Simon Akpaasou's Blog

CNN) The discovery of an East German secret police ID card wouldn't normally attract much attention, but things get a lot more interesting when it's Vladimir Putin's. Issued in 1985, the document belonged to the then mid-ranking Soviet officer, now the President of Russia.  At the time, Putin worked for the KGB spy service as a liaison with the East German State Security Service (Staatssicherheitsdienst), nicknamed the "Stasi." From 1985 to 1990, Putin was stationed in Dresden, East Germany. The German newspaper Bild says the ID card found in the archives proves Putin was working for the Stasi, but the Stasi Records Agency (BStU) says it served a purely practical purpose. The back of the ID card in question. Putin in a KGB uniform, around 1980.  Spokeswoman  Dagmar Hovestädt told CNN via telephone that Putin would have used the ID card to access Stasi facilities. He served in East Germany as a liaison officer, said Hovestädt, facilitating consultation

The TraderMoni scheme which the Federal Government embarked on weeks ago, has been enmeshed in Fraud allegations and illegal deductions. While it is alleged that the TraderMoni scheme is a collateral-free loan targeted at petty traders and artisans, it has been enmeshed in Fraud allegations, illegal deductions. The scheme is cordinated by the Bank of Industry and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, a unit in the Office of the Vice President, have six months to repay the loan with flexible options of N85 daily or N430 weekly. Beneficiaries who receive an initial loan of N10,000, will qualify to obtain further loans of N15,000, N20,000 and N50,000, if they don’t default in repaying the facility. However Punch gathered that a graduate of Food Science from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Daramola who ventured into petty trading, after quitting his previous job, had his hope crashed after he only got the sum of N8,000 – N2,000 less than the amount p

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has revealed the economic values of the $495 million credit facility the World Bank gave in support of the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria Project (TRIMING). A document obtained from the ministry showed that the funds would help in the ongoing National Irritation Development Programme initiated to aid diversification of the economy, guarantee food security and Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, stated that the project involved rehabilitation/expansion of about 42,000 hectares of irrigation land under the first phase, to be completed by 2022. “The World Bank is supporting the implementation of the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria Project (TRIMING) with a credit facility of US$495m. The first phase to be completed by 2022, are as follows: Bokolori Irrigation Project 13,500Ha, Kano River Irrigation Project 14,200, Hadejia Valley Irrigation Project 6,000 Ha, Dadiwa Kowa Irrigation Project 3,000Ha and Middl

A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday sentenced a former acting Managing Director of Century Microfinance Bank Limited, Olise Robinson, to 19 years imprisonment for stealing N29 million from the bank. Justice Okon Abang convicted Robinson of five counts of stealing, signature forgery, uttering of documents and criminal breach of trust. According to the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos, Robinson committed the offences while acting as the bank’s head between June 2008 and November 2009. Prosecution counsel Chukwu Agwu said the offences contravened Sections 390(6), 463 and 468 of the Criminal Code 2008 and were punishable under Section 467 of the same Act. Robinson pleaded not guilty. During the trial, Agwu called four witnesses and tendered several exhibits. The defendant testified for himself. Convicting Robinson yesterday, Justice Abang noted that the defendant failed to give evidence that he didn’t receive the amount and provided no evidence to show that he

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has threatened to ‘get’ Dr. Paul Enenche, the Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), over an alleged incitement. El-Rufai said this on Thursday when Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, paid him a visit in Kaduna. The governor was reacting to a recent message by Enenche where he blasted El-Rufai for not doing enough to end the killings in Kaduna State. He said, “The recent crisis we had in Kaduna metropolis in Kasuwan Mageni was largely as a result of hate speech. The second round of crisis was because rumours started circulating that the abducted chief of Agada had been killed and within an hour 22 people were killed and it was totally false,” he said. “By the time you create a lie like the case of these 22 people, consequences will follow. Even though the ransom was paid and he was freed, before he got to the road, the kidnappers shot and killed him. “What was the story? The story circulating was that I invi

Dear Mr @NGRPresident @MBuhari We appeal to you NOT to attend the presidential debate in view of the lecturing witnessed tonight. Please consider a townhall session. Despite the antics @ProfOsinbajo tutored the opposition candidates on nation building. Thank you

Davido’s “Fall” among 100 Most played Songs In The US, 2018 “Old but gold” is just the perfect phrase that can qualify Davido’s 2017 smashing hit single; “Fall”. The single which upon its release more than a year ago became an instant hit in Nigeria and other parts of the world is still doing wonders in the world of music. The song which video recently became the most streamed Nigerian content on Social media platform, YouTube, just bagged a spot on the US Billboard top 100 most played songs of 2018 even after more than a year of its release. The song sits on the number 48 position of the most played songs in far away north America (United States). This is definitely a good achievement for Afro-beats, it is a thorough indication that African music is really appreciated outside of its shores. We are definitely getting there! See post below:-

The Company managing the official Twitter handle of Guiness Nigeria PLC has apologised over the "Shut Up Your Dirty Mouth" tweet made towards a man during the Vice Presidential debate last night. Terragon Group said on their Twitter page that the tweet was sent in error by a team member and they sincerely apologize to @johannxs. They reiterate that the tweet had nothing to do with their client Guinness Nigeria PLC.

Miss USA has apologized after comments she made about two fellow Miss Universe contestants' English-language abilities, sparked backlash online. In a live Instagram video, 24-year-old contestant Sarah Rose Summers said that Miss Vietnam H'Hen Nie is "so cute and she pretends to know so much English and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she (nods and smiles)." Summers, who was joined in the video by Miss Colombia, Valeria Morales and Miss Australia, Francesca Hung, was attending the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday in Bangkok. Later on in the video Summers appeared to express sympathy for Miss Cambodia, Rern Sinat, who she said, "doesn't speak any English and not a single other person speaks her language." "Can you imagine? Francesca (Miss Australia) said that would be so isolating and I said yes and just confusing all the time," Summers said.

Did Linda Ikeji fake her engagement, that is the question most Nigerians have been asking since her Sholaye Jeremi dumping revelation. Recall that we reported earlier that Linda Ikeji disclosed that her baby daddy dumped her and became so wicked to her, after she got pregnant for him. However at some point in her lengthy disclosure, she stated that they planned a traditional marriage but never disclosed if she got proposed to by her estranged baby daddy. She further disclosed that they will never married. She wrote; Around when I was about three months pregnant, he did come to see my parents and actually became very cool with my dad. They were literally exchanging Whatsapp messages every day. He later agreed to a traditional wedding which he didn’t follow through and then he switched. He began to treat me with so much hate and aggression that I and my family had to cut him off completely. While some Nigerians are asking now is if Linda Ikeji faked her engagement, others are saying she

Russian media say a contraption presented by Russian state television as a high-tech robot was in fact a man in a commercially available robot costume. The footage was shot at a high-tech show in the city of Yaroslavl, featuring “Boris the Robot”. Forum organisers used Boris to enliven the event, having him dance to a pop song. But a crew for Russian state television apparently thought Boris was real, and used footage of him dancing and speaking as an example of Russian technological prowess. Online TJournal noted the lack of sensors, human-like movements and other discrepancies, and revealed that Boris was in fact a human clad in a costume sold under the name Alyosha by the Russian company Show Robots. Source>>  http://techcribs.com.ng/high-tech-robot-on-a-russian-tv-show-was-a-man-in-suit/

Nobel Laureate and iconic playwright, Professor Wole Soyinka, has spoken out about the report making the rounds about dead and cloned President Muhammadu Buhari. DAILY POST report that while in Poland, President Buhari had cried out about claims that he was dead and cloned. Soyinka was addressing a cross section of audience at Freedom Park in an event marking the 70th anniversary of human rights and worldwide reading for press freedom in memory of Jamal Khashoggi. He also stressed on the need to take the issue of stolen identity with seriousness. He said, “Recently, we have a situation in Nigeria and that is the issue of cloning President Muhammadu Buhari. We have people who have taken that issue seriously. “These were people that one can never believe to accept such considering their level of intelligence. “When Buhari went to Poland, I said what a coincidence because I hope while he was there, he will be able to sort-out his identity and there will be a report on the return of his i

Few hours after Linda Ikeji released pretty photos of her baby, which also came with a tragic news between her and her man. Twitter fan took her time to send shades to the popular blogger She wrote:- Linda Ikeji spent most of her blogging days slandering and castigating “Baby Mamas” until she tragically became one herself, now all she does is try to control the damage. Moral: be careful who you mock or laugh at, you don’t know how they got in that situation, Karma is Real!

A US congressman identified as Chris Smith took a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari recently over Herdsmen killings in Northern Nigeria. Smith expressed worry in the capability of the federal Government to stop the violence and put an end to the attacks. HE accused President Buhari of ethnicity, adding that it contributed to much of the tension in the area. He also spoke about the fulani herdsmen group, Miyetti Allah. PoliticsNGR has been furnished with the footage. Watch the shocking Video  More

Nigerian celebrity blogger, Linda Ikeji has finally revealed the name of her baby daddy and why she end up as baby mama. Read her story after the cut… Two days before my 38th birthday on September 17th, I welcomed my first child, my son, Jayce. I look at him and I wonder why I waited so long to have a child. I’ve never known love like this. I literally have tears in my eyes every time I look at him. I can’t believe he came out of me. He is by far my greatest blessing and I’m looking forward to navigating him through life! Now to the reason why you are reading this. I argued with myself for a long time whether to put this out or not…and finally decided it was a story I wanted to share. I’ve always been open about my life but I’m sharing details about my personal life mostly because of the girls who look up to me. The girls I have mentored, mentoring right now and plan to mentor in the future. I’m very particular about our young girls and I ha