Ikechukwu Mitchel Ogbonna @ikogbonna , professionally known as IK Ogbonna, is a Nigerian award winning actor, Model, Director and TV Personality.
He was born on the 11th of January 1984 and hails from Abia State, south-eastern part of Nigeria. He attended primary and secondary school in Lagos State. Afterwards , he proceeded to the University of Jos, where he studied Sociology.
Ikechukwu Mitchel Ogbonna
He is popularly known for his role in the movie, ‘Playing Safe’ alongside Tonto Dikeh and Ini Edo. He was also featured in Disguise (2018), The Washerman (2018) and Pebbles of Love (2017). Ogbonna was married to a Colombian model named Sonia Morales before the marriage crashed.
Billionaire MacKenzie Scott has married a science teacher at her children’s school, two years after her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Ms Scott is one of the world’s richest women and has given away more than $4bn (£2.9bn) of her fortune.
The news of her marriage to Dan Jewett was revealed via the Giving Pledge philanthropy website.
“Dan is such a great guy, and I am happy and excited for the both of them,” Mr Bezos said in a statement.
Ms Scott, who is worth around $53bn according to Forbes’s most recent estimate, has stated her intention to give the majority of it away.
She has devoted much of her donations on women-led charities, food banks and Black colleges.
Ms Scott was married to Mr Bezos for 25 years and helped him start Amazon in 1994. She is also the author of two novels.
Her Amazon author page now says that she “lives in Seattle with her four children and her husband, Dan.” He teaches at the prestigious school attended by her children.
image captionMacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett.
At the time of their 2019 divorce, Mr. Bezos was the wealthiest person in the world, with his stake of more than 16% of Amazon. Ms Scott received 4% of Amazon’s shares as part of their divorce settlement.
The Amazon founder regularly jostles with Tesla’s Elon Musk for the title as the world’s richest person, which changes in line with the share prices of their companies.
Ms Scott currently ranks the 22nd richest person while Mr Bezos is in top spot with a fortune of $177bn.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine while urging others eligible to “take this injection”.
“This is very very helpful, very good,” he said as he was given the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab at a facility in the Indian city of Dharamsala on Saturday.
The Dalai Lama had enrolled himself to be vaccinated, officials said.
India launched its vaccination drive on 16 January, but it was limited to healthcare workers and frontline staff.
Since 1 March, however, the scheme has been extended to people aged over 60 and those between the ages of 45 and 59 with underlying illnesses.
Receiving his first shot in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday, the Dalai Lama said people needed to be vaccinated to “prevent some serious problems”.
image captionThe leader of Tibetan Buddhism reportedly enrolled himself to be vaccinated
The chief medical officer of Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, Dr Gurdarshan Gupta, said the Dalai Lama had offered to visit the vaccination centre “like a common man”, Reuters news agency reported.
“We arranged the session in the morning, considering the security concern,” he added.
Speaking to the BBC last year, the Dalai Lama said the pandemic had promoted a “sense of concern, a more compassionate feeling”.
The Indian government aims to cover 300 million “priority people” with its vaccination drive by the end of July.
The country’s drugs regulator has given the green light to two vaccines – one developed by AstraZeneca with Oxford University (Covishield) and one by Indian firm Bharat Biotech (Covaxin).
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 70, was among the first to get his vaccine shot.
Since the pandemic began, India has confirmed more than 11 million cases and over 157,000 deaths.
Much of India has reported a sharp fall in cases recently – with daily infections for the county falling to less than 20,000 from a peak of over 90,000 in September.
But a handful of states have recently reported a sharp increase in the number of cases.
A 7-year-old from Alabama – faced with the daunting cost of upcoming brain surgeries – has helped her family raise more than $315,000 to help pay for the procedures.
Liza Scott was determined to alleviate some of the financial burdens off of her mother after finding out last month that she needs to have multiple surgeries to treat three rare brain malformations.
So, she put her homemade lemonade stand to use.
That stand, coupled with her online fundraiser, “Lemonade for Liza – Zest for Life w/ Brain Surgery” helped pave the way for her upcoming surgeries at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Liza’s mother, Elizabeth Scott, told Fox News that her daughter has always tried to “lift a bit of the burden” around the house. This is the latest example of that.
When Elizabeth Scott is not running the family business, Savage’s Bakery, she is taking care of Liza and her 3-year-old brother, Finnley.
“Liza has always shown the initiative to step up and take part in helping with things around the house or at the bakery even when it’s not expected or asked,” Elizabeth Scott said.
“Liza has always shown the initiative to step up and take part in helping with things around the house or at the bakery even when it’s not expected or asked,” Elizabeth Scott said.
After the 7-year-old suffered a grand mal seizureat the end of January, doctors at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham uncovered multiple cerebral malformations in her brain that need “immediate attention”
The surgeries are to help prevent Liza from having any further seizures as well as possible brain bleeds, hemorrhages or strokes, according to her fundraising page.
Liza had insisted that she help raise funds necessary to cover some of the costs and within a matter of days she set up shop inside her family’s bakery in Homewood.
They would then sell the assets as soon as Mr McAfee’s endorsements saw prices rise, according to the US Department of Justice and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
That amounted to having “exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception,” US Attorney in Manhattan Audrey Strauss said.
About 100 high-profile figures have signed a letter to the Treccani Italian dictionary calling on it to change its definition of the word “woman”.
The campaign argues that derogatory terms such as “puttana” (whore) should be removed from the list of synonyms.
Such words reinforce “misogynist stereotypes that objectify women and present them as inferior”, it adds.
Treccani, a leading online Italian dictionary, has not yet responded, but previously defended its approach.
Among the letter’s signatories are LGBTQ+ activist and politician Imma Battaglia, politician Laura Boldrini, and Alessandra Perrazzelli, deputy director general of the Bank of Italy.
It was written by activist Maria Beatrice Giovanardi, who was also behind an earlier campaign to get the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to remove words such as “bint” and “bird” as other ways of saying “woman”. After a similar petition attracted tens of thousands of signatures, Oxford University Press updated its definition.
The synonyms given in Treccani’s definition are even worse than the OED’s because there are 30 terms used to describe sex workers, Ms Giovanardi told Reuters.
Meanwhile, she added, the word “man” was associated with positive terms such as “businessman”.
“Language shapes reality and influences the way women are perceived and treated,” she wrote in her letter.
“Vocabularies, dictionaries of synonyms and antonyms, encyclopaedias are educational tools of reference and Treccani.it, as such, is consulted in schools, libraries and in all of our homes.”
“This will not put an end to everyday sexism, but it could contribute to a correct description and vision of women and their role in today’s society.”
In a blog post published in November, Treccani said that the dictionary did not “select lexicon based on moral judgment or prejudices”.
“If society and culture express negativity through words, a dictionary cannot refuse to document them,” it added.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday revealed that he tested positive for the Coronavirus.
He broke the news in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, while speaking at a colloquium put in place to celebrate his 84th birthday.
The programme held within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library(OOPL), Abeokuta.
Obasanjo, who said he was a bit concerned about it, added that he had to put a call to his daughter, Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo – Bello, an epidemiologist.
Obasanjo said, “It will surprise you that I tested positive for COVID-19. I called them to come and test me, they came on a Saturday, I didn’t get the result till Wednesday and it came out positive but I didn’t see any symptoms.
“When they came three days after, they tested me and said I am negative, that is three days after I tested positive.
“My daughter, Iyabo is an epidemiologist and I called her to explain, she said maybe they tested me at the later stage of being positive.
“I told her I had no symptoms and she said it could be a faulty result. But I tested positive. Since then I have been tested three times and the test came back negative. So, if you want to come near me, you can come near me.
“It is nothing to worry about, when I tested positive, my household ran from me, I told them to stay in their place while I stayed in mine.”
More than 900 million tonnes of food is thrown away every year, according to a global report.
The UN Environment Programme‘s Food Waste Index revealed that 17% of the food available to consumers – in shops, households and restaurants – goes directly into the bin.
Some 60% of that waste is in the home.
The lockdown appears to have had a surprising impact – at least in the UK – by reducing domestic food waste.
image captionTV cook, Bake Off winner and food writer Nadiya Hussain has joined the campaign against kitchen waste
Sustainability charity Wrap, the UN’s partner organisation on this report, says people have been planning their shopping and their meals more carefully.
And in an effort to build on that, well-known chefs have been enlisted to inspire less wasteful kitchen habits.
’23 million trucks of food’
The report has highlighted a global problem that is “much bigger than previously estimated,” Richard Swannell from Wrap told BBC News.
“The 923 million tonnes of food being wasted each year would fill 23 million 40-tonne trucks. Bumper-to-bumper, enough to circle the Earth seven times.”
It is an issue previously considered to be a problem almost exclusive to richer countries – with consumers simply buying more than they could eat – but this research found “substantial” food waste “everywhere it looked”.
There are gaps in the findings that could reveal how the scale of the problem varies in low- and high-income countries. The report, for example, could not distinguish between “involuntary” and “voluntary” waste.
“We haven’t looked deeper [at this issue] but in low-income countries, the cold chain is not fully assured because of lack of access to energy,” Martina Otto from Unep told BBC News.
The data to distinguish between the waste of edible food and inedible parts – like bones and shells – was only available for high-income countries. Lower-income countries, Ms Otto pointed out, were likely to be wasting much less edible food.
image captionThere is likely to be far less voluntary food waste in low-income countries
But the end result, she said, was that the world was “just throwing away all the resources used to make that food”.
Ahead of major global climate and biodiversity summits later this year, Unep executive director Inger Andersen is pushing for countries to commit to combatting waste – halving it by 2030.
“If we want to get serious about tackling climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, businesses, governments and citizens around the world have to do their part to reduce food waste,” she said.
Richard Swannell pointed out: “Wasted food is responsible for 8-10% of greenhouse gas emissions, so if food waste was a country, it would be the third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet.”
Tips to reduce food waste:
Plan your portions and buy the right amount: a mug should hold the right amount of uncooked rice for four adults, and you can measure a single portion of spaghetti using a 1p or £1 coin;
Cool your fridge down: the average UK fridge temperature is almost 7°C. It should be lower than 5°C;
Understand date labels: a “use by” date is about food safety. If the use by date has passed, you should not eat or serve it, even if it looks and smells okay. If something is getting close to the use by date, you can freeze it. A “best before” date is about quality.
In the UK, the average household could save £700 per year, according to Wrap research, by buying only the food they ate.
The lockdown effect
image captionThrowing away food can also mean that resources used to grow it have been wasted
Where food waste is voluntary, the Covid-19 lockdown appears to have had the surprising effect of revealing precisely how it can be remedied.
According to research by Wrap, planning, careful storage and batch-cooking during the lockdown reduced people’s reported levels of food waste by 22% compared with 2019.
“Being confined to our homes has resulted in an increase in behaviours such as batch cooking and meal planning,” the charity said. “But the latest insights suggest that food waste levels are likely to rise again as we emerge from lockdown.”
In an effort to avoid that, well-known cooks and chefs have lent their names and social media profiles to the campaign against kitchen waste.
British TV cook Nadiya Hussain is working with Wrap and offering tips and leftovers recipes via Instagram. And Italian restaurateur Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Modena eatery Osteria Francescana, which has three Michelin stars, has been appointed Unep goodwill ambassador “in the fight against food waste and loss”.
Throughout the lockdown in Italy, his family produced an online cooking show called Kitchen Quarantine, encouraging people to “see the invisible potential” in every ingredient.media captionWhat’s causing Britain’s food waste?
While millions of tonnes of food was thrown away, an estimated 690 million people were affected by hunger in 2019. That number is expected to rise sharply in the wake of the pandemic.
Ms Andersen pointed out that tackling waste “would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution, enhance the availability of food and thus reduce hunger and save money at a time of global recession”.
Emmanuel Nworie, a first-class mathematics graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka has bagged a fully-funded scholarship at a university in the United States. Nworie bagged the scholarship after a photo of him tilling the soil in Ebonyi state owing to poverty and a lack of a platform to utilize his knowledge went viral on social media.’ The 27-year-old who graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 4.92/5.00, recounted the challenges he faced before he applied for the Michael Taiwo (MT) Scholarship in an interview with The Cable. Nworie said;
“I started having challenges in 2005 when we struggled with the health of my dad. I have long wanted to be a mathematician. But after my dad passed away, I was deterred because at some point when I was trying to save for undergraduate studies and after two years I couldn’t save enough, so I was frustrated.”
The UNN graduate emerged as one of the 23 candidates selected from a pool of 1,509 applicants for the scholarship, covering costs for application fees and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) — a requirement for the graduate application for some courses in the US. He received three offers from universities in the southern part of the US. Taiwo who made the announcement said;
“Today, I am pleased to announce that Emmanuel Chinweuba Nworie has accepted a fully-funded offer to study for his PhD in Mathematics at the Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. SMU is a prestigious private research university. Emmanuel prefers locations with warm weather. He received three great offers, all from schools in the southern part of the US. “Mentors are our secret sauce. It is hard to exaggerate the role Dr. Busayo Aworunse, Emmanuel’s assigned mentor, played in delivering the outcome we celebrate today. Busayo, thank you. Help me congratulate Emmanuel. I cannot wait to see what he does with a Math PhD from SMU!”
Thai navy sailors have rescued four ginger cats that were abandoned on a burning ship in the Andaman Sea.
The human crew had already been evacuated, but the navy soon discovered a few forgotten members when they were sent to check the site for oil spills.
A sailor swam out to the capsized boat, before putting the cats on his back to take them to safety.
Reportedly, the felines suffered no injuries and are healthy.
They are now being cared for by their rescuers at their command post, said Reuters news agency.
On Tuesday, the Phamonsin Nava 10 fishing boat had caught fire and started to sink, about 13km (eight miles) off the paradise island of Koh Adang.
All eight of the ship’s crew members had jumped off the vessel and into the sea, and were rescued by a passing fishing ship, said Thai newspaper The Nation.
image captionThe sailors decided to rescue the four felines
When the navy was called in to inspect the site, they discovered the cats huddled together on a wooden beam.
“I used my camera to zoom in to the boat, and I saw one or two cats popping their heads out,” said First-Class Petty Officer Wichit Pukdeelon of the navy’s air and coastal defence division.
A Facebook post on the rescue received more than 2,500 comments on Wednesday praising the crew.
The New York Governor has said he is “so sorry” for making women uncomfortable but denied touching anyone inappropriately.
Three women have recently come forward with accusations of sexual harassment against Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo
In his first public comments on the allegations, Mr Cuomo said he felt “embarrassed” that his actions made the women feel uncomfortable at work.
Mr Cuomo asked the public to wait for the “facts” before drawing conclusions.
The New York attorney general has opened an investigation into the allegations and will file a report on the findings.
The governor said he would not resign, despite calls from within his own party for him to step down.
What is Cuomo accused of?
A former top-level aide to Mr Cuomo, Lindsey Boylan, claimed the governor touched her without consent and frequently made inappropriate comments about her appearance.
In an essay published last month, Ms Boylan accused Mr Cuomo of kissing her on the lips and asking her to play strip poker while on his private jet.
A second former aide, Charlotte Bennett, told the New York Times that the governor peppered her with personal questions that were clear overtures to a sexual relationship.
“I understood the governor wanted to sleep with me,” she said.
In a statement following Mr Cuomo’s press conference, Ms Bennett’s lawyer described the governor’s statement as “full of falsehoods and inaccurate information”.
Debra Katz disputed Mr Cuomo’s claim that he was unaware he had made any of the women uncomfortable, saying Ms Bennett reported the “sexually harassing behaviour immediately” to the governor’s chief of staff and chief counsel. “We are confident that they made him aware of her complaint”, Ms Katz said.
A third woman, photographer Anna Ruch, said the politician touched her face and asked to kiss her at a wedding. The exchange was captured on camera.
A Porsche car owned by Argentina’s soccer great Diego Maradona during his “forgotten” final season in Europe will go under the hammer this week.
Maradona drove the 1992 silver Porsche 911 to and from training and matches when he was playing for Spanish club Sevilla in the 1992-93 season, his last in Europe, after serving a 15-month ban over a failed drugs test.
Diego Maradona
“It was delivered new to ‘El Diego’, Diego Armando Maradona, and because of this provenance this car probably could be worth double or three times the value of a standard car,” Gregory Tuytens, car specialist at auction house Bonhams, told Reuters at a storage facility in Belgium.
The online auction will last from Wednesday until March 10. The price estimate is up to 200,000 euros ($240,800) but Tuytens said Bonhams felt it could go for a lot more.
“It will definitely appeal not only to car collectors but also football fans and just people who loved the person, the football god Maradona in general,” he said.
Maradona was as much in the headlines off the pitch as on during that season, including when stopped by police for jumping a red light and speeding at 180 km per hour (112 mph) in the city centre, Tuytens said.
The car spent 20 years with another owner on the Spanish island of Majorca before it passed through the hands of several French collectors.
It comes to auction with about 120,000 km on the clock.
Maradona died in November and was honoured with a period of lying in state when thousands of people turned out to pay their last respects.
South Korea’s first transgender soldier, who was discharged from the military for undergoing gender reassignment surgery, has been found dead at her home.
The cause of death of Byun Hee-soo, a transgender rights campaigner, is not yet known.
She launched a landmark legal challenge against the military in January last year over her dismissal.
Her petition for reinstatement was rejected in July.
South Korea remains conservative on matters of sexual identity.
The 23-year-old had been receiving counselling from a mental health centre in her home province of Gyeonggi, north of Seoul. Her counsellor became concerned after not hearing from her since 28 February and called emergency services.
Ms Byun’s case triggered debate about the treatment of transgender troops and soldiers from the LGBTQ community in the country.
She previously told reporters that apart from her gender identity, she wanted to show everyone that she could also be one of the great soldiers who protect the country.
All able-bodied South Korean men are required to carry out military service for nearly two years.
In December, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea said the decision not to allow her to continue to serve in the military had no legal grounds.media captionIn March last year, Byun Hui-soo said she would fight to remain a soldier
South Korea is far less tolerant of the LGBTQ community than its East Asian neighbours.
Byun Hee-soo
Being LGBT is often seen as a disability or a mental illness, or by powerful conservative churches as a sin, and there are no anti-discrimination laws in the country.
In Ms Byun’s case, anti-LGBT campaigners had attempted to identify her online. They also held demonstrations urging the military to dismiss her after news about the case emerged and have called for further demonstrations.
Sowore who spoke to BBC Pidgin said that the man who wore the traditional attire normally associated with ‘Juju men’ is not a herbalist or a ‘Juju man’ as many described. He said the man is an African man who accompanied him to court dressed in what represents his belief.
The human rights activist stated that the reason for the man being there was to discourage people who always look down on African traditions, cultural beliefs, and fashion.
Sowore and the man in traditional attire
According to Sowore, another reason for the man’s presence was to change the belief that European cultures are better than those of Africans.
He dished that the statement he was trying to make while making his court appearance was “Pan Africanism”; breaking the stereotype that African traditions, cultural beliefs, and fashion are inferior to those of the white man.
Speaking further, Sowore added that the man appeared in court to show him solidarity, the same way Christians and Muslims follow him to courtrooms to show him support.
Pictures of Sowore and the man in the traditional attire had gone viral, with many calling him names like ‘Sowore’s herbalist’, ‘Ifa Priest’, ‘Bodyguard’, etc.
While some had hailed the man, saying that he was promoting his African heritage, others had said that Sowore had resorted to fighting the federal government through traditional means.
Over 100 cultists have renounced their membership of various confraternities in Orimekpang community in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The repentant youths said they were tired of living in bondage and that there is no gain in cultism.
The renunciation programme which began on Saturday, February 20, 2021, was held at a church premises and was hosted by Rev Fr Emmanuel Ukwa in the presence of Pastor John Ewa, Chairman of Boki Local Government Area; Pius Kejuo Osang, Councillor of Abo Ward; the Clan Head of Orimekpang and his Chiefs; Youths and Women Leaders, among others.
Speaking at the denunciation event, Pastor Ewa emphasised on the need for peace and unity which according to him is paramount to the development of every society.
Ewa explained to the youths how his children and other politicians’ children are in good private schools, some schooling abroad and that no politician will allow their children to be a cultist.
He advised the repentant cultists to never return to cultism as it adds no value to their lives and that of society.
On his part, the Local Government chairman promised to ensure that those who denounced cultism “will be speedily reintegrated into society through training and empowerment programmes from ITF, UNICEF, RED CROSS and others.”
He asked the repented cultists not to allow any political leader to lure them back to such devilish acts again.
Rev. Father Emmanuel Ukwa, who handed over the denouncees into the hands of God by praying and baptising them, advised them to fully surrender to God who according to him, is ready to accept them.
The Brazil coronavirus variant now found in the UK appears more contagious and may evade immunity provided by past infection, scientists say.
Experiences from Manaus – the Amazonian city hit hard by the P.1 variant – suggest it could be up to twice as transmissible as earlier Covid there, the first detailed study suggests.
The preliminary work puts the chance of reinfection at between 25% and 60%.
But experts say this should not be used to predict what may happen in the UK.
Indeed, one of the lead researchers said it was unlikely P.1 would quickly take off in Britain when only six cases had been identified and these were being closely monitored.
Infectious diseases expert Prof Ester Sabino, from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, said: “You need many introductions [of a virus] to start an epidemic. Six is very few. I would say if you take care and do contact tracing, this is going to decrease.”
Professor Sharon Peacock, who is director of the UK’s centre leading on genetic testing of coronavirus, said: “We are taking appropriate action. These are very interesting and important findings for Brazil, but how they relate to the UK is yet to be determined.”
Updating MPs on the six cases of the Brazil variant seen in the UK, Health Secretary Hancock said: “We have no information to suggest the variant has spread further.”
One of the six people affected has not yet been identified, but the search has narrowed from the whole country down to 379 households in the south-east of England.
Mr Hancock said: “We’re contacting each one.”
The researchers have been tracking coronavirus in Brazil for nearly a year now. Manaus, like many other regions around the world, encountered a large first wave in the spring of 2020.
Lots of people were infected with the original version of the virus at that time, with blood test results suggesting as many as three-quarters of the population getting some degree of protection or immunity from this exposure.
Despite this, people in Manaus were hit badly by another wave of coronavirus in the winter.
The research team from Brazil and Imperial College London have been studying the genetic makeup of coronavirus in some of those who were infected between November and December, as well as modelling the pandemic outcomes.
They say the P.1 variant probably emerged in early November, dominated and spread quickly, and caused many reinfections.
The data is preliminary, but fits with what experts have suspected – that some of these new variants of coronavirus the world is seeing are more infectious and can evade some of the immunity people may have already built against Covid.
This raises questions about how well current vaccines, which were designed around earlier versions of the virus, might work and how countries can ease restrictions without case levels rising too high.
Work is already under way to redesign or tweak the vaccines to make them a better match for some of these new “variants of concern”, although existing ones should still provide some protection, particularly against severe disease.
Updated vaccines could be ready within months, meaning the UK would have millions of doses ready to give people a booster shot before next winter to make sure the population is protected.
The priority, along with mass vaccination, is to keep cases low to reduce the chance of new and emerging variants from spreading.
Mr Hancock said: “Our current vaccines have not yet been studied against this variant and we’re working to understand what impact it might have, but we do know that this variant has caused significant challenges in Brazil, so we’re doing all we can to stop the spread of this new variant in the UK, to analyse its effects and to develop an updated vaccine that works on all these variants of concern and protect the progress that we’ve made as a nation.”
One of reggae’s most important voices, Bunny Wailer, has died at the age of 73.
The musician, from Kingston, Jamaica, was a founding member of The Wailers alongside his childhood friend, Bob Marley.
Together, they achieved international fame with reggae classics like Simmer Down and Stir It Up, before Wailer left to go solo in 1974.
He went on to win three Grammys and was given Jamaica’s Order Of Merit in 2017.
His death was confirmed by manager Maxine Stowe, and Jamaica’s Culture Minister, Olivia Grange.
The cause of death is unknown, but he had been in hospital since having a stroke in July 2020.
The star, whose real name was Neville O’Riley Livingston, had been the last surviving member of The Wailers, following Bob Marley’s death from cancer in 1981, and Peter Tosh’s murder during a robbery in 1987.
A hunter identified as Chidube Onyema, on Sunday, allegedly shot his girlfriend identified as Chinwendu to death for suspecting that she was cheating on him.
The incident which happened at Umuokirie village in Okuku Autonomous Community of Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State was said to have caused panic in the area.
A source in the community told our correspondent that the lady visited the suspect from her village and that trouble started when she answered a call in her lover’s presence.
The source further, “Trouble started after the girl finished answering a phone call, the guy demanded to know who called her on the phone.
“When the lady couldn’t give a convincing explanation, he demanded for her phone but the girl refused. The man pulled his gun and demanded for the phone at gun point but the lady persisted. They started dragging the phone and unfortunately the trigger pulled and pierced through the lady’s private part which led to her death.
Angered by the death of their sister, the victim’s brothers from Obosima in Ohaji/Egbema LGA went on reprisal on Monday and allegedly burnt the house of the parents of the suspect.
Confirming the story, the President General of Okuku Autonomous Community, Martin Daniel, said the community was working with the police to restore peace.
The police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, said the suspect had been arrested and was under investigation.
“A strong WTO is vital if we are to recover fully and rapidly from the devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“Our organisation faces a great many challenges but working together we can collectively make the WTO stronger, more agile and better adapted to the realities of today.”
“I look forward to working with members to shape and implement the policy responses we need to get the global economy going again.
These are the expressions of the WTO Director General, the Naijapremiumgist’s PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH.
LIFE AND FAMILY Okonjo-Iweala was born in Ogwashi-Ukwu, Delta State, Nigeria, where her father Professor Chukwuka Okonjo was the Obi (King) from the Obahai Royal Family of Ogwashi-Ukwu.
Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Queen’s School, Enugu, St. Anne’s School, Molete, Ibadan, and the International School Ibadan. She arrived in the US in 1973 as a teenager to study at Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude with an AB in Economics in 1976.
In 1981, she earned her PhD in regional economics and development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a thesis titled Credit policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria’s agricultural development.
She is married to Dr. Ikemba Iweala, a neurosurgeon. They have four children and three grandchildren
She received an international fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), that supported her doctoral studies.
CAREER Dr. Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, from 2003-2006, 2011-2015, and briefly Foreign Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. During her 25 years at the World Bank, she is credited with spearheading several initiatives to assist low-income countries, in particular raising nearly $50bn in 2010 from donors for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a global finance expert, is an economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. Currently, Dr Okonjo-Iweala is Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.
Since its creation in 2000, Gavi has immunized 680 million children globally and saved ten million lives. She is also a Senior Adviser at Lazard and sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc.
HONOURS AND ENLISTMENTS
Dr Okonjo-Iweala has been listed as:
One of Transparency International’s 8 Female Anti-Corruption Fighters Who Inspire (2019)
One the 50 Greatest World Leaders (Fortune, 2015)
Top 100 Most Influential People in the World (TIME, 2014)
Top 100 Global Thinkers (Foreign Policy, 2011 and 2012)
Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World (Forbes, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014)
Top 3 Most Powerful Women in Africa (Forbes, 2012)
Top 10 Most Influential Women in Africa (Forbes, 2011)
Top 100 Women in the World (The UK Guardian, 2011)
Top 150 Women in the World (Newsweek, 2011)
Top 100 most inspiring people in the World Delivering for Girls and Women (Women Deliver, 2011). She has also been listed among 73 “brilliant” business influencers in the world by Condé Nast International.
In 2019, Dr Okonjo-Iweala was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2017, she received the Madeleine K. Albright Global Development Award from the Aspen Institute, the Women’s Economic Empowerment Award from WEConnect International, and the Vanguard Award from Howard University.
In 2016, she received the Power with Purpose Award from the Devex Development Communications Network and the Global Fairness Award from the Global Fairness Initiative in recognition of her contribution to sustainable development.
She was also conferred High National Honours from the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Liberia. She is also the recipient of Nigeria’s third highest National Honors Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR).
In addition, Dr Okonjo-Iweala has been awarded the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award (2014), the President of the Italian Republic Gold Medal by the Pia Manzu Centre (2011), the Global Leadership Award by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (2011) the Global Leadership Award by the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (2010), and the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award (2010).
She is also the recipient of the TIME Magazine’s European Heroes Award in 2004, named Finance Minister of the Year (Africa InvestorMagazine, 2014), Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East (THE BANKER, 2004), Global Finance Minister of the Year (EUROMONEY, 2005), Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East (Emerging Markets Magazine, 2005), and Minister of the Year (THISDAY, Newspaper2004 and 2005).
Dr Okonjo-Iweala is the founder of Nigeria’s first ever indigenous opinion-research organization, NOI-Polls. She also founded the Center for the Study of Economies of Africa (C-SEA), a development research think tank based in Abuja, Nigeria. Dr Okonjo-Iweala is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development, and also at the Brookings Institution, premier Washington D.C. think tanks.
She has received honorary degrees from 15 universities worldwide, including some from the most prestigious colleges: Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Trinity College (University of Dublin), Amherst College, Colby College, Tel Aviv University, and Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica. She also has honorary doctorate degrees from a host of Nigerian universities including Abia State University, Delta State University, Oduduwa University, Babcock University, and the Universities of Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Ife (Obafemi Awolowo).
She is the author of numerous articles and several books, including Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines (MIT Press, 2018), Reforming the UnReformable: Lessons from Nigeria, (MIT Press, 2012), Mobilizing Finance for Education in the Commonwealth (Commonwealth Education Report 2019), Shine a Light on the Gaps – an essay on financial inclusion for African Small Holder Farmers (Foreign Affairs, 2015), Funding the SDGs: Licit and Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries (Horizons Magazine, 2016), and The Debt Trap in Nigeria: Towards a Sustainable Debt Strategy (Africa World Press, 2003). She also co-authored with Tijan Sallah the book Chinua Achebe: Teacher of Light (Africa World Press, 2003).
Okonjo-Iweala will take up her new post as the DG of WTO on March 1st 2021 and her term, which is renewable, will run until August 31, 2025.
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