Posted by Jane Okinedo on February 2, 2010 at 11:18pm
Judge beheaded in Kwara for dissolving marriage • Suspect fleesFrom LAYI OLANREWAJU, IlorinTuesday, February 2, 2010An Area Court Judge, Mallam Kazeem Zakari, in Yashikira, Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State has been allegedly beheaded by a Fulani man. The man, who is now on the run, was said to have murdered the judge at his residence shortly after the judge acceded to a request by the killer’s wife to summarilly terminate their marriage.advertisementAccording to Daily Sun source, parents of the Fulani man’s wife had instituted a divorce suit before the area court in Yashikira over constant battering and bashing of their daughter by the husband whom they described as a ‘rascal.’The judge, it was gathered, after hearing and careful deliberation of the case reportedly granted the parent’s prayers.Displeased with the ruling, the man who currently at large allegedly resolved to ‘deal’ with the judge personally.Daily Sun was reliably informed the on that fateful day, the judge, who was said to have reported for duty, dashed home after adjournment only to meet his untimely death in the hands of his alleged assailant.It was gathered that at the close of work, when the court clerk and court assistant took the late judge’s books to his home, they met his head already severed off his lifeless body, lying by the window side.The spokesperson of the Kwara State Police Command, Dabo Ezekiel(ASP) confirmed the incident.He added that the command was yet to link anybody to the crime.The spokesperson disclosed that the corpse of the judge had already been released for burial.It was also gathered that the remains of the late judge had since been interred at his country home, Okuta in the same local government.
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It's good being Diddy's son. Not only do you get one of the most lavish sixteenth birthday parties ever bestowed upon a teenage boy, you also get a car worth more than $350,000. See, everyone, the recession is over ... if your name is Diddy. Oh, and he also donated ten grand to Haiti.The son of the rap mogul was greeted with a Maybach, one of the world's most expensive and luxurious cars which is being valued at $360,000.Justin Dior Combs' party over the weekend will be available for the world to see, as MTV's 'My Super Sweet Sixteen' cameras were in tow to document all of the extravagance. Aside from a club full of Justin's friends and family, rappers Fabolous, Lil' Kim and Jim Jones performed for the teenager.According to the New York Daily News, Diddy also gave his son a check for $10,000, which was then kindly donated to the relief efforts in Haiti.
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By CHRISTOPHER OJI
Thursday, January 7, 2010
A 26-year-old female banker, who was arrested by the police for allegedly stealing N3 million from a customer’s account has blamed fear of the unknown for her action.
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Kemi Yisau, a staff of a new generation bank (names withheld) who is being interrogated at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Ikoyi, Lagos, told Daily Sun that with the present war on banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), no bank staff is sure of what fate has in stock for him or her.
She said: “No banker knows if he or she would survive the tsunami going on in the banking sector now. Soludo came with his wahala and left, now Sanusi has started his own, people are losing their jobs in the banking sector by the day. So, no one is sure about who would survive the mass sack going on in the banking sector.”
The young lady, who revealed that she was still furthering her education in a University said: “I have not finished my schooling and if I am sacked, who is going to assist me. After thinking of all these, I decided to save some money in case of any eventuality. It is quite pathetic sitting down and counting other people’s money and your job is being threatened each day you come to the office. I was tired of the mass retrenchment going on in the banking sector.”
Yisau advised CBN Governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido, to take it easy with banking sector, as staff are jittery over the incessant sack in the sector.
The commissioner of police in-charge of the unit, Mr. Saba Ndagi said the suspect stole the money from the customer’s account between January and November, 2009. Ndagi explained the suspect used her position as the customers’ account officer to collect the said amount.
According to him, the suspect was giving fictitious balances to the company each time it requested for it’s credit balance.
He revealed that the scam blew open when the customer stormed the bank while she was not on duty and requested for his balance and was given the correct statement.
Ndagi said when the bank management received complaint from the customer that there were discrepancies in what the suspect told him and the last statement of account, he invited the police.
The police boss vowed to charge the suspect to court after recovering the money.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on January 15, 2010 at 8:10pm
Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan scored another first yesterday. He became the first Vice President in the history of Nigeria to lay wreath for the fallen heroes, those who died in defence of the country.
The VP took the place of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua as a result of Wednesday’s ruling of an Abuja Federal High Court that he can perform the President's duties, if such powers were delegated to him by the President.
He rode into the National Arcade at 10.a.m, with all the pomp and ceremony accorded previous Heads of Government with the horse riders and other paraphernalia of office at his disposal for the parade.
Decked in brown Niger Delta attire, with a black bowler hat and black shoes to match, he wasted no time in taking on the first duty of inspecting the guard of honour mounted by the combined detachments of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and the Nigerian Legion.
Like his predecessors, the VP had no words for either the fallen or surviving heroes.
After prayers were said for the fallen heroes, the leaders as well as the country, a minute silence was observed after which the VP stepped out, as if reluctantly, looking grim; he took the wreath, laid it, stepped back, said a little prayers and turned back.
The Senate President, David Mark followed suit. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, in his usual casual with short caftan (jumper), white cap and black shoes to match walked briskly to the "Unknown Soldier ".
The new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Katsina-Alu; the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Godwin Abbe; the Minister of FCT, Sen. Adamu Aliero; the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike and the other Service Chiefs as well as the Inspector General of Police took their turns to honour the fallen heroes.
81-year-old, Private Mohammed Boyi represented the Nigerian Legions.
A World War 11 veteran, who joined the Colonial Army in 1942, was helped to the podium by a colleague amidst cheers from the gathering.
Frail-looking Boyi retired from the Nigerian Army in 1977 and now lives in Katsina State with two of his four children and 26 grand children.
After the wreath laying ceremony,a 21-gun salute was fired and the VP led others to the pigeon cage. He released the white birds and they flew, even if not too far from the arcade.
Jonathan left the venue after signing the continuation of celebration register.
According to a fellow legionnaire, Boyi is the only surviving veteran that took part in the 2nd World War. Though his sight challenges began about five years, Boyi could still recall nostalgically how he served in various parts of the world like Burma, Cairo and Japan, among others.
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Yemen Bombed 3weeks Ago by the Sauidis/ US ,2 former naija Justices sons accomplices of Mutallab
Bombshell Eyewitness Revelations: Confirmed FBI Cover-Up Of Flight 253 Attack
Detroit attorney Kurt Haskell dropped bombshell revelations concerning his eyewitness experience of the Flight 253 attack and how the FBI detained a second man after dogs detected a bomb in his luggage on The Alex Jones Show today. The FBI has not only ignored Haskell’s story, but they have launched a cover-up by refusing to even acknowledge the existence of another man who filmed the entire flight, including the aborted attack, as well as the well-dressed man who aided the bomber to board the plane even though he had no passport and was on a terror watch list.
Watch this space for more stories on this astounding news that the corporate media has completely failed to cover.
Detroit attorney Kurt Haskell appeared on the Alex Jones Show today and detailed his experience at the Amsterdam airport and on flight 253. Mr. Haskell provided information not covered by the corporate media.
Kurt Haskell.
In addition to a detailed retelling of the story he gave the corporate media, Mr. Haskell addressed the unprofessional and lackadaisical behavior of the FBI and airport security after the plane landed at the Detroit Metro airport in Romulus, Michigan. He characterized their behavior as a “complete embarrassment.
They actually put us in more jeopardy than we were already in.”
Passengers were told to remain seated in the aircraft for 20 minutes after landing despite the fact security did not know at that point if there was an explosive on the plane or if the fire started by the suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab while on descent to the airport had spread under the floor in the cabin or to the fuel tanks in the wings.
After being allowed to disembark from the plane by officials, passengers were detained in customs with their carry-on luggage for six hours while they waited to be interrogated by the FBI, according to Haskell.
At this point a bomb-sniffing dog pointed at carry-on luggage in the possession of a man Haskell described as Indian around 30 years old. Officials led the man away to an interrogation room. Haskell said he was concerned because the bomb-sniffing dog had flagged the man, indicating he may have had explosives in his carry-on luggage.
The Indian man was subsequently led away in handcuffs.
Following this incident the FBI moved the passengers to another location. “You’re being moved,” the FBI told them, “it is not safe here. I’m sure you all saw what happened and can read between the lines and why you’re being moved.”
Haskell said the corporate media refuses to cover this aspect of his story. He has repeated it to “countless” news agencies and they uniformly have not included it to his knowledge.
Mr. Haskell questioned why officials have not released the Amsterdam airport security video that will undoubtedly reveal crucial information about the “sharp-dressed man” who escorted a disheveled Mutallab to the boarding area. Haskell described the suspected terrorist as appearing to be a “poor black teenager.”
The well-dressed Indian man did all the talking. He insisted Mutallab be boarded on the plane without a passport and when an airport employee refused to do so Mutallab and the Indian man went to talk with a supervisor. The Indian man tried to pass off Mutallab as a Sudanese refugee and have him boarded despite the fact doing so would be in violation of regulations concerning refugees. In general, documentation must be provided by an embassy in order for refugees to board international flights.
Mr. Haskell did not see Mutallab again until the botched terror bombing inside the plane on the approach to Detroit. He did not know how Mutallab finally boarded the aircraft.
The FBI was not pleased with Kurt Haskell when they conducted a follow-up interview earlier today in Michigan. They showed him close-up photographs of various people, including Mutallab. “They kind of tried to trick me,” Haskell explained. The agents tried to pass off two photos of Mutallab as different people. Kurt asked the agents if they were attempting to impeach his story and smear him.
The Indian man was not included in the photographs.
Haskell asked them why he was not shown a full body shot of the suspect. Haskell was eight rows back from the suspect. The FBI agents did not answer and were displeased with the question. He also asked the FBI agents if it would be more appropriate to bring the surveillance video from the Amsterdam airport instead of still photos. “I don’t think they liked that comment from me,” Haskell added. The FBI said they did not have the videotape.
The agents showed Haskell a photograph of the man flagged by the bomb-sniffing dog and taken into custody in customs. “Isn’t this the man who had the bomb in his carry-on bag that you arrested in customs who you refuse to admit exists?” Haskell asked the agents. “They really didn’t like that comment from me and had no comment back to me but I said it sure looks like the man you refuse to admit exists.”
Kurt Haskell was circumspect and careful not to speculate during the interview with Alex Jones. He indicated he is only interested in the facts and does not want to endanger his version of events by speculating on motives.
More Reports
In a full unedited interview with Alex Jones, a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, Mr. Haskell recalled that just before being questioned about the sharp dressed man incident a man was pulled into a room, handcuffed, and detained by authorities. Who was he? Why was he detained? Is there any relevance to the story?
Haskell described the man as being a much younger Indian man. After the incident authorities asked the passengers to move to another location. Obviously it was a big deal. Surely the larger media outlets could find out who this man was and what he was detained for. According to Haskell the authorities then told the passengers that obviously they had a problem. The passengers were then told they could figure out what was going on but nothing more.Something doesn’t smell right and it’s not the underwear bomb.
The reason given for the terrorist attempt was the bombing of Yemen by Saudi’s with help from American CIA. Ron Paul called that one right away before Mutallab said it to authorities. Why didn’t any news agencies cover the bombing of Yemen before yesterday afternoon? It was almost like they had to cover it after the alternative media had already let the cat out of the bag so to speak. That also brings up the question why didn't they cover the man who was detained prior to questioning?
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Posted by 9jabook.com on December 30, 2009 at 7:29pm
Babangida weeps as wife is buried
Even "acolytes" of the Prince & the Art of War by niccolo machiavelli have emotions .
FORMER Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd) bowed to emotions last night as his wife for nearly 40 years, Mayram was interred, in their Hill Top Home, Minna, Niger State
Former military President, Ibrahim Babangida (middle), on arrival at the Minna Airport .. on Tues.
PHOTO: Daily Independent Newspaperadvertisement
Maryam whose body arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 11 pm yesterday was brought to Minna, Niger state capital in an Air Ambulance, arriving the mansion of the Babangidas in a long motor cade.
The corpse arrived the home at about 11.45 pm accompanied by Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, Sani Ndanusa (Sports Minister) and Adamu Aliero, (FCT Minister) on behalf of the Federal Government.
Prayers for the reposed of the soul of Maryam began at 12.45am led by the Chief Imam of Minna, Alhaji Isah Fari.
The crowd surged as the prayers moved in order to catch last glimpse of the former glamorous first lady.
A close confidant of the Babangidas, Alhaji Abdulkarim Kure piloted affairs, assisted by former Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), DG, Brig. Halilu Akilu Dignitaries present at the ceremony included former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, Governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Namadi Sambo, (Kaduna), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) Magatakarda Wamakko (Sokoto) among others.
There were also former military colleagues to Babangida, Gen. John Shagaya, (rtd) former Security operative, Umaru Shinkafi, Captain Nogie Megason, Tayo Amusun, wife of Kwara State Governor, Mrs Toyin Saraki, PDP Chieftain, Tony Anenih, former CBN Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and a very large number of National Assembly members, and past and present members of the political class.
Her interment came a day earlier than scheduled because of what a family member explained "in order to curtail an uncontrollable crowd since security operatives might not be able to control the surging crowd if she was buried in the day."
Earlier, it was a heart-rending spectacle yesterday as Gen. Ibrahim Babangida wept profusely on arrival at Minna Airport at 5.45 p.m. in a private aircraft to await the return of the remains of his wife, Maryam, who died in the United States (U.S.) at the weekend.
She passed on last Sunday at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Centre (UCLA), Los Angeles after a battle with ovarian cancer.
Gen. Babangida returned to receive the body, which will be buried at 11:00 a.m. today beside the family mosque at his Hilltop Mansion in Minna.
The uncontrollable weeping of Nigeria's former military President for eight years forced many people at the airport to burst into tears.
Babangida was received by his son-in-law and Zamfara State Governor Aliyi Shinkafi as well as the General's first son, Mohammed and others.
Also, at the airport were Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Anambra governorship candidate, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo and former governor of Yobe State, Bukar Abba Ibrahim among others.
Babangida, dressed in black caftan, arrived at his residence at 6.10 pm in company of Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu and others in a 38-seater coaster bus bearing the official seal of the state government.
Meanwhile, the three-day fidau prayers for the repose of the soul of the late former First Lady have been held in Minna.
The two and half hours prayer was performed by the chief iman of Minna Central Mosque, Alhaji Abu Fari who prayed for forgiveness.
The prayer was attended by immediate family members, sympathisers and other dignitaries including former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, Aliyu and Shinkafi, and the Minister for Interior, Alhaji Shettima Mustapha. Erstwhile governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure and Alhaji Dettijo Aliyu, a former commissioner for heath in the state and cousin to Gen. Babangida, were also there.
Thousands of Nigerians have continued to troop to the hill-top mansion to register their condolence. They included former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon and his wife, Victoria, former Lagos State military governor, Brig. Gen. Raji Rasaki, former governor of Cross River State, Col. Anthony Ukpo, former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi.
Others included the Governor of Osun State Olagunsoye Oyinlola and former Minister for Works and Housing Tony Anenih.
Gowon noted that the late Maryam was an exceptionally good first lady who dedicated her life especially to the rural women and Nigeria in general.
Gowon said: "It is a very sad occasion for all of us and she will be sorely missed by her husband, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida as well as the children who were left behind.
"We hope that they (children) follow her footsteps and ensure that they maintain the legacy she left behind through life."
Gen. Abubakar remarked: "She has really played her role as the first lady of Nigeria. She brought the Better Life Programme for the rural woman and I believe that through her office the rural woman has been brought to the fore and a lot of things have been done for the rural areas. She has played her role as the First Lady and as set the tone of how first ladies should contribute their own quota in the affairs of the nation."
Oyinlola said: "It is my own person that I have lost; I have been with the family since I was 20 years of age and I pray that the good lord continues to uphold the family."Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau yesterday condoled with Babangida.
In the letter dated December 28, 2009 and addressed to Gen. Babangida, he said: "It is with deep sense of grief that, I, on behalf of the entire Army, commiserate with you and your entire family...
"Her Excellency was a loving mother to all, especially the less privileged in the society throughout her life time. Her passion for the welfare of wives of officers and soldiers when she was the National President of Nigerian Army Officers' Wives Association was remarkable and a source of encouragement to all those who attained that post after her. She will surely be missed and remembered by all in the Nigerian Army and the country at large.
"It is my fervent prayer that the Almighty God will grant you and those she left behind the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Once again, please accept our heartfelt condolences."
Also, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday, commiserated with the Babangidas, lauding Maryam's "pioneering efforts on the upliftment of women's welfare".
NBA, in a statement by its Assistant Publicity Secretary, Gbolahan Gbadamosi, on behalf of the NBA President, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), noted that she was " a pride to African women."
According to the Association: "The sad news of the death of a friend of rural women after succumbing to the terminal ailment came to us as an unkind piece at this period.
"It is on record that her pet project- Better Life for the Rural Woman brought succour to underprivileged women. Her legacy on this score is worthy of emulation.
"We are consoled by the effort she put in the service of humanity and pray that God will give the Babangidas the courage to bear the irreparable loss".
A business mogul and Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Arisekola-Alao, has also condoled Babangida.
In a statement yesterday, Arisekola-Alao said: "Every soul shall have a taste of death and Allah will, by his mercy compensate us of our deeds on the day of judgment and those that the Almighty Allah admitted into the garden would have succeeded and Hajia Maryam Babangida will insha Allah be one of them.
" I hereby express my heartfelt condolence to my brother, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, former President, Federal Republic of Nigeria over the death of his wife, Hajia Maryam Babangida. "Please, take consolation from God that our departed wife and mother played her part very well... History will never forget her. May the merciful Allah accept her. Amen."Read more…
Posted by 9jabook.com on January 10, 2010 at 7:00pm
This post has been allegedly written by a US based Medical practitioner and originally posted online on various blogs around the 15th of December 2009 .Google the first line in bold to see. Quite an interesting read .
I just woke up to read this idiotic piece dished out to Nigerians.
First, let me say, that beyond all reasonable doubt that if the diagnosis
and the muddled up information dished out by the demons in PDP are true,
then Mr. Yar'dua is not coming back to Nigeria, at least NOT on his feet.
Please do not get me wrong, do not mistake my take as being cold hearted
or see me as a woman without African compassion in her. In fact I feel all
these because I was once in the shoes of Mrs Yar'dua. Not that my own man
had his kind of influence or money, but I loved him with all my heart all
the same.
OK, look at this, the man is not able to speak or he is inaudible if he
does. No mam/sir, the man cannot speak at all. The man is on a ventilator,
he is intubated to secure the airway because someone did not have the
presence of mind to intubate him, secure his airway, hyperventilate him en
route to Saudi Arabia, so he SUFFERED ANOXIC NEURO DAMAGE. It takes only
3mins and at best 5 mins for any one to suffer irreversible brain damage
without oxygen. So, his fool of a doctor putting him on oxygen via nasal
cannula will only give the man nose bleed without making much difference.
. Doctors flown in from Germany and America will not make a difference.
The man had a cascade of chemical activities when his heart failed or
should I say when he suffered vascular collapse in Abuja. These chemical
reactions will open the gates for toxic reactions hence his systemic
collapse. It takes only a couple of minutes, 8 mins precisely or may be a
little longer in some strange people for the chemical to bring down the
whole system. In that case, he will be in a vegetative state .
What is happening now is that they have put him on life support, he can
neither talk or blink, he is in what we call CATATONIC STATE, with only the
severely compromised brain ticking away. In that case , his algorithm will
be very erratic on the monitor.. They can give him all the epi. in the
world and it will not make a difference.
I am almost sure the man is on life support. I want to assume he also has a
trach. They will do that to access his lungs to see if miracle can happen as
soon as he arrived in the hospital because his airway would have been
compromised by the time he got to the hospital. Where we cannot get a line
into a patient, we go for O/S, and that is we go through the the trachea to
get the lungs filled with oxygen. Sometime, the man will be artificially
kept alive as long as his heart is still registering on the monitor, no
matter how poor his algorithm may be. In that case, he will be dead and
alive at the same time. However, we do keep them on to see if they will make
a miraculous come back. There are some things, indeed a lot of things
medicine cannot explain. One of which is the phenomenon of the COME BACK
KIDS. as we call them. We keep them on as long as per family request until
the register a PEA on the monitor and then they go away forever. Those
moments are so surreal. So, what is Madam President is doing now is hoping
that the man will make a miraculous come back. I am surprised Gov saraki is
part of this caper because he is before anything else a medical professional
who from all indications does not know what is on in our world anymore.
The man will speak to the nation? common guys, this guy ain't speaking to no
one but his creator. He cannot speak because he has tubes in his throat or
though his nasal septum. Actually he has more than that. let me tell you
guys what he has:
1. FOLEY CATH: That is a tube going through his penis to his bladder
to drain urine into a urine bag for measurement. The essence of it is to see
his urine osmolality and to measure the kidney function. We want to see at
least 30 ml of urine per hour. In his case, it is not likely because the
reports say his kidneys are gone. Poor guy. besides, we do not want him to
void on himself so that we do not have issues of skin break down from the
ammonia in the urine.
2. RECTAL TUBE: that is the one that will collect all the feces if at all.
That is to maintain hygiene. We also want to see the color, size, viscosity
of the feces. It tells a lot. That is besides the fact that he is in ICU or
IMU, nurses on those wards are not known to tolerate an incontinent
patient. Besides, you do not want to accidentally dislodge a tube because
all the alarms will go off at the same time. I once rotated to IMCU and the
noise from the monitors almost drove me to drink. I do not drink at all.
3. TRACHEOSTOMY: That is meant to be part of his breathing tubes which
will be connected to a ventilator. because the lungs are crappy now, am sure
his secretions will be suctioned for him so that he does not drown in his
own fluids.
4. G or J TUBe: That is to maintain nutrition for him and to see his if he
can make a miraculous come back.
5. OROPHARYNGEAL TUBES: connected to the ventilator. helps him to breathe.
6. NASO GASTRIC TUBE: Not likely because the oro is already in, but may be
they were not able to get in the oro tube and since he did not have a facial
or cranial wound, he may be a candidate for the naso tube. If his his oral
airway had been compromised before he got to Saudi Arabia. The dumb doctor
did not intubate him, his airway would have become occluded and so we go
through the nasal septum.
7. CENTRAL LINE: that is to medicate him, draw labs which will be done
round the clock at least B. I.D to see his chemistry. I hope they gave him
the triple lumen so that if he cannot tolerate a g-tube, he will be getting
parentral nutrition. His eyes may be wide open which is kind of creepy or it
may be shut. If it is my facility, we will close the eyes so that there is
no corneal damage. If the eyes are left open, his people will ignorantly
think he is looking at them and some times families think they see the man
blinking. yeah right..The rise and fall of the chest may look even tot he
uninitiated, they may think his respiration is even and unlabored, but it is
the ventilator working. The man may no longer be taking spontaneous
respiration. it is the machines breathing for him. The family may think
other wise.
Is there something am missing? please remind me in your reply. The point is
Mrs Yar'dua might be going through the stages of grief which is
understandable. Look, when mine was in the throes of death, I walked in the
icy rain of Washington, DC and I did not feel it. I went into denial.
I almost gambled away my license. I went to Dr Yamamoto, my daughter's
instructor when she rotated to Cardiology. He is the 5th cardiologist in
the USA. I asked him to do a miracle. I wept like a baby because I saw him
slipping into death.
Stages of grief are 4:
1. DENIAL : no it is not happening. He will come back. Lightening will
strike and all of you will be shamed. I feel her pain.
2. ANGER: You feel betrayed by the patient. You blame him for being sick.
You cuss at him and at every one who tells you anything contrary to what you
want to hear.
3. BARGAINING; you attempt to bargain with God and get all the prayer
warriors to pray to God to give you a second chance.
4. ACCEPTANCE: You accept the party is over and allow the man to go. I feel
her pain. She will get there. I went through it. I cussed at mine on some
occasions, I cried and rocked him like a baby in the next minute. I dropped
5. dress sizes. I went into deep sadness. I blamed every body, lashed at him
while he was sick. Tried all the hospitals all over the world. Got through
to a friend practicing in South Africa for a heart transplant and blew all
my savings including my childrens' money hoping for a miracle. he eventually
expired and I almost suffered a melt down. Now, guys, having said that, I
have zero respect to all those fools in Nigeria who have what we call the
FOOT MOUTH DISEASE. Seriously, there is a disease like that, but IT IS FOUND
IN COWS. Those folks in the national assembly are mentally below cows in the
realm of things.
May God help us, and am genuinely praying, but it is not likely the man will
come back. That is however, based on the premise that all what we have read
is true.
ANONYMOUS for good reason
___________________________________________________________________________
*Prof Bolaji Aluko Commentary*
The sentiments of the above compelling communication by a qualified medico
with a personal story to tell to boot can be indepedently verified as
hitting some of the medical marks with respect to this important health
matter of President Yar'Adua.
The President is apparently in no position to sign anything under such
physico-medical distress/duress that would be legally acceptable. It is
left to the National Assembly and/or FEC to act - or to wait on Fate.
One hopes that we are not in a Death Watch.....
Bolaji Aluko
Saddened
Read more…
Al-Qaeda, the infamous terrorist group behind the September 11 US bombings, in which thousands died, on Monday claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day attack in which Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up an airliner as it landed in Detroit.
According to an Internet statement on Islamist websites, the organisation said it had given "Umar Farouk al-Nigiri" (which translates to ‘the Nigerian'), a "technically advanced device" which however failed to work at full capacity.
The group claimed the attack was in reaction to U.S. attacks on its Yemen arm.
The news corroborates earlier statements credited to Mr. Muttalab during his preliminary interrogation by US authorities
On trial
Also, on Monday, the United States District Court for the East District of Michigan yesterday cancelled its first hearing on a case filed by the FBI against Mr. Mutallab.
No reason was given for the cancellation of the hearing, which was scheduled to hold before U.S. District Judge Paul Borman.
"The hearing has been cancelled," said U.S. Attorney's spokesperson Gina Balaya. "I was not given a reason for the cancellation."
But media reports state that prosecutors are aiming to get a search warrant to enable them to collect DNA from Mr. Abdulmutallab, who is being held in a federal prison in Michigan. This is presumably to determine if Mr. Abdulmutallab has links to other crimes or terror plots prior to his arrest on December 25.
In an affidavit dated December 26, 2009, Special Agent James Peissig of the FBI submitted the facts of the case against Mr. Abdulmutallab as follows: "that Mr. Mutallab was in violation of US Code Title 18, Section 32, which is the destruction of an aircraft or aircraft facilities, or the willful attempt to do so."
Bail for Mr. Abdulmutallab is scheduled to be set at a January 8 hearing in Detroit.
Tracing the failure
Meanwhile, U.S. and British authorities admitted that lapses in visa and airport security systems may have allowed Mr. Abdulmutallab's preparation for his plot to go unnoticed.
In a television interview on NBC's Today Show, when asked if the system "failed miserably," U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano replied: "It did. And that's why we are asking - ‘how did this individual get on the plane? Why wasn't the explosive material detected? What do we need to do to change?" The last question referred to the security watch list rules.British Home Secretary Alan Johnson confirmed that Mr. Abdulmutallab had been put on a U.K. watch list after he was refused a student visa following an application to study at a bogus college. But he was still able to get a U.S. visa, which was issued in London.
Also, an investigative report by America's CBS News yesterday revealed that the State Department system designed to keep track of active U.S. visas twice failed to reveal that Mr, Abdulmutallab had been issued an active visa allowing him multiple entries into America.
"According to a law enforcement source, the first failure came on November 19, 2009, the very same day (Mr.) Abdulmutallab father's, Dr. Umaru Mutallab, a prominent banking official in Nigeria, expressed deep concern to officials at the U.S. Embassy in Abjua, Nigeria, that his 23-year-old son had fallen under the influence of "religious extremists" in Yemen," the report read in part.
According to CBS News, "the second failure to flag an active visa belonging to Abdulmuttalab occurred the very next day - November 20 - in Washington after Dr. Mutallab's concerns were forwarded to officials there. It was only after the Christmas Day terror attack in Detroit that U.S. officials learned that Abdulmuttalab had been issued a visa by the U.S. Embassy in London valid from June 16, 2008 through June 12, 2010."
Mr. Abdulmutallab was on a broad U.S. terrorist watch list but he was not designated for special screening measures or placed on a no-fly list because of a dearth of specific information about his activities, Ms. Napolitano said.
A White House spokesman said President Barack Obama had ordered a review of how suspects' names are added to counter-terrorism watch lists.
Amsterdam airport speaks
Officials of the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where Mr. Muttalab's flight passed enroute to Detroit, also spoke on the issue.
The CNBC reports that "spokesperson Marianne Debie confirmed that the reason the airport does not use scanners on American flights is because the "US government did not approve the use of the machines for American passengers."
Ms. Debie also said there is strong opposition to widespread use of the machines by the European Union due to privacy concerns. Germany refuses to use the machines, for instance.
She revealed that following the incident, the airport now has 17 scanners, and is working to obtain advanced scanners that are more anonymous. Ms. Debie also said Schipol airport wants to use the scanners everywhere but scanning is voluntary for those subjected to it; officials believe it should not be voluntary.
Read more…
Posted by 9jabook.com on December 28, 2009 at 7:54pm
Yar’Adua’s absence: Military on alert • No holidays for commanders • Politicians wooing soldiers
By PHILIP NWOSU
“No commander is allowed to travel during the celebrations. Stay with your troops and celebrate with them. The Nigerian Army is not unaware of recent remarks in the press literally calling for what they term military solution to the political affairs of the country. While taking cognizance of the current democratic dispensation that respects the freedom of speech, the Nigerian Army dissociates itself from such remarks, as we are collectively resolute in operating within the confines of our constitutional roles.
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“Whatever political disputes that may exist in our society, like they exist in all human society, they are best settled through constitutional means. Please the military should be left out of this.”
These are the words of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau to men and officers of the military at a recent Chief of Army Staff Conference. Consequently, the Nigerian Armed Forces may have been placed on high alert during this festive season to forestall any move to truncate President Umaru Yar’Adua’s administration.
The alert, Sunday Sun, gathered may not be unconnected with the raging controversy over who governs the country in the absence of ailing President Yar’Adua and the fear in some quarters that the confusion may give the room for some extremists and mischief makers in the military to take over government.
It was gathered that the Service Chiefs have placed commanders of their troops on alert, urging them to cancel every trip that will take them away from their men.
Sunday Sun also learnt that the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau, had reiterated his warning to Brigade and Battalion Commanders to stay at their location during the Christmas and New Year celebration.
Dambazau had during the Chief of Army Staff Conference warned Brigade and Battalion Commanders to celebrate the Sallah and Christmas festivities with their troops.
A key Nigerian Army source told Sunday Sun that the warning was re-emphasized by the force and that a signal was reportedly issued to that effect.
The Army Chief had also warned the force’s personnel against working with politicians to undermine democracy, explaining that emerging security reports indicate that soldiers were being wooed by politicians to work against the country’s democracy.
He told senior military officers that intelligence reports indicated that politicians have been courting some military personnel to get involved and find a military solution to the political problems of the country.
Read more…
By Albert Akpor
LAGOS — FOR six months now, a pregnant woman identified as Iyabo Ojo is being detained at the open cell of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Fed SARS, Adeniji Adele, Lagos for allegedly being an in-law to a suspected armed robber.
The woman who claimed to be 36 years was reportedly arrested by detectives attached to SARS since last August in Akure, Ondo State.
Police sources said one Ibrahim (other names not known) who is an in-law had visited the woman and her children at their Oluwatoyin quarters in Akure some times ago during which he gave her N10,000.00 to buy things for herself and children.
Sources hinted further that while Ibrahim was leaving, he equally collected Iyabo’s account number and GSM number with a promise to pay another N10, 000.00 to her account for her upkeep.
Few weeks after, it was gathered that detectives attached to the SARS had encounter with a gang of suspected robbers which the said Ibrahim was a member. He was said to have received gunshot before he was arrested.
Part of the items allegedly recovered from him was a GSM phone which contained Iyabo’s number. Acting on this, Vanguard was told that detectives promptly stormed Akure and put a call across to her, saying they had a message from Ibrahim for her.
The unsuspecting pregnant woman was said to have raced to the waiting hands of the detectives who wasted no time in placing her under arrest, handcuffed her and whisked her to Lagos. She was later to be told her offence.
Entreaties by the hapless woman that she did not know Ibrahim to be a criminal let alone being an accomplice fell on deaf ears as she was dumped in the cell.
However, sources revealed that detectives are convinced that the mother of two may not know anything about the robbery after all, but are allegedly asking for a bail of N400,000.00 before she is left off the hook.
Efforts to get the Commissioner of Police in-charge of the unit, Mr. Jubril Adeniji failed, but a source close to his office confirmed the detention and said the CP was aware of the matter and it was under investigation.
Read more…
Posted by 9jabook.com on December 20, 2009 at 9:56pm
1. Quantum Mechanics for Beginners
- An Introduction -
How the Princess began to Feel the Pea.
Science is exciting because it is always in trouble. No matter how excellent a theory is, it always misses some point or other. Even our most precious ideas about the universe are not able to explain everything; there's always a blind spot. And when the hopeful folks zoom in on that blind spot it pretty much always turns out to be a lot larger than anybody thought, and all of us a mere bunch of naive beginners.
At the end of the eighteenth century the blind spot of regular mechanics (=the library of dogmas that teach the ins and outs of objects moving and colliding) covered the behavior of very small objects, such as electrons, and the behavior that light caused when it hit small things like electrons.
Light had been a mystery for centuries. Some experiments proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that light was waves. Some other experiments proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that light was particles. The truth about light was obviously hidden and it wasn't until 1900 that people began to understand that there was something very weird about the world of the small. Something that required a complete revision of understanding.
It was decided that the world of the very small was governed by rules that were different from the rules that governed the world we can see, and regular (or classical) mechanics begat Quantum Mechanics. And that unanticipated breach in mechanics spawned this very important rule:
Hold that thought (1):
Individual quantum particles are subjected to a completely different law than the law to which large objects made from quantum particles are subjected.
The introduction of the quantum
The Quantum Mechanical era commenced in 1900 when Max Planck postulated that everything is made up of little bits he called quanta (one quantum; two quanta). Matter had its quanta but also the forces that kept material objects together. Forces could only come in little steps at the time; there was no more such a thing as infinitely small.
Albert Einstein took matters further when he successfully described how light interacts with electrons but it wasn't until the 1920's that things began to fall together and some fundamental rules about the world of the small where wrought almost by pure thought. The men who mined these rules were the arch beginners of Quantum Mechanics, the Breakfast Club of the modern era. Names like Pauli, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Born, Rutherford and Bohr still put butterflies in the bellies of those of us who know what incredible work these boys - as most of them where in their twenties; they were rebels, most of them not even taken serious - achieved. They were Europeans, struck by the depression, huddled together on tiny attics peeking into a strange new world as once the twelve spies checked out the Promised Land. Let all due kudoes abound.
Believing the unbelievable
One of the toughest obstacles the early Quantum Mechanics explorers had to overcome was their own beliefs in determinism. Because the world of the small is so different, people had to virtually reformat the system of logic that had brought them thus far. In order to understand nature they had to let go of their intuition and embrace a completely new way of thinking. The things they discovered where fundamental rules that just were and couldn't really be explained in terms of the large scale world. Just like water is wet and fire is hot, quantum particles display behavior that are inherent to them alone and can't be compared with any material object we can observe with the naked eye.
One of those fundamental rules is that everything is made up from little bits. Material objects are made up of particles, but also the forces that keep those objects together. Light, for instance, is besides that bright stuff which makes things visible, also a force (the so-called electromagnetic force) that keeps electrons tied to the nuclei of atoms, and atoms tied together to make molecules and finally objects. In Scriptures Jesus is often referred to as light, and most exegetes focus on the metaphorical value of these statements. But as we realize that all forms of matter are in fact 'solidified' light (energy, as in E=mc2) and the electromagnetic force holds all atoms together, the literal value of Paul's statement "and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Col 1:17)" becomes quite compelling.
Particles are either so-called real particles, also known as fermions, or they are force particles, also known as bosons.
Quarks, which are fermions, are bound together by gluons, which are bosons. Quarks and gluons form nulceons, and nucleons bound together by gluons form the nuclei of atoms.
The electron, which is a fermion, is bound to the nucleus by photons, which are bosons. The whole shebang together forms atoms. Atoms form molecules. Molecules form objects.
Everything that we can see, from the most distant stars to the girl next door, or this computer you are staring at and yourself as well are made up from a mere 3 fermions and 9 bosons. The 3 fermions are Up-quark, Down-quark and the electron. The 9 bosons are 8 gluons and 1 photon.
Like so:
But the 3 fermions that make up our entire universe are not all there is. These 3 are the survivors of a large family of elementary particles and this family is now known as the Standard Model. What happened to the rest? Will they ever be revived?
We will learn more about the Standard Model a little further up. First we will take a look at what quantum particles are and in which weird world they live.
(If you plan to research these matters more we have written out the most common quantum phrases in a table for your convenience. Have a quick look at it so that you know where to find it in case you decide you need it).
Summary 1: Quantum Mechanics for Beginners; an Introduction.
Everything is made up from little chunks called quanta.
Small particles are completely different animals than large objects.
The visible universe is made up of 3 fermions and 9 bosons (not counting gravity)
The matter that makes up the visible universe is part of a larger family of particles called the Standard Model.
2. Big Rules for Small Particles
- Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle -
Uncertainty.
A scientific model or theory is supposed to be a cascade of certainties and whenever someone uses the word 'uncertainty' most scientist will run for the nearest airlock.
Great therefore was the consternation when uncertainty appeared to be one of the most characteristic qualities of quantum particles. Einstein even went as far as to boldly state: I don't believe that God plays dice!
But God did. Or so it seemed.
The year was 1927 when a brilliant 26 year old German named Werner Karl Heisenberg postulated a principle that would go down in history as the Uncertainty Principle of Heisenberg. It goes like this:
A large object that moves along a trajectory has, at any point in time, a certain speed and a certain position. Both speed and position for any point along the track can be accurately calculated or measured. But of a quantum particle that zips through space the speed and position can not both be accurately known. Either the position of the particle is known or the speed. And when one of the two is known accurately, the other one is hidden. When we know the speed, we have no idea where the particle is situated. And when we know the position of the particle, we are oblivious to its speed. And that is not because we're not smart enough, or our instruments are not accurate enough. It simply does not exist!
Hold that thought (2a):
The Uncertainty Principle of Heisenberg:
Of a quantum particle, speed and location can not be simultaneously known.
We like to think of speed and position as two separate things but in fact they are two sides of one thing. Just like space and time are really not two but one: spacetime. Einstein was right when he said that God doesn't play dice. He doesn't. In stead He created the universe on a principle of sovereignty. Quantum particles are allowed to surround themselves with mere blurs of their intentions. No one is to know their true speed-position, not even God, because it does not exist.
The Famous Slot Experiment
Quantum-uncertainty has a very peculiar consequence. It can not be predicted where a particle will end up when we shoot it at a target. Particles are sovereign and can not be coerced.
Take a look at the following installation:
A particle canon shoots particles at a screen with a slot. Behind the first screen we place a recording screen that marks the place of particles impact with a black dot. We let the installation run for a couple of hours, or at least long enough to have fair coverage of possibilities.
If particles were regular objects they would have been easily directed through the slot
and on to the same spot on the recording screen. But particles are not regular objects and our recording screen shows a blurred black smudge at the spot we were aiming at.
Obviously most particles hit the recording screen somewhere in the vicinity of our target. Particles can not be coerced but they seem nevertheless quite willing to join the fun.
But the black blur does not have a boundary. It smudges across the entire recording screen, graying out radially until at the edges hardly any impact shows. It appears that some particles chose to avoid the mainstream and steer for the edge. In fact, if we would have placed recording screens all around the canon, we would have seen impacts everywhere, even behind the canon! Some particles simply tear a U-turn and hit a wall 180 degrees opposite the one we were shooting at.
We decide to count the number of impacts directly behind the slot in an area with a certain small radius. Then we count again but cover a larger area. We count more hits of course because we've added surface to the first count. Then we count again, and again until we have a pretty accurate picture of the spread of particles. We plot the numbers in a graph and find a curve that never becomes zero (since particles hit everywhere). This curve was plotted for the first time in 1925 by an Austrian named Erwin Schrödinger and has been called the Schrödinger Wave ever since.
Schrödinger solved the troublesome particle/wave duality paradox that had plagued scientists for so long. The question whether things such as photons were waves or particles was answered with a loud negation across the board: they are neither, or rather: both! Quantum particles are particles that propagate through space by means of chance-waves. That is the wave some scientists had detected. This wave does not propagate through some kind of medium, like water or air, but emerges from the individual sovereignty of quantum particles. Before quantum theory waves always ran through a medium, like the ocean. Take away the wave and you still have water. A quantum wave does not use a medium; it uses chance. Take away the wave (which are the particles) and you'll be left with nothing.
The Famous Two Slots Experiment
If quantum particles that burst forth from their source behaving like a wave, we should be able to observe interference. Interference happens when two waves collide and some parts of both waves cancel out and other parts add up. (To construct a resultant-wave we add up the amplitudes of both waves for all points - above the gray line is positive, below is negative).
And to make two waves in order for them to interfere we take out the slotted screen of our previous experiment and insert a screen with two slots. We fire at will and wouldn't you know... interference! Indeed many particles ride the wave of their identity.
But! we're not happy so fast. We decide to fire off one particle at a time with an interval of one minute between particles. Quantum particles are those things that can not be divided.
Particles must go through one of the two slots, our intuition dictates. Firing off particles one at a time should not produce an interference pattern, we think.
A few hours later we return, and find the recording screen adorned with yep! an interference pattern. How is this possible?
Well, apparently we have stumbled upon the heart of quantum weirdness. The rule is easily derived, but not easily swallowed. We'll have to choke it down: Quantum particles are per definition individable, but they travel through space according to all the many possibilities that they have to choose from. They are not compelled to choose one specific trajectory, but are allowed to travel all of them, according to the chance that they will.
Particles will travel everywhere from source to target, like a smear, thick where the particle is most likely to be, and thin where it is most likely not to be. The smear by which they travel is called a path integral: the total area covered by all possible trajectories.
Interpretation
In the two-slots experiment the following is true:
The chance that the particle goes through slot 1 is x%. The chance that the particle goes through slot 2 is y%. Chance x and chance y are both Schrödinger-waves and they will engage each other to form an interference pattern behind the two slots.
Quantum particles are indivisable but will interfere with themselves to form complex patterns when they encounter obstacles. When we repeat the experiment we will find the same results. Approximately the same number of particles hit in certain areas. Uncertainty appears to have its certainties after all. Or...doesn't it?
What if we shoot one hundred particles at a target and the first ninety nine of them 'choose' to fit the pattern. Then, if certainty existed, the hundredth particle would be forced to land in the only spot left by its predecessors. No way Jose. There's no way of telling where the hundredth particle will go. The last one's freedom will always infringe ultimate certainty.
The more particles we fire off the more accurate we can predict how the spread of particles will be. If we shoot off a million particles, we can quite accurately predict the percentage of hits per area. If we shoot of a hundred particles we can still predict how the spread will be but not very accurately. And if we shoot off one particle we can not make any sound prediction where it will end up. All we can talk about is the chance that our particle will end up in a certain area.
If 95% of one million particles ends up in a radius of 50 centimeter from the projected heart of the slot we can say that there is a 95% chance that particle number one-million-and-one will end up in the same area. But this says nothing about the actual destination of the particle.
Hold that thought (2b):
A large number of particles will display a pattern that is near equal to the initial possibilities of a single particle.
A quantum particle can not be coerced. If it chooses to do so it will end up there where only 1% of the particles ended up. It might even boldly go where no particle has gone before. Nothing is certain. Everything is possible.
Which brings us to another phenomenon: quantum tunneling, which allows a quantum to simply up and leave and show up somewhere else. In fact, there is a very real yet astronomically small chance that all particles that make up you and your computer suddenly decide to zip to Mars. The chance that this happens naturally is so small that we don't incorporate it in our daily experience of reality. But it is certainly not zero. Quantum tunneling is a very real thing, like say electricity.
Before electricity was comprehended and harnessed by man, all natural manifestation of it (lightning, static electricity, magnetism) must have seemed miraculous and magical, but nowadays we don't look up from a illuminating light bulb. Same with quantum tunneling. If the principle is understood and a pact is sealed with the world of the small, large objects such as a human being may be freely transported instantaneously over great distances. Like Philip in Acts 8:39, or the disciples in John 6:21. No magic. No super natural goings on. Just a utilization of one of nature's freely available principles.
Still, even sovereignty is limited. Freedom seems to be something that exists between borders. Freedom has its parameters after all.
Summary 2: The Uncertainty Principle of Heisenberg.
Freedom is the most fundamental principle of the universe
The Uncertainty Principle: Speed and position of a quantum can not be simultaniously known
Quanta move along according to the chance that they do, and can interfere with themselves.
A large number of particles will display a pattern that is near equal to the initial possibilities of a single particle.
Read more…
It’s that time of year! During this Christmas season, I heard several sermons on the birth of Jesus. Now, in our Western culture that is rapidly losing its once-Christian worldview, Christians and Christian leaders need to use this time, more than ever, to challenge non-Christians. But will they give the vital message people need to hear at this time of history?
I was thrilled to be able to bring a friend who has struggled with the Christian faith for his entire life to church this Christmas season. Just before we arrived, he asked me a question that has been troubling him.
I was fascinated to note that he didn’t ask about Jesus and the manger, or about the shepherds or the angels who proclaimed the birth of Jesus on earth—instead, he asked, ‘Why do many Christians use organ transplants to prolong their life or try to prolong the lives of their children when they’re born with problems when God has deemed it was their time to die?’ He continued, ‘Why wouldn’t a Christian accept their death that comes from God? Shouldn’t they just accept it if they are true Christians and want to go to heaven instead of trying to survive on this earth?’
Now, why would he ask questions like that? The answer is that increasingly, the culture is losing the true meaning of Christmas because the education system and the media continues to indoctrinate people to reject the Bible as absolute truth. Instead, the Christian faith and the Bible is attacked and ridiculed and condemned as a ‘book of stories’ because so-called science has supposedly proved it cannot be true—particularly in its history in Genesis.
I’m sure my friend wasn’t expecting an answer. After all, such questions as the ones he asked have been leveled at Christians for years. (Sadly, many Christians don’t know how to answer such questions, because they, like him, have not believed the true history of the world from Genesis—which explains the origin and meaning of death.)
Now, I was sure the sermon we were about to hear would be from a pastor who assumed people believed the Bible. I thought he would remind them of the babe in a manger and why He came to earth. I realized that my friend needed answers, so he would know that he could trust the Bible before he even heard the sermon. I was pleased he had asked me what was on his heart and what was obviously stopping him from considering the Christian faith.
My friend had viewed death, suffering and dying as something God must be responsible for. He did not understand that death was an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), an intrusion due to sin. Death wasn’t something that God made and declared ‘very good’ in Genesis 1:31, but a result of sin. I explained that God created a perfect world, and because the first man Adam sinned, death entered the world as the punishment for sin. I had to explain that the earth was not millions of years old as he had been indoctrinated to believe, and thus there was not death, disease and bloodshed for millions of years before man’s existence.
I continued: When man sinned, God as a righteous and Holy creator had to judge sin with death. He also withdrew some of His sustaining power to cause man to experience a taste of what happens without God. Thus God is permitting things like disease, suffering etc., to happen, but He isn’t the one to blame for this—man is. Then it was like a light bulb came on in my friend’s head. With this new view of God, the Bible started to make sense to him.
Sadly, there are many people within the church who accept the supposed millions of years, instead of the truth as given in Genesis. Because of this, they don’t have valid answers for people like my friend, but instead would ignore his questions and instead relate the story of the babe in the manger in the hope my friend would start believing this. [See The god of an old earth.]
Many people struggle with accepting the truth of Jesus and the Bible because they have the wrong view of history. They, like my friend, have been indoctrinated to reject the Bible as a true account of history and the meaning of life. This is a major stumbling block for so many people believing God’s Word and being saved.
Knowing that many non-Christians view God like this and also knowing that they only set foot in church about once a year, I’m praying that Christian leaders will take advantage of this opportunity and address these issues, that are relevant issues for where the culture is at today, while speaking during this Christmas time. This could make such a difference in the lives of many who have a faulty view of God, and thus challenge them concerning the truths of the Bible.
Read more…
It has been revealed how Super Eagles striker, Obafemi Martins, extranvagantly squandered about N3.1 trillions while a player of Newcastle.MartinsadvertisementHis former management company, NVA Management Limited who has dragged the player to court over breach of contarct, told the jury how the player’s account almost went red because of his lifestyle.Obafemi Martins was paid £75,000, but allegedly squandered the earnings on an extravagant lifestyleA former Premiership footballer routinely blew his £75,000 a week wages in a matter of days and was constantly overdrawn, a court was told yesterday.Obafemi, ex-Newcastle striker 25, was paid the handsome salary after he joined the club for a £10million fee in August 2006.But despite his extraordinary earnings, his former management team yesterday claimed they repeatedly bailed him out after his bank account continually slipped into the red.The High Court heard that the Nigerian international player would withdraw £40,000 in cash from his bank account at the end of the week.But that would only last him two days, the court heard, as he topped up with a further £25,000 on the Monday morning.He was always overdrawn and repeatedly relied upon NVA Management Limited to ‘manage his life’, the High Court was told.Martins, who owned several fast cars including a top of the range Porsche 4X4, spent the money funding an extravagant lifestyle of luxurious penthouse homes and fine dining.He is now being sued by his former management company which claims that he still owes them 300,000 for sorting out his finances.He told the court that Martins would withdraw £40,000 for the weekend, followed by another £25,000 on the Monday.‘Despite earning these vast sums of money he was constantly overdrawn,’ added Mr Tennink.He said the firm, which looks after the affairs of several footballers, film and music stars, said that Martins had agreed to pay them for simply managing his life.It was under their stewardship that Martins agreed a £2million image rights deal ‘simply for being Mr Martins’.It’s claimed Martins was constantly overdrawn despite earning £75,000-a-weekHe also had lucrative sponsorship deals with various companies including Pepsi and Nike but had not been paid.When the company stepped in to run his affairs they sorted the unpaid contracts, bringing in thousands of pounds.They also organised visas when he travelled to Italy, where he once played for Inter Milan, and sorted out his passport, his mortgage and property valuations.They even arranged critical illness cover and were constantly running up and down the motorway from their London offices to Newcastle in a bid to do all that he required.‘But surely these were things a secretary could do?’ asked Judge Richard Seymour QC, referring to the size of fees charged.‘It was a Jeeves-type of role that they performed.’Mr Tennink protested that managing every aspect of his life was just part of what they did, and asked the judge to bear in mind the sort of figures these players earned.He said Martins had come to them in July 2007 and had agreed a fee of around £300,000 plus 20 per cent of any sponsorship monies they managed to acquire on his behalf.“He asked for these services to be carried out,” Mr Tennink told the court.Before they managed his affairs, Martins had not been paid a penny for his image rights for the use of his name on Newcastle shirts and mugs and had received nothing from his sponsorship deals.He could not even find the contracts he had originally signed, Mr Tennink added.Martins paid the company £67,500 in January last year and another £25,000 in April last year.But the question for the court to decide, said Mr Tennink, was whether there was a ‘binding obligation’ for him to pay the outstanding bill of over £300,000.After Newcastle were relegated from the Premiership last summer Martins was sold for £9million to German Bundesliga Champions Wolfsburg.Martins, who once owned a penthouse apartment overlooking Newcastle’s exclusive Quayside, is fighting the claim.The hearing is scheduled to last for three days.Read more…
Posted by Jane Okinedo on November 20, 2009 at 12:28am
Friday, November 20, 2009A gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics.Three suspects confessed to killing five people, but the gang may have been involved in dozens more, said Colonel Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police.Mejia said two of the suspects were arrested carrying bottles of liquid human fat and told police it was worth $60,000 a gallon.The fat was sold to intermediaries in Peru's capital, Lima, and police suspect it was then sold to cosmetic companies in Europe.Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat, although it does have cosmetic applications.At a news conference, police showed reporters two bottles of fat recovered from the suspects and a photo of the rotting head of a 27-year-old male victim.Suspect Elmer Segundo Castillejos, 29, led police to the head, recovered in a coca-growing valley last month.Mejia said Castillejos recounted how the gang cut off its victims' heads, arms and legs, removed the organs, then suspended the torsos from hooks above candles that warmed the flesh as fat dripped into tubs below.Six members of the gang remain at large, Mejia said. Among them was the band's alleged leader, Hilario Cudena, 56, who Castillejos told police has been killing people to extract human fat for more than three decades.This year alone, at least 60 people are listed as missing in Huanuco province, where the gang allegedly operated, though the province is also home to drug-trafficking leftist rebels.Human fat is used in anti-wrinkle treatments - but is always extracted from the patient who is being treated, usually from the stomach or buttocks."There would be a risk of immunological reaction that could lead to life-threatening consequences" if fat from someone else were used, said Dr. Neil Sadick, a professor of dermatology at Cornell Weill Medical College in New York.
Read more…
Posted by 9jabook.com on December 5, 2009 at 5:14am
Now, there is no hiding place for the Eagles.
This evening in Cape Town, South Africa, Nigeria's group opponents in the forthcoming World Cup taking place in that country, were unveiled.
If Nigerians expected a soft draw, they did not get it as they have found themselves in a group from whose passage into the second round may not be easy. The Super Eagles, who squeaked their way to the World Cup, will play alongside two-time champions, Argentina, 2002 World Cup semi-finalists, Korea Republic and former European champions, Greece in Group B.The Argentinean bogey
The biggest surprise for most Nigerians and perhaps their biggest fear is the presence of Argentina in the group. Parading young and exciting players with newly crowned European Footballer of the Year, Lionel Messi as arrowhead, the South Americans are tough customers any day - the fact that like Nigeria they barely managed to qualify for the World Cup notwithstanding.
In South Africa, Nigeria will be meeting Argentina for the third time at the World Cup. In their two previous meetings, in 1994 and 2002, the South Americans ran away with a 2-1 and 1-0 victory respectively.
The two countries open proceeding in the group on June 12, 2010 at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. The outcome of that encounter will determine the trajectory of the tournament for the Super Eagles. Their coach, Amodu Shuaibu, speaking on the match after the draws said he was happy his team will be starting out with the game against the Argentineans.
After the encounter with Argentina, the Eagles face Korea on June 17. Both sides have not meet at the World cup at senior level. The last meeting between both countries was at the U-17 level when Nigeria's Golden Eaglets beat Korea's U-17 3-1 in the quarter-final of the U-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria between October and November.
The Eagles will round off their group games on June 22 in an encounter with Greece. It will be Nigeria's second meeting with the former European champions. Their first encounter at the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. ended 2-0 in favour of Nigeria courtesy of goals from Finidi George and Daniel Amokachi.
Ivorian hard luck
Nigeria is not the only African side to be handed a tough assignment by the draws. Its West African brothers, Cote d'Ivoire led by Chelsea FC of England striker, Didier Drogba, have been lumped in Group G with five-time winners, Brazil, Euro 2004 finalists, Portugal and Korea Democratic Republic.
To get out of this group, Drogba and his colleagues have to be at their best, particularly against the Brazilians, who have been playing exciting football powered by young and delectable stars like Kaka, Maicon and Robinho to name a few of the Jewels in the Carlos Dunga coached side.
In Group C, Ghana have their job clearly cut out. They will play against Australia, Serbia and three-time champions, Germany. To the uninitiated, Ghana's only obstacle may be the Germans but for those who followed the qualifying campaigns for the 2010, they know that Serbia's impressive performance forced the former champions into a play off with Ireland. The central Europeans not only topped the group but rounded off its qualifying campaign with a 5-0 rout of Romania on October 11 this year.
For Algeria, making a return to the World Cup after 26 years, a difficult job awaits them in Group C where they have been grouped with England, U.S.A. and Slovenia. The last African country and hosts of the tournament, South Africa, will play in Group A alongside Mexico, France and Uruguay.
The groups
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 19, 2009 at 8:48pm
Warning some photos may not be pleasant to the eye .
Scramble for 404 meat as vehicle with 500 dogs crashes
When an articulated vehicle from the north loaded with about 500 dogs crashed at the main entrance to Calabar, residents of Ikot Effanga Mkpa gleefully helped themselves to free dog meat but the traders are still ruing the losses incurred.
Dog meat is a delicacy in Calabar. It is eaten by both sexes and is easily used to woo a woman. But it is expensive as dogs are brought into the state from the northern parts of the country.
The lorry was almost at its destination, when it was involved in an accident along the Murtala Mohammed Highway near the main gate of "Welcome To Calabar" and somersaulted, upturning the dogs on the road and killing 200, while others sustained life-threatening injuries.
Apart from the dogs, other passengers in the vehicle also sustained injuries in the accident believed to have been caused by loss of concentration by the driver who obviously was tired following the long journey.
When the accident happened, the residents of the area and passerby were attracted to the scene only to have their attention diverted by the dead dogs by dragging them away as if in competition. Some ran home and came back for more.
One of the passengers of the ill-fated lorry who simply identified himself as Bassey wondered why the accident should occur at the main gate to Calabar after travelling over 1000 kilometers from the north.
Mr. Bassey nevertheless thanked God that none of the passengers died in the accident like their cargoes and described the rush for body parts of the dead dogs by some of the onlookers as unsympathetic and unbecoming of the people of Calabar.
‘Don't eat dogs'
But a medical doctor with the General Hospital Calabar, Edet O. Edet, said it was not hygienic for people to eat meat mangled as a result of accident and which flies had perched on for some hours.
Though not a veterinary doctor, Mr. Edet explained that meat not from a slaughter house was not fit for human consumption as animals killed there are certified healthy for consumption before being killed.
"In the first place, dogs ought not to be eaten," Mr. Edet said.
"Have you seen a slaughter house for dogs? Besides, these dogs were caught from the northern parts of the country and taken to where they are considered a delicacy. And without any examination by a veterinary staff, they are slaughtered for human consumption", Mr. Edet said.
Mr. Edet added that dogs killed under such circumstances emit toxic chemicals that are harmful to human health and attributed the rush for dogs involved in a motor accident to poverty and called for a sensitization campaign on the effect of such meat.
But opinion sampled from some residents of Calabar differed from that of the medical doctor. They said there was nothing harmful in dog meat as dogs are slaughtered unlike some animals that are strangled in the bush after being caught by the traps set for them.
In the city, dog is carefully prepared and spiced with some vegetable that gives the meat a tempting aroma. In Calabar, it is common to see joints with sign boards reading: "Plantain plus 404 ready". This combination is washed down with palm wine.
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Posted by Jane Okinedo on November 18, 2009 at 11:59pm
This man married his OWN daughter so she would be allowed to stay in Britain - and the Home Office knows about itA Nigerian Home Office worker 'married' his own daughter to get her a British visa, the Daily Mail can reveal.The extraordinary scam was apparently executed by Jelili Adesanya while ministers turned a blind eye.Mr Adesanya, 54, has lived here for more than 30 years and holds a British passport, but wanted his daughter, her husband and their four sons to join him from Nigeria.He faked a wedding ceremony complete with a photograph of the happy 'couple' which helped fool immigration officials that his daughter, Karimotu Adenike, was really his wife.Miss Adenike, who is in her mid-30s, was duly granted permission to live in the UK.The pair are waiting for her to be granted a permanent right to remain before they undergo a quiet divorce and attempt to bring the rest of her family here.It is expected she would try to remarry her real husband to get them all visas.But despite being tipped off two years ago, the Home Office seems to have done nothing to stop the scam by one of their own workers.Until recently, Mr Adesanya was employed as an occupational health nurse for the Home Office, working with immigration officials at Gatwick airport.A whistleblower sent letters to the High Commission in Lagos and the UK Border Agency including specific details such as names, addresses, passport numbers and even a copy of the wedding photograph.When there was no response, he sent emails to then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and ministers Vernon Coaker and Phil Woolas on February 1 this year. He heard nothing.Mr Adesanya, who came to Britain in 1976, flew back to Nigeria on May 29, 2007, and held the bogus wedding ceremony a few days later at a register office in Ikorodu, Lagos.A source said: 'They paid people to attend the wedding so that the British High Commission in Lagos would believe it was genuine. The commission then gave Karimotu Adenike a two-year settlement visa in October 2007.'On her settlement visa application form, of course, she did not mention that she already had a husband and four children.'The date of birth on her Nigerian passport is not her real date of birth.'Miss Adenike is believed to have aged herself by ten years on her wedding certificate to disguise the age gap with her father.Although her settlement visa expired last month, she is hoping to be given the right to remain.David Burrowes, the Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate and Shadow Justice Minister, was also tipped off by the whistleblower and wrote to the Home Office.This time there was a reply, but it said that although the matter was 'under investigation', no further information would be provided because it could 'breach of our obligations under the Data Protection Act'.Mr Burrowes told the Mail: 'I am very surprised and concerned that no action appears to have been taken, because the allegations are extremely serious.'Mr Adesanya, who lives with his daughter in Dagenham, Essex, vehemently denied the plot and said he had never been questioned about the allegations.He said: 'Married my own daughter? I have never heard anything like this in my life. I deny it. She is my wife, not my daughter.'However, asked to confirm his 'wife's' date of birth, he said he did not know without checking her passport, and refused to allow her to speak for herself.Unbeknown to him, his daughter had confirmed the arrangement when she told a friend she would shortly apply for her own British passport and 'divorce daddy'.Last night Jonathan Sedgwick, from the UK Border Agency, said: 'These individuals are already under investigation, and I want to make it clear that abuse of our immigration laws will not be tolerated.'If we identify marriages which we believe are not genuine, we will challenge them and prosecute where appropriate.'We are determined to send home any foreign nationals convicted of these types of crimes once they have served their sentences.'
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ARSENE WENGER reveals the secrets of Arsenal's beautiful game.In an in-depth interview, the Gunners boss uncovers how he teaches his young side to play what is universally regarded as the best football in the land.For many purists, only European champions Barcelona are as pleasing on the eye as Wenger's Arsenal.Spectacular combinations based on speed of body and mind, together with technical ability and power, have made the North Londoners the nation's favourite second team.This season, more than any other since the Invincibles of 2003-04, Wenger's Gunners seem to be mounting a quietly confident title challenge - lying in the slipstream of leaders Chelsea.With 36 League goals in 11 games they have scored seven more than the Blues and 13 more than Manchester United - even though they have played one game less.Wenger's blueprint is based on intelligence, class, technique, and fitness. But the key ingredient is confidence, which makes individuals comfortable on the ball.His players must always have choices and alternatives, which provide "solutions".The legendary French boss has revolutionised the English game since arriving from Japan 13 years ago, changing dietary and training habits as well as the lifestyle of the top professionals.But it is Arsenal's brand of football that is Wenger's biggest achievement.The 'Arsenal way' is based on off-the-ball movement, with the main objective being to give the man on the ball as many alternatives as possible. Those solutions, as Wenger calls them, mean endless problems for Arsenal's rivals.When he teaches his charges, Wenger uses what he calls "green lights" and "red lights" to show where his players must be when Arsenal are in possession.Of course, like any teacher, he wants his pupils to stay well clear of the "red light" districts on the pitch.Essentially, when an Arsenal player has the ball there must at least two possible passes he can make - the so-called green lights - and so on and so forth.He said: "We work a lot on the potential of combinations between players. We plot it on the pitch and, once a player has the ball, there are red lights or green lights."The collective goal is to create the most possible green lights."That is to say to give passing solutions to the man with the ball and to leave the responsibility with that man to make the best choice possible, allowing the team to keep possession but at the same time - if possible - make the game progress towards the attack."So you must always offer the player solutions that allow him to utilise his intelligence around the game to the maximum."Advertisement
The Arsenal boss, 60, accepts his biggest challenge as boss of a team that plays the 'Wenger way' is to prepare his team mentally.Over the last few years, a lot has been made of the mental fragility of his Gunners side.Critics have argued that, while they may be easy on the eye, they are also easy to disrupt.The way Arsenal collapsed in last season's Champions League semi-final against Manchester United is a case in point.Their confidence was shattered after the Red Devils grabbed a two-goal lead inside 10 minutes in the second leg - and one of the biggest games in Arsenal's history turned into a procession for United.Speaking on French radio, Wenger continued: "For it to work, players must make themselves available and we work on that in training."That's where top-level sport becomes really interesting, in finding a way to have the team in a position of psychological comfort so that they can offer solutions."Because you know that, when doubt creeps in, the green lights become red lights."Because each player takes fewer spontaneous initiatives and, all of a sudden, it's absolutely unbelievable at what speed all those lights become red and the player with the ball finds himself in the s***."Doubt is the key enemy of our game but, eventually, we must at the same time give our team the sense of availability."And, on a psychological level, we must give them a taste for audacity and for developing connections between each other."Wenger insisted that to maintain the quality of Arsenal's game, he simply cannot afford to make too many changes or bring in too many players at once.During the summer, only Thomas Vermaelen was brought in to bolster the Gunners' first-team squad.He concluded: "When you change more than three players from game to game you take a technical risk."The balance of a team doesn't depend on one player but if you change three it's a grave risk, not only in a game but also in signing players."You change three players and bring in three or four new faces who do not know your playing philosophy and it can hit your team like the flu."Sometimes when the players are extremely intelligent they adapt very quickly and it can also click very quickly. But it's rare."
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Posted by 9jabook.com on December 7, 2009 at 7:34pm
A police signal to arrest the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, and the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai, has been issued in Abuja from the office of the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonnaya Onovo, according to authoritative police sources.
However, Emmanuel Ojukwu, spokesperson of the police, in a telephone interview with NEXT yesterday said he was unaware of such a signal. "I am just not aware of such a thing and if it is a warrant it is not the duty of the police to issue a warrant. Our job is to obey court orders." However, Peter Adobamen, a lawyer who spoke to NEXT said the police can indeed issue a warrant of arrest on anybody.
This is indeed what appears to have happenned in the case of Mr. El-Rufai and Mr. Ribadu. NEXT investigations in Abuja yesterday revealed that the warrant was issued on November 5, with the instruction for the arrest of both men "on sight". This is coming against the background of Mr. El-Rufai's planned return to Nigeria after a temporary exile in Europe and the United States of America.
Messrs. Ribadu and El-Rufai's difficulties with the police leading to the issuance of the order of arrest, NEXT gathered, are based on an alleged claim that they are conducting treasonable activities abroad.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa, has consistently made the allegation of treason against both men, saying extradition charges will be eventually brought against them. Sources at the Justice Ministry yesterday told NEXT that "dialogue is already ongoing with security institutions to prepare the extradition process."
Ribadu' challenge
The Code of Conduct Tribunal declared the former anti-graft chief, Nuhu Ribadu, a fugitive of the law two weeks ago, claiming he did not declare his assets. In an angry statement of rebuttal, Mr. Ribadu described the order as another episode of what he called the "relentless persecution against me" and wondered how the court that was fully aware of the circumstances under which he left the country, could tag him as a fugitive.
"I had to leave the country on January 3 this year after a relentless persecution which climaxed in two assassination attempts," he said.
El-Rufai's cross
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Aondoakaa, had said, based on the Senate Committee on FCT's report which allegedly indicted the ex-minister, he had commenced extradition proceedings on Mr El-Rufai.
"In invoking the relevant clauses of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between Nigeria and Britain to bring El-Rufai to justice, we need to back our request with relevant documents," Mr. Aondoakaa told the media.
Fighting back
Mr. El-Rufai's lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, has taken the attorney general's threat serious and has published a whitepaper dated December 1, 2009 that seeks to highlight the former minister's innocence.
Mr. Amsterdam, the founding partner of the international law firm, Amsterdam and Peroff, said in a 48-page whitepaper which chronicled the former minister's stewardship as a public servant that he is seeking "to present Nasir El-Rufia and his accomplishments to the world, to summarise the motives behind the attack on his reputation, and to provide ample evidence to prove his innocence of all these libel and slander."
According to Mr. Amsterdam, the publication "marks the formal announcement that we are open and willing to defend Nasir on any platform available with all the facts in front of us". While describing Mr. El-Rufai as a man who holds "ambitious dreams for Nigeria's future", the author stated that all the attack on the former minister are "groundless and without evidence" and "manufacture by a hardworking scandal factory".
In the foreword to the whitepaper, the former Attorney General of Nigeria, Kanu Agabi, described Mr. El-Rufai as "fair-minded, hardworking and unrelenting". "The things that El-Rufai has had to do for the nation are difficult things. He has had to tread upon hard and difficult ground and to do for the nation difficult things" Mr. Agabi said.
Kanu Agabi's testimony
Mr. Agabi further added that Mr. El-Rufai and Mr. Ribadu are agents that will lay "the modern foundations of the rule of law in Nigeria", extolling the work done by the former minister to return the Federal Capital Territory to its master-plan which had suffered what seemed then as irredeemable distortions.
Tracing the roots of Mr. El-Rufai's travails, Mr. Amsterdam recalled that Mr. El-Rufai first wrote himself into the bad books of the powers-that-be when he revealed that the Senate's deputy majority leader, Jonathan Zwingina, and deputy senate president, Ibrahim Mantu, solicited a N54 million bribe for an accelerated confirmation as a minister. According to the author, "the Nigerian Senate as an institution never forgot or forgave him."
The whitepaper also gives a detailed account of Mr. El-Rufai's stewardship as the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
According to the author, while at the BPE, Mr. El-Rufai was profoundly successful. His dedication to his work resulted in his raising N40-50 billion in revenue from the privatisation programme. Despite his successes at the BPE, the leadership of the Nigeria parliaments were not impressed. In March 2002, the author of the whitepaper recalled, the speaker of the House of Representatives then brought a defamation suit against the former minister in response to Mr. El-Rufai's criticism of the Speaker's proposal on what to do with NITEL.
The suit was squashed by the Court of Appeal on June 2, 2003. According to the judgment the legislature can only look into cases of corruption and mismanagement of public funds. This judgment is described by the learned gentleman as posing "an unprecedented challenge to the boundaries of the power of the Legislature in the Nigerian Constitution and the role of the Nigerian Judicial system in reviewing its decisions and actions"
Tarnishing El-Rufai
The whitepaper recounted how the House of Representatives failed in its attempt to blame Mr. El-Rufai for the manner in which NITEL was privatised, through public hearings. On May 25, 2005 the House of Representatives placed a ban on Mr. El-Rufai from holding public office for life. When this was challenged in court, the Federal High Court, Abuja on July 24, 2005 discarded the pronouncement of the house committee.
Recounting Mr. El-Rufai's days as the minister of the FCT, Mr. Amsterdam recalled that the mandate given to him, amongst other things, was to reduce corruption in public administration and to enforce the Abuja Master Plan for urban development tasks, which the former minister approached with unprecedented passion. "El-Rufai implemented a Strategic Development Plan designed to halt and reverse the "Lagosification" of Abuja."
In order to restore the FCT to its Master-Plan, the former minister's work involved the demolition of houses "erected along sewage lines and the restoration of parks which had been parcelled out and allocated to men and women of rank." By this action, he invariably crossed the path of some of the country's elite "accustomed to favouritism".
The whitepaper is of the view that with the expiration of the Obasanjo administration and the assumption of office as president by the former Governor of Katsina State, Umaru Yar'Adua, the authorities started going after certain former Obasanjo officials, with Mr. El-Rufai and Mr. Ribadu at the top of the list.
While describing Mr. El-Rufai as a man who holds "ambitious dreams for Nigeria's future", the author stated that all the attack on the former minister are "groundless and without evidence" and "manufactured by a hardworking scandal factory".
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 23, 2009 at 8:30am
By Felix Onuah
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua will travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday for medical checks, his office said.
"President Umaru Yar'Adua will leave Abuja today for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While there, the president will call on his personal physicians in Jeddah for follow-up medical checks," presidency spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi said in a statement.
Yar'Adua has travelled to Saudi Arabia in the past for treatment for a chronic kidney problem, raising questions about whether he will be fit enough to stand for a second term in 2011 elections.
Adeniyi said Yar'Adua had forwarded copies of the 2010 budget, which he had been due to present to parliament last week, to the heads of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The presentation of the spending plans for sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy was postponed because of a row between the two chambers of parliament over which one should host the event.
Government sources have said Yar'Adua will seek approval to breach a 3 percent deficit target for the second year in a row in 2010, due to the cost of development projects in the Niger Delta and rehabilitating the country's ailing power sector.
Yar'Adua has had regular medical treatment in Germany and Saudi Arabia and his health was a source of concern even before he assumed the presidency.
He has not yet confirmed whether he plans to stand again in presidential election in 2011 but key figures in the ruling party have pledged their support if he decides to do so.
FROM Saharareporters
It was gathered that sickly Nigerian ruler, Umaru Yar’adua, is due to be flown out today or early tomorrow for what our source described as “urgent medical treatment.”
As at the time we were briefed, the source said insiders close to Yar'adua said the sick former governor of Katsina would be taken to a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Our source said that Yar’adua’s father-in-law is also in an Egyptian hospital. “The president’s medical trip is scheduled to last at least one week,” said the source, adding that Yar'adua “may offer the excuse that he would be visiting his father-in-law in Egypt and that his wife would attend this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia as the excuse for the trip.”
Mr. Yar’adua suffers from Churg Strauss syndrome, a degenerative disease. Our source said Yar’adua’s health dipped in the last three weeks. Poor health explained his conspicuous absence at the Abuja stadium during the final game of the FIFA Under-17 football game that featured Nigeria and Switzerland. “Vice President” Goodluck Jonathan stood in for him.
Saharareporters sources also said Yar’adua had only managed to meet with cabinet members at his official residence in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. “His health took a turn for the worse over the weekend,” said one source. “His doctors have advised that he undertake immediate medical treatment outside Nigeria,” the source added. Yar'adua maintains a retinue of expatriate medical personnel at his residence and office. He travels with two well-equipped ambulances everywhere he goes in Nigeria. Another source Yar’adua’s inability to present the annual budget last week at the National Assembly was actually due to his illness. “The so-called ‘crisis’ between the two chambers of the National Assembly was contrived to cover up Yar'adua's illness,” said the source.
In an intriguing move, Yar’adua’s People's Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday issued a stunning press release to denounce those campaigning for Yar'adua's second term in office. The party said it has not made such decision.
Meanwhile, several sources have told Saharareporters that some PDP crooks, including rogue Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa and former Delta State governor James Ibori, have been assuring Yar’adua’s wife, Turai, that they are capable of arranging for her to serve out the remainder of her husband’s tenure should Mr. Yar’adua die or become permanently incapacitate
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