Jaw-dropping N12.4 billion white diamond extracted in SA to be auctioned

 A stunningly huge diamond is going on auction and has caught the eyes of the world with its unique beauty. 

The 228.31-carat diamond, the size of a golf ball is set to go on auction in Geneva and is estimated to sell for about N12.4 billion.

A 228.31-carat diamond is set to go on auction and rake in over N12.4 billion. Image: Getty Images Source: UGC

The Magnificent Jewels auction at the luxury Hotel des Bergues in Geneva is set to attract the big spenders who have taste for the finer things in life and love a one-of-a-kind piece.

ECR reported that Max Fawcett, head of the jewels department at Christie's auction house in Geneva, explained that this is the first diamond of its size and carat to go on auction.

It is a stunning pear shape with little to no imperfection. Max described it as, "a truly exceptional pear-shaped diamond."

Now that’s a statement that is sure to catch people’s attention.

The jaw-dropping diamond was extracted from a mine in South Africa back in the early 2000s. It was then displayed in Dubai, Taipei and New York ahead of the sale in Geneva to attract attention to the auction.

The huge diamond is not the only show-stopper being auctioned.

There are also a bunch of other stunning pieces, such as a tiara that belonged to princess Irma of Furstenberg from 1867 to 1948.

It is sure to be an exciting auction filled with many beautiful and pricey items.

Beer parlour business booms as Nigerians consume N246bn worth of drinks in 89dys

 There are four drink manufacturers listed on the Nigerian exchange with the Nigerian breweries leading the market.

Champion Breweries Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc, International Breweries Plc, and Nigerian Breweries Plc show top drink makers in the country smiled home to the bank as Nigerians increased their consumption of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Data obtained from the drink markers audited financials submitted to Nigerian Exchange shows from January to March over N245.61 billion was spent by Nigerians to consume their favourite drinks.

The amount spent is a 31.17 per cent increase more than what they paid for the drinks in the same period of 2021.

Nigerians' jolly nature is evident in how much is spend on entertainment Credit: kileas Source: Facebook

Nigerian Breweries maintained its grip over the market, accounting for N137.77 billion of the total amount generated by the three largest brewing companies in the first quarter of this year, surpassing the N105.67 billion posted in first quarter of 2021.

The Company's brands include Star lager beer; Gulder lager beer; Maltina, which is a nourishing malt drink; Legend Extra Stout; Amstel Malta; Heineken lager beer; Maltina Sip-it; Fayrouz, which is a non-alcoholic soft drink; Climax, a herbal energy drink; Goldberg lager; Malta Gold; Life Continental lager; Ace Passion; Star Lite and Star Radler, among others.

The second-largest market shareholder earned N57.5 billion in revenue from its Nigerian loyal consumers who bought its products which include Trophy Lager, Budweiser, and Hero from January to March 2022.

Nigerians also spent N50.3 billion in three months in 2022 buying Guinness Nigeria brands compared to N42.6 billion in the same three months of 2021.

Guinness Nigeria, a subsidiary of Diageo Plc of the United Kingdom, was incorporated in 1962 with some of its brands including Smirnoff, Malta Guinness, Orijin, and Guinness among others

Champion breweries which is located in Akwa Ibom state also posted a significant increase in its revenue to N3.32 billion from January to March from N2.37 billion recorded in 2021

The main brands in its product portfolio are Champion Lager Beer and Champ Malta.

A bill from the Nusr-Et Steakhouse London has got many talking on social media after a table of four spent £37,023.10 (N20,798,808.19) at a restaurant in London.

The table of four ordered bottles of 1996 Petrus, baklavas, and golden tomahawk, amongst other things; their service charge was £4,829.10 (N2,713,897.03).

Nigerians couldn't believe their eyes when the bill was shared on social media and they soon flooded the comment section to react to it.

Source: Legit.ng

Wiebe Boer: Dutch Nigerian declares interest in Plateau guber race

 

Wiebe Boer, a Dutch man who naturalised as a Nigerian, has taken a bold step and declared his interest to run for the governorship in Plateau state come the 2023 general elections.

Boer or Yohanna Maigona (as he is fondly called) has his campaign poster all over the internet, even if his political platform, All for All Peoples Party is yet to be registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Dutch man is very fluent in Hausa language (Photo: All On) Source: UGC

 Maigona has lived in Jos all his life, the state capital, and is said to be as fluent in Hausa as he is in English, having attended a secondary school in the city.

Apart from having an affiliation with Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), Maigona is the CEO of All On Energy, which is into renewable energy, like solar power.

Back in 2021, the Dutch Nigerian interviewed Professor Wole Soyinka, the first guest of PAWA’s Conversation Series.

A ThisDay publication had once described him in 2018 as a black man in white skin.

All will be well with Nigeria – Obasanjo

 

Chief Obasanjo.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed optimism that whatever the situation and condition is, all will be well with Nigeria.

Obasanjo, who said this at a Global Crusade organised by the Deeper Life Bible Church, in Abeokuta on Tuesday, urged Nigerians to have faith in God.

The former President said that considering the situation of things, Nigeria and the entire world required God’s visitation, urging all children of God to seek His face for visitation.

“If you consider what is going on in our cities, our states, our country, our region of West Africa, our continent and indeed our globe, our world required crusade of this nature.

“Some people accused us, Christians of `religiousity’ without spirituality. Yes that has been the position of the world even in the time of Jesus Christ, but should we lose hope? No.

“There is no time in the world that things have been bad that it is not the children of God that stood out,” he said.

He said that Noah stood out in his time and also Job, who God described as a man who feared God and shun evil and a man of great integrity.

“Nigeria needs such men of integrity at this present moment.

“I believe that because of this kind of men and women of such virtue in Nigeria, God will open his eyes and have mercy on this country.

“Unless those who don’t want to be honest with themselves will say that all is well, but if we trust in God and believe in Jesus Christ all will be well.

“Children of God, whatever may be our situation, whatever may be the condition, let us have faith in God, and all will be well,” Obasanjo said.

The General Overseer of the Church, Pastor Williams Kumuyi, who had earlier paid a visit to  the former president, prayed God to grant him many more years to contribute to the progress of the country.

Kumuyi stated that his visit was to show respect to Obasanjo and to also invite him to the crusade where he could share his words of wisdom with the people and the global community.

The general overseer, in his message, said that God had prepared complete dominion over circumstances of the world through Jesus Christ.

Kumuyi said that the only way to have complete dominion over problem and other circumstances was to live in holiness and consecration to God through Jesus Christ.(NAN)

Bandits kill DPO, 2 other policemen, 4 vigilante members in Niger

 Armed bandits have killed at least seven security operatives, including the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Nasko, Magama local government area of Niger state.

The tragic incident happened around 1pm on Tuesday, March 15.

Security crisis in Niger state remains a huge concern as bandits launched a fresh attack on Tuesday, March 15. Photo credit: The Governor of Niger-State Source: Facebook

The gunmen who attempted to launch an attack on Nasko were engaged by the security operatives, comprising the police, military and local vigilantes.

Niger police command confirms the incident

DSP Wasiu Abiodun, the spokesman of the Niger state police command, has confirmed the incident.

He said the DPO, two other policemen, and four vigilante members lost their lives during the gun battle. 

Our source gave the slain DPO's name as CSP Umar Muhammed Dakin.

The spokesman was quoted as saying:

“On 15/03/22, at about 1300hrs, armed bandits/terrorists invaded Nasko village, Magama LGA of Niger State.

“Police operatives with vigilante members were immediately mobilized by DPO and engaged the bandits in a fierce gun battle in which some of the hoodlums were neutralised and others escaped with gunshot injuries. Unfortunately, during the gun battle, the DPO, two other policemen, and four vigilante members lost their lives.”

The Kotangora Area Commander, had drafted reinforcement with the military personnel to the area to forestall break down of law and order.

The command however condoled with the families of officers and vigilante members who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident.

The police spokesman also reassured members of the public that the command will not be deterred or relent in it’s effort to curb banditry in the state.

New Olubadan Lekan Balogun, gets staff of office

 

Lekan Balogun on Friday received his staff of office as the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadanland from Seyi Makinde, the Governor of Oyo State.

The ceremony was graced by Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Governor of Kano, Ekiti, Ondo state, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 

Other dignitaries in attendance were the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar; Emir of Kano, Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan; and Ambassador of Republic of China to Nigeria, Cui Jiauchun, among many prominent personalities.

At a time, Balogun became the gubernatorial candidate of one of the major political parties in the country, the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe.

The military coup of December 1983 kept him and others out of active politics for 16 years.

He later re-emerged on the political scene with his election as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1999.

See photos below:

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New giant tortoise species found in Galapagos after DNA study

 

Giant tortoises, like this one at a breeding centre on Santa Cruz Island, are found only on two remote groups of tropical islands. Photo: Rodrigo BUENDIA / AFP Source: AFP

A new species of giant tortoise has been discovered in the Galapagos after DNA testing found animals living on one island had not yet been recorded, Ecuador's environment ministry said.

Researchers compared the genetic material of tortoises currently living on San Cristobal with bones and shells collected in 1906 from a cave in the island's highlands and found them to be different.

The 20th-century explorers never reached the lowlands northeast of the island, where the animals live today, and as a result, almost 8,000 tortoises correspond to a different lineage to what was previously thought.

"The species of giant tortoise that inhabits San Cristobal Island, until now known scientifically as Chelonoidis chathamensis, genetically matches a different species," the ministry said Thursday on Twitter.

Galapagos Conservancy said in a newsletter that the Chelonoidis chathamensis species is "almost certainly extinct" and that the island had in fact been home to two different varieties of tortoise, one living in the highlands and another in the lowlands.

Located in the Pacific about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are a protected wildlife area and home to unique species of flora and fauna.

The archipelago was made famous by British geologist and naturalist Charles Darwin's observations on evolution there.

There were originally 15 species of giant tortoise on the islands, three of which became extinct centuries ago, according to the Galapagos National Park.

In 2019, a specimen of Chelonoidis phantastica was found on Fernandina Island more than 100 years after the species was considered extinct.

The study by researchers from Newcastle University in Britain, Yale in the United States, the American NGO Galapagos Conservancy and other institutions was published in the scientific journal Heredity.

They will continue to recover more DNA from the bones and shells to determine whether the tortoises living on San Cristobal, which is 557 kilometers long, should be given a new name.

BRT driver remanded for 30 days over Bamise’s murder

A Yaba Magistrates’ Court in Lagos has remanded for 30 days a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) driver, Mr. Andrew Nice, over his alleged involvement in the death of his passenger, Oluwabamise Ayanwole.

The Court made the order following an application by the Police.

Police counsel, Yetunde Cardoso, who filed the application premised it on a four-count charge of alleged murder, sexual assault, misconduct and interference with a corpse.

Bamise, 22, was found dead last Monday on Carter Bridge, Lagos Island — nine days after she was declared missing after she boarded Nice’s vehicle.