You can name your child whatever you want, but some names are reserved strictly for the son of God, as Tennessee parents of a seven-month old were told by a court.

The Tennessee judge ordered the parents of 7-month old Messiah DeShawn Martin to change his religiously hallowed first name and name him Martin DeShawn McCullough instead.

Time Magazine reports that the parents of the baby had gone to court at first to settle on a last name for their child, but when they appeared before Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew and she heard the baby’s first name, the parents had new problems on their hands.

“The word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” Ballew said.

A local television station reports that Jaleesa Martin, the boy’s mother, was “shocked” by the outcome and believes her intent was misunderstood.

“I never intended on naming my son Messiah because it means God and I didn’t think a judge could make me change my baby’s name because of her religious beliefs.”

The judge did however. Ballew ruled that the parents of the boy must change the name on his birth certificate. The parents are balking at the ruling and mother Jaleesa Martin is prepared to appeal the ruling before the Cocke County Chancellor next month.

 www.pilotafrica.com

Supreet Kaur, the 28-year-old news anchor, who announced her husband’s death.

Recently, while reading a breaking news report about a car accident, a popular TV anchor realized her husband died in the crash. Amazingly, she finished the report and maintained her composure the whole time.

Supreet Kaur, the reporter at the center of this story, works for India’s IBC24 cable television channel. The 28-year-old has been a lead anchor since she joined the popular Hindi cable station nine years ago. Based in Chhattisgarh state, the network’s viewing audience is over 15 million people. During a recent Saturday morning broadcast, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Suddenly, the station manager spoke into Supreet’s ear, saying they had a breaking news story from a reporter at the scene of a car accident.

Seamlessly transitioning into the breaking event, Kaur, wearing a purple blouse, began providing details. A Renault Duster had crashed in the city of Mahasamund earlier that morning. Five men were in the vehicle when a truck hit it.  Three passengers died at the scene. Supreet then turned the story over to the local news reporter for additional details. As the reporter shared information, Kaur asked him follow up questions. They went back and forth for over ten minutes while they discussed the tragic accident. The only sign that the anchor had received terrible news during the report was a momentary pause as she started a sentence.

According to colleagues at IBC24, once the station went to commercial after the breaking news, Supreet ran off the set. She broke down in tears and called the local reporter for more information about the crash. She knew her husband of two years, Harshad Kawade, had been traveling in a Ranault Duster that morning. He had been driving to a meeting with four other men in the city of Mahasamund. When footage of the wreck appeared during the breaking news story, it confirmed Kaur’s worst fears. After this horrifying revelation, she called relatives and rushed to the crash site during the commercial break. A colleague stepped in to finish the rest of the broadcast.

The editor of IBC24 said that everyone at the station supports Kaur during her period of unthinkable grief. She released a statement through the news network thanking the public for its support and vowing to return to the anchor chair at an appropriate time. For years to come, her strange and unenviable situation will highlight her composure and serve as a benchmark of professionalism for news anchors across the world.

In most cultures, a wedding is a time of great joy and change. For one mother in China, her son’s recent wedding ticked one of those boxes. When her 31-year-old son brought home his fiancé, his mom knew that change was ahead. She was not particularly joyful though, because her future daughter-in-law was a robot built by her son.

Zheng Jiajia works as a robot designer and artificial intelligence programmer. Based in the city of Hangzhou, he has unsuccessfully tried dating for the last six years. Although he had a series of short-term relationships, he grew frustrated that he could not find “the one.” However, he refused to go the way of his fellow countrymen who took sex dolls as wives. Instead, he combined his technical skills and his lonely heart to build himself the perfect wife.

Last year, after quitting his job at Huawei, the international telecommunication firm, he wanted a new start. Putting his energy toward his new love, named Yingying, he quickly completed his AI robot. Currently, she understands Chinese characters and images. She can even say a few words. However, she cannot yet walk. As a result, Zheng had to carry her to and from their wedding. At a simple ceremony, Yingying wore a black dress and a red scarf. As required by tradition, she wore the red scarf draped over her head. Zheng’s mother and friends witnessed the ceremony. Eventually, the 31-year-old plans to upgrade his robot bride so that she can help with chores and walk around their home.

Jiajia is not the first person to think about marrying a robot. A team of engineers at the University of Science and Technology of China unveiled their creation last year. Led by Chen Xiaoping, the team created Jia Jia, the lifelike robot capable of holding complete conversations with humans. Her first words spoken in public caused people to proclaim her a “robotic goddess” and the future of women. When Xiaoping spoke to her, she replied, “Yes my lord, what can I do for you?”

Although there are no plans to mass-produce Jia Jia, scholars suggest robot partners will soon become a reality. According to Dr. David Levy, who specializes in the topic, the first government-sanctioned robot marriage will occur before 2050.  Indeed, such topics are gaining such a following, that there is an annual Love and Sex with Robots Conference that takes place in London.

Chief Femi fani-Kayode (l), and President Muhammadu Buhari (r).

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode says President Muhammadu Buhari might have passed away.

This is contained in snippets of his latest article he sent to DAILY POST Friday morning.

He said the seeming cover up by the presidency has made Nigerians​​uncomfortable and dared the government to release images of the president.

The former presidential spokesman said: “The Presidency has told us that Buhari has travelled out of the country yet no-one has seen pictures or footage of him going out of Nigeria or arriving in his preferred destination in a foreign land.

“Assuming that he really did travel out one wonders which country he was ferried to, whether he went there on his feet or on his back and whether he is presently on admission in a hospital or resides in a private or official residence.

“The Presidency claims that he is still alive and we sincerely hope that this is the case.

“Yet many have their doubts simply because it has been proved over and over again that the Federal Government are nothing but a nest of vipers and a brood of pernicious and pathological liars.

“Between the rulers and the ruled in Nigeria today there is no trust.

“Consequently we are under no obligation, given their compulsive and sociopathic affinity for mendacities and deceit, to believe anything that the Buhari admnistration or the Presidency tells us.

“The bottom line is this: if the President is dead, stop playing games, tell us the truth, bury him with dignity and let his soul rest in peace.

“If he is alive let us know exactly what has afflicted him, what his condition is, where he is, how he is doing and, most important of all, give us PROOF OF LIFE”, Fani-Kayode insisted.

The embattled Senator, representing Kogi West at the Senate, Sen. Dino Melaye.

The camp of Senator Dino Melaye, the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District is said to have been thrown into a state of shock as the process of his recall has been concluded. We leant that Sen. Melaye had considered the process, which began a couple of weeks back, a gross waste of time by those who initiated it, while accusing the State’s henchman, Gov. Yahaya Bello as being the mastermind of the plot.

According to sources, Dino had not given any importance to the process, believing it to go the usual “Nigerian way”. However, with its successful conclusion and subsequent submission of a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, demanding his recall from the Senate by his constituents at the Kogi West Senatorial District on Wednesday, June 21^st 2017, it has suddenly dawned on the Senator and his camp that indeed the recall process was real, and his political future may be uncertain.

A leader of the constituents, Cornelius Olowo, told the News Agency of Nigeria at the INEC headquarters, shortly after submitting the petition, that the electorate in Melaye’s constituency were resolved to recall him.

He said that the petition, which had signatures of more than 52 per cent of the electorate in the area, was submitted at the office of INEC Chairman.

Mr. Olowo said that the move to recall Malaye was based on his “abysmal performance’’ since he was elected to represent the district in 2015.

He accused the senator of distancing himself from his constituents, saying that the lawmaker’s performance was low.

“In the last two years, some senators have been meeting with their people quarterly. They update them on what has been happening and seek their contributions on issues and their aspirations to be presented at the senate.

“For the past two years, Senator Malaye has not organised one town hall meeting anywhere in Kogi West to meet with the people to present his scorecard or stewardship.

“He has been completely disconnected from the people. Since he won his election and the legal battle at the court, he is no longer reachable.

“He has no constituency office in Kogi West as we speak, as a way to reach him on matter of interests from the people that elected him,” Mr. Olowo said.

He said that the petition had signatures of registered voters in the senatorial district, who endorsed the recall.

“We have over 360,000 registered voters in Kogi West and after about one week of collection of signatures, we were able to gather over 188,500 signatures, endorsing the recall of the senator.

“We have submitted the petition at the office of INEC Chairman. It is now left for INEC to go and do confirmation of the signatures before going on the process needed for the recall,” he said.

On the allegation that the state governor, Yahaya Bello, was sponsoring the recall and that people fought over the money disbursed for the exercise, Mr. Olowo said it was untrue.

He said that the genuineness of the demand would be confirmed when INEC would visit the area for confirmation of the signatories.

He expressed optimism that INEC would do what was required of it over the petition.

The Director, Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, confirmed the receipt of the petition by the commission.

“Yes, such petition was submitted today (Wednesday),’’ he told NAN in a short message reply on telephone.

The Nigerian law requires 50 per cent of registered voters in an area to sign to recall a lawmaker.

Mr. Melaye has since condemned the move, saying it would fail and was being sponsored by Kogi Governor Yahya Bello.

About 188,588 voters, representing 52.3 per cent of the total number of registered voters in Kogi West senatorial district, have reportedly approved the recall of Dino Melaye from the Senate.

The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Political Affairs, Pius Kolawole, announced this on Monday in Lokoja while addressing party members from the district.

He said that the collation of signatures of voters to that effect was carried out successfully on June 17.

Mr. Kolawole commended voters in the district for turning out en masse for the exercise, saying that Section 69 of the 1999 constitution backed their action.

“In 2015, we voted for Dino and now we are using the same method to return him home,” he said.

Announcing the result of the collation, the Returning Officer, Adamu Yusuf said that 188,588 out of the 360,098 in the senatorial district endowed Melaye’s recall.

While giving the breakdown of the result per the seven local governments in the district, Mr. Yusuf said that 18,374 of the total number of 35,331 registered voters in Yagba East approved the recall.

Others are 9,186, out of 18,356 voters in Mopa-Muro local government; 24,703 out of 46,810 voters in Yagba West; 63,736 out of 116,296 in Lokoja Local Government; and 24,283 out of 46,819 in Ijumu Local Government.

In Kabba/Bunu Local Government, 28,277 out of 60,520 voters endorsed the recall, while 24,703 out of 46,810 voters in Kogi Local Government voted for move to recall Melaye.

NAN

49-year-old Lakshmi was sleeping on her veranda, when this tiny but hell of a scary creature entered her ear. Despite shining the torch and digging into her year, Lakshmi couldn’t know the reason behind the feeling.

The tingling then turned into excruciating pain, and she had to be rushed to the doctors. The doctors then were shocked to see a live spider crawling out of Lakshmi’s ear! Yes, a tiny monster which would’ve made Lakshmi deaf forever!

Doctors then poured a liquid medicine into Lakshmi’s ear, which forced the spidey to crawl out. They then filmed the entire process to give us nightmares.

Many people find spiders creepy, similar to people who have an aversion to spotting lizards. This video for them is what nightmares are made of!

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A suspected child thief, Chibueze Nwaozuzu, has been arrested by the Imo State Police Command for allegedly stealing a six-year-old girl and selling her for N200,000.

The victim, Chinecherem Anoruo, had been declared missing by the parents, who reported the case to the police.

In the course of investigation, it was discovered that Nwaozuzu allegedly stole the child and sold her to one Comfort Umunnakwe.

The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, said the command recovered N83,000 from Nwaozuzu, adding that the six-year-old had been reunited with the parents.

He said, “We received a report of a missing six-year-old child, Chinecherem Anoruo. During investigation, Nwaozuzu was arrested for his alleged involvement in the crime.

“The suspect made useful statements to the police. He stated that he stole the child and sold her to one Comfort Umunnakwe for N200,000. Comfort was arrested and the stolen child recovered. The sum of N83,000, being part of the proceeds of the sale of the child, was also recovered from Nwaozuzu.”

Ezike said aside the suspects, the command arrested 10 others for alleged kidnapping, 12 for armed robbery, two for cult activities, three for impersonation and five for theft.

He explained that five kidnapped victims were rescued by his men, who also recovered four vehicles, three tricycles, three AK-47 rifles, two American pistols, two locally-made pistols and some ammunition.

He said, “Following the kidnap of one Rev. Ochemba Chibuzo on his way back from his building site along Avu Layout, Port Harcourt Road by four armed men on March 29, 2017, some suspects were arrested by operatives of the command on April 1, 2017 for their involvement in the alleged kidnap. The victim was rescued unhurt. Investigation is ongoing and efforts are being made to apprehend two other fleeing members of the gang.

“Following the kidnap of one 33-year-old Chris Ohuruzor, and one ASP Christopher Obi, attached to the Orlu Police Division on March 26, 2017 by one of the most notorious kidnap kingpins, operatives of the command swung into action and trailed the suspect – Godstime Okorafor– to his hideout on Ogbosisi Owerri/Onitsha Road, Anambra State, where he was arrested. The suspect later died in the hospital.

“He, however, made useful statements to the police before his death, confessing to have carried out a series of kidnap within the state and its suburbs. The suspect also disclosed details of other members of his gang, who are still at large. Efforts are being made to track them.”

He said the command planned to put more policemen on the streets, adding that illegally deployed police aides would be withdrawn, while those working in offices would be reduced by 40 per cent.

Source: www.punchng.com

Beyonce.

The couple reportedly welcomed the two newest members to their family earlier this week, according to US Weekly. US Weekly also reported that the couple welcomed a boy and a girl.

The arrival of the little ones means five-year-old Blue Ivy is officially a big sister.

Bey surprised everyone with her pregnancy news back in February. On Instagram, the 35-year-old shared a photo of herself sitting in a bed of flowers and cradling her growing baby bump.

“We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. - The Carters,” she wrote in the caption.

Both Bey and Jay Z have always been vocal about their desire to have a big family. In 2013, just a year after Blue was born, the “Formation” singer told Mirror U.K., “Definitely I would like to have more children. Motherhood has changed everything. You see things a bit differently after you give birth and my biggest job now is to protect my child.”

Similarly, that same year, Jay Z revealed in a radio interview with Hot 97’s Angie Martinez that he wanted “a little basketball team” of children.

www.huffingtonpost.ca

The Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Mosque in Al Mushrif has been renamed ‘Mariam, Umm Eisa’ — Arabic for ‘Mary, the mother of Jesus’.

The decision to rename an Abu Dhabi mosque in honour of Mary, Mother of Jesus is testimony to what unites Christians and Muslims, a UAE minister has said.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, had renamed the mosque last Wednesday on the 19th day of Ramadan.

"It offers a message that we hope the followers of both faiths will take to heart, recognising that we share much in the way of common values and a common commitment to humanity," said Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, in an opinion article on International Catholic News, a British website.

The decision shows the country’s commitment to principles of religious tolerance and inter-faith dialogue, Sheikha Lubna wrote, according to Wam, the state news agency. The mosque is located next to Catholic, Anglican and Coptic Orthodox churches.

"Though we are a Muslim-majority country, we now have over 40 churches, catering to hundreds of thousands of believers of many different Christian denominations, along with Sikh and Hindu places of worship," Sheikha Lubna wrote.

"We take pride in that diversity, which encompasses the 200 or so nationalities that live in our country, and also in the evidence of our own ancient Christian heritage 1,400 years ago."

The choice of name is "of huge significance" as the Virgin Mary and Jesus, known in Arabic as Maryam and Issa, are not only at "the very heart" in Christianity, but also in Islam.

"At a time when there are those who seek to pit believers of one faith against the other, it is testimony to what unites us," Sheikha Lubna said.

"It offers a message that we hope the followers of both faiths will take to heart, recognising that we share much in the way of common values and a common commitment to humanity."

Source: www.thenational.ae

Aliko Dangote, President, Dangote Gorup.

The transport section of Dangote Cement Ibese Plant has intercepted one of the company’s truck loaded with contrabands in Ibadan, and handed the drivers over to the Nigeria Customs Service for proper investigation and possible prosecution.

The arrest of the drivers, according to Dangote Cement, was effected by a team of its security personnel led by the chief security officer, who acted on intelligence bordering on misconduct by some of the drivers.

While handing over the drivers and the motor boy to the Customs authority, Assistant General Manager in charge of security services, Dangote Cement Ibese Plant, Ali Garba, explained that the company had a surveillance section that monitors all the trucks and their drivers’ activities.

He said, “On June 7, 2017 at about 1820 hours, intelligence information received by Dangote senior drivers Ibese led to the interception of a Dantrans truck No. KMC 38 XR/ICT-13A-083 driven by a former and dismissed driver Ismaila Abubakar. The truck was loaded with frozen turkey allegedly loaded at Iyana Isolo, Lagos State and heading to Benin City, Edo State”

Garba added that while Nasiru H. Ahmed 284393 was the bona fide driver of truck KMC 38 XR/ICT-13A-083, preliminary investigation revealed that on June 2, he loaded 900 bags of cement for the Benin Depot.

He added, “At Kara Garage in Benin City, Nasiru H. Ahmed dropped from the vehicle and travelled to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State, leaving the truck in the care of his motor boys, Bilyaminu Abdullahi and Bashiru, with the dismissed driver, Ismaila Abubakar.”

“Unfortunately for the bona fide driver, Ismaila Abubakar drove the truck from Kara to the Benin Depot for offloading of the cement after removing the truck tracking system and left it in Benin City.

“Investigation revealed further that instead of driving straight to the plant, they decided to go to Iyana-Isolo in Lagos State to lift frozen turkey to Benin City at the cost of N350,000, out of which only N70,000 was paid as part-payment.”

www.punchng.com

A plane crash that killed 66 passengers could have been caused by the pilot charging his iPad incorrectly in the cockpit, reports say.

French authorities have ordered an investigation into whether the EgyptAir flight MS804 was brought down by a fire caused by overheating mobile devices.

It is believed CCTV footage shows the first officer had placed a tablet and bottle of perfume on an instrument panel close to where the blaze is believed to have started.

Mirror Online reports that the probe is set to focus on whether an Apple iPhone 6S and an iPad Mini 4 belonging to the first officer on board may have caught fire after being plugged into an incorrect socket.

The flight crashed into the Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19, 2016.

A source close to the investigation said: “Cockpit plugs are not made for toasters or coffee pots. They’re for professional use.

“At this stage, the combustion or self-combustion of a tablet in the cockpit is the working hypothesis.”

In a statement, Apple said there was no evidence to link its products to the disaster.

They said: “We haven’t been contacted by (Air Transport Gendarmerie) or any authority investigating this tragic event.

“We have not seen any report, but we understand there is no evidence to link this event to Apple products.

“If investigators have questions for us, we would, of course, assist in any way we can.”

The theory of the crash being caused by overheating mobile devices is contrary to the Egyptian authorities’ long-held belief that the jet was downed by a bomb placed on board at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Last December, an Egyptian investigative committee claimed it had found traces of explosives on the victims’ remains.

But last month, a source revealed that ‘no explosive charges’ aboard the plane and ‘no traces of powder were found.’

Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation and Nyesom Wike, the Rivers State Gov.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday verbally attacked his successor, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, and threatened to expose the governor’s wife “if he (Wike) does not shut up his mouth.”

Amaechi, who was visibly angry at the allegation levelled against his wife by the Rivers governor, also described his successor as a thug who could hardly speak good English.

On Monday, Wike alleged that each commissioner and local government chairman in Rivers State paid the erstwhile governor’s wife, Judith, N3m and N2m monthly, respectively.

But when asked to react to this while speaking on the sidelines of an inspection programme at the Kaduna Dry Port, Amaechi replied, “By accident of Goodluck Jonathan, I don’t want to attribute it to God, but by the accident of Jonathan, the man takes office and talks rubbish. My wife and family, including my younger brothers and sisters, no one had access to government when I was governor.

“Even as minister, nobody will have such because it is not a family business. It is government business. But the problem with Nyesom Wike, and I want you to state this if he doesn’t shut up his mouth and do his work I will bring his wife to the focus. You see I’ve been very matured not to talk about his wife.

“But if Wike does not close his mouth and talk about my wife anymore, I will bring out his wife. My wife will never do such, we don’t do family business. I care about transparency. My wife is a trader. She buys and sells and Wike knows that.”

When asked why he was also accused of squandering over N30bn belonging to Rivers State, Amaechi said, “And you believe that? The man who says he has about $50m in Lagos and could no prove it is the same man you believe. The man who said I didn’t pay salaries until I left office and now he is saying no, it is pensioners that I didn’t pay. Do you believe such a man?

“Do you think such a man is well? You believe Nyesom Wike is well? First, he doesn’t know how to speak English, he is poorly dressed, he is a thug, and you bring me to focus with that kind of a man?”

On the decision of the Rivers government to handle some of the issues levelled against him in court, the transportation minister declared that his team was not given fair hearing by the panel set up in the state.

Amaechi said, “Which court, okay let him go to court. He has no fact and he maligns people’s character. The process is that you set up a tribunal, but we’ve questioned the tribunal, we were not given a fair hearing.

“Again, how do you know how the court came to its decision? We were not even informed. There is a panel of justices in Rivers State, which is the Court of Appeal. But by the time we knew it, they took away that matter from them and gave it to a panel that came from Adamawa.”

 www.punchng.com

Fiona Onasanya

Fiona Oluyinka Onasanya is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough since 2017.

Onasanya is a solicitor at DC Law in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. She was a Labour Cambridgeshire County Councillor for King's Hedges in Cambridge and deputy leader of the Labour group on the council.

Kate Osamor

Kate Ofunne Osamor (born 15 August 1968) is a British Labour Co-operative politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edmonton since May 2015. In June 2016, she was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

Kate Osamor was born to Nigerian parents in 1968 and grew up in Haringey. Her mother Martha Osamor, who came to Britain when she was young, was a political activist and a member of the Black Sections in the Labour party in the 1980s. Osamor was educated at Creighton comprehensive school and read Third World Studies at the University of East London.  After graduating, she worked for The Big Issue, a magazine sold by the homeless. She then worked for 15 years in the NHS, and was a GP practice manager before becoming an MP.

Chuka Umunna 

Chuka Harrison Umunna (born 17 October 1978) is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham since 2010 and was Shadow Business Secretary from 2011 to 2015.

Umunna was born in London, England. His father Bennett, of the Nigerian Igbo ethnic group, died in a road accident in Nigeria in 1992. Umunna's mother, Patricia Milmo, a solicitor, is of English-Irish background. Umunna's maternal grandparents were Joan Frances (Morley) and Sir helenus Milmo QC, a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. He is married to Alice Sullivan, an employment lawyer.

Bim Afolami

Bim Afolami is a Conservative politician who is the Member of Parliament for Hitchin and Harpenden constituency since winning the seat in the 2017 general election. Afolami comes from Crowthorne, Berkshire. His father is a Nigerian consultant doctor in the NHS, who came to the UK in his early twenties. He was educated at Bishopsgate School, Eton College and University College, Oxford where he studied modern history, was vice president of the Oxford Union Society and played football for the university.

Before he became an MP, he worked as a corporate lawyer at Freshfields and Simpson Thacher and Bartlett and then as a senior executive at HSBC.

Helen Grant

Helen Grant (born 28 September 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald since 2010, when she succeeded Ann Widdecombe.

Grant was the first black woman to be elected as a Conservative MP, having also been the first black woman to be selected as a candidate to stand for a Conservative-held parliamentary seat. She first served in government as jointly Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities (from 2012 to 2015) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (2012 to 2013). She also became Minister for Sport and Tourism in 2013, a post she held until after the 2015 general election.

Chi Onwurah

Chinyelu Susan "Chi" Onwurah (born 12 April 1965) is a British Labour Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, succeeding the previous Labour MP Jim Cousins, who had decided to step down after 23 years. She is Newcastle's first black MP. She is the current Shadow Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills, as well as Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, having been appointed to both posts in September 2015.

During the depression of the 1930s, Onwurah’s maternal grandfather was a sheet metal worker in Tyneside shipyards. Her mother grew up in poverty in Garth Heads on Newcastle’s quayside. Her father, from Nigeria, was working as a dentist while he studied at Newcastle University Medical School when they met and married in the 1950s.

After Onwurah was born in Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1965, her family moved to Awka, Nigeria, while she was still a baby. Just two years later the Biafra War broke out, bringing famine with it, forcing her mother to bring the children back to Newcastle, while her father stayed on in the Biafran army.

Onwurah graduated from Imperial College London in 1987 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. She worked in hardware and software development, product management, market development and strategy for a variety of mainly private sector companies in a number of different countries – Britain, France, US, Nigeria and Denmark while studying for an MBA at Manchester Business School.

Kemi Badenoch 

Kemi Badenoch MP (née Adegoke; born 1980) is a British Conservative politician who is the current Member of Parliament for Saffron Walden She has previously served as a London-wide member of the London Assembly following the resignation of Victoria Borwick upon her election to the House of Commons in the 2015 general election.

Badenoch was born in Wimbledon, London, England. Her childhood included time living in the United States and Lagos, Nigeria. She studied engineering at University of Sussex and law at the Birkbeck, University of London. Badenoch then pursued a career in consultancy and financial services. Badenoch was an associate director of private bank and wealth manager Coutts and was also a director at the centre-right magazine The Spectator.