FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA IS THE RICHEST BLACK WOMAN IN THE WORLD AND SHE IS A NIGERIAN!

Oprah Winfrey has lost her long-held title as the richest black woman in the world to a Nigerian oil tycoon, according to a report by an African business magazine.

Edging out Oprah is Folorunsho Alakija, a 61-year-old woman from Nigeria who is reportedly worth at least $3.2 billion, or roughly $500 million more than Oprah's $2.7 billion net worth, Ventures Africa reported.

OPRAH WINFREY

Alakija is the founder and owner of Famfa Oil, which owns a 60 per cent interest in OML 127, an offshore oil field that produces roughly 200,000 barrels of oil per day and is worth an estimated $6.44 billion.


Also a fashion designer and philanthropist, Alakija is married and has four grown sons, as well as one grandchild. She owns at least $100 million in real estate and $46 million private jet, Ventures Africa reported.

THE ALAKIJAS

FAMILY PORTRAIT

THE ALAKIJAS

THE ALAKIJAS

Born into a wealthy Nigerian family, Alakija started out as a secretary in the mid 1970s at the now defunct International Merchant Bank of Nigeria.

Several years later, she quit her job and moved to London, where she studied fashion design. She later returned to Nigeria and launched her fashion line, Supreme Stitches, which caters to upscale, high-society women. 

While she was building her name as a fashion designer, Alakija in 1993 applied for an Oil Prospecting License -- an expensive permit that allows for oil exploration in a specified area.

The Nigerian government granted her request and allocated a 617,000-acre block of land to Alakija for oil exploration -- but she knew nothing about finding and extracting oil.

So in September of 1996, she appointed Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited -- a subsidiary of Texaco -- to act as a technical adviser for her business.

In 2000, Star Deep Petroleum determined that Alakija's land contained an excess of one billion barrels of oil. When this was discovered, the Nigerian government tried to re-acquire half of the oil-rich block it had sold to Alakija.

The Nigerian government was successful and Alakija lost control of all but 10 percent of her oil company until 2012, when Nigeria's highest court reversed the government's actions. 

With Alakija now back in control of 60 percent of the oil company, her net worth has shot up to $3.2 billion, an estimate that Ventures Africa calls extremely conservative.

Alakija's sons now run Famfa Oil and her husband, Modupe Alakija, is the chairman of the company.

She recently purchased a $102 million property at One Hyde Park in London, as well as a Bombardier Global Express 6000 jet, which she bought earlier this year for $46 million. 

Her charity, Rose of Sharon Foundation, gives out small grants to widows and orphans.

Culled from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243106/Nigerian-oil-tycoon-Folorunsho-Alakija-takes-Oprahs-place-richest-black-woman-world.html

SHE IS BEAUTIFUL, RICH AND HAPPILY MARRIED AND BLESSED WITH CHILDREN..SO LADIES WE CAN HAVE IT ALL AND MORE ..BY GOD'S GRACE

ANDREW FINALLY CHECKS OUT..RIP ENEBELI ENEBUWA

Reports reaching CKN Nigeria has it that Nollywood veteran actor “Andrew Wan Check Out” Enebeli Enebuwa has died.

He died in an Indian hospital where he was receiving treatment for an ailment.

He was diagnosed with the illness some months back and was moved to an Indian hospital in Karu Abuja by a team of " Nollywood "actresses led by Stella Damasus.

After sometime, he was referred to India and he went there at the expense of his home state governor, Gov Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State.

Few weeks back he spoke to Mrs Lara Owoeye Wise on AIT where he told Nigerians that he will soon be back.

His condition worsened some days back and all efforts to revive him were futile.

When CKN Nigeria got across to the former President of Actors Guild of Nigeria,Segun Arinze, he confirmed the story saying it was a great loss to the industry.
According to him, Enebuwa was one of the shining stars of the industry and will be greatly missed.
Arrangement is being made to bring his body back to Nigeria..CKN Nigeria

Culled from www.cknnigeria.com

NOLLYWOOD NEEDS PRAYERS..THE DEATHS ARE TOO MANY..MAY GOD HELP ALL

WEDDING FLOWERS AND THEIR SYMBOLIC MEANINGS

Its the wedding season and flowers are suddenly very important.....it will be a good idea to know the significance of your chosen flowers so you dont send the wrong message or attract the wrong vibes on your wedding day..who would have thought that yellow roses signified jealousy, marigold grief..and mulbery flower.."i shall not survive you..TUFIAKWA"


Anemone
Meaning: Expectation
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: None
In Season: Fall (Japanese) to spring (Wood or De Caen)
Price Range: Moderate
Floral Fact: Anemones bloom in either single or double blossoms.

Baby's Breath
Meaning: Innocence
Best For: Filler in bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres
Scent: None
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive

Calla Lily
Meaning: Magnificent beauty
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: Lightly fragrant
In Season: Spring and summer
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: This large tropical flower is very popular in weddings.

Carnation
Meaning: Pink represents boldness, red symbolizes love, and white indicates talent. Some other colors have negative connotations (see below).
Best For: Bouquets, boutonnieres, and arrangements
Scent: Very light fragrance or none at all, depending on variety
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive

Chrysanthemum (or mum's flower)
Meaning: Wealth, abundance, truth
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: None
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive
Floral Fact: Mums come in several varieties, which determine their size and color. The name literally means "golden flower."

Daffodil
Meaning: Regard
Best For: Garden settings, in pots
Scent: None
In Season: Spring
Price Range: Inexpensive (in season)

Daisy
Meaning: Share your feelings
Best For: Bouquets
Scent: None
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive (in season)

Delphinium
Meaning: Swiftness, lightness
Best For: Arrangements
Scent: Lightly fragrant
In Season: Summer
Price Range: Moderate

Freesia
Meaning: Innocence
Best For: Bouquets
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Spring and summer
Price Range: Inexpensive (in season)

Gardenia
Meaning: Purity, joy
Best For: Bouquets and boutonnieres
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Expensive

Hydrangea
Meaning: Understanding
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: None
In Season: Spring and fall
Price Range: Expensive

Iris
Meaning: A message of faith, wisdom
Best For: In arrangements or potted
Scent: Fragrant
In Season: Spring
Price Range: Moderate to expensive, depending on variety
Floral Fact: Irises come in several sizes; they are usually blue or white, but you may find exotic varieties (including purple ones).

Lilac
Meaning: Love's first emotions
Best For: Filler in arrangements or as part of bouquets, depending on variety
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Local lilacs are available in the spring; imported French lilacs are available year-round
Price Range: Moderate to expensive
Floral Fact: The local lilac is grown like a bush, and is used as filler because of its greenery. The French lilac is more flower-like and can be used as such in bouquets and arrangements.

Lily
Meaning: Majesty, truth, honor
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: Fragrant
In Season: Summer, but often imported during other seasons
Price Range: Moderate to expensive

Lily of the Valley
Meaning: Happiness
Best For: Bouquets, in combination with other flowers
Scent: Fragrant
In Season: Spring and summer
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: These small, fragile, bell-shaped flowers are considered traditional marriage flowers.

Magnolia
Meaning: Love of nature
Best For: Arrangements
Scent: Depends on variety
In Season: Spring and summer
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: Magnolias are more common in Southern-style weddings, as most magnolia trees grow in the South.

Orchid
Meaning: Love, beauty
Best For: Bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres
Scent: None
In Season: Year-round -- almost always imported
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: This exotic flower comes in a variety of colors and sizes.

Peony
Meaning: Bashfulness, the American spirit of ambition and determination
Best For: Arrangements
Scent: Lightly fragrant
In Season: Late spring
Price Range: Expensive

Rose
Meaning: Love, joy, beauty
Best For: Bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, and arrangements
Scent: Lightly fragrant to very fragrant, depending on variety
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Moderate to expensive
Floral Fact: Roses are the most popular wedding flowers.

Stephanotis
Meaning: Marital happiness
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Moderate
Floral Fact: These trumpet-shape blossoms are traditional bridal flowers, no doubt due to their meaning.

Stock
Meaning: Lasting beauty
Best For: Filler in arrangements
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive
Floral Fact: Stock can be found in many colors to complement and fill out arrangements.

Sunflower
Meaning: Short-stemmed sunflowers mean adoration; long-stemmed sunflowers symbolize haughtiness
Best For: Carrying a single stem down the aisle; potted arrangements
Scent: None
In Season: Fall
Price Range: Inexpensive to moderate in season

Sweet Pea
Meaning: Pleasure
Best For: Garden setting, in vases
Scent: Fragrant
In Season: Late spring and early summer
Price Range: Moderate

Tulip
Meaning: Love, passion
Best For: Arrangements and bouquets
Scent: None
In Season: Late spring
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: These sweet and stately flowers can be found in a myriad of colors, but they are very fragile.

Unfavorable Flowers
It's sad but true: You might want to avoid certain flowers (if you're superstitious, that is). On the other hand, you can always thumb your nose at history and ascribe your own meaning to these "questionable" blooms. Here are the so-called negative indicators:
Christmas Rose: Scandal
Fig: Idleness
Foxglove: Insincerity
Larkspur: Infidelity
Lavender: Distrust
Marigold: Grief

Marigold

Mulberry: I shall not survive you

Raspberry: Remorse
Red Carnation: Alas for my poor heart
Red Poppy: Consolation
Rhododendron: Danger
Striped Carnation: Refusal
White Poppy: Sleep
Yellow Carnation: Disdain
Yellow Chrysanthemum: Slighted Love
Yellow Lily: Falsehood
Yellow Rose: Jealousy

Culled from http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-flowers/articles/symbolic-wedding-flower-meanings.aspx

MUHAMMAD ALI CROWNED KING OF BOXING

Former heavyweight boxing icon Muhammad Ali was honoured with the title of the "King of Boxing" during the 50th convention of the World Boxing Council in the Mexican city of Cancun on Monday.

The event was attended by the head of the World Boxing Council Jose Sulaiman along with former boxing champions such as Mexican Julios Cesar.

Ali, who wore dark glasses, was lead into the convention and sat on a red velvet throne.

A sign in Spanish on a large-screen television read, "Welcome to Cancun, King of Boxing."
Ali was one of the great sportsmen of the 20th Century.

Formerly known as Cassius Clay, his extravagant style inside and out of the boxing ring lead to him becoming one of his eras most recognisable faces.

The fleet-footed boxer won his first heavyweight title from Sonny Liston at the age of 22 and recorded 56 wins in his 21-year career.
He was strongly criticised at the time for skipping the draft for the US Army during the Vietnam war, famously saying: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong."

Eventually, he was arrested and found guilty of evasion and stripped of his world title and boxing license.

He avoided prison, but was out of the ring for four years while he fought a successful appeal all the way up to the US Supreme Court.
Ali retired in 1981 and was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1984.

The World Boxing meeting began on Monday and will end on 8 December.

Culled from http://sports.ndtv.com/othersports/boxing/item/200210-muhammad-ali-crowned-king-of-boxing

.....AND SOME OF HIS INTERESTING QUOTES....



Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.

Muhammad Ali


I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'
Muhammad Ali


I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.
Muhammad Ali


Culled from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/muhammadal148626.html

ABOUT 8 PEOPLE FEARED DEAD AFTER JAPANESE HIGHWAY TUNNEL COLLAPSED ABOUT 15HRS AGO

At least eight people have been confirmed dead, after a highway tunnel in central Japan partially collapsed Sunday morning, sparking a fire, and trapping three cars inside.
Yamanashi police say the charred remains of five victims were pulled from a rental van nearly seven hours after the accident at the Sasago Tunnel, 50 miles west of the capital city. Late Sunday night, search crews found the driver of another truck dead, crushed under debris, about a mile from the tunnel exit.

The driver had called his company earlier in the day, to say he was trapped inside the tunnel, but heavy smoke and fears of another collapse hampered rescue efforts, according to broadcaster NHK.
Two other victims were killed inside a separate car.
Video from surveillance cameras inside the tunnel showed concrete slabs, as many as 150, caved in, with cars flattened underneath. Aerial images of the scene showed black smoke billowing out of the tunnel.
Witnesses report a frantic scene following the accident. More than 20 cars including a tour bus were passing through at the time, but many passengers managed to escape the flames.
“The ceiling just caved in, so I couldn’t tell if it was dust rising or smoke,” one witness told NHK. “I wasn’t able to see anything in front of me.”

watch cctv coverage of the tunnel collapse

The collapse occurred about 2 miles from the exit of the roughly 3 mile long tunnel, bound for Tokyo, according to Central Nippon Expressway or NEXCO, which operates the tunnel. Concrete ceiling panels came crashing down on cars passing through, triggering a fire.
Firefighters and rescue crews were dispatched to the scene, but heavy smoke slowed efforts early in the day.
Sunday afternoon, they temporarily suspended the search, fearful of another collapse, but emergency crews resumed efforts in the evening, in search of those still unaccounted for.
The Sasago tunnel is located on the Chuo Expressway, a major thoroughfare that runs from Tokyo to the city of Nagoya. It was built in 1977 and had just passed a routine inspection in September, according to NEXCO officials.

Culled from

THE SECOND LEKKI TOLL GATE MAY LIKELY START DEC 16

Tolling at the second toll plaza on the Lekki-Epe Expressway corridor will commence on December 16, as motorists are expected to pay their toll at the Conservation Plaza, situated along the Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway between Chevron HQ and Oluwa Nisola House, Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has said.

The Conservation Plaza, which corresponds to the completed 9 km road section from Marwa Bus Stop to Ikota Bridge, has been in operation since January this year. Road users, however, have so far not been charged any toll for using that road section.
This is to allow the Lagos State Government more time to complete the construction of the 3.6 km alternative route that provides a bypass around the Conservation Plaza, so that road users not wishing to pay the tolls can exercise the option not to do so.

The Lagos State Government has now completed the new alternative route, which can be accessed from the expressway by turning into Chevron Drive from Chevron Roundabout, then turning right after the Chevron HQ Complex, following the road running behind the Chevron HQ Complex, past the Conservation Plaza, the Scintilla Events Centre, and through Poroku Village, and eventually emerging back onto the expressway just before Oluwa Nisola House.

Toll tariffs at the Conservation Plaza will be the same as that of the Admiralty Circle Plaza located near the Oniru Estate – N50 for motorcycles; N80 for authorised commercial danfo buses; N120 for saloon cars and tricycles; N150 for SUVs, minibuses, and pickup trucks; N250 for light trucks and 2-axle buses; and N350 for heavy trucks and buses with 2 or more heavy axles.

Road users will be able to immediately reduce the standard toll tariffs that they pay by 5% and 10% if they opt to pay using the SwiftPass Anonymous card and the eTag (including the accompanying SwiftPass Plus card) respectively.

Users of the eTag also exclusively benefit from the Frequent User Discount, which offers further discounts off the tariffs (up to 70%) based on the number of times that the road user passes through the toll plazas each month.

The eTag and the SwiftPass can be obtained by registering for them at any of the LCC Customer Service Centres located at the Admiralty Circle Plaza and the Conservation Plaza, or through other outlets such as banks.

Approximately 16.5 km of the rehabilitated and upgraded expressway has been completed to date, including the construction of the new Falomo On-Ramp , expansion of Exxon Mobil Bridge from 4 to 8 lanes, new roundabouts, new pedestrian overhead bridges, new drainage systems, new underground service ducts and new street lights and traffic lights.

In addition to the routine operation and maintenance of the new road infrastructure, LCC has promised to offer complementary 24/7 convenience services, including breakdown recovery services, customer service helpline, armed police security patrols, ambulance call-out, traffic management support, and environmental management support.

Culled from www.cknnigeria.com

BOMB BLAST HITS KANO TEXTILE MARKET...

Another bomb blast has been reported in Kano,in the northern part  of Nigeria.The explosion  occurred at Kwari Market along Ibrahim Babangida Way in the city.

Three persons, including a traffic warden, were critically injured in an early morning bomb blast at Kantin Kwari junction near the famous Kantin Kware Textile Market in Kano.

A witness to the explosion, who preferred anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano that the bomb went off around 8.45a.m on Monday.

It was suspected to have been planted near the traffic junction.

“The blast happened when most of the people were still at home, otherwise many people, especially traders would have lost their lives,” the witness said.

It was gathered that soon after the blast, JTF operatives arrived at the scene and cordoned off the area.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Magaji Majiya, confirmed the incident.

He said that the bomb was planted near the Eid praying ground very close to the Kantin Kware junction in the metropolis.

He said that the incident happened around 8.30a.m and that three persons sustained injuries.

Culled from
http://www.punchng.com/news/traffic-warden-two-others-injured-in-fresh-kano-bomb-blast/
http://topeorekoya.blogspot.com/2012/12/breaking-news-explosion-in-kano-state.html
http://newsdiaryonline.com/bomb-blast-hits-kwari-market-kano/

NA WAH..WHEN WILL NIGERIANS BE ABLE TO SLEEP WITH BOTH EYES CLOSED..MAY GOD HELP US!