Days (12)

12166298090?profile=originalwhat if my girl was called aharit instead of arit



My girl has always been my closest friend but not one day has she ever told me her

real name . She said her name is arit and many times i go Aight ? and she says Right

. Not one day has she dared to put it all together and say AHARIT !

I wondered why she would never tell me her real name . I wondered not for long as I

asked her to marry me . to which she immediately agreed . She had been waiting for

this for ages .


Now we are about to get married it is just a few days or even weeks away .



And I asked her for the last time What is your name Arit

And she said AHARIT and I looked at her and understood . AHA RIGHT !


He sold his birthright for a meal of porridge He ignored the 'Aharit' . That which

comes After . Show me Temptations and I will ask for the AHARIT .

Now we shall soon be together for ever even after the AHARIT !

 

Happy Valentine

 

Ephesians 4:2


Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Read more…

12166295901?profile=originalThe Kano State Police Command has dismissed two

 

constables who abducted and raped a 16-year-old girl for one month, and demoted the police inspector who connived in the crime. Photo:The Kano state governor, Ibrahim Shekarau and the Inspector General of police, Afeez Ringim. A 16-year-old girl was abducted by the some policemen who were on night patrol in Kano city and used as sex slave for about 28 days. Photo: NEXT

The state's Police Commissioner, Muhammad Tambari Yabo said the dismissed policemen, Yusuf Ibrahim and Salisu Mahmud were found to be the prime suspects in the rape case, while Mohammed Dantalle, the inspector, was demoted for his complicity.

Mr Yabo said the three policemen were tried and found guilty at orderly room level. He said that he personally reviewed the outcome of the orderly room trial and handed them the punishment.

He also said plans are afoot to send the case diary to the state's Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for professional advice in prosecuting the three men.

On the civilian collaborators said to be linked with the crime, the commissioner said information available to the police showed that they have fled to Lagos and Ibadan. He said the command had already declared them wanted and circulated their photographs in those areas for easy apprehension.

Mr Yabo said the three civilians actively took part in the alleged crime alongside the policemen, and there will be no hiding place for them because soon the law will catch up with them.

"We will continue to do our work with the fear of God," he said. "We hope that the measures taken against the cops will help address the concern being raised by members of the public since the matter came to limelight last month."

The 16-year-old girl, name withheld, was abducted by some policemen who were on night patrol in Kano city. She was subsequently kept in captivity for 28 days inside a room at Kwali Police Station where she was serially raped....

A horror story

The teenager, who said she was a virgin before the incident, explained that one of the policemen who abducted her proceeded to give her to other men who also raped her and paid him for it. According to her, the policemen often used their official patrol vehicle to take her to the patrons.

Narrating her ordeal, the teenager recalled that she got on a motorcycle from Unguwa Uku, with the intention of returning home to Yakasai quarters after visiting her mother.

Her mother has been married to another man since the death of her father and she makes it a duty to visit her mother from the house of her grandparents in Yakasai.

She said while on her way home, the commercial motorcycle rider spotted a team of policemen on patrol a few metres ahead of them. It was still around 9pm. However, knowing that his motorcycle had no headlamp, the motorcyclist turned off his engine and pushed the bike until they got past the police.

"But as we got to the policemen, they asked him why he was moving with a girl," she said. "He replied that the motorcycle developed a problem. They now asked him if it still has fuel and he answered yes. One of the policemen collected the key from him and started the bike and thereafter challenged him for riding without light."

The policemen asked the motorcyclist to ride on and leave her behind. They told him they were going to take her home in their patrol vehicle and also asked her to go and wait for them in the police car.

She pleaded with the policemen to allow her to go home because she was sleepy. After keeping her until 2am, they drove with her into their barracks in Kwalli area where they locked her in a room and went away. She said Mr Yusuf later came in with a gun and threatened to kill her if she shouts, before proceeding to rape her.

"He threatened that if I didn't shut my mouth, he was going to shoot me with the gun. He slapped me and tore my shirt and pointing a gun to my face," she said.

A sex slave

She said she was later repeatedly raped by Mr. Yusuf and two other policemen, Dantalle and Salisu Dansanda, as well as three civilians, Shehu, Misbahu Mohammed and Sanusi Pele.

She added that she was even taken to an Indian hemp dealer and some other persons who raped her and paid the policemen some money afterwards. They came back to pick her up with the police patrol van the next day.

The teenager said during her 28-day captivity, apart from Mr Yusuf whom she said turned her into a sex-slave, each of the two policemen and the three civilians serially raped her and mostly without using condom.

She disclosed that when she managed to escape from her captors three weeks ago, her uncle went with her the next day to report at Kwalli police station. But the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the station begged the relatives to forgive his men and let the matter die.

The grandfather, who rejected the position of the DPO, instructed her brothers to take the matter up with the Hisbah, the state shari'ah law enforcement agency.

The secretary of the Hisbah board, Sunusi Salisu Aliyu, said when Mr. Yusuf was invited by his men for questioning and admitted abducting the girl but denied raping her.

"We wonder how the policeman failed to provide an answer as to why the police chose to hide a person they picked during patrol in a private room instead of registering her at the counter," Mr Aliyu said.

Calls for prosecution

The family said it has been under pressure by some police officers to abandon the case.

The Kano office of the Legal Aid Council has, through its coordinator, Nurudeen Ishola, said it is going to wade into the matter and take the girl's plight up with the Kano State Attorney General.

The National Human Rights Commission had also expressed concern at reports that policemen had tried to suppress evidence in the case, including attempting to persuade the victims' parents to abandon the case.

Renowned Islamic scholar, Tijjani Bala Kalarawi condemned the act and called on the authority not to only dismiss the officers but to take them to the court where the teenager can be compensated.

"This world is full of evil men," he said. "You can imagine people saddled with the responsibility of protecting the citizens would now deviate and carry out such bad act. It is a pity that this can happen in our society; these people must be brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others."

A group of concerned persons in Kano had also addressed the media, demanding the immediate trial of the suspected rapists.

The group, led by a lawyer, Abdulla Imam, called on both the state and the federal government to prosecute the accused persons. He said a group of lawyers were working together in respect of the case and vowed to pursue it until justice is done.

Read more…

3 Boys found alive after 50 days at sea

For three boys from the Tokelau Islands the word miracle has a whole new meaning.

After going missing following a sporting event in October, and after several unsuccessful searches by New Zealand's air force, they were presumed dead. About 500 people on the island held a memorial service for them.

But for Samuel Perez and Filo Filo, both 15, and Edward Nasau, 14, this story ended in the most unbelievable way - being rescued by a tuna ship near Fiji after 50 days at sea, according to Radio New Zealand.

Since October 5, the three survived with limited supply. They shared a single raw seagull and drank a tiny bit of rainwater. They eventually resorted to drinking small amounts of sea water, Australia's Herald Sun reported.

On Wednesday afternoon, their saga finally came to an end when the tuna boat, the San Nikunau, saw their small aluminum boat floating in the middle of open waters. They were and 807 miles (1,300 km) away from where they went missing....

'We got to them in a miracle," the first mate, Tai Fredricsen, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"They were in reasonably good spirits for how long they'd been adrift," Fredricsen told the Herald Sun. "They were very badly sunburnt. They were in the open during the day up in the tropics there. But really they just needed basic first aid."

Call it a miracle, or call it luck, but for these boys, it was a rescue that might not have happened if not for chance.

The tuna boat was fishing far from where it usually does, the crew told the Herald Sun. It was taking a shortcut home to New Zealand when it stumbled upon the boys.

The boys were being checked at a hospital but were ecstatic to finally be able to speak by phone to their families.

"They've got a lot of gusto, a lot of strong mental spirit," Fredricsen told the Morning Herald. "Physically they are very [distraught] but mentally they are very strong."

Read more…

12166293064?profile=original


Ladies PLEASE your Lives are literally in your HANDS ! USE Them, BREAST CANCER IS NOT A RESPECTER OF PERSONS !

The Comrade Governor of Edo State, Mr. Adams Oshiomole has reportedly lost his wife of many years, Mrs. Clara Oshiomole to breast Cancer. the woman who was last seen in public
some months back, died of the disease according to a source.

.Mrs. Clara Oshiomole, the wife of GovernorAdams Oshiomhole of Edo State has passed on. Vanguard uncovered that the deceased died after a battle with breast cancer.

Further inquest divulged that she died this morning, in Abuja with only about some days to her daughter’s wedding.

The 54 year old Edo First Lady had abstained from public functions because she was receiving treatment overseas and only returned to Nigeria some days ago for the daughter’s wedding slated for 19th of December .


Sadly as Liz Edwards below there are rumours of separation with the Comrade Governor before her passing.May her Soul Rest in Peace .




Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former presidential candidate, succumbs to cancer at 61

Elizabeth Edwards, who as the wife of former Sen. John Edwards gave America an intimate look at a candidate's marriage by sharing his quest for the 2008 presidential nomination as she struggled with incurable cancer and, secretly, with his infidelity, died Tuesday. She was 61.

Her family confirmed the death, saying Mrs. Edwards was surrounded by relatives when she died at her Chapel Hill, N.C., home. A family friend said John Edwards was present. Two family friends said Monday that Mrs. Edwards' cancer had spread to her liver and that doctors had advised against further medical treatment.

She posted a Facebook message to friends the same day, saying, "I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces — my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope."

"The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that," she added.

Mrs. Edwards spent much of her life as a little-known lawyer and mother. That changed when her husband became a U.S. senator, presidential candidate and Democratic nominee for vice president, propelling her into the spotlight as a smart, plain-spoken wife and key adviser to her husband.

She later became a figure of sympathy as she battled breast cancer and dealt with her husband's infidelity. Her public image shifted again in recent years: the scorned woman whose husband fathered a child with another woman.

She and John Edwards separated early this year but remained close.


Read more…
Mrs. Mary Oshemi has the unique honour of being the second oldest woman in Igarra, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, in Edo State. The grand old woman, in this interview with JAMES AZANIA, reminisces on old times, including periods when stories about slavery did not appear too distant, and she and her peers made for the bush at the sight of the white man.


Mary Oshemi



It took grandmother Mary Oshemi less than 25 minutes of getting to her home to get set for this interview; and by the time she walked into the sitting room, the delay was to enable her three other children to join Peter, a former vice-chairman of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area and the youngest, for the interview to commence. Immediately the others, led by Mrs. Beatrice Apeji came into the house, the session began in earnest.

The first question was how the subject of her age came about, knowing that when she was born, literacy wasn't as widespread as it is now. It was Peter that came in at this point, saying, "I knew it through one of my late aunties and the eldest man in Igarra today, the Oshemi Anayinmi of Igarra, Chief J. A. Sani (102). The immediate younger sister to Sani was of the same age with my mother. When that man's younger sister died, I asked and Sani told me then (about four years ago). At 95 years then, if the deceased was older than my mother at all, then my mother is between 98 and 99 years today."

It was now Grandma Mary's turn to tell us about her surviving age mates, and this she answered very clearly in the Igarra dialect, which was later interpreted to English Language. From observation, Mary has sharp grasp of any question, as she turns to look directly at who is asking her the question, promptly providing the answer. Her gaze is intense too. Of surviving age mates, she says, "It's only one that is alive today that I can remember; Mrs. Atosu."

Mary now takes charge, in an effort to say it as it is. She explains what she felt was necessary, and begin, "Four of my children are living now, while the more senior ones are late, the most senior of which would have been around 74 of age today, were she alive. These are my surviving children. I lost my husband in November 1980, and since then, the children have been my companion."

Mary, who combines being a housewife with native clothes weaving, recalls with fond memories her late husband, who was a farmer and traditional title holder. So also does she have good memory of her early days, including why she missed going to school.

According to her, "When I was of school age, my father, late Chief Amune Ofei, said he did not have money to send me to school, and above that, being his eldest daughter, I was the one who will give him water in the farm."

She continues, "In our days, we used to see Europeans come to Igarra, but I did not have any encounter with them. In our own time, whenever we saw the Europeans, we ran into the farm. Great politicians came to our area too - Awolowo and Zik came to Igarra to campaign, but as women, we were not privileged to come out. As a matter of fact, we used to run away for fear that it was tax-drive.

"And, don't forget that the tales of slavery, when Europeans came to trick our people with mirror, were not too distant then. I knew when they (white men) brought salt and distributed to members of the community. We would go in the morning to queue up for our share. That was in the 1940s."

Mary explains that she does not recall particularly sad moments, as family and friends make her happy, while other cherished memories also make her happy.

"There are friends and family members around; but when my husband died, I was not happy. When I married was a happy period for me and the times I gave birth to my children."

On the secret of long life, Mary says longevity runs in her family. The first child of her parents, she lost her immediate younger sister, Mrs. Abigail Dawodu, recently. The late sister was interned last week.

Beatrice (69) comes in at this point in support of her mother, chipping in some facts about her mother's culinary skills and things they observed about her.

She says, "Our mother eats well and is happy mostly, but she was pained the day her first daughter died, in 2000; and lately when she lost her younger sister, Abigail." At this point, Mary gets up to bring photographs showing her younger days, while Beatrice resumes the talk.

She says of her mother, "She is highly recognised for her age. For instance, there are ceremonies where, as the second oldest woman in Igarra, she is accorded some rights; and based on this, when events such as child dedication, house warming and even obituaries take place, they bring her special dues in recognition."

Mary, in her neatly done native Ankara blouse and wrapper apparel, comes in with her hands full of photographs, while one of her grandchildren holds on to her, as we all sit down to look through. Is she happy? It seems so, as Mary, surrounded by some of her loved ones, discusses every picture picked.

Read more…
Picture-1.pngAs the United States and China battle over the finer points of currency manipulation at the G-20 summit, American negotiators may want to take note of this startling testimonial to the productivity of Chinese workers: A construction crew in the south-central Chinese city of Changsha has completed a 15-story hotel in just six days. If nothing else, this remarkable achievement will stoke further ..complaints from American economic pundits that China's economy is far more accomplished than ours in tending to such basics as construction.


Meanwhile, it's easy to imagine the disorientation of Changsha residents who'd gone away, or who just hadn't recently ventured into the downtown neighborhood of the new Ark Hotel: "Honey, I don't remember a hotel there, do you?"

The work crew erected the hotel -- a soundproofed, thermal-insulated structure reportedly built to withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake -- with all prefabricated materials. In other words, a crew of off-site factory workers built the sections, and their on-site counterparts arranged them on the foundation for the Ark project.


Despite the frenetic pace of construction, no workers were injured -- and thanks to the prefab nature of the process, the builders wasted very few construction materials. Below is a time-lapse video that shows the hotel being built from the ground up in less than a week:

Read more…

Rosh Hashanah DAY !

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה‎, literally "head of the year," Israeli: Hebrew pronunciation: [ˈʁoʃ haʃaˈna], Ashkenazic: ˈɾoʃ haʃːɔˈnɔh, Yiddish:[ˈrɔʃəˈʃɔnə]) is a Jewish holiday commonly referred to as the "Jewish New Year." It is observed on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar.[1] It is ordained in the Torah as "Zicaron Terua" ("a memorial with the blowing of horns"), in Leviticus 23:24. Rosh Hashanah is the first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim ("Days of Awe"), or Asseret Yemei Teshuva (Ten Days of Repentance) which are days specifically set aside to focus on repentance that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashanah is the start of the civil year in the Hebrew calendar (one of four "new year" observances that define various legal "years" for different purposes as explained in the Mishnah and Talmud). It is the new year for people, animals, and legal contracts. The Mishnah also sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and sabbatical (shmita) and jubilee (yovel) years. Jews believe Rosh Hashanah represents either analogically or literally the creation of the World, or Universe. However, according to one view in the Talmud, that of R. Eleazar, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of man, which entails that five days earlier, the 25 of Elul, was the first day of creation of the Universe.[2]

The Mishnah, the core text of Judaism's oral Torah, contains the first known reference to Rosh Hashanah as the "day of judgment." In the Talmud tractate on Rosh Hashanah it states that three books of account are opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and those of an intermediate class are recorded. The names of the righteous are immediately inscribed in the book of life, and they are sealed "to live." The middle class are allowed a respite of ten days, until Yom Kippur, to repent and become righteous; the wicked are "blotted out of the book of the living."[3]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah



For secular Jews


It would happen each fall around the Jewish new year. At the very time when renewal was in the autumn air, Arnold Barnett, an engineer from Moorestown, would go into a mild funk. His wife eventually figured it out: He was less than enamored with high holiday synagogue services.


"He simply wasn't engaged by what went on inside our Reform synagogue, or with the traditional approach to Judaism," said Ellen, 70. "I knew he was struggling. So sometimes, I would just go to services alone."


Then last year, the Barnetts saw a small notice in a local Jewish newspaper about a recently formed group in South Jersey. "We went to a meeting that was focused on Jewish history," Arnold, 71, recalls, "and that was something I could relate to. It was much more appealing."


And so the Barnetts will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, which begins Wednesday at sundown, by meeting Sunday with like-minded members of South Jersey Secular Jews - a group of people who may or may not believe in God, but do believe in caring about the world and one another, respecting and understanding Jewish history, and celebrating a culture that has meaning and emotional pull.


"The most important aspect of secularism is the survival and continuity of the Jewish people," said Paul Shane, a native New Yorker now living in Philadelphia and married to the daughter of Holocaust survivors.


Shane, 75, a member of the more established Philadelphia Secular Jewish Organization, believes humans are responsible for what happens on Earth. The here and now is central, and actions speak louder than words.


That philosophy resembles traditional Judaism. But secular Jews and traditional Jews part company when it comes to accepting religious dogma.


If you're secular, God is optional. (Traditional Judaism has "God at its heart. That's not an option," said Rabbi Ethan Franzel of Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim in Wynnewood.) Also, life-cycle events are handled individually - for instance, there are no set burial or wedding traditions in secular Judaism.


Of course secularism, in which one adheres to cultural norms rather than religious ones, is hardly new. During the Renaissance, from 1450 to 1600, and the Enlightenment in the 18th century, many Jews shed the God-oriented elements of their Jewishness, according to Shane, a professor of social policy at Rutgers University in Newark. That shedding also continued in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.


What's different today is that a growing number of secular Jews are finding one another, forming groups, and practicing the social responsibility Judaism requires - minus the synagogue.


Rifke Feinstein, executive director of the national Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations, says there are approximately 2,000 affiliated secular Jews in the United States. But because seculars typically are unaffiliated, and therefore uncounted, estimates for the entire American secular population range from 8,000 to 40,000.


In the Philadelphia area, there are six such organizations for secular Jews - including the five-year-old South Jersey Secular Jews - all under the local umbrella cooperative venture called Kehilla for Secular Jews.


For many people, discovering that such an organization exists has been a relief.


" 'I thought I was the only one!' is what people often express when they discover that they are not alone in their secular relationship to their Jewishness," said Larry Angert, 59, a member of 11-year-old Shir Shalom: A Havurah for Secular Jews. "The Jewish tent is big, and there's room for all of us in it."


Some local secular groups, like Philadelphia's Sholom Aleichem Club, which started in 1954, and Philadelphia Workmen's Circle, founded nationally in 1900 to aid Jewish immigrant workers and to promote Yiddish, have graying memberships. Bob Kleiner, 85, of Elkins Park, a retired sociology professor at Temple University, and his wife, Frances, a teacher of Yiddish, both long active in the secular movement, lament that younger people are not actively involved in these historic groups.


But the formation of new groups, such as South Jersey Secular Jews, is evidence the movement still has traction.


Credit Naomi Scher, 64, of Cherry Hill, whose children attended the Jewish Children's Folkshul, another Kehilla group, which is a parent-run cooperative held at Springside School in Philadelphia. About 100 children receive their Jewish education, not in a traditional Hebrew school but in classes that nourish social justice and individual responsibility. Bar and bat mitzvah aspirants undertake personally meaningful projects that they ultimately share with the entire Folkshul community.


Although Scher formed relationships with parents of her children's classmates, commuting to Philadelphia became burdensome once her children graduated, and in 2005, the retired social worker decided to start a secular group closer to home.


What began as a gathering of eight to 10 people now regularly attracts 30, meeting monthly with speakers who address social and political concerns, Scher said.


Deborah Chaiken, 74, of Palmyra is delighted to have a group close to home. "In the formal Jewish community, I felt that I didn't really have a voice. Here, I know that I do."


Dues are $25 a year, and participants are asked to bring food for potluck dinners. Meetings are held on the second Sunday of the month at Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill..


South Jersey Secular Jews members Cary and Bilha Hillebrand of Cherry Hill call the group a welcome addition to the local landscape. For Bilha, 54, the philosophy of the group is more in keeping with that of her native Israel, where the majority of the population leads a more secular lifestyle.


"We are not in any way antireligious," says Cary, 60. "We hold the belief that we are responsible for what happens to ourselves and to the world. And to us, that's the essence of what religion is, and should be."






Read more…

IBB "bribes" Journalists

Five months ago, a friend of mine, who edits a national daily, sent me a text message agreeing substantially with my column, ‘The Punch and the rest of us’, except the generalised conclusion that “all (journalists) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the profession”. There are still some journalists, he submits, who toe the narrow path of integrity. Of course I knew where he was coming from, but I also knew the context in which I had made that statement.

I revisit that statement in light of the stories spewing out of the political beat, specifically on the race for the 2011 presidential elections and how it affects the integrity of news.

As part of the effort to sell his candidature for the presidency, former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) invited as many as 40 journalists to his Minna home on August 14 for an interview. I have heard questions asked about why he should invite journalists to his home instead of a public place if he didn’t have an ulterior motive, and why he should offer monetary gifts to the journalists in the name of paying for their transportation.

One news medium, which has championed this opposition in the open, is the online agency, Sahara Reporters. According to SR each of the journalists received N10 million for heeding Babangida’s call on his presidential ambition. That is N400 million just for one night’s interview from an aspirant yet to win his party’s nomination if it were true. But it was not. When some of the journalists complained about the fictional sum, SR changed the story on August 19, saying it was just “a paltry N250, 000 each”. Rather than admit its initial error SR simply said, “our accountants have told us that going by the number of 40 journalists in attendance, we are still around the same ballpark of N10 million”. So much for credible reporting!

Three days later, SR followed up with ‘IBB and his Rogue Journalists’, accusing the journalists of roguery and professional misconduct; roguery, because they collected money from two sources—their employers who presumably authorised and funded the trip and their news source, IBB; misconduct because it is unethical for them to demand/receive gratification from news sources for their services.

And on August 23 in ‘IBB Nocturnal Press Parley: Punch fires Editorial board Chairman’, SR stayed on top of the story by reporting that Adebolu Arowolo, editorial board chairman of the Punch, had lost his job for going on that trip without his management’s approval..

Read more…
Lohanx-wide-community.jpgLindsay Lohan will spend 90 days in jail and 90 days in rehab forblowing off nine alcohol-education classes, a Beverly Hills judge ruledthis afternoon.

"It's like someone who cheats but doesn't think it's cheating if they don't get caught," Judge Marsha Revel saidin finding that Lohan had violated the terms of her probation forreckless driving and two DUI charges from 2007. Revel noted severalinstances over the last few years in which the actress lied about takingdrugs and drinking.

A teary Lohan addressed the court before being sentenced.. She said that "as far as I knew I was in compliancewith my programs."

"I wasn't trying to get special treatment," said the actress, whose credits include Mean Girls, FreakyFriday and Herbie Fully Loaded. "I have to provide formyself. I have to work. Having said that, I did everything to balance myjobs and showing up. I'm not taking this as a joke. It's my life. It'smy career. ... I take responsibility for my actions. I've tried to dothe best I can. It's been such a long haul, I don't want you to thinkthat I don't respect you."

After she's out of jail, Lohan must do 90 days in a rehab center. She'll surrender in two weeks.

Read more…
You are messing with the Wrong Female !
Minister of Information and Communications, Prof Dora Akunyili, has rejected the explanation offered by Minister of Special Duties, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, over the latter’s statement about her considered to be libellous.

Prof Dora Akunyili
Akunyili[1].jpg


advertisement: Systemini Technologies Internet Consultants www.systemini.net info@systemini.net

A letter written by KOP Odidika, principal partner of Sower & Messuarius Solicitors, dated February 11, 2010, said that Aondoakaa’s explanation on the statement he made about Akunyili “begged the issue.”

The letter said that by saying, “what she is trying to do is self-seeking: let her go and confront herself with what happened in NAFDAC,” Aondoakaa obviously libelled Akunyili.

It said that ever since Aondoakaa made the statement, Akunyili has been inundated with telephone calls from people who think that there was something she did wrong when she was director general of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Akunyili’s lawyers, therefore, demanded a clear apology from Aondoakaa, within seven days, to be published prominently in the media.

They said failure to do this would leave them with no alternative than to press charges against Aondoakaa. The letter, entitled: “Libellous publication against Prof Dora N. Akunyili,” reads: “We are the solicitors to Prof Dora N. Akunyili, on whose behalf and instruction we write to you in connection with the above subject matter. It is our instruction that you issued a statement, which was published on Monday the 8th of February 2010 in a widely circulating national newspaper, The Nation, wherein you said, inter alia: “Bringing the memo to Federal Executive Council is just to make herself an angel.

She wants to be seen as populist. Whatever she wants from it is still personal. None of the FEC members has disrespect to the Vice-President. As far as we are concerned, the VP is our leader and he is leading us. What she is trying to do is self-seeking: let her go and confront herself with what happened in NAFDAC”.

“Our client has been inundated with telephone calls and personal enquiries from numerous people about your said statement concerning the implication that she did something wrong while she was the Director General of NAFDAC. She duly informed you of these enquiries and demanded, by her letter to you, dated February 8, 2010, that you confirm the authenticity of the authorship of the statement and if confirmed to supply full particulars of your allegations of her misdeeds in NAFDAC to which you alluded.

“By your letter of February 9, 2010 addressed to our client, you admitted making the statement but most disingenuously tried to put a spin on an otherwise clear and unambiguous statement that has only one interpretation, to wit: that our client committed some untoward acts while at the helm of affairs in NAFDAC.

“There is no doubt that as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, you are presumed to be conversant with not only legal matters but with English Language as well. Whilst one can concede your privilege to use any language, no matter how crude and unbecoming of a lawyer and public servant, in your private home and office, same should be tempered and civilized when describing and referring to another person.

“More regrettable is the fact that your libellous publication was against our client whose integrity has been unimpeachable. Her tenure at NAFDAC can accurately be described as the golden years of that establishment as no other head, whether prior to, or subsequent to her appointment, has achieved so much as to even merit comparison with her.

“Our client, therefore, finds it totally unacceptable that her peers and generality of Nigerians have begun to question her integrity and now consider her a disreputable person because of the statement you made. Your said letter of February 9, 2010, therefore, begs the issue.

“We hereby demand that you issue a clear apology to our client and cause the said apology to be published prominently in the media, including The Nation newspaper. Please take notice that unless this demand is met within seven days from the date hereof we shall commence legal proceedings, against you to compel obedience and seek financial compensation for the injury done to our client’s reputation.”

It will be recalled that Aondoakaa, in letter dated February 9, 2010 to Akunyili, said although he was misquoted, his statement was a compliment. His letter to Akunyili said: I wish to draw your attention to the above subject matter conveyed to me by your letter dated 8th February 2010.

“While much of the quoted words in your letter can rightly be ascribed to me, the impact of the last sentence to the effect that “…Let her go and confront herself with what happened in NAFDAC” was meant to be in the positive but was wrongly presented in the negative.

“The correct impact of the above words that the Hon Minister had already earned a reputation for herself while at NAFDAC and needs not seek to do more by embarking on the present course of action to the detriment of a resolution already adopted unanimously by members of the FEC.

“Accept the assurances of my highest regards and consideration.”
Read more…
It has been revealed how Super Eagles striker, Obafemi Martins, extranvagantly squandered about N3.1 trillions while a player of Newcastle.MartinsadvertisementHis former management company, NVA Management Limited who has dragged the player to court over breach of contarct, told the jury how the player’s account almost went red because of his lifestyle.Obafemi Martins was paid £75,000, but allegedly squandered the earnings on an extravagant lifestyleA former Premiership footballer routinely blew his £75,000 a week wages in a matter of days and was constantly overdrawn, a court was told yesterday.Obafemi, ex-Newcastle striker 25, was paid the handsome salary after he joined the club for a £10million fee in August 2006.But despite his extraordinary earnings, his former management team yesterday claimed they repeatedly bailed him out after his bank account continually slipped into the red.The High Court heard that the Nigerian international player would withdraw £40,000 in cash from his bank account at the end of the week.But that would only last him two days, the court heard, as he topped up with a further £25,000 on the Monday morning.He was always overdrawn and repeatedly relied upon NVA Management Limited to ‘manage his life’, the High Court was told.Martins, who owned several fast cars including a top of the range Porsche 4X4, spent the money funding an extravagant lifestyle of luxurious penthouse homes and fine dining.He is now being sued by his former management company which claims that he still owes them 300,000 for sorting out his finances.He told the court that Martins would withdraw £40,000 for the weekend, followed by another £25,000 on the Monday.‘Despite earning these vast sums of money he was constantly overdrawn,’ added Mr Tennink.He said the firm, which looks after the affairs of several footballers, film and music stars, said that Martins had agreed to pay them for simply managing his life.It was under their stewardship that Martins agreed a £2million image rights deal ‘simply for being Mr Martins’.It’s claimed Martins was constantly overdrawn despite earning £75,000-a-weekHe also had lucrative sponsorship deals with various companies including Pepsi and Nike but had not been paid.When the company stepped in to run his affairs they sorted the unpaid contracts, bringing in thousands of pounds.They also organised visas when he travelled to Italy, where he once played for Inter Milan, and sorted out his passport, his mortgage and property valuations.They even arranged critical illness cover and were constantly running up and down the motorway from their London offices to Newcastle in a bid to do all that he required.‘But surely these were things a secretary could do?’ asked Judge Richard Seymour QC, referring to the size of fees charged.‘It was a Jeeves-type of role that they performed.’Mr Tennink protested that managing every aspect of his life was just part of what they did, and asked the judge to bear in mind the sort of figures these players earned.He said Martins had come to them in July 2007 and had agreed a fee of around £300,000 plus 20 per cent of any sponsorship monies they managed to acquire on his behalf.“He asked for these services to be carried out,” Mr Tennink told the court.Before they managed his affairs, Martins had not been paid a penny for his image rights for the use of his name on Newcastle shirts and mugs and had received nothing from his sponsorship deals.He could not even find the contracts he had originally signed, Mr Tennink added.Martins paid the company £67,500 in January last year and another £25,000 in April last year.But the question for the court to decide, said Mr Tennink, was whether there was a ‘binding obligation’ for him to pay the outstanding bill of over £300,000.After Newcastle were relegated from the Premiership last summer Martins was sold for £9million to German Bundesliga Champions Wolfsburg.Martins, who once owned a penthouse apartment overlooking Newcastle’s exclusive Quayside, is fighting the claim.The hearing is scheduled to last for three days.
Read more…
The recent death of Lekan Benson Adelaja and others in boats mishap in a Lagos community, just seven days after his wedding, has generated many controversies between his family and his wife’s. Adewale Ajayi reports. When the family of Benson Adelaja gathered on August 1 to consummate the marriage of their son, Lekan to Sunbo in Ikenne, Ogun State, they never knew that the joy of their son getting married would be short-lived . The family never had any inkling that the husband would die a week after his wedding, although there was a spiritual warning handed over to Lekan’s mother that his son should not travel out of his town Sagamu, Ogun State, some days after his wedding, a warning which his mother was said to have repeated to him. On August 7, a Friday , Lekan was said to have left Sagamu to attend a party organised by his boss somewhere in Ajah , Eti Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State. He was said to have travelled in company of his wife, younger sister, two of his friends , and his boss’s wife, who was said to have been picked up in Ikorodu for the trip. They drove to Baiyeku, in Ikorodu Local Government Area, and decided to make the rest of the trip by canoe , which transports people from that area to Ajah and Langbasa. Lekan parked his car, a metallic colour Honda Accord with registration number KC 906 KJA by the shore of the river, and off they went. Less than 10 minutes after, the canoe left the shore and, still within the vicinity of the shore, capsized , it ran into strong ocean waves , which damaged the steering of the boat engine. The canoe capsized, , throwing its about 26 passengers overboard. The sailor of another canoe, which had six passengers had, on the scene of the accident, attempted to rescue the passengers of the capsized canoe. But that also capsized, and the passengers in the two canoes were discharged into the lagoon. With the assistance of fishermen, divers and marine policemen that came on board, some passengers were rescued, among whom was Lekan. He, however, took a plunge into the lagoon when his wife, Sunbo, was not found. Eventually, his wife was rescued, and a search for him and others continued. On that day, five people were said to have been rescued alive, out of whom two dropped dead before medical aid could reach them, while five corpses were also said to have been brought out of the lagoon, including that of a woman with a baby strapped to her back. The baby was still alive. Of the three rescued, one survivor was said to have swam to the shore. The rescue operation was put on hold till the next day , which was a Saturday, exactly a week after Lekan consummated his marriage to Sunbo. The salvage operation was put on hold because it was assumed that the victims would have died, as they had not been found three hours after the incident, and that their corpses would be found floating on the river by the next day. On Saturday, the environment became tense; the entire community was in a mournful mood, as friends and relatives of those who came in search of their loved ones bewailed their loss. Friends of Lekan from Ijagba, in Sagamu, Ogun State, besieged the town, demanding for explanations on why such a thing should happen to their pal, and blaming the boat operators for failing to provide safety measures like life jackets for their passengers . They wondered why such a thing should happen to him barely a week after his marriage. While some wailed to register their displeasure, others threatened to set ablaze, the houses in the community. Though they were prevented from doing that, the canoe operators’ office was not spared. It was vandalised, and the locally-made life jackets hung on the wall were destroyed and thrown into the lagoon. Those whose relatives were yet to be found were seen moving up and down the shore of the lagoon with drawn faces, while others glued their eyes to the lagoon, perhaps probing it for swallowing their loved ones. On the third day of the incident, a Sunday, six swollen corpses were found. Among them was Lekan’s, his friend’s and his sister-in-law’s. The atmosphere became charged, as members of his family became enraged, blaming his wife for contributing to his death, arguing that if he had not taken the risk of plunging into the lagoon , in search of the wife, he would probably have been alive today. The two families that had, a week earlier, exchanged pleasantries when giving out their children in marriage , suddenly became enemies , and Lekan’s friends threatened to beat them up. It took the intervention of members of Baiyeku community and the policemen drafted to the town to restore order. In line with the Yoruba tradition , to the effect that anyone who dies in a river , lagoon , sea or brook should be buried at its bank , it was unanimously agreed that the corpses be buried at the bank of the lagoon . In other to scare the women and other lily-livered men away from the burial site, the Oro (traditional ritual which women were forbidden to watch) was invoked, while the corpses were ferried to the portion earmarked for their burial with a boat, and the corpses floated on the lagoon, tied to the canoe. It was an emotion-laden event, as relatives of the deceased wept , as the corpses were being pulled from the lagoon into their grave. Commenting on the incident, Mr Kunle Jegede, who claimed to have been traveling to Ajah on boat en route Baiyeku in the last seven years, said the boat operators should be blamed for the incident, because many of them usually overloaded their boats and failed to provide life jackets for their passengers. He explained that government should also share part of the blame , explaining that despite the approval given to the boat operators by the government, they were not being properly monitored. He explained further that the boat in question had once been involved in an accident at Majidun, near Ikorodu town, and that this was why it was barred from loading in the area, and was eventually taken to Baiyeku . Another boat operator in Baiyeku, Mr. Segun Omogunle, said officials of the Lagos State Water Traffic Management Authority (LASTWA) had, on many occasions, arrested the boat operators, and that in the last one year, they have been arrested more than 20 times for failing to comply with laid-down regulations for operation. He explained that on one occasion, the marine police impounded three of the boats because they lacked the necessary facilities, and they had to bribe the police with N60,000 before the boats were released . Speaking on the development, the head of the community, Chief Kehinde Ogunyera, said such a sad incident had never occurred in the past 70 years of his existence. He explained that the council of chiefs in the community usually took time off to monitor the activities of the boat operators, and that they usually complied with the conditions and rules given to them. He said they never overloaded their boats, as claimed by some people, and that the life jackets they used were the brand recommended for them, and were not inferior as claimed . Chief Ogunyera stated that, many times , the passengers refused to wear life jacket given to them , giving the excuse that they might contact disease by wearing it , because people afflicted with a disease might have worn it before. A spiritual dimension was, however, introduced by some people, who blamed the community for failing to make sacrifices to the water goddess, arguing that the river goddess was probably angry. Some blamed Lekan for refusing to abide by the spiritual instruction given to him through his mother, which forbade him from going out of his town, Sagamu, for some days. Buttressing that fact, Lekan’s boss, Chief Muyideen Oladegun, said although Lekan had been travelling on that lagoon for over seven years, and that he and Lekan used that route many times, he had warned him against attending the ill-fated party, having earlier on reminded him of the spiritual message which forbade him from going out of his town for some days after his wedding. While those who lost their loved ones are bemoaning their ill-fortune, it is necessary for the state government, which has made known its intention to popularize water transportation, to make sure that most of the private boat operators who are given approval are closely monitored, to prevent tragedies such as the one that claimed passengers.
Read more…

Blog Topics by Tags

  • in (506)
  • to (479)
  • of (339)
  • ! (213)
  • as (166)
  • is (157)
  • a (156)

Monthly Archives