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Sanusi responds to critics of Bank reforms

Posted by Politics X on September 2, 2009 at 4:35am

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, yesterday promised to resign if the recent intervention to sanitise the financial services industry fails.The governor said this at the bi-monthly Monetary Policy Meeting, which held on Tuesday in Abuja.Mr. Sanusi, responding to insinuations that the intervention was politically motivated, said time would tell, emphasising that the primary motivation for the intervention is to protect depositors and shield the industry from collapse.Read communique hereHe also denied allegations that CBN’s action was a ploy to prepare the grounds for a take over of the banks by foreigners.It’s the economyAccording to Sanusi: “Where we are today, as far as the five banks are concerned, is that the CBN has put in money to protect depositors and creditors from any losses, to shield them from further deterioration as a result of non-performing loans. The principal objective of the action at this point in time is not to sell the banks. I have said this at several fora.”With regard to the town hall meeting held in the United Kingdom, he said it was neither to sell the banks nor to meet investors, rather he was there “to meet correspondent banking institutions and creditors, to assure them of the safety and soundness of the banking institution in Nigeria.”He added that because of the decision to change the management of the banks, the CBN needed to make itself available to international creditors, “to answer any question that might have arisen from the action we took.“The primary focus of the trip was to tell the creditors about the country’s economy and to situate our action within the context of a general process of guaranteeing financial stability,” he explained.Though, he said the CBN has not received any proposal from any prospective investor interested in any of the banks, he added that the bank will not stop any investor from expressing interest as long as it demonstrates sufficient commitment to the development of the Nigerian economy.“Once these banks have stabilised and it is time to move on, our preference is for them to have core investors that would run them professionally and put in place a governance structure that will ensure that we do not have a recurrence of the kind of things we have seen in the past. The core investor could be local or foreign.There is no law in Nigeria today that stops foreign banks from owning Nigerian banks, and the CBN will not preclude any bank from owning Nigerian banks simply because it is foreign,” he said.“That is not the same thing as saying we prefer selling our banks to foreigners. We are saying in principle that the CBN will not stand in the way of a foreign bank owning a Nigerian bank. We have stressed that any foreign bank that is coming in must be ready to show a clear commitment to the development of the Nigerian economy,” he stressed.Understanding the bailoutOn reports that some federal legislators have called the bailout illegal, saying it did not receive the approval of the National Assembly, Sanusi said he is not aware of any section of the CBN Act that demands such authorisation before the bank can perform its statutory function as lender of last resort.“What the CBN did was merely to create money to lift the balance sheets of the affected banks and increase money supply. The N400 billion loan given to the banks was (not) meant to bail them out by way of equity, but (was) a convertible facility."The CBN Act gives the CBN absolute control over the supply of money in circulation. The CBN does not need appropriation from the National Assembly to do what it did. Prior to what happened, the CBN gave these same banks and others, as a lender of last resort, money to expand their capital base."All that was done was to ask them to take the expanded facility for a longer time as quasi-capital and focus on meeting their obligations to creditors and depositors till when they are able to repay,” he said.On the monetary policy meeting, the CBN boss said the committee resolved to keep the country’s monetary policy rate unchanged at six per cent per annum, while also maintaining interest rate corridor at +/-two per cent around the MPR as well as giving approval for the establishment of an “Asset Purchase Facility Fund”.Though he said the country’s revised growth rate for last year stands at 5.99 per cent against the estimate of 6.41 per cent earlier in the year, the projection for the current year has been put at 5.33 per cent, compared to the 5.75 per cent projection.On year-on-year basis, he said the country’s inflation level has stabilised at a little over 11 per cent as at July 2009, with average rates of headline inflation and food inflation in the first seven months of the year standing at 13.11 per cent and 15.94 per cent, compared with 11.53 per cent and 15.98 per cent for last year.

Abia State of Blood as Bakassi Boys go on the rampage in Aba bodies litter everywhere

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on July 12, 2009 at 8:30pm

In Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, the situation is becoming one day one trouble. In the city, bad tales are everywhere and people are living in fear: The fear of kidnappers and armed robbers. Also, there is the fear of the vigilance group in the city, the Bakassi Boys, which is now the terror in the city.

Governor OrjiIndeed, in Aba, the fear of Bakassi Boys is now the beginning of wisdom.People are arrested by supposed operatives of the vigilance group, tortured and even killed. People who are going home in the night are at the risk of being killed. And dead bodies now litter the streets.sources gathered that Bakassi Boys, who claim to be ridding the city of criminals, are on the prowl again. Like in the time past, when Bakassi Boys terrorized Abia, to the extent that the police high command took action against the group, terror has returned. Criminals are being killed by Bakassi Boys as well as innocent people.One commercial driver painted the picture of what is going on in Aba. He said that the bodies of victims of Bakassi Boys assaulted the sensibilities of residents.He said: “Last week, we came to work to see the bodies of two young men whose throats were slashed like goats and their bodies dumped near the road at York Street. We later heard that the boys were caught by Bakassi Boys smoking Indian hemp and killed. They were killed in the most cruel and barbaric way. Their throats were slit as goats and their bodies dumped in the street.”Indeed, some residents say they can no longer differentiate between the real and fake Bakassi Boys as well as other killers. These days, people are abducted in broad day light by men who claim to be Bakassi Boys only to be found the following day stone dead in a street corner. Others are also snatched by criminals.Recently, in the Ogbor Hill area of Aba, a child was abducted from a church, during service, by unknown persons and the little boy’s body was found two days later with all his vital organs gone.Residents told sources that people are now using Bakassi Boys to settle scores. It was gathered that when people have squabbles, they invite operatives of the group. Also, people now use the vigilance group operatives to collect debts, wherein the debtor is arrested, tortured and stands the risk of being killed.However, there is also the fear of kidnappers and sundry criminals in Aba. It is common, in Aba, for kidnappers to abduct their victims in the day and at night and thereafter demand ransom. In the city, kidnapping is big business. The big time kidnappers go after rich and influential people and draw huge ransom. The small or local kidnappers go for children of their neighbours and demand ransom as little as N10,000.The police in Abia State police, with all their efforts, seem to be scratching the back of the problem. Bakassi Boys and criminals do not fear the police. They operate freely without resistance. In the last couple of days, the police suffered several casualties in the hands of unknown killers in Aba.The Abia State Commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mrs. Florence Dan Archibong, brought a new angle to the menace. She said that the use of drugs had led to upsurge in violent crimes, such as armed robbery and kidnapping.“Cocaine and heroin have become common drugs of abuse with arrests and seizure recorded everywhere in and outside the metropolis. New drug joints are springing up, where criminal activities are planned, perfected and executed. Some streets in Aba, such as York and Park roads have become a no-go area for decent law abiding residents of Aba, as unscrupulous miscreants have turned them into ghettos and haven for hard drugs,” she said.Mrs. Archibong said that criminals take these drugs in whatever form only to go out and unleash terror on innocent people.Incidentally, this is not what it used to be in Aba. In the time past, Aba and its residents were known for courage. Then residents of Aba would rise up in unison to end anything they consider bad. It was the days of men of valour.Now, times have changed. Fear now rules the commercial city and its residents. Gone are the days when men walk the streets of Aba, with safety in mind. Gone are the days when men leave their homes and tell their families to expect them. Insecurity has taken over the town, to the extent that anyone who goes out and comes back safely offers special prayers to God.In Aba, gun shots boom day and night. It’s either that dare-devils are striking or that security agents and vigilance groups are responding. Whichever one it is, there are always casualties. Dead bodies litter the streets and nobody explains what happens.This life of fear was not there in Aba until 2000. Decades ago, Aba was a place of fun. It was a city where people enjoyed themselves. Then Aba residents followed fashion, they wore clothes that were in vogue and attended disco parties. Such hotels as Ambassador and Unicoco, among many others, hosted live bands, which played till dawn and fun seekers paraded the streets in the night without fear. In these hotels, The Apostle, Sweet Breeze, Cloud 7, The Wings, entertained people.

lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu

At that time, Aba never tolerated crimes and evil. Criminals got instant justice. And the mob did not forgive.Today, things have changed. Aba is now the centre of crimes. Residents have been cowed by criminals that nobody dares say anything about an obvious wrong. Indeed, the fear that has enveloped Aba residents is like a thick darkness and it makes men and women jittery. It is the type of fear that made shoe makers of Aba to form a vigilance group called Bakassi Boys, to flush out those who were molesting their customers, especially those from neighbouring West African countries. It is the type of fear that made Onitsha people of the 1970s to rise up in an operation tagged boys oye, which enabled them to flush out bad eggs among them.

US Senator Edward Kennedy, Heir of Powerful Family, Dies

Posted by 9jabook.com on August 25, 2009 at 11:12pm

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, the elder statesman of America's most famous political family, is dead at the age of 77 (born 2/22/32) after a battle with brain cancer. He was the youngest brother of slain President John Kennedy. The life of the Massachusetts' Democrat was marked by both achievement and controversy. Senator Kennedy was a champion of liberal causes, and over the course of his Senate career sponsored legislation that fundamentally altered worker rights, education funding, foreign policy and immigration law. His niece - President Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy - says her uncle was an inspiration to her family. "For more than four decades in the Senate, Teddy has led the fight on the most important issues of our time: civil rights, social justice, and economic opportunity," she said. Senator Kennedy was a vocal critic of Bush administration policies in Iraq, its stand on interrogation techniques used on suspected terrorists and its prosecution of the war on terror. In an interview with CBS in 2007, Kennedy underscored his opposition to the war in Iraq. "I voted against the war, it was the best vote that I cast in the United States Senate. This was the wrong war at the wrong time," he said. But Kennedy was also known to cross party lines to forge legislative deals with Republicans. In 2008, Kennedy saw an agent of change in Senator Barack Obama and became one of the first prominent Democrats to endorse Obama's bid for the party's nomination for president. "My friends, I ask you to join in this historic journey to have the courage to choose change," he said. "It is time again for a new generation of leadership. It is time now for Barack Obama!" Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962, the year before the assassination of President Kennedy. The senator offered a eulogy: "My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life. He should be remembered simply as a good and decent man who saw wrong and tried to right it," he said. In 1968, Robert Kennedy was assassinated while campaigning for president. Suddenly, the youngest Kennedy brother became the family's political patriarch. At first it appeared that he might have a clear path to the White House. But those hopes ended in 1969 when the senator drove off a bridge and the young woman with him, Mary Jo Kopechne, was killed. His behavior during the so-called Chappaquiddick incident - he waited hours before reporting his accident to police - provided the first of many cracks in the Kennedys' public image. Instead of running for president, the senator was asking voters in Massachusetts whether he should resign from the Senate. "For me, this will be a difficult decision to make. So I ask you tonight, the people of Massachusetts, to think this through with me. In facing this decision I seek your advice and opinion," he said. Mr. Kennedy received thousands of telegrams telling him not to quit. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1980 but lost to incumbent Jimmy Carter. Other struggles lay ahead. Three of Mr. Kennedy's nephews died young and tragically. Another, William Kennedy Smith, was tried and acquitted on rape charges, with the senator called to testify. He had his own reputation for drinking and affairs but that side of his life seemed to stabilize after his second marriage in 1992. In 2008, Kennedy was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, which kept him from returning to the Senate. However, last year, he made a surprise appearance at the Democratic national convention to endorse Barak Obama's bid for the presidency. Ted Kennedy became one of the longest-serving, most influential senators in modern U.S. history. And in so doing, carried on his brothers' legacy, and built his own.

StanbicIBTC sacks hundreds of workers

Posted by Jane Okinedo on September 14, 2009 at 9:38pm

By Oluwaseyi BanguduStanbicIBTC Bank is said to have sacked hundreds of its workers over the weekend, but the exact number of affected workers is still uncertain, as the bank has not said anything on the development.But sources at the bank said yesterday that the number ranges from 200 upwards, and cuts across various cadres and divisions within the group.One of the sources confirmed in a telephone interview, "Yes, the bank sacked about 300 people," adding "Our subsidiary is yet to be affected but people are now on edge," without giving further details.While another bank source said "We don't know if we would be affected, the whole bank branches, stock broking and different operational bits are affected, but so far, it was 300 people in an organisation of... not sure of the total. I am in the asset management session with a different human resource management team, so we may still be affected."The global crisis and the recent cleansing by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has seen many bank workers relieved of their duties, similar to the pre-consolidation era, when banks which could not shore up their capital base to n25 billion, or be acquired by another bank or merge with others, had to close shop rendering their workers jobless.Shocks industryThe news of the StanbicIBTC sack came as a shock to many industry watchers, especially as the bank, along with two others - because of their foreign ownership - will not be audited by the CBN, and therefore, had no cause to fear for its operations.Besides, analysts believe that the October 2007, $5.5 billion investment for 20 per cent stake in Standard Bank, South Africa's largest bank by assets and earnings, by China's largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, should have helped get the Nigerian unit, StanbicIBTC, out of the woods.But the recent sack tends to suggest that the Nigerian unit might be in deeper trouble than anticipated, and underscores queries on why the CBN should leave the foreign-affiliated banks out of the stress audits.Also, Friday's signing of a $1 billion loan facility between Standard Bank and four major Chinese banks, apparently did not impact on the fortunes of the Nigerian unit, reputed to be one of the strongest units of the bank group in Africa.Bank UnionObukese Orere, the Acting Sectary General of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress, noted that even though it wants to take up the issue of job losses in the banks with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the CBN governor, he admitted, "We cannot really stop these people from laying off their staff but they must be well packaged before they are laid off. That is where we come in; that those who are leaving do not suffer much. Nothing is permanent."IMF's RecommendationMeanwhile, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Managing Director International Monetary Fund, in an interview with a German magazine on Saturday, urged banks in various nations to do more to adopt financial market regulations and find exit strategies, as the global economic crisis will continue.

Tony Abulu Director and Actor of Crazy like a Fox & american Dream Interview

Posted by NollywoodMohits on July 21, 2009 at 3:30am

Crazy like a Fox is one of few movies directed by a Nigerian that has won global recognition. This film was one of the official selections for the American Black Film festival in 2008 and has been nominated for several awards as well.I got a chance to sit down in Harlem with the director of this movie - Tony Abulu (Back to Africa, American Dream, Crazy like a Fox) and we got a chance to talk about his story behind the arts of film making. Tony Abulu is truly multi-dimensional — uses the arts to express several dimensions of creativity: beyond being the voice for the African film maker and artistic persons in New York, Tony has also been the voice for Nigerian film makers and producers, owned his own Pan-African magazine for ten years, and the list is endless. Enjoy the interview!

Tony, could you tell us a little bit about your background?I actually started studying fine arts, graphic design and illustration in college and then I worked in a top ad agency in Nigeria between 1982 - 1984. I eventually left that company because I felt my creativity was eroding but before I left I started a magazine called Black Ivory which was basically ancient Africa in an illustrated form. Some will say that was when my foray into film making actually began. Black Ivory eventually became a major Pan African magazine in Nigeria and the United States and I was in that business for fifteen years (15).What would you say actually took you into the world of movies and films?The idea to make a film came in 1976 when I was in college. I started toying with this idea with a few friends of mine. At that time I was a martial arts instructor, so the script I wrote had major elements that incorporated martial arts. You have to remember that in 1976, there was nothing like that - there were only three or four people who made movies at that time in Nigeria and it was really grand scale and these movies were shot in 35mm. So we (my friends and I) tried to make this movie but it never came about. I will say that was my first foray into the world of films.Beyond your background in martial arts - what other factors influenced your interest in movies?At that time, a lot of people in my age group were being influenced by movies like the Ten commandments, Sound of Music, etc. These movies had the ability to transform you and take you into a totally different world. But, you know we weren’t only being influenced by movies from the West but we were being influenced by movies from India, China etc. I remember my brother fell in love with Indian cultures via Indian movies that he chose to move to India at nineteen (19).You know this is very interesting because you see how African young children get into a form of art that is completely outside their ‘norm’. Nigerians at that time, were looking very heavily into world cultures and we had the opportunity to imbue these cultures at an early age and as such many Nigerians at that time, were calling themselves by Indian nicknames - Jagu, Jatamaurta. The next influence was from Chinese movies like Bruce Lee. We were influenced by different Nigerian cultures as well. I know my Nigerian influence was via my grandmother who used to tell us stories - she was a top rate story teller. She used to sit us down at night and tell us stories about Ancient Nigerian history.So, what event led to your first movie - Back to Africa?About fourteen (14) years ago, at around the time that Eddie Murphy’s movie, “Coming to America” came out, I wrote another script and I was determined to see this script through. My script was called American Dream.I spent some months going after people like Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis to be in my movie. They all read the script and wanted to be in the movie but my budget was 1.4 million dollars and I spent four years trying to raise the money but couldn’t do it.Luckily, one of my very good friends, Obafemi Lasude came to my rescue. Femi Lasude was a Nigerian who used to work in a TV station in Brooklyn, we were both very passionate about entertainment in Africa. He eventually went back to Nigeria to pursue his passion further and he advised that I come back as well. At that time, I had written another script, which took me two days to write, called Back to Africa and I decided to follow Femi’s advise and produce my movie in Nigeria.Femi introduced me to a friend Larry Talbot with the hopes that Larry will invest in my movie. I met Larry and told him about my movie and that same day Larry invested 25 000 dollars in my movie. The only favor Larry wanted was that I take his son to Nigeria with me. So, I did my casting call and picked a couple of my cast from the U.S and then took them to Nigeria. We spent 6 weeks in Nigeria shooting that movie. We went to places like Ekiti, Oshogbo, etc to shoot this movie. By the time we got back and started editing the movie - people who saw it were amazed at the quality. That was the first Nigerian movie anyone ever saw in the U.S.After that movie - I spent the next ten years developing distribution for the Nigerian film industry in the U.S and ironically to this very day - I get orders from all over the world for that movie. That movie cost about 80,000 dollars to produce.You mentioned earlier that there was no form of distribution of Nigerian movies in the states when you produced the movie, Back to Africa - so how did you distribute your movies?I made VHS copies of my movie and I went to every single store and restaurant in different communities from the Caribbean community, African community and the African American Community.I went to Nigerian parties and other parties that I was invited to and set up a table and often times faced the initial jeers at the cost of the movies but people eventually started warming up to the idea and started wanting more of it.During that time, I ran into two other Nigerians - the first one was Rabiu Mohammed - he had a small store in the Bronx ,where he used to sell movies. Today, he is one of the number one African movie distributors in the U.S and another guy called Bethel Agumoh. Bethel Agumoh was the first Nigerian to sell VCD on the Internet in the U.S.A.The Film Makers Association of Nigeria (FAN) was made up of these two men, myself and Caroline Okoli who came through Bethel. Her forte was back end management - she had worked for McDonald corporation for some years. At that time, we had noticed that a few Senegalese and Malian traders were beginning to sell bootleg copies of Nigerian movies and we understood that if FAN does not legitimize the distribution of Nigerian movie where we ensure that people sell authentic copies of the real thing so that producers in Nigeria get some renumeration for the movies sold in the states - the industry could die.At that time, Nigerian producers were selling 100,000 - 200,000 copies of their films. We took this issue to the Nigerian producers in Nigeria but they did not want to listen to what FAN had to say, they felt that we needed to prove that we were serious and had their interest at heart by putting down some money which we were not ready to do. Now, with the Chinese getting involved in the Nigerian movie distribution business - many now wish that they had listened to our suggestions. What is going on now is that a lot of Nigerian movies (as much as 50) are being compressed illegally into one CD and being sold and none of the monies are going to the producers, directors or anyone involved in the creation of the movie. Working with FAN as the president, I was able to convince 70% of distributors of bootleg movies in the states to become legitimate distributors of Nigerian films.Beyond distribution of Nigerian movies, were there other issues that you were hoping that FAN will address?Ultimately, the plan was to get involved in movie projects that tell the cross over stories. We wanted to work on Nigerian projects that can appeal to the American public as well. I think one of the things that Nigerian movie producers do not realize is that very few consumers of Nollywood movies are African American. We have a lot of ‘buyers’ from the Caribbean community, the African community and a couple of others. The reason that the African American community isn’t buying into our movies is because they can’t relate to it.For example, the movie Back to Africa, tells the story of an African American girl that goes to Africa to find her roots and in the process, I integrate every day aspects of Nigerian life. It is a story that appeals to a lot of African Americans because at one time or the other, they had questions about their roots and where they are from originally. that movie is heavily bought into by the African American community but I can’t say the same about a lot of other Nollywood movies.But, I will have to say this about Nollywood’s effect on Americans - it has shown a different face of Africa. For those that do watch it, they see that Africans in Africa live like they do and do not swing on trees. That Africans in Africa have cars, houses, go to parties and often times dress like they do.You’ve definitely been in this business for a long time. What are the weaknesses that you see in the Nigerian film industry?My main problem is the lack of authenticity in most of the stories told. I will call it the ‘fakeness’. There are some movies that are a direct copy of American movies but even when they copy these movies, they refuse to put their ‘Africaness’ or should I say ‘Nigerianess’ into it. They use music that isn’t theirs, they dress in ways that aren’t really authentic. I think a lot of our movies are projecting images that aren’t really African but rather African American and because those images aren’t really ours, it makes it a difficult sell. If you do not really comprehend what it means to be African American then how can you project the image realistically and most importantly how can you support that image?I have often said that if people believe that a certain culture is theirs then they should be able to support it. The way that the world works is that you have your own products that you create and you brainwash other people to buy into it. We need to learn our culture and find out what our own brand of products are and then sell it.Extra:There are a lot of issues within the Nollywood industry that were highlighted during this interview. Regardless of if we buy into his argument or not, Nollywood is an industry that will keep on growing and is one of Nigeria’s main cultural exports. Our hopes are that this industry will become more recognized within the global film making community. Tony Abulu’s movies are a must watch for any connoisseur of movies. I got a chance to watch - Back to Africa and Crazy like a fox and the quality and story telling were on point. You can get these movies

Ghana Visit:Obama speaks in coded language against Nigerian rulers; praises Ghana-Text of speech

Posted by 9jabook.com on July 11, 2009 at 3:30am

Good morning. It is an honor for me to be in Accra, and to speak to the representatives of the people of Ghana. I am deeply grateful for the welcome that I've received, as are Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama. Ghana's history is rich, the ties between our two countries are strong, and I am proud that this is my first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as President of the United States. I am speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia, for a Summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy, for a meeting of the world's leading economies. And I have come here, to Ghana, for a simple reason: the 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well. NEWSBLOGSTODAY

lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu This is the simple truth of a time when the boundaries between people are overwhelmed by our connections. Your prosperity can expand America's. Your health and security can contribute to the world's. And the strength of your democracy can help advance human rights for people everywhere. So I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world — as partners with America on behalf of the future that we want for all our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility, and that is what I want to speak with you about today. We must start from the simple premise that Africa's future is up to Africans. I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world. I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family's own story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story. My grandfather was a cook for the British in Kenya, and though he was a respected elder in his village, his employers called him "boy" for much of his life. He was on the periphery of Kenya's liberation struggles, but he was still imprisoned briefly during repressive times. In his life, colonialism wasn't simply the creation of unnatural borders or unfair terms of trade — it was something experienced personally, day after day, year after year. My father grew up herding goats in a tiny village, an impossible distance away from the American universities where he would come to get an education. He came of age at an extraordinary moment of promise for Africa. The struggles of his own father's generation were giving birth to new nations, beginning right here in Ghana. Africans were educating and asserting themselves in new ways. History was on the move. But despite the progress that has been made — and there has been considerable progress in parts of Africa — we also know that much of that promise has yet to be fulfilled. Countries like Kenya, which had a per capita economy larger than South Korea's when I was born, have been badly outpaced. Disease and conflict have ravaged parts of the African continent. In many places, the hope of my father's generation gave way to cynicism, even despair. It is easy to point fingers, and to pin the blame for these problems on others. Yes, a colonial map that made little sense bred conflict, and the West has often approached Africa as a patron, rather than a partner. But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants. In my father's life, it was partly tribalism and patronage in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is a daily fact of life for far too many. Of course, we also know that is not the whole story. Here in Ghana, you show us a face of Africa that is too often overlooked by a world that sees only tragedy or the need for charity. The people of Ghana have worked hard to put democracy on a firmer footing, with peaceful transfers of power even in the wake of closely contested elections. And with improved governance and an emerging civil society, Ghana's economy has shown impressive rates of growth. This progress may lack the drama of the 20th century's liberation struggles, but make no mistake: it will ultimately be more significant. For just as it is important to emerge from the control of another nation, it is even more important to build one's own. So I believe that this moment is just as promising for Ghana — and for Africa — as the moment when my father came of age and new nations were being born. This is a new moment of promise. Only this time, we have learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa's future. Instead, it will be you — the men and women in Ghana's Parliament, and the people you represent. Above all, it will be the young people — brimming with talent and energy and hope — who can claim the future that so many in my father's generation never found. To realize that promise, we must first recognize a fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock Africa's potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans. As for America and the West, our commitment must be measured by more than just the dollars we spend. I have pledged substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa's interest and America's. But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of aid that helps people scrape by — it is whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change. This mutual responsibility must be the foundation of our partnership. And today, I will focus on four areas that are critical to the future of Africa and the entire developing world: democracy; opportunity; health; and the peaceful resolution of conflict. First, we must support strong and sustainable democratic governments. As I said in Cairo, each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable and more successful than governments that do not. This is about more than holding elections — it's also about what happens between them. Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the port authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end. In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success — strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in peoples' lives. Time and again, Ghanaians have chosen Constitutional rule over autocracy, and shown a democratic spirit that allows the energy of your people to break through. We see that in leaders who accept defeat graciously, and victors who resist calls to wield power against the opposition. We see that spirit in courageous journalists like Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who risked his life to report the truth. We see it in police like Patience Quaye, who helped prosecute the first human trafficker in Ghana. We see it in the young people who are speaking up against patronage and participating in the political process. Across Africa, we have seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny and making change from the bottom up. We saw it in Kenya, where civil society and business came together to help stop postelection violence. We saw it in South Africa, where over three quarters of the country voted in the recent election — the fourth since the end of apartheid. We saw it in Zimbabwe, where the Election Support Network braved brutal repression to stand up for the principle that a person's vote is their sacred right. Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions. America will not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation — the essential truth of democracy is that each nation determines its own destiny. What we will do is increase assistance for responsible individuals and institutions, with a focus on supporting good governance — on parliaments, which check abuses of power and ensure that opposition voices are heard; on the rule of law, which ensures the equal administration of justice; on civic participation, so that young people get involved; and on concrete solutions to corruption like forensic accounting, automating services, strengthening hot lines and protecting whistle-blowers to advance transparency and accountability. As we provide this support, I have directed my administration to give greater attention to corruption in our human rights report. People everywhere should have the right to start a business or get an education without paying a bribe. We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don't, and that is exactly what America will do. This leads directly to our second area of partnership — supporting development that provides opportunity for more people. With better governance, I have no doubt that Africa holds the promise of a broader base for prosperity. The continent is rich in natural resources. And from cell phone entrepreneurs to small farmers, Africans have shown the capacity and commitment to create their own opportunities. But old habits must also be broken. Dependence on commodities — or on a single export — concentrates wealth in the hands of the few and leaves people too vulnerable to downturns. In Ghana, for instance, oil brings great opportunities, and you have been responsible in preparing for new revenue. But as so many Ghanaians know, oil cannot simply become the new cocoa. From South Korea to Singapore, history shows that countries thrive when they invest in their people and infrastructure; when they promote multiple export industries, develop a skilled work force and create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs. As Africans reach for this promise, America will be more responsible in extending our hand. By cutting costs that go to Western consultants and administration, we will put more resources in the hands of those who need it, while training people to do more for themselves. That is why our $3.5 billion food security initiative is focused on new methods and technologies for farmers — not simply sending American producers or goods to Africa. Aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it is no longer needed. America can also do more to promote trade and investment. Wealthy nations must open our doors to goods and services from Africa in a meaningful way. And where there is good governance, we can broaden prosperity through public-private partnerships that invest in better roads and electricity; capacity-building that trains people to grow a business; and financial services that reach poor and rural areas. This is also in our own interest — for if people are lifted out of poverty and wealth is created in Africa, new markets will open for our own goods. One area that holds out both undeniable peril and extraordinary promise is energy. Africa gives off less greenhouse gas than any other part of the world, but it is the most threatened by climate change. A warming planet will spread disease, shrink water resources and deplete crops, creating conditions that produce more famine and conflict. All of us — particularly the developed world — have a responsibility to slow these trends — through mitigation, and by changing the way that we use energy. But we can also work with Africans to turn this crisis into opportunity. Together, we can partner on behalf of our planet and prosperity and help countries increase access to power while skipping the dirtier phase of development. Across Africa, there is bountiful wind and solar power; geothermal energy and bio-fuels. From the Rift Valley to the North African deserts; from the Western coast to South Africa's crops — Africa's boundless natural gifts can generate its own power, while exporting profitable, clean energy abroad. These steps are about more than growth numbers on a balance sheet. They're about whether a young person with an education can get a job that supports a family; a farmer can transfer their goods to the market; or an entrepreneur with a good idea can start a business. It's about the dignity of work. Its about the opportunity that must exist for Africans in the 21st century. Just as governance is vital to opportunity, it is also critical to the third area that I will talk about — strengthening public health. In recent years, enormous progress has been made in parts of Africa. Far more people are living productively with HIV/AIDS, and getting the drugs they need. But too many still die from diseases that shouldn't kill them. When children are being killed because of a mosquito bite, and mothers are dying in childbirth, then we know that more progress must be made. Yet because of incentives — often provided by donor nations — many African doctors and nurses understandably go overseas, or work for programs that focus on a single disease. This creates gaps in primary care and basic prevention. Meanwhile, individual Africans also have to make responsible choices that prevent the spread of disease, while promoting public health in their communities and countries. Across Africa, we see examples of people tackling these problems. In Nigeria, an interfaith effort of Christians and Muslims has set an example of cooperation to confront malaria. Here in Ghana and across Africa, we see innovative ideas for filling gaps in care — for instance, through E-Health initiatives that allow doctors in big cities to support those in small towns. America will support these efforts through a comprehensive, global health strategy. Because in the 21st century, we are called to act by our conscience and our common interest. When a child dies of a preventable illness in Accra, that diminishes us everywhere. And when disease goes unchecked in any corner of the world, we know that it can spread across oceans and continents. That is why my administration has committed $63 billion to meet these challenges. Building on the strong efforts of President Bush, we will carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS. We will pursue the goal of ending deaths from malaria and tuberculosis, and eradicating polio. We will fight neglected tropical disease. And we won't confront illnesses in isolation — we will invest in public health systems that promote wellness and focus on the health of mothers and children. As we partner on behalf of a healthier future, we must also stop the destruction that comes not from illness, but from human beings — and so the final area that I will address is conflict. Now let me be clear: Africa is not the crude caricature of a continent at war. But for far too many Africans, conflict is a part of life, as constant as the sun. There are wars over land and wars over resources. And it is still far too easy for those without conscience to manipulate whole communities into fighting among faiths and tribes. These conflicts are a millstone around Africa's neck. We all have many identities — of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has no place in the 21st century. Africa's diversity should be a source of strength, not a cause for division. We are all God's children. We all share common aspirations — to live in peace and security; to access education and opportunity; to love our families, our communities, and our faith. That is our common humanity. That is why we must stand up to inhumanity in our midst. It is never justifiable to target innocents in the name of ideology. It is the death sentence of a society to force children to kill in wars. It is the ultimate mark of criminality and cowardice to condemn women to relentless and systematic rape. We must bear witness to the value of every child in Darfur and the dignity of every woman in Congo. No faith or culture should condone the outrages against them. All of us must strive for the peace and security necessary for progress. Africans are standing up for this future. Here, too, Ghana is helping to point the way forward. Ghanaians should take pride in your contributions to peacekeeping from Congo to Liberia to Lebanon, and in your efforts to resist the scourge of the drug trade. We welcome the steps that are being taken by organizations like the African Union and ECOWAS to better resolve conflicts, keep the peace, and support those in need. And we encourage the vision of a strong, regional security architecture that can bring effective, transnational force to bear when needed. America has a responsibility to advance this vision, not just with words, but with support that strengthens African capacity. When there is genocide in Darfur or terrorists in Somalia, these are not simply African problems — they are global security challenges, and they demand a global response. That is why we stand ready to partner through diplomacy, technical assistance, and logistical support, and will stand behind efforts to hold war criminals accountable. And let me be clear: our Africa Command is focused not on establishing a foothold in the continent, but on confronting these common challenges to advance the security of America, Africa and the world. In Moscow, I spoke of the need for an international system where the universal rights of human beings are respected, and violations of those rights are opposed. That must include a commitment to support those who resolve conflicts peacefully, to sanction and stop those who don't, and to help those who have suffered. But ultimately, it will be vibrant democracies like Botswana and Ghana which roll back the causes of conflict, and advance the frontiers of peace and prosperity. As I said earlier, Africa's future is up to Africans. The people of Africa are ready to claim that future. In my country, African-Americans — including so many recent immigrants — have thrived in every sector of society. We have done so despite a difficult past, and we have drawn strength from our African heritage. With strong institutions and a strong will, I know that Africans can live their dreams in Nairobi and Lagos; in Kigali and Kinshasa; in Harare and right here in Accra. Fifty-two years ago, the eyes of the world were on Ghana. And a young preacher named Martin Luther King traveled here, to Accra, to watch the Union Jack come down and the Ghanaian flag go up. This was before the march on Washington or the success of the civil rights movement in my country. Dr. King was asked how he felt while watching the birth of a nation. And he said: "It renews my conviction in the ultimate triumph of justice." Now, that triumph must be won once more, and it must be won by you. And I am particularly speaking to the young people. In places like Ghana, you make up over half of the population. Here is what you must know: the world will be what you make of it. You have the power to hold your leaders accountable and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, end conflicts and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can. Because in this moment, history is on the move. But these things can only be done if you take responsibility for your future. It won't be easy. It will take time and effort. There will be suffering and setbacks. But I can promise you this: America will be with you. As a partner. As a friend. Opportunity won't come from any other place, though — it must come from the decisions that you make, the things that you do, and the hope that you hold in your hearts. NEWSBLOGSTODAY

lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu Freedom is your inheritance. Now, it is your responsibility to build upon freedom's foundation. And if you do, we will look back years from now to places like Accra and say that this was the time when the promise was realized — this was the moment when prosperity was forged; pain was overcome; and a new era of progress began. This can be the time when we witness the triumph of justice once more. Thank you.

2000 Edo State indigenes in Libyan Prisons ADDITIONAL 102 Nigerians, forty five of them from Edo state

Posted by 9jabook.com on June 22, 2009 at 5:01pm

102 Nigerians arrested in Libya BENIN—ADDITIONAL 102 Nigerians, forty five of them from Edo state, were arrested weekend by the Libyan authorities while trying to travel to Europe with fake documents. advertisement NOLLYWOOD MOVIES ONLINE The weekend arrest would increase the number of Edo state natives in Libyan under ground prison to almost two thousand. It would be recalled that over one thousand five hundred natives of Edo state have been languishing in an under ground jail in Libya since March this year for committing the same offence. The Special Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomohle on Foreign Matters/Diaspora, Mr. Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma, had last week expressed frustrations over the attitude of the Libyan officials towards the efforts being made by both the state government and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in seeking the release of the Nigerians. One of the prisoners from Edo state, Charles Erawuyi, who spoke to Vanguard on telephone, disclosed that additional 102 Nigerians were arrested weekend and that forty-five of them are from Edo state. He added: “The problem we are having too is that the officials in the Nigerian Embassy here are making matters worse for us. What they do is to collect money individually from our relations before they will go and ask for the release of anyone instead of seeking for the release of all of us like the Kenyan Government and others did. “They will ask for up to one fifty to two hundred dollars and most of us cannot afford it.

Inside the wild life of naija Campus pimps & Prostitutes

Posted by NollywoodMohits on June 7, 2009 at 7:50pm

Safe and covertly vicious, university campus pimps in the country have coolly wormed their ways into the social circuits nationwide.Parties hardly click until one or two of them “grace the occasion” with a bevy of pretty girls in their notebooks and on their payrolls.Highflyers

At LASU, a self effacing pimp simply called Ben “freights” and airlifts girls to Abuja.“Whenever there’s a big event, I get an order for 20 – upto 30 girls. So, I package them for the ‘pay masters’ who will, of course pay into my account. The money is for ticket and taxi, and small, small expenses. After the show, the pay master will pay the agreed amount and we fly back”, Ben explained.Mr Fix-itAccording to Ben, a night out for each of his girls attracts N10,000. A weekend in Lagos, the girls grudging charge between N50,000 and N30,000.For Ben, “Mr. fix-it”, for the deal to go through, you must stuff his pocket with N150,000. To prove his class, Ben rides a clean Toyota Camry lives in a tastefully furnished 3-bedroom apartment off campus. Though the dictionary defines a pimp as a man who engages women in prostitution in brothel and on the streets, but in the Nigerian context, women have a large share of the business.At University of Lagos, Akika Star is the toast of most social events in the city of Lagos. Though her real first name is Stella but her alias, Star, twinkles and winkles as brightly as her reputation.For four weeks our reporter traversed some campuses around the country, delving deep into the world of undergraduate sin city barons.WHO IS THIS GIRL ? WATCH VIDEO !

For fun or material gains their “pawns” – fellow students blindly fall into their traps and clutches without knowing.A big ‘Gbedu’Most times it begins with an invitation to “a big Gbedu with the correct guys in town”. Linked by a source, pimpmynaija sources posed to ‘Star’ as a potential client and sneaked into her closely guarded world.Known around as “a happening babe”, when a client ‘places an order’, Star quickly sends text messages, connects and recruits the girls she wants for the outing and summons a meeting, and most times adds a few extras to the number of girls ordered.“I have some regular girls I go out with. They are up to 20 but if your demand is more, I can double the number. But I need time”, she said.Star preferred a week or at least four days notice. Hear her: “What I hate is someone rushing me. Imagine coming to me on Friday night for a Saturday night out. That’s too tight. I can only listen to you if I’m not booked”.Fair in complexion and friendly, Amina of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State bears an iconic first name. Like the legendary Queen of Zaria, she says “the girls have a choice to go out and play with whoever they like.“We’re all adults. Anybody can decide who to go out with. Here at Samaru, we don’t force anybody. If I call you and you don’t want to go out, no problem”.Patrons in high placesAt the University of Jos, Bulus holds sway. He forays with his tight network of girls to adjoining states like Bauchi, Kaduna, Gombe, Taraba and Nasarawa.His patrons – “my powerful friends”, as he prefers to call them, are mostly top government functionaries and businessmen.Coming from a humble background, Bulus over the years uses proceeds of his wheeling – dealing in women to pay his way through school.Smiling broadly, he told pimpmynaija sources pimping is not an easy job. “Hmm, to arrange girls on campus no dey easy-o. You have to spend and spend and prove you are capable before any girl will agree to follow you”.Depraved tasteAs pimpmynaija found out, it is a lot easier for pimps to hook up with girls. But the difficult part is in ensuring the girls “behave well” on outings and treat the clients well.“You must also make sure that the men you are giving the girls are good. Some men are wicked.They will use the girls and pay little money, Bulus revealed.Another worrisome part for pimps is that some men have a penchant for kinky stuff. Some have wild depraved tastes.“The men don’t care. These girls they carry are even young enough to be their daughters. A good organizer must make sure the men you give girls to, do not use them rough. If any thing happens to the girls, people will start to ask questions, “Akin of University of Ilorin said.Territorial controlCampus pimps imitate the viciousness of their counterparts in the cults of the ivory tower: they fiercely fight and scramble for girls and clients.As pimpmynaija sources’s investigation reveals, they start vying for girls at the beginning of every academic session.“When Jambites (new students) come, you have to rush after them, target the pretty, classy ones. If you try hard, before the end of the first semester, they will become your friend and play along with you”, Mike, a popular undergraduate at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said.Tatoo brandingSome campus pimps brand their girls with tattoo. As a badge of pride and social class, some girls willingly get branded with floral, butterfly or a heart pierced with arrow on their biceps, ankle, tigh, hip or on other private, intimate parts.To ensure loyalty of the girls in their “notebooks”, the pimps keep them under their thumb with “pecks” (gifts) and “red eyes” (threats).“You don’t understand, we invest in those girls. It’s like trading and buying a product. For this, you must not fail to sell for profit”.Ade, Lagos State University (LASU) undergraduate said.Cult ConnectionThe pimpmynaija sources investigation reveals that some campus pimps have links with cult groups ravaging campuses across the country. These boys use the money generated to fund cult activities. It’s really a dangerous trend.When they graduate, they become bigger and menacing”, a lecturer at the University of Calabar, Cross River State, who craves anonymity said.Punishable offenceThe campus pimps are obviously aware of the legal implications of their illicit, exploitative, morally bankrupt business. This explains why they shy away from publicity and scrutiny.A lawyer with Adekunle Ojo and Associates Barrister Godwin Ewa says the nation’s Penal Code (for the north) stipulates 10 years imprisonment without option of fine for any offender.The Criminal Code (for the south) states that first offenders risk two years imprisonment with caning.“Our law book is adequate. Sections 216 – 227 of the criminal code make ample provision against lacuna. The courts are ever ready.But the problem is the ever compromising law enforcement agencies especially the police,” he said.

Zimbabwe in Nigeria : Abuja satellite settlement, where booze, meat and sex rule

Posted by Danladi Usman on June 28, 2009 at 10:00pm

Zimbabwe of Nigeria • Abuja satellite settlement, where booze, meat and sex rule Advertisement 9jabook.com 9jamovies.com are the hottest sites in naija right now Amazing selected articles & Videos.Great music! and best of ALL YOU GET F.R.E..E AD.VER.TISI.NG CRE.DIT ! wow ! join now ! click to join 9jabook now where your space is really yours There may be regrets and gnashing of teeth in Zimbabwe, in southern Africa, because of politics. However, there is another Zimbabwe, where people are happy and constantly making merry. In this Zimbabwe, in Nigeria, just like the zimbabwe money is sextillion & abundant now and is still cheap like the money

there are assorted food and drinks. There are also different kinds of meat and fish. And women are there for the asking, for those who need their services. Located about 25 kilometers from Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Zimbabwe is the lure of all city dwellers around it. Visiting patrons to this bubbling place are always welcome by things that would make them happy. For one, there is always music blarring from the giant speakers. And those who could gyrate take to the dancing floor. Indeed, on a typical day in Zimbabwe, there is no dull moment. Activities at the little hunts and canopies are always at their peak. People drink, eat and make merry. The location and setting Situated on a plain, grassy valley crisscrossed by a river and overlooking the highway on the Abuja/Keffi Road is a suburb called Uke, in Nasarawa State. It consists of no more than a few thousand people who live in houses roofed with rusty corrugated iron sheets. The houses are Roasted chicken

generally grouped together in residential areas some distance away from the highway. At the upper end of this suburb, just by the riverside is the famous Zimbabwe. Indeed, what started as a local foodstuff market in a place called upper Uke, in 1980, has now metamorphosed into a full-blown market, with such magnetic forces that pulls the small and big in the society to its fold. According to Alhaji Jibril Abubakar, who holds the traditional title of “Garkwa Uke” (Defence Minister), “it started as a small market in a place called upper Uke and when the then District Head of Uke, Alhaji Abdullahi Hassan visited the area, he noticed the existence of the market and decided to upgrade it to a full-fledged market. “From then, the market began to attract people from Keffi and Masaka. Originally, people used to come and buy foodstuff, like yam, pepper and tomatoes at a very cheap price of 10 kobo. That was how it started.” The erudite defence minister, who is an illustrious son of Uke, told Saturday Sun that the market was relocated from its original place, in 1986, to its present position following the overbearing presence of palm wine tapers and local brew (burukutu), who flooded the market with their products. The reason for the relocation, at the instance of the district head, was to maintain its original status as a foodstuff market. “The palm wine tapers started bringing their product and other local drinks to sell. This was against the original purpose of the founders of the market. The presence of these drinks at the market started attracting large crowd of people, who travelled far and near to buy fresh and original palm wine.” In 1997, according Abubakar, the district head of Uke summoned a meeting of elders on how to upgrade the infrastructure of the market for the purpose of generating revenue. It was then agreed that shops be erected at the market and let out to interested people. “This is how the market has become a big one today.” The name Zimbabwe Narrating the historical background of the market, Abubakar said: “The name (Zimbabwe) was given by a local musician. Its original name was “Upper Uke Market. Zimbabwe was given by a local musician and it was generally accepted and since then it is called by the name.” In Nasarawa, Abuja and other neighbouring states, the name Zimbabwe rings a bell. It is a bubbling place. Indeed, Zimbabwe is so popular that any girl that has not been taken there by her lover would not be happy. Life at “Zimbabwe” is exhilarating. Its atmosphere is alive with adventurous spirit and resourceful people. Although it lacked the eye-pocking state-of- the-art edifices of the cities, it is a kind of heaven. Its serene and calm atmosphere is not only magnetic but also infectious. The environment is in a cocoon of marina trees that provides a cozy atmosphere needed to rewind after a hectic day. Investigations revealed that the main centre of attraction at Zimbabwe is the fresh palm wine that is cheaply available in large supply. Aside from palm wine there are other side attractions, including fresh fish, chicken and fish barbecue, fish pepper soup and others.

According to Abubakar, “anything you want, you can get it at Zimbabwe at a relatively cheap price. For instance, you don’t need to go to fast food joints for fresh fish and chickens. That is why people come from Abuja and other places to this place. A keg of palm wine is N100 in Zimbabwe, as against the N500 in Abuja, while a full litre of the product is between N300 and N400, as against the Abuja price of N1, 500.” Security Security in Zimbabwe is tight and manned by vigilance group selected from the host community. Abubakar boasted that there has not been any reported incident of theft at the market. “There is no security threat here. There is a local security outfit, Yanbanga, put in place by the community to provide security at the market and so far, there has not been any case of theft or burglary in this market. The community supplies them with all their operational needs. Every month, they meet with the elders of the community to brief them on security matters and to update their operational methods. “The market closes at 10pm everyday. Anything after that, no body is allowed access into the premises except shop owners who must identify themselves. In fact, there is no recorded incident of theft or car snatching here,” he said. High accident rate In every good thing in life, there is also a side effect and so it is with the Uke community. What the market has offered them with the right hand, in terms of social and economic gain; it takes back with death occasioned by road accidents. “The only problem we have on ground here is the high rate of accidents, which has claimed so many lives. People get knocked down while trying to cross the road to the other side of the market. You know after drinking some bottles of alcohol, some people would just jump into the road in their unsteady conditions and sometimes oncoming vehicles knock them down. The community has lost many of its sons to road accidents. In fact, we are now thinking of relocating the market or pushing farther away the highway.” Effects on the youths Advertisement 9jabook.com 9jamovies.com are the hottest sites in naija right now Amazing selected articles & Videos.Great music! and best of ALL YOU GET F.R.E..E AD.VER.TISI.NG CRE.DIT ! wow ! join now ! click to join 9jabook now where your space is really yours The presence of exotic cars and their influential owners in the market is a tonic of encouragement to youths of the area, according to the Garkwan Uke. “The sight of these flashy cars has, more than anything, encouraged our youths to work harder in their human endeavours. Although the marvel of the presence of these rich men acts as an encouragement to them we advice them to work towards having theirs rather than going into uncanny means of acquiring wealth,” he said.

Benin Antiquities "Oyinbo GIVE IT BACK !" Edo congress calls for return of BENIN artifacts, oil wells

Posted by Egbes Ogbeide on June 9, 2009 at 11:16am

From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, BeninA SOCIO-CULTURAL group in Edo State, the Benin National Congress (BNC), yesterday called on the Federal Government to intervene in its fight to prevail on the British government to return Benin artifacts carted away since 1897.The group also urged President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to return 27 oil wells belonging to Edo, which were ceded to Ondo and Delta states by the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida.They also called for amnesty for the 27 soldiers sentenced to life imprisonment in Akure for mutiny.In a letter to the President and signed by the association' s vice president and secretary, Omowemwen Imadiyi and Osazee Erhiamato, the group said it would not hesitate to begin mobilisation with a view to instituting legal action against the British government to force it to return the artifacts.It argued that Britain's continued retention of the "historical and ancestral" materials ran contrary to diplomatic relations between the two countries."It will be fair and patriotic for the Presidency to review its foreign policy relations with Britain within the context of the backlog of oppressive tendencies, which have undermined Nigeria's collective aspiration - to be together for peace, progress and justice, as any attempt to downplay these fundamentals of unity and accord will have far-reaching negative effects on our national integrity, if not now, certainly later."The Benin National Congress as you may well know is a foremost pan-Edo socio-cultural organisation that has been at the forefront of the struggle for the just and unconditional repatriation of all Benin artifacts, which were looted from the palace of the Oba of Benin, 'primitive' museums and the shrines of the people of the kingdom under the pretext of colonialism" , they added.The statement said the ceding of Edo oil wells to other states was an injustice and depletion of the state's revenue, which is needed for its development.The group urged that the soldiers be granted amnesty, since according them, it was discovered that they were actually shortchanged by their superiors.

Nollywood loses half of film profits to piracy, say producers

Posted by NollywoodMohits on July 2, 2009 at 12:30am

LONDON, England (CNN) — Nigeria’s huge film industry, Nollywood, may have overtaken Hollywood as the world’s second largest producer of films, but piracy is threatening to cut off the industry in its prime.Nollywood insiders estimate that up to 50 percent of the industry’s profits are currently being lost to Nigeria’s endemic piracy and corruption problems.“Piracy has dealt a big blow to the industry,” Emmanuel Isikaku, a Nollywood producer of 13 years and president of the Film & Video Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria told CNN.Isikaku, 42, claims he lost so much money on his 2007 movie “Plane Crash” through piracy that he failed to recover his costs, despite the film’s popularity with audiences.“I couldn’t make anything from it,” Isikaku told CNN. “Because of piracy I didn’t even break even.“A lot of people watched the film, but unfortunately they watched pirated copies,” he said.Nigeria’s huge, mostly unregulated film industry is based in Lagos, the sprawling, frenetic financial capital of west Africa’s largest country.your advert can be here for free !

lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu

Made with a spirit of grassroots entrepreneurship, Nollywood’s video-format B movies are vibrant and inventive, fusing traditional voodoo and magic with urban romance stories.They are films that speak about modern life from an African perspective, driven by a narrative that is strongly rooted in the African oral storytelling tradition. Nollywood films are wildly popular across the continent and with the African diaspora all over the world.Nollywood recently overtook Hollywood as the world’s second biggest producer of movies behind India’s Bollywood.In 2006 it produced 872 movies compared with 485 major feature films in the U.S. (although for a fraction of the cost), according to a global cinema survey conducted by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).Hollywood has started tapping into Nollywood’s global popularity: Earlier this year, “Close Enemies,” the first crossover film, was produced in LA by Prince Ade Bamiro using major Nollywood stars. It was made for $300,000 — about 10 times the average Nollywood budget — and was screened in the Nigerian Pavilion at Cannes.But improvements in piracy technology are making the problem more acute, draining Nollywood’s coffers and confidence and stopping the industry from making the improvements in quality it needs to cross over into the global mainstream.Nigeria’s independent producers self-fund hundreds of movies each year. The average budget is around N3.5 million ($25,000). They make their money back by selling DVDs of their movies, which they burn themselves, on stalls in markets or in shops.While Nigerians are wild about watching films, Nigeria has virtually no formal cinemas with 99 percent of screenings using DVDs held in informal settings, according to UNESCO.Producers have only one distribution route compared with, for example, Hollywood where studios recoup production costs through cinematic exhibition — an arena currently safe from piracy — and make a profit from DVD sales and TV rights.Most pirated movies are a victim of their own success: Pirates take the fastest-selling DVDs to China to be mass-produced and bring them back to Africa to sell.According to Isikaku, piracy was eating into his profits back in 2005, when he estimates he lost N10,000,000 ($68,000) because of illegally copied DVDs. But, he says, the problem became “alarming” in 2007 when pirates started to use video compression technology.Video compression digital technology allows from five to 20 films (both Nollywood and Hollywood) to be squeezed onto one disk and then sold for around N590 ($4).When a legitimate Nollywood DVD is sold for the equivalent of $7 to $10, it’s hard for producers to compete.“This new development in piracy has the potential to kill the industry off completely,” Dr. Sylvester Ogbechie, President of the LA-based Nollywood Foundation told CNN.Although no official figures exist, Ogbechie estimates from his conversations with some of the industry’s top producers that up to 50 percent of profits are currently being lost to piracy.Isikaku claims the problem is so endemic in Nigerian culture that some cable TV channels will air Nollywood movies without the permission of the producer, or that if they do pay, they pay “peanuts.”“And the moment people are watching on TV, they are discouraged from buying DVDs at the market,” he said.All this has had a knock-on effect on the confidence of the industry.“You think twice before you invest in film productions now,” says Isikaku. “Investors are being discouraged.”This feeling is endemic, and producers are trying to bring down production costs: “The quality of our productions is going down every day,” he explained.This is a blow to an industry known for low production values and whose practitioners are mostly self-taught.Criticisms of the industry’s films include poor sound quality, inadequate lighting, ill thought-out camera angles and the repetitive nature of many of its storylines.Insiders know that improving the quality of their films is crucial if their young industry is to make the leap into the global mainstream.They say Nigerian government must tighten up border controls and seize pirated DVDs as they re-enter the country from China.“Some of these movies come in through our airports, our ports,” says Isikaku. “Much depends on the government agencies.”Hope may come from the direction of Nigeria’s National Film & Video Censors Board led by Director-General Emeka Mba, who is making moves to restructure and formalize the industry.“There has to be some process of formalizing the industry — giving the industry depth and that’s where the government can come in through regulation, through incentives and create that process of empowerment for the industry,” Mba told CNN.“Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians are in this industry, especially young men and women.”Despite the setbacks, Isikaku also remains hopeful for the industry. “Pirates have stopped us working hard because we don’t get what we are due but all hope is not last because we are passionate.“Nollywood can come together to take action to help this industry to survive,” he said.your advert can be here for free !

lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu

SollyWood South African Animation Safari one step ahead of nollywood

Posted by NollywoodMohits on June 15, 2009 at 10:41pm

Zambezia from Triggerfish Animation on Vimeo.

While Nollywood can boast the largest output of films (albeit on video) after Bollywood, it seems South Africa is making serious money-making strides of more universal appeal. Whilst browsing the Screen Africa website I came across a recruitment ad placed this week for a wide variety of positions available due to the expansion of the team behind the production of Zambezia, “a pioneering CG animation feature to be produced in Africa.”Intrigued, my mind went to the only other animation film from Africa I could think of, a 1977 Nigerian film (pre-Nollywood) called Bisi, Daughter of The River co-directed by Jab Adu and Ladi Ladebo. If memory serves me correctly, it was actually live action combined with animation and, while I have lingering images of a young woman (played by British-Nigerian actress, Patti Boulaye) wading into a river in the ethereal surroundings of animated landscape and creatures, I’ve tried, and failed, over the years, to find out what became of that film as I only ever saw clips/trailers of it on Nigerian television in the 70s – no doubt part of the promotions for FESTAC ‘77 (the 2nd World Black & African Festival of Arts & Culture).According to Mohamed Ghazala of the Fine Arts Faculty, Minia University, Egypt, African animation started about 70 years ago in Egypt and was founded by the Frenkel brothers who were not professional artists or animators, but Jewish carpenters who immigrated to Egypt from Russia in search of freedom and work and achieved the unexpected; the first African animated cartoon throughout Africa.Ghazala, in his blog post, The History of African Animation, writes that the hero of the 10 minute film, In Vain (Mafish fayda), was Mish Mish Effendi, who, he says, was the prototype of Disney’s well-known Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately this film was lost when Cairo burned in 1951. However, The Frenkel brothers’ second film, National Defense, is still preserved.Currently, African animation only exists in Egypt and South Africa, with about 50 animation studios producing animation commercially for Egypt and other African and Middle Eastern countries.So, back to Zambezia which, sure enough, is from a South African animation studio, Triggerfish. According to a September ‘08 article in Screen Daily, Cinema Management Group (CMG) president, Edward Noeltner, picked up international rights for the 3D animated feature ahead of last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.According to the Screen Daily article:“This an exciting and visually exhilarating story with wonderful moral values which, much like Disney’s Lion King, will appeal to audiences of all ages in every corner of the globe,” Noeltner said. “We are very excited to be offering Zambezia for the very first time in Toronto where we have footage from the film to screen along with a full plate of new projects to offer.”And from the blurb on CMG’s website:On the edge of an enormous waterfall, in the heart of Africa, lies the bird city of Zambezia. Famous for its impregnable defenses against egg predators, it has become the breeding sanctuary for birds from throughout the river valley. With half of its massive Baobab shell gone, Zambezia City is the ultimate tree house, humming with birds on every level, from its roots at the base, to the platforms high in the leafy tops.Aero, a young Taita Falcon from a remote outpost, is the protagonist of the story. He dreams of flying on the prestigious River Watch. When Aero’s father is captured by the treacherous Marabous, he is forced to abandon his outpost and flee to Zambezia. However, Aero soon finds himself at the centre of a deadly plot concocted by the Marabous – who have joined forces with giant, egg-eating lizards – to overthrow Zambezia and return things back to “every bird for himself”. If Aero is to save Zambezia, he will have to learn that not all battles are won with fast and fancy flying.Set in the spectacular Zambezi River Valley, the film draws on this unique natural environment as its inspiration – an inspiration which can be seen in the beautiful, quintessentially African elements of the film.But it would seem that CMG (who also hold the international sales rights to the recent dramatic feature, African Violet) also snapped up another Triggerfish project because they also own rights to Khumba, “the story of a half-striped zebra, born into an insular, isolated herd obsessed with stripes. Rumors that the strange foal is cursed spread and, before long, he is blamed for the drought that sets in. When his father, the leader of the herd, blames him for the lack of rain and the subsequent death of his mother, the outcast zebra leaves the confines of his home knowing that he cannot survive in the herd without all his stripes.” Both Zambezia and Khumba are due for release in 2011.Another South African animation, which is slated for international release this year, is Kalahari, the story of Crash, a cheetah who is the fastest cat in Africa, but who has the inability to corner. When his mother is lost in a brush fire, he is adopted by a family of meerkats who try to teach him how to be a cheetah, and help him find his “chee” (inner spirit) in order to corner. According to Wikipedia, “Hollywood producer Laszlo Bene assembled the film’s crew, which fully comprises personnel from the local entertainment industry. The film’s $23 million budget was financed by offshore funds and Johannesburg investors. Its production details were kept secret during its development, which took place throughout most of 2006.”Kalahari is reported be released in the United States by a major distribution company and will be South Africa’s second animated film after the 2007 film Tengers, a full-length claymation satirical black comedy about life in post-Apartheid South Africa.Maybe it’s because most of the animators, from the Frenkel brothers to the Triggerfish team, aren’t indigenous Africans but, apart from Bisi, Daughter of the River and Tengers, animals seem to feature predominantly in most of these films, seemingly raising the profile of Africa for international audiences without actually featuring indigenous African people. To be fair, Triggerfish’s 2009 show reel does have several black characters featured, but I’m guessing these are for local South African TV consumption, and that they’re going with the Lion King and Madagascar -type models where it would seem that epic or romanticised visions of Africa are considered more palatable to mainstream international audiences when presented with adorable four-legged or winged creatures. Given their varied stock of characters, I wonder if Triggerfish will one day break that mold and give international audiences some loveable, entertaining African characters that are actually human… or maybe even be beaten to it by one of the other 49 African animation studios!Zambezia Trailer

American School of Assasins Abacha & Colin Powell connection IBB,VATSA & WHY DELE GIWA

Posted by 9jabook.com on June 6, 2009 at 7:00pm

Democracy is "not" for the Masses because Time and Time it has been proved the "masses" dont care because they think they dont know ANYTHING !They "cant" think for themselves and like sheep will listen to the black sheep who know no better and accept any Shepherd even those clearly in Wolves clothing ! and BAAA BAAA straight to Destruction !that is the way things ARE ! and will stay if the "MASSES" dont do anything !!

Prof. Taiyewo Ogunade, a musicologist at the City University, New York was a close friend of Late Abacha, he spoke of his experiences . General Sanni Abacha died exactly a decade ago, what does that mean to you? To me, I feel I lost a friend, but then, as a democrat, I don’t lose too much because I believe in democracy and then Abacha didn’t believe in that. That is the dividing point between the two of us. I met him immediately Babangida took over in 1985. And they invited all of us to Kuru, near Jos, most of us intellectuals, for a debate on Nigeria’s foreign policy. And we were put in a famous hotel called Hotel Thirty. While the conference was on, the Department of Political Science of the Ahmadu Bello University, led by Professor Bala Usman came with a document in which they catalogued all the rich Nigerians. They called it from Balewa to Babangida and they were distributing it to selected people. But, the security got angry and wanted to recover it while we were in the conference hall. That was how I met Abacha. They were trying to struggle and take it from me and Abacha said, ‘leave him alone’. I never met him (Abacha) before, I didn’t know who he was. So, he gave me protection and by the time I got it, he said well, are you going to drive with me to town? I never even asked who he was. It was when we got to his car that I saw it was a military car. Babangida was there and we were talking about Nigerian political affairs. So, he took me to town. That was how I was able to escape with my two copies without them being confiscated like others. And from then, we became friendly. I use to go to his office when I had the time and from there to his guest house. By the time we would get to the gate of his guest house on Raymond Njoku, girls would be at the gate, as many as twenty of them. When they see his car, all of them would stand up. As he is driving in, he would bring down his glasses, point to about six or eight of them for security to allow them come into the house. He is a person who likes women all the time. It was a daily routine that he does. And so, when I wrote a musical on Cyprian Ekwensi’s ‘Passport of Mallam Ilia’ which I turned into an opera, I needed a band to perform it. Abacha was able to give me a note to the army band. So, I went to the army band and then, I started rehearsing with the Nigerian Army band that played the music for me. But, then, Tunde Akogun was giving us so much trouble. He didn’t want us to rehearse at the National Theatre. Each time we wanted to have rehearsal there, he would turn us down. He was driving away my artistes. So, I went to Sani Abacha again that Akogun keeps disturbing us. Abacha would say, ‘don’t worry, I would talk to them which he would do’. When Fela Anikulapo Kuti finally came out of prison, I was doing the Fela musicals and he heard that Fela was coming once in a while when we were rehearsing. So, he came to meet Fela and they had a very wonderful rapport. For about two or three days, he was coming because Fela was coming there to rehearse. And finally, he gave me money to pay for the theatre and do the musical. That was the last thing I did before I left Nigeria. Can you give psychoanalysis of Abacha? You see, Abacha has a very reserved mentality. Abacha would listen to you; he would make very little comments or none. But, therein, he has known what he wants to do. But, he is a very jovial person who plays around with teasing you and doing everything. But, he is not an outspoken person. Abacha never discussed Nigeria with anybody as far as I know. He never discussed Nigerian politics, but he likes to discuss entertainment, films and what not. I’m amazed that he ended up acquiring that kind of money that he did. But, I know from my own judgment that being product of the ’College of Assassin’, that is what they are trained to do. What is the history of that college? What is the SOA? The School of the Americas (SOA), in 2001 renamed the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation,” is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Initially established in Panama in 1946, it was kicked out of that country in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Former Panamanian President, Jorge Illueca, stated that the School of the Americas was the “biggest base for destabilization in Latin America.” The SOA, frequently dubbed the “School of Assassins,” has left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned. Over its 59 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins. The college was established in the 1940s in Fort Benning, Georgia. It’s a big college. I think it’s about 22 miles radius. And they have all kinds of things there. All the Latin American dictators went through there. Like Argentina’s Pinochet, Panamas’ Noriega, most Vietnamese military leaders went there, Kagame of Rwanda went there. I was there when Kagame graduated and we became good friends. And the young Kabila went there. But he didn’t finish. I think he was a year there before Collin Powell took him out and made him head of state in the Republic of Congo. But Abacha went there. Is he the only person that went there from Nigeria? I believe he is the only one. Bolaji Johnson went to the Rangers College in Indiana. He was the first military person to go to America for military training. Abacha is the only one that went to the Fort Benning School that I know. What is the kind of training? They train them how to disorganise a whole country and become dictators. They train them how to kill people. There was a series of twelve tapes made by Edward Kennedy that showed what type of activities went on there. He was the one that got the American Congress to call it the ‘College of Assassin.’ They teach you to fight lions barehanded, to fight crocodiles, so, you become quite fearless. They show you lots of blood activities, so that shedding people’s blood don’t move your emotions anymore. At what period in time did he attend the school? It must have been the early eighties because he was given the Grand Order of that school by Collin Powell in 1986. They gave him a best student award. And we tackled Collin Powell because he was a product of my school at the City University. And he said that he was a good student. And I am amazed today I am reading in the papers that he said he warned him about what he was doing. So, they were very good buddies. They related well.You and Abacha were very friendly, when did it all turn around? I was out of the country when he became head of state. When Ken Saro-Wiwa was killed, I lost confidence in him. He killed Ken Saro-Wiwa. For that, I don’t think I wanted to relate with him. I knew Ken as a good friend and I didn’t feel comfortable that he should have been killed. Abacha knew Ken well too. They were very good friends. So, it is not that he doesn’t know who Ken Saro-Wiwa was. But, if it happened to Ken, it could happen to me. Did you get close to any of his children, or family? No. Like I said, he has a routine when he leaves the military headquarters at 1:00pm. It is either you see him at the office or at the guest house. By 11:00pm, he goes home to sleep. So, his family is never in the guest house. They don’t come there at all. Himself, Jerry Useni, Gwadabe and some other people are the ones always there.So, you were not surprised about the story that he was killed by women. No. Even at my playhouse, we used to joke about it because when he comes for rehearsal, he would be asking me, which of these girls I should take away. I would say, sir, these girls are artistes. I cannot order anyone of them to go with you. One of my girls slapped him one day and I was shocked. I don’t know what he did to the girl, but the girl smacked him. He must have done something stupid to the girl.You said that Abacha and Babangida were all together…. Yes, actually I knew two people before I knew Abacha. I knew Mamman Vasta and Babangida. I knew them during the war. They were both colonels and I knew their wives. They were three girls - Ada who became Ada Vasta, Maryam who became Maryam Babangida, and another girl we knew as Chinyere. She became the famous Gloria Okon. She was married to Jeff Chadler a Tiv who was a Lieutenant Colonel of Tiv extraction. He was the one who killed Nzeogwu when Nzeogwu was captured at the Nsukka sector. They were bringing him to Kaduna but when he heard, he went on the road and killed him. And he too was killed that night that he killed Nzeogwu. Now, the wife, I knew her as Chinyere. The three of them (Babangida’s wife, Vasta’s wife, and Chinyere) were staying at No. 27 Adeniji street in Surulere. So, when her husband was killed, she started trading and going to London. Something happened and she was arrested by the Customs for trying to take money out of the country. Mrs. Babangida had to intervene and got Vasta to go there and deceive journalists that she died. And they took them to the Kano mortuary and showed them the body of a dead woman. How do I know this? When Vasta was arrested for coup, Vasta refused to talk to interrogators because he was a Major General. But, he said he would give his testimony at the trial. So, at his trial, he gave a four hour testimony and made sure that the tape of that testimony was sent to me to take to his wife. From that tape, we were able to get information that Gloria Okon did not die and that Gloria Okon had just had a baby with somebody in England. Now, for you journalists, the aspect that will interest you is that Dele Giwa got to know that I had the tape of Vasta’s testimony. So, he came to me and I loaned him the tape. He listened to the tape and commissioned somebody in England to trace Gloria Okon. And fortunately for them, Gloria Okon and Maryam Babangida were celebrating the child naming of Gloria Okon’s baby. They got the pictures and Kayode Soyinka brought the pictures to Giwa in Lagos. Dele Giwa then took the pictures and went to Babangida and said, ‘I want to be minister of information or I will destroy you. These are pictures of your wife doing this with Gloria Okon.’ And so, they tricked him and got rid of him in 48 hours. Vasta testified for four hours and sent the tape to me. I was there the day he was killed. His wife called me early in the morning and said they were going to move them and that I should go to Kirikiri. Then, I was living in my house at Festac. And I took the waterside by the Vanguard Newspapers. As I was arriving at Kirikiri, at about seven o’clock in the morning, I saw Black Marias moving off. They told me, ‘that’s Vasta and his people. They just killed them.’ They shot them at 6:00am. So, I followed the Black Marias in a taxi. By the time we got to Iyana Isolo, we lost them. At that time, there was no okada. I knew they were going to Atan Cemetery. So, when I got to Atan Cemetery, they had already buried them in a mass grave and threw acid on them. Then, Tunji Abayomi, a Lieutenant Colonel who led the corpse there, drove back and said, ‘where is Vasta’s watch?’. Vasta had given instructions that if they killed him, they should send his watch to his wife so that his wife would know that he is dead. He had a Rolex watch.’ The attendants were relunctant to open up. So, he just said, line them up, and let me shoot all of them. So, one of them threw the watch down. Then, another guy was trying to hide Martin Luther’s chain, a gold chain that had the number of his bank account in a Swiss bank. So, he threw the chain to my direction and I just put my foot on it and I was looking at them. So, the guy took the watch and drove away and I took the chain. I went to Daily Times. Titus Soyombo was the Evening Times editor. So, I told him that they have killed Vasta. He asked me, ‘are you sure’? I said yes. He withdrew his paper and made the first headline, ‘Vasta would die today if Babaginda does not intervene.’ Less than forty minutes after, the military came and started ransacking the whole of The Times. So, we went opposite The Times where they sell food those days and sat down there. That day, he sold about 400,000 copies of the paper because they made five editions of the paper. So, when the government got to know that the newspaper was in circulation, they sent Admiral Aikhomu to go on the air by 2:00pm to say that by 4:0pm today, Vasta would be executed. Whereas, they had been executed in the morning. Is it true that he (Vasta) was IBB’s best friend when he (IBB) got married? Not only was he his best friend, IBB grew up in his father’s house. Now, he was the one who christened one of IBB’s daughter. They are very, very close, because hardly would you see Vasta without seeing Babangida. It is Abacha that I got close to later. But, with IBB and Vasta, I knew them from the time Sir Harold Wilson (former British Prime Minister) came. The day Adekunle killed the guy in the Delta, Isaac Boro. We went with the observer team to Port-Harcourt. Isaac Boro was the leader of the group that liberated Port-Harcourt and then declared Republic of the Niger Delta there. And then, Adekunle was taking. You know, Adekunle was always stealing money then. He would come and blackmail Gowon. Gowon would tell him to go to Central Bank and carry four or five lorries to Central Bank, load them with money. Halfway, he would divert it back to Lagos, he would then take half to the front. So, the British Prime Minister came on that day. We were on the observer team with Harold Wilson when we got to Port-Harcourt. Boro did not allow the British team, so when Adekunle came, he was so furious and then they fought for about thirty minutes before they captured him.

Shocking 36 year old MUM of six has ditched her kids and run off with her son’s 18-YEAR-OLD best friend

Posted by cozzy webtatafo on June 10, 2009 at 8:44pm

A MUM of six has ditched her kids and run off with her son’s 18-YEAR-OLD best pal. Debbie Mallinson, 36, fled her council semi after telling her shocked children: “I can’t help who I fall in love with.”

She then moved in with baby-faced toyboy Adam Caban in Falmouth, Cornwall. Mallinson’s eldest sons, aged 15 and ten, are now living with relatives. Her other kids — a girl of eight, a boy of six, a boy of five and a girl aged three — are in foster care. And an ex-partner of the runaway mum branded her a “disgrace” last night — and sneered: “She falls in love more often than she gives birth.” The man, who fathered three of the brunette’s six children, hit out after she deserted her young family. Mallinson fled her council home after climbing out of a window and sprinting down the front path into a waiting cab. advertisement here ask9ja.com free classifieds ! Her 15-year-old eldest son had earlier caught her on the phone telling Adam, his best friend, that she loved him. Before she left, Mallinson told her children: “I can’t help who I fall in love with.” But her disgusted ex said: “It breaks my heart — she doesn’t give a stuff about anyone but her.” Mallinson, whose children were fathered by FOUR dads, is living with baby-faced Adam at his sister’s home in Falmouth, Cornwall. Before walking out two weeks ago, she phoned social services saying she couldn’t cope and was going off to live with her lover. Her furious former partner said last night: “This woman is an absolute disgrace as a mother. “First she has an affair with her son’s best friend, then she dumps her kids to move in with him.

“She’s now living with him while her youngest children and my kids are staying with strangers. It breaks my heart and makes my blood boil in equal measure. “She’s told social services she wants the kids back eventually and wants to bring them up with her new boyfriend. “But they are living with his sister and don’t have any money. “Anyway, she can’t just turn up and be a mum when she likes. It is just not fair on the children.” Mallinson — whose youngsters cannot be identified — stormed out of her three-bed semi after a blazing row with her teenage son. He and his eldest brother, who is ten, are now living with their grandparents and father respectively. But the lads’ four siblings — a girl aged eight, a boy of six, a boy aged five, and a three-year-old girl — have been put in to foster care. advertisement here ask9ja.com free classifieds ! Mallinson’s former partner added: “The first I knew about it was when my mum called me. “At first I thought it was a wind-up — but I wouldn’t put anything past her. “Her eldest son found out something was going on when he overheard his mum on the phone telling his best mate she loved him. “He is now living with his grandparents in another part of the country — but he has lost his best friend and his mum. “Through no fault of his own, his life has been completely turned upside down. “I’ve known this woman for a long time and she falls in love more often than she gives birth. The sad thing is that it will never last — but it could scar the kids for life.” Mallinson was unavailable for comment. And her 18-year-old lover cowered behind his mum when The Sun visited his family’s address. The dumbstruck teenager stood in the hallway as his mum said: “He’s 18 and can do what he likes. They’re just friends anyway.” Another family member said: “They are moving from house to house at the moment, so we’re just trying to help out by giving them somewhere to stay.advertisement here ask9ja.com free classifieds !

Fashola Declare Abiola Third Executive President of Nigeria, says Fashola

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on June 14, 2009 at 8:00pm

AS eminent Nigerians yesterday reviewed the state of the nation 16 years after the annulment of the June 12 election, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) has called on the Federal Government to declare the late Chief MKO Abiola the winner of June 12, 1993 election with all the paraphernalia of office of Presidency given members of his family.Speaking yesterday in Lagos at a public lecture in honour of MKO Abiola, he said there are non-negotiable pillars upon which democracy will stand. "Those are the pillar of truth and the pillar of justice. The search for the truth will embolden us to ask questions about how we got to this point-over the last 49 years and request that those who are the custodians of democracy explain how they managed the conduct of our elections during their time and once we find the truth, we must be courageous to insist that justice be done," he said.According to him, one of the truths that have come out was that there was injustice in annulling an election by somebody who was not the custodian of that election."He had no business with that election. But the umpire of that election has come out in a book he published on June 12 last year that indeed MKO Abiola won the election. We must then move to do justice and do justice to that mandate. We must acknowledge, even if posthumously, that he was the duly elected president of this country and all the due honour must be given to the family he left behind," Fashiola declared.He regretted that rather than address the real problem of instability, "the whole attention of the nation is focused on issue of succession. How are the leaders going to be produced? Has the process been fair? Increasingly, little attention is paid to the quality or the efficiency of that leader. I made the point that from the June 12 riot. The shut down, the fuel scarcity and the darkness that is still with us today, it produced only a military compromise that we did not prepare for, that led us to a still-born contrivance. And in 1999, it produced a constitution that we have no say about. It led us to a leadership whose goal was to ensure that we did not break up but not necessarily to provide the minimum development objective," he said.He regretted that the government was not talking about water and power supply."We paid lip service to law and justice and attempted to subvert the questionable foundation of his own very existence via a tenure elongation. In 2007 again, what were we doing? We forgot about power and insecurity and about the agitation of the aggrieved members of this federation. The whole nation was faced again with the leadership and succession questions. Anything became better than no change at all. The cycle has been endless and 16 years have passed," he said.He expressed regret that in the process, the desert in the Middle East has become the tourist capital of the world. "Angola has come out of a civil war and is becoming one of the fastest-growing countries in Africa and has transformed into an architectural master piece and an emerging technology centre. In that time, the Asian Tiger whose products we degraded has moved on. South Korea has hosted the World Cup and China the Olympic. South Africa, for whose liberation we stood vanguard has gotten the nod ahead of us to host the first ever Africa World cup."There had been a lot of missed opportunities. Why has the name of democracy has not come true for our people? Why we persevere, we must insist on certain non-negotiable pillars upon which democracy will stand. Those are the pillars of truth and the pillar of justice," he said.Speaking in the same vein, the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Bola Tinubu called on the National Assembly to legislate on how Abiola's birthday could become a national public holiday as a mark of respect for the hero of democracy.According to him, a great leader like Martin Luther King (Jr.) has his birthday celebrated in US for his role in the enthronement of democracy, adding, "I think the best thing for us to do as a nation is to resolve here today that Abiola should be immortalized."Tinubu also called on the government to respect and adopt the recommendations of the Honourable Justice Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee without amending it to suit the ruling Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) agenda.He said: "For the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be truly independent, the government should agree with the Uwais's recommendation that the Chairman of INEC should be appointed by the National Judicial Council."He said that June 12, 1993 election was free and fair because of the open ballot system that was employed, calling on the Federal Government to return to the method so that sanity could be restored in the electoral process in the country.In his presentation, the Guest Speaker, Professor Bayo Williams said successive administrations after the June 12 saga had indirectly annulled the mandate of the people through rigging and series of manipulation.He said: "1999, 2003, 2007 elections were dented with series of manipulations. This is another way of annulling election and stealing the people's mandate."Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Prof Pat Utomi and Governorship candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Senator Abiola Ajimobi said apart from a credible electoral law, both politicians and the electorates must develop positive attitude and conduct towards politics.They spoke at a seminar to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the June 12 organised by the Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTAS) in Ibadan.Bankole in his address at the event gave assurance that the National Assembly would do everything within its power to give the nation electoral laws that would best serve the national interest.Bankole who was represented by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kayode Odunaro said rather than the sole reliance on electoral laws for credible election, there must be an enviable electoral conduct on the part of Nigerians.He argued that it was not only secret ballot that produced June 12, but the conduct of Nigerians across all the zones of the country that resulted in that historic mandate.He said: "The challenge facing our nation today is, therefore, not for the leadership alone, which rightly should carry the greater share but all of us at the end of the day have shared responsibility. I am burdened to ask us as a people that our quest for a credible electoral system would not be brought about by legislation alone, no matter how beautifully crafted our electoral laws are. Our electoral conduct is as vital as the laws, if not more vital. I insist that it was not only open secret ballot that produced June 12. Rather, it was with the conduct of Nigerians across all the zones of Nigeria that resulted in that historic mandate, he noted".In his remarks, Utomi expressed regrets that things are still getting worse for Nigeria's democracy since the election was annulled 16 years ago.The ADC Presidential candidate noted that June 12 left a historical consequence and that if things are not done right, it will still come around to us all."Unless we build an ideal situation, the problem will still be with us. June 12 has taught us to get things right. It cannot be wished away like Obasanjo tried to do. It made our country recognised the value of democracy".As a way out of the problem, Utomi said Nigeria is in dire need of politicians who will respect the wishes of the people."What we have today is that we have a political class that is contemptuous of Nigerians. The votes of Nigerians no longer count in the current dispensation. As a result of this, Nigeria is not making progress," he observed.Ajimobi, on his part said the electorate must be ready to ask questions before casting their vote for any candidate irrespective of party affiliation and must be ready to guard it jealously as the late M.K.O Abiola did.Meanwhile, Nigerians Under the umbrella of The June 12 Coalition group yesterday assembled at the ICAN centre Lagos to commemorate the demise of the eminent politician and the June 12 election.Declaring that the June 12 will remain green in annals of history, the group maintained that though Abiola was gone; his footprint remained on the sands of time forever- for he came, saw and conquered. Though not allowed to rule but his sacrifice gave democracy to Nigeria as a dividend.Declaring the anniversary open, the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Ayo Opadokun led the June 12 Coalition group on solidarity song with display of placards.Some of the placard read, " 1999 Constitution is a fraud, amendment not an option," End Corruption and Electoral fraud, Eradicate poverty in our country, June 12 never again; Down internal Colonialism."The group disclosed that they are in support of the steps being taken to reject the 1999 Constitution as it makes a false claim in its preamble to have been enacted by Nigerians.They further maintained that the need for amendment does not arise because the National Assembly itself was a product of the fraudulent 1999 Constitution."The Coalition will henceforth mobilize the citizenry to peacefully express their rejection of the imposed 1999 Constitution and to demand its replacement by a negotiated alternative," the group added.Reading the declaration made by the group, Opadokun noted that the emergence of Abiola as the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election collapsed the wall of ethnicity and religious bigotry.

Matter Arising .Civil War Again ? 'Secession ' IS MEND Solution The FINAL SOLUTION ?

Posted by Akin Osunlaja WebLagosian on May 29, 2009 at 10:12pm

By Richard Akinjide I will score the Yar'Adua administration with a pass. I will not say it has done extra-ordinarily well, nor would I say it has failed. He has just done half of his first term, halving regards to what he met on the ground you cannot say he has not tried his best. The President has started to make some efforts. The electoral reform by the panel chaired by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais, has produced a very important document. What is left is for the Federal Government to implement. I will therefore waste no time in urging President Yar'Adua to commence its immediate implementation without any further delay. The report is no doubt commendable, but it would have even gone further to make some far reaching recommendations. For instance he recommended that election petition should be completed within six months, before swearing-in, I would have recommended that it should be completed within three months. We did that when we were in government, why can't they do that now. If there is need to amend the Electoral Act, why not. There is no justification for this in-ordinate delay of election petition. You would recall that election petition was not concluded until the eve of former President Olusegun Obasanjpo'' departure from office. I am talking about Alhaji M. D. Ysusuf's presidential election petition. This is un-acceptable we should find a way out. The United States has 50 states, yet all their elections are concluded before winners are sworn-in. You would recall the Bush-Al-Gore case over the problem in Florida, it went to the Supreme Court three times, within 33 days and it was resolved before the swearing-in date. So what is the problem here that could not be tackled, if there is the need to reform our judiciary, why not reform it, if there is need to amend the electoral Act, amend it, and make things quicker and simpler and not make a mockery of democracy. Our judiciary has displayed excellent courage, internationally, our judiciary has repution. Our courts enjoy a very good reputation, abroad, and we should be very careful the way we are running our judiciary down. I accept that even the legal profession needs reform, I accept that the judiciary also needs a lot of reform. My view is that both for the legal profession and the judiciary there should be two powerful commissions of enquiry to look into the legal profession and the judiciary in this country. It over due, all the two are over due. The quality of lawyers, our universities are turning out demands that we reform our legal system including legal education. The Nigerian Constitution is very unique. We call it a Federal Constitution, but that is a gross abuse of words. What we are operating is a unitary constitution, masquerading as a federal constitution. You see what is critical in any constitution is the way you allocate powers between the centre and the units, not the name you call it. Up till the time the military seized power in 1966, what was operating was a Confederal system. Each region had its own judiciary, its own flag, its own Civil Service, each region also had its own office in London. They could have had their own office in Washington if they wanted. But since the military intervention, we have been operating a unitary system masquerading as a federal constitution. The reason it has been difficult to return to this pre-1966 arrangement is that some people still have the fear that another secessionist could emerge tomorrow. The dominance of the centre is total and burdensome in legislative powers, financial matters and I don't see any state government or any local government in this country which can operate without financial support from the centre. That is not a federal system of government. I won't give name, but I would advocate that we should reform and get something that is suitable for us, not copying the U.S., France or Germany. The fault lies with the Nigerian elites. Nigerian elites, avoid going into politics, they avoid conducting elections. You could be a university teacher and still be a good councillor in your area, you can go to the National Assembly, could contest for the office of the governor. It is only in a few states that you see responsible people coming out to contest for the office of the government. If you take a census of the governors we have in this country, you would be horrified, if you look at their history and their qualifications. Take a look at the few states that are doing well, you will notice that they have governors with very good qualifications and sound track record. Niger Delta We must assume that the Federal Government has the right intelligence report, otherwise, it won't be doing what it is doing. We must be very careful in making comments on matters we don't have adequate information or sufficient facts. We must realise that the Niger Delta harbours the oil and gas in the country, we must also realise that the oil and gas of Niger Delta is of public interest it is no global interest. Although the oil is in Nigeria, all the nations of the world have interest in that oil, that is the nature of oil and gas. No government will accept or condone lawlessness. I am not saying that the people of Niger Delta don't have legitimate complainants or grievances, but you cannot do the right thing in a wrong way or do the right thing in a lawless way. Let them make their complaints, let them express their grievances within the law and I am a lot of people in Nigeria would have sympathy for them that their complaints be remedied. But when you take up arms, if what we see in the television is correct then there is virtually insurrection, these militants are carrying arms, which at times is more sophisticated than that of security agencies, that is a step to anarchy, the government therefore has a duty and responsibility to put an end to that state of affairs. Also it is my view that governors in those states that make up the Niger Delta, would accept the existence of other states within their states, or another counter-force with their jurisdiction competing with the Nigerian Police or the Nigerian Army. Therefore we have a duty to support the Federal government to make sure that the rule of law prevails and that lawlessness does not succeed. If lawlessness succeeds, it becomes infectious and others too might take that route to achieve their grievances. You know that a minister has been appointed for the Niger Delta. Isn't it sensible to give that minister a chance to operate and find a solution for the problem of the area, in co-operation with the government in that region. Never before was there a minister for the Niger Delta, this is the first time and there is precedence for that. When Lagos was Federal Territory, there was a minister for Lagos Affairs, who incidentally was the father of the present President. He must have learnt some lessons from his late father in solving the problem of the Niger Delta and appointing a minister for the area. We should at least allow the minister to operate for some years and see how far he could go in solving the problem. When Musa Yar'Adua was the minister of Lagos affairs, the people of Lagos, did not take up arms to start to fight the Federal Government. And because the people of Lagos were law abiding, they got a lot of benefits. It was during that time the Victoria Island was created that Eko bridge was built, it was at that time that South-West, Ikoyi was developed. It was during that time that the Independence Building in Tafawa Balewa Square was built. So lagos made its complainants within the rule of law and Lagos benefited immensely. At the moment you have about 13 per cent from the Federation Account going into the pocket of the Niger Delta. You also have a lot of money from the oil firms going into the various local and state governments, apart from this 13 per cent. If all these funds are properly used and that is very critical. The people of Niger Delta cannot also claim not to know how the oil and gas money is spent because their sons and daughters are at the upper-most echelon of all firms and government institutions that engage in oil and gas business, including the NNPC and the Ministry of Petroleum. The issue of what percentage that goes to this region has always been contentions. In your view is the 13 per cent enough? The issue of whether it is well spent is a different one. In my view what has been allocated to them is enormous I know as a fact that the oil companies vote a lot of money from their revenue for the development of the area. The oil firms give money to the local government regularly. I also know as a fact that the oil companies give money to the state government in the oil producing area. All these are apart from the 13 per cent. The question is, how have this enormous money that runs into several billions, been used. Why couldn't the notion of derivation as it applied in the First Republic not allowed now? This would have solved this problem. That argument as canvassed is utter nonsense. It has no juridical basis, it has no basis in fact, it has no basis in constitutional law. People are just throwing this emotion, where there should be none. First of all, you talk of derivation and the history of this country. Yes it is true before oil, the doctrine of derivation applied. The cocoa from the West, the rubber from the Delta, the groundnut from north, the palm oil and palm kernel from the various parts of the South, yes it was true doctrine of derivation applied to them. But don't forget that those agricultural products were planted and produced by the people of the various region. The ground nut from the north for instance was not as a result of the investment of the Federal Government, it was from the investment of the people of the north, the farmers same goes for other farm produce, it was the sweat of the farmers and the various marketing boards established by the governments on those regious. I challenge anybody in Nigeria to tell me that the oil has arisen as a result of the sweat of their people or the investment of their people, it has not. The oil was created there by nature and by God. Furthermore, what many people don't know is that oil has been discovered in Nigeria, since 1896, don't believe anybody who tells you oil was discovered in 1956, it is not true. In fact that was one of the reasons why the British government revoked the Royal Niger Company Charter. The moment Britain discovered there was oil, although it hide it from us, it revoked the charter and assume full responsibility for the running of the country, because with oil it was too important to be left in the land of private capital. After the 1914 amalgamation of Nigeria, the first ordinance (law) to be enacted by the British Colonialist in Nigeria was the mineral ordinance, which rested all the oil in the central government in Lagos. Never in the history of this country, has the oil and gas being vested in any region or any state. It has always been the property of the Federal Government. As the British government enacted the mineral ordinance it followed it up by enacting the arbitration ordinance the same year to settle whatever dispute may arise from the oil ordinance. That ordinance of 1914 was not amended until 1958, with that amendment all the mineral in Nigeria were now vested in the Federal government. That has be the basis till today. There is no way you can vest the oil and gas in the state, it is not possible. I know that people are quick to point to the United State, where states control the oil and gas. The history of the United States is quite different from the evolution of Nigeria. The evolution of the United States is the exact opposite of how Nigeria evolved. Nigeria was a unitary country broken into various units where as the US is made up of autonomous States, starting with the 13 American than later on after driven away Britain in a bloody war, they decided to form the United States of America. Yes people do say that in the US oil belongs to the states, they are right, but what they fail to add, which is very crucial is that, it is in the history and evolution of the United States. It is un-thinkable that the Federal Governmental would rest the oil and gas in any area in either the state or the local government or in the individuals in that area. By so doing, you are asking for anarchy, you are asking for the collapse of the country. Already, with their oil and gas money by people fighting in the Niger Delta, this money is what is being used now to acquire sophisticated arms and have almost established a Republic, with on the Nigerian Republic. There is no question of middle way, there is only one way and that is the way of law and order. No self-respected government would tolerate a government within a government or would allow a parallel force, which is what we have now in the Niger Delta. But former President Olusegun Obasanjo managed the crisis without this resort to outright declaration of war. Why should it take Yar'Adua, a supposedly harmless man to declare war on the people? I don't have access to the intelligence report, you must know that Yar'Adua as the President of Nigeria, has primary responsibility for law and order, also he would have access to intelligence report. I was a former Attorney General of this country and by virtue of that office I was a member of Council of State, also by virtue of that office. I was in the Security Council. From that experience, I am 100 per cent certain that what Yar'Adua is doing now is warranted and is in best interest of all.

Siddon Look ! lie Down Look and Die Look attitude Sins of the 9gerian sons.

Posted by 9jabook.com on May 5, 2009 at 9:30pm

The sins of their Fathers are being continued by their sons and our Sons .Their sons are continuing it and we are helping them !

Whilst 9geria is silently burning some irresponsible members of society are organising a Global 9gerian Party from Facebook .I did not take note of the group until i saw the Admins and co collaborators Mary Obasanjo Western 9gerian representative Wole Abiola 9gerian Representative Mustapha Buhari Nothern 9gerian representative Chijindu Adenike Azikiwe (Malaysia) Malaysia representative Zainab Yar'Adua (Singapore) Vice President & Director of Protocols (9gerian Global Network is hosting a GLOBAL CONCERT here in the United states (Atlanta) OCTOBER 2nd-4th 2009. We are inviting 9gerians and non-9gerians from around the world. (IS THIS WHAT THE SCIONS OF BIGMEN ARE DOING WITH THE EDUCATION 9gerian MONEY PAID FOR ? A party ? FELA Thank God you are not here to see this today ) We are expecting more than to 20,000 guest , Registration for the event will start in a few weeks. ITS GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST PARTY OF THE YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!! JOIN THE GROUP AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS. .....Be a big part of the new Naija culture (o yes the culture of siddon look !) The person with the highest number of invited friends will get an all-expense-paid Trip to the United States for the October event ! Imagine this Nonsense No wonder Fela is dead ! all the other so called ignorant artistes are just there to make money .Who wan die ? But people ARE DYING ! DYING ! They call themselves 9gerians but as The supposed change makers due to their hometraining are turning a deaf eye to the plight of 9gerians especially youths but getting them addicted to a Get rich or Die trying Attitude ! ) and realised i had joined part of the 9gerian conspiracy, the divisive propaganda that is being used to hide the deep cavern 9gerian is slowly heading for .With the prices of oil going down and the Projected Budget based on unrealistic amounts per barrel. When the Nation and its inhabitants and Friends should be focussed on a Joseph and Egypt Save for Seven years for the coming Seven year Famine. As futher means of replacing Fossil Fuels like Oil and Gas are being worked on tirelessly with President Obama largely spearheading these campaigns .(Remember him the guy who we all "voted" for ) The rest of 9gerian is being cordoned like Sheep on a prairie by the Enjoyment of the day.Big Stars making Hit music ! The yahooze Phenom keeping everyone at bay. More and more "scam" opportunities being open as 9gerians scammers turn on the 9gerian Mugu Market ! Can you blame them ? Are we not the Mugu and the politicians the Winners ? according to Osuofias Song !Nkem owoh ! There seems to be much more Peace and enjoyment apparently from the amount of Party Events I get on Facebook and Self motivation or should i call Self Preservation Seminars , How many Rallies have we heard of asking for change .How many ? NONE ! Over the past month you must have gone for at least 1 owambe or wedding .when last did you go for a rally to do something about the State of The Nation ? .Where is the POVERTY you may say ? Until mothers start eating their babies ? or until People are getting murdered in Churches or a massive amount of the Nations young Females have become unknowing Sex Traders ! The Life you are preparing for your young ones will not be a life of young guns but a life young wrongs if we continue to sidon look ! You burn Armed robbers on the roads whilst the real robbers are running scot free around you ! Come on the idea of Democracy is for the people by the people.A revolution without revolutionaries is like a gun with plastic bullets ! Why would these miscreants eager to fleece us of more of the 9gerian peoples money are asking for registration Fees in the tune of 75dollars roughly 11,000naira X 20000 guests 220million Naira .Yahoozeee ! and the insolence of it all They are declaring their apparent relationships to the Fiends that have turned our nation into what it is today ! And you still they Siddon look ? some self don the LieDown look sef ! If we continue like this the only way forward is to end up in our graves doing what we did all our lives .LOOKING !!!!!!!!!!! join the 9gerian people online party one way or the other We will get this out to the OPEN and get registered ! join the 9gerian Online political party http://tinyurl.com/9gerianonlinepoliticalparty http://www.ask9ja.com http://www.9jamovies.com/

Abacha informed me of his 1993 coup Colin Powell. CIA What else do the Americans know ? Goodluck accuses the people

Posted by 9jabook.com on June 4, 2009 at 8:35pm

Goodluck Jonathan Vice president

made a quote in this article : “ If we cannot correct the rot at the lowest level, then it would be cumbersome to do same at the top” wonders will never cease ! now blaming the people ! We do not want Sanni Abachas picture to scare our readers that is why it is not here. 1.who killed Dele Giwa ? 2.How did MKO Abiola Die ? 3.Shell,CIA Ken Saro Wiwa the real truth . and many more ! What editorial edited and recut from Thisday Former US Secretary State and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff of the American Armed Forces, General Colin Powell (rtd),

has revealed that on the night the late General Sani Abacha was to overthrow the Interim National Government (ING), headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, he was informed at 2 a.m. Powel said he had protested against the decision, but was ignored by the late head of state. but he did nothing as they allowed 9geria to slide back into Military Rule again.What kind of Strategic Partners are these americans.They folded their hands in Rwanda during the tutsi slaughter .powell a known admirer of the yahooze song by olu Maintain seems to be getting more and more ingrained within 9gerian politics since his retirement.close Sources say he is involved in a CIA plot to embed Top ranking former serving americans to a final solution of the 9gerian problem.

The USA has had great interest in 9geria since Communist China planted tenterhooks within the countrys resources.China is secretly buying up half of Africa and America is not having that. Powell, who had supervised American involvement in 28 conflicts around the world including the Panama intervention, and Persian Gulf Operation Desert Storm, also noted that 9gerians do not trust their leaders. He said many do not consider the current 9geria democracy as that of the people. Powell made these remarks in his speech during the breakfast meeting organised by Tell Communications Limited (publishers of Tell Magazine) to mark 9geria’s 10 years of unbroken democracy (May 1999 – May 2009). “I have watched as someone who sees and believes in the great potential of 9geria as an economic power and a political leader in the region and the world- as someone who wants to see that potential realised,” said Powell. “Yes, I have seen the turmoil”, he added. “Shortly after I retired from the Army in 1993, I began getting letters from Sani Abacha, telling me of the problems in 9geria,” he told the audience. “His letters were disturbing, and foreboding,” he added. He continued: “Then, late one night, around 2 a.m, I got a phone call from him at my home that the situation, in his view had become so bad that he had to act. Said he: “I pleaded with him not to, that America and the world would not understand and would react badly. He did not listen, and you know the rest of that story.” Powell said in 1999 he was part of the election monitoring team in 9geria and had a profound experience. He regretted that by all independent accounts he had seen the irregularities and corruption seen in subsequent elections is deeply troubling, adding that there is a real danger, that the will of the people is not being determined, but instead is being manipulated and pushed aside in the quest for power. Vice-President Dr Goodluck Jonathan who also spoke at the event where he represented President Umar Yar’Adua said the government was committed towards ensuring that the votes of 9gerians count in all future elections. Jonathan stated that part of what the nation was celebrating was the successful transition of one civilian government to another. According to him: “ This is the first time the nation’s parliament has been in place for 10 years although the judiciary and executive existed throughout the period of military rule.” He further observed that 9gerian politicians had a tendency of challenging results of elections whenever they lost, noting that there was need for stability if the nation’s democracy would grow. The Vice-President enjoined the mass media to be more balanced in its reporting of political events in the country. Said he : “ It is not in all cases that the ruling party is on the wrong side during political developments in the country” . He cited the fraudulent manner in which state independent electoral commissions conduct local government polls in different states of the country where parties in power always swept the polls. He however regretted that the trend never attracted the attention of the media which only preferred bashing the Independent Electoral Commission ( INEC). Said he: “ If we cannot correct the rot at the lowest level, then it would be cumbersome to do same at the top” . i magine ! the cheek of the VP Are they trying to absolve themselves of their wrongs ? This is shifting of blame at the highest level .So so rotten ! Also, speaking at the event was Justice George Oguntade, a Judge of the Supreme Court of 9geria, who described the existence of the current 36 states structure as a drain pipe to the economy, and advocated that some states be merged.

amazing Family of 40 teachers in naija while our politiicans have families of corruption.

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on May 10, 2009 at 8:08pm

At least there are still honest people in naija If it were the Politicians all of them will be criminals in their family ! • Papa Matthew was a teacher, his 12 children and 12 children in-law are. He also has 8 grandchildren teachers

But for the Nwigwe family of Umuezuo, Umuokirika Ekwereazu in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, teaching is a way of life. The family holds a rich tradition in teaching, spanning many generations. Living index The truth is whenever you walk into that family and ask for a teacher, you will have over thirty responses – all teachers; husbands of teachers, wives of teachers, fathers of teachers, children of teachers, grandchildren of teachers, and as well brothers and sisters and mothers of teachers who have teacher cousins and are themselves teachers. Indeed, the family’s achievement in the profession is amazing and deserves golden chapters on the elegant pages of history. In fact, the family has produced about 40 teachers at various levels and generations. Late Pa Matthew Nwigwe, the patriarch of the family, set the ball rolling in 1921 when he began a teaching career that spanned four and half decades. He retired in 1965. According to family sources, the job took Pa Nwigwe “to almost all parts of what is now Imo State and beyond including Umuohiagu, Okwukwu, Nkwerre, Amaigbo, Uzoagba, Amuzi Ahiara, Umuhu, Lagwa, Ihitte Ezinihitte, Umuapu, Obinze, Umunoha, Umuoparaoma, Eziagbogu, Otulu, Aguneze, Obodo Ujichi, Lorji, Akpim, Nnarambia and Umuokirika.” Pa Matthew, the grand old teacher and don of a teachers’ clan was born in 1897, Pa Nwigwe passed on in 1987. Escaping into teaching 9jabook sources gathered that late Pa Nwigwe’s quest for education was not well received at the time. According to the source, “consequently, he found his way out of his parents’ tight grip to Calabar where his budding desire to go to school blossomed. He returned home from Calabar already a school boy, to the chagrin of his parents and some of his brothers. The only one to protect his interest and defend him from molestation and near ostracism was his immediate elder brother, Ugochukwu Minahakwu. After a full year of heroic determination close to stubbornness, he was allowed to continue schooling, but not without submitting to such derisive names as ‘onyeumengwu’ (lazy bones), onyeujo oru (one who fears work) and ori-okporo. That was about 1917.” The vogue then was that able-bodied young men like him accompanied their parents to farms and markets. But he chose to be different, to be his own man, to seek knowledge so that he can bequeath same unto others. As one of the pioneers of the teaching profession in Mbaise, he was a household name. He was a role model and not a few held him in high esteem. In fact, he made his kinsmen embrace the chalk and blackboard profession. Interestingly, those he influenced were his children and they decided to follow his footsteps. At last, all but one of his 12 children became teachers. And all of them married teachers, including the ‘black sheep’ of the family, Chief Lucian Nwigwe. Even when his first son, Chief John Nwigwe lost his wife, Cecilia, a teacher, he got married to another teacher, Beatrice, who is currently the headmistress of Community School Eziama, Oparanadim, Ahiazu LGA. Pa Nwigwe’s surviving children include, Chief John Nwigwe, who retired in 1984 as the pioneer principal of Ime-Onicha Secondary School in Ezinihitte; Dr Clement Nwigwe; Rev. Fr. Professor Boniface Nwigwe of Religious Studies Department, University of Port Harcourt, Rev. Sis. Pepertua Nwigwe, Principal, Regina Pacci’s Secondary School, Abuja, Rose Okoroafor, Rita Igwe, Chief Lucian Nwigwe and Mr. Joseph Nwigwe. The following have been forced by death to drop their chalk: Mrs Pauline Madu, Chief Mrs. Juliana Anyanwu and Rev. Fr. (Dr) Lambert Nwigwe. Third generation teachers Instructively, eight of Pa Nwigwe’s children also became teachers. They include late Lilian Emenalom, who taught at Imo State Polytechnic Owerri, Stella Uba, Edith Ndukuba and Akuchinyere Nwigwe, lecturer, Imo State Polytechnic. In the same vein, many of his grand children are married to children. Why the teaching craze Now, why is teaching the favourite profession of the Nwigwes and their offspring? Is it a matter of choice? What role did the patriarch of the family play in his children’s choice of career? Offering insightful perspectives into the family’s choice of career, Chief John Nwigwe admitted that it is a function of nature and nurture. According to him, the siblings were not coerced to go into teaching but chose to do so on their own free will. He explained that due to the exemplary conduct of their father it became natural for them to emulate him, adding that he had no regret whatsoever moulding the character of children as it were. Describing teaching as a noble profession, the 82-year-old man, who was recently celebrated Onyima, said it was a coincidence that they also married teachers. Speaking with 9jabook sources , late Pa Nwigwe’s granddaughter, Lovelyn, said that being born into a family of teachers is a fascinating experience. An exciting experience worth applauding ? Lovelyn, who read Theatre Arts at the University of Calabar, said: “It is amazing, fascinating really. We are a closely-knit family, everybody is teaching everybody at every point in time. Our family members are level headed. I think the biggest advantage of coming from such a family is that everybody is well-informed. Everybody here recognizes the beauty of unrestricted education. It is difficult to see anybody in the entire family in his or her late teens who is not a graduate or already in a higher institution. I wouldn’t exchange the experience with any other.” She said that on account of the family’s accomplishment in teaching and education in general, the family enjoys a measure of respect and recognition. She posited that it is not impossible for more of the family members to embrace teaching in the future. Perhaps the Pa Matthew Nwigwe family deserves a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the family with the most number of teachers anywhere. Who says great things don’t exist in Nigeria? They sure do ! That is why we still have someone as great as Yaradua still ruling us ! Guniness book of records

Nigeria: NGO call for end of GAY discrimination LGBT

Posted by Charles Attah AccraNews on May 20, 2009 at 6:32am

Nigeria: call for end of LGBT (lesbians gays bisexuals and transexuals) discrimination on the International Day against Homophobia and TransphobiaWed, May 20, 2009NIGERIA 18 May 2009: Two non-governmental organisations in Lagos urged the three tiers of government to stop discriminating against homosexuals, lesbians and gay people. Officials of The Independent Project for Equal Rights (TIPER) and The International Centre for Sexual Reproductive Rights (INCRESE) made the appeal at a

news briefing. They explained that the briefing was part of their preparation for Sunday’s celebration of the annual International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). They regretted that discrimination on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity had become a major concern for human rights organisations in Nigeria. Mrs Dorothy Aken Ova, Executive Director of INCRESE urged the protection of the fundamental rights of homosexuals and lesbians. She also urged the enlightenment of Nigerians to enable them to realise that gays had a right to life. “Research findings have shown that four per cent of the world population is gay and should be recognised by government through adequate representation, good education and acceess to the basic necessities of life. These people, though in the minority, did not create themselves. They should, therefore, enjoy the right to live their lives. The public must learn to respect them for who they are because if we begin to feel bad for one another, we will be calling for the destruction of some people, thus inviting genocide” she said.Ova noted that homosexuals, lesbians and the gay formed part of the electorate that voted for the various governments, charging them to take care of them. She urged the Federal Government to domesticate the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Mr Joseph Akoro, an Executive Director of TIPER, also urged the Federal Government to consider its commitment to the protection of all Nigerians from all forms of discrimination. He said the NGOs were collaborating to create awareness about the existence of gays in the country. Mr Victor Ogbodo, a member of the NGO, said the society would benefit more from accepting them. “If they are accepted by the public for what they are, there will be less marital problems because members of the opposite sex will have known before getting married to them. But if the society fails to accept them now and the issue begins to rear its head after marriage, we may only just be postponing the evil day,” he said.Ogbodo charged the government to protect the rights of all its citizens since the fundamental human rights of all Nigerians were enshrined in Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution. He said that the groups were not considering sponsoring any bill at the National Assembly on the issue for now, “but we will begin to kick against any further restriction on our rights. “In future, should the need arise for us to sponsor a bill on their behalf, we will surely do so” he added.

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