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Dear 9jabookers,

Brothers & Sisters ,It is now time for The youths IN this Nation to stand up as one and demand for this Birthright.Some countries call it Welfare or Benefit.Maybe we will call it poor man egunje ,It is yours So let us Take It .The Nation can afford it .Naija is RICH,LOADED ! .

We must organise and mobilise a strategy so that this bill must become Law ! Great Naija Unemployed Graduates ! Aleuta Continua let us not rest until Victoria Acerta !

Regards from Your Naija Webmaster & General Ajekpako nice guy

Weboga

Main Article

The Senate, on Thursday, significantly advanced legislation on a new bill seeking to establish a social security system for Nigerian unemployed and aged..

The bill is sponsored by Anyim Ude (PDP, Ebonyi State). The bill proposes to set up a social security system that will enable the government pay out N15 000 or at least N10 000 monthly to unemployed graduates and persons above 60 in Nigeria.Photos: Youths Working on Rubbish heap Markets in Lagos.

Mr Ude, 69, was inspired to draft the bill after listening to contributions of a Senate motion on the corruption of the National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) in February last year..

"It is estimated that over 70 per cent of our people live below poverty level and that is why I agree with the passionate suggestion -- that day ...that the Senate should devote one week of its session to address the issue of poverty and corruption in this country." Mr Ude said.

"This bill is another opportunity to put smiles on the faces of the aged and unemployed.

"Our children have no access to basic health care and education, unless their parents have money. Our system has made no provision backed by law for the unemployed, the destitute, the poor, and the aged. These crops of people are on their own, without hope or future. Some of them take their frustration out on the society by engaging in social vices and the society pays dearly for this," Mr Ude argued in his debate.

He added that even though it will cost the nation money, Nigeria will be better off as exemplified by the benefits other countries are reaping from similar systems.

He cited African countries benefiting from the scheme to include: Malawai, South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius, Botswana, Republic of Seychelles, and Libya.

The bill proposes that the beneficiaries of the system will be unemployed graduates of the colleges of education, polytechnics, and the universities, and people above 60 years.

The cost

The bill suggests two wages scenarios: a minimum of N10 000 and a maximum of N15 000 monthly. According to Mr Ude's estimations, based on a population growth rate of 2.5 per cent per annum, the scheme would cost the nation N77 billion in the next five years, starting from January next year, if the government decided to pay every beneficiary N10 000.

If the government decides to pay the maximum N15 000, it will cost the government N111.6 billion for five years.

He estimated that in 2011, it will cost the government N12.6 billion or N17.7 billion if they pay out N10 000 or N15 000 respectively. In 2012, it will cost 13.4 billion or 19.0 billion. In 2013, the scheme will cost 15.1 billion or 22.0 billion. In 2014 it will cost 17.05 billion or 24.96 billion. Arguing in favour of the bill, Uche Chukwumerije (PPA Abia State) said that it will require only a fraction of the loot politicians and past leaders robbed the nation of to run the scheme.

Pessimistic senators

Although the bill was accepted by majority of the senators, some were pessimistic and sceptic about the practicability of the recommendations of the bill.

Kabiru Gaya (ANPP Kano State) argued that it is too expensive for the nation. He said that considering that Nigeria produces about 70 000 graduates annually from the three categories of tertiary institutions in the country, the expenses will be too much.Photos:Vocal Slender of the "Illfated" BBC Welcome to Lagos Documentary.Who was billed to perform at the Indigo O2 Arena London.

Nicholas Ugbane (PDP Kogi State) argued that although the idea is good, it might be very difficult to distinguish the intended beneficiaries of the scheme.

"Do we have a reliable and dependable statistics of the unemployed? Can we identify a Nigerian?" he asked. "The idea is laudable but the kind of system we have will make it difficult to run." Others, however, argued that the cost of not instituting the social security system is higher than the cost of running it. They also argued that the possibility of corrupting the system should not deter the bill.

"You cannot rule out fraud, but the fear of fraud cannot overrule the importance of the bill." Bassey Ewa-Henshaw (PDP Cross River State) argued.

The bill was later committed to three Senate committees who would organise a public hearing on it and report back to the Senate for passage into law. It is, however, very unlikely that the bill will be passed into law before the expiration of the present Senate because the committees working on the bill were not given a time limit. High priority was not placed on the bill and the Senate has only one year left in their tenure.

Advertisement: Robinson Uwak, 2011 Akwa Ibom House of Reps .Hope is in the Youths ,Hope is Oron Nation.http://bit.ly/9MUMZX

A Minnesota teenager had to have his testicle amputated after
being punched in the groin by a classmate, KARE11.com reported
Friday.

David Gibbons, 14, was changing classes in his Crosby, Minn. high school when he was attacked by another student playing a game
called “sack tapping.”

David’s mother, Christy Gibbons, said it wasn’t until hours later that they realized something was wrong.

"One o'clock in the morning he woke me up and told me he was in excruciating pain," she said.

David was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd, Minn. where surgeons removed his right testicle.

And David is not the only student who has suffered the consequences of the “sack tapping” game.

"It's just gotten way out of control," said Dr. Scott Wheeler, a urologist in Brainerd, Minn. who says he performs three to four
surgeries a year on boys with ruptured testicles and other
complications as a result of “sack tapping.”

"One o'clock in the morning he woke me up and told me he was in excruciating pain," recalls Christy Gibbons, David's mom. Not long
after, David was in surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd having
his right testicle removed.

"This may be called a game, but it's not a game. It's dangerous and it needs to stop," said Christy.

It's a notion seconded by Dr. Scott Wheeler, a Brainerd urologist.

"It's just gotten way out of control," said Wheeler, who now performs "three to four surgeries a year" on boys with ruptured testicles and
other complications of being groin punched - with dozens more coming in
with less severe injuries. "It's high school, junior high, elementary
school," said Wheeler.

Dubbed "sack tapping" by some students, the practice is now featured in dozens of homemade videos on YouTube.

"We're gonna see who our first victim is," says a student in one video before punching an unsuspecting male student in the groin as he
walked down a school hallway.

It is painful to watch and Dr. Wheeler says increasingly common. "All parents, you need to have this talk with your kids not to do it. It's
lost its humor. It's not a game anymore. People get hurt."

"I don't know how to stop it," said David, who says he's been the recipient of similar attacks in the past. His parents pulled him out of
school and are now planning a move to a different school district.

Jamie Skjeveland, superintendent of Crosby Ironton schools, says the investigation of the incident involving David is complete, but he
declined to comment on any disciplinary action for privacy reasons.

On Wednesday morning the Gibbons are scheduled to meet with Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan to learn if criminal charges will be filed
against the other student.

"This kid doing that, he should definitely be held responsible for that," said Denny Gibbons, David's dad.

Doctors have told David that even though he lost a testicle in the attack, he should still be able to have children someday.

David's mom mostly wants other parents to be aware. "I seen the pain he was in. I seen what he went through every day, and it just breaks my
heart and I don't want any other child to have to go through this."

PALOS VERDES, Calif (Reuters) – Film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron said on Wednesday that BP Plc turned down his offer to help combat the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Over the last few weeks I've watched, as we all have, with growing horror and heartache, watching what's happening in the Gulf and thinking those morons don't know what they're doing," Cameron said at the All Things Digital technology conference.

Cameron, the director of "Avatar" and "Titanic," has worked extensively with robot submarines and is considered an expert in undersea filming. He did not say explicitly who he meant when he referred to "those morons."

His comments came a day after he participated in a meeting at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington to "brainstorm" solutions to the oil spill.

Cameron said he has offered to help the government and BP in dealing with the spill. He said he was "graciously" turned away by the British energy giant..

He said he has not spoken with the White House about his offer, and said that the outside experts who took part in the EPA meeting were now "writing it all up and putting in reports to the various agencies."

The film director has helped develop deep-sea submersible equipment and other underwater ocean technology for the making of documentaries exploring the wrecks of the ocean liner Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck some two miles below the surface.

'REALLY SMART PEOPLE'

Cameron suggested the U.S. government needed to take a more active role in monitoring the undersea gusher, which has become the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

"I know really, really, really smart people that work typically at depths much greater than what that well is at," Cameron said.

The BP oil spill off the U.S. Gulf Coast is located a mile below the surface.

While acknowledging that his contacts in the deep-sea industry do not drill for oil, Cameron said that they are accustomed to operating various underwater vehicles and electronic optical fiber systems.

"Most importantly," he added, "they know the engineering that it requires to get something done at that depth."

Among the key issues that Cameron said he is interested in helping the government with are methods of monitoring the oil leak and investigating it.

"The government really needs to have its own independent ability to go down there and image the site, survey the site and do its own investigation," he said.

"Because if you're not monitoring it independently, you're asking the perpetrator to give you the video of the crime scene," Cameron added.

Cameron made two documentaries about the wreck of the Titanic as well as the blockbuster 1997 movie "Titanic" using a small fleet of specially designed remotely operated underwater vehicles. He said his qualifications are not based on his background as a movie director but on his years of involvement in the deep-sea industry.

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday made a stop in Saudi Arabia to thank the King Abdullah led government for the first class medical attention it rendered the late Nigerian President Musa Yar’Adua while he was hospitalized at the Kind Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Islamic nation.

A report in Thisday, a Nigerian newspaper said the President and some members of his entourage including Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia (SAN) left France on Tuesday morning at the conclusion of the 25th Africa-France Summit in Nice for Nigeria and made a stop in Riyadh before returning to Abuja on Tuesday night.

We could not reach presidential spokesman, Mr. Ima Niboro for further details on the stopover before going to press..

The President is expected to preside over the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday..

Teachers and parents of the Junior Secondary arm of the Oriwu College-Ikorodu, were shell-shocked to learn that students had turned a spot in the school into a centre for illicit sex and fun.

P.M.NEWS learnt that the school authorities recently discovered the dingy corner where male and female students usually had sex during school hours.

Some students of the Junior Secondary School arm of the school narrated how some of their colleagues were rounded up about two weeks ago by the school authorities at a dingy corner within the school premises where male and female students of the school normally had illicit sex and fun during school hours.

There were mattresses and toiletries at the joint which has now been dismantled.

It was also discovered tha a group of female students in the school had patronised witch doctors, who are known in local parlance as babalawo.

In the course of their confession during interrogation, the youngsters said that they patronised the witch doctors to curry the favour of fellow students and teachers and to ensure that they went scot-free each time they committed an offence.

The shocked school management invited the parents of the offending students. And most of them expressed surprise at the action of their children and wards, according to sources close to the meeting.

Two of the parents even burst into tears on learning that their children were involved in such immoral and fettish acts.

The witch doctor who allegedly cgarged each of the students about 2,000 naira for the portions he made for them, was said to have fled Ikorodu. All efforts to locate him have proved abortive.

The authorities of Oriwu College, which has produced prominent Nigerians, are said to have forwarded their recommendations on the offending students to the ministry of Education, in Alausa.

Meanwhile, teachers and workers in Oriwu College were said to have become extra vigilant to prevent a similar occurrence in the school.

---Eromosela Ebhomele & Paul Dada

Pandemonium it was penultimate Sunday, when a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt enroute Malabo, hovered above Abuja airspace for hours not able to land due to inclement weather. Bemused passengers became alarmed, as anger due

to delay in landing, eventually turned to fear for their safety. While some cried openly, other prayed for an end to their predicament. Nevertheless, waiting in the air went from one to two, then three and four hours, yet no respite..

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, are separating after 40 years of marriage that included a White House run when their sunny relationship offered a counterpoint to President Bill Clinton's philandering.

According to an e-mail circulated among the couple's associates on Tuesday, the Gores said it was "a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration."

Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider confirmed the statement came from the Gores, but declined to comment further.

The Gores were telling friends they "grew apart" after 40 years of marriage and there was no affair involved, according to two longtime close associates and family friends, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The associates said the Gores, over time, had carved out separate lives, with the former vice president on the road frequently. One of the associates said: "Their lives had gotten more and more separated."

Al Gore lost the 2000 presidential election to Republican George W. Bush. He has since campaigned worldwide to draw attention to climate change, which in 2007 led to a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."..

The Gores, who were married on May 19, 1970, at the National Cathedral in Washington, crafted an image as a happily married couple during his eight-year stint as vice president in the 1990s and a presidential candidate in 2000. The couple famously exchanged a long kiss during the 2000 Democratic presidential convention.

The image of their warm relationship stood in sharp contrast to the Clinton marriage rocked by Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, a scandal that hung over Gore's own presidential campaign.

Al Gore at the time said his wife was "someone I've loved with my whole heart since the night of my high school senior prom."

On Halloween, Al and Tipper Gore would dress up in costume and greet trick-or-treaters who made their way to the vice president's mansion. One year, she was dressed as a puppy and he was dressed as Underdog.

Tipper Gore was a co-founder in 1985 of the Parents Music Resource Center, which pushed for parental warning labels on music with violent or sexually explicit lyrics. The group drew the ire of musicians ranging from Dee Snider of Twisted Sister to Frank Zappa, who said warning labels were unnecessary and a danger to freedom.

Tipper Gore later became friends with the late Zappa's wife, Gail, and played drums and sang backup on daughter Diva Zappa's album in 1999.

The Gores have four adult children, Karenna, Kristin, Sarah and Albert III.

In a letter written to then-girlfriend Tipper as a 17-year-old college freshman, Al Gore wrote: "Mother's having a fit about me riding the motorcycle back to Harvard. Dad's mad at my long hair."

Gore later held his father's former seats in the U.S. House and Senate for 16 years. He first ran for president in 1988 at age 39, but drew little support outside the South.

A subsequent bid in 1992 was derailed after the Gores' 6-year-old son almost died after being hit by a car in 1989.

"It was a very spiritual time for both of us," Tipper Gore later wrote. "In Al's case, he decided to write a book and not to run for president in 1992."

The book was "Earth in the Balance," and Al Gore ended up in the thick of the 1992 campaign anyway — as Bill Clinton's running mate.

Tipper Gore, who has acknowledged treatment for depression after Albert III's accident, is a vocal advocate on mental health issues.

A sinkhole is a natural depression caused by the removal of underground soil by water. Usually, it happens when the substrate is formed by limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds or any other rock that is easily eroded by water streams. The process could be slow, but sometimes the land just cracks open without notice. In this case, it happened suddenly, swallowing an entire house. The cause: Massive underground water torrents created by tropical storm Agatha.

Sinkholes' size ranges from low terrain depressions to hundred of meters. Unlike the similar sinkhole that killed two teens in 2007, there seems to be no victims. At least one local newspaper is reporting one person dead, but the authorities have not confirmed it. Some neighbors claim that a whole three-story building and a house fell into the hole.

Ogidigborigbo of Africa You Are NEXT !

A 12-member jury deliberating on the money laundering trial of associates of the former Delta State governor, James Ibori, has found his sister, Christine Ibori-Ibie, guilty of all charges of money laundering and mortgage fraud.

The jury, however, acquitted Mr Ibori's former assistant, Adebimpe Pogoson, of the charges against her.

The jury is yet to announce its verdict pertaining to the third accused aide, Udoamaka Okoronkwo, who is Mr Ibori's mistress.

The money laundering trial involving Mr Ibori's female aides began in September 2009 at the Southwark Crown Court, London, after Ms Pogoson, (a personal assistant on confidential matters during his tenure as the Delta State governor) and his sister Christie Ibori-Ibie, were charged in December 2007 on three counts of conspiring "together with Mr Ibori, Udoamaka Onuigbo and others, to defraud the Delta State government".

The aides allegedly helped the former governor move an estimated £70 million worth of looted funds through several London banks.

Mr Ibori is currently detained in the United Arab Emirates where he was recently arrested by INTERPOL after evading arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria.

Nigerian-born former Togo international and Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor is due to arrive in Lagos on Tuesday at the invitation of the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and his football preparatory school, the BRF Youth Football Academy.

According to the Head, BRF Board of Trustees, Yomi Pearce, Adebayor‘s visit to the Nigeria is in fulfilment of his partnership with the academy.

The former Arsenal star is expected to train with the students of the academy and give them inspiration talks on Wednesday at Campos Square, Lagos, after which he will visit the Lagos Youth Correctional Centre at Oregun to talk to the housemates.

”Adebayor is well celebrated international football star with well known Nigerian roots. He is from a humble background from where he has grown to achieve success in world football. He serves as an example to many young men and women on the possibility of great achievements, ones circumstances notwithstanding,” Pearse said..

Residents and companies in Lagos and Abuja are soon to enjoy 16 and 24 hours power supply, according to a proposal by the Presidential Action Committee on Power.

Also to have 16-hour minimum electricity like Lagos are cities with what the committee called “stranded generation capacities.” The cities are Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan, Onitsha and Nnewi. The cities were chose because they are regional industrial and commercial hubs.

Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Aba, Abia State; Uyo, Akwa Ibom State are grouped by the committee alongside Abuja for 24-hour uninterrupted power supply

These are the highlights of a proposal by the PACP Action Plan that will alter the electricity supply system operated by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

Under the system, all generated electricity in the country would be transmitted to the National Grid and distributed by the National Control Centre, Osogbo, among the 11 electricity distribution companies.

The system would make it impossible for states that have built their own independent power plants to get steady supply because the electricity they generate is put into a pool instead of being used directly by them.
.

A report on the preliminary presentation of the proposal by the Prof. Barth Nnaji-led committee obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Monday, showed that Abuja is to enjoy 24-hour regular power supply because of its closeness to the Shiroro hydro plant.

Port Harcourt is also privileged because of the Rivers State-owned independent power plants in Trans-Amadi and Omoku. Uyo is benefitting due to Akwa Ibom State-owned Ibom Power Plant and Aba because it hosts the Geometric IPP.

According to the report, state capitals, urban and semi-urban areas are to enjoy 18-hour electricity while remote communities negatively impacted by transmission from Maiduguri, Kastina and Sokoto are to get about 12-hour supply.

The PACP also suggested that rural communities connected to the national grid should get 12-hour supply of electricity.

Recalling President Goodluck Jonathan’s promise to Nigerians to improve on electricity supply within a short time, the presidential committee said it understood the promise to mean fast-tracking improvement and predictability in the availability of power to Nigerian homes and businesses within three to six months.

The committee added that it plans to take irreversible steps to promote medium to long term sustainable growth of the Nigerian power sector within three to 12 months.

The PACP report, which was prepared by the secretariat of the committee, stated that the strategy would be to focus on all initiatives on customer- service delivery, which are availability, quality and reliability, with a strong presidential oversight.

It added, “We will simultaneously implement short, medium and long term solutions that make electricity availability predictable in Nigeria and fast-track the implementation of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005.”

The report also listed the objectives of the Action Plan to include making every electricity consumer a customer that is responsible and that complies with tariff and service obligations.

It said, “We will identify all sources of available excess captive generation in the country and develop a fast- track framework for making such accessible to customers.

“We will establish and sustain effective communication with power stakeholders and the Nigerian public across the entire span of the Action Plan.”

The PACP further claimed that the analysis of Nigerian electricity crisis indicated that “the problem is more process and management-related than capacity and equipment-related.”

The committee listed the management-induced problems to include poor fuel-to-power strategy; poor and irregular maintenance of power plants and installations; absence of strategic support agreement losses due to theft; sabotage; and vegetation interference with lines.

It also catalogued the commercial problems to include “lack of commercial framework for private sector participation/investment; ineffective and non-responsive regulation; and price adjudication mechanism, which results in inadequate tariff regime.

The report noted that there was “poor payment culture among Nigerian electricity consumers, poor revenue collection and non-responsiveness to consumer needs.”

According to the committee, labour issues believed to be hindering the performance of the power sector include “legacy” union problems, which prevent the reforms of the PHCN successor companies; inadequate manning level, whereby 90 per cent of revenue was spent on manpower costs; and inadequate capacity development.

The Lagos State House of Assembly has given the assurance that it will continue to carry out its deliberations on Thursdays in Yoruba.

The Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Kolawole Taiwo, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Ikeja, Lagos.

This is just as Governor Babatunde Fashola said on Sunday that he had granted a state pardon tyo six convicts currently serving life sentences.

Taiwo was reacting to speculations that the assembly was not serious with deliberating in Yoruba, and may dump the idea soon.

However, Taiwo told NAN that the House had put adequate measures in place to sustain deliberations in Yoruba every Thursday.

He said one of the measures was the planned training of the House members and legislative workers in the use of the language.

The majority leader did not disclose when the training would be done, but said the Clerk of the House, Mr Adewale Olatunji, would determine that.

He said that members House were still at a learning stage with the use of the language for deliberations.

“If we have issues that are germane to us, we revert to English. We do that to give lawmakers the opportunity to discuss freely, especially when the report was prepared in English.

“It is so difficult translating reports into Yoruba but we are working on it,” he said.

Taiwo noted that the House had passed a supplementary budget, using Yoruba.

Meanwhile, those pardoned were above the age of 50 and had served a minimum of 20 years out of their jail terms.

Fashola, who made the disclosure in Lagos during a dinner party in commemoration of the third year of his administration named the beneficiaries as Lateef Alabi, aged 60; Sunday Oladapo (58) and Sunkanmi Alao (55)..

The Traditional Ruler of Akure, the Ondo State capital, Oba Oluwadare Adesina late Sunday night escaped being lynched by an irate mob when he engaged one of his wives, Olori Bolanle in a free for all at her family house located opposite the state Specialist Hospital, Akure.Photos:Olori bolanle showing off her burns. inset Below is Deji of Akure

The Oba, who late last year was saved by Governor Olusegun Mimiko from being dethroned was said to be having some disagreement with his spouse which had made her to vacate the palace for her parent’s home at 141, Hospital Road, Akure.
According to an eye witness, the Olori on sighting the Oba, who was in company with his youngest wife, Remi Abiola went into the house and told the people to inform the Oba that she was not around.
THISDAY gathered that the threat by the Oba to burn down the house should his estranged wife fail to come out forced her out to confront the unexpected visitors.
It was gathered that before a brawl ensued, a fowl which head was forcefully pulled of its body was used for a sacrifice of sort with its feathers spread in front of the house.

The monarch in the bid to engage his wife in fisticuffs was said to have stripped himself half naked and on sighting the Olori, he was said to have ordered that some hot ashes be brought to the venue in a Toyota Starlet car marked ONDO AL 936 AKR and poured on her, an incident, which made some parts of her hand to peel off.
While this was going on, the Oba’s wife who came along with the Oba was alleged to have picked a big wood on the ground and smashed it on the back of Bolanle following which the two fought themselves.
Disturbed by the action of the Oba on her sister, a younger brother mobilised some youths in the area against the perceived injustice, which led to a real street fight.

When it was obvious that the youths wanted to lynch the Oba and that he could not escape without being beaten or molested, the Officer-in-Charge of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) was contacted and he dispatched his men to the scene.
But the monarch’s vehicle, a Pathfinder Jeep, which brought him to the scene of the melee was seriously damaged and blocked with another Xterra jeep belonging to Olori Bolanle, making the monarch to escape in the police patrol vehicle marked PF 4598.
Although, there was no official reaction from the police as the Police Public Relations Officer for Ondo State Command, Aremu Adeniran did not pick calls made to his mobile phone, a top police source confirmed the incident. The Ondo State Police Commissioner, Maggaji Nassarawa also confirmed that the Oba went to his inlaws’ house to make trouble openly.

Also, the Olori, whose family house was invaded narrated her ordeal on phone from her hospital bed where she said she was being treated and added that some valuables including jewelleries were stolen in the process.
The Olori has also threatened to take the Oba to court over the incident.
However, all efforts to speak with the Oba proved abortive as journalists were not allowed into the palace and calls made to his phone and that of his lawyer, Olusola Oke were not answered.

Previous Cases of Gangsterism:

Nigeria is not left out of the wave of child sexual abuse sweeping across the Catholic Church worldwide, as a serving Irish Bishop and Archbishop of Benin City, Richard Burke, yesterday resigned over child sexual abuse he allegedly committed while serving as a priest in the Warri Diocese..

According to the Irish Catholic website, the Pope accepted the resignation of the Tipperary-born Archbishop, on Monday, saying “the reason for his resignation was his failure to observe his vow of celibacy.”

Mr. Burke of the St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, had initially relegated his office as Archbishop of Benin by stepping down in early 2009, after an allegation of child sexual abuse, which he denied. The allegation was by one Dolores Atwood, (a woman) who claimed she was sexually abused by Mr. Burke when she was 14 years old, while the Archbishop was serving as a priest in the Warri Diocese of the church.Photo:The Pope has accepted the resignation of Tipperary-born Archbishop Richard Burke, a member of the St Patrick’s Missionary Society and Archbishop of Benin City, Nigeria.

Acceptance of guilty

According to the website, Mr. Burke admitted having a sexual relationship with Mrs. Atwood but claimed adamantly that “she was over 18.” An investigation into the abuse claims by the St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, according to a statement released yesterday, “found no evidence to corroborate the allegation of child sexual abuse.”

“The case has now been taken over by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and is still with that department of the Vatican,” the statement read.

In his resignation statement addressed to the Pope, Mr. Burke apologised for the “pain and hurt” he has caused Mrs. Atwood, who is now based in Canada, and her family, stating that “she and I had a caring relationship that began in the latter part of 1989, when she was 21 and I was 40. I was posted back to Ireland in March 1990, and returned to Nigeria in April 1996.”

The embattled bishop further described the sexual escapades he had with Mrs. Atwood as against the Catholic’s celibacy doctrine, stating that “in the last 20 years, Mrs. Atwood and I met on seven occasions. On three of those occasions, our relationship was again expressed sexually. This was entirely inappropriate behaviour and it is something for which I am truly sorry,” he expressed in the statement to the Vatican.

“I apologise to my family, to my relatives, to my friends, and to my fellow members of St Patrick’s Missionary Society. I also ask the forgiveness of the people, religious and clergy of the Diocese of Warri and the Archdiocese of Benin City. I am very aware that I have hurt many people and I ask their forgiveness and prayers,” he said.

The Catholic Church has being under immense attack, with Pope Benedict XVI coming under pressure for concealing some of the alleged abuses.

HER STORY:

A total of 10 youths have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while allegedly attempting to smuggle 12.33kg of narcotics out of the country..

A statement by the spokesman of the agency, Mr. Ofoyeju Mitchell, on Sunday also revealed that drug barons were now targeting Nigerians living in Europe, because they possessed travel documents.

The NDLEA stated that apart from two of the suspects residing in Lagos, the others were residents of European nations. It said that 12.33kg consisted of 1.115kg heroin and 11.215kg of cocaine.

The Airport Commander of the NDLEA, Alhaji Hamza Umar, gave the names of the suspects as Osaze Monday, 37, who allegedly ingested 60 pieces of cocaine weighing 1.010kg; Izevbokun Kelvin, 22, who ingested 111 pieces of cocaine weighing 1.610kg; Joe Favour, 26, who ingested 82 pieces of cocaine weighing 1.300kg; Nwodo Oscar,34, who swallowed 95 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.515kg; and Chinedu Okeke,40, who swallowed 69 wraps of heroin weighing 1.115kg.

Others are Obarisiagbon Marvis, 32 who ingested 77 pieces of cocaine weighing 1.445kg; Liasu Ajadi, 41,who ingested 80 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.190kg; Ejiro Henry,19, who ingested 73 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.285kg; Lever Ehigie,21, who ingested 66 pieces of cocaine weighing 900 grammes; and Omorose Kingsley,28 that swallowed 960 grammes of cocaine.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, in a goodwill message on Democracy Day charged youths to shun for illicit wealth.

He charged youths to take advantage of the numerous windows of opportunities in the economy to reposition themselves for leadership responsibilities.

Giade, who identified indiscipline and greed as the factors responsible for the involvement of youths in narcotics trafficking, urged them to “positively rebrand” themselves.

“Drug traffickers usually act on impulse as a result of greed and indiscipline. Unfortunately, many only have a re-think after they had been caught,” the NDLEA boss stated.

The 2010 World Tobacco Day (which is today) focuses on the need to ban all forms of

promotion of tobacco even with a new direction to fight the recruitment of the womenfolk into smoking, In clubs,bars,malls & even some schools Ladies are not just boozing like the guys they are also puffing and beating the guys at it says the World Health organisation .

It may sound odd, but the World Health Organisation says more girls than boys smoke tobacco; giving new reasons why the anti-tobacco crusade must now address the womenfolk.

When on Friday, WHO called for a special protection of women and girls against tobacco, it was not as if the organisation had assumed the other members of the society needed not to be shielded from the harmful effects of what is perceived globally to be an addictive consumption.

It was because global researches have indicated a growing, worrisome trend in the habit of women and girls who take tobacco as a thing of glamour and status. WHO’s new direction of campaign is to press home the focus of this year’s World Tobacco Day..

WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, said, “The trends in some countries are extremely worrisome,” adding, “Tobacco use is neither liberating nor glamorous. It is addictive and deadly.”

This 2010 campaign theme, “Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women, focuses on the harmful effects of tobacco marketing towards women and girls. It also highlights the need for governments to ban all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and to eliminate tobacco smoke in all public and work places as provided in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” according to the global health body.

Nigeria, where the campaign against smoking has been gaining ground through the efforts of the Environmental Rights Action, is ranked among countries which WHO Director-General said the trend is pretty worrisome.

Smoking may be one habit that is generally perceived to be rife among males, but a recent survey, according to WHO, shows that there is a growing rate of tobacco use amongst girls and women. Women and girls are said to represent 20 per cent global smoking population.

“In half of the 151 countries recently surveyed for trends in tobacco use among young people, approximately as many girls uses tobacco as boys. More girls use tobacco than boys in some of the countries, including Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Cook Islands, Croatia, Czech Republic, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria and Uruguay.

“Women are a major target for the tobacco industry in its effort to recruit new users to replace those who will quit or die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases. The leading preventable cause of death, tobacco use kills more than five million people every year, about 1.5 million of whom are women,” says WHO on Friday.

And what is the nexus between tobacco and women? Or better still; what is the attraction? After strategic manners in which the anti-smoking campaigners across the world had tackled the recruitment of youths into smoking by tobacco manufacturers and marketers, there is said to be a new path manufacturers and marketers are following to force smoke down the throats of women. By linking smoking with beauty, young girls are easily fascinated and are consequently recruited into the habit.

Analysts are of the view that the same method employed in using the media to present slim girls as paragon of African beauty is being promoted to make young girls believe that their beauty is incomplete without tobacco addiction.

But it is not only those who engage in the practical habit of direct smoking that are considered to be smokers. Passive smokers abount through their inhaling of smokes in public places.

The inclusion of Nigeria amongst countries considered to be having a disturbing rate of smoking girls further reinforces the points being raised by Nigerian crusaders that the government needs to act fast before tobacco-related diseases add to its alleged unenviable record in health management.

Programme Manager of the Environmental Rights in Nigeria, an affiliate of the Friends of the Earth, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the focus on the need to save women and girls from smoking, which is the theme of this year’s tobacco day, should compel some persons in high places to act fast.

“It will interest you that the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, is a woman. And we believe that where the interests of women are concerned, a woman in the status of the senator should use her position to ensure the welfare of her fellow womenfolk,” say Oluwafemi.

His call is on the strength of a bill which was said to have been presented to the Senate by a member, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora which, according to him, is yet to be passed into law.

Among other things, the bill seeks to ban smoking in public and end all forms of promotion of the product in the country.

Mamora, who spoke with our correspondent on Sunday, said there had been deliberate moves to scuttle the bill at the National Assembly, adding that some of his colleagues who swore to defend the wellbeing of Nigerians were engaging in acts that are inconsistent with their oath of office.

Mamora said, “No amount of propaganda; no amount of purported job creation by the British American Tobacco can justify the number of lives being destroyed through the use of tobacco. This is because certain incontrovertible evidence have been established linking tobacco use to various diseases.”

In a separate statement on the 2010 World Tobacco Day, Oluwafemi called for the passing into law of the bill as a sign of government’s readiness to recognise the global concern for the health of its citizenry.

He stated, “It is a fact that dangers are associated with smoking. The World Health Organisation estimated that 5.4 million people die every year due to tobacco-related diseases, with majority of these deaths happening in developing countries.

“Tobacco is the only consumer product that is guaranteed to kill half its consumers if used according to manufacturers’ intention. It contains more than 4,000 dangerous chemicals harmful to the body.

“It is also a fact that stringent measures aimed at reducing smoking in Europe and America have driven the tobacco industry to developing countries like Nigeria, where the industry continues to flout regulations, marketing to young and impressionable youths, and hooking them on smoking.”

Indeed, another recent survey, according to Oluwafemi, also shows that two persons die each day in Lagos hospitals as a result of tobacco-related ailments.

With the theme of this year’s event, many expect that the focus will now shift to demystifying those messages being sold to girls which make them embrace smoking as a way of upping their beauty profiles.

Perhaps, that will compel manufacturers and marketers to also review strategies. But then, the health of the citizenry is at the centre of it all.

The wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, was on Thursday in Lagos announced as one of the winners of the Union Bank Plc savings bonanza.

She was declared as winner of a motorcycle (okada) in the grand finale of the bank’s savings bonanza, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

Jonathan’s wife, with ticket number 387492, operates a savings account with the Yenagoa branch of the bank.

The Managing Director of SO and U Advertising, Mr. Udeme Ufot, after confirming the account, announced the President’s wife as the winner of the bonanza.

The Managing Director of Union Bank, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, said on the occasion that the bank would not relent in its effort to support investment in the real sector.

She said the development would facilitate the nation’s rapid economic growth.

“With the conclusion of the draw today, we would have given out the prizes earmarked at the beginning of the savings promo, thereby fulfilling our promise to the public,” Osibodu said..

She said it was important for the bank, because “it is a mark that will remain reliable as a financial institution.”

The bank chief said the promo was aimed at strengthening retail and consumer behaviour to mobilise deposit from the savers, especially the small scale ones.

NAN reports that the bank gave out 18 cars, 60 motorcycles, N8.6m cash and three Toyota Land Cruiser jeeps to winners.