Winner of 2018 Big Brother Naija (BBN) ‘Double Wahala’ reality show, Miracle Igbokwe Ikechukwu has obtained certification as “Instrument Rated” pilot.
Ikechukwu celebrated the feat on his Instagram page @miracleikechukwu, saying: A lot of turbulence while en-route but finally landed.. ✈️“Instrument Rated!”😎.. It’s only Your Grace Lord.. Thank🙏🏾 You.. and to everyone who has supported meh thus far, I Appreciate 🙌🏾… GOD Bless.. 👨🏽✈️”
In January this year, Miracle announced on the same platform that he has enrolled at Epic Flight Academy, Florida, United States to complete his aviation training and obtain his commercial pilot license, CPL.
Born on 17 February, 1995 in Lagos, Miracle Igbokwe Ikechukwu’s home state is Imo. He attended Dee Unique International High School in Owerri.
In pursuit of his desire to become a pilot, he went to study at the IAC International Aviation College. He also was a student of Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, which is in Zaria, where he obtained the pilot license.
From Google checks, we can understand why the feat of obtaining pilot certification is a big deal for Miracle, who is hoping to become a commercial plane pilot.
“An Instrument Rating is a rating that is added to a Private Pilot or Commercial Pilot License and refers to the qualifications that a pilot must have in order to fly under Instrument Flight Rules or IFR. The check ride is divided into an oral part and a flight part.
In the US, a pilot is required to have completed a minimum of 35 hours of flight instruction and 35 hours of ground instruction to obtain the instrument rating. The Instrument Rating costs approximately $7,920. This cost includes flight time, flight instruction, ground instruction, books and supplies, written exam fees, and checkride fees.
“You must have logged the following: At least 50 hours of cross-country flight time as pilot in command. At least 10 of these hours must be in airplanes for an instrument-airplane rating. A total of 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time.
“The length of time it takes to earn your Instrument Rating depends upon how often you fly. You can receive your Instrument rating in as little as 30 days if you fly everyday. Most students fly on average 2-3 times per week. At this pace you can receive your Instrument rating in as little as 90 days”.
That pounding in your head or worsening headache or migraine could be the result of your workplace. In fact, 113 million days of work are lost each year in the United States because of migraines alone. Concourse News brings you Nine ways your job might be causing you headache.
Most people with headaches or even migraines prefer to handle the problem themselves, says Elizabeth Loder, MD, chief of the division of headache and pain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “I know a lot of my patients with headaches have bosses who are sympathetic, and I have other patients who don’t want their bosses to know,” she says. “Our experience treating patients is that most of them want to stay at work and, if they have to leave, they want to get back as quickly as possible.”
Read on to figure out whether your workplace could be causing your headaches and how you can take steps to avoid or better cope with the pain.
Commuting
Before you even reach your desk, your morning commute to work can trigger a headache or migraine. This head pain could have several origins. For one, people with migraines are sensitive to motion and are more likely to get motion sickness. In fact, motion sickness is one of the hallmarks of migraine.
Commuting can also bring with it changes in light patterns, and people who get migraines are notoriously sensitive to light. “If you happen to be driving into the sun, it can be particularly bad,” notes Dr. Loder. Sound familiar? Talk to your boss or supervisor to find out if you can vary your hours, or try taking another route to and from work.
Bad Lighting
Light sensitivity may continue to be an issue once you reach your desk and be particularly difficult to deal with if you work in a cubicle, or any space where you can’t control the overhead lighting. “Venetian blinds that make light patterns on the wall are also a problem for some people,” Loder notes. If the lighting in your work area could be provoking a headache or migraine, talk to your supervisor about options for changing or adjusting the lighting source.
Stress
“Communicating with your boss, PowerPoint presentations, negotiations — these are all things that can add up to stress in the workplace and that can trigger a migraine,” says Teshamae Monteith, MD, assistant professor of neurology and director of the headache program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She urges people with headaches and migraines to see a headache specialist for proper evaluation and treatment. If you’re prone to headaches or migraines and have a big presentation or meeting coming up, build some relaxation activity into your day and take extra care of yourself.
Eye Strain
Sitting in front of a computer all day can lead to a headache from eye strain. Your eyes work harder to read a computer screen than a printed page, and glare compounds the problem. To find out if eye strain is causing your headaches, schedule an eye exam and ask your eye doctor if you’d benefit from special glasses for computer work.
Other things you can do: adjust your monitor so that you’re looking downward at the screen or put an anti-glare filter on the screen. In addition, dry eye can also play a role in head pain, so blink your eyes frequently to restore moisture, and try the “20-20” rule: Every 20 minutes, look away from the screen for 20 seconds to allow your eyes to refocus.
Poor Body Mechanics
Your task should suit you, not the other way around. If you have to strain your body to do your work, your energy will be sapped, and you’ll feel tired — which can set the stage for a headache. Pay attention to both your office furniture and your position in it to avoid headache pain. Try these tips:
1. Choose an ergonomic chair that cushions your body and adjusts so that you can place your feet flat on the floor with your thighs parallel to the ground.
2. Use chair arms for arm support while you type. Don’t rest wrists on your keyboard.
3. To avoid neck strain and headaches, use a headset or earbuds if you’re often on the phone while typing.
4. Get up and stretch frequently. Its a good excuse to refill your water bottle or walk over to a co-worker’s cubicle instead of sending an e-mail.
Strong Odors
People who get migraines are not only sensitive to light and noise, but also to odors. Perfume, cigarette smoke, and cleaning solutions are the most commonly mentioned offenders. Strict no-smoking policies in the workplace have probably helped some, and you might try varying your hours to avoid times when the cleaning crew is at work. As for perfume, both cheap and expensive scents can trigger migraines, so try a diplomatic word to any co-worker who douses rather than dabs it on.
Noise
“Noise can be a problem for people who get migraines,” notes Dr. Monteith. “They are very sensitive to environmental stimuli; their brains seem to have problems filtering it all out.” If noise in the workplace is giving you a headache or triggering a migraine, possible solutions include wearing earplugs or noise-canceling headphones. Consider talking to your boss about moving to a more quiet area, or whether it would be possible to get a noise-canceling machine or noise-absorption panels.
Lack of Exercise
Exercise is a stress reliever, so it follows that a lack of exercise may cause headaches. Although this has not been well-studied (there’s more research showing that exercise can bring on a headache, for instance), one study found that a lack of exercise, along with other risk factors, like obesity and smoking, was more likely to cause headaches. So if you’re stuck at your desk, be sure to get up, stretch your legs, and walk around a bit. That can help relieve stress and, in turn, lessen the likelihood of a headache.
Changes in Routine
“Generally, people who get migraines don’t adjust well to a change in routine,” says Loder. So if work demands force you to come in early or stay late, you may pay the price with a headache or a migraine. Triggers include getting hungry if you skip meals at the office, or a lack of sleep if you stay up late finishing a project. Shift work can also be a problem as well, she notes.
Some fixes to relieve head pain and overall discomfort include getting up to walk around or stretch, keeping an apple or nuts handy, and making sure you maintain the rest of your daily routine as much as possible during peak work periods.
Busty Nollywood actress Cossy Orjiakor has revealed that her marriage may not last a month. She disclosed this in an interview with the Sun newspaper when asked if she is scared of marriage.
According to her:
“I am not scared of marriage. However, if it is somebody that is crazy enough to like someone like me; that would be great! But then, I am not that kind of person that is really into the love thing. .
I cut-off easily, so I don’t know if I get married it is going to last a month unless the guy is f**king crazy and good to go. There was a time I had a boyfriend. I was cool with this dude and he wasn’t even giving me plenty of money and all that.
One day, a man just came into the house and was like ‘oh, this girl? You will not marry her-o’. I was angry and was like ‘who the hell wants to marry your son?’”
A former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Jonathan Asake, has described the new move to create Ruga settlements in some parts of the country as an attempt to ‘Fulanise’ the country.
He said this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday.
Asake, who was a member of the seventh House of Representatives between 2011 and 2015, said the term ‘Ruga’ was a Fulani word and it was thus hypocritical of anyone to say when it is implemented across the nation, it would not be exclusive to Fulani.
Asake, who is from southern Kaduna, said in 1987, the then government of Kaduna State approved Ruga settlements in the old Kachia Local Government Area which now comprises Zangon Kataf, Chikun, Kajuru, and Kachia Local Government Areas.
He, however, said over time, the Fulani began to expand these settlements and today, some of them are being converted to Emirates.
Asake, who is a leader of the Middle Belt Forum, said, “I’m from Zangon Kataf Local Government Area in Kaduna State. We have what was established in 1987 as the Kachia grazing reserve in the then old Kachia LG which comprises Zangon Kataf, Chikun and Kajuru and Kachia Local Government Areas of today.
“That grazing reserve has been changed to Laduga. Laduga is actually a Fulani word and no indigene is there. The land has been taken over from the indigenes. And that place is now a big town, with big hospitals and roads.
“In fact, the last voter registration exercise there, two registration machines were put there. Today, they have a district head and they are asking for an emirate. It is just a model of what will happen tomorrow in this country when these settlements are established. You will have state constituencies in the state assembly established all over the country strictly for Fulani.”
Asake said the Ruga initiative must be rejected because the government’s ultimate plan is to take over ancestral land from indigenous owners and give it to a particular people.
He hailed socio-cultural groups in the South, especially Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo for rejecting the idea.
President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria will continue to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) in fulfilling its mandates.
The president stated this when he received the Nigerian-born President of the ICC, Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, at the State House, Abuja on Friday.
Buhari appealed to developed countries to take the ICC “more seriously in order to strengthen the rule of law and democracy”.
According to the Nigerian leader, the ICC provides a moral strength for victims to receive justice against internal and external injustices.
He also commended Eboe-Osuji for the achievements at the ICC under his presidency.
Earlier, the President of the ICC had congratulated Buhari on his re-election and successful inauguration for a second tenure.
He lauded the Nigerian leader’s “strong and unambiguous statement in support of the rule of law” and for the Court and its principles during his visit to the headquarters of the ICC in The Hague last July.
Eboe-Osuji appealed to Buhari to continue to support the ICC and to encourage African leaders, whose countries had not ratified the Rome Statute which established the Court, to do so.
The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, on Thursday lambasted the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike for declaring the state a Christian State.
Wike had during a crusade organized by the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Church in Port Harcourt, River State capital a few days ago declared Rivers a Christain State.
Reacting to the declaration, the Islamic human rights organisation called on stakeholders in the “Nigerian project” to call Wike to order.
In a press statement signed by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, the organisation described the governor’s statement as audacious, unguarded and reckless.
The statement reads: “At a time when Nigeria is facing religious and ethnic crises, a state governor still has the temerity to declare his state a Christian state. Wike is short in intellect, long in impunity. It is not his first time of making this pronouncement. We ignored him the first time because we did not want to dignify him with a response. But he has just exposed himself as an analogue governor with a triangular approach to all problems: religion, violence and impunity. Wike cannot think outside this triangular box.
“At a time when religious fanaticism is on the rise and the authorities are cautioning Nigerians to be moderate, a state governor is running loose with reckless statements like, ‘I repeat once again without apologies, Rivers is a Christian state. That is why nobody can touch us’.
“This is nothing but articulated demagoguery. It is audacious, preposterous and myopic. It is also a dangerous precedent. Nonetheless, Wike’s statement must also be seen as meaningless unless he can establish Canon law for his ‘Christian State’. That is the challenge we like to throw at Governor Wike. He should promulgate canon law without any hesitation, otherwise, all his boasts amount to nothing. They are empty.
“Is Rivers the only state with Christian majority? Wike should learn from the moderate stance of the governors of Cross Rivers, Delta, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, etc on the issue of religion. Wike is perpetuating a culture of acrobatic religiousity. He is playing on the intelligence of the good people of Rivers State and lending credence to Karl Marx’s view of religion as opium of the people. He is brandishing state-sponsored religiousity to cover his gross ineptitude.
“The spate of crime in Rivers State is an indictment on Wike. Cult-killing is on the rise. Kidnapping has become an obsession. Youth restiveness is everywhere in the state. But all these are by-products of mass unemployment. This is what Wike should face.
“He should be thinking of empowering the youth. Where are the roads built by Wike? What is the state of Rivers’ schools? Are there drugs in the hospitals? What are the rates of infant and maternal mortality in Rivers State? Port Harcourt is one of the most expensive places to live in Nigeria. How can Wike bring relief to the residents? It is high time Wike focused on governance and stopped propagating motor-park doctrine, manifesting ‘agbero’ faculty and exhibiting ‘bolekaja’ mentality.
“Nonetheless, Wike’s statement must also be seen as meaningless unless he can establish Canon law for his ‘Christian State’. That is the challenge we like to throw at Governor Wike. He should promulgate canon law without any hesitation, otherwise, all his boasts amount to nothing. They are empty. Wike’s Christian state is a red herring.
“Where is Wike’s constitutional backing? Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria clearly prohibits state religion. It says, ‘The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as a State Religion.’ Wike’s declaration is, therefore, ultra vires. It is null, void and of no consequence whatsoever.
“It is illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional for any governor to declare his state a Christian or an Islamic state. For the avoidance of doubt, a clear difference must be seen between Wike’s declaration and the introduction of Shariah in parts of the North. The state legislatures of states where Shariah was introduced followed due process. The governors did not just wake up one day and make arbitrary declarations.
“In any case, there is also a world of difference between declaring a state an Islamic state and merely introducing Shariah to be used by the Muslim population. That is why several parts of the United Kingdom, the United States and some Western countries have introduced Shariah for their minority Muslim populations without necessarily declaring those countries Islamic nations.
“But where are the secularists? Where are those who claim that Nigeria is a secular state? Why is it that only Muslims are taken up when they make declarations bordering on religious particularism? Why are they silent now? Is this not selective judgement? Must we always behave a la Animal Farm? Our self-righteous public commentators and human rights lawyers would have brought heaven down if any Muslim governor made a similar statement. Why are we like this? Who placed a curse on Nigeria? Well known critics who fail to speak on Wike’s recent pronouncement should bury their heads in shame.
“Before we take a break, we remind Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State that specialisation necessitates division of labour. He should, therefore, concentrate on governance which is the job for which he was elected and leave evangelization and fire-brand crusade to Christian clerics. Wike should improve the security situation in order to attract investors and tourists. We appeal to stakeholders in the Nigerian project to call Wike to order.”
Super Eagles of Nigeria are the first team to qualify for the round of 16 at the ongoing African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
A 1 – 0 win against Guinea at the Alexandria Stadium this evening confirmed the Eagles’ qualification to the next round after defender Kenneth Omeruo scored the only goal in the match.
The Super Eagles who also defeated Burundi 1 – 0 last week now have six points in the group stage.
On Sunday, Nigeria will face Madagascar for their final group stage game before going into the round of 16.
The police have arrested and arraigned a 65-year-old man, Bayo Akinwete, before an Ado Ekiti magistrate’s court for allegedly raping his five-year-old daughter.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Monica Ikebuilo, told the magistrate’s court that the Akinwete committed the alleged crime on June 18, 2019, in the Olorunsogo area of Ado Ekiti, in Ekiti State.
The little girl, according to the police, claimed that her father had been molesting her for some time.
“The victim told the police that she and her nine-year-old sister had been living with their father since their mother abandoned them with him.
“The victim alleged that her father once gave her alcohol to drink following which she slept off. She alleged that when she woke up, she saw him on top of her.
“The victim said her father used to tell her to hold and massage his manhood. The victim consequently reported her father to a neighbour, who reported the case to the police,” the police office stated.
The prosecutor, who said the offence contravened Section 31 of the Child Rights Law of Ekiti State, 2012, told the court that the duplicate file of the case had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
The plea of the accused was not taken.
The magistrate, Mrs. Kehinde Awosika, ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody pending advice from the office of the DPP.
Awosika adjourned the case until August 1 for mention.
Ajax captain, Matthijs de Ligt, has agreed personal terms with Juventus as his move to Serie A edges ever closer, Goal reports.
The 19-year-old has attracted interest from the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.
But De Ligt now looks set to join the Serie A champions after finalising personal terms worth £10.75million a season over five years.
Although Juve are yet to agree a fee with Ajax for De Ligt, his proposed five-year contract is set to include a release clause worth around £135m.
His move will be finalised in the coming days, with the fee expected to be at least £62m.
De Ligt has developed into one of the most sought-after players in Europe, after an impressive breakout season, in which he led a young Ajax side to within moments of the Champions League final.
Hollywood has expressed sadness over the loss an actor, Bryan Marshall, best known for his role in James Bond.
The 81-year-old British actor played Commander Talbot in the 007 movie, The Spy Who Loved Me, and also starred in Australian daytime soap opera, “Neighbours”.
Marshall’s agent, Esta Charkham broke the sad news on Wednesday on his Twitter page.
“So sad that my dear old chum Bryan Marshall has gone on ahead.
“A wonderful actor – he was so good you never noticed how good he was.
“He was a valued chum. His credits are a catalogue of classic British and Australian TV.
“Fare Forward Dearest Bryan,” he wrote.
Marshal was born in Battersea, London, and trained as an actor at RADA before appearing at the Bristol Old Vic.
He starred in The Witches, Man in the Wilderness, Heartbeat, The Bill and The Avengers, and will also be remembered for playing Commander Talbot in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me.
