A 16-year-old boy, Terseer Iorparegh, was yesterday caught stuck in a high tension cable while attempting to vandalize the PHCN cable along Naka road in Makurdi.

Eminent Yoruba leaders, Thursday, concurred that the Yoruba race was on the brink of extinction if something is not done quickly to revitalise its cultural values and heritage.

IN the first three chapters of this book, I alluded to the role of Ifa divination and Ifa priests in various rituals in the sacred city, especially those relating to the resolution of the conflicts between Oduduwa and Obatala. I will devote this chapter to the place of Ifa divination and the Ifa deity in regulating and managing the spiritual and social affairs of the city and will introduce the myths and rituals of Orunmila, also known as Ifa, the Yoruba god of divination; Ifa divinatory practices; and the religious, ethical, and thought systems espoused in the rich Ifa divination texts, otherwise known as ese Ifa or Ifa divination poetry.

NATIONAL vice president of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, in charge of South West, Bishop Francis Wale Oke yesterday, commended the Nigerian press for its vibrancy in reporting and exposing the various ills in the society.

The Imagined Sacred City
THE Portuguese image of Ile Ife: The Europeans saw Ile-Ife as the preeminent city-state and as an important ceremonial centre in what was then often referred to as “the Negro world.” The seafaring Portuguese, the first Europeans to explore the coast of West Africa, arrived in the fifteenth century. Although they had heard much about the city of Ile-Ife, their inability to access interior forested regions made contact very difficult. However, the Portuguese recorded their impressions of the importance of this ancient city, especially of its artistic and historical relationship and connection to the kingdom of Benin, with which the Portuguese had earlier contact.

FOUR days after the kidnap of Prof Mabel Kamene Titi Okonjo, 82 –year-old mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, a contact has been established with her kidnappers who have now reduced the ransom being demanded as a pre-condition for her release from $1 billion to N200 million.

Emotions ran high, yesterday afternoon, when a truck rammed into a school building in Itori, Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State, killing no fewer than 10 students, while 50 vehicles were damaged.

NATIONAL vice president of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, in charge of South West, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, Wednesday, charged President Goodluck Jonathan to be more courageous in taking decisive decisions on the security challenges facing the nation, appealing that no Nigerian should be exposed to untimely death.

As the Federal Government intensified efforts to secure the release of Professor Mabel Kamene Okonjo, mother of Finance Minister from the kidnappers’ den, the Delta State Police command, yesterday, confirmed the arrest and detention of two police men who were supposed to be on duty at the palace when the kidnappers struck.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, Tuesday, admitted into evidence, call logs and text messages allegedly exchanged between Senator Ali Ndume and the self confessed spokesman of the Boko Haram sect, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga.