Photo: Paul Okoye proposes to his longtime girlfriend, Anita Isama

A few weeks after Peter Okoye proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Lola Omotayo, his twin brother has followed suit. A few hours after he returned from his US/Canada tour, (they returned just this morning) Paul Okoye proposed to his longtime girlfriend and baby mama, Anita Atokwu-Isama. He proposed to her this afternoon somewhere on the Island. Big congrats to them.

Stop encouraging corruption, President Jonathan tells Nigerians

While addressing the 54th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Economic Summit that held in Abuja yesterday, president Goodluck Jonathan blamed the level of corruption in Nigeria on the society. He said instead of punishing corrupt people, we reward them.

“When you talk about corruption, the private sector is involved; the public sector is involved; even the individuals, including other societies, and I wouldn’t want to mention names so that I will not be attacked. But I know that if collectively all of us don’t reward corruption, people would not be attracted to corrupt practices, but when we all reward corruption, then of course, we will be tempted to go in that direction.

“I want a society where all of us will frown against people who come up with what they are not supposed to have. If a young man who just started a job and within six months or a year comes up with a car of N7m to N15m and you clap for him, then you are rewarding corruption." the president said. More when you continue...

“So for us as a nation to bring corruption down in Nigeria, it’s not just blaming government or blaming police, but all individuals must frown at people who have what they are not supposed to have, who live in houses they supposed not to live in; who drive cars they are not supposed to drive and who wear suits more expensive they can afford.

“And until we, as Nigerians are able to do this, then invariably we are all rewarding corruption and until we stop that, I don’t think we will get to where we want to go. We believe that we should not create an environment where people would be tempted to take what belongs to the public because that is why even in the fertilizer business we talked about electronic wallet, e-Wallet, so that funds are not exposed to corrupt people"

The Federal Government has ordered immediate deployment of troops to troubled Nasarawa state.

The Director, Army Public Relations Department, Brigadier General Ibrahim Attahiru, told journalists in Abuja the troops, will join the police to stem the tide of violence in the state.

The North-central state descended into chaos Friday following clashes between two ethnic groups.

An unknown number of people have died while several thousand others were displaced after their houses were razed in the violence now in its sixth day.

As commander-in-chief, President Goodluck Jonathan must approve deployment of troops to any part of the country.

Details later

Ombatse Cult: President Jonathan Orders Deployment Of Troops To Nasarawa

The Federal Government has ordered immediate deployment of troops to troubled Nasarawa state.

The Director, Army Public Relations Department, Brigadier General Ibrahim Attahiru, told journalists in Abuja the troops, will join the police to stem the tide of violence in the state.

The North-central state descended into chaos Friday following clashes between two ethnic groups.

An unknown number of people have died while several thousand others were displaced after their houses were razed in the violence now in its sixth day.

As commander-in-chief, President Goodluck Jonathan must approve deployment of troops to any part of the country.

Details later

Manchester United Announce Record £363.2m Turnover

(AFP) – English football giants Manchester United announced record financial results on Wednesday after a year of rapid commercial expansion.

Having added a glut of new sponsors to their portfolio over the past 12 months, the 20-time English champions saw revenues rise 29.7 % to £152.5 million ($243.5 million, 182.4 million euros) for the year ending June 30, 2013.

The leap in revenues helped the club from the English northwest register a 13.4 % increase in turnover to a club-record figure of £363.2 million, while debt fell 10.9 percent to £389.2 million.

United floated on the New York stock exchange last year, in a bid to tackle the huge debt loaded onto the club by American businessman Malcolm Glazer’s takeover in 2005.

Sponsorship revenue alone in the 2012-13 period rose 44.1 5 to £90.9 million.

The club revealed that “exceptional items” costs of £6.2 million were partly due to the contracts of coaching staff members Mike Phelan, Rene Meulensteen and Eric Steele being cancelled following the departure of long-serving manager Alex Ferguson at the end of last season.

Despite the impressive figures, United moved cautiously during the close-season transfer period, waiting until the final day of the window before sanctioning a £27.5 million move for Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini.

However, amid reports United failed with bids for a number of transfer targets, the club have moved to reassure supporters that money was made available to new manager David Moyes.

In a letter to fans, communications director Phil Townsend wrote: “The club has always backed the manager in the transfer market, as Sir Alex (Ferguson) has said on many occasions, and it will continue to do so.

“The club has demonstrated its belief in, and commitment to, David Moyes through the award of a six-year contract. Allowing him to shape the future Manchester United team is a long-term project, not an eight-week panic.

“He must be given time to assess his new squad and come to his own decisions on which players he feels will strengthen it. Additional resources were there to add to that, but it was not possible to agree with other clubs for the right players to leave.

“The key point there is that the players we buy have to be the right ones for Manchester United; not just any player.”

Townsend was responding to letters sent to him by supporters concerned by reports that United had missed out with approaches for players including the Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas, Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who left Barcelona for Bayern Munich, and Ander Herrera of Athletic Bilbao.

United had announced two new regional sponsorship agreements earlier on Wednesday.

They have signed five-year deals with Commercial Bank of Qatar and Emirates NBD Bank, which will become known as the club’s official financial services partners in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.