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Interpol search Henry okah's home : militant leader’s South African home searched no WOMD found !

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on October 1, 2010 at 2:58am

jpeg&STREAMOID=c4bORIwbDP2BkThRKD7WDS6SYeqqxXXqBcOgKOfTXxQs9jt1LYXUy9VsPfeJFJ_znW_PgxgftuECOcfJwS6Jtlp$r8Fy$6AAZ9zyPuHJ25T7a9GKDSxsGxtpmxP0VAUyHL6IDcZHtmM2t7xO$FHdJG95dFi6y2Uma3vSsvPpVyo-Following an alleged intelligence report that there are planned attacks in Abuja by the popular militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), during the 50th anniversary celebrations, the Nigerian government allegedly prompted the South African Police to invade the Johannesburg home of Henry Okah, the leader of MEND, in the early hours of yesterday.

Sources who spoke in confidence with NEXT revealed that over 30 South African police officers smashed down Mr Okah’s doors and gained entry into his home at about 3am South African time, with sophisticated weapons in full display as well as about six sniffing dogs, at the instance of the federal government of Nigeria.

“We have been told that the Nigerian government informed the South African police that it is imperative that Mr Okah’s home is searched yesterday because they would find arms and explosives. The federal government has been sending spurious petitions to the South African government about Mr Okah, alleging all kinds of things..

“They said he is exporting arms and explosives from South Africa into Nigeria. But when the South African police invaded his home, they found nothing. Even with their sniffing dogs, they did not find anything,” a source said to NEXT yesterday in Abuja.

Reports have it that the search at Mr Okah’s home, which lasted for about 10 hours, from 3am till about 1pm, yielded neither explosives nor arms.

Ima Niboro, the spokesman for the federal government neither responded to the phone calls nor the text messages sent to him to make enquiries about the role of the presidency in the role.

Federal government’s gripe

Although the Umaru Yar’Adua led government released Mr Okah from a 13-month long detention and granted him amnesty in 2009, unconfirmed reports state that Mr Okah’s name has been placed on the INTERPOL red alert in Nigeria, in connection with arms and drug trafficking.

Emmanuel Ojukwu, the spokesman of the Nigerian Police, has denied any knowledge of the raid. Mr Ojukwu, who told NEXT in Abuja that he is also the spokesman for the INTERPOL in Nigeria, said that he was unaware that Mr Okah’s name had been placed on red alert by the INTERPOL.

“I have no information. I am not aware of that. I speak for the Nigerian police and the INTERPOL and I am not aware of either the invasion or any red alert,” Mr Ojukwu said in a telephone interview.

Mr Okah, in response, said that he was unshaken but that he was upset that his children were frightened by the police officers who tore down their bedroom doors and barged into their rooms with rifles.

“I am not surprised by the federal government’s actions. What I am surprised at is that the South African government would allow themselves to be used by Nigerians. I am, however, not moved by whatever means the government is trying to use to intimidate me. I am constantly fighting against the oppression of my people in the Niger Delta,” Mr Okah said in a statement obtained by NEXT.

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Hundreds flock to Nigeria in search of food

Posted by 9jabook.com on May 23, 2010 at 11:29am
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) – Hundreds of Niger nationals, mostly womenand children, have flooded into neighbouring Nigeria in search of food, officials and residents said on Friday.capt.photo_1274472362594-1-0.jpg?x=213&y=142&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=273&q=85&sig=1d_6vQYZcNebsHqYL_qVuQ--

"We are aware of the recent influx of people from Niger into some parts of (southern) Katsina State," Sani Makana, the state agriculture commissioner told AFP by phone from the state capital Katsina.

The number of of Niger nationals in northern Katsina state, which shares a land border with Nigeria, has soared in the past two months, residents said.

Makana said some were so desperate they had been forced to beg door-to-door..

"It is a pathetic sight. They just have nothing to live on and have to beg to eat," said Katsina resident, Abubakar Shehu.

"When you ask them why they came here they tell you that they were starving in Niger... and would die if they stayed," Shehu said.

According to the United Nations around 7.8 million Nigeriens are in need of food, out of the around 10 million affected by a crisis in the Sahel region.

Many Niger men in Nigeria have turned their hand to selling water in order to eke out a living.

Vendors pushing two-wheeler carts laden with 25-litre (five-gallon) jerry cans have become a common sight in Katsina city, said resident Ibrahim Salihu.

A Nigerian immigration officer, who asked to remain anonymous, said there was little his officials could do to stop the influx.

"There is very little we can do... due to the porous nature of the over 1,000 kilometre (63 mile) border stretch," he said.

In anticipation of the influx, Katsina authorities have stockpiled grains for distribution, Makana said.

Niger's transitional government at the weekend announced the launch of a food distribution operation for nearly 1.5 million people facing severe shortages.

West African ministers also met on Wednesday in the Togolese capital of Lome to discuss the crisis, an official statement said.
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Sunday Home Sermon:Alone but not lonely The search for Self,Creation & Creator

Posted by frank adeche Mr Netchurch on May 22, 2010 at 9:12pm
For most being alone, is a kind of punishment... many find solitary confinement to be the worst....

And why is this? Because, people have learned to use others as a prop for their ego, and without the other there, the ego cannot be crystalized.

You seek out the community because it reinforces your fantasies about yourself, no matter how crazy they are, and because they are fantasies without the other there, they will cease to exist.

This is why being alone is so difficult because without constant reinforcement, the false self cannot maintain its existence. It dissappears. Poof !

Man is born alone, man dies alone, and there is nothing he can do to escape his aloneness. Fleeing to groups, stadiums full of people, sporting events, concerts, all they can do is distract for a few moments. And for many this only heightens the feeling of aloneness that they have.

Unless a person can be alone, they cannot find happiness in any relationship, because those relationships will only represent and escape from the fear of being alone, and a dependency. And relationships based on fear can never succeed.

Only when one experiences the nature of their aloness are they capable of loving another without fear.

For in the depths of your being, in deep meditation, in the center of your aloneness, you will discover, the eternal. And int that momement you will be free.

I lift up my eyes to the hills .Where does my help come from ? My help comes from the Lord,maker of heaven and earth .


Article Corollary:

Sunday Sermon: THE SILENT SERMON http://bit.ly/baqVK8
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The search for our own Obama (IV) Pendulum By Dele Momodu

Posted by Akin Osunlaja WebLagosian on May 10, 2009 at 7:54pm
There is no better time to liberate our country than the year 2011. By then, Nigeria would have been 51 years old as an independent nation. We would have wasted a total of 50 long years trying to build a solid foundation for democracy, good governance and accountability. We would have endured incompetent, kleptomaniac, insensitive, wasteful rulers, for those number of years. 50 years in the life of a people cannot be a joke. As Chief Moshood Abiola once noted at the launch of Dream-maker by May Ellen Ezekiel Mofe-Damijo, “If we spend 50 years dreaming dreams, when are we going to see vision?” That profound statement encapsulates the story of Nigeria. We have spent 50 years daydreaming. Our so-called leaders have continued to do the same things in different ways. They have not learnt any lesson from history. They have treated the ruled with incredible disdain. Just look at what they’ve just done again in Ekiti. The ruling party told us all to go to hell, when it announced that it had won the most improbable gubernatorial election, practically with the much disputed, and most likely-doctored votes from one local government. What chicanery is this? But they are wrong in thinking we can be treated like rams being led to slaughter. The shame is theirs to live with, when tomorrow comes. The world would laugh at us as usual. The infidels would ask, where is our God? The faint-hearted would easily give up. But we must not allow the shameless old fuddy-duddies to savour their pyrrhic victory. We must continue this match towards the redemption of our souls. We must prepare for the battle ahead, now that we know the PDP would continue to force its ill-assorted candidates on us. We must reject this slavery, by all legal means available. There is always a purpose for every situation we find ourselves in. Without the madness of the Bush years in America, there would have been no Obama today. Yar’Adua will be the catalyst for our own Obama. Mark my word. We are back at the barricade, and it is time to scream, Let my people go! We must pray every day for Yar’Adua. We must ask God to grant him long life, so that he can feel what Obasanjo is feeling today. We must pray for him to run for his own second term. This is what we should all push for, for our own Obama to emerge. We must demonstrate our anger against these reckless riggers by making up our minds to register to vote, and stand by our votes henceforth. We must encourage as many good candidates as possible to come out nationwide. The search for our own Obama has now become a task that must be accomplished. We must stay many steps ahead of our oppressors. Never again must we allow these insults to stick. Nigerians must speak up from every corner. In the mosques, and in the churches, we must continue to pray, for our walls of Jericho to collapse. We must encourage our congregations to stay strong and support good candidates. We must emphasize the ugliness of our rulers. We must put their incompetence on display for all to see. We must convince ourselves that we deserve better. We must accept the fact today that our redemption lies not in the hands of incurable desperados, who must cling to power at all cost. We must salute the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association, for showing us good example, and for being a voice of reason. Our Obama must be bold. He/she must be selfless. Donald Duke is a good material any day. But he is in a wrong party. PDP will never field such an urbane candidate. The party is led by control freaks and warlords. They will always pick one weakling after the other from their database of political zombies. They care less that the world today is led by smart, young, energetic, trendy, and brilliant leaders. If Donald wants our votes, he must quit the party that has attracted so much shame and repulsion to Nigeria. He has to make his move very quickly. But will he? Analysts have said he is not likely to do that. Their reason is simple. The average Nigerian politician is never prepared to take the risk of quitting the party that controls all the plum appointments. He’ll rather continue to hope that something would drop in his laps. His is never a call to service. Any job would do. The world is waiting to see if Donald can call the bluff of PDP and join forces with more forward-looking Nigerians. Nasir El-Rufai is an erudite and tested leader. He demonstrated enough guts in dealing with environmental issues in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. Of course, like all mortals, he made a few mistakes, and stepped on powerful toes. But he remains one of the brightest hopes of Nigeria. There are allegations of improprieties against him, and he’s being pursued with the agility of a horse. That is to be expected in a country where we love to chase shadows and the leadership has gone neurotic. He must make plans to return to Nigeria to defend himself. Every soul knows there are desperate attempts to smear him. Not that he’s a saint. But if we can keep some of the characters we see in the corridors-of-power permanently in government jobs, then Nasir smells like a beautiful rose. He should remain unruffled. Persecution sometimes helps its victim. A good example is that of Jacob Zuma of South Africa who got the overwhelming support from his people despite his “bad boy” image. Such is life. Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola is one of the greatest things to happen to Nigerian politics. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and current governor of Nigeria’s most important state, Lagos. Babatunde reinforces the theory that the future of Nigeria should be placed in the hands of members of the private sector. Our incorrigible politicians would never change their bad habits. Babatunde is strict, smart and business-like. He has given Lagos a good direction by promoting good governance above partisan politics. He was a virtual underdog at the time his former boss, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu practically forced him on the Action Congress. He was young and shy. But he has matured into a confident leader who clearly has his master-plan in view, and the willingness to execute it with clinical precision. He has shown exceptional courage in dealing with grave issues. And he’s being applauded by everyone for his stupendous efforts. The question on people’s lips is if Babatunde would risk his plush job to attempt a shot at the presidency. The answer is that he needs more time to tackle the many challenges of Lagos, and that he must wait till 2015. But Nigeria is in dire need of a new leader and cannot wait or waste much time getting such a man. So our search continues. Professor Pat Utomi should step forward. His rich knowledge of the Nigerian economy should naturally qualify him for this most important job. He also comes with the experience of running for the presidency in the last election. His major problem is how to persuade a largely illiterate community that a very academic man can take Nigeria to the next level of prosperity and accountability. As good as he is, he seems to have an uphill task unless he can get a broad coalition of Nigerian parties to adopt him. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is primus inter pare amongst the women who are qualified to lead Nigeria. Her intimidating job as the managing director of the World Bank makes her a veritable candidate for the presidency of Nigeria. She also comes with the wonderful experience of being our former minister of finance, and subsequently foreign affairs. She ably distinguished herself on both jobs. She was a powerful voice on the continent of Africa and beyond. It is yet to be seen if a largely male-dominated country like Nigeria is ready to jettison its traditional chauvinism to enthrone a proud daughter of Africa in power. Next on our list of potential Obamas is Dr Oby Ezekwesili, current vice president (Africa) at the World Bank. Reasonable Nigerians would forever remember her heroic deeds for institutionalizing due process in government activities. They will remember with fond memories her epic battles against the enemies of qualitative education for Nigerians. In a very normal society, technocrats like Oby should make a spectacular showing in governance. She’s one of the leading lights of Nigeria, and definitely a lady to watch in the near future. She would be needed to perform some of the badly needed surgeries on our cancerous nation. One of our best women, Professor Dora Akunyili, has been sucked into government full time. She gave a good account of herself as the Director-General of NAFDAC, where she executed a running battle against the producers and marketers of fake drugs. Her fame grew in leaps and bounds, and she almost won a Nobel Prize for her gallant efforts. There is no woman more popular in Nigeria today than Dora Akunyili but her recent appointment as Minister of Information and Communications has placed her in a very precarious situation. Many of her great fans are very worried about how this job of defending a poor government might affect her political future. She would have to learn how the other women on our list left government with their reputations intact, by not being overzealous about a thankless job. We welcome Fola Tajudeen Adeola, the whiz-kid of Nigerian banking and co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank, to this great company. The gentleman with very extensive contacts is respected in many circles. He endeared himself to most Nigerian youths when he voluntarily quit his powerful job as managing director of GTB, and headed straight to the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, near Jos. It was a move that was seen at the time as preparatory to joining the presidential race. He was briefly involved in political assignments under the Obasanjo government, an experience that must have taught him a few things about the intricacies of working under an insincere leadership. If he works very hard, he’s well positioned to attract massive support from both the Muslim north and the southern Muslims. No one can ignore Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa in the scheme of things in Nigeria. There were attempts to rubbish him when he showed interest in the presidential race under the government of Olusegun Obasanjo. He had to make a quick retreat after he was whipped into line by the powers that be. His sparkling military career and outstanding performance as the military governor of Lagos State are enough reasons for his fans to see him as a potential Obama. He’s one cosmopolitan figure within the military mafia in Nigeria, and his relevance endures by his appointment as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa and Lesotho. His albatross would be his membership of an irredeemable political party, and like Donald Duke he may find it difficult to pull out. Another school of thought believes that one of the biggest problems Nigeria faces is that of a negative perception by the global community. There have been suggestions that Nigeria should adopt the Italian style of putting a media mogul in power. Such a man would be able to put his journalistic experience into good use by re-orienting our people and building a credible image for a much-maligned nation. The name of THISDAY publisher, Nduka Obaigbena, looms large across the world as Nigeria’s most influential publisher. His foray into showbiz promotion and political and economic summits are said to be part of a calculated strategy to launch a mega political career, an assumption he readily dismisses. In all, there are many more potential Obamas. The idea was to tickle us into thinking that Nigeria desperately needs a change, and that we are not lacking of our own Obama. The logical follow-up to our search is how to successfully launch and install such a great character in a country where a Moshood Abiola was left to rot in prison until he died. What was worse, the beneficiaries of his death never acknowledged his amazing contributions for the eight years they spent in power. It was as if they even hated him more in his grave. But no man can kill a dream when its time has come. Our next challenge is no longer the search for the representative of the true aspirations of the people. It is how to ensure that our candidate is not mercilessly bruised or battered by the wolves on the rock.
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Drug search My story -Funke Akindele Jenifa

Posted by jackie webLondonGirl on April 26, 2009 at 8:50pm
She hit the silver screen as Bisi in the UNFPA-sponsored family television series called ‘I Need to Know.’ With plaited hair and secondary school uniform, she successfully played the role of a teenager for four years. Wasn’t that enough credential for her to stroll effortlessly into the centre stage in Nollywood? That was what she thought but that was not what happened. She ran into many brick walls. Many doors were slammed in her face. She wept in toilets and inside ‘danfo’ on her way home after unsuccessful auditions. She decided to cut her losses and go into Yoruba movies. On her sixth production, she hit jackpot. Sunday Sun presents to you, Jenifa, the girl who brought Funke Akindele fame and fortune. I sat in bukas in Ilorin, Ibadan and Osogbo to learn how to play the Jenifa character The story of Jenifa is that of a village girl who wanted to be a big girl. She wanted to be a force to reckon with by force. She wanted to be noticed and she was noticed at the end of the day but on the negative side. She was infected with HIV and that’s why I want to do the return of Jenifa. There are unresolved conflicts that will be explored in the sequel, The return of Jenifa. For instance, what happened to the lady that arranged the girls for parties The sequel will reveal what happened to her and there are many other characters in there that we need to know what happened to them. Then, I want to go deeper into the HIV theme, parental negligence, cultism. I want to explore the social vices on our campuses and that’s why we are having the return of Jenifa. I was moved to do Jenifa because I wanted to do something near real. I’d never seen anything like that before and of course I’m a very wild thinker. Oh and there is nothing in my background that helped me play Jenifa character as convincingly as I did. I’m just very funny naturally, at least that’s what people say. I say things that linger in people’s memory. What I did was to go and understudy how a local girl will pronounce ‘big girl’. I had to travel down to Ibadan, Oshogbo, Ilorin, sit in bukas and listen to all those local girls talk. I studied the way they painted their faces, their attitudes and their brand of self-confidence. Some of the slangs are Sulia kan, Ayetoro kan, then bigs girl, mo don jazzy e. The movie has really changed my life. It’s a big shoe that I really have to fit into. While I was coming here I was still thinking about how to do something better. I only own the copyright. I’m not the executive producer. I have a marketer, Olasco Films. He paid me off. Jenifa has brought me fame and fortune but I believe that ‘the return of Jenifa will bring me more. It took me six months to write the script, one month to shoot and then the editing and all other post-production stuff. In all it took a year. The location was Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu. I read Law to please my father Funke Akindele is an actress, a movie producer who’s been producing before Jennifa but Jennifa gave her the break. The first movie I produced was Ojo ketala. I had six before Jenifa. I went to Grace Nursery and Primary School, Gbagada, Lagos State Model College. I have an OND in Mass Communication from Ogun State Polytechnic ,now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, I attended the University of Lagos where I studied Law but I’m not practicing. I went into movie production because that is my first love. Right from when I was small I’d loved acting but I studied Law because my father wanted me to be a lawyer. I wanted to study Theatre Arts but he insisted I must study Law first and that I could act after I was through with Law. I love criminal law and you could see that in my movies like Agbefo, Etanu, Taiwo Taiwo. It was after Taiwo Taiwo was released that the rumour about Oga Bello son and I started. I was frustrated when I didn’t get movie roles after playing lead character in ‘I Need to Know’ for four years. My mother has been there for me. She’s been very supportive. Back then she would drive me down to auditions. I started with ‘I Need to Know,’ a T.V series sponsored by UNNPA. I was in ‘I Need to Know’ for four years when I was in Unilag. It was about sex education, HIV/AIDS. I played a secondary school teenager and I had to learn how to talk like a teenager for me to fit into that character because i was not a teenager when I was playing that role. After ‘I Need to Know’, I thought I’d get movie roles easily because I was a lead character in ‘I Need to Know’ but it wasn’t forthcoming. I attended auditions. I acted in one or two English movies, ‘Egg of Life’, ‘Prison of Passion’ but it wasn’t forthcoming and I got frustrated. I moved into the Yoruba movies. I kept on attending auditions and they didn’t give me role and I didn’t know why. I believe it wasn’t my time then. English movie makers have a lot to learn from their Yoruba counterparts. The Yoruba movie industry people are very wonderful people. They gave me the break, the big opportunity. They were very good to me. I went into the Odunfa caucus where you have Yinka Quadri, Ogogo (Taiwo Hassan), Abbey Lanre is the director then and they accepted me. I started with one scene, two scenes, three scenes, sub-lead and then major roles. I believe we have better stories in the Yoruba movies. I’m not rubbishing English movies but I’ve watched some of them and after the first disc I just move on to something else. They have a lot to learn from us. Non-Yorubas can watch our movies because we subtitle in English. The only thing I think Yoruba movies should be doing is to shoot better movies. The English movies pay better but we are like a family where you can say when you do your movie, I’ll help you. We help each other but now we’ve improved. You can pay an artist as much as N500 000- N600 000 now. The market is becoming very big. I don’t really know who who the highest paid artistes are but I know that I pay my artist very well. I don’t know about others. Look at Jenifa, Olasco is always smiling to the bank. Each time I call him he’s always excited to pick my call. He made a lot of money from the film. My saddest day was the day I was searched for drugs at the airport. The worst thing that has been said about me was that Funke Akindele was caught carrying drugs at the airport. It was reported in a soft-sell magazine. Someone called me to tell me and I couldn’t believe it. I just broke down and wept. I felt so bad I had to start calling some friends in the media to write that I’m in Nigeria. It was the saddest moment of my life. I had to let people know it was a lie. I was even advised to feature on a show “Today on STV” but I declined. It was a big rumour. One woman abroad was just calling. Soggy was crying on phone when she called one of my friends and my friend connected her to me. When I told her I was at home, she shouted Halleluyah. This is the first time I’ll be saying it. I was going to London around June last year with Virgin Atlantic and after I’d passed the immigrations, a guy just stopped me and said hello. He asked where I was going to and I told him London. He asked me what I was going to do and I asked what business that was to him. I told him I was going on holiday. He said he wanted to check to see if I had drugs on me. I queried his right to search me and he now brought out his ID. It was my first time and I felt bad. I was sad. They wrote down my name and asked me to go in and step on the scanning machine. I wasn’t smiling and I dropped my bag very close to me so that they would not drop something inside it. After the search the lady started mentioning all my movies and apologised, saying they had searched other top Nigerian artistes. I had to write my name as negative. I walked away and I saw Nigerians being chained, young, handsome guys caught with drugs. Though they were doing their duty, I still felt very bad. The first time I went to London in October, 2007 they brought dogs to search us while the whites are passing freely and I said to myself, ‘see what we have brought on ourselves with yahoo yahoo, internet dating, drugs and the rest’. One of my friends, a big boy, was travelling to America and he was about bringing out his passport at the immigrations he now brought out Jenifa’s jacket. The American guy said oh bigs boy and I just said God thank you under my breath. They know me and I want them to know me more. Let me fly this flag positively, let them appreciate Nigeria through me and the movies I produce. I’m going to do something about that too to re-brand Nigeria. I’ll let people laugh and learn. Let us write scripts about these vices. Let me use the issue of yahoo yahoo guys. Let’s highlight things that Nigerians are doing that they would appreciate outside here, shoot it with international flavour that can cut across. By the time you show it in Hollywood they will appreciate it. You don’t shoot movies with one stupid camera and you believe they will watch it there. Do it and let them see Nigeria and the positive side. The happiest day of my life When my marketer called me that he really made a lot of money from my first movie Ojo Ketala, that was my happiest day in the movie industry. Nollywood can produce its own Slumdog Millionaire The technical aspect of our movies needs to be improved on. We are still far behind. As I watched Slumdog Millionaire, I kept on saying to myself I can do this. We can get professionals. What we need is funds. I watched D’Banj’s musical ‘Suddenly’ and it was shot with the Red Dot. The making was shot with the P2 and now in Nigeria we still are shouting I’m going to shoot my next movie with P2. If D’Banj brought P2 and Red Dot to shoot the musical, why can’t I do something like Slumdog Millionaire? Let’s do something with a good theme. Slumdog Millionaire was able to break into Hollywood because of that theme. We don’t yet have very strong themes and we are way behind technically. As a producer it depends on how deep you can think even as a writer. When I was writing Jenifa I just wanted to cut across the teenagers, undergraduate, the females and all that and at the end of the day a lot of people appreciated Jenifa. It depends on how deep you can think as a writer and as a producer it depends on how deep you can treat a good script. We are trying, I’m still young in the industry and with the little time I’ve spent I think we are growing. Way back we didn’t shoot movies as good as this we didn’t have something as good as ‘Amazing Grace’, we are growing. My dream is to make a great impact in the movie industry. All I have is given to me by God. I didn’t go to school to study it. When I write, my inspiration comes from God. So what I want to do in this industry is to make it grow, let the outside world appreciate our movies. I want the likes of Will Smith to watch my movie and say waoh, Nigeria is great because they watch Indian movies and they don’t speak English in Indian movies. They just subtitle. Slumdog Millionaire won eight Oscars. I want my own movies to get to that stage. I believe Jenifa is good enough to win an Oscar if it had been produced with international standard, if we have such equipment that was used to shoot Slumdog Millionaire. My two big projects, Dasofunjo and My Choice will feature Genevieve and other big stars I want to shoot two dance movies. I don’t have the money yet. One is in Yoruba, the other is English, Dasofunjo and My Choice. I want our parents to encourage their children to discover their talents. Everybody cannot be a doctor or a lawyer. It’s about the dancer that belongs to a family of lawyers and then one of the children said daddy I want to be a dancer; daddy I want to study theatre arts and the daddy said No you must study law and if you do not meet the cut off I’ll disown you. She did not meet the cut off. Daddy issues another ultimatum: if you don’t pass the diploma in Law I’ll disown you. She did not pass and he did disown her. She had to move into the ghetto, joined the dance team and at the end of the day she became so popular and her father accepted her. If we want to shoot that movie we have to rehearse for like three months. I want our stars to dance. I don’t want it to be the professionals, I want to see the likes of Genevieve , myself and other stars do break dancing, traditional bata. The lead would be a professional dancer. that’s Ka dofee but I want the stars on set to be good. We’ll be rehearsing for three months and for me to bring Genevieve out of her home for three months, you know how much I’ll be paying her. I’ve not told her she’s going to see this for the first time. Doris Simeon broke the news of my AMAA award to me on phone It was Doris Simeon that was calling me and giving me blow-by-blow account of the event, who what and which film was nominated for what category until they called my name and then my mum called too. I just said thank God. Everybody is saying I’m big; she won Future Awards, Dynamix, City People but I’m not seeing it. I believe God is the one who has made it all possible. Without God there is no me I am very close to my God. He means everything to me. Without God there is no me. All my life I’ve been born again (laughs), I attend Mountain of Fire and Miracles. I don’t allow myself to be distracted when I go to church. I just greet everybody but when it’s time to pray I face my God. My church is very serious when it’s time to pray. Maybe after the service people walk up to me but while praying, there’s nothing like that and they do not frown at any of the roles I play. I look back and the journey was so rough. Back then when I was looking for the right opportunity, trying to be known. When I went into acting I didn’t go into acting because of money or fame. I had the talent, I just wanted to display, exhibit, and the urge to do it was in me. The journey was rough. I’ll say things like at least give me a role even if it’s just one scene, it was rough. Taibal boutique gave shoes worth N1m I was at Taibal yesterday and the boutique gave me shoes worth a million. I tried the shoes on, beautiful shoes, I was given this bag too there, I just said God I thank you. Everybody is appreciating me it is you they are appreciating. it is you they are praising because you gave them to me. I was sad ‘Apaadi didn’t win any award at AMAA The Nigerian movie industry is lagging behind. From the little I watched of ‘From a Whisper’ from Kenya, it is technically sound, the picture is tight. I submitted Apaadi, I tried in Apaadi technically but I saw films that are way ahead of Apaadi .But I think next year we should be better. iI we want to produce any movie now, we really have to get the professionals. When you are given money, we should not think of what we want to gain. Finish the job first, do something very good so that when people see it they will come for more and you’ll make more money out of it. For AMAA I felt bad about it. Apaadi did not win any award and I felt bad, with all the my special effect I felt this is it and we were going to win many awards but when I got there I met my seniors. We have to really match that standard. I trekked long distances for audition, wept inside toilets and buses and I almost gave up. The journey has been long and tortuous but my mum, a gynaecologist has been very supportive. After God it’s my mum. She was there for me and she’s still there for me. When I felt like stopping she’d say no you have it in you, keep going. Frustration almost made me stop. I remember one day at about 6.30am I was going to Tobe Restaurant at Surulere (Lagos) where they had the auditions then and I misplaced my wallet. I had to trek from Ojuelegba to Kilo bus stop. When I finally got there, I put down my name and I was called me for the audition. I stood up and read my lines, acted, scaled through the first and second stages. At the last stage they said ‘sorry o your name is not there’. I remember had not taken lunch that day. I had no money to go back home and I trekked a long distance. I got home tired and my mum kept on encouraging and assuring me that I would eventually make it. I remember another experience after ‘I Need to Know’. My director was an American who knew so much about production and we were well paid because ‘I Need to Know’ was aired on almost every station and DSTV. All I learnt on that set helped become a good producer because my producer educated us on many things. After ‘I Need to Know’ I felt I should get all the major roles but it didn’t happen that way and I had to cross into the Yoruba movies. I remember Fathia Balogun called me that a producer wanted new faces and that I should come over. I went, got auditioned and I was told to go on location. The day I was going to shoot, my box was so big. I packed lots of costumes thinking I was going to play a lead role and I went on set and appeared in just two scenes. I was so sad. They gave me three thousand naira. I went into the toilet and I cried. I remember Tayo Odueke (Sikiratu Sindodo) coming to meet me and saying ‘Funke stop crying, one day we will make it.’ I carried my box into the bus (public transport) and I was just crying in the bus, but I knew I will make it some day. When I look back today, I say God I thank you. For me to be there today I give God the glory. I look like my father My father is a wonderful man, Reverend G.O Akindele of the Methodists Church. He was the Vice Principal of the school I attended, Lagos State Model College. He’s retired now. He’s very wonderful, very liberal, easy going. My mum was always beating us then because she believes in beating but my father always talked to us. I’ll lie to my mum when she asked if I did something because I knew she would beat me but my dad would say Funke please tell me did you do it and I’d say yes I did it and he’d believe me and warn me not to do it again and I would not want to do it again because of my father. The day my father appreciated what I’m doing was the day I went to his school and the students refused to go back into class. He said, ‘so this is what you do. No wonder, you are a star o.’ He also called me to congratulate me for AMAA. I look like my father. Success is when Funke Akindele wins an Oscar To be successful in life, you really have to be focused, determined. Some say Funke Akindele is there and she’s successful now but no this is just the beginning. We have to start doing something good now. For success to keep coming we have to work hard. People say I’m already a success story but I’m yet to get there. When international stars acknowledge Funke Akindele, when I win an Oscar, when my movie is being appreciated outside these shores, that is when I will accept that I’m successful. A producer once told me to come and meet him in a hotel and I told him to go home and sleep with his mother. To be successful as an actress, you have to be focused, dedicated, patient. When you come there don’t be intimidated, don’t compromise. I don’t waste time. When I’m on set to work I’m there to work. People tell me I’m too disciplined, what’s your problem? Are you the only good girl? They tell me that. I remember I have been indirectly harassed by a producer who once told me he’d give me a script and let me play the lead role but I must come and meet him at one hotel. I looked at him and told him he was mad. I said, ‘you want to sleep with me abi, do you have a mother? Go home and meet her and sleep with her.’ That was what I said because I was so angry. He didn’t come out straight but I’m sure that was what he meant. As an actress, do not compromise, don’t be dejected when you are rejected. Your time will come. People say to get to the top in Nollywood, one must kiss ass to get to the top but I did not kiss any ass but I beged for roles though, like saying please remember me in your next movie o. I joined the Odunfa Caucus through Fathia Balogun In the Yoruba movie industry you have to belong to a caucus. There are different caucuses like AKO (Awada Kerikeri Organisation) led by Oga Bello, Jide Kosoko, Odunfa caucus led by Yinka Quadri . There is also the caucus of Muka Ray, Ray Eyiwunmi, Lasun Ray. We have lots of them. It depends on the one you want to join but they are all the same. They all produce Yoruba movies and act in Yoruba movies. I joined Odunfa through Fathia Balogun and Iyabo Ojo. They belong to Odunfa caucus too. I met Fathia Balogun on set the production I was given three thousand naira I met Iyabo Ojo there too. That was how I got into the caucus. In the Yoruba movie industry you get registered, get a form. You will be interviewed so they’ll get to know whether you can act or you just want to be laying about and if you are not good at all you’ll need rehearsals. If you pass you go for production and you get registered under the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners, ANTP. My next big role will be to play the role of an old woman. So far, Jenifa is the most difficult role I’ve ever played. I had to learn how to speak like that but the character I want to play next is that of an old woman. I don’t want to play an old woman like any other person will do. I want to spend like six months each with three different old women and I give it to Garbazini, he’s a good make-up artist. I watched the movie where he made Mike Ezuruonye into an old man. The make-up was tight and Mike acted it very well. So I will get Garbazini to do the make-up. For me to do that, I want to learn how to talk like an old woman. I don’t want to mess myself up on set. I’ll spend six months each with the three old women, two educated and one illiterate. The way to interpret a role is by reading your script, understanding the character. My favourite actors and actresses I respect Bimbo Akintola especially when she’s acting emotional scenes. She’s a deep actress. She is one actress that makes me shiver. I give it to Bukky Wright, Sola Shobowale (I prefer Aunty Sola when she’s wild), Liz Benson, Joke Silva, Olu Jacobs, Kate Henshaw, Mercy Johnson, Nonso Diobi, Micheal Ezuruonye, Chioma Chukwuka. Very soon, there will be Jenifa wigs, bigz boy shirts… No I’m not doing anything on Funke Akindele for now but we are doing some thing on Jenifa. We are branding Jenifa, we are coming out with Jenifa wigs, weavon, accessories and we are coming out with bigs boy chain, bigs boys shirts, clothing lines. There will be Jenifa face caps, handbags, purses. We are building a brand around Jenifa. On my first day in higher institution, I screamed ‘free-at-last’ I felt like someone that has just been released from the prison because at home you have to be inside the house. The lesson teacher would come and meet you in the house. She was a disciplinarian. All she did then was to tell us ‘remember the daughter or the son of whom you are, don’t live a fake life, be prayerful, be focused’ and she made sure we went to the best schools. She’d rather sell her jewellery or the last thing she had on her than allow her child go to a public school. I’m happy I have been able to buy her a car. When she dropped us in our hostel then in her 504 and drove off I just screamed free at last and my elder sister was just crying that she would miss her mummy. Me I would dress up and go out, take money from my pocket money to buy jeans to look good. I felt free, happy at last. I intend to marry and still remain in the industry I’m not afraid of marriage. I intend to make it work by being myself, being submissive. I don’t believe because I’m a star on the screen I should be a star at home. I would keep my home away from the public and be a good mother. I want to be happily married and stay in the industry. Olasco and I I respect my marketer because he’s been there for me. If I tell Olasco I need N20m to produce this movie he will give it to me because he believes Funke Akindele can do it, she has it in her but for others if that’s is it then its wrong but for me. I respect the marketers because they are giving us money to produce movies, they are good, when they see a good story, a good producer, they will drop their money. They sell and pay off the producer and I respect them for that. Then as per the car for my mum, my marketer knows one or two motor dealers, I told him I wanted to get my mum a car and he has to give me some money to add to the one I have with me because my money is with him. He still has two or three of my movies that are not yet released. So we called the car dealers and I told them I will drop my own share of the money in their account and Olasco will balance. That was what happened with the issue of the car. I don’t see marketers as God. If we see other people to give us funds they might be the one running after us. Femi Adebayo is just a colleague It is not true that Olasco has stopped using Femi in his movies. It’s a lie, I finished Ijaola three months ago, Femi played the lead role there and Olasco is marketing Ijaola. I have not even met Femi’s wife. I don’t know her, I’ve not met her, we’ve not spoken before. She has not called my phone. Femi and I only have a working relationship. Our relationship is all about j.o.b. Femi is just a friend and colleague. Girls, get educated, stay away from drugs and ‘aristo’ My advice to the young ladies out there “you can use what you have to get what you want” by discovering your talent, the special thing God has given to you and make good use of it to be celebrated. Don’t sleep around, don’t believe in aristo, be focused, get educated and come out in flying colours, stay away from drugs, stay away from sex and if you must do it protect yourself. I want to thank my fans for appreciating me. Without God and my fans there wouldn’t have been Funke Akindele and there won’t be anybody to celebrate Jenifa.
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British search engine 'could rival Google'

Posted by 9jabook.com on March 9, 2009 at 8:32pm
A British physicist has revealed his plan to launch a new internet search engine so powerful that one expert has suggested it "could be as important as Google". London-born scientist Stephen Wolfram says that his company, Wolfram Research, is preparing to unveil the system in two months' time. Known as Wolfram Alpha, the site is an attempt to address some of the deficiencies of current web search by understanding people's questions and answering them directly. "Fifty years ago, when computers were young, people assumed that they'd quickly be able to handle all these kinds of things … and that one would be able to ask a computer any factual question and have it compute the answer," he wrote on the Wolfram Research website. "But it didn't work out that way … I'd always thought, though, that eventually it should be possible. And a few years ago, I realised that I was finally in a position to try and do it." According to its creator, the system understands questions that users input and then calculates the answers based on its extensive mathematical and scientific engine. Natural language processing – the ability to determine – has long been a holy grail for computer scientists, who believe for interacting with machines in an instinctive way. And that, says Wolfram, is part of the code that Alpha has cracked. "The way humans normally communicate is through natural language – and when one's dealing with the whole spectrum of knowledge, I think that's the only realistic option for communicating with computers too," he wrote. "Of course, getting computers to deal with natural language has turned out to be incredibly difficult. And, for example, we're still very far away from having computers systematically understand large volumes of natural language text on the web." Other search engines, such as Google, compare search terms against billions of documents stored on its servers, before pointing to the pages on which the correct answer is probably kept. Although this method has proved phenomenally successful, many computer scientists have continued trying to create a system that can understand human language. One of the most recent to claim a breakthrough was Powerset, which raised $12.5m (£8.9m) in funding and was under development for several years – but only released a limited search engine for Wikipedia before being bought by Microsoft for $100m last year. According to Nova Spivack, the founder of another intelligent web service, Twine, Alpha is far more impressive than what has gone before. "Wolfram Alpha is like plugging into a vast electronic brain," he wrote. "It provides extremely impressive and thorough questions asked in many different ways, and it computes answers – it doesn't merely look them up in a big database." The plan is already gaining media attention, but the 49-year-old is used to getting noticed for his exploits. After studying at Eton and Oxford, Wolfram went on to receive his PhD in theoretical physics from the California Institute of Technology at the age of 20 . As a result he was awarded a Macarthur genius grant in 1981, and later generated a mixture of applause and opprobrium with his famous book, A New Kind of Science. In it, he suggested that simple algorithms, rather than complex rules and structures, could be at the root of all science. Reaction to the idea – which Wolfram said could boil down to a computer program consisting of just "three or four lines of code" – was mixed. Some critics felt that Wolfram unfairly refused to submit his theories to peer review in the decade that he worked on the book, while others claimed he courted publicity by building up the image of a reclusive genius. Whatever the outcome of Wolfram's audacious claims, however, his track record is strong. One of his previous creations, the computer program Mathematica, is now used by many scientists to help them with their work.
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"Libya migrant search called off" ITS PAINFULL , MEN FROM ALL OVER AFRICA DEAD , TRYING TO MIGRATE INTO EUROPE ILLEGALLY

Posted by 9ja Child on April 2, 2009 at 6:00am
The search for survivors from a migrant boat that sank off Libya has been called off with more than 230 people presumed dead, an official has said.Michele Bombassei, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), also said about 100 bodies had been recovered.Twenty-one migrants were rescued from the boat, which sank early on Sunday.The survivors said it had capsized because of bad weather and people panicking when the boat began to leak.Another boat carrying 357 people was rescued by Italian authorities and towed back to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.The boats were on the route used by smugglers to bring mainly African migrants illegally from Libya to Italy.See map of main migrant routes to EuropeMore than 31,000 people attempted the perilous crossing last year, a sharp increase from 2007.The journey is often made in ill-equipped, overcrowded boats, and many would-be migrants die.The boat that sank on Sunday capsized about 15km (9 miles) west of Tripoli."Unfortunately we have been told that the search operation has been stopped," Mr Bombassei told the BBC.Survivors said the smuggler, an Egyptian, was among those who drowned.Mr Bombassei, who visited the survivors at a centre near Tripoli on Wednesday, said the amount they were charged for making the journey depended on the nationality of the migrant."There were some guys who said they paid the equivalent of 300 euros (£270) and others who paid 1,000 [euros]," he told the BBC."The smugglers want to make as much as they can so they are very flexible."Some survivors the capsized and rescued boats were quoted as saying they had paid even more.Many of those rescued from the boat that sank have kidney problems after drinking large quantities of sea water, the IOM said.Italy is to start joint sea patrols with Libya aimed at stemming the influx of migrants in May.But the patrols have long been delayed for political reasons, including negotiations over compensation demanded by Tripoli for Italy's colonisation of Libya.

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Islam and Christianity Part I

Posted by 9ja Child on March 11, 2009 at 7:12am
العنوان: Islam and Christianity -- part1التاريخ : Feb 18, 2005Form the book((Islam and Christianity /by Ulfat 'Aziz-Us-Samad –published by Al-Falah Foundationwww.falahonline.com ,ISBN:977 -5813-14-X ))It is therefore with a feeling of deep love and respect for both Jesusand Muhammad (pbut), and for the religions which they preached, that Iembark upon a comparative study of Islam and Christianity. If at timesI find myself disagreeing with the Christians, it is not over thereligion of Jesus, but over the altered shape and features that theydeveloped after his departure. In the words of Lord Headley, "Islamand Christianity, as taught by Christ himself, are sister religions,only held apart by dogmas and technicalities which might very well bedispensed with" ((Lord Headley : A Western Awakening to Islam, P.15))The Authenticity of the Qur'anOn the other hand, there is no such doubt about the Glorious Qur'an.It contains nothing but the revelations received by the ProphetMuhammad (pbuh). The revelations came to him in fragments, from timeto time. As soon as he received any, he used to communicate it to hisCompanions and ask then not only to commit it to memory, but also towrite it down. Muhammad (pbuh) used to indicate in a precise mannerthe place to which the revelation belonged. Thus the complete Qur'anwas committed to writing and also preserved in the hearts of hundredsof Muslims in the life time of the Prophet.After the demise of the Prophet, Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, chargedZaid ibn Thabit with the task of preparing an authentic copy of theentire text in the form of a book. The Companions of the Prophet wrotethe revelations that had come to the prophet on parchment or pieces ofleather. Zaid ibn Thabit collected all these and after comparing themwith what the followers of the Prophet had learnt by heart, compiled acopy, called Mushaf (bound leaves). About the genuineness orcorrectness of which there was absolutely no doubt.At the order of 'Uthman, the third Caliph, seven copies of the Mushafedition of the Glorious Qur'an, again confined by the memory of thosewho had learnt it by heart (hafiz), were prepared and sent to thedifferent centers of the vast Islamic world. One of these seven copiesis still in existence in Tashkent. The Czarist government of Russiahad published it with a facsimile reproduction; and we see that thereis a complete identity between this copy and the text otherwise in useall over the world. The same is true of the other extant MSS ofQur'an, complete or fragmentary, dating from the first century of theMuslim era.From the time of the Prophet to our own time the practice of learningthe whole of the Qur'an by heart has continued unbroken, and thenumber of huffaz can now be counted by hundreds of thousands all overthe world. The result is that no scholar, Eastern or Western, Muslimor non-Muslim, has ever cast any doubt on the purity of the text ofthe Glorious Qur'an. Even such an unfriendly critic as Sir WilliamMuri (( The life of Mohamet, Introduction, p.18)) writes about theQur'an:" There is probably in the world no other book whichhas remained twelve centuries with so pure a text"
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