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Microsoft phones ? Company upgrades social networking with mobile kin one and two

Posted by technology on April 28, 2010 at 5:05am

From Microsoft line of communication devices are the all new Microsoft Kin One and Two phones. The dual phones have been designed specifically to enable people actively engage and navigate their social lives..

The KIN has been designed as the phone to provide an ultimate and never before social web experience and excitement with sites like facebook,Twitter, YouTube etc.

“We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

The home screen of the KIN (called the Loop) has been designed such that it always keeps users informed with events within their social world via notifications and beeps. It also automatically collates feeds from social sites like facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc, making it easier to always stay connected 24 hours.

Design

The KIN One and the KIN Two phones both come in different designs and also both have a fun and simple interface. Social networking has been built as the core platform for the Microsoft KIN phones.

The KIN one and Two phones both feature capacitive touch screen, with slide-out keyboard style. The KIN One is compact and smaller in size to the KIN Two. The Two features a larger screen size with higher resolution. It also records high definition video.

The KIN one phone has a screen size of 2.6 inch and 320 x 240 pixel resolutions while the KIN Two has a screen size of 3.4 inch with a resolution screen of 480 x320.

Both phones feature single silver home buttons with glossy black bezel and have tactile QWERTY keyboards.

Specifications

The two major features on the KIN phones are the Spot and Loop. With the Loop, social contents (facebook, twitter etc) are collated in an order of priority by how they are sorted. The Spot which works more like an attach button, enables users drag and share different contents like maps, images, videos, status updates and share among friends.

Both devices are powered by 600 MHz processors and packs 256 MB RAM. The KIN One and KIN Two have 4GB and 8GB internal storage respectively .They also both come with rear facing cameras,a 5 megapixel camera in the KIN One and an 8 megapixel Camera in the KIN Two. The Camera has metallic shutter buttons and LED flash.

The phones also integrate with the Zune experience- providing music, FM radio, podcast playback and video, which can all be accessed on online store via a Zune Pass subscription from Zune Marketplace.

The devices come with a 3.5 mm headphone jack, Micro USB port, Wi-Fi and 2.1 Bluetooth. Both phones also come with a tiny 5V USB adaptor and have batteries of 1240mAh and 1390mAh respectively for the KIN One and KIN Two phones.

Price

Pricing of the phones have not yet been disclosed, but they would be available as from May 2010.

Bianca Ojukwu: I won’t allow my daughter do what I did with Ojukwu

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on April 14, 2010 at 11:35pm

I won’t allow my daughter do what I did with Ojukwu

By Alvan Ewuzie[alvanatsun@yahoo.com]

Bianca Ojukwu exudes beauty.

And it is not beauty without brain. To say that she is intelligent is to state the obvious. It only takes a brief interaction to unravel the bundle of giftedness masking under the rather innocent smiles and affectionate disposition of this lawyer who seems to relish in accomplishing unconventional things. She made waves as a beauty queen in 1988 and capped it up with marrying a man old enough to be her father. All that is history given that Bianca has made an outstanding success of a relationship everyone thought was doomed to fail, a situation not helped by stiff family opposition.

Over two decades after, Bianca’s marriage to Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu has turned out the longest relationship the Ikemba ever had with any woman. That’s another unconventional success. In this interaction she gives the recipe for successful marriage and makes an unusual foray into the enigma called Ojukwu.

Then the big irony: Bianca wont let her daughter do what she did with Ojukwu. It is an interesting discussion. Excerpts:

How long have you been married to Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu

We have been into a relationship since 1989 but we got married formally on November 12, 1994. We have been together for over 20 years because we have been living together since 1989.

How old were you and how old was he at the time.

Well I was 22 while he was in his mid 50s

People considered you too young for him at that time. How did you feel then.

Its not your conventional relationship. Looking back now I certainly realise that I was very young at that time but it didn’t seem to matter because we had so much in common and we had good communication. The gap was not there in our day-to-day interactions. People found the relationship a bizarre one because of the age difference but it is only now when I look back, now that I have children of my own that I realise that it was rather unusual.

You were so much in love at the time that you didn’t notice any disparity in your ages.

I don’t know whether I would classify it as being in love. I just know that the difference tended to melt away when compared to the common grounds that we had. We had a similar background and we had so much to talk about. We had common interests and we just did a lot of things together. We went to see plays at the theatre, we went on vacations and there was just no disparity in our interaction. I didn’t feel it at the time.

How come you are feeling it now

No I don’t feel it now because we have got used to each other having been together for so long. I always say to him I am like the furniture in your house. We are too used to each other. I can complete his sentences and he can complete mine. Really I think at the end of the day that’s what is imperative in every relationship. You must be able to communicate. He understands me fully and he appreciates that mine has been a life of dedication to him. I know the travails he has been through and I appreciate that a man such as him needs somebody to step in and play the role of wife, sister and mother simultaneously and give him peace of mind in his day to day life.

Would you say therefore that you were psychologically prepared to be Ojukwu’s wife

I come from a political family. If that is being psychologically prepared well I am not the one to say so. But I think I had to shoulder a lot of responsibilities beyond what somebody of my age would reasonably be expected to go through. I had to learn in the process. I think I have done well because it requires diplomacy and the fact that sometimes you have to get out of your skin to mediate in conflicts that will generally arise around a man of his stature. It’s been quite challenging but I thank God that I have been able to navigate the terrain.

Has it ever occurred to you that people never gave this marriage a chance, yet it has lasted this long. How does that make you feel

I feel blessed. I have known friends in more conventional marriages, who break up, remarry and break up again in this space of time and I am still here. I thank God for his grace because nobody gave this thing a chance of survival. In all honesty I was really young at that time and I did believe that I could handle it. Now when I look back I wonder how I did it. That was not a situation your average 22-year-old could handle. Normally the disparity ought to make the interests different. But the truth is that I didn’t miss those things the average 22-year old would want, like going to parties, clubs and the like. Those were not my interest. Though people have always said that I am very old fashioned and I didn’t have those things that propel people of my age. I wanted a stable marriage. I wanted to live with a man that I had a lot in common with and a man that I could spend the rest of my life with. Having said that the truth is that it requires a lot of sacrifice, commitment and hard work to be able to make it work.

Was it that you had to grow up to him or he had to come down to you? How was the mix

No question about that, I had to grow up to him. I had to learn to interact with people who were a lot older than I was. Generally from the time I was 22 people who were coming to our various homes were people of his age. They were his friends and by extension they have become my friends too. I give God the glory. He has some of the most dedicated, committed and loyal friends who are dedicated to him and to his struggle. I feel privileged to have met those categories of people. I consider them as family. So I had to grow up to his life.

You were not scared by that calibre of people

Don’t forget that I am the daughter of a former governor. My father was the Governor of old Anambra S tate, now consisting of Enugu and parts of Ebonyi. So I was certainly not intimidated because we had such regular high calibre people visiting us. There were Presidents, ex-presidents, Ambassadors, governors were frequent visitors. I was not intimidated in the least. It was just a progression. Just that the same calibre of people were now visiting in another house. The routine was basically the same, just a little bit accentuated.

Let’s talk about Ojukwu. What kind of a man is he?

I think you are in a better position. Having spent the better part of two hours with him today, I think you are probably in a better position to do that. As you can see he is a very complex man, very complex. He can be like a volcano about to erupt this minute and the next he is like a kitten. His persona switches so rapidly that it is really quite hard to pin him down, to paint a complete picture of the man. There would always be that mystery. He is kind, caring and, as you have witnessed, he is a very stubborn man. A lot of the time he gets impatient and most people find that rather intimidating. But he can be very meek. One just have to find that meeting ground of interacting with him. Once you can do that then you are on safe ground. But he can be quite difficult to decode.

Obviously he loves you and says it to anyone who cares to listen. What are the things he does differently to you that also gives you the impression that he really does love you

I think it is the absolute trust that he has in me, the faith. I think every man is looking for a replacement for his mother. That’s one thing I have learnt. In life every man looks for that woman who would not just be his wife but his mother, whose paramount objective is to ensure that he can be the best man he is meant to be. I wouldn’t say that he loves me in an irrational way. Perhaps in me he has been able to find that combination of wife and mother. The mother element is very important because its only your mother that you would trust so absolutely to be able to deliver the best judgments and to be able to pull you back when they think you are doing something wrong. It is just to have absolute trust in your judgment and go to bed with both eyes closed. A lot of people don’t have that in their families. A lot of men find that their wives tend to be quite demanding and impatient and the men then reflect that in their attitude. But I think a woman cannot get the best out of any man by nagging him or making him feel bad and less of a man. But if you let him be a man then you get the best out of him. That’s what has helped this marriage to stay the way it is today.

You are a lawyer but you seem to be averse to politics even when you grew in a political home so to say

Well, I have seen quite a lot in my life with Ikemba and I have seen that you need to develop very tough skin to go into politics and unfortunately that’s something I am yet to develop. Until Nigeria offers an opportunity for one to be a decent politician without having to sell their soul I will continue to be averse to politics. I have hope that we will get to that stage soon because the Nigerian people are no longer willing to just sit back and watch and accept whatever is rammed down their throat. The recent election in Anambra is a pointer to that.

I understand that one or two political offers had come your way. You don’t want them or you just prefer being Ikemba’s wife.

Being Ikemba’s wife is a job on its own. These are issues that are being constantly discussed. Right now my prerogative is my husband and my family. I have a very young family. I don’t want a situation that would have my attention divided. I would like to help determine the path that my children would take. I would like to be instrumental to raising and shaping their lives. I am not saying that I cannot do that and serve the people at the same time. These were offers that were made even before the elections but I just do not feel that the time was ripe for it.

Your relationship with Ikemba is the longest he has had with any woman. Does that make you feel special

[long laughter] it must be one of two things. Its either that I am made of a sponge like material that I can absorb or that I am made of a shell like object, like a turtle back and I have found a way of making things work. Some times you are lucky in life. You just come across somebody that God says this is the person that you will stay with for the rest of your life and you just have to work at maintaining that relationship. He is working and I am working too and we both appreciate the fact that we need each other and that we both need to be as committed as we can for the relationship to work. That’s what we are doing, building on it everyday. That’s just the key. It does not make me feel special. Its not like being in Las Vegas everyday. But the high points are always more than the low points. I think if you can get 70 percent you have done very well.

How do you relate with his other grown up children and perhaps if there are other living wives.

[laughs] I like the way you put it, living wives. The fact is that at the time I met him he was a bachelor. He was not living or married to anybody at that time and that’s probably why we were able to go through a Roman Catholic wedding. We had our wedding in a Roman Catholic Church and that would have been impossible if he were designated a married man, otherwise he would have been a bigamist. I am just making the point that I met him as a bachelor. Of course he had been in a lot of other relationships but I have not had the opportunity of interacting with those people that he had had relationships with in the past.

What about his children

Oh yes. You know he has three children that are older than I am. We get on quite well. Most of the children don’t live here. They live abroad. My marriage to their father is not anything new because they live in societies where such things are not abnormal as such. They know their limits. We hold family meetings and things like that. Some times issues come up that we don’t all agree upon. At such times Ikemba steps in and sorts things out, that’s normal but generally we get on well. So far its been quite cordial and when they come on vacation they stay here and I am glad to tell you that they all have their rooms here. I have tried to make sure that we are one united family.

What I deduce from the foregoing is that you are Ojukwu’s only legitimate wife

That’s correct. If there is any body else who can present a wedding picture, a marriage certificate in the church then I am willing to defer to that person. However, we live in Africa and the church format is not the only acceptable mode. There is the traditional mode. In my own case I did not start with the traditional marriage because my parents were initially opposed to the marriage. I only went through the traditional marriage after the birth of my children. My children were present at the event. Any woman who has been married in the traditional mode is also an acceptable wife. The only time both modes come into conflict is when there is a legal contention. That’s why I am making it clear that he went through both processes with me.

You mean you are not aware of any other women who went through those processes with him.

I am not aware of any body that went through a church wedding with him. You know the Roman Catholic Church is very strict in that respect. If they had any such information they would not have done the wedding. No catholic priest would wed you if he considers you a bigamist. They wed you strictly on the basis that you are a single man.

Is he still the romantic man you met in 1989

Oh my. I think romance runs in his veins. He will never change. I am the one who is not romantic. I am very practical. But he is very poetic. By virtue of his education and interactions in life Ojukwu was raised as an aristocrat so he tends to focus more on the classics, the arts, literature and so on. When you look at him in that light you find that he cannot but be romantic. In everything he does, it comes through. Its part of his everyday life. Even now when he is not as strong as he used to be, he would still come to open doors for me to get into the car. He would ensure I am served a drink before him and things like that. He is a typical gentle man. Without a doubt if Ikemba is nothing, else he is a perfect gentleman.

Why did you say you won’t allow him to present himself again for an elective post

I think he has done his bit. There comes a time in every man’s life when you just need to find the nearest beach, find a deck chair, sit by the ocean and reflect. I think he is at that stage in his life. He has done nothing but live and breathe the Igbo course. Sometimes he would hear of some injustice somewhere and he would stay awake all night, trying to find how it can be redressed. I remember the situation of the Apo six. He would wake up at night and say to me ‘whats happening, have these people been found, what are you gleaning from the media. Any time an Igboman suffers any form of injustice, it makes his blood boil, even in situations when he feels helpless. At such times I simply pray to God that he does not have a blood condition because he see him so agitated. At such times, I also tell him to stop knocking his head against the brick wall. I think he has sacrificed everything including his family. There are things he ought to have done but didn’t have the time to do because of his struggles. Now, I think that whatever time he has left should be used for his family, to nurture the family and let other people carry on from where he left off.

You are the closest person to him and I want to know whether people will ever get to read his memoirs

Like you and everybody else I also keep my fingers crossed. But I can tell you that he has been writing but slowly though. Some times he wakes up, remembers an incident and then writes. One thing I know is that he is not writing the account in sequence, he puts down incidents as he remembers. At the moment, there is a group currently showing very strong interest in getting him to complete and publish the memoirs. But I do not know how soon that will be. And it is something that we all really need to see, to know what really happened or more importantly how his mind was working at the time, his fears, anxieties and aspirations, what he wanted to achieve and why he took some of the decisions he took. A lot of people still do not have a real grasp of those things and we need to get into the innermost recesses of his mind to know them.

But is he really working on it

Yes, I know for a fact that he is working on it but at a snail speed.

You still look trim and fit, how do you manage to keep this fit.

Do you know what it takes to run this house, run my NGO, run my law chambers? There are so many things I am doing that some times I don’t even have time for lunch. I think I am overworked. I don’t think it has to do with any beauty routine. The work is enough to keep me trim. We have a swimming pool that I only use when my kids come on holiday and I join them there occasionally. I have a gym which I rarely use. But when I get the opportunity I walk around the compound for health purposes but strictly speaking, I don’t have a beauty routine.

You said your parents were opposed to the marriage but what we know is that it was your late father who was opposed to it.

I think it will be unfair to say that it was just my father that was opposed. My mother had her reservations also, just that she had a different style of showing it. Mothers being what they are, they would hardly cast their daughter adrift completely no matter the circumstance. They don’t want to come out openly and deny or lambaste you. Mothers always try to nurture. But my father was left with the tag of being the chief opponent of the marriage. My mother had her reservations and to tell you the truth, as a mother I would do the same thing.

Right now I am the proud mother of a 12 year old daughter. Even if she was 25 or 30 and comes to tell me that she wants to marry a man twice her age, I would still refuse. Yes I know your next question, yes I did it but that does not make it the usual pattern. Its not conventional and it can only be handled by somebody who is mature and wise beyond their years. And I tell that I support my father’s action. He did the best thing any parent would do for his child. It would have been disappointing if he gave his support without any form of resistance. Basically he did the right thing. My mother had her reservations too, just that my father's own was more prominent because he was more domineering. But the truth is that it was his resistance that has largely helped to make this marriage successful.

Really

Yes. Because my husband then had to be very careful. He knew that if he didn’t treat me right and things didn’t go too well, he would have my father to contend with. And my father also gave me a crucial advise which I have always cherished. You know we were living in Lagos and my father told me that if I ever had plans of raising kids with my husband I must ensure that we come back to settle in the east. My father had this very strong sense of identity of where he comes from which was why he insisted that my kids be born and raised here in the east. It was his advice and one that I would ever treasure and it was the best decision I ever took.

When did you eventually come back to live in Enugu

After our wedding we moved to Abuja, After a few years we now came to live in Enugu.

Do you agree with people who say that the Igbos have neglected Ojukwu

It was said that the Igbos neglected Zik, Okpara and Akanu Ibiam. But before you can substantite that statement you have to look at Ndigbo as a people. We are republican in nature. So its hard to determine the level of love, adulation and respect the Igbos give to their leaders. But in all fairness I think that Ojukwu has been luckier than most Igbo leaders. I have been with him to so many parts of Igbo land and I am moved to tears by the kind of reception he is accorded. I have seen a whole market dismantled just to get his car to pass in the tick of massive traffic. I saw youths dismantle a market just for his car to pass. When you go with him to a place like Aba, the reception is better seen than described. So I think the Igbos love him tremendously and they have shown it to him.

Take the Anambra election for example, the other candidates had so much money and support from the centre. But Peter Obi had virtually nothing, he was like the under dog. Yes he was governor but don’t forget that he no member of his party in the state House of Assembly. But he had one man and this man had only five words to say; This is my last wish. How many other people could do that and get the kind of response Ojukwu got. People came back from all parts of the world in response to that call, though some of them were disentranchised and so could not vote. They have shown him love. They love him and see him as their treasure. Of course if there is any one that can come up boldly to berate him in the newspaper, it would be an Igbo man but they still love so much. As for neglect, well do not forget that his father was the first millionaire to come from Igboland and the first African to enter United Kingdom without a visa, yet his son is such a simple man.

Ojukwu can live in a card room box. Even if it an old, haggard looking 504 car Ojukwu would enter and be driven to his destination. That simplicity is the greatest bond between him and Peter Obi. Peter would come here to visit us like any other Person, yet people who are not even governors would come with a convoy of seven cars. He is very modest and frugal man. You would see him queue up at the airport. If you permit him he would travel on the economy class. Both of them are alike because they consider themselves first and foremost as servants of the people. They do not brazenly display the paraphernalia of power. Peter Obi certainly does not do that. His popularity with the populace is phenomenal. He may not have that with the elite who thinks that he should defer to them but he defers more to the masses. In that light Peter Obi and Ojukwu are very much the same.

If you go to Peter Obi’s house he would refuse to serve you champagne. I think the highest he would probably give you is red wine or stout. If you ask him he would tell you that he knows the cost of champagne because he trades in such commodities and knows their astronomical cost and thus considers it rather criminal to drink such stuff randomly. He says people can do that in their houses if they wished but he would do no such thing in his own house. His style is not usual and he is a very principled man. Many people do not like the fact that he is very frugal administrator. He is a hands on person who could step in and do things himself. If you visit him he will be serving you by himself in spite of the retinue of staff. He is unassuming and his people like it. You cannot believe his level of simplicity.

That’s the bond between him and Ojukwu. Do you know that Ojukwu never handles money. As I talk to you he probably does not know the colour of one thousand naira note. People administer those things for him. Ojukwu is so contented with whatever he has. As long as there is water to drink he is fine. You know before we moved to this place, we were living in a very small house and he was happy there. To a very large extent he built this new house because of me. I was the one who told him to get a bigger place and he would say no matter how big the hose is you only get to stay in one room and just one bed eventually.

I tell you for two years this house was completed and furnished yet Ojukwu did not move into it. He considered it too big. I actually tricked him into moving here on the night of a Good Friday. I just told him to get into the car for an outing and that was how I brought him here having moved some things to this place earlier. We left the old furniture in the former house. He was raised in affluence but he has little or no regard for anything that connotes wealth. I think such people are very rare to find, people who are willing to divest themselves of the paraphernalia of wealth and power. Somebody once said that it a great man to be little. I never really understood the significance of that statement until I came to live with Ojukwu. If Iwere asked to chose three words that would define him by way of an epitaph I cant do batter than saying that he was a simple man

Senator marries 13year old Egyptian girl as former governor of Zamfara state Ahmed Sani paedophile drama continues

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on April 14, 2010 at 2:02am

He was said to have brought her from Egypt

Criticisms continued to trail the alleged marriage of former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Sani to a 13-year old Egyptian girl.

The former governor reportedly paid $100,000 as bride price to the parents of the minor.

But in a statement made available to our correspondent in Lokoja on Monday, the National Council of Women Societies condemned the action of the senator, describing it as shameful.

Speaking through its National President, Hajia Ramatu Usman, the umbrella women’s organisation said Sani’s action did not come to Nigerian women as a surprise because, according to them, many northern governors had been using religion as an excuse for not passing the Child Rights Act.

She further stated that the council had been mounting a campaign against young girls being given out for marriage at ridiculously early ages of 12 or 13 years, adding that the action was against all reasoning.

According to Usman, “Vesico vaginal fistula has been attributed to under age marriages due to the practice of early marriages in Nigeria, where young girls are given out for marriage at ridiculously early ages as 12 or 13 years. They get pregnant and when they are ready to deliver, their pelvises are so small for the babies to pass through.

“The baby gets stuck in the birth canal and in some cases dies. The baby‘s head wears a hole between the birth canal and the bladder (VVF) or rectum (RVF).

“So, when the dead baby is eventually delivered, the young mother is left with a dead child and she begins to drain urine and/or stool continuously. She develops sores on her skin and smells horribly from the constant drips of urine and stool on her clothes.”

The body therefore advised parents to avoid giving out their under age daughters in marriage in order to check cases of this health risk, which it said is particularly common in the northern part of Nigeria.

The statement further said, “It is a shame that while we are seeking ways to view closely what pushes parents into giving out their underage daughters into early marriages, a former governor of a state is celebrating this act of child trafficking and abuse.”

It also called on well-meaning Nigerians to mount pressure on northern governors to immediately commence work on the Child Rights Act.

Kwik Save tycoon gives up riches in 'pact with God'

Posted by 9jabook.com on March 23, 2010 at 3:46am

Kwik Save tycoon gives up riches in 'pact with God'
Albert Gubay, the multi-millionaire Kwik Save tycoon, has given his vast business empire to charity to fulfil a “pact with God” that he made as a young man struggling to earn a living.

Albert Gubay amassed his riches after founding the Kwik Save supermarket chain in 1965Photo: LIVERPOOL POST & ECHO

The devout Roman Catholic vowed to hand over half his fortune to the Church if he ever became rich when he was working as a penniless sweets-seller in Wales after the Second World War.

Instead, at the age of 82, he has fulfilled the deal by giving almost his entire £480 million estate to a new charitable foundation, keeping less than £10 million to see out his old age.

Mr Gubay, who amassed his riches after founding the Kwik Save supermarket chain in 1965, will continue running his companies until he dies and hopes to push to value of his empire to more than £1 billion.

After his death, the newly-founded Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation will receive an estimated income of £20 million a year from the businesses.

The Welsh tycoon has stipulated that half the income must be invested in the Roman Catholic Church, in line with his “pact”, while the rest can be distributed at the discretion of the trustees.

Mr Gubay, who now lives in Santon on the Isle of Man with his second wife Carmel, described his “50/50” deal with God in a 1997 television documentary made by RTE, the Irish broadcaster. He said he had told God in his prayers: “Make me a millionaire and you can have half of my money”.

He has now joined a line of businessmen who have handed over much of their wealth to charity in recent years.

Lord Sainsbury, the supermarket tycoon and one of Britain’s richest men, last year handed over £1bn to the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and instructed the trustees to spend all the money on scientific research, the arts and projects in east Africa before he dies.

Lord Ashcroft, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party currently embroiled in a row over his tax status, has established a foundation to receive 80 per cent of his estimated £1.1 billion fortune after his death.

Karl Rabeder, an Austrian millionaire, announced last month that he was giving away every penny of his £3 million fortune after realising that being rich was making him unhappy.

Mr Gubay ranked 107th on The Sunday Times Rich List in 2009, but will disappear from this year’s list following his donation.

John Nugent, chairman of the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation, said: “Albert is a very frugal man and has dedicated his life to good causes.

“He wants this work to continue after his death and he has given a lot of thought to this arrangement. His priority now is to maximise the asset base of the company. He is confident he can push the worth to £1 billion before he dies.

“With these arrangements he is keeping to the pact and going well beyond it.”

Mr Gubay, who began his business career selling non-sugar sweets in Wales during post Second World War sugar rationing, founded the first Kwik Save store in 1965 and went on to sell the supermarket chain for £14 million in 1973. The chain went into administration in 2007.

He went on to found the Total Fitness network of gyms, which he sold in 2004 for £70 million, and has since built a vast property empire.

The property group Derwent Holdings is among several dozen companies being transferred to the new charitable trust.

PDP denies man with 86 wives party membership

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on April 12, 2010 at 6:54am

Masaba shut out: PDP denies man with 86 wives membership

From AKIN ALOFETEKUN, Minna

Masaba

Alhaji Bello Masaba, remember him? The 87-year-old world renown polygamist, then married to 86 wives, may soon be back in the trenches with the Niger State Government over the refusal of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to register him as a member of the party.

Masaba was for most part of last year engaged in legal battle with the state government which charged him under some curious provisions of the sharia law for marrying more than four wives prescribed by the Quran for Moslems. Government later withdrew from the case for want of evidence.

.

This time, the battle may have moved from the legal turf to the political battle ground, where Masaba has vowed to engage both the state government and the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, in a battle of political supremacy.

Daily Sun reliably gathered that when the Islamic cleric appeared at the Etsu’s palace where the registration was taking place, he was turned back by the registration officials who claimed to be acting on orders from above.

Masaba was said to have stormed out of the palace in annoyance, vowing to make sure that no single vote from his Masaba ward will go to PDP in next year’s general election. A chieftain of the party in Bida, Alhaji Isah Lakpene, who confirmed Masaba’s denial of registration said the matter has become a source of concern to PDP members in the area, as no constitutionally sustainable reason has so far been adduced for the refusal to admit him into the PDP fold.

“I have to find a way of getting the governor to know about this. If we fail to register Masaba we stand the risk of losing about 1,500 of the 2,000 votes in the ward,” Lakpene lamented, stressing that he was sure Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu may not be aware of the development.

Meanwhile, the Islamic cleric last weekend gave five of his daughters in marriage in Bida. Family sources revealed to our correspondent in Minna that despite the hue and cry over Masaba’s perceived unislamic matrimonial status, two of his sons-in-law are said to be children of highly placed personalities in Bida. One is even said to be the son of a traditional title holder in the ancient city. Daily Sun can also authoritatively reveal that the number of Masaba’s wives has since risen to 100, and he is still counting

Ericsson Lagos to Replace 430 9gerians with Indians in massive sack

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on April 14, 2010 at 8:45pm

LM Ericsson (Nigeria) Limited is set to embark on a mass retrenchment of its Nigerian workforce to pave way for Indian nationals which the company is currently in the process of employing en masse.

In November 2009 A publication was issued on an Impending mass sack

read article here http://www.9jabook.com/profiles/blogs/crises-rocks-lm-ericsson-as

Main Article:

More than Four hundred and thirty Nigerian employees of Ericsson will be affected by the purge because of Ericsson’s plan to engage cheaper labour from India.

About fifty Indians have already been employed and flown to Nigeria to familiarize themselves with Ericsson’s operations before the affected employees last day at work.

Those mostly affected are engineers in the Network Operations Centre (Front office and Back office support) dept of the company who were employed from Zain in August last year.

The decision to embark on the mass sack was conveyed to employees during a meeting held on7th of April 2010 at 9am at the Air Force Officers Mess, Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos by the management of the company..

investigations revealed that after the decision to sack the employees was conveyed, the management of Ericsson immediately put up vacancy availability on its web site specifically for Indians. See link http://www.ericsson.com/article/100330_opportunities_in_india_20100330101055

Further investigations revealed that Ericsson had entered into a multi-million-dollar service agreement with Zain last year, (Zain was recently acquired by India’s Barti). Part of the deal was to provide engineering and Network operations services to Zain including employing about four hundred and fifty employees in Zain’s Network Operations Centre.

Before the management of Ericsson formalized the employment of the engineers in August 2009,some key issues that were of the greatest concern to the employees were discussed. Issues like salary structures, harmonization of salaries between Ericsson and Zain staff transferring to Ericsson, promotions and salary increases, career advancement in Ericsson, possible job function changes, possible breach of contract between Zain and Ericsson, plans for redundancies, possible sale of Zain amongst others. Ericsson guaranteed the engineers secure and long-term employment.

An authoritative source at Zain confirmed that Zain has not reneged on any part of the service contract it entered with Ericsson adding that the management of Ericsson was just in search of cheaper labour from India at the detriment of Nigeria employees.

Checks at Ericsson also revealed that in total disregard to standard labour and employment regulations, the company is not offering the affected employees any severance package.

They contacted Mr. Blair Mackenzie, Ericsson’s Human Resources Director for comments on the sack but he said he is not authorized to discuss the subject. He suggested we speak to the Managing Director or the corporate communications department.

Attempts to reach Omasan Ogisi of Ericsson’s corporate communications for comments also failed.

adapted from thewillnigeria

Iluminati Jay Zs new Neck chain with "jesus" crying blood and Chris Brown in tight pants photos

Posted by NollywoodMohits on March 29, 2010 at 6:52am

finallygot a close up of Jay Z's chain. He's had it for some time, but we'venever noticed that it had Jesus crying bloody tears. We're not sure WHATTO THINK.Note kanye West's own Chain in picture quite different eh ? Sealed Signed and Delivered to mr Jay Z Done deal !

R&B SINGER CHRIS BROWN PHOTO'D WEARING EXTRA TIGHT PANTS . . . AND DUDE IS PACKIN!! with career in nose dive nigga will try anything to get back on top but he aint gettin on top of Rihanna again the Girlfriend Beater !

Yahoo Yahoo: From Russia with V.I.R.U.S Inside a global cybercrime ring

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on March 24, 2010 at 5:17am

There is a Cyber War going on that a lot of us are not aware of .Yesterday we did a story on Yahoo Yahoo and Western Union .today Russian Geeks or efficos as we call them in naija have taken it to a diferent level .

Hundreds of computer geeks, most of them students putting themselves through college, crammed into three floors of an office building in an industrial section of Ukraine's capital Kiev, churning out code at a frenzied pace. They were creating some of the world's most pernicious, and profitable, computer viruses..Federal Trade Commission investigators Sheryl Novick (R) and Martha Vera look at images as part of their investigation of the scareware company Innovative Marketing Ukraine (IMU) in the FTC internet lab in Washington March 22, 2010. Photo: REUTERS

jpeg&STREAMOID=LFktq$2sNX4G2G8XidE0Bi6SYeqqxXXqBcOgKOfTXxRnGAG0Zc3abTTKsEMh59HRnW_PgxgftuECOcfJwS6Jtlp$r8Fy$6AAZ9zyPuHJ25T7a9GKDSxsGxtpmxP0VAUyHL6IDcZHtmM2t7xO$FHdJG95dFi6y2Uma3vSsvPpVyo-

According to court documents, former employees and investigators, a receptionist greeted visitors at the door of the company, known as Innovative Marketing Ukraine. Communications cables lay jumbled on the floor and a small coffee maker sat on the desk of one worker.

As business boomed, the firm added a human resources department, hired an internal IT staff and built a call center to dissuade its victims from seeking credit card refunds. Employees were treated to catered holiday parties and picnics with paintball competitions.

Top performers got bonuses as young workers turned a blind eye to the harm the software was doing. "When you are just 20, you don't think a lot about ethics," said Maxim, a former Innovative Marketing programer who now works for a Kiev bank and asked that only his first name be used for this story. "I had a good salary and I know that most employees also had pretty good salaries."

In a rare victory in the battle against cybercrime, the company closed down last year after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit seeking its disbandment in U.S. federal court.

An examination of the FTC's complaint and documents from a legal dispute among Innovative executives offer a rare glimpse into a dark, expanding -- and highly profitable -- corner of the internet.

Innovative Marketing Ukraine, or IMU, was at the center of a complex underground corporate empire with operations stretching from Eastern Europe to Bahrain; from India and Singapore to the United States. A researcher with anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc who spent months studying the company's operations estimates that the business generated revenue of about $180 million in 2008, selling programs in at least two dozen countries. "They turned compromised machines into cash," said the researcher, Dirk Kollberg.

The company built its wealth pioneering scareware -- programs that pretend to scan a computer for viruses, and then tell the user that their machine is infected. The goal is to persuade the victim to voluntarily hand over their credit card information, paying $50 to $80 to "clean" their PC.

Scareware, also known as rogueware or fake antivirus software, has become one of the fastest-growing, and most prevalent, types of internet fraud. Software maker Panda Security estimates that each month some 35 million PCs worldwide, or 3.5 percent of all computers, are infected with these malicious programs, putting more than $400 million a year in the hands of cybercriminals. "When you include cost incurred by consumers replacing computers or repairing, the total damages figure is much, much larger than the out of pocket figure," said Ethan Arenson, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission who helps direct the agency's efforts to fight cybercrime.

Groups like Innovative Marketing build the viruses and collect the money but leave the work of distributing their merchandise to outside hackers. Once infected, the machines become virtually impossible to operate. The scareware also removes legitimate anti-virus software from vendors including Symantec Corp, McAfee and Trend Micro Inc, leaving PCs vulnerable to other attacks.

When victims pay the fee, the virus appears to vanish, but in some cases the machine is then infiltrated by other malicious programs. Hackers often sell the victim's credit card credentials to the highest bidder.

Removing scareware is a top revenue generator for Geek Choice, a PC repair company with about two dozen outlets in the United States. The outfit charges $100 to $150 to clean infected machines, a service that accounts for about 30 percent of all calls. Geek Choice CEO Lucas Brunelle said that scareware attacks have picked up over the past few months as the software has become increasingly sophisticated. "There are more advanced strains that are resistant to a lot of anti-virus software," Brunelle said.

Anti-virus software makers have also gotten into the lucrative business of cleaning PCs, charging for those services even when their products fall down on the job.

Charlotte Vlastelica, a homemaker in State College, Pennsylvania, was running a version of Symantec's Norton anti-virus software when her PC was attacked by Antispyware 2010. "These pop-ups were constant," she said. "They were layered one on top of the other. You couldn't do anything."

So she called Norton for help and was referred to the company's technical support division. The fee for removing Antispyware 2010 was $100. A frustrated Vlastelica vented: "You totally missed the virus and now you're going to charge us $100 to fix it?"

AN INDUSTRY PIONEER

"It's sort of a plague," said Kent Woerner, a network administrator for a public school district in Beloit, Kansas, some 5,500 miles away from Innovative Marketing's offices in Kiev. He ran into one of its products, Advanced Cleaner, when a teacher called to report that pornographic photos were popping up on a student's screen. A message falsely claimed the images were stored on the school's computer.

"When I have a sixth-grader seeing that kind of garbage, that's offensive," said Woerner. He fixed the machine by deleting all data from the hard drive and installing a fresh copy of Windows. All stored data was lost.

Stephen Layton, who knows his way around technology, ended up junking his PC, losing a week's worth of data that he had yet to back up from his hard drive, after an attack from an Innovative Marketing program dubbed Windows XP Antivirus. The president of a home-based software company in Stevensville, Maryland, Layton says he is unsure how he contracted the malware.

But he was certain of its deleterious effect. "I work eight-to-12 hours a day," he said. "You lose a week of that and you're ready to jump off the roof."

Layton and Woerner are among more than 1,000 people who complained to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about Innovative Marketing's software, prompting an investigation that lasted more than a year and the federal lawsuit that sought to shut them down. To date the government has only succeeded in retrieving $117,000 by settling its charges against one of the defendants in the suit, James Reno, of Amelia, Ohio, who ran a customer support center in Cincinnati. He could not be reached for comment.

"These guys were the innovators and the biggest players (in scareware) for a long time," said Arenson, who headed up the FTC's investigation of Innovative Marketing.

Innovative's roots date back to 2002, according to an account by one of its top executives, Marc D'Souza, a Canadian, who described the company's operations in-depth in a 2008 legal dispute in Toronto with its founders over claims that he embezzled millions of dollars from the firm. The other key executives were a British man and a naturalized U.S. citizen of Indian origin.

According to D'Souza's account, Innovative Marketing was set up as an internet company whose early products included pirated music and pornography downloads and illicit sales of the impotence drug Viagra. It also sold gray market versions of anti-virus software from Symantec and McAfee, but got out of the business in 2003 under pressure from those companies.

It tried building its own anti-virus software, dubbed Computershield, but the product didn't work. That didn't dissuade the firm from peddling the software amid the hysteria over MyDoom, a parasitic "worm" that attacked millions of PCs in what was then the biggest email virus attack to date. Innovative Marketing aggressively promoted the product over the internet, bringing in monthly profits of more than $1 million, according to D'Souza.

The company next started developing a type of malicious software known as adware that hackers install on PCs, where they served up pop-up ads for travel services, pornography, discounted drugs and other products, including its flawed antivirus software. They spread that adware by recruiting hackers whom they called "affiliates" to install it on PCs.

"Most affiliates installed the adware product on end-users' computers illegally through the use of browser hijacking and other nefarious methods," according to D'Souza. He said that Innovative Marketing paid its affiliates 10 cents per hijacked PC, but generated average returns of $2 to $5 for each of those machines through the sale of software and products promoted through the adware.

ANY MEANS BUT SPAM

The affiliate system has since blossomed. Hackers looking for a piece of the action can link up with scareware companies through anonymous internet chat rooms. They are paid through electronic wire services such as Western Union, Pay Pal and Webmoney which can protect the identity of both the sender and the recipient.

To get started, a hacker needs to register as an affiliate on an underground website and download a virus file that is coded with his or her affiliate ID. Then it's off to races.

"You can install it by any means, except spam," says one affiliate recruiting site, earning4u.com, which pays $6 to $180 for every 1,000 PCs infected with its software. PCs in the United States earn a higher rate than ones in Asia.

Affiliates load the software onto the machines by a variety of methods, including hijacking legitimate websites, setting up corrupt sites for the purposes of spreading viruses and attacks over social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

"Anybody can get infected by going to a legitimate website," said Uri Rivner, an executive with RSA, one of the world's top computer security companies.

A scareware vendor distributed its goods one September weekend via The New York Times' website by inserting a single rogue advertisement. The hacker paid NYTimes.com to run the ad, which was disguised as one for the internet phone company Vonage. It contaminated PCs of an unknown number of readers, according to an account of the incident published in The New York Times.

Patrik Runald, a senior researcher at internet security firm Websense Inc, expects rogueware vendors to get more aggressive with marketing. "We're going to see them invest more money in that -- buying legitimate ad space," he said.

To draw victims to infected websites, hackers will also manipulate Google's search engine to get their sites to come up on the top of anyone's search in a particular subject. For instance, they might capitalize on news events of wide interest -- from the winners of the Oscars to the Tiger Woods scandal -- quickly setting up sites to attract relevant search times. Anti-virus maker Panda Security last year observed one scareware peddler set up some 1 million web pages that infected people searching for Ford auto parts with a program dubbed MSAntispyware2009. They also snare victims by sending their links through Facebook and Twitter.

Some rogue vendors manage their partnerships with hackers through software that tracks who installed the virus that generated a sale. Hackers are paid well for their efforts, garnering commissions ranging from 50 to 90 percent, according to Panda Security. SecureWorks, another security firm, estimates that a hacker who gets 1 to 2 percent of users of infected machines to purchase the software can pull in over $5 million a year in commissions.

Hackers in some Eastern European countries barely attempt to conceal their activities.

Panda Security found photos of a party in March 2008 that it said affiliate ring KlikVIP held in Montenegro to reward scareware installers. One showed a briefcase full of euros that would go to the top performer. "They weren't afraid of the legal implications, " said Panda Security researcher Sean-Paul Correll. "They were fearless."

BANKING

One of Innovative Marketing's biggest problems was the high proportion of victims who complained to their credit card companies and obtained refunds on their purchases. That hurt the relationships with its merchant banks that processed those transactions, forcing it to switch from banks in Canada to Bahrain. It created subsidiaries designed to hide its identity.

In 2005, Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait severed its ties with an Innovative Marketing subsidiary that had the highest volume of credit card processing of any entity in Bahrain because of its high chargeback rates, according to D'Souza.

Innovative Marketing then went five months without a credit card processor before finding a bank in Singapore -- DBS Bank -- willing to handle its account. The Singapore bank processed tens of millions of dollars in backlogged credit card payments for the company, D'Souza said.

To keep the chargeback rate from climbing even higher, Innovative Marketing invested heavily in call centers. It opened facilities in Ukraine, India and the United States. The rogueware was designed to tell the users that their PCs were working properly once the victim had paid for the software, so when people called up to complain it wasn't working, agents would walk them through whatever steps it took to make those messages come up.

Often that required disabling legitimate anti-virus software programs, according to McAfee researcher Dirk Kollberg, who spent hours listening to digitized audio recordings of customer service calls that Innovative Marketing kept on its servers at its Ukraine offices. He gathered the data by tapping into a computer server at its branch in Kiev that he said was inadvertently hooked up to Innovative's website. "At the end of the call," he said, "most customers were happy."

Police have had limited success in cracking down on the scareware industry. Like Innovative Marketing, most rogue internet companies tend to be based in countries where laws permit such activities or officials look the other way.

Law enforcement agencies in the United States, Western Europe, Japan and Singapore are the most aggressive in prosecuting internet crimes and helping officials in other countries pursue such cases, said Mark Rasch, former head of the computer crimes unit at the U.S. Department of Justice. "In the rest of the world, it's hit or miss," he said. "The cooperation is getting better, but the level of crime continues to increase and continues to outpace the level of cooperation."

The FTC succeeded in persuading a U.S. federal judge to order Innovative Marketing and two individuals associated with it to pay $163 million it had scammed from Americans. Neither individual has surfaced since the government filed its original suit more than a year ago. But Ethan Arenson, the FTC attorney who handled the case, warned: "Collection efforts are just getting underway."

Jos Crisis: Another Killings Averted, Royom Residents Seek Dialogue with Fulani

Posted by 9jabook.com on April 11, 2010 at 11:08pm

Another attack by unknown assailants was recorded in the early hours of Sunday, April 11 as residents of Kuru-Jenta in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, went through a trauma of gun shots and burning of cars and houses. The attack followed similar patterns Of Dogo Nahawa and Byei villages but there were no casualties except that four vehicles and two buildings were burnt and a resident with bullet scratch from a stray bullet. Residents of the attacked houses did not rush out as were the cases in the other attacks but rather stayed indoors until reinforcement of security personnel came to their rescue. Several people have been paying visit to the village as soon as information filtered into town on the attack where the compounds of two retirees were affected. Some of them narrated their ordeal on what transpired early this morning. The ward head of the area was treated after a stray bullet scratches his chest and was lucky as he explained. Former Managing Director of Mining Corporation, Davou Timothy Pwajok and his cousin, a former Commissioner of Mineral Resources in Plateau State have their houses and cars burnt and their building riddled with bullet holes. Gregory Yenlong assures that government will have to cooperate with security operatives in solving the problem that is becoming an embarrassment. Meanwhile, the Community Development Associations in Bachi and Riyom districts of Riyom Local Government Area in Plateau state are seeking� dialogue between natives of Berom land and Fulani herdsmen that are living in the area as way of finding lasting solution to incessant attacks on the Beroms. Speaking at the Riyom community hall in Riyom local government headquarters, the associations through their representative, Bitrus Tawal urge the Fulani leadership to appeal to their kinsmen to sheath their swords and subject themselves to the authorities of their village chiefs. They also reiterated the importance for the prosecution of all suspects of previous attacks while urging security personnel to rise to the occasion by exercising professionalism and shun the temptation of being biased on religion or ethnic inclination in carrying out their duty. At the peace parley, no fewer than fifteen development associations spread across Riyom local government area of the state gathered at the community hall at the local government headquarters with traditional rulers and political representatives from the communities to address the incessant attack on their villages. Reflecting on the recent attacks carried out on their kinsmen and their farmlands, representatives of the associations believed that dialogue with the Fulani herdsmen would be a way out of the continuous attack being experience by their people. Representing the traditional council in the area, the Gwom Ryei of Bauchi expressed efforts of the council in creating conducive atmosphere for the natives and settlers to coexist without fighting or rancour. Member representing Riyom constituency in the Plateau state house of assembly, Honourable Emmanuel Jugu could not hide his concern for the frequency of the attacks and the steps being taken by the house in finding lasting solution to the problem at hand. As calls are coming for genuine dialogue, all the communities should come together to express their feelings and talk their ways out, instead of killing and maiming one another. The natives should continue to accommodate their visitors while the settlers must respect the culture and obey traditional rulers of the natives.

Jonathan in US for nuclear summit as FG signs bilateral agreement Meets Obama on CNN with Amanpour today

Posted by 9jabook.com on April 11, 2010 at 10:43pm

Nigeria’s Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan yesterday arrived the United States of America for a four-day working visit during which he will participate in the international Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.

Mr. Jonathan, who was on his first official visit to a foreign country since he assumed leadership was scheduled to meet with Mr Obama at 5-30pm (11.30pm Nigerian time) and is expected to have lunch with US Vice President Joe Biden today.

Details of the meeting with Mr Obama were not known at press time, but a presidential source said the US had previously indicated interest in electoral reform, returning peace to the Niger Delta, the country’s unity, and Nigeria’s cooperation in the war against terrorism and nuclear proliferation, so these will probably form the focus of the discussions.

A Nigerian, Farouk Abdulmutallab, is facing trial in the US for attempting to blow up a US plane over Detroit on Christmas day and this led the American government to put Nigeria on its list of ‘countries of interest’ in terrorism.

The acting president arrived the Andrews Airforce Base, Virginia, at 9.30am local time (3.30pm Nigerian time) and was received by US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders; her Nigerian counterpart, Ade Adefuye and other ranking Nigerian and US officials.

The Andrews Airforce Base is reserved for use by select foreign leaders and special dignitaries of the American government.

Mr Jonathan was accompanied on the trip by Foreign Affairs Minister, Odein Ajumogobia and former Nigerian ambassador to the US, Hassan Adamu.

On arrival, he proceeded to Westin Grand Hotel, Washington DC, where he was received by governors of Imo, Edo and Zamfara States, Ikedi Ohakim, Adams Oshiomhole and Aliyu Shinkafi; as well as Joy Ogwu, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) and other top diplomats at both the Washington DC mission and the UN office.

Important meetings

The acting president’s itinerary, released by presidential officials, shows that after lunch with Mr Biden, he will proceed for a meeting with the President of the World Bank, at the World Bank Building, also in Washington DC and later, in the evening, join other visiting Heads of Government and delegations for a working dinner with Mr Obama.

Hilary Clinton, the US Secretary of State and her energy counterpart, Steven Chu, will host Mr Ajumogobia and Diezani Allison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Tomorrow, Mr Jonathan will join other world leaders for the first plenary session of the Nuclear Security Summit before proceeding for a working lunch with the US president. He will thereafter participate in the second plenary, which marks the end of the nuclear summit.

The Acting President will begin his schedule for Wednesday with a breakfast meeting with officials of the Centre for Global Development in Washington DC. The governors of Imo, Edo, Rivers and Zamfara along with the foreign affairs, petroleum and finance ministers are expected to be in attendance.

He will later meet with members of the Nigerian community in the US and the President of ExxonMobil Oil Company. These meetings are also to be attended by the governors and the ministers, along with other presidential aides.

The Acting President returns to Nigeria on Wednesday, 14th April,2010.

Closing gaps

Mr. Jonathan’s trip to the US also marks the first time in almost three years that a Nigerian leader will be visiting the US. Nigeria’s president, Umaru Yar’Adua studiously refused to visit the US after the caustic comments of US officials on the election that brought him to power. His ill health also stopped him from attending the United Nations General Assembly meeting which held in New York - leaving the former foreign affairs minister, Ojo Maduekwe, to meet US and UN officials.

Mr Obama pointedly avoided Nigeria during his last trip to Africa but he used his trip to Ghana to lecture African leaders on the virtue of free elections and financial accountability.

Commiserates with Poland

Mr Jonathan, yesterday sent his condolences to the acting president of Poland, Bronislaw Koromowshi and the Polish people over the death of President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and other ranking officials of the Polish government in a plane crash on Saturday.

He described the incident as tragic, noting that Poland had, in one fell swoop, lost the commanding heights of its political leadership.

“On behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria, I condole with your good self and the people of Poland over the death of President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, high ranking officials of your Government and other nationals in the tragic plane crash of Saturday.

“Poland has lost some of its best and brightest to this accident, and Nigeria mourns with you at this moment of grief.”

Nothing wrong with deploying troops without Jonathan’s knowledge – Reps !!

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on March 4, 2010 at 7:57pm

WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE RULING US ?

From JAMES OJO and AARON OSSAI, Abuja

House of Representatives yesterday applauded the Nigerian Army for deploying troops to secure the arrival of President Umaru Yar’Adua from Saudi Arabia, even without the knowledge of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.

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Defending the action of the military to denounce the confirmation of coup threat, the House noted that deployment of troops by the Brigade of Guards was a mere routine exercise.

Spokesman of House, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, denied that the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, nor any member confirmed that there was a threat to truncate democratic rule when the House met behind closed door on Tuesday.

According to him, the House recognized the commitments of the military as one of the pillars on which democracy stands and that the leadership of the Armed Forces had clearly demonstrated uncommon loyalty to the Federal Government.

“Neither the institution of the office of the speaker, or the speaker himself, or any member insinuated any fact pertaining to coup plot during the executive session. “Instead, the House commended the Armed Forces for their diligence and commitment to democracy,” he stated.

Eyiboh noted that the report of coup threat in the media was in the imagination of the writer, urging journalists to show greater restraint in reporting the challenges facing the nation.

His counterparts in the Committee on Defence, Hon. Oluwole Oke, remarked that the current leadership of the Armed Forces deserve praises for remaining steadfast in the face of provocation.

According to him, the deployment of troops by the Brigade of Guards was purely routine, which can be done without the approval of the acting president. Likewise, Hon. Umar Bature, chairman of Committee on Foreign Affairs said it was not fair for anybody to allude that the House discussed the issue of coup threat at the closed door meeting.

As a retired army officer, he said the Brigade of Guards is mandated to protect the office of the president and commander-in-chief, hence there was nothing wrong in deploying troops to secure the arrival of President Yar’Adua from Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the office of the Speaker Dimeji Bankole has denied a report in a national daily that he confirmed the threat of coup on Tuesday. Special Adviser to the Speaker on Communications, Kayode Odunaro, said the report was not attributed to Dimeji Bankole, or any named member of the House..

According to him, the issues discussed in an executive (closed door) session of the House was based on the utterances of Professor Dora Akunyili, minister of Information and a motion relating to the deployment of troops for the arrival of President Umaru Yar’Adua from Saudi Arabia.

“We state with all emphasis that at no point in the session did the speaker confirm a ‘coup threat’ or plot as speculatively reported in the lead story and we challenge the reporter to provide proof or name any member or members that confirmed a coup threat.

I slept with an average of 7 men in a day

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on March 14, 2010 at 12:28pm

I slept with an average of 7 men in a day

When 33 strip dancers were arrested in Lagos recently and their half-nude pictures splashed on the pages of an evening newspaper, not a few people condemned the dancers and the operators of the night club in which they operated.

Agatha

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But many people seemed to have failed to reckon that the business could not have thriven without patronage from members of the public, or that many of the dancers were forced into the trade by circumstances.

For instance 17-year-old Agatha found herself in prostitution as a result of circumstances beyond her control and she is now full of regrets for the unseemly experience. ''My father had three wives and my mum had three daughters for him. I am the last of the three girls,'' said the Enugu State born girl. ''I lived with my maternal grandmother. Sometime in March last year, I was on my way to my father's house when I was accosted by a lady from my village. She asked me why I wasn't in school.''

The lady, called Mama Ify, lived a distance away from Agatha's father. Believing that Mama Ify was genuinely concerned about her welfare, Agatha explained that she had to stop going to school for lack of funds. ''I didn't go back to school after my JSS III exams because my father had no money. When I said so, she told me she had a sister in Ibadan who sold provisions, and the sister was in need of a sales girl.''

Agatha was overjoyed at the opportunity to escape her life of poverty. After all, there was nothing left for her back at the village except a life of penury and obscurity. ''I couldn't tell my father anything. I knew he would object to my leaving the village, more so when I had to go with someone he didn't know. I just made up my mind that I would leave without telling them.''

On the morning of March 25, 2009, left for Ibadan. ''My grandmother was at home on that day. She asked me where I was going with my clothes, and I told her I was leaving without any plan to come back. She pleaded with me to stay back but I refused.'' Agatha went to meet her new found benefactor at home, anxious to begin a new life. ''Mama Ify told me to go down to the expressway and wait for her there. She said she would join me after a few minutes.''

The motive, of course, was that Agatha's disappearance would never be traced to her. But if Agatha noticed the implication, she certainly wasn't cautious. Leaving the village was uppermost in her mind. ''We boarded a bus to Enugu Park. From there, we took another bus to Onitsha. It was at Onitsha that we took a luxury bus to Ijebu Ode.''

All through the journey, Agatha harboured no fear. For some reason, she implicitly trusted Mama Ify's intentions. ''I asked Mama Ify for her number just in case her sister misbehaved and I wanted to return to my village. She obliged me and confided that her daughter was ill and badly in need of a surgical operation. She said she was actually going to get some money from her sister and decided to get her a sales girl in return.

"When we got to Ijebu Ode, Mama Ify called her sister to tell her that we were around. They arranged to meet us. We took another bus and stopped under a bridge.''

It was at that location that Mama ify's sister came to meet them in company with a man in his forties. Agatha's new guardian was introduced as Madam Best. She was to learn later that her male companion was called Akin, Madam Best's boyfriend. Almost as soon as introductions were over, Mama Ify excused herself, claiming she had to travel back to the village immediately, because her sick daughter needed her. ''She assured me I was in safe hands and to call her if anything went wrong,'' Agatha said.

Agatha parted ways with Mama Ify unaware that the money supposedly borrowed from Madam Best was in fact payment for slave labour. ''I took a bike with my new boss while Mama Ify boarded a bus back to Enugu. At a point, we stopped, took a bus and alighted at one filling station in Ibadan. I couldn't really say exactly where we were because that was my first time of travelling to Ibadan," she said.

The trio walked a short distance to a hotel that was being renovated. The hotel was in a bushy area. It was quite isolated. ''Madam Best and her male companion asked me what I wanted for lunch. I told them I wasn't hungry. They later went away to get a room.''

Minutes later, Agatha was ushered into what would be her new home. ''They called me into a room and said I would live there. I was so surprised. I asked Madam Best if she herself lived in the hotel.''

It was at that point that Agatha learnt the ugly truth. ''She (Madam Best) asked me if Mama Ify didn't tell me what I would be doing in Ibadan. I told her she said I would work as a sales girl in Madam Best's provision store. It was then Madam Best told me I was in Ibadan to work as a prostitute.''

Terrified, Agatha broke down in tears and pleaded with her captors to call Mama Ify on the phone. Her request was declined and instead, she was told to repay the money that was used in transporting her from Enugu to Ibadan. ''When I kept crying, Akin threatened to kill me with a knife. I was locked up for three days. I was given neither food nor drink. Madam best said if I so much wanted to eat, I should sell my body and feed myself.'' On March 28, 2009, desperate for food, the terrified teenager gave in to her captors' demand. Even at that, she had to be beaten with a shoe into final submission. ''I had to sleep with about six or seven men every day. I was never paid anything. All the men paid the money to Madam Best. I was only fed thrice daily.'' With the increasing scourge of HIV sweeping across society, one wonders if Agatha had not contacted any STD. Fortunately, she was able to allay fears on that matter. "All the men that slept with me used protection." Agatha continued in her despised profession for about a month and a half. She couldn't leave her room, so she remained a prisoner there. None of her male patrons ever saw in her the reluctant and terrified child yearning for freedom. She was simply a thing of entertainment.

It wasn't until May 23, 2009 that respite finally came from the most unlikely person. ''There was a boy called Saidi who played music at the hotel every Sunday. One day, he came in with his friend Wale, who demanded for me. When we were alone in my room, I started crying.''

It was the 23-year-old man who eventually offered Agatha a ray of hope. ''He asked me what the problem was and I told him everything. He was really sympathetic and promised to help. He left and came back with a trouser and a top.'' The young man went further to speak with the hotel manager, Alashe. ''Wale told Alashe that he would be spending the night with me.''

Alashe threatened to harm Wale if Agatha should disappear overnight. Perhaps the unscrupulous businessman had smelt a rat. Recalling that eventful night, Agatha said, ''We both couldn't sleep that night. I was very scared, even Wale was scared too. Later, I dozed off. At about 3am, Wale woke me up. He said he had to start going.''

Luckily for both of them, no one stirred while they made good their escape. There was even no fence; just the eeriness of the surrounding bushes. ''We ran until we came to a music studio close to the road and waited there till 5 am. We flagged down the first bike that came our way. The bike took us to Ekiti bus stop. From there, we took a bus to lloro, Ekiti State. It was around 12 mid day when we got there.''

To avoid being tracked by Alashe, Wale took Agatha to his father's house instead of going straight to his brother's home where he normally lived. On their way, they stopped by a stream so Agatha could wash her clothes. ''I had just finished with my washing when Wale's sister- in -law came to inform us that Saidi was with a friend at Wale's brother's house. Both men had come from Ibadan.'' Understandably, Wale was scared to go back. And even when Agatha urged him to do so, he refused. While they were still debating the issue, Wale's brother sent another person to call them. ''I told Wale that I wasn't scared. Since I was no more in that hotel, I knew I could confront whoever it was that had come for me. I was finally able to convince Wale that we should go back.''

They discovered on their arrival that it was Akin that had been sent to bring back Agatha to Ibadan. ''They quarreled for a while in Yoruba. I didn't understand a word of what they were saying. When they had reached an agreement, Akin told everyone that had gathered that I was his sister and Madam Best my mother. He told them Wale had taken me without permission from my mother.''

Seeing her chance at freedom fleeing before her very eyes, Agatha wept profusely, denying Akin's claims. Unfortunately, instead of investigating the matter further, those gathered urged Agatha to go back home with Akin. ''They were all telling me to go back to Ibadan and settle with Akin, that I could come back to lloro after I had done that.'' All this while, Wale did not say a word. He had been sufficiently threatened by Akin.

At this point, Agatha made up her mind to frustrate Akin. ''I decided I wasn't going to make it easy for him to ruin me. When we got to the bus stop, Akin negotiated the price while Wale looked on. When I saw Akin was distracted, I ran. Akin ran after me and caught me. He warned me not to attempt an escape.'' No onlooker bothered to question Agatha on why she tried to run away from Akin. ''Akin got another bus and started haggling afresh. When his eyes were not on me, I ran again. This time, I ran across the street straight into a provision store.''

Agatha held on to the lady store keeper, begging her for help. ''The woman was alarmed and by the time Akin ran into the store, she was terrified." The lady fled her store with Agatha holding on to her for dear life. The struggle continued until the storekeeper's husband stopped them all. ''When he started questioning us all, I burst into tears. Akin quickly intervened and gave his already prepared story of me being his sister. He said all this in Yoruba.'' Fortunately for Agatha, the storekeeper's husband took more than a passing interest in the whole drama. ''He asked me what the problem was and I told him everything. Luckily for me, he was also from Enugu State.''

They were invited back into the store, presumably to settle the matter but unknown to them the police had been notified. ''Two men came in some minutes later and asked us all to explain ourselves. When I finished my tale, they mentioned trafficking and held on to Akin. It was at that point I realised they were policemen.''

They were all taken to Iloro police station. The police tried to mediate in the matter but the store keeper's husband was adamant that Akin and his accomplices be prosecuted. On June 1, 2009, they were moved to the state CID in Ekiti State. ''We spent 10 days there. After our first week there, the police raided the hotel where I used to live. All the girls were taken away. Madam Best usually stayed at Queen's Rema Hotel but I couldn't direct the police there. I only knew the name. It was an Okada operator that directed us there. The police had to check each hotel on that street one after the other because I couldn't identify the particular one.''

As it turned out, Madam Best was not around, so the hotel owner's wife was arrested. ''We couldn't get the owner of the hotel. He was called Alhaji. The police told his boys that if Alhaji wanted his wife out of police custody, he should aid them in tracking down Madam Best. '' Madam Best was caught on the day she tried to flee the town to Benin, Edo state.

Head of the Lagos Zonal office of NAPTIP Godwin Morka said the matter was in court and efforts were being made to reunite Agatha with her family through the NAPTIP zonal office in the East. ''It was the Ekiti state CID that brought Agatha to NAPTIP. She was very much traumatised when she was handed over to us. We had to put her through counselling and some medical treatments.

"Parents have to be more careful and watchful of their children. Young girls can be so easily deceived and recruited into prostitution, especially when they are not highly enlightened

My son must not die -Yar'Adua's mother Tells Turai to release her son To meet with OBJ, Gowon

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on March 1, 2010 at 12:05am

My son must not die -Yar'Adua's mother *Tells Turai to release her son *To meet with OBJ, Gowon

FOLLOWING the refusal of the First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar'Adua, to allow top politicians, including the relatives of the ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua to see her husband, who was secretly brought into the country after spending three months in a Saudi Arabian hospital, the mother of the president, Hajia Dada

Unusual disrespect to lead her husband in the religion they both practice, not to mention President of a nation

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Yar'Adua, has called on eminent Nigerians to prevail on Hajia Turai to release her son to her.

Similarly, the president's mother has vowed to hold her daughter in-law responsible if anything unwholesome happens to her son.

A source close to the family in Katsina disclosed that the president's mother has started making frantic efforts to meet with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, as well as other eminent Nigerians, who were close to President Yar'Adua's late brother, General Sheu Musa Yar'Adua, to help appeal to the first lady to drop her recalcitrant attitude, and bring home the ailing Nigerian leader.

According to the source, Turai had locked the door of Aso Rock against the president's mother, thus preventing her from seeing her son. He added that the woman, who had become troubled since her son took ill, had sent emissaries to Ota Farm to meet Chief Obasanjo in order to make him see her plight and prevail on the first lady to change her mind.

The woman, according to the source, revealed that the health status of president Yar'Adua had always been a source of worry to her, noting that the president had been battling with health challenges, as he was afflicted with a certain skin disease at birth, adding that the president's illness, which has been given much media attention in recent times, could be cured locally.

She said Turai's hard stance on access to her husband had made things worse, as President Yar'Adua's health condition had suffered in the process.

The source said that President Yar'Adua's mother did not want her son disgraced from office, noting that it was better for him to die and be given full presidential honours, than being disgraced out of office.

It will be recalled that the president's mother, in the wake of the president's latest sickness, after he was flown to Saudi Arabia, had urged the first lady to leave her son alone and allow him to resign from office on the grounds of his ill health.

Soyinka to OBJ : hypocrite with no moral standing responsible for country's problems

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on March 7, 2010 at 7:08pm

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Obasanjo A Hypocrite, Says Soyinka

FOR pontificating on current issues in the polity, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has earned an acerbic criticism from Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.

Soyinka describes Obasanjo as a hypocrite, who has no moral standing on the prevailing political crisis in the country.

He said: ÒFirst of all, Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo is a hypocrite. He bears full responsibility for the situation in which we find ourselves today.

"And I don't take him seriously and that"s all I want to say about him."

Soyinka, in the forefront of the campaign by civil society groups to ensure the resignation of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua and transfer of full powers to Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, was fielding questions from three Nigerian writers in Jaipur, India recently.

His comment was sought on the statement credited to Obasanjo, calling on Yar'Adua to resign and his (Soyinka's) leading of protest marches in Nigeria and abroad to pressure Yar'Adua to respect the Nigerian Constitution.

According to Soyinka, Obasanjo, Òwho is now coming up to offer hypocritical hogwash," was among Nigeria leaders and political office holders, Òwho have nothing but contempt for the rest of society.

However, the Nobel laureate, who made a presentation at the Jaipur Literary Festival, said he was leading the political campaign in Nigeria so as to take the country back to the people.

"You should demand your nation back and don't just sit and watch it being degraded and expropriated by people who have absolutely no respect for you, no respect at all, even to their own,Ó he said.

He continued: ÒI didn't just lead the march to Abuja; I had been calling for marches. My last three lectures in Nigeria, I had been calling, trying to get Nigerians to wake up and seize their destiny in their hands and take their rightful place in the making.

"Rescue the nation from the cabal of reprobate gangsters, extortionists and even political murderers.

"Some of them are political murderers, political assassins responsible for some of the assassinations, the unprecedented scale of political assassinations we've witnessed in Nigeria in the last 10 years.

Soyinka said he had been asking Nigerians just how much they could take, stressing, "you (Nigerians) don"t even feel you are degraded as human beings to exist in such a community and you go about your work everyday.

"These were the themes of my lectures within Nigeria for quite a while.

"So, doing it, participating in that kind of march and ensuring that it worked was simply a continuation of something I had been saying for a long time.

"And all I have to say to you, all you people is; this nation is yours, this country is yours. You should demand; you should take it back by any legitimate means you are capable of.

Bukky Wright & Fathia Balogun in Messy Romance with married men

Posted by NollywoodMohits on March 3, 2010 at 6:07am

All does not seem to be well between the Nollywood screen diva, Bukky Wright and Fathia Balogun.

Both women are divorcees and perceived to be doing well in the movie industry of the Yoruba genre. we can also confirm that the 2 of them have penchant for running after married men for social economic security, which is the reason why they have perpetually remain single parents with many children.

Fathia Balogun

Our checks revealed that Fathia and Bukky are among the most sort-after actresses in Yoruba movie industry. Aside acting, they have both excelled in other endeavors. Years back, these two maintained a cordial relationship, especially, during the last election where Bukky Wright campaigned for the present Governor of Lagos State. The only actress this mother of 2 invited to join her in the project was Fathia Balogun and a lot of people envied their relationship. We gathered that few months after the election, the two Nollywood actresses started drifting apart, as most of their colleagues had already predicted. The story in town is that these two actresses are no longer on talking terms and they avoid each other like plaque but nobody can figure out the real cause of this cold war between these screen divas. A source confirmed that there is also a rift which borders on superiority between them and that there can never be two captains in the same ship, and also that Fathia Balogun chose her friends and not the other way round and due to her no-nonsense attitude, she can’t maintain a cordial relationship with Bukky Wright.

Bukky Wright

Meanwhile, it was gathered that Bukky Wright on her own is striving hard to stand out in everything and among her colleagues. She is equally a no-nonsense person and this has made things rather difficult for both of them. Also the envy and jealousy which has taken over the movie industry is also one of the factors why a lot of Nollywood actresses prefer to keep to themselves and make friends with people who are not in the entertainment industry as they are sure their secrets will be safe with such a person. Apart from the general reason these stars are not close, there is also the issue that Yoruba movie stars are believe to always want to know the source of each other’s success, and some even go as far as getting close to that same person in question and this at the end of the day causes misunderstanding among these stars. But this according to painstaking investigations is not the reason these two Nollywood actresses avoid each other.

We can however, disclose that the real issue for the unhealthy rivalry between them is that Fathia Balogun has been engaging in movie business with Corporate Picture boss, Rasaq Abdullahi, for years, as his (Corporate Picture) company sells her movies and Fathia also coordinates some movies and produce by this same marketer, and she has equally done business with a lot of other Nollywood stars in the industry, but lately, Bukky Wright has equally maintained a cordial relationship with the same marketer. Ever since he sold “Omotara Johnson”which was produced by Bukky Wright, people are beginning to feel, there is more to this sudden relationship and have seen it as an attempt by Bukky Wright to hi-jack corporate picture boss from Fathia. Also Fathia is said to be equally uncomfortable with the sudden relationship, this is said to be one of the reasons these two celebrities avoid each other like a plaque. Besides further checks have it that both are secret lovers to the successful movie marketer, and it was also gathered that the man at the centre of the storm has been satisfying them well both in cash and in kind.

It is on record that Fathia, controversially divorced her husband owing to the love affairsbetween him and the corporate picture boss. His estranged husband is also a popular actor, in the movie industry, who is know and addressed as Saheed Balogun
We gathered that Fathia had granted so many interview with the press where she vowed never to return to Saidi's life and that she's through with marriage. Industry source confirmed to that Bukky Wright initiated Fathia into lesbianism, and when the duo realised that same man was also going to bed with them, that grossly contributed to the impasse between them.

For Bukky Wright she cannot be particularly traced to any man as her husband despite the media overkill she got in the recent time that she remarried. Investigations have it that she can do anything for money as she is persistently linked with a Lagos based socialite and drug baron, Bolaji Saheed. It was disclosed that Bukky Wright had vowed that nothing on earth would make them break even has she moved into Bolaji’s residence in Magodo GRA, she is also most times, seen cruising around town in her guy's latest Lincoln Navigator Jeep which he bought some days after they broke up the last time until she later broke up with him when Bolaji accused him of promiscuity and lesbianism. Thereafter she hooked up with Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel. Gbenga Daniel gathered that he battered his First Lady mercilessly when the poor woman accused His Excellency of deep romance with Bukky Wright. The common saying in the lips of many now is that most Nollywood stars whether male or female are not responsible, their movies though may help to preach and teach morals in the society but they themselves unfortunately are not practising what they preach. Undoubtedly this assertion is not far from truth, as cases of immorality/promiscuity in the Nollywood has become one too many.

culled from huhuonline

Omosexy returns with second album

Posted by NollywoodMohits on February 26, 2010 at 4:21pm

If you think her entry into professional music was a gamble and Gba – her debut album, a fluke, think again. Nollywood’s beauty and screen diva, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde has decided to reiterate her commitment to music by releasing a thirteen-track album tentatively titled ‘Feel Alright’.

This follow up album is coming after five years of musical silence (her debut album was released 2005).The sexy mother of four, has teamed up with a group of professionals including, singer and guitarist Harrisong- who doubles as her voice coach, producer DelB and singer cum producer Paul PlayDairo, to produce, mix and master her sophomore album which consists songs divisible into the Pop and Rock genres.

And unlike Gba which was targeted at commercial success, Omosexy says ‘Feel Alright’ is a different kind of project.

“The songs (in her new album) are not the type that’ll become popular easily. They are songs deliberately written to send out particular messages. The focus is not to get attention”, she said in a telephone chat. Ask her who writes her songs and she says, “I write them myself except for the parts where I featured other persons”

Some of the tracks contained in the coming album are Feel Alright, Get Busy, Harmony, Through the Fire and Barren Land. Barren Land was specially written for the United Nations to address food crisis in affected countries.

Already the lead track titled Feel Alright is receiving air play and a second single will be joining it on radio in the first week in March, says the actress turned singer and songwriter.

Rights to her debut album were sold to Sound Factory- a music-oriented company which operates in Nigeria and the United Kingdom- for a sum she wouldn’t disclose but ‘enough to reward my hard work’. It was a three-year agreement. The album, according to the singer ‘was one of the best deals in 20005’ and sold ‘over a million copies’.

Omotola does not plan to sell out her new work. Now she’s interested in the music business and how it works especially in Nigeria. As it is now, the singer is talking to certain international music companies and a few Nigerian fellas on the commercial details of the new album, she further revealed. Feel Alright is expected to drop in May, ‘by God’s grace’.

Sade Adu returns at 51 with first album release for a decade

Posted by NollywoodMohits on January 25, 2010 at 11:48pm

Sade returns at 51 with first album release for a decadeWith a £40million fortune maintained by daily airplay of some of her earliest hits, singer Sade Adu has been more than happy to maintain a low profile over the years.But the singer has let go of some of her desire for anonymity as she is set to make a return to the spotlight with her first album in ten years, Soldier Of Love.Sade, was seen leaving BBC Radio 2 on the weekend, and despite her advancing years, now aged 51, the singer still maintains the striking looks that gained her a legion of fans.The singer born Helen Folasade Adu in Nigeria, is promoting her new release, Soldier Of Love, which will be her first album in ten years.Buzz is building around the recently released video for the title track and single which shares the same name as that of the highly anticipated album.Sade is in seen in the video as a commander of a group of male military styled dancers, looking remarkably youthful, and still in fine voice.A source told the Mirror: 'She is unique compared to other artists. She just wants to make music, and she's not interested in publicity.'A fierce desire to protect her private life means she rarely gives interviews. And friends even nicknamed her 'Howie' after the reclusive American billionaire Howard Hughes.But she will always break cover to tour for her fans.She has said: 'If you just do TV or video, then you become a tool of the record industry.'It’s when I get on stage with the band and we play that I know that people love the music.'Sade's huge fortune - she has sold 50million records - has allowed her to disappear from sight, and she runs around in a 10-year-old Mercedes, preferring the company of old friends.It is eight years since Sade last made a public appearance - at Buckingham Palace to collect an OBE in 2002.She now lives mainly in a mansion in the Gloucestershire countryside with her new partner, said to be a scientist.The singer has spent most of the last decade as a full-time mother to daughter Ila, 14, from her relationship with a Jamaican record producer.Sade's friend Sophie Muller, whom she met at St Martin's Art College, in London, directed the striking video for the single Soldier of Love.The album is released in the UK on February 9th.Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1245959/Reclusive-singer-Sade-returns-album-release-decade.html#ixzz0diJzbKD8

Turai consults with spiritualists in Mecca OBJ betrayed me -Yar'Adua *

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on February 1, 2010 at 9:20pm

THE call by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on President Umaru Yar'Adua to resign as president if his health is failing him has widened the gap between the president and his predecessor, even as it has deepened the suspicion of Yar'Adua's loyalists and a section of the North about a Jonathan presidency. advertisement Impeccable sources told the Nigerian Tribune that many northern leaders who were clamouring for the handover of power to Vice-President Jonathan, owing to President Yar'Adua's continued stay outside the country on health grounds, had also changed their commitment to such a move. Sources close to President Yar'Adua said he was moved to tears when he was told of President Obasanjo's pronouncement. "The president was very bothered because former President Obasanjo was one of the few Nigerians who had been given the privilege of having access to the president on his sick bed," a source close to the president said. The Yar'Adua Chief Obasanjo saw on the sick bed, it was learnt, hardly recognised his predecessor and that the two could not engage in any meaningful discussion because of the state of Yar'Adua's health. The president's men were said to have opened up to President Obasanjo on his health challenges and why the doctors said he needed more time in Jeddah to recuperate before he returns to Nigeria. Sources said the access given to President Obasanjo had now proved counterproductive because the former president had used the information given to him against President Yar'Adua. "Why must he do this? Is it because of the urge for power always?," a source close to President Yar'Adua asked. The sources also claimed that the account of Yar'Adua's health status in the build-up to the 2007 elections as reported by Obasanjo is "grossly inaccurate" and "self-serving." A source who has always been close to President Yar'Adua before he became governor of Katsina State in 1999 said Obasanjo was only playing to the gallery on the issue. "Is he saying that as president and commander-in-chief of Nigeria, he relied entirely on what Mallam (Yar'Adua) told him? The truth is that in Mallam (Yar'Adua), Allah has shown that He is greater than any person and that those who think they can play God forget their limitations as human beings," the source said. Many sources in the presidency said Obasanjo's public advice to Yar'Adua to quit was seen as his unrelenting commitment to see Vice-President Jonathan sworn in as president, which the Yar'Adua men would not allow to happen. Those who opposed the idea of Dr Jonathan acting as president said they were afraid of what Obasanjo could do. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said: "We all know that Obasanjo is Jonathan's godfather. He made him the governor and the vice-president. If Jonathan gets to power, it is Obasanjo who is back in power and he will come back with his legendary spirit of unforgiveness. Many of us feel this country should go back to a government that will unite rather than divide the country. Obasanjo will divide PDP and the country." But, source said the concern within Yar'Adua's group about Jonathan's return goes beyond the altruism of averting a return to Obasanjo's brand of politics. They said the people close to Yar'Adua were afraid that a Jonathan presidency would expose them to public scrutiny. Almost all the people reputed to be close to President Yar'Adua have been in one financial controversy or another. It is widely believed that they are still in government because they hold the lever of government and that the emergence of another power group will put them on trial. "It is the proverbial musical chairs. Yesterday, it was el-Rufai, Ribadu and Fani-Kayode. Today, it is Yar'Adua's boys. Under Jonathan, it is believed, Yar'Adua's boys will experience what Ribadu, el-Rufai and Fani-Kayode are experiencing today," said an insider in the politics unfolding in Abuja. Meanwhile, the First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar'Adua, is currently making last minute spirited efforts aimed at bringing President Yar'Adua to his feet, following reports that she had been in touch with established spiritualists in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Her efforts in this regard, were, it was said, being complemented by marabouts in Nigeria said to have been contracted by top loyalists of the president in the Presidential Villa. A leading member of pro-Yar'Adua group who spoke with the First Lady told the Nigerian Tribune that she was in Mecca during the last week to offer special prayers with spiritualists in the holy land for the quick recovery of the ailing president. Turai, he said, was very hopeful that Yar'Adua would be fit to return to office within the next couple of days, disclosing that the First Lady had communicated same message to top members of the Yar'Adua cabinet and some state governors with whom she has been in touch, according to him. There have been speculations that President Yar'Adua was fast recuperating and may return to Nigeria any moment, although there has not been any visible sign to that effect. In anticipation of his return to Nigeria, pro-Yar'Adua groups have continued to mushroom in Abuja and are planning to hold a rally in his support Many of the pro-Yar'Adua groups had addressed the media last week, stating their preparedness to hold a prayer procession for the president at the Eagle Square, Abuja, after which they said members would march to the National Assembly to state their position on the president to members. Another pro-Yar'Adua group, which goes by the name Future Nigerian Leaders Group, led by Emeka Okoroji, addressed the media on Sunday and asked Vice-President Jonathan to speak up on his position on the clamour for transfer of power to him. Okoroji said the vice-president could help in defusing tension in Nigeria amid agitations for him to take over power from President Yar'Adua in acting capacity, and in line with the dictates of section 145 of the 1999 Constitution. The pro-Yar'Adua youth leader said members of his group were in support of the position of the court on the unfolding political scenarios in Nigeria, most especially their conclusions that there was no vacuum in governance, and that the transfer of power to the vice-president was needless for now.

Chelsea's John Terry Worse than Tiger Woods Sleeps with Wife's Friend and Team mates Lover !

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on January 30, 2010 at 2:30am

photo Terry and Wife Toni inset is the homebreaker Vanessa and Girlfriend to Wayne Bridge

ENGLAND'S World Cup hopes are in chaos after their captain John Terry was publicly disgraced for cheating on his wife with a team-mate's girlfriend.The $200,000 a week player lost a court battle to keep the affair with French underwear model Vanessa Perroncel - his wife's best friend and the partner of fellow England defender Wayne Bridge - secret.Terry, 29, who has three-year-old twins with his childhood sweetheart Toni, now faces a backlash from players and fans fearing the storm will rock the England squad and ruin the team's chances at this summer's World Cup in South Africa.Within minutes of the story breaking, the internet was awash with angry calls for Terry to be stripped of the title.The Chelsea star had desperately tried to keep the public in the dark over his infidelity and initially managed to use human rights laws to obtain a gagging order against the press.England captain John Terry was publicly disgraced last night for cheating on his wife with a team-mate's girlfriend after losing a court battle to keep it secret.The £170,000-a-week footballer had an affair with French underwear model Vanessa Perroncel - his wife's best friend and the partner of fellow England defender Wayne Bridge.Terry, 29, who has three-year-old twins with his childhood sweetheart Toni, now faces a backlash from players and fans fearing the storm will rock the England squad and ruin the team's chances at this summer's World Cup in South Africa.Within minutes of the story breaking, the internet was awash with angry calls for Terry to be stripped of the captaincy.The Chelsea star had initially used human rights laws to obtain a gagging order against the press, claiming his right to a 'private and family life'.But the judge who threw out the order said he thought Terry was more concerned about the threat to his lucrative sponsorship deals. Even the existence of the so-called 'super-injunction' was supposed to be a secret. But in a landmark ruling for press freedom, Mr Justice Tugendhat ruled that the public had a right to know.He told the High Court that people should have the right to criticise 'socially harmful' behaviour because freedom of speech is as important as the right to privacy.Experts believe his ruling could open the floodgates to more revelations - high on the list being the identity of the Premier League manager recently accused of visiting a brothel.The decision will shatter Terry's recently-acquired family man image and could lose him millions in commercial sponsorships.

Wife Toni with Vanessa and Girlfriend to Wayne BridgeBut the judge said Terry had made no mention of personal distress and appeared to be 'a very robust personality.' He said the secrecy claim was more likely to be about 'protection of reputation' and was 'essentially a business matter'.The judge was critical of the way Terry, his business partners and Schillings, one of the best-known celebrity law firms, had tried to keep the affair under wraps.Terry, recently crowned celebrity 'father of the year', was not in court and kept out of public sight as the scandal broke.He has long been close friends with Bridge and until recently they were neighbours in a gated community in Surrey. Bridge was with Terry at Chelsea for five years until he moved to Manchester City in 2008.Until last week, no one knew that Terry was having a secret sexual affair with Bridge's girlfriend. When Miss Perroncel's relationship with Bridge collapsed last July, it was to Terry's wife Toni, her best friend, that she turned for support. The two women are even understood to have holidayed together.The court has not said when Terry's affair began or how long it lasted, but there was one unconfirmed suggestion that it was still going as recently as last month.The alleged relationship had 'consequences', the court heard - but their nature was not spelt out.Sources close to Bridge said he was 'in bits'. The 29-year-old has a three-year-old son with Miss Perroncel.Jaydon Jean Claude Bridge was born in November 2006 but when Bridge moved to Manchester City a year ago, Miss Perroncel remained in their Surrey mansion.Bridge said nothing when he was asked about his teammate's behaviour yesterday as he left his club's training ground before returning to his £2million rented mansion in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.But even fellow England stars - not always known for their family values - were privately condemning Terry for 'crossing the line' in sleeping with a teammate's partner.He also faces the wrath of England manager Fabio Capello - the Italian has famously strict moral values. Capello will come under pressure to strip Terry of the England captaincy if his off-field behaviour is causing a rift in the team.FA insiders claimed Terry's future depended on how fellow players react to him before a friendly against Egypt in March.Yesterday there was no sign of Terry at his £4million home where, on Monday, he confessed his infidelity to his wife. Terry has previously admitted to cheating on Toni.In 2005, two years before marrying, he said: 'I've misbehaved and slept with girls behind her back. I'm not going to cheat on her ever again and I want to marry her more than anything.'But the day he was quoted, it emerged he had a fling with a blonde - and even borrowed his friend Bridge's £4million house as a love nest.His alleged lover Shalimar Wimble, 25, told a Sunday newspaper: 'John never mentioned his fiancée Toni to me - I guess that's why he took me to Wayne's place.'Yesterday the judge made it clear he thought Terry's history as a love rat was very much relevant in deciding whether he should be allowed to keep his latest transgression a secret.Mr Justice Tugendhat said it was crucial that newspapers should not be prevented from reporting things that were 'socially harmful'.Even before the order was lifted, the internet was buzzing with details of Terry's infidelity. He was named on at least one football website, while posts on the social networking site Twitter ridiculed the England captain. One said: 'Everyone knew he was boffing the (rather gorgeous) girlfriend of Wayne Bridge - let the story run.'The case echoes former England captain David Beckham's alleged affair with Rebecca Loos.He was never forced to quit his post, but then again the England coach at the time, Sven Goran Eriksson, was busy having a secret affair of his own.The underwear model and her friendship with the WAG next doorJohn Terry's wife and his mistress were the most unlikely of best friends.Toni Poole, 28, is a working-class girl who shuns the public eye and is happy to stay at home with the twin children she has by her childhood sweetheart.

photo Terry and Wayne BridgeVanessa Perroncel is a French-born lingerie model who has posed provocatively in a series of 'lads' mags'.Yet they holidayed together last summer and were regular guests in each other's neighbouring homes.Miss Poole, 28, had dated Terry from the age of 16, when he was a year older and an apprentice footballer on £48 a week still living with his family in an estate in Barking, East London.Friends: Toni Terry and Vanessa Perroncel spent time together during the 2006 World Cup in GermanyShe worked briefly as a beautician, but in an age of WAGs is more like the traditional footballers' wife - a loyal, quiet presence in the background.She and Miss Perroncel became friends in 2006 after the exotic model, who is thought to be around 29, had begun dating Wayne Bridge. He was Terry's Chelsea teammate and neighbour - as well as an accommodating friend.In 2005 a tabloid newspaper told how Bridge allowed Terry to use his house to have sex with a secretary when he wasn't there.Afterwards, Terry apologised for his transgression and vowed that it would be the last. At the time, it was the eighth to be publicised in tabloid newspapers.Whatever doubts his long-term partner might have had over Bridge, she quickly became friendly with his new girlfriend, despite their differences.Miss Perroncel was certainly different-having made a career out of her body once she moved to the UK.She posed provocatively in a whole array of downmarket lads' magazines including Maxim - where she was labelled a Maxim Mate - and Front.Apart from her magazine appearances, she posed with Sacha Baron-Cohen's film creation Ali G, she in a white bra and red knickers as he lay between her parted legs.Toni and Vanessa headed - along with the other WAGs - to Baden Baden in Germany for their now notorious stay during England's ill-fated World Cup campaign in 2006.The friendship between the two women intensified after Toni gave birth to twins, son George and daughter Summer, and Vanessa had a son, Jaydon Jean Claude five months later.The following summer, Miss Perroncel and Bridge were both guests when Terry wed Toni at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and last summer they went on a 'girls' break' together.Yesterday's revelations suggest another holiday is unlikely - and there is likely to be a distinct froideur the next time they meet in their Footballers' Wives estate.

California: Kindergarten Students get sent home with Sex Tape by Teacher !

Posted by jackie webLondonGirl on January 24, 2010 at 11:26pm

Classic Case of Californication as Students get X-rated surprise in class DVD Teacher seen having sex in video; district tells parents to destroy the disk ELK GROVE, Calif. - A Northern California elementary school teacher sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch. Officials at the Elk Grove Unified School District asked families of the teacher's 24 students to get rid of the DVD after the unintended clip was found spliced in a scene where children were sharing stories in class. "Just destroy them," said spokeswoman Torrey Johnson. Johnson said the teacher, whose name isn't being released, sent the DVD home with her students from Isabelle Jackson Elementary on the last day of class Friday. She learned of the mistake after a parent called her. She then called all the parents to ask them to destroy the DVD. The school district, located just south of Sacramento, initially sent a letter home to parents asking them to return the DVDs, but then asked parents to simply destroy them. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

R&B SINGER CHRIS BROWN PHOTO'D WEARING EXTRA TIGHT PANTS . . . AND DUDE IS PACKIN!! with career in nose dive nigga will try anything to get back on top but he aint gettin on top of Rihanna again the Girlfriend Beater !

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