hungary U20 0-2 Nigeria U20: Awoniyi brace earns date with Germany

A goal in each half by the towering Flying Eagles forward ensured Manu Garba's team reach the last-16 of the Fifa U20 World Cup in New Zealand

Nigeria U20 team fuelled by a deafening noise at the Stadium Taranaki put their Hungarian opponents 2-0 in the final Group E game played on Sunday morning.

A brace from Taiwo Awoniyi were all the reigning African youth champions needed to silence Bernd Storck’s team who started the game brightly.

With this victory, the Flying Eagles will now face European champions, Germany in the second round of the tourneyt billed for June 11, 2015 at the Christchurch Stadium.

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Pics: Anambra governor pays congratulatory visit to Buhari, solicits appointment for Igbos

Anambra governor pays congratulatory visit to Buhari

Anambra state governor Willie Obiano who is an APGA party member paid a congratulatory visit to President elect, General Buhari in Abuja yesterday April 24th. According to Governor Obiano, he came to congratulate Buhari on his victory at the polls as well as ask him not to sideline the Igbos in the constitution of his cabinet. Governor Obiano denied speculations that his visit was a move for him to defect to the APC.

“It is not correct. I will remain with APGA and work very closely with Mr president. I came to congratulate His Excellencey the President -elect on his victory and I am also here to reassure him that Anambra and the south East would support him.

I also pleaded with him on some pressing problem that are of importance to the south east like the second Niger bridge and some of the federal roads. We also pleaded in the area of appointment for the people of Anambra and of course for people from the south East be it ministerial, ambassadorial and what have you. So basically it is to congratulate the president elect on his well deserved victory.” he said

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Eatery worker sentenced to 266 years imprisonment for stealing N8m

Eatery worker sentenced to 266 years imprisonment for stealing N8m

A staff of popular eatery Sweet Sensation, Oluremi Olayinka pictured above has been sentenced to 266 years imprisonment by an Ogun state High Court for stealing N8 million from her employers.

Her company petitioned the EFCC after she made away with N8million handed over to her by her employer. Olayinka was in May 2013 dragged before the court for the offence.

Justice A.A. Akinyemi while delivering his judgement on the case yesterday April 22nd, found her guilty on all 34-count charges brought against her. She was sentenced to seven years on each of 30 counts and 14 years on the remaining four charges.

The sentences are to run concurrently. She was also ordered to return the money she stole in restitution to her victim. Olayinka who admitted to the crime initially, denied committing the crime when she was arraigned. 4 witnesses and 16 evidence were used by the EFCC to prove she was guilty of committing the crime. (Leadership Newspaper)

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Amber Rose poses semi-nude on the cover of her new book

Amber Rose unveiled the cover of her new book "How To Be A Bad Bitch" on instagram this evening and as you can see, she's almost naked on it. The book is a bad bitch's guide to life, love, and success. It'sbasically teaching young ladies how to catch men and use them to achieve their own aim, how to get followers on instagram, how to pose for photos, how to win as a girl, how to become popular, how to turn negativity into positivity, how to make money from your fame etc. Just basically teaching women how to get theirs by any means necessary. See the full book cover after the cut

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Nigerians Blast Harrysong For Doing This.

Kcee has uploaded a photo of himself and his label mate and best friend Harrysong on his instagram page which has made fans react negatively.

The photo showed both of them in the studio working but fans didn’t find Harrysong’s slippers amusing.

Some fans blasted Harrysong for putting on the most popular and cheap pair of slips in Nigeria ‘Bathroom slippers’, while some didn’t see it as a big deal because he’s indoor without minding the price and quality.

Do you think there is anything wrong with Harrysong wearing ‘Bathroom slippers’?

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Buhari's Daughter Allegedly Turns Woman Out Of Boutique

A woman in Abuja, Shalom Miriam Shehu, has recounted how one of the daughters of President Muhammadu Buhari turned her out of a boutique yesterday.

Shehu, who says her father is a prominent figure in southern Borno and her mother is a retired federal permanent secretary, claimed an unnamed daughter of President Buhari came into the boutique in Wuse 2, Abuja, where she was shopping.

Shehu said that everyone was ordered out of the boutique, and she was particularly embarrassed.

She took to Twitter to explain how it happened.

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Syrian Rebels give very big shout-out to Caitlyn Jenner

 

Who knew rebel fighters in Syria were fans of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

Throughout the Syrian uprising, residents in the small town of Kafranbel have posted pictures of themselves holding banners that condemn the Assad regime and bring attention to their goals.

 

Today, one activist posted this photo to Twitter, drawing a connection between Caitlyn Jenner's liberation and their own desire for freedom. Addressed to Caitlyn -- presumably Caitlyn Jenner -- the banner says: "We would write Kafranbel with a C, if it meant like you, we would be free." #Syrian #Caitlyn

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Keshi explains Mikel & Ejide exclusion

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has cleared the air on why he dropped Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel and goalkeeper Austin Ejide from the squad to face Chad in June 13’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier billed for Kaduna
The ‘big boss’ in a parley with media said claims that he is having a strained relationship with the former Flying Eagles star is untrue, insisting he had talked about [his exclusion] with him.

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Lagos Fire: Gov. Ambode summons tanker drivers for talks

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has summoned Petroleum Products Tanker Drivers’ Union and stakeholders to an emergency meeting on Monday, June 8.
The meeting, Mr. Ambode said, would address the incessant petrol tanker-induced fires in the state.
The governor gave the directive on Saturday during a visit to the scene of the early morning petrol tanker fire at Idimu area of the state.
A similar tanker fire occurred on Tuesday at Iyana-Ipaja area of the state which left several shops and vehicles destroyed.
The Idimu fire which occurred in the wee hours of Saturday at an intersection has also left property worth millions of naira in ruins.
About 34 buildings, 70 shops, one tricycle and one truck were consumed by the fire ignited by a fallen petrol-laden tanker, according to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).
“I have directed that we will meet with the union of the tanker drivers and other agencies on Monday morning, and we must make pronouncements relating to the usage of our roads.
“This is another unfortunate accident within one week; unfortunate because we are beginning to lose a lot of our assets and property,” Mr. Ambode said.
Mr. Ambode also said it had become necessary to check the activities of the tanker drivers and enforce the state traffic laws.
“We do not want this to repeat itself again. I have been briefed that there were two tanker drivers actually competing on the road as at midnight including a commercial bus.
“In the process, one of the tanker drivers conveying 33,000 litres of fuel lost control at the bend and spilled its content to as far as five streets.”
He said 34 houses and 70 shops were destroyed by the fire.
Mr. Ambode also commiserated with those affected by the fire and appealed to them to remain calm.
“We will do immediate relief and take enumeration to see how we can address this issue.
“We will do everything in our might to make sure that they go back to their normal lives,” he said.
Giving an account of how the incident occurred, the Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, said his men responded to the distress call at about 12.08 a.m. on Saturday.
“The prompt response by the rescue officers with the aid of the community helped to prevent the fire from spreading.
“The effort we put in saved the MRS fuel station from being engulfed by the fire and we also saved several buildings here,” he said.
He said the incident also consumed fire- fighting materials that would have been used to contain about 15 to 20 future fire outbreaks.
“As the governor said, something has to be done about this type of incidents.”
Also speaking, Babatunde Kokumo, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, pledged the support of the Police in addressing the situation.
“We want to see that‎ sanity returns to our roads, particularly sanity among our tanker drivers, tipper drivers and generally among all users of roads in Lagos.
“The government is doing so much for us and we must as a matter of seriousness reciprocate all these gestures by ensuring that we instil sanity,” the DCP said. (NAN)

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BREAKING: APC conducts mock election to pick candidate for House of Reps Speakership

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is currently holding an election to select who will be nominated as the party’s candidate for the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The election is holding at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Femi Gbajabiamila is expected to pick the ticket after his main rival, Dogara Yakubu, stormed out of the venue with his supporters alleging irregularities.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the Consolidation Group, comprising members loyal to Mr. Dogara would also carry out a parallel primary at a different venue.

We cannot confirm if the rival election is taking place presently.

However, the spokesperson of the APC, Lai Mohammed, informed us that the party is just trying to be democratic by allowing the members select their speaker on their own.

“Out of 218 members, 160 are already here and minority cannot hold majority to ransom,” he said.

On why Mr. Dogara and his group left, Mr. Mohammed said the argument of the group was that they were not given notice of election.

The party is expected to carry out the same nomination for the Senate. It is not clear yet whether that vote will hold Saturday

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Juventus 1-3 Barcelona: Suarez, Rakitic & Neymar deliver Champions League glory

The Spanish side opened the scoring after just four minutes, with Alvaro Morata equalising in the second half before the Uruguayan and the Brazilian secured the win

Barcelona completed a trophy treble in Luis Enrique's debut season in charge as they beat Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League final in Berlin on Saturday.

Luis Suarez produced his most crucial contribution of his short career at Camp Nou when he restored Barca's lead 22 minutes from time to effectively settle the game, after Alvaro Morata had cancelled out Ivan Rakitic's early opener.

A fifth European title looked set to be a more routine ask when Rakitic - the man to perform so capably in replacing the soon-to-depart Xavi this term - opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a trademark Barca goal, which saw nine of their 10 outfield players touch the ball.

However, while Barca enjoyed the better of the first half from there - threatening a Juve back line shorn of Giorgio Chiellini through injury - former Real Madrid man Morata struck early in the second period.

Having scored twice in the two-legged semi-final against his former club, Morata was afforded a simple finish after Marc-Andre ter Stegen had saved an initial effort from Carlos Tevez.

Suarez was the only Barca man not involved in Rakitic's opener, but the Uruguayan provided the crucial touch in his side's second, as he replicated Morata's finish when Lionel Messi's effort was spilled by Gianluigi Buffon.

Neymar had a header disallowed, via a handball, as Barca sought to put the game out of sight late on.

But it proved inconsequential in the end, as the Brazilian added a third with the last touch of the match to ensure that Luis Enrique's side repeated the treble-winning achievement of Pep Guardiola's Barca in his debut season of 2008-09.

The victory also provided Xavi with a successful send-off to his career with the Catalan giants before he joins Qatari club Al Saad.

European success continues to elude Juve, meanwhile, with the Serie A side coming up short in their attempt to win the continent's most prized trophy for the first time since 1996 and their own treble bid.

Barca could barely have hoped for a better start, as Rakitic opened the scoring in style in the fourth minute when he was the beneficiary of a spell of neat passing play that bore all the Spanish giants' familiar hallmarks.

Following Messi's raking pass out to Jordi Alba, Neymar slipped the ball in to Andres Iniesta. He in turn found Rakitic who finished past Buffon from inside the six-yard box to spark wild celebrations on the Barca bench.

The goal came somewhat out of the blue, with Juve having begun on the front foot. And, having fallen behind, the Italians then saw Arturo Vidal display an uncharacteristic lack of composure, as the Chilean smashed a shot over after a great run from Morata.

The Liga champions began to apply further pressure, and Buffon kept out Dani Alves' effort with a superb strong, left-handed save. Vidal was then overzealous in his tackling and narrowly escaped a second early yellow card for crashing into Neymar.

Juve had half-hearted penalty appeals turned away following claims of a foul by Alba on Paul Pogba midway through the half but Barca were largely controlled in possession, apparently content to take the pace out of the game.

The threat of Messi, Neymar and Suarez continued to prove a real menace on the break and the latter twice went close to extending the lead with long-range strikes prior to half-time.

Buffon was handed a let-off when he inexplicably gave the ball away to Neymar deep in his own half but he displayed his vast experience to keep Suarez out again early in the second half after a rapid Barca breakaway.

Barca were hauled level when Morata pounced on Ter Stegen's save after 55 minutes to get Juve back into the game.

Claudio Marchisio's deft backheel helped Tevez into a shooting position and, when the Barca goalkeeper kept that effort at bay, Morata followed up to tap the ball into an empty net.

With Juve buoyed, Tevez and Pogba both went close, but their momentum was abruptly halted by Suarez's close-range finish, coming at a time when the Italian champions were enjoying their most threatening spell.

A trademark dribble from Messi was followed up by a strike that Buffon could not hold, allowing Suarez to tap home his most important Barca goal.

Neymar looked to have wrapped up victory with a header soon after, but the official on the byline spotted his header had deflected off a hand.

Barca legend Xavi was then introduced for his swansong at the expense of long-time midfield companion Iniesta.

It could also prove to be Andrea Pirlo's final Juve game, with the midfield maestro unable to conjure up any late moments of magic before Barca sealed victory when Neymar scored with the final touch of the match following a quick break.

It completed a season many in Catalunya would not have believed possible when Luis Enrique took over from Gerardo Martino in May 2014, and then saw his position questioned following rocky results and a public disagreement with Messi at the turn of the year.

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First week in opposition: PDP struggles with the challenge of new status

ABUJA, the nation’s capital city, on Friday, May 29, played host to world leaders. That day, global attention shifted to Abuja for the inauguration of Nigeria’s fifth democratically elected President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Ahead of the inauguration, a sitting president contested an election, lost, conceded victory and handed over to the opposition candidate.
When historians settle down to document the history of Nigeria, it would be part of it that 16 years into PDP’s permutation of close to a century it would be in government, the former ruling party suffered a crushing defeat by the opposition APC, the first time such would happen in our nation’s political history.
Besides the removal of former President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP from office in the election by Buhari, the PDP was also defeated at both the Senate and the House of Representatives elections which it controlled.
PDP, before it crashed in the March 28 election, controlled the National Assembly. In 1999, it had a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives with 214 seats; in 2007, the number rose to 263, but dropped to 208 and 137 in 2011 and 2015 respectively. This period was enough to be a stock taking one for the ruling party, it would have been a period for re- assessment, putting things right and discard the regime of impunity and lack of internal democracy at the time it lost a large number of 55 seats in 2011.
The PDP could not manage its success. At the upper red legislative chambers, the party had 87 seats in 2007, 71 in 2011 and crashed to all time low of 49 in the 2015 general elections. The party would have also seen the handwriting on the wall when it lost 16 senatorial seats in 2011. The bandwagon effect that happened to PDP was not only at the legislative level, but also with the governors which number dropped from 28 states controlled by it in 2003 and 2007 to 23 in 2011 and 13 states in 2015.
With the take off of the APC government of Buhari, the PDP, now in the opposition, will no longer control the government at the centre.
Loyalty
The national secretariat of the party would have been very busy now, but the hands of the clock has changed to the national secretariat of the APC because failure does not have friends. Loyalty must shift and that is beginning to happen with PDP members dumping the party for the APC.
In the first week of being in the opposition, the hitherto very busy Wadata Plaza, the national secretariat of the PDP, has suddenly become virtually empty as the staff do not have work to do, some only come, stay briefly and leave.
Uncertainty is boldly written on the faces of the staff at the PDP national secretariat. They fear there may be downsizing of staff at Wadata Plaza, Peoples Democratic Institute, PDI, and the Legacy House, even as a meeting slated for Monday, May 25 at the National Executive Committee, NEC, hall has been shifted indefinitely.
The leadership of the party, according to a memo signed by the National Director of Administration, Alhaji Gurama Bawa, on behalf of the National Secretary, Professor Adewale Oladipo, dated May 22, with official no PDP/NS/EST/124 and addressed to all the Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, Heads of Departments and all staff, would have used the meeting to brief the staff on the PDP opposition status, the issues on ground and how to adjust to the new challenge.
Members of the National Working Committee, NWC, are also not left out against the backdrop that since President Buhari’s inauguration, penultimate Friday, it was only last Wednesday that they showed up at the national secretariat. But the absence of the leadership of the PDP may not be unconnected with  the one-day retreat of the party’s elected members into the forthcoming National Assembly held in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State,  Monday, June 1 even as it was gathered that, on Thursday, some of the NWC members travelled to Ekiti State on a solidarity visit to Governor Ayodele Fayose.
The PDP, in its first week in opposition and to prepare for the new challenge, had to organise the one-day retreat which  involved  senators-elect and House of Reps members-elect.
The retreat became  the first official outing of the new governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, to host some of his colleagues from other states, party leaders and stakeholders. Also present at the retreat were Senate President David Mark; Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu;  Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha;  Governors Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State; Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State; Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe, Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu,  and Chief Dave Umahi of Ebonyi, represented by his deputy. Former President Jonathan was absent.
Formidable opposition
The retreat, put together by Ekweremadu and held under the theme: “The role of the opposition in facilitating development and good governance”, was  apt and reflective of the promise by the party to present a formidable opposition to the ruling APC.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary,  Chief Olisa Metuh, who promised that the PDP will provide a strong opposition to the APC, said, “Our supporters may think we are weak, it is not being hailed in the social media. Let the President settle down; what we will do is that after one week we clock the mileage, one month, six month, one year, periodically we will assess the between the progress they have made and what happened with the PDP government and Nigerians on their own will decide which party is best to progress democracy in this country.”
If the PDP had won the election at the centre and holding a retreat of this kind, members, supporters,  stakeholders would have been falling over one another because of the large turn out that would have been at the function.
It was a brilliant decision to have been taken by the opposition PDP to hold the retreat in Port Harcourt, Rivers, a South-South state, to save cost and for proximity, especially considering the fact that almost 80% of its elected legislators are from the zone and the South-East. At the  moment, PDP has only four governors outside the South-South and South-East: Darius Isyaku of Taraba ; Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe; Segun Mimiko of Ondo and Fayose of Ekiti.
Speaking at the retreat, Ekweremadu urged PDP members in the yet to be inaugurated National Assembly to  hold the APC accountable to its promises like the release of the Chibok girls, creation of two million jobs every year, among others. “Members of parliament have always been the springboard for their parties’ return to power each time they suffered defeat. The PDP lawmakers in the 8th National Assembly should hold the ruling APC accountable on each of its campaign promises.”
Now that the PDP has rounded off its first week as an opposition party, we watch as it faces the new challenge and as events unfold.

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Pay attention to indigenous products — Uwaje

For transparent leadership and governance, the immediate President of Institute of Practitioners of Nigeria, ISPON, Chris Uwaje who has been preaching local content said that the incoming government must pay attention to locally developed solution to free the country from digital slavery of the western powers.

Buhari

“I am concerned, just like other IT Professionals that while technology is at the center of the electoral processes, this is the time to pay attention to IT as the bedrock of national development. “General Muhammadu Buhari may not deliver the dividend of democracy, unless IT and IT professionals are at the centre of his leadership program” the Oracle of the Nigerian IT industry who championed the IT policy blueprint in 2001 said.
For a digital Nigeria, Uwaje noted that the present administration should set up one hundred billion (N100 billion)   startup transformation budget for ICT ecosystem. He said that this can yield three to five times of the amount in three years . Nothing short of that amount will work, if will want to see the big picture and engage great national transformation with Technology.
To resolve the national IT challenge, Uwaje who many industry watchers see as the next President of the Nigerian Computer Society, (NCS) said that the new government must do the following: *Establishment of the Office of the Chief Information Technology Officer of the Federation. *Refocus national IT Development Agenda on Digital Knowledge Capacity building and National Software Development.
* Establish a Presidential ICT Advisory council chaired by the President *Make the patronage of Indigenous Software and Hardware mandatory and priority for both he Public and Private Sector. *Encourage the establishment of ICT-enabled Outsourcing Centres *Establishment of at lease 12 Digital Knowledge/IT Parks within the next 24 months
*Upgrade the Computer Science Department in Nigerian Universities into a Faculty of Computer Science to spur and accelerate Innovation and creativity. *Encourage the contractual recruitment and engagement of at lease, 2,000 Foreign Computer Science & IT Lectures to collaborate with Nigerian lecturers in Computer Science re-engineer computer Science education for the next 4 years.
To actualize this, according to the Presidential aspirant of NCS, government   should establish a N100 billion Litmus Package to invigorate Innovation in the ICT Domain and also establish a special platform for National Competition on Digital Knowledge Hackathon and IT Innovation. This should be named: DEMO Nigeria
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/pay-attention-to-indigenous-products-uwaje/?#sthash.urJ2xd5v.dpuf

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UN: Nigeria president must investigate crimes by Boko Haram, military

[JURIST] The United Nations [official website] High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called on new Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari [JURIST news archive] to investigate reports of both military abuses and crimes committed by the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram [BBC profile]. The top human rights official, Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein [official profile], in a statement said [Reuters report], "Civilians in northeast Nigeria have been living through horrifying acts of cruelty and violence by Boko Haram. These include wanton killings, summary executions, forced participation in military operations - including the use of children to detonate bombs, forced labour, forced marriage and sexual violence, including rape." There have also been reports that many civilians have suffered abuses by military forces, who have been detaining them in what Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] has called a "witch hunt" to locate and fight members of Boko Haram. AI also called on Buhari [JURIST report] earlier this week to investigate into any possible crimes committed at these detention camps.

Boko Haram [JURIST news archive], which means "Western education is a sin," has been fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government in the interest of creating an Islamist state. Two weeks ago the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, reported that Boko Haram militants in Nigeria have been murdering women and girls [JURIST report] previously taken captive by the group. At the end of March Nigeria held its presidential and gubernatorial elections in spite of violent attacks directed towards voters [JURIST report] by Boko Haram. The elections, originally scheduled for February 14, were postponed [Washington Times report] as Nigeria attempted to eradicate Boko Haram after reports that the group had acquired military-grade weaponry, including armored personnel carriers. In February the UN reported that girls have been attacked [JURIST report] and been subjected to gender oppression in at least 70 countries for seeking an education. In January the UN Security Council condemned attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria [JURIST report] and called for an end to terrorist attacks and the release of abducted child soldiers. The hostilities included mass killings, destruction of civilian homes and suicide bombings where children where induced to carry out the attacks.

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D’Banj Reveals Details About His Journey To Stardom

D’Banj in an exclusive interview has spoken on his latest project, anniversary and journey so far.
D’Banj Reveals Details About His Journey To Stardom
D’Banj spoke of working on “Coming To America” music project for about 6 months, celebrating his 10th year anniversary, million dollar Jesus piece jewelry given to him by Kanye West, exclusive info about his latest music video, being inspired by Beyonce.

He revealed that he has already filmed 5 videos , paving the way for international artist, Ciroc sponsorship and more.
D’Banj also talked about being the P.Diddy, Michael Jackson, and Jay Z of Africa.
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The interview was filmed by Champion Studio, in collaboration with Lafamedia Productions, iCirculate & Kedu TV.

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