President Buhari accepts Onnoghen’s voluntary retirement

President Buhari has accepted the voluntary retirement from service of Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. The Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, made this known in a statement released last night, June 9th.



According to the statement, the retirement takes effect from May 28th 2019. The President thanked Justice Onnoghen for his service to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and wished him the best of retirement life.



Justice Onnoghen who assumed office as CJN in March 2017, was suspended by President Buhari in January over false declaration of assets.



Read the full statement below.


STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT BUHARI WRITES ACTING CJN ON APPOINTMENT OF FIVE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT

President Muhammadu Buhari has written the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Tanko Muhammad, on the appointment of additional five Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The President wrote: Pursuant to the provisions of Section 230(2) A&B of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I am pleased to request that you initiate in earnest the process of appointing additional five Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to make the full complement of 21 Justices as provided by the aforementioned provisions of the Constitution.

This is in line with the Governments Agenda of repositioning the Judiciary in general and Supreme Court in particular for greater efficiency, with a view to reducing the backlogs of appeals pending at the Supreme Court.

Please accept, your Lordship, the assurances of my highest regards.

Meanwhile, President Buhari has accepted the voluntary retirement from service of Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria, effective from May 28, 2019.

The President thanked Justice Onnoghen for his service to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and wished him the best of retirement life.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

Hollywood actress, Taraji P. Henson speaks on fighting the stigma of mental health issues

Taraji P. Henson who recently started the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, named after her late father, to eradicate the stigma around mental health care in the African-American community is taking her message across the world.



“The suicide rate has taken off. It amazes me that 5-year-olds are contemplating suicide. That’s a word you shouldn’t even understand at five years old” the Empire star said.



“We don’t talk about mental health, we don’t deal with it. For generations, we’ve been told it’s a weakness, to pray our problems away and that’s just not gonna cut it” she added.



On Friday, the actress urged members of the Black Caucus of the US senate to join her in talking about mental illness and getting people the help they need adding that she wants mental healthcare to be taught in schools.



“If we can teach children about sex education and physical education, why not mental? That’s where we start attacking this issue: with the children.” Henson argues that if mental healthcare becomes a part of the school curriculum, then parents will be forced to talk about mental health care with their kids. “You’ve got to help me with my homework,” she says.



Henson continues to speak out about her own struggles with anxiety and depression. “I feel like I’ve really found my purpose. It’s hard, but he knew it and he was able to get the help that he needed.” And Henson tries to focus on the positive memories of her dad. “Why focus on the negative? He’s not here. It wasn’t all bad with my dad. He had his moments. But when you’re dealing with mental illness, that’s what you’re gonna have. But most of the memories were good,” she says. “I miss him. He needs to see me now.”



Her father died in 2005, just two years after her son’s father, William Lamar Johnson, “was murdered, brutally in Washington, D.C.,” she recalls. “It was time for us to get help.”



Following that difficult time in her life, Henson says, finding a therapist she could trust was hard. “It was like looking for a purple unicorn with a 24-carat-gold-horn. I say that jokingly, but it’s serious. The reason why we don’t have many psychiatrists of color, or psychologists of color, or therapists of color, is because we don’t talk about it at home.”



Now, she talks to her therapist twice a week. In person, if she’s in town and if not, she chooses to Skype or Facetime. “I can call her at any time I’m having a moment and she’s there. I was blessed enough to find someone I really gel with. She gets me.” The mother of one and her fiancé Kelvin Hayden sometimes meet with her therapist together. “I want people to know it’s okay,.I don’t know what human is not suffering from some sort of anxiety or depression.”

Who do you think will win the Ballon d'or? Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Van Dijk?

After Portugal's victory at the maiden edition of the UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE, Ronaldo might be the odds on favorite to win the 2019 Ballon d'or award surpassing Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk and Barcelona's Lionel Messi.







Before the final, Van Dijk was the odds on favorite, as his successful season with Liverpool culminated in him winning the PFA player of the year award, but his failure to lead his team to glory, has reduced his chances.







Messi, always a favorite enjoyed a superb season scoring 36 La Liga goals in just 29 starts as Barcelona were crowned champions of Spain. He unfortunately didn't win the UEFA champions league as his team were humiliated by Liverpool, but he still won the European Golden Shoe for the third consecutive season.



Messi heads to this summer’s Copa America looking to finally win silverware with Argentina







Other contenders include Mo Salah of Liverpool, and Saido Mane of Liverpool.



So LIBers, who do you think will win this year's Ballon D'or award ??

Update: Brazil star Neymar could be cleared of rape accusation within days over lack of more evidence from his accuser

Brazilian football star, Neymar could be cleared of the rape accusation levied against him within days over lack of more evidence from his accuser.


According to Mail Online, the accuser, Brazilian model Najila Trindade Mendes de Souzahas been informed by her lawyer that she faces seeing her case against the Paris Saint-Germain star collapse except there is more evidence. She also faces losing the second lawyer to represent her after he said he could not carry on if his professional ‘trust’ in her was compromised.


Trindade's attorney Danileo Garcia de Andrade said he still believed Ms. Trindade had a case, but he would step aside if there was a lack of evidence.


Mr. Daileo said he had given her a deadline to produce the video and photographs she claimed to have had which would help prove her allegations of rape against the Brazilian superstar. But if the evidence was not forthcoming, he said, he would drop the case next week


Trindade who appeared on Brazilian TV, news station SBT for the first time last week, said she was the victim of 'aggression and rape' by the Paris Saint-Germain player in a hotel room in the French capital on May 15.



She claimed the encounter started out consensual but quickly turned violent, leaving her with bruises and scrapes to her legs and buttocks, with Neymar refusing to stop.



She told police her tablet containing a seven-minute video, messages and photos she alleged incriminated the footballer, was stolen in a burglary at her apartment. But the authorities said they found no major signs of a break-in and only Ms. Trindade’s fingerprints and those of her maid and friends around the flat.



Mr de Andrade told Brazil’s UOL Esporte: ‘If the police investigation of the supposed break-in where she lives shows there was no break-in, I am leaving the case.’



He added: ‘The attorney-client relationship is based always on trust. If there is no trust, then there is no reason to stay on’


Neymar has strongly denied raping her but admitted that what happened between them was consensual.

'The desperate desire for validation is very scary' - Simi speaks on depression

Nigerian singer, Simi has opened up on her thoughts about depression and according to her, the situation is simply “scary and sad”.



Last night, a fan on twitter asked her what her thoughts were on the wave of depression in recent times and she responded by saying the struggles to keep up and fear of failure amongst other things were responsible for depression.


“It’s scary and sad. Especially for young men. The struggle to keep up. The fear of failure. The desperate desire for validation. Very scary. I hope that we can let people know it’s ok to share and lean on someone when things get too heavy,” Simi tweeted in response.

Philadelphia's first openly gay deputy sheriff, Dante Austin found dead at his desk in 'apparent suicide'

Philadelphia's first openly gay Deputy Sheriff allegedly committed suicide at his desk from an apparent gunshot wound on Friday, just before the city's weekend of pride celebrations were set to begin.



Dante Austin, 27, was found dead at his desk at the Philadelphia Sheriff's office. An official cause of death is awaiting confirmation from the local Medical Examiner's office.



Austin was an Army veteran who also served as the department's first LGBTQ community liaison and was known as a "fierce advocate." He was set to be promoted to the position of sergeant next month, according to CBS Philly.



Sheriff Jewell Williams reflected on Austin's service with the Philadelphia Police Department, which he joined in 2013, and called his death “a tragedy for the Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Austin’s family and the local LGBTQ community. Dante was a person who believed in and cared about everybody,” Williams said.



The rainbow pride flag at the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office was lowered to half-staff to honor his memory on Friday, and the one at City Hall will do the same. The William Way LGBT Community Center hosted an informal gathering on Friday with food, drinks and peer counselors to help those coping with the loss.