Rihanna and Drake get steamy, spotted nuzzling at Miami club amid claims they've been dating 'since January'

Rihanna and Drake might not have kissed on stage at the MTV VMAs on Sunday, but they didn't hold back on Tuesday night as they partied in Miami.
The Diamonds singer looked very close as she hungout with the rapper at E11EVEN nightclub following his show in the city.
In a video taken by fellow club-goer Rihanna, wearing a white shirt dress, can be seen standing slightly in front of her rumoured boyfriend, who can be seen whispering in her ear and kissing her on the cheek.
Looking smitten as he lavishes attention on her, RiRi can be seen holding his head tenderly and smiling as he gets close and despite appearing to be with a large group of friends, they only have eyes for each other.
The pair were spotted holding hands as they arrived at the club - could we need any confirmation they're officially an item?
Earlier in the night Rihanna was spotted watching the Canadian rapper perform, dancing along with his tracks and posing with fans.
While they've been inseparable since Drake's gushing speech at the MTV VMAs, where he claimed to be in love with the Bajan beauty, according to TMZ they've been an item for much longer.

Sources reportedly told the site they've actually been quietly dating since January this year, right around the time they shot the steamy video for latest collaboration Work.
Then came that VERY sexy performance at this year's BRIT Awards and countless other times the pair have popped up together.
According to the website, this hasn't been a coincidence, the pair have been finding ways to see each other as much as possible while they were touring.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the insider said Drake and Rihanna were "definitely a couple," explaining: "They are fully dating.
“No one really knows how long they have been 'official,' they just decided to let it become a thing instead of hiding it from everyone. They're happy."
At the VMAs afterparty the pair were reportedly stuck to each other, and the Hotline Bling hitmaker was couldn't take his eyes off his love.
The source said: "They walked in together and never left each other's side all night. He was so attentive to her. His eyes were never off her.
"They were necking a lot. They would hug and he would kiss into her neck."
There have been rumours that the pair have been dating for sometime and Drake even paid for a huge billboard to congratulate RiRi on her award at the VMAs.
Presenting the Work hitmaker with the Michael Jackson gong, he said of the brunette beauty: "She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old.
"She's one of my best friends in the world. All my adult life, I've looked up to her, even though she's younger than me.
"She's a living, breathing legend in our industry, ladies and gentleman, the recipient of the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award for 2016, Rihanna
RELATED : DRAKE , RIHANNA

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At this year's BRIT Awards
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The couple got close on stage

History of Rihanna and Drake's relationship as the One Dance rapper declares his love at MTV VMAs
They enjoyed date night Monday
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Drake admitted he was in love with the singer
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Rihanna and Drake work up a sweat as they dance the night away after his declaration of love
At the MTV VMAs
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The rapper presented Drake with her moonman
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At the MTV VMAs afterparty
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The couple were inseparable
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Rihanna and Drake are 'officially dating' after he declared his love for her at the VMAs
It's been reported they've been an item since January
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Rihanna and Drake work up a sweat as they dance the night away after his declaration of love
Drake ridiculed on Twitter after Rihanna 'curves' kiss after MTV speech where he declared his love
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No Kissing Baby

Nigeria meets Ghana on yet another certified banger titled “No Kissing
Baby” by Nigerian superfine reggae/dance-hall artiste, Patoranking
featuring highly revered Ghanaian rapper, Sarkodie.

“No Kissing Baby” was produced by prolific hit-maker, Gospelondebeatz
and is said to be off Pato’s soon to be released album.

Enjoy this!

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why should we have sex [crazy reasons]

Sex, since the history of man or human evolution has gone through several changes, even in
terms of definition and form and the individuals engaging in it. Once
upon a time, sex was thought to be primarily for reproductive reasons,
then for the relief of sexual tension and later, for the sexual
pleasure. Right from the explosive documentation of the Kama Sutra,
various studies and experiences have been carried out by persons and
institutions to unravel the mystery of human sexology and why, besides
procreation, sex is important to mortal men and women.

Incest-cartoonFrom the researches of Alfred Kinsey who is regarded as
the father of sexology in the 40s and 50s to Masters and Johnson’s
famous researches on orgasms of the 60s and 70s, sex has become a
subject of great interest to all.

Now, a research conducted by psychologists Cindy Meston and David Buss
on why women have sex which is published in the Archives of Sexual
Behaviour, the duo in their new book of the same title, have listed 237
reasons why women have sex with their partners.

Ranging from the mundane desires to experience physical pleasure; to the
 vengeful intentions of getting back at a cheating partner, the
spiritual attempt to get closer to God, or the altruistic gesture of
wanting a partner to feel good about themselves, Meston and Buss
concluded that the motives for engaging in sexual intercourse may be
larger in number than what most people think and psychologically complex
 in nature too.

Some of the reasons listed are quite glaring and practiced across
societies and persons at various times, regardless of their marital
status too. In fact, marital sex as well as long term relationships tend
 to be more complex than those in newer or non-commitment relationships.
 Just as a married woman may have a legion of reasons for not wanting to
 have sex, she just might have another gazillion on why she must have
sex.

The most important and common reason being “duty sex”. Once married, it
is assumed that providing sexual pleasure to her partner is a given. She
 must fulfill her own side of the bargain to keep the union. To some
other women, it is the price for the status and benefits. In this case,
it has nothing to do with her own sexual pleasures or preference and
more about submission, ditto the man. Many women also believe that the
more sex they have with their partners, the less chances he is likely to
 stray.

Women assume that the more sex he gets with them, the less chances he is
 likely to think about sex outside the box, much less look for it. While
 good communication channel and a strong sexual connection may have been
 identified as important keys to a good relationship, hardly has having
sex with a partner on demand been known to keep a person from straying
into the thighs of another individual. Some women also believe that sex
and children are the perfect ways to keep their men.

Women dubiously believe that the more children and responsibility they
throw at their husbands, the less likely they are to walk away from
them. So, where they have agreed on two children, these women, on their
own volition, manipulate or “accidentally” go on to have more children.
This hardly works in some cases. You can only keep a man down for as
long as he wants to stay down. I intend to write more about this complex
 situation in subsequent editions. Let’s just go through some reasons I
found quite interesting in this book which I have practical examples
for:

Pity sex: Women may sometimes give in to sex for this simple reason,
after all, we are women with maternal instincts. Some of the women in
the book confessed to have had sex with men just because they felt sorry
 for them. According to one, she had been dating a guy over two years
and he had been pleading with her all through. One day, she said she
took pity on him and agreed. However, he was out of the door as soon as
he could pull his pants up. A similar scenario happened to one of the
young girls I counsel.

She’d been dating the guy for quite some time, and though she’d told him
 she was no virgin, she’d however decided to go celibate until she was
married. The guy had gone on to systematically work on her emotions and
soon, broke her down. She said the day she agreed to have sex with him,
he had prostrated flat on his stomach, swearing heaven on earth. What
kind of desperation is that? However, what happened after the act,
almost robbed her of her education as she did not want to return to
school.

She said immediately it was over, he jumped up and punched the air with
his fist, asking if that was all that she had to offer and that he’d had
 better lays. He went on to tell her that he had only been acting out a
script and never loved her. In fact, he and a couple of guys already
placed a bet on her and though she had tried, he had won eventually. To
make matters worse, he had ordered her out of his room.

She said she ran away from school and several days was even scared to
pick her calls or check the social media as she feared that he had
recorded their activities and might post it on the internet. Eventually,
 he had come to apologise but the damage had already been done. Sex for
pity’s sake almost always turn out to leave a sour taste in the mouth as
 you can never be sure of the other person’s motives.

Have sex because you want to and not because you feel pressured to, or
are sorry for the guy. That way, should things go sour, you can hold
your head up, look the a- – in the eye and say “f..k off, you fall me, I
 fall you, no big deal!” Marriage sex: This is very different from
marital sex. This is simply sex to negotiate for marriage. Some ladies
believe that having sex with a guy will provide them the opportunity to
show the guys and convince them that they are good and suitable for each
 other.

To add insult to injury, some of these ladies are prepared to play
little housewife roles, they go over to the guy’s apartments for chores
and even wash their dirty under wears and clothes. Some even cook with
their own money to convince the guys that they can support the union
financially too. My little sister gave me a gist about one of her
friends who played house help for someone she called her fiancé for
almost four years, refusing to heed everyone’s warning.

As suspected, her generosity and selfless acts did not succeed at the
negotiation table as the guy sprung the most unexpected surprise. He
married the daughter of his neighbour and co-tenant, the little girl
that had been calling his fiancée “aunty” and often came to the
apartment to play with her when the guy was not around! My bet is that
she had even run errands between the lovers and had benefited from the
older lady’s generosity too. Eventually, they both betrayed her, her
goodness did not help, neither her assumed sexual prowess.

Trade by barter sex: Just as the phrase imply, this is when you use what
 you have to get what you want. The first thing that comes to mind here
is prostitution, that age old trade of using the body for financial
benefits. The activities of the prostitution ricampus-sex111ng are a
multimillion dollar investment worldwide with tentacles in drugs,
violent crimes, human trafficking and many other vices.

Interestingly, the average prostitute in many climes no longer enjoys
the liberty of dealing her wares as a one man (sorry, woman) enterprise
or sole trader to any interested client today.

To carry on business as usual, she needs protection and this she invests
 in with the proceeds from her business as well as sex. Again, a drug
addict or junkie will exchange sex for drugs naturally and when caught
in a tight corner, many women have been known to exchange sex for their
freedom.

Negotiation sex: If the above seem rather on the dark side, let’s bring
it down to base. Many things have been written about the power of the
female anatomy. I mean, bottom power! Many men, both high and lowly have
 been known to succumb to the aura of this potent natural endowment.
Many women have perfected the art of using their gifts from mother
nature to get what they want through intense manipulation and
negotiation. Sex is thus used by women to curry favour, to get jobs,
promotions, or even maintain status as the case might be.

A friend once told me the trick she uses to get anything she wants from
her boyfriend. According to her, he is one of those shy types who can
hardly express his thoughts or views on issues, let alone approach
women. So, he considers himself very lucky to have found her and perhaps
 cannot trade the opportunity of the occasional sex for anything. (not
yet, at least).

So, for her, most times, She engages in sex to get him to do stuff for
her. Her crude method even involves stopping in the middle of the act to
 get him to agree to her demand. And the poor thing just crumbles like a
 pack of cards.

Revenge sex: This is common with women who have been hurt and who want
to get their pound of flesh. Often, a wife might cheat on her cheating
husband just to get back at him and probably make him feel the way she
felt. It could also be to get back at a partner who has neglected them.
Again, she might have sex to reassure herself that she is still pretty
and desirable by men after she’d been jilted by one, or to simply walk
out of an existing relationship.

Revenge sex may sometimes take a bizarre twist, depending on motive and
individual. While working on my book, Youth, Sex and Wellbeing, I spoke
with a lady who confessed to having slept with a boyfriend she was no
longer interested in and infected him with a STI. According to her,
she’d gone to visit on his insistence, thinking that she would seize the
 opportunity to inform him of her slight indisposition. But to her
annoyance, she caught him escorting another girl off.

And though she’d always known she was not his only partner, seeing him
that day was just too much and she made up her mind to teach him a
lesson. A couple of years back, a National Newspaper published the self
confession of a university undergraduate who at the brink of death,
afflicted with full blown AIDS, claimed she’d purposely passed on the
HIV virus to over 400 men. Her grouse was not with these men but the man
 who’d given her the virus and she wanted to take her revenge out on the
 world.

If the men thought she was an easy lay at the time, they definitely
would have a change of heart after reading her confession! Cindy Meston
and David Buss, aptly summarised the various motives in these words.
“Every person brings their own individual history to any sexual
situation. The reasons why they are having sex, the way they feel about
the sex and the consequences of having sex are all very different across
 individuals no matter what gender they happen to be”. And that includes

Why we kept mum’s corpse in wardrobe for 10 years – Satguru Maharaj Ji devotees

The embalment of the remains of a 78-year-old Madam Lucy Osigwe by one of her children, Dr.
Chimezie Osigwe, a devotee of the founder of One Love Family, Satguru
Maharaj Ji, since 2003,  continues to generate  ripples. The incident
has launched the serene town of Ejemekuru, Imo State into public
discourse. The allegation against Dr. Osigwe,  currently in police
detention, is that he used the remains of his mother for ritual and that
 two other members of the family had also been used.

To get to the root of the matter, Sunday Vanguard visited the Ashram
(place of worship) of Guru Maharaj Ji on km 10, Lagos – Ibadan
expressway.

One knotty part of the incident is that the two persons, Mrs. Ogechi
Osigwe and Dorothy Osigwe,  alleged to have been used by Dr. Osigwe for
ritual, are alive. Another  is the  account of the episode by Mrs.
Ogechi Osigwe. She took exception to the detention and allegation
against her elder brother, Dr. Osigwe, that he used the remains of their
 mother for ritual.

With teary eyes and emotion-laden voice, she pleaded with the Inspector
General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, to ensure immediate release of
 her brother who she said was being punished for carrying out the
instruction of their late mother who died in 2003, but the corpse found
in a wardrobe in the son’s house in May, 2013.
Guru-maraji
*Satguru Maharaj Ji

While explaining the shady areas in the incident, Satguru Mahraj Ji
condemned the action taken by the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Mohammed Katsina, alleging that “he betrayed the trust reposed in him as
 the number two security officer of the state”.

He said that contrary to the claim of the state police boss that two of
the daughters of the Osigwes were missing, the two women were with him
and that the police boss was at liberty to question them if he so
wished.

Devotee’s mission

Guru Maharaj Ji, who did not deny Dr. Osigwe, gave a vivid account of
how the devotee came to him.

He said, “His search for the truth brought him to the lotus feet of
Maharaj Ji. After taking steps to try and test Maharaj Ji in his way, he
 got answers to all nagging questions bogging his life. Based on his
personal conviction on who Maharaj Ji is, he decided to queue for my
knowledge. On August, 5, 1989, divine knowledge was revealed to him at
my mission at Owerri, Imo State”.

He also confirmed that Dr. Osigwe later brought five other members of
his family. Among them were his mother, the late Madam Lucy Osigwe, and
her sister, Dorothy. According to him, both of them had mental
challenges and he healed them.

He also mentioned one Ikechinachi as one of those brought to him for
healing. Maharaji claimed that Ikechinachi, who was studying Mathematics
 in the US, was brought to him by Dr. Osigwe for healing and Ikechinachi
 thereafter in 2001 left for home after being healed.

He added that one Chibuzor, who allegedly  brought in the police to this
 matter which he described as “purely private matter of the Osigwes”,
was equally brought for divine knowledge which he claimed he got.
Maharaj Ji warned that the Imo CP should “beware of his current campaign
 of calumny against the holy name of Satguru Maharaj Ji that never
fails”.

Guru Maharaj Ji wondered why he has been a subject of attack since 1986
in the course of which he said his character had been assassinated.

One of the two persons allegedly declared missing by the Imo CP, Mrs.
Ogechi Osigwe,  narrated what killed her mother and why Dr. Osigwe
embalmed her remains. She said the embalmment of the corpse was a
collective agreement of members of the family.

What killed Madam

Lucy Osigwe?

“The exploration of oil by one company in the area led to the cracking
of most houses in Ejemekuru. Some part of our house split due to
vibration of the equipment used by the oil company. My mother was going
to the toilet one day when the broken wall  fell and hit her on the
head. We treated her for some time and eventually she died. Then my
brother took the case up with the oil company to pay compensation for
the death of our mother”, she said. The interview continued:

Why did Dr. Osigwe keep the embalmed corpse in his room

Before the death of my mother, she instructed Dr. Osigwe to ensure that
the first child who is a professor in the US must see her corpse before
burial.

Detractors and mischief makers are trying to capitalize on this incident
 to deceive the general public that my elder brother, Chief Chimezie
Osigwe, used our mother for ritual. Besides, they want to use the
opportunity to smear the personality of Satguru Maharaj Ji and his
mission and create the impression that he is one of the accomplices to
the presumed ritual acts.

When our mother died, Dr. Osigwe, being the third child in the family,
informed all the members of the Osigwe family that mama was dead. Owing
to the strained relationship between him and the rest of the family
members and due to the fact that they had vehemently opposed his
decision to be a devotee of Satguru Maharaj Ji, our most senior
brothers, who are in the US, came out, point blank, to say they would
never have anything to do with the death of our mother.

They said since Dr. Osigwe bluntly refused to heed their advice to
denounce his membership of Satguru Maharaj Ji, which they erroneously
believed is a cult organization, it is left for him to do whatever he
liked with the corpse of our mother.

In the tradition of the Igbo, being a third child, it is not quite
proper for him to proceed to announce publicly the death of mama without
 agreeing with the elder brothers; hence, he decided to embalm the body
until a time they would come home to see her body intact, so that nobody
 would accuse him of having used any part of the body for ritual.
Besides, Dr. Osigwe was a school teacher then and he did not have the
amount of money that could be needed to give our mother a befitting
burial.

Police aware of the embalmment

My brother, Dr. Osigwe, then went to Oguta Divisional Police Station to
make his case known to them with the assurance that, if, on the long
run, his elder brothers refused to come back, he could use the money he
would get from the case he had with Chevron Oil company to bury mama
because the case favoured him. He agreed with the police that the corpse
 of our mother should be given a long pending the time the case will be
over.

He equally agreed with the police that since the date of the burial was
uncertain, it would be advisable to embalm the body in the house to
avoid a situation where the mortuary officials may decide to  dispose of
 the corpse if the body over-stayed. The body was finally embalmed in
the house with the knowledge of the police and a medical doctor.

Police  inspect embalmed corpse

As Chevron case dragged much more than expected, he tried to borrow
money to do the burial  ceremony. All those he contacted refused to help
 because he was a devotee of Maharaj Ji. He became a regular caller at
the police station to keep them abreast of the fact that the corpse was
yet to be buried. The police, from time to time, visited the house to
inspect the body.

By last year, 2012, the Chevron case ended in his favour and he went
back to the police station to inform them. On arrival, he was informed
that the two police officers handling the matter had been posted to Aba
in Abia State. He traced them and broke the news of the case he won. The
 police officers assured him that whenever he was ready, should inform
them because they would surely witness the burial ceremony.

It was in the process of trying to have access to the money that some
members of the Ejemekuru community, who are sworn enemies of Chief
Osigwe; used one of the family members who happens to be the son of my
immediate elder brother, who was always antagonizing Chief Osigwe for
being a lover of Maharaj Ji, to forcefully break into the house and
invited the police for their so-called expose.

To prove that the corpse was not used for ritual, no part of the body of
 late Madam Lucy Osigwe, my mother, was removed or dismembered. Police
should examine the body and see if any part was removed. The body is
intact.

When asked if the detained Dr. Osigwe had any document issued by the
police that approved that he should embalm the corpse and keep it at
home when there are hospitals in the area, she said there was a document
 which showed that the police approved of the action.

Those who kill innocent people and then shout ‘Allah is Great’ are deranged – says the president [Buhari]

President Muhammadu
Buhari has described Boko Haram, its adherents and other Islamic
deviants who kill the innocent and shout ‘God (Allah) is great’, as
mentally unbalanced people saying ‘it is either they do not know the
meaning of those words or they are simply deranged’.

Noting that these enemies (Boko Haram) are essentially an insane
nuisance because they revel in cowardly attacks’, Buhari said, “There
must be an understanding that the war against terrorism is the most
unconventional one. They (terrorists) do not respect any rules of
engagement; kill the defenseless including prisoners, use children and
humans, girls and consider the killing of anyone at all at a victory.

Speaking through Vice President Yemi Osibajo at the launch of the
revised National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST), in Abuja, Buhari
said, “Therefore as we think through our strategy we must remember that
to permanently win the physical battle, we must win the battle of the
minds of even the most impressionable young men who sign up to join Boko
 Haram and other violent extremist groups.

“We must understand that terrorism is essentially a psychological
warfare and as such is psychologically sophisticated and we must educate
 the youth through the leadership of our faith that neither Islam nor
any other religion that we know endorses the slaughter of anyone.

Continuing Buhari said, “In the past few years our nation faced the
threat of terrorism characterized by mindless killing of our people
including children.

“The massacre of the Buni Yadi boys in their hostels’ at night; the
bombing of churches, mosque and market places, the kidnap of the Chibok
girls and many others. The sheer recklessness of the killings, the
shootings and the executions were meant to terrorize and produce maximum
 fear.

“To further establish the reign of terror in the territory and the
terrorists hoisted their terror flags in almost 27 local governments in
the north east.

“Sadly because of the disgraceful deed and the wickedness of some in
governance and some in high office in the armed forces at the time,
funds meant to equip soldiers to continue the fight against terror was
embezzled.

“The incredible selfishness caused the nation thousands of lives,
extended the reign of terror and strengthened the enemy.

“Since May 29, 2015, we have committed ourselves as a government to the
absolute defeat of the terrorists and to quicken and emboldened the
morale of our armed forces. But like evil, the vestiges of the
activities and the warped ideologies still linger.

“Through personal contacts, social media, capture, and intimidation,
men, women and even children are induced, persuaded or forced to engage
in acts of terrorism.

“We must work hard to provide opportunity to educate these young men and
 women who for years have lacked education and the mere chance of doing
well.

“Our social investment programmes are designed to create real
opportunities for our young people.

“Today as many as are begin released from captivity, we are faced with
serious problem of malnutrition, I have asked the Vice President to
chair an inter-ministerial team to quickly review the challenges and
work with our development partners and other CSOs to handle this
particular problem.

“Every single Nigerian is a priority, this is why I have repeatedly
ordered our law enforcement agents to ensure that the perpetrators of
violence in any shape or form are arrested and made to face the law.

“The activities of armed herdsmen, kidnappers and criminal militants all
 threaten our security and the sovereignty of our nation. We will not
allow anyone under any guise whether it is politics, culture or religion
 to violate the physical persons, lives or property of other citizens.
This is the oath to which I swore and I will uphold it at all cost.

“Achieving success in combating terrorism is contingent on a
well-articulated strategy and effective counter terrorism coordination
with all stakeholders and must be devoid of inter-agency rivalry.

“In this regard, MDAs must henceforth adhere to their respective roles
as stipulated in the statute and complimentary document.

“This is why a robust and counter terrorism strategy is crucial in fight
 against terrorism and must be constantly reviewed for relevance to
contemporary challenges.

“Today, we are gathered to launch such a policy, the reviewed
counter-terrorism strategy. That it is a revised strategy underscores
the fact that it recognizes that terrorism has numerous ideologies; is
not static and our response must be dynamic and versatile.

“I wish to confirm that this policy is fit for purpose to adequately
respond to the current, eminent and future challenges.

Earlier, National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd)
 said the revised counter terrorism strategy (NACTEST) was aimed not
only at defeating terrorism but at curtailing its growth in the country.

He said, “Following the Presidential directive to review the National
Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) for immediate implementation, the
Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), with the active
collaboration of all stakeholders convened a Working Group of Experts to
 re-articulate the roles of MDAs as tasked in the Strategy.

“In so doing, we were guided by the fact that the ability of a nation to
 effectively respond to acts of terrorism depends on its capacity to be
several steps ahead of the terrorist. To do this is not as simple as it
sounds.

“However, by putting in place an all-encompassing strategy and
implementation plan, whilst strengthening our laws, such as the
Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, we can diminish the
effectiveness of the terrorist.




“We have made significant progress in our counter terrorism efforts. By
virtue of Section 2, sub-section 1 (a)-(d) of the Terrorism Prevention
Act, the Office of the National Security Adviser shall coordinate all
security and law enforcement agencies in counterterrorism and provide
them with support to prevent and combat terrorism.

“It will ensure the effective formulation and implementation of a
counter terrorism strategy, build capacity and do such other acts or
things that are necessary for the effective functions of the relevant
security and law enforcement agencies.

“Also, By Virtue of Section 2, sub-section 2 (a)-(c), the Attorney
General of the Federation shall be the authority for the effective
implementation and administration of the Act and ensure that Nigeria’s
counterterrorism laws and policies conform with international standards
and United Nations Conventions on Terrorism, maintain international
cooperation required for preventing and combating international acts of
terrorism and effectively prosecute terrorism cases.

“The Act in Sub-section 3 further mandates the security and law
enforcement agencies to enforce all laws and regulations to combat and
prevent acts of terrorism, among others. Sub-section 3 (f) is
particularly relevant to note.

“It provides for the law enforcement agencies to ‘partner with Civil
Society Organizations and the Nigerian public to provide education,
support, information, awareness and sensitization towards the prevention
 and elimination of acts of terrorism’.

“The foregoing creates the window for a whole-of-society approach that
is crucial to resolving the Boko Haram, and indeed, all other violent
extremist phenomena in the country.

“The National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) is the vehicle which
gives life to the wordings and spirit of the Terrorism Prevention Act.

“Pursuant to the coordinating role of my office, and in line with the
Presidential directive for the review, we have worked assiduously with
all stakeholders to re-articulate the roles of the MDAs and Civil
Society.

“The Strategy explains what organizations and individuals can do to help
 in its implementation in order to reduce the risks and ensure that
people go about their lives freely and with confidence.

“NACTEST is organized around five streams namely; Forestall, Secure,
Identify, Prepare and Implement. Each of these streams has key
objectives and success indicators. To effectively ensure monitoring and
evaluating success at each stage, my office has developed a benchmarking
 framework for the evaluation of the implementation of NACTEST.

“It has now been reviewed to include salient areas like the Nigeria
Countering Violent Extremist program (Soft Approach to CT) and the
Strategic Communication program, which are two very critical pillars in
the fight against Terrorism and engendering sustainable peace.

“MDAs and all well-meaning Nigerians must now rise to the occasion and
respond to this call for action. Relevant MDAs must begin to streamline
their contributions according to their roles and responsibilities as
identified in the NACTEST.

“The NACTEST Desks in MDAs have been established to drive the process so
 that the menace of terrorism must now be addressed from a multi –
dimensional and multi – pronged and all of society approach in order to
make it all encompassing.

A heavy force Magnitude 6.1 earthquake takes-down central Italy, and tremors felt in far Rome

 BREAKING NEWS 
 –  A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck central Italy early Wednesday, levelling buildings in several towns as residents slept. The mayor of hard-hit Amatrice said: "The town isn't here anymore."

The quake struck just after 3:30 a.m. and was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. First images of damage showed debris in the street and some collapsed buildings in towns and villages that dot much of the Umbrian countryside.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Center put the magnitude at 6.1. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.2 with the epicenter at Norcia, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Rome, and with a relatively shallow depth of 6 miles. The hardest-hit towns were reported as Amatrice, Accumoli and Norcia.

Related Image

Expand / Contract

Map showing where Italy quake struck. (USGS)

The mayor of Amatrice near Rieti, Sergio Pirozzi, told state-run RAI radio and Sky TG24 that residents were buried under collapsed buildings, that the lights had gone out and that heavy equipment was needed to clear streets covered with debris.
"The town isn't here anymore," he said.
In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in the same region and killed more than 300 people. The earlier earthquake struck L'Aquila in central Italy, about 55 miles south of the latest quake.

anticipated jam "NANWO SOKE" (produced by Super Beat ARV records entertainment)

We still grooving to his hit single "MUNACHIMSO" which is still causing waves online and on airways,

The Afro-pop and hip-hop sensational singer and song writer hits us hard with his much anticipated jam "NANWO SOKE" (produced by Super Beat ARV records entertainment) and it was worth the wait!
This jam is sure to rock your body,party banger!. Download asap...bless

click to download

11 Best Blogging Platforms – Squarespace VS WordPress VS Blogger

There are a million ways to start a blog but not all of them are great. In fact, if you’ve been following onecraze, you’ll know that we strongly advise starting a blog and have a very detailed tutorial for that on our homepage.

In this post, we’re going to dig deep and compare the best blogging platforms side-by-side and then have an in-depth look into each one as well as their pros and cons.
I'm going to spoil this article for you a little bit.

There are only three options out there that may deserve the title of being the best blogging platform out there and we'll start with those.
These are your best bet 99% of the time, but we've got more options for you towards the end of the article.​

Squarespace VS WordPress VS Blogger

Squarespace

Your second best option

• Easy to use
• 190+ plugins
• Drag and drop content builder
• Free domain name

• Squarespace owns it, not you
• Extra security not possible
• Limited in features compared to WordPress
• Expensive over time

$16 / month

WordPress.org

The best blogging platform

• Completely free
• Open source
• Powers 25% of the internet
• Custom domain
• Easy to use
• 10,000+ themes
• 42,000+ plugins
• Big community
• Super secure
• Full control
• No coding experience needed
• Search engine friendly

• Small learning curve

FREE

 

 

START NOW!

Blogger

Third best free blogging platform

• Free to use
• Quick registration
• Easy to use
• Can edit the code

• Controlled and owned by Google
• Strict rules
• Cannot monetize
• Looks unprofessional
• Complicated to modify
• Outdated

Free

Best Blogging Platform - WordPress.org

Price: Free but requires hosting
As you saw, we’ve crowned self-hosted WordPress to be the best blogging platform out there. So have dozens of other industry experts and thought leaders and there’s a reason for that, many reasons actually.
WordPress.org has been around since 2003 and they've kept improving it on a daily basis. The company is fairly big and the community is even bigger. In 2016, WordPress.org powers over 25% of the web and you'll see big sites like The New Yorker, TechCrunch, MTV, BBC and Playstation using it for their blogs.
The platform is free and open-source. The only investment involved with a WordPress.org blog is a hosting service, which typically costs $5-10 dollars per month, as well as a domain name.
We've partnered up with a hosting company named SiteGround, who has given our readers a 60% discount for hosting and a free domain name. Click here to claim the deal or here to follow our WordPress.org tutorial.

Ease of Use & Setup​

WordPress.org is super simple to get started with. Following the tutorial we've linked to above, you'll be able to have your blog ready in less than 20 minutes and you don't need to have any design or programming experience.
It's slightly more complicated to use than say Squarespace and Blogger, but it will still only take you a few minutes at most to figure anything out.
If you ever run into any problems or don't know how to do something, there are blogs and forum dedicated to WordPress.org with 500,000+ members ready to solve problems for you. The internet is full of tutorials for even the tiniest changes you'd like to make!
It gets slightly harder to use when you've got a complicated website, instead of a blog. When you want to set up an eCommerce store, a membership site and all of those fancy things - it'll likely take you a bit of time to figure out, but it's still manageable by the average person.​

Design​ - Elegance is a Click Away

This is one of the most amazing aspects of the platform. You don't need to have any design skills, yet you'll have access to thousands and thousands of options, both free and premium.
The platform runs on "themes" that you can install with just a few clicks. Changing the theme will change your site completely, but keep all of your settings, content and other things of importance.
No matter what kind of vision you have your blog, WordPress will have a theme ready for you!
Here's a random example that I think looks really good!​

If you've got money to splurge, you can hire a designer and a developer to make custom solutions - they will all know how to do it for WordPress.

Plugins​ - Unlimited Functionality

It started off as a simple blogging platform but by now, it's capable of doing virtually anything.
WordPress has over 42,000 free plugins in their repository (and plenty more paid options on the internet) that allow you to extend the functionality of your website with just one click. It's basically the same as apps on your smartphone - it lets you do more things.
Here's just a brief list of things WordPress plugins let you do:​

• Create an eCommerce store
• Collect your readers emails
• Stop comment spam
• Receive advanced analytics about your visitors
• Record your visitors behaviour
• Split-test different types of content and designs
• Create beautiful image galleries
• Make your website more secure
• Make your website load faster
• Make content creation "drag and drop"
• Make posts and pages shareable on social media
• Optimize your websites for increased search engine traffic
• Run viral giveaways
• Back up your website to Dropbox, automatically
• Turn your blog posts into beautifully designed PDFs
• Much much more!

Freedom

This is one of the very very few blogging platforms on our list that has true freedom.
There are no rules. You can publish whatever you want, post affiliate links, insert advertisements, post twice a day or once a year, talk about politics or whatever your big heart desires.
As long as you're not doing something illegal, you're in control.
This includes the website itself. You've got access to the code, the design and can change the tiniest details, if you desire.

Conclusion - The Best Blogging Platform!

I can honestly say that WordPress is leaps and bounds ahead of all of the other blogging platforms and has virtually no downsides.
Whether you're a hobby blogger, want to start a career in writing, want to start the next big news website or an eCommerce store - WordPress will let you do it and let you do it well.
​Although I still recommend you to read about the other blogging platforms we've reviewed below, I can honestly say that none of them can truly compete with WordPress.
Our rating: 10/10

Start a Free WordPress Blog Today!

If you're already certain that WordPress is the way to go for you, we're here to help you out.

We've got an extremely detailed tutorial as well as special deals from a hosting company - they'll set you up with a 60% discount and give you a free domain name to go with it.

Start With Our Help!

Squarespace - The Second Best Blogging Platform

Price: Starting at $16/month
Squarespace launched back in 2004 but only started getting traction a few years ago. It markets itself as a way to create a blog that stands out.
We put it as the number two best blogging platform because it's just so easy to make a beautiful website.
Their designs and templates are truly good looking and it's pretty difficult to make it look bad. The downside is that they've only got around 100 templates to choose from, which is nothing compared to the tens of thousands that WordPress offers.
Here's an example of a Squarespace-powered blog:​

It has a lot of in-built functionality, such as being able to create an online store, nice landing pages, fancy galleries and so on.
The problem is that you can't really expand on this ​functionality. There are around 190 external plugins available for Squarespace, which is not enough, and they come with a hefty price tag. Some basic plugins such as video backgrounds cost as much as $60.
The platform itself already comes with a price. Prices start at $16, paid monthly, which will add up pretty quickly. Add in the plugins you'll have to buy and it'll end up as a pretty expensive project.​
On a more positive note, they do have 24/7 customer support to help you out. Which is still nothing compared to the WordPress forums with 500,000+ members and hundreds of live chats dedicated to it.​

Pros:​

• Lots of amazing designs available (100+)
• Very easy to use
• Quick setup
• Customer support available
• Free domain name

Cons:​

• Fairly expensive
• Functionality is limited
• Owned by Squarespace, not you
• Few integrations with third parties (i.e. Paypal is not supported)
• Slightly buggy drag-and-drop editor
• Bigger blogs get very slow

Conclusion & Our Rating

I personally wouldn't use Squarespace as a blogging platform, it has much more potential as an eCommerce store but they do take fees from that and Shopify is a much better alternative when it comes to online stores.​
If you're still keen on using Squarespace as a blogging platform, there's a reason we placed them at number two. They're still much much better than anything listed below.​
Our rating: 8/10

Blogspot/Blogger

Price: Free
Even though it's the oldest blogging platform out there and even has "blogger" in it's name - I'm not very comfortable giving it the third position, but I will.
The only reason it made it to #3 in our list of the best blogging platforms is because it's free and takes under a minute to get started with.
It was launched in 1999 and is owned by Google but it is clear that they've put zero effort into growing the platform. It's still one of the most popular ones out there, although there's little to no reason for it.
The biggest problem with blogspot is that it's ugly​. I really cannot paraphrase that, it's just ugly.
They do have a few themes here and there but it doesn't change the overall look of the blogs. Of course, it's possible to make something good looking on the platform but I've almost never seen it done.
Even then, it would require somer serious programming knowledge and it still wouldn't be comparable to WordPress designs.
Here's an example of a very popular Blogspot blog:

​It just doesn't look professional.
The main complaint people have for this platform is that you're going to have a domain name like onecraze.blogspot.com but it's a stupid reason. You're actually able to use a custom domain,
​I'd love to talk about functionality and compare it to WordPress and Squarespace, but Blogspot simply doesn't have any! It's a super basic blogging platform.
Alright, alright - you've got some basic widgets that you can use, like the live gold prices in the image above, as well as calendars and comments.
Compared to other options, it's literally an online text editor and a place to publish - that's it.​
On a more positive note, it is very easy to use Google AdSense on Blogspot because the platform is owned by Google.​ Then again, AdSense is never very difficult to set up.
There are a lot more cons to balance it out though, no worries!
Google has very strict rules about what you're allowed to do on Blogspot and they won't hesitate for a second to permanently ban you.​
You'll never be allowed to do affiliate marketing, you won't be allowed to use any other ad networks than​ AdSense and of course... You'll never be able to sell your website.
These are some pretty big problems, if you're creating a blog with the intention to make money.​

Pros:​

• Free to use
• Super quick sign up
• Adsense and Analytics integration

Cons:​

• Strict rules
• Very limited functionality
• They display ads on your site
• Ugly and unprofessional design
• Page sizes are limited

Conclusion & Our Rating

If you know that blogging will never, ever be anything serious nor important for you and you just want to mess around,​ Blogspot is your best bet since it's so quick to sign up for it.
Our rating: 6/10

WordPress.com

Price: Free with expensive upgrades possible
We already told you about WordPress.org before. WordPress.com is it's little brother.
It's virtually the same thing but you will not have to buy hosting to keep the website up. Because they provide the hosting, it's extremely stripped down compared to "real" WordPress.
Because WordPress hosts this for you, they'll have to make their money back somehow. This means that they will place ads on your website and keep 100% of the revenue from it. So much for "free".​
The blogs still look amazing - at least ten times better than Blogspot for example! You'll be able to switch between a little over a hundred themes but they're not as good as what you'll see with the .org version.
Here's an example of a typical WordPress.com blog:​

You will not have any access to the websites code so functionality is slightly limited as well. You can make some very basic changes to the themes but that's about it.
You will not be allowed to display any advertisements on your WordPress.blog before you reach 25,000 monthly visitors. Then you will have to apply for their "Ad Control" program and they will keep 50% of your earnings.
As with other platforms that are hosted by some company, you will have to follow their rules. It's pretty easy to get your WordPress.com blog deleted.

Pros:​

• Quick and easy sign-up
• Designs look fairly good
• User friendly and easy to use
• SEO friendly

Cons:​

• Monetization is difficult
• No access to code
• Limited functionality
• Little storage and bandwidth available

Conclusion & Our Rating

I like WordPress.com a little more than Blogspot because of the design, but I'd still recommend WordPress.org or Squarespace over this any day.
Our rating: 6/10

Tumblr

Price: Free

Tumblr is owned by Yahoo and was created in 2007 by David Karp. It's super popular, but isn't your traditional blogging platform.
It's considered a micro-blogging platform - you won't see long articles like on other blogs, but rather tweet-like notes and lots and lots of pictures.
It's a completely free solution and only takes a few minutes to sign up for - all you need is an email address.
It's a fairly quirky platform so the designs tend to look pretty unique. Most of the templates are directed towards gallery-type sites, not real blogs.
Then again, 1,000+ templates are available so you may be able to find something that works for you.
Here's a completely random example:​

Functionality is super basic. There are no plugins available for it and you will not be able to change most of the code to customize things. You can post text, photos, videos, gifs, audio and that's about it.
Ecommerce stores, email list building, advertising, split-testing, search engine optimization and all of that fun stuff is off the table.​ There's no way to do it with Tumblr.
As always, it's owned by a company and they're hosting it for you so in theory you will not be allowed to monetize it.
Yahoo happens to own one of the biggest ad networks on the planet so they will likely start showing ads on your behalf soon enough.

Pros:​

• Free and easy registration
• Unique compared to other platforms
• Can manage multiple sites from one account
• Lots of design templates

Cons:​

• Designing is complicated
• Mostly for short content
• Not SEO optimized
• Limited functionality
• Not alllowed to monetize it

Conclusion & Our Rating

I'd recommend giving Tumblr a shot if you're either some kind of artist who needs to post photos frequently and display them in a nice way or if you're a fan of short-form content posted several times a day.
If you want to make money, build an audience and make a difference - this one isn't for you!
Our rating: 6/10

Medium

Price: Free
Medium.com was started in 2012 by Twitter co-founders, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Even though it doesn't have a whole lot of age to it, it has taken off rapidly. We've got some pretty big names, who love publishing on Medium. For example: Ryan Holiday, James Altucher and Jason Fried.
I absolutely love Medium as a reader. It's safe to say that some of my best reads in the last year have been published on the platform.
While most blogs are now chasing their readers emails, advertising revenue​, affiliate income and whatnot, Medium.com has removed all of the clutter.
The platform is extremely minimalistic and focuses 100% on the content. Their true WYSIWYG​ (what you see is what you get) editor lets you create content with ease and without distractions.
You will not be able to have a custom domain name or even a subdomain on Medium. All of your posts will be gathered to your user profile.
The design of your profile and the posts themselves is not customizeable to maintain the minimalistic and clutter free image of Medium.​
Here's an example for you as well:​

Your posts will be plain text, images and video. This means the majority of content published there is of superior quality - the author has no hidden intentions behind publishing it.
The platform is well optimized for search engines and articles posted there will often show up in Google results. You've also got built in analytics, a social aspect to it and a few more bells and whistles.

Pros:​

• Beautiful design
• Easy and fun to use
• Free
• Gives you an initial audience

Cons:​

• Hard to set yourself apart
• More of a publishing platform than a real blog
• Cannot monetize
• Mostly one-time readers
• Hard to build a long-term audience

Conclusion & Our Rating

While I love it as a reader, I wouldn't use it as a blogger. It's difficult to build up a true audience, you will not be able to monetize your efforts and most importantly, you won't be building an asset.
I'd recommend Medium as a supplementary platform for people who already have huge audiences and lots of influence, because Medium articles tend to go viral pretty easily once you get traction.
Our rating: 7/10

Typepad

Price: $8.95/month and up​
​ Having been around since 2003, it used to be the go-to platform for celebrities blogs. Paris Hilton's blog was there, Will Wheaton's and the marketing legend Seth Godin has been posting there for a decade, every single day.
Nowadays the blogging platform is pretty irrelevant, especially for a "premium" service. It has virtually zero benefits to it compared to other options but the list of cons is lengthy.
They've got a fair few templates for your blogs design but they're outdated compared to options from say Squarespace or WordPress.org. Here's an example of the design Seth Godin has on his Typepad blog:

You've got limited access to the code so in theory it's possible to make some changes to the design and functionality, but it's going to be complicated.
Functionality is limited to a few plugins that they support, such as integrations with Paypal donations and a few other websites.

Pros:​

• ??????

Cons:​

• Expensive
• Limited functionality and designs
• You have to use their domain
• Has a learning curve

Conclusion & Our Rating

It looks more basic than most other platforms, has a steeper learning curve, costs money and doesn't offer anything unique. It's a mystery to me why people still use this in 2016.
Our rating: 3/10

Drupal

Price: Free but requires hosting​
Drupal is like WordPress.org, it's not just a blogging platform but a fully functional content management system. Often used to build professional websites, eCommerce stores and even online forums - it does come with blogging options, too.
​I've been involved with online businesses for over 7 years now and have learned a fair bit of code over the years.
I would not even touch Drupal with a stick. It's one of the most technical and complicated content management systems out there and has a very steep learning curve.
​There's not a whole lot of bad things to say about Drupal - it's a very powerful platform but it needs to be in the right hands.
Here's an example of a Drupal powered blog:

The main problem with Drupal and why some people are strongly against it is because the wrong people are using it.
You'll often see small businesses with no budgets for developers starting their sites on Drupal and they won't be able to manage it properly. Hence the extremely ugly designs, as if it was 1997 all over again.

Pros:​

• Very powerful
• Can build beautiful and well-converting blogs

Cons:​

• Steep learning curve
• Programming knowledge required
• Not 100% oriented towards bloggers

Conclusion & Our Rating

It could be called the best blogging platform, but only if you've got a 100+ person corporation with plenty of developers and an urge to start a blog for your business website, that already happens to be running on Drupal.
Our rating: 8/10 overall, 5,5/10 for blogging

Joomla

Price: Free but requires hosting​

​Joomla is very similar to both WordPress.org and Drupal - it's a full-blown content management system.
Honestly there's not much to say about it, it has all of the same features as Drupal but is slightly easier to use.
While Drupal and WordPress can be used for virtually anything, Joomla is best when it comes to eCommerce stores and social networks. It has blogging features as well, but it's more of an extra rather than their main value proposition.
It comes with around 900 free themes to use and it's easier to customize than Drupal but still requires extensive technical knowledge.
Here's an example of a typical Joomla blog:​

Pros:​

• Very flexible
• Less of a learning curve than Drupal
• SEO friendly
• Big communities for support

Cons:​

• Fairly complicated to use for non-developers
• Resource intensive on your web server
• Too complicated for the little benefits it gives

Conclusion & Our Rating

All-in-all, it works perfectly well for bloggers but definitely doesn't deserve the title of the best blogging platform. If you've already got a Joomla eCommerce store and want to start a blog - it'll work out, but won't be an easy feat.
Our rating: 7/10 overall, 6/10 for blogging

Wix

Price: $6.90/month and up​
Wix is yet another website creation tool that allows "drag and drop" web design and content creation. The main focus of it is creating business websites and eCommerce stores but they also have a very popular blogging module.
They've got 510+ professional templates for you to use and modify, all without having to know any code. The themes are divided into specific categories to suit your industry - ranging from automotive to photography.
Here's an example of a Wix blog:

The drag and drop functionality is one of the best ones in the industry but the platform as a whole is very overpriced.
For the cheapest package, which is $6.90/month, you get very limited storage and bandwidth for the website and they'll even display ads on it on your behalf, that you will not make money from.
The blog module is poorly optimized for search engines, which makes traffic generation difficult and it's in general very difficult to modify and expand upon.​

Pros:​

• Good drag and drop editor
• Easy to use

Cons:​

• Overpriced
• Not optimized for search engines
• Blogging is time-consuming

Conclusion & Our Rating

I'd recommend it for a small business website that you don't have time to properly create, but as a blogging platform it's pretty disappointing.
If drag and drop is your thing, you don't mind the price and don't mind spending a bit more time to publish a simple blo​g post - it's an alright solution.
Our rating: 4/10 for blogging

Weebly

Price: Free with overpriced upgrades available
This is definitely the most popular free website builder out there and also comes with drag and drop features, so it's fairly simple to use.

The main problem with it is that your website will be domainname.weebly.com. They do offer an upgrade to purchase your own domain name, but they charge a 3X higher fee for it compared to others, which to me is a blatant scam on their part.
It's a great way to start a basic website and blog very very quickly and with no costs to it, but the blogging feature is a hassle to use. It would likely take me ten times more time to upload three blog posts on Weebly when compared to say WordPress or Squarespace.
The designs look great but are very hard to customize because you've got no access to the code (neither HTML nor CSS). When you have no experience, it's easy to ruin their designs because the drag and drop editor is very robust.
Here's an example of a Weebly blog:​

Pros:​

• Free
• Easy to start

Cons:​

• No domain name possible (or overpriced)
• Buggy
• Hard to design
• Very slow to use

Conclusion & Our Rating

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this for almost anything. Not worth the hassle.
Our rating: 3/10

So What's the Best Blogging Platform?

Having years of experience in blogging and spending hundreds of hours messing around with different platforms, I'm 100% comfortable in saying that WordPress.org is the best blogging platform.
It's the only one I use nowadays and I don't see a change coming in the near future.
It's leaps and bounds ahead of everything else out there, it's free and even after so many years, still growing rapidly.
It's a no-brainer.
If you'd like to learn how to create a blog on WordPress.org, I've written an in-depth tutorial showing you exactly that. Click the button below to get started!

Get Started with WordPress Today!

The Top Affiliate Marketing Networks and how to ytilize them fully

Though the glory days may be behind us, affiliate marketing remains a multi-billion dollar industry and a primary source of income for thousands of successful online entrepreneurs. As the number of merchants embracing affiliate marketing strategies has increased, new opportunities have been created for Web publishers able to build an audience and effectively promote affiliate offers.

There are a number of merchants who work directly with affiliates; but most affiliate marketers will make use of a network to find and implement offers on their sites. Though networks take a cut of fees generated and therefore reduce the overall amount paid, they do serve some valuable purposes in the affiliate marketing ecosystem:

1. Aggregate offers from multiple merchants.
2. Present simplified way for affiliates to browse / compare offers.
3. Handle administrative aspects of affiliate process.

Below we highlight some of the best affiliate marketing networks out there. For more on evaluating potential offers and networks, check out our feature on How to Pick an Affiliate Marketing Offer. (And if you’re enjoying this article, you may want to subscribe to our free newsletter; we’ll send monetization tips straight to your inbox each day.)

CJ Affiliate by Conversant (Formerly Commission Junction)

CJ Affiliate is one of the largest affiliate networks out there; if you’ve been in the affiliate marketing business for any amount of time, you’ve probably come across it at some point. Just about every major merchant has their offers listed on CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction), making it as close to a one-stop shop as it gets in the affiliate industry. Most advertisers have multiple creative sizes available, which forces more decisions but ultimately gives affiliates more control over their performance.
In other words: if you can’t find an affiliate offer that makes you money from the CJ Affiliate database, you’re probably not going to make it.
With thousands of merchants on the platform, CJ Affiliate makes it relatively easy to segment and compare. Getting the affiliate code to use on your site is also pretty straightforward; once you’re approved, you can be running dozens of different affiliate offers on your site in a matter of hours.
Affiliate marketers will get out of CJ Affiliate what they put in. Though there may be a few exceptions, it’s definitely not a “set it and forget it” monetization solution the way AdSense and other display networks are. Optimizing revenue requires constant monitoring and tweaking, at least for the first several months.

To recap, the advantages of CJ Affiliate include:

• Large Network. CJ Affiliate has more than 3,000 merchant partners, many of whom have dozens of creatives sizes and affiliate link options. So regardless of your niche and your affiliate strategy, you should be able to find something that works here.
• Reliable Payment. The net-20 payment terms mean that you’ll get your commissions in a timely manner each month. End of story.
• Powerful Reporting. The reporting capabilities are pretty impressive, which is a major advantage for those who plan to spend a considerable amount of time optimizing performance.

Disadvantages include:

• Steep Learning Curve. While the reporting capabilities are powerful, they’re also a bit tricky for beginners. You’ll need to spend some time in the reporting dashboard before you’re able to navigate with ease and take full advantage of the tools provided.
• Limited Customer Support. Given the large number of affiliates and merchants, it’s understandable that support is limited. But having a contact form as the only path to support can get frustrating, especially if you’ll be in need of technical support.

For more on CJ Affiliate, check out our in-depth network review.

Rakuten LinkShare

Rakuten LinkShare is one of the oldest affiliate marketing networks, but is now quite a bit smaller than some of the bigger players in the industry. CJ Affiliate, for example, has nearly three times the number of merchants, including a significant percentage of the LinkShare merchant base. When starting the search for affiliate offers that monetize well, it’s best to begin with as large a field as possible.
There are a couple slick features of LinkShare that differentiate this platform a bit. For example, the ability to automatically rotate through the different banner ads for a particular product is a big advantage both in terms of administrative burden and optimization. Instead of manually selecting which 300×250 ad you want to run, LinkShare lets multiple versions rotate with only a single snippet of code.

Rakuten LinkShare admin control panel dashboard

LinkShare also allows more flexible “deep linking” to specific merchant landing pages, which in turn allows for increased customization of the campaigns run.
To recap, the advantages of Rakuten LinkShare include:

• Ad Rotation. This seems like a minor feature, but it can make a big difference on time spent and optimization success.
• Deep Linking Flexibility. LinkShare lets affiliates pick the page they send clicks to within a merchant site, giving them more flexibility to determine the optimal funnel for promoting affiliate purchases.

Disadvantages include:

• Smaller Network. Rakuten has about 1,000 merchant partners, which is considerably fewer than CJ Affiliate and ShareASale. Though there are plenty of good merchants on this platform, your time will generally be better spent fishing from a deeper pool.
• Unpredictable Payments. LinkShare pays out to affiliates once commissions are collected from merchants, which results in erratic and sometimes delayed payment. Compared to the net-20 of CJ Affiliate, that is a pretty significant hassle.

For more on LinkShare, check out our in-depth network review.

Amazon Associates

By some measures Amazon has the largest affiliate program out there, with products from more than 1.6 million sellers (basically anyone who offers products on Amazon) and hundreds of thousands of affiliates. Amazon has the most intuitive and easy-to-use technology of any affiliate program. Beginners with limited tech expertise will have no problem getting up and running, while more sophisticated developers can get fancy with the APIs and advanced implementations available to them.

     Amazon Associates admin control panel

Because Amazon offers so many products, it can be used in affiliate models that resemble fundraisers. For example, Wisconsin Public Radio tells listeners over the air that they can support the station by going to their site and clicking through the Amazon link to do their online shopping:

Several podcasts have a similar arrangement, asking their listeners to support the show by clicking through the Amazon link on their site. This type of affiliate model really only works with Amazon, since anything from baby food to flying robots can generate revenue if purchased through an affiliate link. For other models, see our feature Five Proven Affiliate Marketing Strategies.
The biggest drawback of Amazon is the commission structure. Commissions start at just 4% of sales for smaller affiliates, though they can climb as high as 15% for higher volume referrers. And because most of the products sold on Amazon are physical goods, affiliates also won’t have many options to refer sales that generate recurring monthly or annual income.
To recap, the advantages of Amazon Associates include:

• Ease of Use. Amazon’s interface is clean and user friendly, for both beginners and professional developers.
• Most Flexibility. Millions of products can be purchased through an Amazon, giving the ads and affiliate links very broad appeal.

Disadvantages include:

• Low Commissions. Commissions starting at just 4% mean that affiliates will need to generate a significant number of sales in order to make their business sustainable.
• Longer Payment Cycle. Amazon’s affiliate program features net-60 payments, which means affiliates won’t get their money for more than two months after a sale occurs.

For more on Amazon Associates, check out our in-depth network review.

ShareASale

ShareASale is another of the largest affiliate marketing programs out there; the platform has about 3,800 merchants listed. About 1,000 of those are exclusive to ShareASale, and affiliates are able to see only merchant offers not available elsewhere if they want to focus their efforts.

ShareASale also publishes a significant amount of data on each of the offers running, including Earnings per Click, Reversal Rates, Average Sale Amount, and Average Commission.
While these figures aren’t guarantees of payouts that affiliates can expect going forward, they’re certainly helpful in evaluating the attractiveness of a campaign.

To recap, the advantages of ShareASale include:

• Large Network. The 3,800+ merchants include more than 1,000 that are not present on any other platform.
• Easy Offer Comparison. When trying to choose from the numerous offers available, ShareASale makes it easy to evaluate the various offers based on key metrics.
• Quick Payments. ShareASale pays out on the 20th of each month, assuming your balance is more than $50.

Disadvantages include:

• Clunky Reporting. The ShareASale reporting interface feels old, and is generally harder to use than other networks. You can eventually figure out how to navigate and see the data you need, but it definitely takes some getting used to.

Bottom Line

There is no rule against using multiple affiliate networks at the same time, and we would generally suggest doing so as a best practice. Though it adds a bit of extra work, this approach will let affiliates compare the various features of different platforms directly.
It’s also worth noting that many merchants, especially the larger ones, utilize multiple affiliate marketing networks to sell their products. So if you have the time to set up multiple accounts and plan on investing in finding the best offers for your site, it’s ideal to run all of the networks above.
If you want to keep things simple with a single network, ShareASale or CJ Affiliate is probably the way to go!