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The New Monopoly Game by Hasbro hits stores soon comes with ATM machine !

Posted by Jane Okinedo on February 4, 2010 at 8:29pm

Hasbro has unveiled the design of the new 75th anniversary edition of their classic board game, Monopoly, set to hit stores in fall of 2010. "Monopoly: Revolution Edition" is slick and round instead of dull and square, with debit cards and an ATM instead of paper money and a banker, clear plastic representations of the classic tokens (bye-bye, little boot!), and clips of popular songs (like Rihanna’s "Umbrella," Daniel Powter’s "Bad Day," and Beyonce's "Crazy in Love") that play after certain actions.

This is not the first game to get a modern reboot (there’s an update to the classic Trivial Pursuit, and Scrabble got a face-lift for its 60th anniversary), but Monopoly’s changes will undoubtedly appeal to the 21st century's techie youngsters. For one thing, the adjusted-for-inflation prizes are more impressive.

Players can collect $2 million dollars for passing “Go” instead of a mere $200 — practically what the average kid gets for losing a tooth these days. But it's bound to annoy die-hard fans of the comforting classic version, who might send it directly to jail come next fall. (At least they can take comfort in the fact that Monopoly: Revolution retains the classic Atlantic City-based street system.)

So far, the Internet echo chamber's biggest criticism focuses on the new version's tight security. It seems that when it comes to Monopoly, half the fun comes from cheating by stealing from the till when nobody's looking, a loophole the new version closes with its fancy electronic banking. (However, an electronic banking version has actually been on the market for years.) Surely our nation's tech-savvy youth will somehow find a way to game the "Monopoly" system, assuming they can be pried away from screens long enough to start a game.9jabook Nollywood LIVE! PhotoSlideShow now showing on 9jamoviesMango Shop now Open in Lekki Lagos !

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joke : The Cow with a wooden leg

Posted by 9jabook.com on January 31, 2010 at 9:00pm

There was a tourist on a farm and he saw one of the cows tied somewhere , strangely the cow had one wooden leg .curios, he asked the farmer why that one cow had a wooden leg. The farmer said, ''That cow is the bravest cow I ever saw.'' ''So why does he have a wooden leg?'' the tourist asked. ''Well one day our son was drowning in thee river . And he dived into the river and pulled him out ! Well that is very brave but then why does that cow have a wooden leg ! O the farmer said "The Barn was burning and all the cows would have burnt down but that cow broke down the door and let out all the cows and even till today we dont know how he did it but he got the fire Men to come down and saved the farm from burning to ashes" But that does not explain why the Cow has a wooden leg ! ''Well the farmer paused for a bit , "well well you can't eat all at once a cow that brave !'' click here for more jokes

Man stabbed in eye with stiletto heel of woman

Posted by 9jabook.com on February 16, 2010 at 4:52am

A woman has appeared in court charged with wounding after a man was stabbed through the eye with a stiletto heel

Related photos / videos

Gavin Taylor, 28, remains seriously ill in hospital after the incident last Sunday.

He suffered the injury in the back of a taxi while travelling home from a night out in Huddersfield with his girlfriend.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "At around 2am on Sunday, police received reports of a serious assault which occurred in a vehicle travelling through Huddersfield town centre.

"A 28-year-old man was struck to the head and taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

"He was subsequently transferred to Leeds General Infirmary and is currently in a stable but critical condition."

Staci Hargreaves, 33, from Stalybridge, Cheshire, has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

She appeared at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court on Tuesday where she was granted bail to appear at Bradford Crown Court on February 16.

Police said the stiletto penetrated the eye socket and touched the victim's brain.

Elumelu Exits UBA: Interview with "Tbruiser" The Don Corleoni of Naija Banking

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on January 24, 2010 at 4:02am

Was this the way you planned your exit? No, I didn't plan it this way. But, at the same time, about exiting at some point, yes, but not now. I had planned to leave at 50, which is three years from now. However, this is coming at a time when what I wanted to achieve in 36 months, I now have to see if I can achieve them within seven months. Yes, there was a bit of suddenness in the announcement, but for Tony, the idea of leaving has always been there. For UBA as an institution, the idea that the CEO will leave someday has been long decided, that is why we had planned for it. A lot of programmes were put in place for this. We started two years ago by appointing the deputy managing directors under a governance and socialisation framework. We tried to let them through the end-to-end of our strategic businesses, to begin to groom them as successors. It was not political; we planned for it that at some point, the CEO must leave and some other person must take over. Does that mean that one of them will automatically take over from you? The board and committee have been meeting and the automatic nominees are the DMDs and after them, the executive directors, if the CBN fails to approve, the senior managers. Judging by the board's quick response, one would think that UBA was privy to the CBN's decision. Was this the case? No, we were not privy to the CBN's decision; the board of UBA believes that no one person is more important than the organisation. The board felt that we have key people such as our staff, customers, investors, regulators and that we must, not only because it is not only appropriate, but to reassure these key people that there is business continuity and there is business sustainability, and should not entertain any fear about our ability to produce good leadership, which is consistent with our corporate governance practice, to respond appropriately at all times, in the best interest of our stakeholders. Talking about the CBN, do you have any personal issues about the CBN governor? No, nothing. But you know that some Nigerians will always give the wrong interpretations to the best of intensions. Why will people say that? Maybe because we as a bank always identified with the CBN governor; so the issue of personal animosity does not come in. For one, the governor and I were one time colleagues, and we worked very well together, we have mutual respect for each other. Should the CBN's new policy affect CEOs like you that are still serving or will you leave it for expert interpretation? I think we will leave that for the experts to interprete. But having said that, there is a context, which is that we have a new CBN governor, coming in at a time of global financial crisis, and I believe every new leader has a vision and ideas of how he will like to shape the industry. There have been accusations that the CEOs were living larger than expected by the public, part of which plunged the industry into crisis. It this true? I believe that the financial system is a highly regulated one, I think all players must comply with the rules of the game. Every sector has its own rules. Given the extent of decay Mr. Sanusi claimed he discovered in the sector, would you say Mr. Soludo lived up to expectations? It may be inappropriate for me to adjudge a regulator. But the current CBN governor was one of us, and upon assumption of office, he ordered for the stress test, put in place additional policies and framework to institute good corporate governance and proper risk management, among others. There were two major facilities that UBA made under your tenure, the first is Transcorp and the second is Virgin Nigeria. What really happened? First, I'd like to note that there is customer-banker confidentiality and I'd like to uphold that. But let me say that in the case of Transcorp, I can comment on it because it has been fully liquidated. And with Transcorp, we followed due process to advance acquisition finance. Not just us, but a consortium of big Nigerian banks. The loan was properly analysed, packaged and approved up to the board level of UBA before the facility was made available. There was no malpractice, we followed due process. For Virgin Nigeria, again, we followed due process and it was done through UBA Asset Management Company. In other words, UBA has no equity holding in Virgin Nigeria? Contrary to speculations, UBA has no equity in Virgin Nigeria. It is UBA Asset Management Company that manages investment for companies; has between three and five per cent. Why did UBA sack over 1,500 workers without paying them their benefits? Less than 600 workers left UBA and they were paid all their entitlements in line with the contract engagement. In addition to that, they are still on the UBA pay role for the next six months. Let us look at the issue of full disclosure; people are skeptical that the banks are still not telling the whole truth, otherwise there will not be so many job losses in the industry. What do you thnk? Citibank, Bank of America, Meryl Lynch all laid off thousands of workers. When business is shrinking, everything has to shrink with it, if a bank is making profit and it is no longer making as much profit, there has to be structural changes to help it recover, and one of it is to prune down the workforce. Are you also going to close down branches that are not doing well? I did a memo concerning branches that a minimum bottom of five per cent of staff, we refresh every year. But last year the executive management did not uphold this, because we are not happy in letting people go. We do not delude ourselves about what or who we are, but we respond to issues appropriately. We did a clinical review of all our strategic business units, and how they can add more value. We used three criteria to do our assessment - first is what is the contribution to our bottom line? Second, what is the strategic relevance to our business and the group? And the third one is the risk exposure. Would you then say these strategies are part of the reasons UBA scaled through the stress audit, because many are surprised that UBA passed the test? In terms of corporate governance, UBA is outstanding, in terms of risk management, we have laid down procedures. We have a chief risk officer; we have a chief compliance officer with 20 years of global experience. We have strong credit management process that is institutionalised and process-driven. We have a very strong board, and we had all of these long before risk management became the fad in the industry. Besides, we have put in place most of the risk management software to run a successful financial system. Why is it difficult to grant loan to the small and medium enterprise sector in spite of efforts by the CBN to get banks to do so? The current CBN governor is dealing with the root cause because it requires fundamental approach. We had a CEOs retreat in Enugu recently to look at the issues and these infrastructure challenges, having to generate your own power and water, and at the end of the day, there is hardly enough left to give out as loans to the SMEs, but like I said, these are being dealt with. What will you say is really wrong with the Nigerian economy, because nothing just seems to work? Let me speak to you as an economist. I have just said there are structural rigidities where certain things are not right. So we must go back to the basics, and a lot of this has to with infrastructure issues. The economy is an intricate web and so many things have happened. What is the future for UBA, can it really compete with its peers locally and globally? One of our major targets is to become a leading Nigerian bank, and to remain relevant in this market. Also, to play significantly in the African second tier market. In achieving this, it is a matter of having the right people, training them, strong governance policy, compliance to regulations in these countries and the totality of these factors will position you for competition. One thing you must realise is that no one CEO can start and finish a process. What the CEO can do is to assemble the right team, and in partnership with the board articulate the right policies. So then what legacies are you leaving behind for UBA? I will say quality people. An average UBA person is confident, knowledgeable and goal getters. Confidence comes from achievements and self-empowerment is number one. The second is having a culture of value - humility, empathy and integrity. We embarked on a massive service of excellence, which is key to sustainability. Working with the board, we have put in place a framework and process to continuity, viability and sustainability, to have a UBA that is self-sustaining, with strong governance institution. By my retirement, the true test of my leadership has just begun and I'm sure UBA will outlive me. You're retiring at 47, what do you hope to do? Is it not too early for retirement? I have lived a very engaging and active life. It's been tough and I just hope that I will now have the time to take the children to school and what have you. I am fortunate in that I reached the pinnacle of my career early and so I would take it easy from now on. Plans for retirement? Well, if it had been in more advanced countries, people like me will be in high demand as speakers and academics but not here in our society. As I told my people yesterday at the board, I hope to get more involved with the UBA Academy as a lecturer and speaker and tell others what I have learnt and experienced. I also hope to be involved later with the Lagos Business School where I can impart knowledge into people because there is so much to share and we should bridge the gap between theories and experience on the field. So I will spend more time with my family and teach, offering enlightenment to others sharing what I have seen. We rarely see your wife, who is she and what about your children too? Well, I'm married to a medical doctor and we have five children. (Points to her picture on the shelf) there she is and you can see her. The truth is that I'm a home person, I rarely go out. You're most likely to see me lying down with a bean bag watching movies with my children. I like my home and whenever I'm not at the office, you will see me at home. I enjoy reading also; I'm particularly fond of Jeffrey Archer's novels. I remarked to my wife the other day that it's been long we attended a wedding and she said yes, that's the kind of man I am; a very homely person.

Michael Jackson’s doctor charged with manslaughter

Posted by NollywoodMohits on February 9, 2010 at 7:22pm

Michael Jackson’s doctor charged with manslaughter

Dr. Conrad Murray, personal physician to Michael Jackson, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors said.

A criminal complaint has been filed alleging that Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson."

Murray is expected to turn himself in soon at a courthouse near Los Angeles International Airport. Members of Jackson's family including his father, Joe, are arriving at the courthouse. Asked for his reaction to the charge, brother Jermaine Jackson said, "Not enough." The involuntary man-slaughter charge means that Murray caused Jackson's death by acting "without due caution and circumspection."

If convicted, Murray would face a maximum four-year prison sentence, according to prosecutors. Deputy District Attorney David Walgren will lead the prosecution.

Murray traveled to Los Angeles at the end of January from his home in Houston, Texas, in expectation of possible charges, his lawyer said.

He used part of his time last week to visit the pop star's resting place in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Murray, a cardiologist, was hired as Jackson's personal physician last spring as the singer prepared for comeback concerts in London, England.

The doctor told Los Angeles police that he was with Jackson at his$100,000-a-month rented Holmby Hills mansion through the early morning hours of June 25, 2009, in an effort to help the pop star fall asleep, according to a police affidavit.

He administered sleep aids, and after Jackson finally began sleeping in the late morning hours, Murray said, he left the bedroom for "about two minutes maximum," the affidavit says.

"Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing," it says. The doctor stayed with Jackson as an ambulance

rushed him to UCLA Medical Center. Efforts at CPR proved fruitless, and Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.

The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Jackson's death a homicide, resulting from a combination of drugs, primarily propofol and

lorazepam.

The coroner's statement said Jackson died from "acute propofol intoxication," but there were "other conditions contributing to death: benzodiazepine effect." Lorazepam and two other drugs Murray said he used are benzodiazepines.

The doctor told investigators he had given Jackson three anti-anxiety drugs to help him sleep in the hours before he stopped breathing, a police affidavit said.

Murray had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks at the time of the singer's death. The doctor told investigators he gave Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol, the generic name for Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine every night via an intravenous drip.

The doctor told police he was worried that Jackson was becoming addicted to the drug and tried to wean him off it.

During the two nights before Jackson's death, Murray said, he put together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping Jackson sleep.

Yaradua's Nephew Akilu Musa Yar’Adua, expelled from American International University Yola with 9 others

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on January 18, 2010 at 6:56am

American varsity expels Musa Yar’Adua, 9 others Ten students of the Atiku Abubakar-owned American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola have been expelled for their involvement in clandestine and anti social acts. AUN is rated as the first University in sub Saharan Africa to introduce American style of education. Among those rusticated by the university is a family member of President Umaru Yar’Adua named Akilu Musa Yar’Adua. David Kosoko, the Director of Students’ Affairs of the American University of Nigeria, while briefing journalists on the school campus at the weekend the decision was informed by the university’s hard stance and none tolerance of unscrupulous behaviours by students. Kosoko confirmed that Akilu Musa Yar’Adua and nine others were expelled for indulging in drugs and other related offences. The Director of Student Affairs said: “It is the responsibility of the school to ensure safety of students on campus because if anything happens to them, we are accountable to their parents. “Therefore, we have put in place rules and regulations that will be an excuse in terms of what the institution is required to do. “If any students is involved in theft, drug related cases and fighting, the offence attracts outright dismissal and this forms the core of our zero tolerance for anti-social vices.” He further stated that in accordance with AUN’s policy, the affected students had been ordered to leave the school campus. The expulsion was the main highlight of activities marking the university’s orientation for its freshmen for the 2010 spring and the student affairs director added that 300 new students were to be enrolled for studies in the 2010 spring semester. He other serious misdemeanors such as unwarranted visitation, dormitory visitations, late night crawling in and outside the campus were punishable, warning the students to desist from any acts that could cause them to be punished. Similarly, the Academic Vice President of the institution, Bayo Lawal who also confirmed the expulsions decried the rising fears over rampant cases of laptop theft in the school. Lawal announced that 10 percent of the entire students’ enrolment into the institution every semester was on scholarship in line with the philosophy of the founder and former vice president Atiku Abubakar..

RCCG warns AC against linking Adeboye with corruption

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on February 16, 2010 at 11:55am

RCCG warns AC against linking Adeboye with corruption

Femi Makinde, Ado-Ekiti

The Redeemed Christian Church of God has warned the Action Congress in Ekiti State against linking its General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, with the alleged diversion of public funds to religious purposes.

Pastor Adeboye

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A statement issued by Pastor Ola Adejubee of Province 1, RCCG in Ekiti State and made available to our correspondent in Ado-Ekiti on Monday, said that the church did not need taxpayers' money to organise any crusade.

The statement accused the AC of using surreptitious means to cast "aspersions on the good name of the RCCG and the person of Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the general overseer of the church ,by insinuating that the church and our respected G.O are colluding with the government of Ekiti State to waste a colossal amount of money on a programme it derisively described as a black market spiritual exercise."

Adejubee added that the crusade, scheduled for Friday in Ado-Ekiti, did not have any input from the state government or any politician. He said it was a service organised to further propagate the gospel.

The spokesman of the AC in Ekiti State, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, had on February 2, in a statement, asked clergymen to shun Governor Segun Oni's invitation to the state, as this would be used to siphon public resources.

He said in the statement, "The vegetating PDP regime in Ekiti State is currently using the veil of hosting a legion of pastors to loot the state's treasury.

"We are at home with the coming of men of God to Ekiti on ecumenical crusades but certainly not on the invitation and bills of the Ekiti PDP regime, which is a vector for poll robbery, illicit and venal practices and till plundering."

The Problem with the Apple iPad

Posted by technology on January 30, 2010 at 7:08am

Yesterday, Steve Jobs worked his charm, attempting to wow the world with the Apple iPad, a new, super-slim computer he touted as the missing link between iPhones and laptops. It's an undeniably beautiful device, but it also represents some serious problems.Note: This subjective post gets rather long winded, so if you don't have time for every hem and haw, skip straight to the meat of the problem.The GoodAt first glance, the iPad does a lot of things really well—particularly compared to its competition. This depends on what you consider its competition, but for sheer size and price alone, let's say its primary competition is the Kindle, followed by netbooks. Last, and maybe more importantly, consider that maybe it doesn't have any competition because it's aiming for a mostly new market, much like the iPhone completely goosed the primarily business-friendly, BlackBerry-dominated smartphone market. No matter what you consider its competition, it's likely that the iPad outpaces said competition handily.The Kindle: To start, if we compare the iPad to a Kindle, it's really only lacking in one or two arenas from the standpoint of most consumers: It's not using e-ink, so it's potentially not as friendly on the eyes (okay, it's definitely not as eye-friendly), and the battery life is only 10 hours (with video, mind you, which was the only benchmark Apple gave), which is seriously short by e-book reader standards. Now consider this: It's roughly the same size as the Kindle, can do infinitely more (even running a complete end-around the Kindle by running Kindle software), and it's beautiful.Like in life, that last bit—the looks—matter more than we may like to admit. And why shouldn't it matter? Apart from, you know, the usefulness factor, eye candy has always played an important role in technology adoption.Netbooks: Full disclosure: I've never owned a netbook. And maybe that's part of the problem. For all the useful, inexpensive netbooks out there, the netbook market has yet to take hold in a truly meaningful way outside of the enthusiast niche. I'm not relying on any real numbers here—more on experience at airports, coffee shops, and public places where people with computers go. Those are the places netbooks were made for, right? And yet all I see at those places are laptops and iPhones. Update: As many commenters have pointed out, the netbook market has been very successful, and my personal experience isn't a good substitute for the numbers. Either way, don't get too hung up on this point—whether or not netbooks are popular is really not the problem.For most people, netbooks have very limited sex appeal. There's no question they do what they're supposed to do, or that they do it well, but last I checked, the netbook hasn't really filled that "When you just need a lightweight computer to do some lightweight surfing, word processing, etc." need. The iPad is aiming straight at this market, and could potentially succeed where netbooks haven't.Lack of competition: Most disconcerting to this technology lover—which I'll discuss in more detail below—is that the iPad really has no little direct competition out yet. (Several tablets showed up at CES, but I haven't seen any release date for promising slates. We'll see how those turn out, but at the end of the day, this is still a market like the smartphone market was before the iPhone came along. It wasn't the first smartphone, but it had the best hardware and usability.) In fact, at the end of the day it's much more like an iPhone or iPod touch than it is anything else. It's just got better guts and a bigger screen. It seems most accurate to consider the iPad a computer that runs the iPhone OS.The ProblemSo why is it a problem if the iPad is better than its competition, or, more importantly, fills a niche that hasn't been addressed well enough to this point? Yesterday Gizmodo rounded up 8 things that suck about the iPad, focusing primarily on hardware issues like its lack of camera, an ugly bezel, and lack of even a single USB port (sans adapters); we could likewise complain about how the iPad's graphical design seems like a complete afterthought. But much more important, at least from the perspective of a blog that's pretty serious about the free use and control of computers:The iPad, much like the iPhone, is completely locked down. The user has no control over what she installs on the hardware, short of accepting exactly what Apple has approved for it. From past experience, we know what happens when a completely legitimate application—from a huge company that's actually partnered with Apple—doesn't gel with Apple's business plan. They reject it, and you can't use it. And what recourse does the power user have?Jailbreaking! And certainly the iPad will see plenty of hacking, but only because Apple requires you to hack the device if you actually want control over it yourself. Apple's gotten into the habit of acting like you're renting hardware. They've become the all-powerful, over-restrictive, ambivalent IT person in the sky, restricting what users can and can't install on their hardware.With a device like the iPhone, most people slowly accepted Apple's IT state over time. Apple's stance is basically that their lockdown is for your own good—they're protecting us from unstable apps, pornography, confusion, and other nasties. And for the most part, it worked, right? iPhones have remained fast, capable, strong-like-bull, and extremely popular. But conceding that Apple's restrictive policies are to credit is sort of like claiming you've cured cancer because you knocked on wood every morning of your life and, as a result, never got cancer. (Sorry for the weak simile.)What's dangerous about the iPad is that it's much closer to a "real" computer than the iPhone is. If you dock it with the keyboard accessory, it really is just a sort of low-powered franken-laptop. And yet this is a computer over which you have absolutely no control. And the question is: If we all continue to buy Apple's locked-down products hand-over-fist (Jobs went so far as to talk about Apple as a mobile device company yesterday), what reason does Apple have not to keep moving forward with that model—a model that, to many, is defective by design.Apple's saying to consumers: "Trade in choice for a guarantee that this will work exactly as we designed it to, and you'll never be upset with a computer again." Unfortunately there's no reason to believe the trade is necessary. At the very best, it seems like Apple's extreme and obsessive control over what you're allowed to run on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is maybe delaying the point at which your software demands outpace the hardware, but even that is debatable. With the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, you're trading choice and control in exchange for unsubstantiated promises. The Free Software Foundation put it another way:DRM is used by Apple to restrict users' freedom in a variety of ways, including blocking installation of software that comes from anywhere except the official Application Store, and regulating every use of movies downloaded from iTunes. Apple furthermore claims that circumventing these restrictions is a criminal offense, even for purposes that are permitted by copyright law.If Jobs and Apple are actually committed to creativity, freedom, and individuality, they should prove it by eliminating the restrictions that make creativity and freedom illegal.Attention needs to be paid to the computing infrastructure our society is becoming dependent upon. This past year, we have seen how human rights and democracy protesters can have the technology they use turned against them by the corporations who supply the products and services they rely on. Your computer should be yours to control. By imposing such restrictions on users, Steve Jobs is building a legacy that endangers our freedom for his profits.A Simple Solution?The App Store isn't exactly the problem—it's the way Apple runs and limits the App Store. Let's say, for example, that Apple added one simple section to the App Store. I'll leave it to the Apple Geniuses to come up with a more marketable name, but for our purposes, let's call it the Restricted section.Now let's say that Apple continues to run the App Store the way it always has, but rather than reject applications that it feels may confuse the user (like they claimed Google Voice* or Google Latitude might), or applications that allow users to access naughty pictures, or even applications that it hasn't had time to vet for the App Store proper, they put those applications in the Restricted section. Before a user is able to install applications from the Restricted section, that user has to agree that the application may confuse their feeble minds, offend their delicate sensibilities, or even slow down their device. Is this such a problem?(*Incidentally, even if we accept Apple's reasons for rejecting the Google Voice application on the iPhone, what reason is there to likewise reject it for the iPod touch and, presumably, the iPad? Neither have phone functionality out of the box, and now the non-phone devices actually outnumber the iPhone.)Even better, it could work like the package manager it actually is and allow users to add their own trusted repositories as sources for other applications. Same disclaimers apply, but Apple is even further removed from culpability—they're not even hosting the apps.The point is, users should at least be allowed to flip some switch, somewhere on the machine, that says, "Hey computer, I'm an adult, and I take responsibility over how I use this machine."So You're Saying I Have to Make a Statement with My Computer Purchases Now?I'm not here to get all political (though Apple doesn't give a shit about poor people), but the point is this: As power users, do we really want to send the message to Apple and other hardware manufacturers that we're cool with them taking away our choice? The iPad looks great, and by every account it also feels great and performs like a peach, but it's rife with problems. Unlike the iPhone, where it was easy enough to convince ourselves that these problems were imposed for good reason, the iPad is basically a keyboard-less netbook that will exert complete control over what you're allowed to use on it.A very quick response to the many, many people who feel I'm missing the point because the iPad isn't for me, but for the non-tech savvy users: There's no reason it can't be both. OS X ships with Terminal, even though most Mac users will never use the command line. To say that "either a device is user friendly or it's open" is a false dichotomy. It's also worth mentioning again, as I did above, that Apple's proven itself to be an unreliable, user-hostile gatekeeper.Caveat Emptor!Sending messages aside, my main aim is to discourage readers from buying an iPad. Or if not to discourage, to ensure that people understand the system they're buying into, if and when they do purchase one. The fact remains that the iPad is probably better than any device of its kind out there, so it's very tempting if you want a big, pretty tablet that can do a lot of neat computer things. But it also comes with some serious problems.

Haiti EarthQuake :Doctors Abandon hospital with criticallly injured victims obey UN order

Posted by 9jabook.com on January 15, 2010 at 10:46pm

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Earthquake victims, writhing in pain and grasping at life, watched doctors and nurses walk away from a field hospital Friday night after United Nations officials ordered a medical team to evacuate the area out of security concerns. The only doctor left was CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta. He assessed the needs of the 25 patients, but with no supplies there was little he could do. And more people, some in critical condition, were trickling in late Friday. "I've never been in a situation like this. This is quite ridiculous," Gupta said. With a dearth of medical facilities in Haiti's capital, ambulances had nowhere else to take patients, some who had suffered severe trauma -- amputations and head injuries. Others had suffered a great deal of blood loss, but there were no blood supplies left at the clinic. Search and rescue must trump security. ... They need to man up and get back in there. --Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honoré Gupta said some might not survive the night. He said the Belgian doctors did not want to leave their patients behind but were ordered out by the United Nations, which sent buses to transport them. "There is concern about riots not far from here -- and this is part of the problem," Gupta said. There have been scattered reports of violence throughout the capital. "What is striking to me as a physician is that patients who just had surgery, patients who are critically ill are essentially being left here, nobody to care for them," Gupta said. Sandra Pierre, a Haitian who has been helping at the makeshift hospital, said the medical staff took most of the supplies with them. Port-au-Prince "All the doctors, all the nurses are gone," she said. "They are expected to be back tomorrow. They had no plan on leaving tonight. It was an order that came suddenly." She told Gupta, "It's just you." A 7.0 magnitude earthquake flattened Haiti's capital city Tuesday afternoon, affecting as many as 3 million people. Tens of thousands of people are feared dead. Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, lacked adequate medical resources even before the disaster and has been struggling this week to tend to huge numbers of injured. The U.N. clinic, set up under several tents, was a godsend to the few who were lucky to have been brought there. It was not known whether the medical team would return in daylight. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honoré, who led relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said the evacuation of the clinic's medical staff was unforgivable. "Search and rescue must trump security," Honoré said. "I've never seen anything like this before in my life. They need to man up and get back in there." Honoré drew parallels between the tragedy in New Orleans and in Port-au-Prince. But even in the chaos of Katrina, he said, he had never seen medical staff walk away. "I find this astonishing these doctors left," he said. "People are scared of the poor."

Lagos: Lady kills friend with razor over bucket

Posted by Akin Osunlaja WebLagosian on February 2, 2010 at 10:58pm

Olalekan Adetayo A 22-year-old lady, Ijeoma Obezim, is currently in the custody of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly killing her friend during a fight over a bucket. advertisement The suspect reportedly used a razor blade to inflict grievous injuries on the face of her friend, Ada Okeke, in their residence on Saturday. The 25-year-old Okeke was later confirmed dead at the nearby Tolu Medical Centre where she was rushed to for treatment. The suspect, the victim and two other ladies, Chineye and Chika, were said to be occupying the same room in a house located on Ayorinde Street, Tolu, a suburb of Lagos. When paraded before journalists in Lagos on Monday, Obezim said that trouble started when she needed a bucket Okeke had earlier used to wash some clothes. She said she was about using the bucket to take her bath when the deceased challenged her and they started exchanging words. The argument, according to her, later led to a fight which was settled by their neighbours. She accused Okeke of biting her during the fight. She confessed that she took a razor blade and inflicted the injuries on the deceased. "I never knew it would turn out this way. I am not happy that she died. It was just a minor disagreement," the suspect said. The command's spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, said that policemen attached to Tolu Division were currently investigating the case. Mba, a superintendent of police, however, said that the case would soon be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti Street, Yaba, for further investigation.

Celebrity Takes 2 Season 2: Who will dance away with the crown?

Posted by Jane Okinedo on January 15, 2010 at 12:28am

Celebrity Takes 2 is back for a second season! This time the crop of celebrities is just as exciting…maybe even more as the first season.Stars from the music and movie industries have been paired with experienced dancers for the competition of a lifetime.The couples for this season are Fred Amata and Blessing Akombi; Yinka Davies and Gbenga Yusuf; Kel and Francis Edet; Zaki Azzay and Bunmi Olunloyo; Faithia Balogun and Buddy Agedah; Stella Damascus and Wale Sodade; Yemi Blaq and Funke Sodade; Obiwon and Lilian Yeri; Faze and Folake Cole; Dakore Egbuson and Edet Iso.For the first few episodes, it will be Rhythm & Blue (Music) versus Red Hot Drama (Nollywood); one team from each camp will be voted each week. Then, it switches back to the traditional format. Viewers will get to vote for their favourite celebrities. The competition has already started and according to early indications, its going to be a very tough contest!Check out photos of all the celebs and their dance partners below and click back on BN to find out who is eliminated first!

Sunday Sermon:Are You Feeding Your Soul also try out our evangelistic tool.

Posted by frank adeche Mr Netchurch on January 10, 2010 at 12:13am

Are You Feeding Your Soul? Are you happy with what you see when you look in the mirror? And I’m not talking about your physical body when I ask this question — I’m talking about your spiritual body. Has your soul been getting the nourishment it needs to grow in health and strength, or have you deprived it from the Word it so desperately needs? If what you see in the mirror doesn’t even begin to reflect what you know you can be, it’s time to make a change, time to dive into God’s Word and receive all the love and forgiveness He has been waiting to give you . . . a time to release your life into God’s hands. The Word tells us, But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:16-18 NLT). You may not like what you see now, but just wait. Rely on God’s faithfulness and perfect timing and begin to make changes when God shows you it is necessary. And soon, you’ll be able to look back and say, “Look where God moved me from. Look what He saved me from. I stand blessed where I am all because of the transforming grace of God.” An Evangelistic Tool The following is an evangelistic tool. Feel free to use this tool to lead someone to the Savior. It can also be used in your church. Tony lead the members of our church through this process, and then commissioned them to offer the good news to those they come in contact with in the course of their day. This is one of our outreach programs for this year. OPENING QUESTION: Has anyone ever shown you from the Bible how you can be sure you are on your way to heaven? Would you allow me to show you? I. First the Bad News a. The Problem: Every person is a sinner before a Holy God and unable to save themselves (Romans 3:10, 23). b. The Penalty: Every person is under the sentence of death and will be forever separated from God because of their sin (Romans 5:12; 6:23). I. Now the Good News a. The Provision: Through the substitutionary sacrificial death of Christ, God has addressed the sin problem for us (Romans 5:8, 17-21). b. The Pardon: God offers a free pardon and eternal life to all who place faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation (Romans 10:9-10; 4:4-5). CLOSING QUESTION: Would you like to trust the Lord Jesus Christ right now as your personal Savior? PRAYER: Lord Jesus thank You for dying on the cross for my sins and rising from the dead to save me. By transferring my total trust to You alone as my Savior, I now receive the forgiveness for my sins and the free gift of eternal life that You offered me.

Boko Haram reloaded as new sect Kala Kato clash with police in bauchi

Posted by 9jabook.com on December 28, 2009 at 8:07pm

Deaths as police and sect clash in Bauchi, Nigeria At least 20 people are thought to have died in clashes between security forces and members of a religious sect in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi. Some eyewitnesses said as many as 37 people had been killed.

The fighting came after local people told authorities they were alarmed by open-air preaching by the religious sect, which is known as Kala Kato. Such preaching was banned in the state after an uprising by another sect, Boko Haram, earlier this year. Hundreds of people were killed in the subsequent fighting across northern Nigeria. The BBC's Caroline Duffield reports from Lagos that Kala Kato is a non-conformist Muslim sect made up of poor tradesmen, labourers and other working people. Some residents in Zango, just south of the city of Bauchi, have said that in recent days the mood of their preaching had become aggressive. The violence there began on Sunday morning. After some initial shooting the security forces retreated, before returning in greater numbers. Members of the group had armed themselves with machetes and cutlasses, and appeared ready to fight armed police and soldiers, she adds. A spokesman for the Bauchi state governor said the local military had been deployed, though other accounts spoke of a feared police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The Associated Press news agency cited Bauchi state official Mohammed Maigari as saying sect members had gone on the rampage to demand the release of their leader. The sect leader had been arrested in connection with the killings of several Boko Haram members, AP reported.

Editorial: Mutallab effect as Nigerian Senate threatens to severe ties with America !

Posted by 9jabook.com on January 5, 2010 at 7:00pm

IS the Senate on DRUGS ? Is it now they want to defend the pride of the Nation ! No President,No Fuel , No Jobs ,Home Based Financial Terrorists going scot free from the system called Justice Come on ! Please America It is the Nigerian Senate that makes this threats NOT us The Masses of Nigeria, As controversy and anger continue to trail the listing of Nigeria as one of the 10 countries on the United States of America's top security watch list, the Senate has threatened to severe diplomatic relations with the country if by next week, it fails to remove Nigeria from the list of countries "of interest" for terrorism. The Senate said this through its spokesperson, Ayogu Eze. He told National Assembly reporters on Tuesday in Abuja, "We are very unhappy about the development and when we resume, we are going to take this matter very seriously if America has not taken Nigeria's name off that list." The U.S., through its Transport Security Administration (TSA), on Sunday announced the inclusion of Nigeria on the list of countries that are considered "of interest" (with regards to terrorism) based on its latest terrorism intelligence. Also included in the list with Nigeria are Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen. Mr. Eze, who told reporters that he was talking on behalf of the Senate president, said, "For them (America) to embarrass the entire country with this type of classification without justification is totally unacceptable. The American president himself clearly admitted that this was a failure of system and the manpower of Americans. I don't see how Nigerians come in there and moreover this is just one instance of a Nigerian who it is clearly established had no links with any fundamentalist group or any interest group within Nigeria, not even with his own parents." Failure of intelligence He added, "This was a boy whose disappearance was reported to the security agencies, the American authorities and all the relevant authorities; and America did nothing. For them to turn round and punish Nigerians for the sin of an isolated case like this is very unacceptable to the Nigerian government and unacceptable to the Nigerian Senate." He said the Senate has also watched with keen interest several other breaches that have taken place in the American system even before the alleged attempted terror attack by the Nigerian. He cited the issue of the uninvited guest who beat White House security to crash a party organised in honour of the Indian president. "That was not a Nigerian. Americans should look inwards and search their soul; something is wrong with their system and they should not punish ordinary Nigerians, who are very law-abiding and good international citizens for the failure and irresponsibility of American citizens. Nigeria will not take that." A word for America Mr. Eze offered an advice to the superpower, "We also want to advise America that it is in their own interest to ensure that they conduct this matter in a manner that will not result in a diplomatic row between America and Nigeria. It will be most unfair, given the kind of relationship that has existed between America and Nigeria for America to jump to this type of conclusion without even adequate consultation with all the authorities. This is not acceptable to us and we are going to do whatever we can as a nation to prove to America that we will not take this. This is not how diplomacy is conducted and we are going to engage all our diplomatic gears to ensure that we either have a relationship with America or we don't." It has been widely reported that since the December 25 incident involving a Nigerian, many Nigerians have been subjected to dehumanising treatments and body searches by American security officials. This, Mr. Eze observed, "Must be stopped immediately. Do they think America is the only country that has citizens the country is responsible to?" he asked. "We also have citizens and we are responsible for them and we will not wait and allow Nigerians to be molested wherever they go," Mr. Eze said. The listing of Nigeria in the ‘countries of interest list' means, all NIgerian passengers as well as those whose flights originate from Nigeria will be subjected to full body and hand luggage searches. Analysts have also said foreign investors are likely to be wary of investing in the country as a result of the listing.

Tiger Woods STILL Partying with Mistress Rachel Uchitel !

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on December 29, 2009 at 8:33am

Spotted Partying: Tiger Woods & Rachel Uchitel?! This is getting ridiculous.

We know Rachel Uchitel has been spending time lately in Palm Beach, Florida. We know Tiger Woods' yacht is docked in Palm Beach, Florida. We know someone supposedly spotted them together around said boat on December 23. All circumstantial evidence or hearsay, to be sure. But now Entertainment Tonight claims Tiger, who's gone AWOL since wrecking his car and reputation last month, was partying there last night - with mistress #1 in tow. Not that ET is gospel by any means, but we honestly wouldn't put this past Tiger, no matter how hard he is supposedly working to salvage his shattered marriage Is Rachel Uchitel still doing Tiger Woods? The entertainment site claims Rachel Uchitel was spotted holding hands with the world's #1 golfer and mingling with about 300 other partygoers Sunday night. The location? A private mansion in Palm Beach. Reports also surfaced that the couple partied together Saturday at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach. Would they really be able to without pics getting out? You wouldn't think so, but then again, you wouldn't think Tiger freaking Woods would have been juggling 11 mistresses (and counting), now would you? All we know is that if this is true, there must be something completely irresistable about Rachel Uchitel, because that chick wrecks homes like it's her job. Elin better ask for the yacht in the divorce

70-Year-old, 4 others nabbed with human skull

Posted by Jane Okinedo on January 13, 2010 at 8:28pm

70-Year-old, 4 others nabbed with human skullA70-year-old man and four others are now in police net in Ilorin, Kwara state capital for allegedly being in possession of human skull.They are Hassan Ajala, Ibrahim Adamu, Afisat Raji , Umaru Kure and Samuel Kure .THISDAY checks revealed that the suspects were arrested by men of the state police detectives at Igbonna town in Oyun local government council area of the state last Sunday.It was learnt that, one of the suspects, one Ibrahim Adamu, was said to have brought the skull to the old man allegedly for money-making charms.Sources close to the police detectives in Ilorin told our correspondent that the skull was discovered at the shop of the old man where he sells local gin and other assorted drinks to the members of the public in the town.Sources added that, following a tip-off in the town, members of the police detectives led by ASP Alaku Asiagu went to the house of the old man where he was arrested with the skull.THISDAY further gathered that upon interrogation by men of the state Police Command, the old man’s confession led to the arrest of three other people, Ibrahim Adamu, Afisat Raji , Umaru Kure and Samuel Kure .In an interview with newsmen yesterday at the state police command, the principal suspect, Ibrahim Adamu, confessed that he got the skull from a dead body at a river in Gwagwalada area of Abuja.He said he brought the skull to the old man to make money charms.The 70 year-old-man, Mr. Hassan Ajala, who denied being an herbalist but a farmer, confessed that the skull was brought to his shop by Ibrahim Adamu so as to make charms money for him.Contacted yesterday, State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Ezekiel Daboh, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent said the five suspects would soon appear in court after the police authorities complete investigation into their alleged roles in the matter.

Jay-Z, Alicia Keys Rock American Music Awards With 'Empire State Of Mind' Keys begins song with excerpt of 'New York, New York.'

Posted by NollywoodMohits on November 28, 2009 at 8:12pm

The #1 single in the country got a royal introduction Sunday night (November 22) at the American Music Awards. New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez had the honor of telling the audience that Jay-Z and Alicia Keys were taking the stage."It's been a great year for New York," A-Rod said. "We took the World Series ..."Some people in the audience started to boo — after all, the awards are taking place in Los Angeles, Dodger and Angel territory, and the Bronx Bombers defeated the Angels on their way to their World Series championship."I'm proud to present one of New York's finest, my friend Jay-Z and Alicia Keys."After the intro, Keys was on the main stage, accompanying herself on the piano while she sang "New York, New York," the classic made world-famous by Frank Sinatra.Meanwhile, the man who says he's the the modern-day version of Ol' Blue Eyes leaned on the piano, wearing a white tux jacket, black pants, a bow tie and sunglasses.After a few moments, the beat for "Empire State of Mind" kicked in and most of the audience rose to their feet. Mary J. Blige, Perez Hilton, Whitney Houston and many others were seen dancing in the audience. "Concrete jungle where dreams are made ..."Meanwhile, Jay remained as cool as family of polar bears, rapping most of the song with the mic in his right hand and his left in his pocket. "If Jeezy is paying LeBron, I'm paying Dwyane Wade."The words "New York" scrolled across screens on the stage, while a battery of men and women dressed in elegant finery played grand pianos. As the song came to an end, Alicia joined Jay at the front of the stage. She wore an all-black ensemble that revealed most of her back. As Keys hit the song's last notes, she threw up the "I love you" sign while Jay stood with both arms outstretched.

Woman caught with strange baby onboard Chanchangi flight 137 from Owerri to Lagos

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on January 3, 2010 at 9:08pm

A woman suspected to be a child-trafficker was yesterday caught in a Chanchangi flight 137 from Owerri to Lagos, by passengers who became suspicious when they noticed the lack of bonding and hostility of a five-month-old baby boy to the woman who was pretending to be its mother. The behaviour of the woman aroused suspicion of the passengers when she could not breastfeed the child or provide a feeding bottle which she was supposed to be feeding it with; rather, she tried to spoon-feed it amid the child's resistance, which heightened the passengers' suspicion that the child might have been stolen. According to eye-witness account, when the now infuriated passengers literally bombarded her with questions, she confessed that the baby was not hers and admitted that she was into child trafficking racket. “This baby was stolen by a woman who confessed openly she was into the racket and was identified by Chachangi airline officials. On landing, the woman further confessed she had a man as an accomplice but the man could not be found even after all the passengers had been identified”, an eye-witness told THISDAY. The flight left Owerri, Imo State at about 3.00 pm and landed at the new domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMA2, at about 4.00 pm. Spokesman of the airline, Ibrahim Adamu, confirmed the attempted kidnapping and according to the senior cabin crew on board the aircraft, Mr. Suma Inyang, the baby was crying profusely throughout the flight and after disembarkation, prompting the passengers to continue harassing the woman who later confessed to the crime. The baby, on arrival in Lagos, was handed over to a Chanchangi crew member, Anwal Rufai. But Adamu later explained to THISDAY, “A female lawyer from the United States wanted to adopt the child and asked the younger sister to bring the baby from Owerri to Lagos, but the girl did not know how to handle it and when she was arrested at arrival in Lagos, her sister came with all necessary adoption documents. The matter was handed over to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).” But the General Manager, Public Affairs, FAAN, Akin Olukunle could not confirm that the baby was handed over to the agency and the management of Bi-Courtney, the operators of MMA2 refused to comment on the matter as its head of communications, Olugbenga Adegbesan told THISDAY he was on leave.

Obafemi Martins 3Trillion Naira Jamboree Extravaganza Lifestyle

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on November 21, 2009 at 6:00am

It has been revealed how Super Eagles striker, Obafemi Martins, extranvagantly squandered about N3.1 trillions while a player of Newcastle.Martins

advertisementHis former management company, NVA Management Limited who has dragged the player to court over breach of contarct, told the jury how the player’s account almost went red because of his lifestyle.Obafemi Martins was paid £75,000, but allegedly squandered the earnings on an extravagant lifestyleA former Premiership footballer routinely blew his £75,000 a week wages in a matter of days and was constantly overdrawn, a court was told yesterday.Obafemi, ex-Newcastle striker 25, was paid the handsome salary after he joined the club for a £10million fee in August 2006.But despite his extraordinary earnings, his former management team yesterday claimed they repeatedly bailed him out after his bank account continually slipped into the red.The High Court heard that the Nigerian international player would withdraw £40,000 in cash from his bank account at the end of the week.But that would only last him two days, the court heard, as he topped up with a further £25,000 on the Monday morning.He was always overdrawn and repeatedly relied upon NVA Management Limited to ‘manage his life’, the High Court was told.Martins, who owned several fast cars including a top of the range Porsche 4X4, spent the money funding an extravagant lifestyle of luxurious penthouse homes and fine dining.

He is now being sued by his former management company which claims that he still owes them 300,000 for sorting out his finances.He told the court that Martins would withdraw £40,000 for the weekend, followed by another £25,000 on the Monday.‘Despite earning these vast sums of money he was constantly overdrawn,’ added Mr Tennink.He said the firm, which looks after the affairs of several footballers, film and music stars, said that Martins had agreed to pay them for simply managing his life.It was under their stewardship that Martins agreed a £2million image rights deal ‘simply for being Mr Martins’.It’s claimed Martins was constantly overdrawn despite earning £75,000-a-weekHe also had lucrative sponsorship deals with various companies including Pepsi and Nike but had not been paid.When the company stepped in to run his affairs they sorted the unpaid contracts, bringing in thousands of pounds.They also organised visas when he travelled to Italy, where he once played for Inter Milan, and sorted out his passport, his mortgage and property valuations.They even arranged critical illness cover and were constantly running up and down the motorway from their London offices to Newcastle in a bid to do all that he required.‘But surely these were things a secretary could do?’ asked Judge Richard Seymour QC, referring to the size of fees charged.‘It was a Jeeves-type of role that they performed.’Mr Tennink protested that managing every aspect of his life was just part of what they did, and asked the judge to bear in mind the sort of figures these players earned.He said Martins had come to them in July 2007 and had agreed a fee of around £300,000 plus 20 per cent of any sponsorship monies they managed to acquire on his behalf.“He asked for these services to be carried out,” Mr Tennink told the court.Before they managed his affairs, Martins had not been paid a penny for his image rights for the use of his name on Newcastle shirts and mugs and had received nothing from his sponsorship deals.He could not even find the contracts he had originally signed, Mr Tennink added.Martins paid the company £67,500 in January last year and another £25,000 in April last year.But the question for the court to decide, said Mr Tennink, was whether there was a ‘binding obligation’ for him to pay the outstanding bill of over £300,000.After Newcastle were relegated from the Premiership last summer Martins was sold for £9million to German Bundesliga Champions Wolfsburg.Martins, who once owned a penthouse apartment overlooking Newcastle’s exclusive Quayside, is fighting the claim.The hearing is scheduled to last for three days.

Calabar: Dog meat scramble as vehicle with 500dogs crashes

Posted by 9jabook.com on November 19, 2009 at 8:48pm

Warning some photos may not be pleasant to the eye . Scramble for 404 meat as vehicle with 500 dogs crashes When an articulated vehicle from the north loaded with about 500 dogs crashed at the main entrance to Calabar, residents of Ikot Effanga Mkpa gleefully helped themselves to free dog meat but the traders are still ruing the losses incurred. Dog meat is a delicacy in Calabar. It is eaten by both sexes and is easily used to woo a woman. But it is expensive as dogs are brought into the state from the northern parts of the country. The lorry was almost at its destination, when it was involved in an accident along the Murtala Mohammed Highway near the main gate of "Welcome To Calabar" and somersaulted, upturning the dogs on the road and killing 200, while others sustained life-threatening injuries.

Apart from the dogs, other passengers in the vehicle also sustained injuries in the accident believed to have been caused by loss of concentration by the driver who obviously was tired following the long journey. When the accident happened, the residents of the area and passerby were attracted to the scene only to have their attention diverted by the dead dogs by dragging them away as if in competition. Some ran home and came back for more. One of the passengers of the ill-fated lorry who simply identified himself as Bassey wondered why the accident should occur at the main gate to Calabar after travelling over 1000 kilometers from the north.

Mr. Bassey nevertheless thanked God that none of the passengers died in the accident like their cargoes and described the rush for body parts of the dead dogs by some of the onlookers as unsympathetic and unbecoming of the people of Calabar. ‘Don't eat dogs' But a medical doctor with the General Hospital Calabar, Edet O. Edet, said it was not hygienic for people to eat meat mangled as a result of accident and which flies had perched on for some hours. Though not a veterinary doctor, Mr. Edet explained that meat not from a slaughter house was not fit for human consumption as animals killed there are certified healthy for consumption before being killed. "In the first place, dogs ought not to be eaten," Mr. Edet said. "Have you seen a slaughter house for dogs? Besides, these dogs were caught from the northern parts of the country and taken to where they are considered a delicacy. And without any examination by a veterinary staff, they are slaughtered for human consumption", Mr. Edet said.

Mr. Edet added that dogs killed under such circumstances emit toxic chemicals that are harmful to human health and attributed the rush for dogs involved in a motor accident to poverty and called for a sensitization campaign on the effect of such meat. But opinion sampled from some residents of Calabar differed from that of the medical doctor. They said there was nothing harmful in dog meat as dogs are slaughtered unlike some animals that are strangled in the bush after being caught by the traps set for them. In the city, dog is carefully prepared and spiced with some vegetable that gives the meat a tempting aroma. In Calabar, it is common to see joints with sign boards reading: "Plantain plus 404 ready". This combination is washed down with palm wine.

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