Nigerian rapper and activist Michael Stephens, popularly known as Ruggedman, has spoken about not being a husband or father yet.

The 51-year-old revealed that he vowed not to have a child out of wedlock when he was much younger, and has kept his word since then.

Ruggedman recently disclosed this while featuring on the TVC programme Your View.

He asserted that he is unmarried because he has been jilted a few times and is yet to meet the right person. In his words:

“I am not married and do not have a child yet. When I was much younger, I vowed never to have a child out of wedlock. Sometimes, I wonder whether I made the right or wrong decision. But still, it takes a lot from both parties. You have to do it with someone you really love.”

“I have met some ladies I thought I would end up with, but it didn’t work out. There was a particular lady I was supposed to marry, but a wealthy man came into the picture, and her mother separated us.”

In a 2021 interview, Ruggedman revealed that his mother and other family members were not pressuring him about marriage despite being over 40 years of age. He added that he would get married when he was ready.

Joseph Aloba, father of the late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, known as Mohbad, has broken his silence, fiercely challenged the claims made by his daughter-in-law, Omowunmi Aloba, in her recent tell-all interview about his son’s tragic death.

Wunmi had earlier, in her emotionally charged interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, shared unsettling claims about the events leading to her husband’s death.

She averred that a nurse had administered an injection that triggered a severe reaction in Mohbad. Wunmi alleged that Joseph Aloba was present on Mohbad’s final day, and that he thwarted attempts by her husband’s manager to have the nurse arrested, insisted on letting the nurse go after noticing the harm caused by the injection.

In a phone conversation with blogger Bukky Jesse, Mohbad’s father minced no words as he tore into Wunmi’s narrative.

According to him, he never once set eyes on the nurse whom Wunmi alleged played a role in Mohbad’s death. He painted a stark picture of exclusion, revealed how Wunmi, along with his estranged wife, Bose, and his younger son, Adura, orchestrated a wall of silence around him throughout Mohbad’s crisis, shut him out completely until the bitter end.

He disclosed that he and Wunmi had not been on speaking terms for a long time, even before Mohbad’s passing. The only interaction since his son’s death, he said, was a phone call filled with curses hurled at him by Wunmi.

Mohbad’s dad added that, aside from that turbulent call, the only person from Wunmi’s family he had spoken with in recent weeks was her father.

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Monday declared that it wants an independent nation of Biafra and not additional states in the Southeast.

There have been moves to create an additional 31 new states in Nigeria, including five states from the Southeast.

The proposed states are Etiti State, Adada State, Urashi State, Orlu State, and Aba State.

However, IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, said the current states are bankrupt and not functioning properly.

In a statement he signed, Powerful said:

“Following the rumours that the Nigerian Government and the National Assembly proposed to create an additional 31 new states in Nigeria, we, the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) worldwide, wish to categorically state that Biafrans do not want the creation of new states. Instead of multiplying economically bankrupt states, the unworkable Nigerian unity should be dissolved.

“The IPOB movement is against the creation of new states because the existing states are bankrupt and not functioning properly. Creating more states is tantamount to creating more confusion, disunity, and insecurity. Nigerians are suffering because of the faulty foundations of the Nigerian state and the insurmountable corruption in the Nigerian government.

“Nigerian politicians are deep to their necks in corruption. Corruption has eaten into every fabric of Nigerian society. Hence, no amount of multiplication of states and security agencies will solve Nigerians’ monumental corruption, insecurity, and other problems. Nigeria is a country founded on fraud, sustained in fraud, and incapable of sustaining human and capital development. Any society built on fraud cannot stand. That is why IPOB and other rational indigenous minds in Nigeria are calling for the dissolution of Nigeria.

“At their flag independence given to them by the British in 1960, Nigeria had three major regions. Later, the Mid-Western Region was created after a referendum, making it the fourth region. These regions were progressive and competitive because they enjoyed constitutionally granted autonomy. However, Nigeria’s woes started when a genocidist, ‘Jack’ Gowon, and his clueless Supreme Military Council created 12 states in order to divide Biafrans and prevent them from fighting the war of 1967-1970 in unison. Gowon’s decision to divide and carve out some ethnic groups from one region to another was the beginning of ethnic tensions in Nigeria today. Such an ethnically bigoted decision destroyed the autonomy of the regions, leading to this useless federal system that has resulted in the country’s economic and security woes.

“To add salt to injury, a heartless murderer, Murtala Muhammad, created more states and increased Nigeria to 19 states, favoring the Northern Region with more states than the South. In the same way, Fulani military heads of state like Ibrahim Babangida and Abacha created even more states to continue favoring the Northern region. Today, the incessant state creation, inspired by the born-to-rule mentality of the Fulanis, has destroyed the progressive regions and resulted in useless states that depend on Abuja handouts in the name of allocation sharing to survive. Even if Tinubu’s government creates an additional 100 states, the political equation between the North, West, and East (previous regions) will never be balanced. The previous ethnically bigoted Northern military leaders have already created unfavorable political equations that are inimical to the unity of Nigeria. Postponing the division of Nigeria is embracing the evil days, which are already upon us.

“IPOB says NO to the new state creation proposal that will include the Biafra region. Our position is clear: we don’t want our region to be balkanized or broken down any further. Instead, Ndigbo need our Igbo brothers and sisters, villages, clans, and whole regions carved into Kogi, Benue, and Edo states back into Alaigbo. The Nigerian government can create more states to suit them in their Nigeria, while Ndigbo establish an independent state of Biafra. What Ndigbo want is an exit from Nigeria in a peaceful and democratic way. That is why IPOB is calling for a referendum date from the Nigerian government so that Biafrans can decide their fate—whether to remain in one delusional united Nigeria or to exit into an independent state of Biafra.”

Over 30 unidentified bodies of suspected ritual killing victims have been found on Imo River in Oriendu autonomous community, Umuahia North local government area of Abia State since last year.

The traditional ruler of the community, HRH Eze Philip Ajomiwe, stated this while speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday in his palace after the body of a woman was found

“The bodies, like the recent one, are either completely naked and without their private parts or in a bag. There’ve also been cases of two decomposing bodies seen beside the NNPC pipeline,” he said.

Explaining that there had not been any arrests since then by the security agents, he expressed concern that the situation was getting out of hand and had created fear in and around the community.

According to the monarch, efforts by the community’s vigilante group to arrest the suspects had failed too, because the group is not as equipped as the suspects are said to be.

“So, we’re appealing to the state government to empower the vigilante group with the necessary logistics and the wherewithal to enable it to match the suspects,” he said.

He argued that nobody ever embarks on such a mission with empty hands especially when the enemy is fully armed with sophisticated weapons and is ready to fight back.

He asserted that his complaints about the situation to the agents had been to no avail, noting that the latest was a letter to the speaker of the State House of Assembly on February 7.

The monarch, who appreciated the government’s upward review of monthly stipends of the traditional rulers, however, noted that the amount is not enough for them to handle insecurity.

He maintained that as the monarchs do not have security votes like the governor to equip their communities’ vigilante groups, the communities need the intervention of the government for peace and security.