BBM for Android & iPhone clocks up 20 million downloads

BlackBerry has revealed it has ditched the waiting lists for its BBM app for Android and iOS. Previously, users who wanted to use the app had to join a waiting list to be registered, but now it's a straightforward procedure. "Users can now immediately download, sign in and start using BBM without having to wait," said BlackBerry, in a press statement. BBM for Android and iOS hits 20 million user mark Drumroll please. This is the big one. BBM for iPhone and Android has hit a whopping 20 million new users (yes, we did just write 20 million) in its first week. Blackberry (or as it is now calling itself,#teamBlackberry) says it's "thrilled". In a blog post BlackBerry said, "Clearly, the momentum of BBM for BlackBerry, Android and iPhone continues to grow and while we are excited by the download numbers we saw this week, downloads do not speak to the way people interact with each other using BBM and we will now focus on active use of BBM – the connections being made and the conversations in which our BBM community engages." Congrats, BlackBerry. Get ready for BBM voice and video calls Ten million people have downloaded it already - and there’s more to come from BBM for iPhone and Android. Andrew Bocking, executive VP of BBM for Blackberry said yesterday that those with the app should be able to make voice and video calls within months. While Bocking has said that the app will always be free, the company are looking to monetise it, Phonearena notes. That means BBM channels, which Bocking calls a “social engagement platform within BBM” with targeted ads for users. As for BBM itself? “We continue to plan to evolve the service and keep making it more engaging and have more reasons why people will come back to use the service”, Bocking says. BBM for Android and iPhone nets over 10 million downloads on day one of release BlackBerry has revealed than in the first 24 hours since it launched BBM for Andorid and iPhone it has been downloaded more than 10 million times, in what the company describes as "one of the best single-day openings for a mobile app to date ." BBM achieved number one app status in the UK, US, Canada, Indonesia and "most of the Middle East," according to a BlackBerry statement. It also gained "overwhelmingly positive" user ratings on both Apple's App Store and Google Play with 60,000 five star reviews on Google Play. Andrew Bocking, BlackBerry's executive vice president of BBM, said, "This has been an incredible launch for BBM across Android and iPhone devices. The mobile messaging market is full of opportunity for BBM. We intend to be the leading private social network for everyone who needs the immediate communication and collaboration of instant messaging combined with the privacy, control and reliability delivered through BBM." He added: "While we’re excited to bring BBM to iPhone and Android – we aren’t stopping there. Work isn’t slowing down at all. We committed to delivering a BBM experience on iPhone and Android that was equal to that on BlackBerry 10. That means bringing BBM Video, BBM Voice and BBM Channels to Android and iPhone customers too. "My team is still committed to bringing those features to BBM on Android and iPhone in the near future. And we’re not stopping there – we have some great new features planned that will build on BBM as the private social network you count on for immediate conversations you can control and trust."

Tchidi Chikere moves in with Nuella Njubigbo as ex-wife finds love again

According to a new report by City People magazine this week, actress Nuella Njubigbo & Nollywood movie producer Tchidi Chikere have moved in together. Nuella, who has been dating Tchidi since before he divorced his actress wife Sophia Chikere, moved out of her Okota family home and moved into a new house with Tchidi at Graceland Estate in Ajah. The couple reportedly moved in together a few months ago and are still decorating their new home. After reading this report I contacted Nuella's people to confirm the story and they said they have no comment on the matter. Nuella is known to vehemently deny reports if not true, she ain't denying this. Meanwhile, Tchidi's ex-wife Sophia Chikere has also moved on. The mother-of-three is currently dating a UK based businessman. See their loved up pics after the cut...

BMW Scandal: Coscharis gave N112M kick back to aviation Minister

According to new reports by Sahara Reporters, the car company that sold the two BMW armored cars to NCAA, gave N112million to aviation minister Stella Oduah as kickbacks. (Kickback is a form of negotiated bribery in which a commission is paid to the bribe-taker for services rendered)

From Sahara Reporters

Even as the minister of aviation began a new spin today that the BMW armored cars purchased by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for her use were done on "hire-purchase", SaharaReporters has unearthed new details about the $1.6 million spent by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to purchase the armored BMW cars for Nigeria's Aviation Minister Stella Oduah.

A highly reliable source has told SaharaReporters that the shady deal for the car was done entirely between Coscharis Motors Limited, a dealership from which the cars were purchased, one of Ms. Oduah’s private firms based in Abuja, and First Bank of Nigeria.

“The NCAA was not even aware of the deal until the minister told them to sign that they had received two BMW cars,” said our source.

After inking the deal, Coscharis Motors, sellers of the highly inflated automobiles, reportedly gave the Aviation Minister more than N112 million as kickbacks. Our source added that Cosmas Maduka, who owns Coscharis Motors, pocked N60 million for each of the two BMW cars.

An official at the NCAA corroborated the information that the agency was largely kept in the dark about the transaction. “We were never privy to the transaction and had not seen the cars even though our head of transport was made to sign the delivery note,” said the source. The agency is under the Ministry of Aviation.

The source added that the agency has still not seen the cars even after the scandal escalated.

SaharaReporters was first to break the news that Ms. Oduah compelled a cash-strapped NCAA to pay for two extravagantly priced bullet-proof BMWs f

or her personal use. After initially denying our reports, the minister’s spokesman, Joe Obi, admitted that the transaction transpired. Mr. Obi alleged that the purchase was justified because of unspecified threats to the minister’s life. Neither Mr. Obi nor the minister has provided proof of any threats to Ms. Oduah. The minister has not addressed why the NCAA paid a price tag that auto dealers in the US and the UK described as a rip-off. US dealers said that each of the BMW cars should cost no more than $$167,000.

Last week, an official of the NCAA, Fola Akinkuotu, spoke to the media and defended the purchase of the cars. Mr. Akinkuotu said the cars were for the ministry’s protocol pool for use in transporting foreign aviation dignitaries when they visit Nigeria. His explanation conflicted with the original statement by the minister’s spokesman, Mr. Obi. A source at the NCAA disclosed that Mr. Akinkuotu felt tricked into facing the media on the scandal. “He had been told he would only appear beside the embattled minister, who was supposed to speak. Instead, he was asked to speak,” said the source.
Meanwhile, a source at the Presidency said President Goodluck Jonathan was unfazed about the fraud perpetrated by Ms. Stella Oduah, his Aviation Minister. Ms. Oduah and the late former National Security Advisor, General Owoye Azazi, had played significant roles in raising and disbursing money to rig the 2011 presidential elections for Mr. Jonathan.  Mr. Jonathan will depart Abuja tomorrow on a weeklong pilgrimage to Israel.

However, SaharaReporters learnt that several ministers and diplomats have registered their displeasure at Mr. Jonathan’s continued retention of Ms. Oduah on his cabinet.