NYSC forces pregnancy tests on members
One of the things that Lawal Taiwo (not real name) had to do when she reported at the camp for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Lagos State was to go for a pregnancy test. Ms. Taiwo, said the exercise, which is mandatory for female youth corps members, was characterised by coercion and neglect, especially as the test was process was conducted in the open.
"They (male corps members) had the opportunity to easily take a peep at all us undressing as the registration process was taking place in a hall right in front of the make-shift shed and all young ladies were forced to squat and urinate into small bottles," she said.
"Before being allowed to start the registration process, all females were requested to line up behind the lecture hall (in which the registration process was going on). I started queuing at about 8am but was unable to urinate due to the unhygienic and inadequate sanitary conditions. What awaited all females were three holes dug into the ground, merely covered up from one side by dirty mattresses." The National Youth Service Corps scheme, which was established in 1971 to unify Nigeria after the civil war, has run into several controversies. One of the more recent ones is the rule for conducting pregnancy test for female participants.
Anyone who refuse to go for the compulsory test or is found pregnant in the course of the test is summarily sent out of the camp.
Another female participant at the Lagos State camp, who spoke under anonymity, said the experience was the first time she had a pregnancy test.
"I have never taken a pregnancy test in my life and the memory of it will stay stuck in my mind forever," she said. "The test was conducted in such a disgusting condition. When a woman takes a pregnancy test, she should be able to do it in the privacy of her home,or in a decent clinic. Not in a field behind a campsite."
The tests were conducted all day.
They started the pregnancy tests early in the morning and would end each evening once registration was closed for the day. We would line up in the sun, just for the test," another lady who just passed out of the camp, Joyce Nweze said.
Joyce Madaki, the spokesperson for the Lagos State NYSC confirmed the test, but said she could not speak on it except with the directive of the state coordinator of the scheme.
"I will have to talk to the state director and if he asked me to grant an interview, then I will and if he said I shouldn't I will let you know, but just note I am not permitted to talk to the press on my own," she said.
Policy against women?
But women activists are not amused at this practice. The Executive Director of Project Alert, a group promoting rights of women, Joshepine Chukwuma said any test that is gender based is wrong.
"If pregnancy tests are conducted for women, then what would they now conduct for men? Such test were supposed to be conducted at one's will and not be forced and not under an unconducive environment." Anns Ajayi, a secondary school principal and self-proclaimed gender rights activist in Osun State said that, "It is all trash. Tell me what women have done again? I think the present NYSC director General should cover his face in shame and just resign. This has never been mentioned in the scheme and it was not part of the law that established it." Ms Taiwo, whose test came out negative, said she would not have participated in the process if not for the need to serve her fatherland.
"Though I understand pregnant women and especially nursing mothers not being allowed to serve during this period, I do not find it appropriate to force all prospective female corps members to be treated like animals, to have to pee on command and be harassed by NYSC officials," she said.
Missunderstood requirement
Going by Decree 24 of 1993, the requirement for participating in the scheme do not include any special gender test but a general medical test that was expected to be carried out by the participants's school or a military hospital.
A Millenium Development Goals instructor at one of the orientation camps, Felix Akinmejiwa said the tests were introduced for good reasons.
"The tests are necessary, not just the pregnancy test, but it matters the way it is conducted. I find it hard to believe that Lagos camp could have conducted theirs in such a dirty environment, I think there should be an investigation into this," he said.
"The truth still remains that some corps members lied about their status, and what they don't know is that it is all for their good. How would someone be pregnant and still be climbing ropes? I mean all their Para-military training? It is for their good."
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Posted by SULE BELLO on November 29, 2009 at 10:15pm
Six die at police check-point in DeltaBy Sola Adebayo, Warri, Published: Friday, 27 Nov 2009Tragedy struck in Delta State on Thursday as six persons were crushed to death at a police check point in Ebrumede community, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.The deceased, all women, were conveying palm oil to a market in Effurun, the headquarters of Uvwie LGA, before they were crushed to death by an oil trailer at the road block mounted by policemen attached to Ebrumede Police Station.It was learnt that the driver conveying the deceased on the ill-fated trip was engaging the policemen in a hot argument over a bribe demand before the trailer rammed into the bus.Consequently, the oil tanker with registration number XA 399 GNA smashed the bus with registration number AA 49 FST and killed all its occupants. The policemen fled the scene as the women groaned under the heavy impact of the accident.It took officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission and sympathisers over two hours to secure a pay loader to remove the oil tanker, which rested on the bus. Sympathisers cried uncontrollably as the mutilated remains of the deceased were eventually recovered and taken to the morgue of a government-owned hospital in Effurun.However, the driver of the bus, his lieutenant and another woman, who had seized the opportunity to ease herself in company with her baby, survived the tragic event.Blood, palm oil and the wreckage of the bus littered the scene as the rescue operation led to the closure of a portion of the East/West Road (Warri/Port Harcourt highway) by the FRSC.But the whereabouts of the driver of the oil tanker could not be ascertained on Thursday afternoon.In reaction, angry members of the public sacked the police station, a few minutes after the remains of the deceased were evacuated from the scene.It was, however, learnt that the police station was deserted before the protesters attacked it. The police station was eventually torched by the protesters.The authorities of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Restore Hope, later deployed soldiers and policemen in the area. Two Armoured Personnel Carriers attached to the JTF were also moved to the sacked police station.It was learnt that the Sector 1 Commander of JTF, Colonel Jamil Sarham, authorised the deployment of the troops and the APCs.The Sector Commander of FRSC in Delta State, Mr. Luka Ikpi, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with our correspondent.“A tanker fell on a bus; and from information available to us (FRSC), the six people in the bus died. All the six people are women. Three persons, made up of two men and one woman, were injured,” Ikpi said.The Commissioner of Police, Delta State Police Command, Mr. Yakubu Alhikali, declined to comment on the incident. He claimed to be in a meeting on the four occasions our correspondent contacted him on the phone.
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Furious reactions have trailed the reported pressure on the Vice President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, to sign an undated resignation letter in the event of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s inability to continue in office as a result of his health condition.
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Jonathan is reportedly under intense from some hawks in the Presidency said to have the backing of some key Northern politicians.
The plot was said to have been hatched to forestall a situation where the Presidency would return to the South just two years after another Southerner, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, left the office.
The Presidency has, however, described the alleged plot reported in a national newspaper yesterday as not only false, but also meant to cause panic and tension in the country.
Sunday Sun learnt yesterday that already tension is mounting in the Niger Delta, where Jonathan hails from, with the Ijaw nation warning that they would not “take lightly” any threat or pressure on Jonathan.
Coordinator of the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Comrade Joseph Evah, who spoke to Sunday Sun yesterday evening on the telephone, said the Ijaw nation is on the alert over the alleged plot.
Said Evah: “We (Ijaw nation) will not take lightly any threat to undermine Jonathan or his office. We have heard of the plot and we are watching the situation.
“We are particularly worried that the President’s aide presented the 2010 budget to the National Assembly while the Vice President is said to be in charge. We believe that is part of the plot and the Niger Delta is alert. There is a clique working against the Vice President and let us see how those plotting such evil will undermine the Constitution.
“We are not saying that Jonathan should take over, after all the President is not dead. Indeed, we are praying for Yar’Adua and the Ijaw nation and the whole of Niger Delta people do not wish him dead.
“But we are disturbed that this is happening again now that the President is ill. The other time the President traveled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, a group, Northern Liberation Front, vowed to resist any move for Jonathan to assume the presidency. It even threatened to give him the (MKO) Abiola treatment.
“Also, a PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) chieftain from the North, Godwin Daboh, had said the North would not accept Jonathan if anything happened to Yar’Adua. What did the SSS (State Security Service) do when these national security threats were issued? We believe they are agents of a clique trying to foment trouble in Nigeria, and this time around we will not take it lightly.
“Those around Jonathan, I mean his advisers and aides, must realize that he is not representing his family. He represents a region just like the President is representing the North. So his office is important to the Niger Delta and we will do everything to protect it otherwise our children in generations to come would ask us what we did when a Niger Deltan for the first time in the history of Nigeria occupied that office.”
Another group, United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), equally warned that the Niger Delta might secede over the plot against Jonathan.
UNDEDSS’ Secretary General, Mr Tony Uranta, in a terse statement issued yesterday via SMS, called on Nigerians to remain law abiding but warned against any action that would undermine the 1999 Constitution.
The statement read: “UNDEDSS is calling all Nigerians to remain law abiding as citizens under the 1999 Constitution. Should any section of the nation decide to overthrow due process, every other section should immediately withdraw from the nationhood space. God is just and rights must never be trifle with.”
The Presidency has however moved to douse the tension, saying there is no truth whatsoever in the report that Jonathan is under pressure to resign following the hospitalization of President Yar’Adua for acute pericarditis.
The Presidency described the report as not only false in its entirety, but also sheer mischief designed to create unnecessary panic and tension in the country.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Mr Ima Niboro, said in a statement made available to State House correspondents in Abuja yesterday that it was an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians, including the Vice President for anyone to come up with such a suggestion.
“The newspaper failed to state clearly who or what body was bringing this pressure to bear, but went ahead to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians, including the vice president himself by suggesting that Dr Jonathan is to be made to sign an undated letter of resignation... “which can become binding in the event that the president is unable to continue in office””, he further stated.
The vice president’s aide urged the public to discountenance the story, which, according to him, “dwells entirely in the imagination of its authors, their sponsors and co-travellers” and continue to support the Yar’Adua administration in its effort to reposition the country.
Niboro’s statement reads: “We have read with considerable dismay the story of The Punch published today, November 28, and wish to point out straightaway that it is false in its entirety, and designed to create unnecessary panic and tension in the country. This story, we must add, is sheer mischief, and dwells entirely in the imagination of its authors, their sponsors and co-travellers.
“For the benefit of those who did not read (the story), the newspaper in its lead story claimed that as a fallout of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s slight indisposition, which by the way has been blown out of all proportions in the media, Vice President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is under pressure to resign.
“The newspaper failed to state clearly who or what body was bringing this pressure to bear, but went ahead to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians, including the vice president himself, by suggesting that Dr Jonathan is to be made to sign an undated letter of resignation... “which can become binding in the event that the president is unable to continue in office.”
“…We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to continue to give support to the President Yar’Adua administration. As the vice president noted yesterday, and was widely reported in th
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By Victoria Osteen
Not long ago I was talking to a young lady who recently gave her heart to the Lord. She told me that her family wasn't sure about her new life of faith, and she was a little nervous about her trip to go visit them for the holidays. She was intimidated and didn't want to get into debates or arguments, and she just didn't know what to do or what to expect. I simply told her, "You don't have to be nervous to go see your family. You don't have to preach to them, just be the blessing God has called you to be.quot; I began to explain to her the principle that God's purpose for blessing us is so that we can be a blessing to others.
John 10:10 says that God wants you to have an abundant life. "Abundantquot; simply means "amply supplied.quot; God wants you to be amply supplied with everything you need so that you can reach out and be a blessing to others. That's His purpose in blessing us—so that we can be an example of His goodness to the people around us.
Remember, people respond differently when they know you have their best interest at heart. You'll have greater opportunity to speak into their lives when you encourage and lift them up. It's God's kindness that draws people to Him, not philosophical debates or arguments. As believers, our job is to show His kindness. So look for ways to be a blessing, and be an example of His amazing love!
Joel and I want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and a blessed holiday season. Remember that you are God's hands and feet in the earth. So take time for the people in your life and look for ways to reach out and be a blessing wherever you go!
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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.
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Jay-Z Becomes A Broadway Producer For 'Fela!'The rapper found the musical about the Nigerian Afrobeat legend 'fascinating.'NEW YORK — After having Los Angeles singing about their "Empire State of Mind" at the American Music Awards on Sunday, Jay-Z returned home on Monday evening to share in a different kind of celebration. Along with celebs like Ben Stiller, Harry Belafonte and Gayle King, Jay attended the Broadway opening of "Fela!," a musical celebrating the work of another great man, the late Nigerian superstar Fela Anikulapo Kuti.Jay said that he jumped onboard the project as a producer for its Broadway (along with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith) run because he was inspired by the power of Kuti's music and life story."It's an inspiration, about the power of music. Here's a guy that's on the other side of the world who was influenced by James Brown, who takes this thing and makes his own sort of genre of music," Hov told MTV News. "I just think it's fascinating.""Fela!" focuses on the life and music of the Afrobeat pioneer and political activist, who first broke out on the international scene in the 1970s. It was written by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones, who also choreographed the musical, and features Kuti's music, arranged and performed by members of the Brooklyn Afrobeat orchestra Antibalas.Jones, a world-renowned dancer and choreographer, said that musical wouldn't have been possible without another producer, Stephen Hendel."This was one man's dream, Stephen Hendel — a very sweet man who loved Fela's music and was determined it would be on Broadway," Jones said. "It was because of that one man's dream and love, something that I really appreciate and love and something that I know Fela stands for." Jones said that the music translates so well onto the stage because of its genius and uncontrollable energy."Fela's music is unwieldy, but it is brilliant and it is music that really wants groups of people to come together and enjoy."Jay-Z At The Opening Of 'Fela!'Jay-Z was one of those people who enjoyed Kuti's music. He became involved the play after seeing it during its Off-Broadway run. That might never have happened, however, without the prompting of another hip-hop heavyweight, ?uestlove of the Roots. ?uestlove attended a very early show and sent an e-mail blast declaring "Fela!" to be the best musical ever. Once he saw the play, he said he was instantly moved."Moved to the point that I blogged about it for hours, and then when the producers read my blog, they so graciously asked me to go out and bat for them and grab any of my friends that make over nine to 10 figures a year to come and lend their 'muscle,' " ?uestlove told us.For eight weeks, he begged people, bought tickets and even the balcony out, so that the message would get out there. Pointing to Jay, the drummer added, "As you can see, the right man finally came."
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Do we call Fred and Ibinabo the Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie of nollywood? Well,i dont know about this name but i am loving their beautiful daughter.Her daddy Fred is currently one of the dancers on nigeria's CELEBRITY TAKES2 dance competition and i pray he shuffles those Isoko feet very well so that he can win and take this little darling shopping for some beautiful christmas dresses,right? lol.i forgot to add that IB looks great!
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 27, 2009 at 9:06pm
World number one golfer Tiger Woods was seriously injured in a car accident on Friday, a Florida newspaper reported.
The Orlando Sentinel, citing the Florida Highway Patrol, said Woods' car struck a fire hydrant and a tree in Florida's Isleworth community, near Orlando.
Woods, 33, was transported to a hospital in Ocoee in serious condition, the newspaper said, citing the FHP.
Woods is one of the world's richest athletes, a leading force in sports marketing and the biggest draw on the PGA tour.
Woods made a triumphant comeback on the tour this year after sitting out much of the 2008 season following reconstructive knee surgery. He was operated on shortly after clinching his 14th major title, the 2008 U.S. Open.
He did not win a major title this year but had a successful year capped by winning the season-long FedEx Cup
More Reports coming in
We're now told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.
Tiger Woods did not suffer facial lacerations from a car accident. They were inflicted by his wife, Elin Nordegren -- according to a conversation Woods had Friday after the accident.
Tiger has yet to be formally interviewed by the Florida Highway Patrol -- that should happen this afternoon. But we're told Tiger had a conversation Friday -- with a non-law enforcement type -- detailing what went down before his Escalade hit a fire hydrant.
We're told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.
We're told Woods became "distracted," thought the vehicle was stopped, and looked to see what had happened. At that point the SUV hit the fire hydrant and then hit a tree.
We're also told Woods had said during the conversation Friday he had been taking prescription pain medication for an injury, which could explain why he seemed somewhat out of it at the scene.
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Posted by OBAJE AFREECA on November 26, 2009 at 9:37pm
The government is launching a campaign against domestic violence. But rap is responsible for many of these problems, and it can also supply the answer.By Ian DuntAfter months of planning and unprecedented consultation, the government released a new strategy to combat violence against women this morning. There is a wealth of different campaigns and programmes being launched but the headline is that schoolchildren will be educated against violence in their personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education classes. And that's about as much as I'll bore you with.The government will be competing for schoolchildren's hearts and minds with some pretty vocal advertising from the music industry. Officials, especially those working for women's minister Harriet Harman, have been shaken by survey findings which show a worrying level of acceptance of violence against women among teens. They won't be happy to discover, if they even have yet, that 'gash' is now the preferred term for women among many young people. So the new violence against women strategy starts with the kids and works from there.Their principle opponent in this respect comes from grime, hip-hop and garage music, among others, which constantly spout a different message. Swaggering, misogynistic and violent, it has children's ears in a way the government never will. How did it get like this?There are two factors. The first is that rap, coming primarily from poor African-American communities in the Bronx during the seventies, reflected the status of its creators. Men must be able to express their masculinity. We tend to do that by providing for those we love. When you subject a group to poverty you deny men that avenue, and they typically, but not always, revert to strictly physical ways of expressing their manliness. Fair enough. I'd probably do the same. This is a fairly typical response of impoverished communities and rap came from an impoverished community.But when it emerged, it was not entirely dominated by the brutal, shallow tendencies which define it now. By the late eighties, the biggest hip-hop names were Public Enemy and Run DMC. The former used to come on stage with a militia, the S1W's. They were a threatening site to white America. Which brings us on to our second factor. It was far better to have rappers talk about nonsense and money than the call-to-arms of intelligent, articulate black men like Chuck D.The establishment takes that which threatens it and turns it into a eunuch. It is too wise to ban it. Instead it retains its appearance, while gutting it of meaning. That's how feminism turned into Sex and the City, gay turned into camp, and black militancy turned into gangster rap.And so the gates were opened to something completely different. What passes for mainstream rap now is some of the most violent, misogynistic, homophobic garbage imaginable. It's startling that any record company is irresponsible enough to allow it out. Take 50 cent, a man who turned his violent past, and gun shot wounds, into his selling point. He's currently worth around $440 million, has a clothing line, a video game, and a movie career under his belt, along with his multi-platinum album.Through hip-hop, gang culture infected other forms of music, as well as clothes, celebrity and speech. If you want an explanation for all those worrying survey results of school children, look no further. It has infected America, fuelling gang warfare and a fake-masculinity which bases itself on abusing women and proving your strength. It has, gradually, come to contaminate grime ,Britain's hip-hop.Government sanctioned classes and publicity campaigns can't combat something so attractive to kids. So what will?Not, it goes without saying, Mary-Whitehouse-style censorship, which would be pointless and juvenile. But for one, we could start trying to tackle the underlying economic factors which provide the nutrients for gang culture's world-view and attitude. That's a tall order for any government and Labour is eminently incapable of achieving it. The party has assumed, for over a decade now, that comparative inequality is irrelevant as long as absolute inequality is being tackled. That betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the human condition. We assess ourselves by those around us. The gaping chasm between rich and poor has contributed to this malaise.For the less ambitious, there is another route: the emergence of a new generation of musicians, writers and artists with a fierce social conscience: people who look at the world around them and ask tough questions, people who don't just talk about money and cars and guns. There are UK grime stars out there now who started down this road, to minimal fanfare, years ago. I'm thinking primarily of the fierce, angry calls for social justice from Devlin's, or the cheeky, principled and patriotic Sway.We need more of them. One song of theirs is worth billions in government communications strategies. But they will face the same problems as their predecessors: they will be considered a threat to the establishment. That's because they are.
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HAS THE TITANIC Movie MET ITS MATCH ? Twilight Sequel : Have you Seen the Movie Twilight New Moon Currently Takingthe World by storm ! ?JOIN GROUP !Leonardo the Caprio made his Big Jump into the Movie Hall of Fame with his portrayal of the love crazy romance thathit the screens years back with kate winslet . Now there is a new Kid on the block and he is driving Teenagers especially girls WILD with his portrayal of another Love crazy romantic but this time a Vampire ! The Catholicpope's Vatican even suggested it be banned !http://tinyurl.com/PopeBansVampireWhat is his name ? Robert Pattinson ! see below for New Moon plot !T W I L I G H TShhh, can you hear that? What you're hearing is the collective shrieks from Twihards everywhere as The TwilightSaga: New Moon is upon us. For those of you asking yourself, what is a Twihard? I’ve included the definition below.twi-hard nounA serious/obsessive reader of the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, one leap above Twilighters.Are you a Twilight fan? Do you plan on seeing the movie? Let us know at 9j.a.bo.ok.com !Currently the Twilight Saga is all the rage, and seems to have taken over almost every aspect of social media. If9.you venture over to MySpace.com you’ll see that the homepage has been New Moonified. It should be noted that NewJ.Moon & MySpace seem to share the same demographic, Tweens... so it only makes sense to try and grab those pageviews.A.MySpace has been all about some New Moon here lately, as they just hosted an exclusive stream of the red carpetB.during the films premiere, which pulled in 3 million viewers. Did you watch any of the red carpet stream? Tell us.OOKOver on Twitter, Twilight holds 3 of the top 10 trending topics including the highly coveted top spot.YouTube is even trying to cash-in on the New Moon craze by adding a “Twihard” box atop their site that states thefollowing, "The world is gripped by Twilight mania these days and on YouTube that translates into videos thatcelebrate, discuss and even mock the cultural phenomenon."Like I said before, New Moon hits theatres today and is expected to make somewhere between 85 million – 100 milliondollars this weekend, and could possibly break some box office records when it’s all said and done. It’s alreadybroken the advance ticket sales record, previously held by Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. How much doyou think New Moon will make when it's all said and done? Tell us.It'll be interesting to compare New Moon's "social media status" against the next film in the saga when it hits thecinema around this same time next year, to see if it stil has the same amount of hype around it.Why do you think Twilight is such a huge success? Let us know your honest opinion.Twilight Book/Movie Summary9.Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy romance novels by American author Stephenie Meyer. J.It charts a period in the life of Isabella "Bella"A.Swan, a teenage girl who moves to Forks, Washington and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire B.named Edward Cullen. The series is told primarily fromO.Bella's point of view, with the epilogue of Eclipse and Part II of Breaking Dawn being told from the O.viewpoint of character Jacob Black, a werewolf. TheK.unpublished Midnight Sun is a retelling of the first book, Twilight, from Edward Cullen's point of view.Ever since the release of the first novel, Twilight, in 2005, the books have gained immense popularity and commercial success around the world. The series ismost popular among young adults; the four books have won multiple awards, most notably the 2008 British Book Award for "Children's Book of the Year" forBreaking Dawn,[1] while the series as a whole won the 2009 Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Book.[2]As of November 2009, the series has sold over 85 million copies worldwide[3] with translations into at least 38 different languages around the globe.[4][5]The four Twilight books have consecutively set records as the biggest selling novels of 2008 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list[6] and have spent over235 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Series Books.[3]Thus far, the first three books are being made into a series of motion pictures by Summit Entertainment; the film adaptation of Twilight was released in 2008and the second, New Moon, was released on November 20, 2009.[7] The third film, Eclipse, is set to be released June 30, 2010.NEw Moon PlotOn her 18th birthday, Bella Swan wakes up from a dream in which she sees herself as an old woman. She expresses her distaste with growing older than herboyfriend Edward Cullen, a vampire who stopped aging at 17. Edward's family throws Bella a birthday party. While unwrapping a gift, Bella gets a paper cut,which causes Edward's adoptive brother, Jasper, to be overwhelmed by her blood's scent and attempt to kill her. Realizing the danger he and his family poseto Bella, Edward decides to end their relationship, and the Cullens move away from Forks, Washington.Edward's departure leaves Bella heartbroken and depressed for months. However, when her father, Charlie, attempts to send her to live with her mother, Bella Twilight Trailer agrees to spend time with her friends. After seeing a movie with Jessica, Bella sees a group of men who remind her of a time when Edward rescued herpreviously, and she is surprised to see a vision of Edward warning her against approaching them. Bella discovers that all thrill-seeking activities grant hervisions of Edward. She also finds comfort in her deepening friendship with Jacob Black, a cheerful companion who eases her pain over losing Edward. WhenJacob is unable to see Bella for weeks, she discovers that he is a werewolf, an age-old enemy of vampires. Jacob's pack members are on constant patrol forVictoria, a vampire searching to kill Bella, leaving Jacob little time to spend with Bella. Alone, Bella returns to seeking thrill-inducing activities.A series of miscommunications leads Edward to believe that Bella has killed herself while cliff-diving. Distraught over her supposed suicide, Edward flees toItaly to provoke the Volturi, a powerful coven of vampires who are capable of killing him. Alice, Edward's adoptive sister, and Bella rush to Italy to save advertise on 9j.a.book.comEdward, and arrive just in time to stop him. However, the Volturi decide that Bella, a human who knows that vampires exist, must either be killed ortransformed into a vampire herself. Alice stops them from killing her by showing them a vision of the future in which Bella has been transformed. Once theyreturn home to Forks, Edward tells Bella that he has always loved her and only left town to protect her. She forgives him, and the Cullens vote in favor ofBella being transformed into a vampire, to Edward and Jacob's dismay. Edward gives Bella a choice: either she lets Alice change her after their graduation,or, if Bella agrees to marry him, he will change her himself. However, Jacob reminds them of a treaty the Cullens have made with the werewolves: they willnot attack each other, as long as the Cullens never bite a human.ADVERTISEMENTS ! ADVERTISE ON 9JABOOKRead more…
The nation marked its 49th Independence anniversary last month with many Nigerians expressing happiness that despite the various problems plaguing the country, it is still one indivisible entity.However, many are not losing sight of the prediction by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that Nigeria could break up in 2015. The CIA had, in 2005, declared that Nigeria could break up in 15 years time. Between 2005 and today, many things have happened in Nigeria to cause much apprehension.It was gathered that the CIA, in making the declaration, had intelligence report on some activities capable of undermining the sovereignty of the country. Some of these predictions have manifested, forcing some people to take the CIA position seriously.Earlier in the year, the Federal Government warned that the foreign reserve would nose-dive with damning consequences if Nigerians failed as a nation to appreciate the impact of the global economic meltdown on the country's economy and re-order their priorities.Accordingly, a bleak future awaits the nation unless a major drastic measure is taken to address the economic crisis.The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chief Achike Udenwa, was reported to have made this disclosure in Abuja.Udenwa expressed fear that Nigeria would be caught napping along the line because as a nation, Nigerians had failed to appreciate the body language in the oil sector and how it would affect the country.(Article extracted from The Compass: http://www.compassnews.net/Ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32025:nigerias-economy-it-is-all-doom-and-gloom&catid=42:commune&Itemid=796)See Wikipedia's indicators of a "Failed State" :Social indicators1. Demographic pressures: including the pressures deriving from high population density relative to food supply and other life-sustaining resources. The pressure from a population's settlement patterns and physical settings, including border disputes, ownership or occupancy of land, access to transportation outlets, control of religious or historical sites, and proximity to environmental hazards.[5]2. Massive movement of refugees and internally displaced peoples: forced uprooting of large communities as a result of random or targeted violence and/or repression, causing food shortages, disease, lack of clean water, land competition, and turmoil that can spiral into larger humanitarian and security problems, both within and between countries.[6]3. Legacy of vengeance-seeking group grievance: based on recent or past injustices, which could date back centuries. Including atrocities committed with impunity against communal groups and/or specific groups singled out by state authorities, or by dominant groups, for persecution or repression. Institutionalized political exclusion. Public scapegoating of groups believed to have acquired wealth, status or power as evidenced in the emergence of "hate" radio, pamphleteering and stereotypical or nationalistic political rhetoric.[7]4. Chronic and sustained human flight: both the "brain drain" of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents and voluntary emigration of "the middle class." Growth of exile/expat communities are also used as part of this indicator.[8]Economic indicators5. Uneven economic development along group lines: determined by group-based inequality, or perceived inequality, in education, jobs, and economic status. Also measured by group-based poverty levels, infant mortality rates, education levels.[9]6. Sharp and/or severe economic decline: measured by a progressive economic decline of the society as a whole (using: per capita income, GNP, debt, child mortality rates, poverty levels, business failures.) A sudden drop in commodity prices, trade revenue, foreign investment or debt payments. Collapse or devaluation of the national currency and a growth of hidden economies, including the drug trade, smuggling, and capital flight. Failure of the state to pay salaries of government employees and armed forces or to meet other financial obligations to its citizens, such as pension payments.[10]Political indicators7. Criminalization and/or delegitimisation of the state: endemic corruption or profiteering by ruling elites and resistance to transparency, accountability and political representation. Includes any widespread loss of popular confidence in state institutions and processes.[11]8. Progressive deterioration of public services: a disappearance of basic state functions that serve the people, including failure to protect citizens from terrorism and violence and to provide essential services, such as health, education, sanitation, public transportation. Also using the state apparatus for agencies that serve the ruling elites, such as the security forces, presidential staff, central bank, diplomatic service, customs and collection agencies.[12]9. Widespread violation of human rights: an emergence of authoritarian, dictatorial or military rule in which constitutional and democratic institutions and processes are suspended or manipulated. Outbreaks of politically inspired (as opposed to criminal) violence against innocent civilians. A rising number of political prisoners or dissidents who are denied due process consistent with international norms and practices. Any widespread abuse of legal, political and social rights, including those of individuals, groups or cultural institutions (e.g., harassment of the press, politicization of the judiciary, internal use of military for political ends, public repression of political opponents, religious or cultural persecution.)[13]10. Security apparatus as ‘state within a state’: an emergence of elite or praetorian guards that operate with impunity. Emergence of state-sponsored or state-supported private militias that terrorize political opponents, suspected "enemies," or civilians seen to be sympathetic to the opposition. An "army within an army" that serves the interests of the dominant military or political clique. Emergence of rival militias, guerilla forces or private armies in an armed struggle or protracted violent campaigns against state security forces.[14]11. Rise of factionalised elites: a fragmentation of ruling elites and state institutions along group lines. Use of aggressive nationalistic rhetoric by ruling elites, especially destructive forms of communal irredentism (e.g., "Greater Serbia") or communal solidarity (e.g., "ethnic cleansing", "defending the faith").[15]12. Intervention of other states or external factors: military or Para-military engagement in the internal affairs of the state at risk by outside armies, states, identity groups or entities that affect the internal balance of power or resolution of the conflict. Intervention by donors, especially if there is a tendency towards over-dependence on foreign aid or peacekeeping missions.[16]Updated 2 minutes ago · Comment · LikeUnlikeWrite a comment...
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 25, 2009 at 5:06am
DO Nigerians deserve the kind of leaders they have? Can Nigerian leaders offer the kind of leadership that will lift the country from the shackles of corruption? Can Nigerians develop the culture that abhors corruption? Can Nigerian leaders toe the path that has transformed a poor nation like Malaysia into an Asian Tiger?
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These are some of the questions that agitated many minds yesterday at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos. The event was the 11th session of the Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Lecture Series.
This edition's lecture: "Incorruptibility: A spiritual premise for material well-being", was delivered by Mahathir Bin Mohamad who was Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003.
Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who was drafted to replace former Director-General of the NIIA and Ambassador to the United States (U.S.), Prof. George Obiozor, said he was elected Secretary-General during the reign of Mohamad. He hailed him as one of the best leaders in the world.
Guest of Honour, and former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, who also said that he had a lot to learn from Mohamad "which is why I flew in from China," said that the nations of the world are in adversity and facing various challenges. One of the challenges, he said, is the global financial crisis, which has humbled many people and nations. He said that the crisis was not yet over.
According to him, "there is the issue of water, food, energy, security" but the good thing, he pointed out, is that the world is coming together and the "solution lies in the home-grown ideologies. Leaders of nations must develop the roadmap and lead the people out of adversities."
He noted further that terrorism remains an issue just like nuclear proliferation. He, however, said that the absence of interfaith harmony has led to some crisis. "We need to promote peace and harmony," he said.
Stressing the importance of leadership and governance, Aziz noted: "We have good politicians but good leaders who can change the world are in short supply in the world today."
On the battle Pakistan waged against corruption in his era, he said: "Corruption is endemic in the world and no country is immune. In Pakistan, to fight corruption in the civil service, we had to deregulate, liberalise, privatise and reduce state involvement and involve the private sector. But the state did not abandon the development and provision of infrastructure. Reforms were embarked upon."
In his lecture, Mohamad dwelt on the sub-themes of leadership, governance and corruption. Listing the ideals of a good leader, he stated that a leader must be learned and well trained; have ideas far above those who work with him; he must be prepared to carry out what he preaches; he must be brave, disciplined; and capable of fighting his base inclinations. He must show a willingness to listen to everyone in and outside his cabinet and government. He must make up for his lack of knowledge with his readiness to listen and learn; he must not listen to only his officials as because they are more likely to be sycophants. He must have good lieutenants and with a good team in place, he is capable of leading a state.
Drawing a parallel between a good leader and a company's Chief Executive Officer, he said that a leader must be in a position to gather information on the assets and liabilities of the nation in all spheres; he must then set realistic targets, taking into consideration the abilities and potentials of the nation.
Mohamad added it was very important that every nation and leader find a model for its development. For developing nations, he said that the models would be recently-developed countries and not countries that developed under circumstances that are not applicable today. In this instance, he pointed out that no nation would adopt the model of the older nations that profited from colonialism.
He said: "It is better to adopt a model than striking out on your own with untested models. It's up to a politician to choose the best model; a good leader must make the best of any model."
According to him, a good leader must be decisive because "nothing is as debilitating as indecision. He must quit when he fails and nothing is shameful about quitting but a lot is wrong if he fails and stays. He needs almost superhuman skills; he needs not just to survive but also to manage things well."
He admitted that "it is obvious that such a man cannot be readily found."
Corruption, he said, is endemic; no country in the world is exempted. It is in the private sector, but if it is in the public sector that it is really bad. Many ways have been tried to stop corruption; many laws have been passed, anti-corruption agencies set but the results have remained dismal.
"Some people have suggested that it is a way of life and there have been going rates for specific favours. It is the bane of governments and countries.
"The reputation of the country is affected, undermining the development of infrastructure, investors stay away, causing unemployment and other social ills.
"Corruption is a function of the culture of the people; it is their value system."
And on how to stop corruption he said that, "every nation has to develop a culture that rejects corruption at home and in the schools." He said that the Japanese have a "culture that allows them to commit suicide, hara-kiri, when they do what is wrong."
Stressing that a sense of shame is perhaps the most important value, he said that, "the fear of being shamed makes the Japanese do the right thing. They commit suicide or resign or return their loot when they are exposed."
Every leader should develop a sense of discipline to reject what does not legitimately belong to him; he must reject corruption so that he will be respected and he will be listened to. There is need to have an incorruptible leader. Even in a clean society, once a leader is corrupt, everything else becomes dirty.
He said that individuals have a role in ensuring that corruption ceases by voting in those who are not corrupt.
"If people elect corrupt people into government, they don't have to complain about their actions. It is them who will decide whether they get good people or not. The government reflects the culture of the people."
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) who was represented by the state's Solicitor-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), on his part, declared: "Let me further assure you that on the level of good governance, we are not about to fail in Lagos. Nigeria shall overcome its problems in the same manner that Malaysia overcame hers."
A member of the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, Miss Peace Osigwe-Anyiam said: "Corruption is actually one of the big issues in Nigeria right now and the continent in general... It became an issue because if we want the growth of the nation, we must deal with corruption at all levels and I guess one of the people who can talk about this issue is Muktar who did marvelous things for Malaysia and the country is one of the leading countries in the world today.
"There are people who are not corrupt; we are not all corrupt, it is just a few people that give us a bad name. We cannot generalise on a nation of 140 million people."
In his own address, former Nigerian Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme said: "During my presidential campaign in 1998/99, I used to say that my goal was to transform Nigeria from a third world country in the same way that Mahathir Bin Mohamad did in Malaysia. He is someone I have always admired and I was not surprised with his lecture. He spoke very frankly and I am sure that we have benefited from his frankness."
The former Prime Minister of Malaysia is credited with being the figure behind transformation of Malaysia from a developing nation to a developed economy and prosperity.
It was not quite a gathering of government officials; it was more a gathering of the diplomatic corps and corporate chieftains. The only government presence on the high table was Governor Fashola who was represented by the state's solicitor-general.
Other guests were Alex Ekwueme; Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo, one-time Minister of Information, Chief Nnia Nwodo; Dr. Gamaliel Onosode; former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Chief John Edozie; Executive Director of Ibru Organisations, Olorogun Oskar Ibru; university dons, some members of the religious community and traditional rulers.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 25, 2009 at 5:04am
Glo to launch broadband access service
A brand new revolution is in the offing in the Nigerian telecommunications industry as Globacom is now set to launch its Glo Broad Access service, which offers the convergence of advanced voice, advanced data and advanced video on one single wired line.
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With the introduction of this new service, Glo will be bringing Nigeria closer to the advanced nations that have long enjoyed the benefits of broadband services which include convergence, high speed internet and video and television on demand at very low cost.
The new service is expected to have a significant impact on the way Nigerians work, conduct business, pursue their education, obtain information and get entertained as it will allow subscribers to use the same dedicated Glo fixed line in their homes and offices for voice call, internet connection, video conferencing and cable television.
Glo Broad Access is anchored on Globacom’s state-of-the-art optical fibre cable (OFC) that connects over 40 cities in Nigeria and is reputed to be the largest OFC network not just in Nigeria but in Africa.
This network will enable users of Glo Broad Access to harness the power of instant connectivity, congestion-free traffic and high capacity for enormous volumes of voice, data and video as well as economy and affordability, which will lead to the overall economic development of the nation.
According to the Group Chief Operating Officer, Globacom, Mohamed Jameel, the service offerings from Glo Broad Access include landline telephony on IP/MPLS-enabled optic fibre for distortion-free clarity, 24/7 connectivity and stability of connection at a price that will put smiles on the faces of Nigerians.
“Apart from its affordability, the phone lines will also provide value-added services such as three-party conference call, alarm clock, call waiting and diversion, caller identity recognition (CLIR) and a host of other exciting features.
“The Glo prepaid fixed lines can be recharged using normal Glo mobile recharge cards which are available at Gloworld shops and almost at every street corner,” he said.
Jameel stated that other packages included in the service are video conferencing, which would help to reduce travel and thus enhance enterprise productivity, fast broadband internet which allows for interactive gaming, video streaming, high speed downloads and simultaneous ‘Talk & Surf’ on the connection.
“Glo Broad Access will also offer consumers their favourite local and foreign cable TV channels subject to agreement with broadcast right owners, using the same magical digital wire or dedicated Glo fixed line,” he said.
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Facts available to huhuonline revealed that the marriage of top actor, Femi Adebayo and his Kahdijat Bukola has hit the brick wall.The blissful marriage of the couple began to experience turbulent several months ago.After several reports made the rounds that the actor has been involved in secret affairs with the leading actress who featured prominently in the Yoruba movie Jenifa (a village prostitute who got admission to the University in the City) 1 and 2, Funke Akindele. Femi Adebayo is the son to the ace actor Adebayo Salami (Oga-Bello) who was formerly the Association of Nigeria Theatre Arts Practitioners (ANTP) national President.Before things finally degenerated to this level, there have been several reports making rounds about how Femi sent Khadijat packing with three children after several efforts by and concerned friends and relatives to reconcile the embattled couple failed. Khadijat now presently live with her parents at Ikpe road, GRA Area, Offa, and Kwara State. The University of Ilorin Graduate of Computer Science huhuonline gathered has been abandoned and left to cater for three kids. The embattled woman also has to face the reality of getting a job for the upkeep of the children, unlike when she lived happily with her husband as a full house wife, to take proper care of the kids.A source further hinted huhuonline that several efforts made by Khadijat to be reconciled with her husband have yielded no result. There were situations she sent text messages to Femi about the crises in their marriage and he need to make up a couple. Such text messages a source informed are forwarded to by Femi to the mobile number of his father, Chief Adebayo Salami, which one way or the other always gets to other members of the Adebayo’s family, Khadijat’s family, we discovered, has not been happy with Femi’s father and mother the way they have handled the crises between the couple. They believe Oga Bello as an authority in the Nigeria movie industry should have called both his son Femi and Funke to order, rather than watch them, a situation that has adversely affected the marriage which has resulted in constant feature in the media, leading to an eventual crash. This ugly trend has caused more damage than truth. On his part Oga Bello has denied any knowledge of the relationship between and Funke. He said he’s not aware that his son, Femi is having an affair with Funke Akindele.Before this whole issue finally degenerated to its present state, Oga Bello earlier spoke, saying that only Femi and Funke can clear the on their relationship. He said: Everybody is entitled to his own opinion. Only Femi and Funke can talk better on that. I am their father in the industry.’’ Another Nollywood source of the Yoruba genre said these days, Funke has become the toast in Adebayo’s household. The source disclosed:‘ ‘Funke has played herself to be a very important to all members of Femi Adebayo’s family. They are involved in the production of her movies. Apart from that, she visits them at their Ikorodu, Lagos home regularly. ’’It was further gathered that Khadijat recently drank a toxic substance believed to be poison as a result of frustrations when the heat became seemingly unbearable for her sometime in September 2009. She was then taken to an undisclosed hospital. The crack in the matrimony became more obvious when Femi was spotted lodging at a popular hotel in Ibadan, with reports getting to wife that her husband was sighted at some fun spots with his new love Funke Akindele. Femi and Khadijat started well while dating; they were University of Ilorin students. Then, Femi was studying Law, which the soft spoken devoted Muslim studied Computer Science. It was gathered that the fact that Femi was Khadijat’s first love has made it difficult task for her to live without him. When the going was good, Femi apart from being an actor and a caring father also had a thriving Law office where he handled a few legal matters on properties and importation, while Khadijat kept the homefront going, taking care of the kids. Meanwhile, the relationship between Femi and Funke has continued to raise a lot of reactions amongst actors and actresses who are privy to how the two love birds relate on movie locations, and there have also been several situations when Funke had challenged some actresses who are close to Femi and who she often threaten to deal with.However, with disturbing stories like this, one would simply say most Nigerian actors and actress lack character and dignity and they stand in contrary to what their profession stands for (correction of societal ills). Incessant stories of spousal abuse, divorce, recklessness etc are often emanating from their end. It would be recalled that the circumstances surrounding the death of Monsurat Omidina (Omoladun_Kenkelewu) was also entangled with strands of protracted arguments and beating by Tunde Omidina (Babasuwe) her husband which arguably led to the death of Moladun. Also Lilian Bach was enmeshed in a husband snatching scandal recently. In another development Ronke Ojo (a.k.a. Oshodi-Oke) who got married to Sylvester Omogbolahan Anthony (an auto dealer) on January 24, 2009, also witnessed a crumbled marriage in October 2009, with the husband giving reason for the separation on grounds of infidelity; this is one too many.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 23, 2009 at 8:30am
By Felix Onuah
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua will travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday for medical checks, his office said.
"President Umaru Yar'Adua will leave Abuja today for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While there, the president will call on his personal physicians in Jeddah for follow-up medical checks," presidency spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi said in a statement.
Yar'Adua has travelled to Saudi Arabia in the past for treatment for a chronic kidney problem, raising questions about whether he will be fit enough to stand for a second term in 2011 elections.
Adeniyi said Yar'Adua had forwarded copies of the 2010 budget, which he had been due to present to parliament last week, to the heads of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The presentation of the spending plans for sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy was postponed because of a row between the two chambers of parliament over which one should host the event.
Government sources have said Yar'Adua will seek approval to breach a 3 percent deficit target for the second year in a row in 2010, due to the cost of development projects in the Niger Delta and rehabilitating the country's ailing power sector.
Yar'Adua has had regular medical treatment in Germany and Saudi Arabia and his health was a source of concern even before he assumed the presidency.
He has not yet confirmed whether he plans to stand again in presidential election in 2011 but key figures in the ruling party have pledged their support if he decides to do so.
FROM Saharareporters
It was gathered that sickly Nigerian ruler, Umaru Yar’adua, is due to be flown out today or early tomorrow for what our source described as “urgent medical treatment.”
As at the time we were briefed, the source said insiders close to Yar'adua said the sick former governor of Katsina would be taken to a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Our source said that Yar’adua’s father-in-law is also in an Egyptian hospital. “The president’s medical trip is scheduled to last at least one week,” said the source, adding that Yar'adua “may offer the excuse that he would be visiting his father-in-law in Egypt and that his wife would attend this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia as the excuse for the trip.”
Mr. Yar’adua suffers from Churg Strauss syndrome, a degenerative disease. Our source said Yar’adua’s health dipped in the last three weeks. Poor health explained his conspicuous absence at the Abuja stadium during the final game of the FIFA Under-17 football game that featured Nigeria and Switzerland. “Vice President” Goodluck Jonathan stood in for him.
Saharareporters sources also said Yar’adua had only managed to meet with cabinet members at his official residence in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. “His health took a turn for the worse over the weekend,” said one source. “His doctors have advised that he undertake immediate medical treatment outside Nigeria,” the source added. Yar'adua maintains a retinue of expatriate medical personnel at his residence and office. He travels with two well-equipped ambulances everywhere he goes in Nigeria. Another source Yar’adua’s inability to present the annual budget last week at the National Assembly was actually due to his illness. “The so-called ‘crisis’ between the two chambers of the National Assembly was contrived to cover up Yar'adua's illness,” said the source.
In an intriguing move, Yar’adua’s People's Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday issued a stunning press release to denounce those campaigning for Yar'adua's second term in office. The party said it has not made such decision.
Meanwhile, several sources have told Saharareporters that some PDP crooks, including rogue Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa and former Delta State governor James Ibori, have been assuring Yar’adua’s wife, Turai, that they are capable of arranging for her to serve out the remainder of her husband’s tenure should Mr. Yar’adua die or become permanently incapacitate
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Rivers: Gunmen in police uniform kill Gov’s aide
Rivers State on Saturday woke to mourn the killing of an aide to Governor Rotimi Amaechi and a former member of the state House of Assembly, Charles Nsiegbe, by unknown gunmen who wore police uniforms.
Nsiegbe who until his death was a member of the state‘s Bureau of Public Procurement was reportedly gunned down on Friday night at Tombia Street extension of the Government Reservation Area of Port Harcourt by men who flagged down his car as he travelled in company with some male associates.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Rita Inoma-Abbey, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent said only one gunman in “mobile police uniform,” shot at the former lawmaker.
Our correspondent gathered that Nsiegbe, who was an official of the State Security Service before his election into the House of Assembly, was shot severally on the chest and legs immediately he came out of his car and attempted to open the boot.
The assassins were also said to have kept shooting at the deceased as they moved towards their waiting car just to make sure he did not survive the attack.
But it was disclosed that no shot was fired at the associate whose name could not be determined.
According to sources, security agencies in the state were said to be working on the theory of assassination as the gunmen did not remove anything from the car of the man and his associate.
Nsiegbe was said to have been quickly rushed by his associate and sympathisers to Teme Clinic in the state capital where he died.
The police, our correspondent reported, had moved the victim‘s car to the Rivers State‘s Criminal Investigation Department in Port Harcourt and arrested the associate who was interrogated and detained at the SCID for further investigations.
Inoma-Abbey assured that the perpetrators would be arrested and prosecuted to serve as warning to others.
She pleaded with members of the public for “prompt and accurate” information that could lead to the arrest of the killer.
Amaechi, who expressed shock at the killing, said the incident was sad and very unfortunate.
The Governor who spoke through his Acting Chief Press Secretary, Blessing Wikina, stated that the ugly incident happened when the governments to tap from the experiences of committee persons like Nsiegbe, to move the state forward.
The governor asked the security agencies to get to the root of the killing, stressing that the death was unexpected at this crucial period when people of the Niger Delta, especially the youths, agreed that they would no longer be involved in criminality, thereby embracing amnesty.
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Nemesis has caught up with Rabi Haladu of Magami village in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara state after killing her husband on Sunday, November 8, 2009 in their matrimonial home.The deceased, Malam Haladu Mikailu, 35, lost his life as a result of a misunderstandig that occurred between the couple over a N100 loan he reportedly requested the wife to grant him for the purchase of a Hausa traditional salt called Balma usually given to livestock.Eyewitness told this reporter that the genesis of the crisis was that, the late husband had requested the wife to grant him the loan to buy the ‘salt’ which she refused.Consequently, our sources said, the husband had allegedly thereafter pounced on her for her refusal to grant him the loan, as a result of which she got hold of his genitals which led to his being in a comma and ultimately death on the spot.According to our sources, late Haladu could not be even be saved by neighbours who rushed to the scene of the episode after hearing him screaming for help.He was later rushed to Gusau Federal Medical Centre where he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor.The wife of the deceased is now in police custody at the state CID Gusau facing criminal charge of culpable homicide punishable with death under Section 221 of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria.The state commissioner of police, Alhaji M.J. Abubakar fwc, has meanwhile, directed the CID to conduct discreet investigation into the matter.Alhaji Abubakar said as soon as the command concludes investigation, the culprit would be arraigned before the court of law.The CP said the case-file will be sent to the state ministry of justice for vetting and legal advice.Already, the remains of Malam Haladu have been buried according to Islamic rites. He is survived by his aggrieved wife and an eight months old pregnancy.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on November 22, 2009 at 7:46pm
If Mrs. Ekwunife L. Akabogu failed in her duties as a Priority Sales Support Officer for Skye Bank Plc, it was not for lack of effort. But if anything, she indeed succeeded in her new found role of hell-raiser with a sexual harassment and exploitation lawsuit against her former employers that have been giving the management of Skye Bank Plc white nights, as they grapple with damage control over what now seems to be a public relations disaster for the bank.
Love or hate her, there is no denying that her story exposes the hellacious ordeal of several Nigerian women who are coerced into engaging in shameful dehumanizing sexual escapades in a desperate effort to break the glass ceiling to meet unrealistic goals and expectations set for them by heartless mean-spirited men without any moral scruples.
The facts of her story as contained in her lawsuit against Skye bank Plc make for interesting reading, but she is not alone. Mrs. Akabogu is amongst the hundreds of thousands of Nigerian women who face workplace discrimination and harassment simply because they refuse to put their bodies at the disposal of their employers.
Imagine hiring someone simply because you intend to exploit her physical attributes in your unbridled quest for financial gain. If this sounds familiar, then consider a married woman, who is being pressured to employ her “bottom power” to rein in big clients like contractors and politicians for Skye Bank Plc. She is seeking N1 billion in general and punitive damages from Skye bank and some of its top executives who are named as co-defendants in the suit.
The end justifies the means, some might say, but not when an institution like a bank; in this case Skye Bank is so desperate to build its market share, to the extent that it should be indulging in such unorthodox and perverted practices.Upon being hired as Priority Sales Support Officer for Skye Bank Plc, in May 2009, Mrs. Akabogu was posted to the Enugu branch, ostensibly on a six-month internship.
Because the terms of her job description were vague and ambiguous, the bank sought to use her as a sex bait for its potential high value clients like local PDP bigwig, Chief Christian Uba, who was on the bank’s radar screens as a potential target. It did not help that Mrs. Akabogu had a personal relationship with the said Chief Uba which Skye Bank attempted to exploit in their grand scheme of “capturing” the man at all cost, including forcing Mrs. Akabogu into bed with him, in a quid pro quo arrangement involving sexual patronage by Mrs. Akabogu that will open the door for Chief Uba to become a Skye Bank client.
The Skye bank retaliation was predictable when Mrs. Akabogu rejected the indecent proposal by her boss. She was relegated to a more inconsequential position within the bank, where she was maligned and sidelined and treated with scorn and subjected to all kinds of humiliation from her superiors and co-workers, simply because she stuck her guns and upheld her dignity.
Even though she had succeeded in bringing in sixteen new genuine clients worth an estimated N6 million, management of these accounts were assigned to other colleagues and she was given no credit for her efforts. As if that was not enough, she was denied even the basic requisite facilities to effectively carry out her duties – no office; no work station; no computer; no vehicle and was permanently under stress and pressure, as he bosses missed no opportunity to remind her that she was an under-achiever, who was virtually on her way out of the job for failing to do what is expected of her.
According to Skye Bank policy, Mrs. Akabogu’s refusal to exchange sexual favors to meet the bank’s target client benchmarks was seen as an act of betrayal by Mrs. Akabogu, whose decision to uphold her matrimonial vows was viewed as an act of disloyalty by the Skye bank hierarchy. The message Skye bank was sending to Mrs. Akabogu as clear: he who pays the piper calls the tune and if you want to work here, better play by our rules or quit. Otherwise stated, her loyalty should be with Skye bank, and not her husband.
She was subsequently assigned to manage a new campaign of proximity banking; taking the services to the customers wherever they may be found. To which end, she was urged to go to certain local hotels frequented by the rich and wealthy, where Skye bank hoped, she would entice some of the men with he beauty. Mrs. Akabogu, according to the lawsuit, was directed by her boss to wear expensive perfumes, short skirts and other sexually inviting outfits to arrest public attention. To crown it all, she was given an open check to use the Zodiac hotel, as part of contingency arrangements, should the need arise.
The pressure to deliver and the stressful nature of her work environment had a huge impact on her health, which began to degenerate, until she suffered a nervous break down and passed out on two occasions and was rushed to the hospital. But Skye bank officials were heartless and refused to acknowledge that her blackouts were the result of stress, arising from emotional devastation and the psychologically traumatizing pressure deadline driven assignments she was being forced to undertake, against her own valuesb.
When she eventually returned to work from the hospital, it appears, Skye bank officials had come to the conclusion that they hired the wrong horse for the job and decided to force her to quit. It was therefore a contrived policy by Skye bank to make her working conditions so unbearable; she was the target of all kinds of unrestrained vituperations and snide remarks and when matters came to a head with an ultimatum that she opens ten new accounts every week, Mrs. Akabogu was forced to resign her job.
She has proceeded to file a lawsuit No. E/386/09 in the High Court of Enugu State of Nigeria between (Plaintiff) Mrs. Ekwunife L. Akabogu vs, (Defendents) Skye Bank Plc, Nkolika Okoli, Chinedu Oguejiofor, Donatus Ugwuoke, Dr. Charles Udeogo, Maureen Okoye. Mrs. Ababogu seeks N1 billion in damages from Skye bank.
She has also petitioned the Nigerian Human Rights Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), asking for an independent investigation into the practice by banks and other service industry institutions wherein women are being forced into involuntary prostitution as a condition sine qua non to keep their jobs. It is a shame.
Speaking about human rights, for Mrs. Akabogu, it has been hell on two legs. She was taken on a jolly ride to the realm of moral degeneracy by unscrupulous Skye bank bosses who suffer from incurable money-mindedness and will stop at nothing in their quest for personal gain. Fortunately, she will get her day in court where Skye Bank Plc will be made to face their own music.
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What DID Jesus do ? What WOULD Jesus do ? what WILL Jesus do ? Answers : He died,He Rose up,He BE COMING BACK ! So what SHOULD "we " do ? We die,We Rise Up n We be coming back ! Make a comeback Today n Everday ! Sunday Sermon.
Though variations of this phrase have been used by Christians for centuries as a form of imitatio dei, the imitation of God, it gained much greater currency following Charles Sheldon's 1896 book, In His Steps which was subtitled "What Would Jesus Do?".
Sheldon's novel grew out of a series of sermons he delivered in his Congregationalist church in Topeka, Kansas. Unlike the previous nuances mentioned above, Sheldon's theology was shaped by a commitment to Christian Socialism. The ethos of Sheldon's approach to the Christian life was expressed in this phrase "What Would Jesus Do", with Jesus being a moral example rather than a Saviour figure. Sheldon's ideas coalesced with those that formed into the Social Gospel espoused by Walter Rauschenbusch. Indeed Rauschenbusch acknowledged that his Social Gospel owed its inspiration directly to Sheldon's novel, and Sheldon himself identified his own theology with the Social Gospel.
In this popular novel (it had been translated into 21 languages by 1935), Rev. Henry Maxwell encounters a homeless man who challenges him to take seriously the imitation of Christ. The homeless man has difficulty understanding why, in his view, so many Christians ignore the poor:
"I heard some people singing at a church prayer meeting the other night,
'All for Jesus, all for Jesus,
All my being's ransomed powers,
All my thoughts, and all my doings,
All my days, and all my hours.'
"and I kept wondering as I sat on the steps outside just what they meant by it. It seems to me there's an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn't exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out. I suppose I don't understand. But what would Jesus do? Is that what you mean by following His steps? It seems to me sometimes as if the people in the big churches had good clothes and nice houses to live in, and money to spend for luxuries, and could go away on summer vacations and all that, while the people outside the churches, thousands of them, I mean, die in tenements, and walk the streets for jobs, and never have a piano or a picture in the house, and grow up in misery and drunkenness and sin."
This leads to many of the novel's characters asking, "What would Jesus do?" when faced with decisions of some importance. This has the effect of making the characters embrace more seriously Christianity and to focus on what they see as its core—the life of Christ.
In the novel men and women respond in different ways: in contrast to the men who vow never to act without asking what Jesus would do, the women's task is self sacrificial, for example a singer gives up her voice, both in the sense of yielding her singing to the cause and in the sense of silencing the individual expression of her personality.[1]
In 2005, Garry Wills wrote "What Jesus Meant," in which he examined "What Would Jesus Really Do" (also a book review in Esquire Magazine). The expression has become a snowclone, often for humorous effect. For example, What Would Jesus Buy?, What Would Brian Boitano Do?, "What Would Shinoda Do?" Written By The Members of the Silver League (Referring to Mike Shinoda) or "What Would Johnny Cash Do?" (particularly fitting for the Jesus Christ initials)
The novel also started a grassroots phenomenon originating in Holland, Michigan that spread nationwide in the 1990's among Christian youth groups studying it or wearing bracelets bearing the initials.
If life begins at "40" then i guess one was being concieved all this while .Everyday is a birth experience !
Woman:"As light divides itself from darkness, so does woman possess the gift to divide in man good intent from the thought of evil. Your best thoughts must belong to woman. Gather from them your moral strength, which you must possess to sustain your near ones. Do not humiliate her, for therein you will humiliate yourselves. And all which you will do to mother, to wife, to widow or to another woman in sorrow-that shall you also do for the Spirit."
"Miracles made their appearance from the very day when the world was created. He who cannot behold them is deprived of the greatest gift of life"
Happy Sunday !
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Before I Self Destruct50 Cent's fourth studio album, BEFORE I SELF DESTRUCT, is in stores NOW and available on the iTunes Store and other online outlets. The LP features the smash single "BABY BY ME" with Neyo and appearances from Eminem, R. Kelly and more!The album / DVD movie package features Before I Self Destruct : The Movie, a gritty street tale written, produced, and directed by 50 Cent. The 3 Disc deluxe package includes the movie and also features the documentary 2 Turntables and a Mic, the story of one of 50's mentors, the late great Jam Master Jay.Selling more than 30 million albums worldwide, 50 Cent continues his phenomenal rise from street culture hero to pop culture icon.
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