The 49-year-old talented Veteran music producer and singer, Babatunde Okungbowa was popularly known as OJB Jezreel, is dead.
According to close sources, the music maestro who had a kidney transplant in 2013, his kidney transplant failed completely since last week and his family had to keep him on N35,00 dialysis treatment to overcome the relapse.
Successful kidney transplant in 2013
Sadly, OJB passed on a month to his 50th birthday.
His body has been taken to a morgue at Isolo General Hospital.
OJB Jezreel suffered from a kidney ailment in 2013 and had a successful kidney transplant within the same year after several contributions from friends and artists in the music industry.
He is survived by his three wives- June, Korede and Mabel and eight children.
The mansion was said to be located at St George’s Hill estate in Weybridge, Surrey in the United Kingdom.
Jonathan’s ministers and virtually all that have worked with him except few have been under severe probe of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, since President Muhammadu Buhari took over. Several billion and millions of Naira and United States dollar have been recovered.
The UK’s The Sun Tabloid author of the report queried the source of the money by which the ex-president of Nigeria bough such an expensive building.
“I HEAR the aptly named Goodluck Jonathan, the former president of oil-rich Nigeria, has bought a 12,000 square foot house on the ultra-expensive and well protected St George’s Hill estate in Weybridge, Surrey.”
“I’m sure he gained his wealth legitimately but these houses are £10-£15million a pop, so perhaps the ex-president could explain where his money came from as he has been at the forefront of the fight against his country’s corruption.”
‘Surely it can’t all have been good luck.” The Newspaper was quoted to have said.
The paper put the market price for such houses in the area as being between £10-£15million (about N4.3bn), a staggering figure that may well surpass the cumulative earnings of the former president while in office.
Goodluck issued a statement reacting to the story published by issued The Sun.
The former president has denied owning a £15m property in the United Kingdom and demanded a retraction from the UK SUN over the article posted by its former Editor, Kelvin Mackenzie in his Saturday column.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan takes pride in the fact that he does not have any property or accounts outside Nigeria. He stated this publicly while in office and his commitment to Nigeria’s economy remains total even after he left power.
“As the Nigerian President who signed the Freedom of Information bill into law, Dr. Jonathan is well aware that the United Kingdom is a nation with good record keeping at county and national levels and as such, it will not take a serious and responsible media long to verify ownership of property before rushing to the press with potentially libellous publications.
“It is hoped that this publication will correct its error and do a retraction and that other media will likewise follow up on this story to put the lie to the details it contains.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden celebrates after the UEFA EURO 2016 Qualifier Play-Off Second Leg match between Denmark and Sweden at Parken Stadium on November 17, 2015, in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Sky News sources have it that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has agreed personal terms on becoming a Manchester United player and is set to undergo medical formalities as soon as Sweden’s engagement at the ongoing Euro 2016 tournament comes to an end.
A Russian fan clashes with an England supporter at the end of their match in Marseille CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
For crowd disturbances inside Stade velodrome, UEFA has handed Russia a suspended disqualification. This sentence will be enforced in case of repeated violence.
#BREAKING Football: Russia given 'suspended disqualification' from Euro 2016 over crowd trouble
The Naira on Monday fell against the dollar on the parallel market according to PM News.
The Nigerian currency shed N8 to exchange at N360 to the dollar, from N352 it traded on Friday.
Also, the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N515 and N405 respectively.
Meanwhile, the official Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate remained at N197 to a dollar.
Traders at the market attributed the unstable nature of the Naira to the scarcity of the greenback and hoarding of foreign exchange by currency speculators.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu has said the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government will consider people from the Niger Delta region when allocating oil blocs.
Speaking at a Town Hall in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State, the Minister said though the President had not allocated any oil bloc since assumption of office but that when he eventually starts, only skilled people will benefit.
According to the Minister, the President will follow due process when he finally starts the allocation of oil blocs.
Kachikwu said, “In terms of the allocation of oil blocs to south-south indigene, since we came into position, the government has not allocated any bloc of petroleum. The president has not put any emphasis on that at all.
“He said we need to correct the mess before we begin to give advantage. Let me set something very clearly here; just like Udoma, I didn’t know the president before I got appointed here, never met him before, never spoke to him before.
“Recommendations and reputation brought me here. I haven’t been in government before, so I don’t know how it works, but since the day that I resumed, this president has never called me to give me the name of anybody, any Nigerian, north, south, east or west and say to me ‘you need to do some favour.
Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachikwu
“On the contrary, his emphasis is that there should be no favours. Make the right decisions and be able to defend it. On the issue of oil blocs, when the time comes, it will follow a very due process.
“I’m one of those who believe there’s a need to see how the south-south and corridors would benefit because that is part of giving back. I am sure that at the appropriate time, those presented to him, he will listen to it.
“He will listen to it subject to the fact that those who have skills and the finances to develop the field will be allowed to develop the fields.”
This is the Buhari ‘Change’ I had in mind. Change that will see a public officer speak up. Change, that will enable a Minister to speak without fear. Change, where a Minister can speak his mind because he is on standby to resign his position if his beliefs are compromised. Amaechi is a politician, while Kachikwu is a technocrat who wants to see things work. I am certain, President Buhari has encouraged his Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachikwu to speak up, and boy did he put Amaechi in his place. Brilliant stuff. Take it from me, Amaechi’s maturity will be tested. If he takes it personally, President Buhari should not hesitate to sack him. – Jide Salu
Please ignore the extra gimmicks that accompanied the video….hilarious, but should not trivialise the content.
Madam former Oil Minister, if I were a member of your team of media advisers, I would have been more tactful, and not forceful and arrogant with your press release. Your attempt to defend against allegations made against you by television channel Al Jazeera has not helped your reputation at all., Do you know what, you may have sighed a long breath suggesting you no longer care, but in the generation of social media which you can’t claim you have not benefitted from, you have just made matters worse for yourself. Didn’t you read the statement before it was released? It stunk of arrogance, comparing yourself with women selling tomatoes in Bodija market in Ibadan? What are you on about Diezani? You may have lost the plot here. What is evident though is that you are still surrounded by sycophants, which is a pity. There are ways your story could have been better presented. This is definitely not the way if truth be told. And as for President Buhari, for as long as you continue to ‘make deals’ with looters, your legacy to effectively deal with corruption will remain tarnished. I just don’t get it. How can so much money have been recovered, yet absolutely nobody has been convicted? How can you defend this practice? And it will be a whitewash if you inform us that EFCC and the Judiciary are in control of these matters. They simply aren’t.- Jide Salu
READ DIEZANI’S STATEMENT BELOW AS COVERED BY VANGUARD.
Diezani’s EFCC seized property
Immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has reacted to a recent documentary by Al Jazeera, in which it was alleged that her piece of property in Abuja worth $18m and her jewelry worth $2m, have been seized by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
In a statement on Monday, Diezani decried that the report represents everything ridiculous and despicable about professional media practice and global best practices in the war against corruption, adding that it was the latest attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
She said: “My attention has been drawn to a report by Al Jazeera, which was released on Monday as a testament to the effectiveness of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in its war against corruption.
“In the video report, which has been widely circulated in the social media, there are claims about me owning a property in Abuja allegedly worth $18 million. The report, which represents everything ridiculous and despicable about professional media practice and global best practices in the war against corruption, is the latest attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
“Clips of jewelry allegedly worth over $2 million were also copiously displayed as if to feed the cravings of an audience gratified with the notion that every wealthy Nigerian is corrupt.
“This will not be the first time calculated attempts have been made to demonise and damage my reputation in the public space. Many times, my detractors have gotten away with these irresponsible smear campaigns because they have become accustomed to my characteristic approach of silence in the face of these callous attacks.
“The latest in the string of propaganda attacks launched against my person since I left government as Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister is this Al Jazeera report, which without any court conviction anywhere in the world attempts to dress Diezani Alison Madueke in the garb of a common criminal.
“This, to say the least, is the height of journalistic brigandage and a sheer mockery of Nigeria’s anti-corruption war before the eyes of the world who are watching and asking if the war against corruption is a circus show where suspects are prosecuted and sentenced on the pages of newspapers and video blogs without anything as remotely in the semblance of a trial in the courts of law.
“When did it become a crime to own a property in Nigeria? When did it become a crime for a woman of my status to have in her possession, jewellery? Jewellery, which women all across the world, including the woman selling tomatoes in Bodija market have in abundance in their closets? In which court of law, anywhere in the world was I prosecuted by the EFCC and found guilty of corruption?
“With all sense of modesty, I say this only for posterity and for the records. I have strived within my means and the blessings of God to live a decent and accomplished life. I studied architecture in England and obtained a bachelor’s degree from Howard University, United States of America in 1992. When I returned to Nigeria that same year, I joined Shell Petroleum Development Corporation.
“In 2002, I obtained an MBA at Cambridge University, United Kingdom. In April 2006, I was appointed by Shell as the company’s first female Executive Director in Nigeria. In July 2007, I was appointed by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as Minister of Transport. “The next year in December 2008 I became Minister of Mines and Steel Development. In April 2010, I was appointed as Minister for Petroleum Resources and served in that capacity till May 2015. During this period as Petroleum Minister, I had the honour of serving Nigeria and representing her in the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) where I was elected first female President.
“All through my career, I have strived to maintain a record of hard work, integrity and excellence, giving my best to society, because my parents raised me in the consciousness that a man or woman’s greatness is defined not by the amount of wealth they have acquired but the impact of their service to God and humanity.
“Coming at such a critical time in my life when I am battling cancer, this poorly executed propaganda bares on its face like tribal marks, a clearly malicious attempt to victimize an innocent woman in what appears an exaggerated plot to validate and give credibility to the anti-corruption crusade under Nigeria’s new regime. People who are battling cancer or those who have lost their loved ones to this medical condition understand what I am going through at this time.
Diezani’s cash
“This is what makes me ponder at the cold-heartedness of those who will go any length to defame and destroy in the name of propaganda. What happened to our shared humanity?,” asked Diezani.
Continuing, she said: “I have absolute regard for the law and believe that people who have breached the laws that govern societies should be made to face the wrath of the law. But in a civilized society, a responsible government owes its citizens absolute commitment to the principles of rule of law, equity, fairness and justice. I have been wrongfully and maliciously maligned and those behind this reckless action know it.
“I leave them to posterity, their conscience and above all the Almighty God who is the final judge of all.”
Jide Salu’s Diary 