had been on the wanted list of the police, was arrested following a tip-off received by men of the command.

The commissioner added that preliminary investigation into the case revealed that the woman, who allegedly collaborated with other suspects, stole the baby from Garaku town and planned to sell him to a prophetess in Enugu State.

“The traffickers took the child to Enugu State, but could not sell him, so they brought him back. The suspect ran out of luck and was arrested; other accomplices are still on the run.

“We are now trailing the other suspects and I promise to do everything within the law to ensure that they are apprehended no matter their status in the society,” he added.

When our correspondent spoke to the suspect, she confirmed that she was arrested in Garaku town while returning the baby to his mother.

She, however, denied belonging to a syndicate, adding that she only helped the woman to rescue her stolen child.

Haruna said, “I am not a member of the gang and I did not steal the baby. I only wanted to help the mother of the child locate her stolen baby. I am innocent of the crime.”

While warning criminal elements to leave the state, Soyemi said all the suspects would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Lafia for further investigation after which they would be charged to court.