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"This is a warning to you. It has come to our notice that you have produced a video about the problem in the Niger-Delta without proper consultations regarding the true state of affairs in the area. You are hereby warned not to release that video or be faced with grave consequences.   We are very well informed about your daily routine and that of your child. Your address is 35 Colorado Close, Maitama, Minister's Hill and your child schools at Ecole Francais Marcel-Pagnol d'Abuja, Durumi district,Abuja. Be warned"!   Amata and wife   Those who have watched the movie said it amy have revealed some uncomfortable secrets behind the struggle of the Niger-Delta and how some disgruntled leaders are playing politics with the lives of the citizens. These and more are what the said group does not want to be a public knowledge. The Niger Delta region of Nigeria has 606 Oil-fields and exports 50% of all its oil resources to the United States and is the world's capital of oil pollution. Corrupt government officials, greedy oil companies and violent rebels go on a war path over oil spills and the degradation of the land caused by oil exploration The film x-rays fifty years of uncorrected oil spills and lack of clean-up which has destroyed the environment and ecosystems leaving the area almost uninhabitable while obliterating the livelihood of its residents costing them basic human rights such as health, access to food, clean water, and an ability to work. Black Gold was to be premiered on February 24th at the Silverbird Galleria in Lagos but the latest developments may have distrupted the plans of the movie producers. The film has an impressive casts, starring Mbong Amata, Tom Sizemore, Vivica Fox, Billy Zane, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Sarah Wayne Callies, Razaaq Adoti, Dede Mabiaku, Eric Roberts, Larry Manetti and Michael Madsen. The film produced by Starkid productions owned by American based Nigeria, Ori Ayomike, was directed by Jeta Amata in collaboration with Suzanne DeLaurentiis was shot in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and in Los Angeles, California.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has demanded the extradition of a 26-year old Nigerian, Olaniyi Makinde, in connection with e-mail scams currently valued at about USD800,000.

A source at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the FBI is particularly interested in Mr. Makinde, who is currently standing trial in Ondo State, because of the peculiarity of the scam method which involved remotely breaking into the accounts system of an online payroll company in California, Intuit Inc.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the EFCC, Femi Babafemi, declined to speak in details about the case but our source also said that the EFCC and the FBI have been working together on this case since last year adding that while the FBI would like to try Mr. Makinde in the US, the EFCC want him tried in Nigeria...

Amongs other charges in the 23-count charge brought against the 26-year old, the EFCC said that Mr. Makinde managed to manipulate the American online payroll system to deposit cash in his Intercontinental and Ecobank accounts in Nigeria.

“He installed malicious codes in several victims’ personal computers with which he fraudulently stole their bank information to steal $600, 000,” an official document obtained by NEXT said.

“Because of that boy, three FBI agents came to Nigeria in October. They wanted to see the person that could carry out this deal offshore,” our source at the EFCC said.

The accused, Mr. Makinde, who also goes by the aliases Olaniyi James and Andrea Bradley, recently graduated from the University of Ado Ekiti with a degree in Economics and is scheduled to take part in the compulsory National Youth Service scheme.

He however remains in the custody of Nigeria’s anti-graft agency which said that if convicted of the over 20 count charges brought against him, Mr. Makinde could serve as much as 60 years in jail.

I remember sitting in Mr. Kayode’s geography class in secondary school, an atlas in hand looking at political boundaries; countries way beyond my reach. “I will reach the North Pole,” I often said to friends and family, oblivious to the fact that I was sitting in tropical sub-Saharan Africa and had never seen snow at that time.

Never in my wildest thoughts would I have imagined realizing my specific childhood dream was a few votes and judges away.

Reaching the Arctic Circle seemed a precursor; this imaginary line I’d only traced fingers across on a map. Over the summer, I took a road trip along Sweden’s eastern coast towards the Arctic Circle with my parents.

We finally arrived unceremoniously at the “sign”. Getting out of the car, Mom casually tossed her black scarf over her shoulders, sunglasses resting on her face.

“Where is it?” she asked.

“This is it,” I responded.

“The Arctic Circle?” She wasn’t sure..

“Yes!”

“But where is the thing?” She prodded.

“There is no ‘thing’. It’s an imaginary line.” I tried to explain.

“Hmm…Ok then, let’s get back in quickly before a moose gets us…”

--

As an experienced travel writer, blogger, and photographer, documenting our polar expedition exceptionally through engaging narrative reports and vivid photography will be an absolute honor and once-in-a-lifetime experience for me and Quark Expeditions.

The wind will bellow in an eerie yet welcoming fashion. Frigid waves will trash against the ice breaker, intimidating yet slowly guiding us north. We will sail past dramatic towers of icebergs, awe struck. Whales will surface to observe us visitors, ensuring we proceed reverently. Voyeuristically taking in fluffy white polar bears and corduroy brown walruses through my lens, a glimpse into the wonders of our world will be offered up.

I will blog, tweet, photograph, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Facebook like crazy too...sharing our incredible expedition through social and traditional media outlets with everyone who dares to dream beyond the status quo.

I will scribble "epiphanies" into a spanking new journal, filling pages with dreams and experiences leading up to this grand moment.

Finally landing on centuries-old ice at the top of the world, I will scream at the top of my lungs… “I’m a loooong way from Africa!”

Please cast your fair and honest vote to fulfill this once unreachable dream.

http://www.blogyourwaytothenorthpole.com/entries/15

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) does not have to wait on President Goodluck Jonathan before it decides to prosecute the speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties has said.

The group’s publicity secretary, Osita Okechukwu, yesterday in a statement queried the need for presidential intervention before a corruption case could be investigated and enforced. “CNPP had perused all the 41 Sections of the EFCC Act and the Acts establishing other agencies and could not trace any section which mandates any of them to report to the presidency,” he said. The group however stated that EFCC chairman, Farida Waziri, has no excuse to give Nigerians for her failure to prosecute not only Mr. Bankole and his cohorts; but others such as ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s involvement in the Halliburton scandal, and those who inflated the N63 billion Airport runways and other financial scandals..

Fighting corruption

The group, however, commended Mr Jonathan for stating clearly that the anti-graft agencies are independent agencies empowered by law to investigate and prosecute cases without recourse to him and indeed do not need to report to him. “We commend President Jonathan for this clarification, for Farida Waziri, chairperson of EFCC, had penultimate week averred that she had concluded the investigation of the N2.3 billion car scam in the House of Representatives, but had submitted the report to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and was waiting for President Jonathan to settle before re-submission,” said Mr Okechukwu. “CNPP challenges Mrs Waziri to hit the road and prosecute ...Mr Bankole and indeed the entire leadership of the House for the monumental corruption, which had regrettably converted the House into a brawl riddled Trade Centre.” CNPP however warned that without a renewed war against corruption, Mr Jonathan’s pledge to actualize adequate power supply, free and fair elections in 2011 and Vision 20-20 will be undermined.

As backstabbing & Front Stabbers are now legal in 9ja

Photo:EvilGeniusLaughing evil laugh "uhuuuahhaahhhhaaa Naija people are fools !" Abiola inset:

Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s former military dictator, yesterday said that he was willing to have the late Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 general elections “immortalised.”

Mr. Babangida, while responding to questions from aviation correspondents at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), disclosed that Abiola fought for Nigeria’s democracy and his efforts should be recognised.

“I think it is good at long last that somebody is trying to acknowledge the efforts of Chief M. K. O. Abiola. We cannot deny him the fact that he fought for democracy, and I am glad that the government is accepting it.

“Also, I want to see a situation whereby he will be immortalised as a person who fought for democracy in this country,” Mr. Babangida said.

Babangida’s doublespeak

Ironically, Mr. Babangida annulled the June 12, 1993 election, which was adjudged as the country’s freest and fairest election. The annulment was the catalyst for a series of events which forced Mr. Babangida to “step aside” and hand over to an Interim National Government, headed by Ernest Shonekan, who hails from Abeokuta, like Abiola. Three months after, Mr. Shonekan was deposed by the late Sani Abacha, a General and Chief of Defence Staff, who later arrested Abiola until he died in detention.

The former Nigerian leader, who has expressed interest in running for the 2011 general elections, disclosed that he would prefer that an institution be named after the late Abiola, adding that it would be a lasting bequest to the 1993 general elections winner.

“Well, there are so many things, but I will leave that to government. I want to see maybe an institution named after him that talks only about democracy. That is the most enduring legacy we can give MKO,” he said.

Dropping presidential ambition

Asked about his response to calls by Nigerians and especially that of former Nigerian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Maitama Sule, who said that Mr. Babangida and former head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, should not contest the 2011 presidential elections, the former military helmsman said that everybody is entitled to his or her opinion.

“This is democracy,” he said. “You may have 150 million opinions. I have my own opinion and he has his own, you cannot deny him.”

He disclosed that when it is time, Nigerians will know. “The time has not come; when we get to the bridge we will cross it,” he said.

Regarding the number of political parties, the former president said that the lesser the number of political parties in the country, the better for the nation’s democracy.

“I am not a believer in 51 parties. The smaller, the better for democracy, and then everybody will have a place to be accommodated. But you see, there are so many little ones and everybody moves towards the winning party,” he said.

“I think it is better for this country to run a manageable party, than maybe three, four, or five.”

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has demanded audience with the ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua as a worshipper of Orisa, following recent visits to the presidency by leaders from the nation’s two main religions - Islam and Christianity.

Orisa is a generic name for traditional Yoruba religion.

Mr. Soyinka made this demand yesterday at the Civic Centre, where he delivered a lecture titled ‘Leadership and Followership as shared responsibility’ at an event organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).

Proper examination

Reacting to the reported visit of religious leaders to Mr. Yar’Adua over the weekend, Mr. Soyinka said “the clerics that have visited him have been very modest in their report. One said he couldn’t speak while another said he heard him grumble, but both agreed he could not use his hand. It is time a committee of Nigerian doctors actually see Yar’Adua and examine that his hand was truly raised and as well examine if the hand can be used properly.”

Mr. Soyinka said there should be no limit to the group of people allowed to see the ailing president.

“There is a kind of insolence going on around the precincts of Aso Rock and, as privileged groups are now allowed to see him, I am going to send an application as a follower of Orisa demanding that Sango worshippers also want to see him now,” he said.

He then alleged that the president is a victim of spousal abuse and referred to him as President “Yar I do or die”..

Leadership with a sign

In his lecture, Mr. Soyinka, defined the leadership in Nigeria in two ways: governmental leadership and civil leadership and he decried both level of leaderships in Nigeria, saying “government leadership in Nigeria is generally with a sigh.”

He also criticised the previously active civil society in the country. He said that, due to lack of leadership, “civil society became unbelievably comatose, and it took a lot too much of slapping just because each of them was looking for leadership.”

He therefore said Nigerians need to boost civil leadership so as to balance the zones of leadership; stating that “it is the civil leadership that has authority, what government leadership has is just power... and only the civil society can hold the government accountable. We need to make that power ludicrous.”

He commended renewed effort, as seen with the campaigns of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) and Enough is Enough coalitions.

“The SNG is an ecumenical, non-partisan and very-very focused group, which is why I joined them,” he said. “This momentum must not be lost or else we return back to the treachery. People must develop the spirit of inconvenience and boycotting. NEPA would not have reached this deplorable state if the civil society was active. This kind of situation is intolerable. Nigerians are amazing people to have taken this much.”

He urged Nigerians to rally around the new movements, which seem to have found the required leadership. Using a Yoruba adage that says “debating if it is the man or woman that killed the snake is irrelevant, what wants matters is that the snake must be killed,” Mr. Soyinka said “that snake of corrupt or manipulative leadership must be killed.”

Iwu must go

The literary icon again reiterated his call for the removal of the chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Maurice Iwu, calling the INEC boss “a human obstacle to reforming the system.”

Then, reacting to a member of the audience who wondered about the point of voting if one knows that “in an election, my vote will not count”, Mr. Soyinka condemned the level of indolence of the Nigerian citizen, whom he described as “people always blaming the system.”

He called on Nigerians to come out of their shells and fight for the redemption of the country.

“Even when you know that your vote will not count, protecting that vote is part of the shared responsibility otherwise we get into the negative cycle where the other half makes sure you won’t have what you ever want,” he said. “If you rob me, I think it is my responsibility to go after you. It is a simple logical attitude.”

Sam Ohuabunwa, the NESG’s chairperson, affirmed that, with the small population of corrupt leaders, “the massive size of the civil society will swamp the government.”

He identified the problem of civil society as a lack of civil leadership. According to Mr. Ohabunwa, “the challenge today is that the civil society needs to improve their leadership because the more vibrant the civil society, the more accountable the governmental leadership.”

Golfer's wife is furious he has decided to play in US Masters next month

Tiger Woods’ wife is to press ahead with divorcing him... ­infuriated by her cheating husband’s return to golf.

Elin, 30 – left devastated by Tiger’s string of affairs – went to see her divorce lawyers the day after he announced he would play in next month’s US Masters.PHOTOS:Happy Times no more

She is said to be “furious” at his comeback, which has led to him spending 16 hours a day ­practising.

She told pals that Tiger, 34, had humiliated her by breaking a public pledge, made during his grovelling TV apology in February, to put his family first.

Friends revealed Tiger’s decision to return play in the Masters on April 8 came after his advisers looked at polling data on his TV confession and saw a positive response.

But Elin was livid when he then cancelled a family dinner at her home – and instead invited golf journalists there so his team could “spin” his return to the game.

She has now taken the couple’s two young children to live with friends an hour from the family mansion in Isleworth, Florida.

A friend said: “She went to her ­lawyers and told them, ‘I’m going through with it’. After Tiger announced he was going to compete again it was like a switch flicked – he was back to his workaholic ways. He really was focused on his family for a while there, sinking his teeth into his therapy.

“But now he’s spending 16 hours a day on the practice ground, putting his game first, like the selfish, narcissistic husband he is. It’s made Elin realise there won’t be any real end to this and she needs to get out.”

Tiger had seemed to be ­winning his battle for Elin’s ­forgiveness. Earlier this month they were ­pictured ­together for the first time since the scandal broke last month.

The family spent one night under the same roof after Tiger returned from a sex addiction treatment centre in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, but Swede Elin is said to have found the experience strained and “odd”.

The Sunday Mirror understands the couple did not share a bed.Photo:cost of cheating may include loss of family dog

Friends say Elin has now vowed to ­boycott the Masters and future tournaments until he changes his ­priorities.

One explained: “She thought very strongly that he needed to take care of the home front first and make sure that was in good working order before he started making big announcements. She’s angry the public seem to be buying his ­apology when she doesn’t even know if she buys it ­herself.

“It’s not about ­Tiger being happy or stopping him ­playing golf – it’s about his not ­following through with all those teary promises he made.

“She went away on the boat with the kids for a few days and when she came back her mind was made up. She will file for divorce, but there is a lot of legal ­wrangling going on behind the scenes so that when she does, it will be like surgery – quick, pristine and seamless.”

The world revolves around Lindsay.

Lindsay Lohan is suing the financial company E-Trade, insisting that a boyfriend-stealing, "milkaholic" baby in its latest commercial -- who happens to be named Lindsay -- was modeled after her. And she wants $100 million for her pain and suffering, The Post has learned.

The actress filed a lawsuit yesterday in Nassau County Supreme Court over the commercial that debuted during the Super Bowl this year.

The ad -- part of a series starring babies who play the stock market -- features a boy apologizing to his girlfriend via video chat for not calling her the night before..

Splash News

SPILT MILK: Lindsay Lohan is suing E-Trade, saying the company is trading on her image with a TV ad that debuted during the Super Bowl and features a "milkaholic" baby named Lindsay (below).

Splash News

"And that milkaholic Lindsay wasn't over?" the baby girl asks him suspiciously.

"Lindsay?" the boy replies, just before a baby girl sticks her head into the frame and slurs, "Milk-a-what?"

Lohan's lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia, said the actress has the same single-name recognition as Oprah or Madonna.

"Many celebrities are known by one name only, and E-Trade is using that knowledge to profit," Ovadia said.

"They used the name Lindsay," Ovadia said. "They're using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn't they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody's talking about it and saying it's Lindsay Lohan."

Ovadia wants an injunction to force the spot off the air, and the Lindsay camp wants every last copy of the commercial.

Chris Brown, a spokesman for Grey Group, which produced the spot, is throwing cold milk on the controversy, saying it "just used a popular baby name that happened to be the name of someone on the account team."

Ovadia said E-Trade has violated Lohan's rights under New York state civil-rights law and used her "name and characterization" in business without paying her or getting her approval.

The lawyer said that since the spot was seen by hundreds of millions of people watching the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics finals, the firm has garnered great profits.

She says Lohan is owed $50 million in exemplary damages, plus another $50 million in compensatory damages.

E-Trade could not be reached for comment.