WHEN Koko Mansion, a television reality show being facilitated by HiTV Nigeria, finally begins, viewers in faraway France and Nigeria’s next door neighbour, Ghana, as well as other African countries, will have the opportunity of seeing the show being labelled as the ‘biggest reality show in Africa live.
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This is going to be made possible because HiTV, the wholly Nigerian pay-television company, is among other African channels currently on the French IPTV operator Free, which has introduced a new range of African channels on its platform.
Being the first group brought together in the African Premium bouquet, it was developed in cooperation with Thema and comprises nine public and commercial channels from a variety of African nations –two from Senegal ( RTS and 2STV), three from Cameroun, (CRTV, STV2 and Canal 2), the national public channel of Côte d’Ivoire (RTI), the public channel of Mali (ORTM), the public channel of Congo (Tele Congo) and the pan-African channel, Africable. HiTV is available on Free as a la carte service.
Free’s basic TV subscribers can in addition receive the pan-African news and information channel, Voxafrica.
Also, in Ghana, a deal has been signed between HiTV and Skyy Media for the distribution of HiTV’s flagship channels, Hi-Nolly and Nigezie on its platform. Its founder and chief executive director, Mr. Toyin Subair, in a statement said, HiTV is pleased about this development “especially in the light of its new TV reality show featuring D’Banj, and tagged Koko Mansion, being supported by Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jagal Group, a programme that is billed to come up soon on our platform. The implication of this is that viewers in Africa and Europe will get to see Koko Mansion live as events unfold in the quest of searching for the ideal Kokolette (woman). We are happy that in just two years, HiTV is moving ahead on a difficult turf such as the pay-television’s.”
Subair said the arrival of Hi Nolly and Nigezie in France and Ghana shows that HiTV is leading the pack in showcasing Nigeria’s culture in the area of movie and music. “It is time to take Nigeria’s culture to the outside world, we want the world to know more about us in this period that we are rebranding as a nation. So, what HiTV is doing is complementing the federal government’s efforts aimed at rebranding our nation.”
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A Nigerian man, Edward Nwajagu, shot in United States four years ago, because he is black, lay on life support with a bullet in his skull Friday as the shooter was sentenced to 107 years to life in prison.
Nwajagu’s wife and brother in Nigeria want to visit him but have been unable to enter the United States, said cousin Clement Onwuka, who spoke weekend.
“His life had been shattered, his ability to make a living, his ability to enjoy life, ended the day he was shot,” Onwuka told the court softly at the sentencing Friday.
Onwuka, who lives in Oklahoma, visited his cousin in the hospital there Wednesday.
“The whole family depended on Edward,” he said.
Nwajagu immigrated to the United States in the 1980s. In August 2005, he came to Southern California for a conference about helping underprivileged Nigerians and organizing a medical mission, said Charles Onunkwo, who organized the event
“He’s barely clinging to life,” Onunkwo said. “He’s no longer coming back to be a useful member of society.”
A group from the conference came to Riverside to visit a friend and stopped for gas at the Chevron station at University and Victoria avenues.
The car pulled out of the gas station and was hit by bullets.
Nwajagu opened the back door to check the damage and was hit in the head.
As the driver pulled away, Nwajagu fell out of the car. Lying on University Avenue in a white embroidered caftan, blood ran out of his ears and mouth.
He has been on life support since. The family paid to have him moved from a Riverside hospital to one near his home in Oklahoma City, believing it would be more familiar for him, Onwuka said.
Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco used the crime as a reason for requesting an injunction to crack down on the East Side Rivas in 2007. The predominantly Latino gang has a history of attacking black people and referring to it as “snail hunting” in Riverside’s Eastside neighborhood, according to court documents.
A Riverside County jury convicted David Anthony Rodriguez, 23, in March of attempted murder to promote a gang and cause a hate crime, as well as related felonies.
Charles Onunkwo, who had organized the event that brought Edward Nwajagu to Southern California, wiped tears from his eyes as he narrated the story.
The driver, Jose Enrique Martinez, 31, pleaded guilty to being an accessory and was sentenced in April to time served of one year and four months.
On Friday, before Rodriguez was sentenced, his aunt Margo Alvarez cried as she told Judge Jean Pfeiffer Leonard that her nephew was innocent.
“He’s a good man, a good nephew and a good father,” she said.
Rodriguez’s attorney, Samuel Long, requested that his client be allowed to hug his 4-year-old daughter who has known her father only through glass booths while visiting him in jail. Leonard left the decision to deputies, who did not allow the hug.
“I love you, Daddy,” the little girl said as she was carried out.
He blew her a kiss.
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War on militants moves to RiversBalarabe Musa condemns ACF's supportFrom Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt), Tunde Oyedoyin (London), Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna) and Hendrix Oliomogbe (Asaba)FROM Delta State, the troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) yesterday extended their military operations to Rivers State where they located and destroyed a militants' camp close to Buguma creek after fierce exchange of fire with the militants led by one 'Egbele'.But far away in England a coalition of civil and human rights groups, under the aegis of the Niger Delta Solidarity Campaign will today hold a two-hour protest in front of Downing Street, before delivering a petition to the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, asking the British government to put pressure on the Nigerian government to stop the military invasion.Also, former civilian governor of old Kaduna State and Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa has warned the Federal Government on the increased military action in the Niger Delta. He condemned the support by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) for the JTF's move to end the crisis in the area with military force.Meanwhile, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has denied planning to halt attack on oil facilities if the multinationals provide employment for locals.MEND also described the former Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Richard Akinjide's assertion that oil and gas resources found in the Niger Delta did not arise as a result of the sweat or investment of the people of the region as parochial.Explaining the extension of military operations to Rivers, spokesman of the JTF, Col. Rabe Abubakar, said the militants fired at the troops from the camp over night and the security outfit had no option than to locate and destroy the camp.According to him, the task force charged with the responsibility of ending militancy in the Niger Delta is poised to neutralize any camp from which attacks on its men are planned and carried out.He said: "The action of the JTF is aimed at eliminating or getting rid of the criminals who are bent on causing unnecessary tension and apprehension in the region. We wish to once again reiterate that we are not targeting any individual or group but the criminals, and we will locate them wherever they are hiding. They can only run but they can't hide."He explained that on Saturday May 30, 2009, the JTF troops conducted a cordon and search operation during which they recovered an AK47 riffle with registration number 4504913 and three Machine Guns (MG) with 50 rounds of ammunition, at Bukuma Village, Rivers State. He said the operation was hitch free.But in an interview yesterday, MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, denied knowledge of the military incursion in Buguma. "We can only say at this time that this is a public relations stunt as no serious camp has reported any attacks on them," he said.Speaking in Kaduna yesterday, Balarabe Musa urged the Federal Government to go back to the negotiating table with the people in the Niger Delta whom he said are fighting a just cause to improve their well-being and the condition of the region. He cautioned those backing declaration of war against the militants to desist from doing so "because in the near future, it may be their own turn when they are opposing bad policies of government."He said: "It is unfortunate that the Government has declared war against the militants in Niger Delta. The best way to deal with the current situation is to negotiate to end the war and continue peaceful negotiation."This is because those people in the Niger Delta area who are protesting are fellow Nigerians and they have a case. It may be misrepresented. Government should therefore not seek to resolve this issue militarily. They should seek to deal with this issue politically. And it is not impossible to do so. Because, they have already started negotiating."Musa continued: "The so called militants are complaining about injustice, which is so glaring in the region, and they are not alone. So, those who see justification for the military solution being attempted now, I have a warning for them, that today it is the opposition in the Niger Delta area that are being treated as militants, and are being assaulted militarily. Next time, it will be others in other parts of the country. Because, opposition against bad policies of government has been going on throughout the country and it can intensify in any part of Nigeria for a variety of reasons.""The ACF aligned themselves with the wrong government policy. This issue can never be solved militarily. It has never been solved anywhere in this world militarily...the peaceful negotiation which started long ago should continue."Musa argued that the ACF's recent resolution on the matter was not the position of the entire North, stressing that "they may claim to be speaking for the North, definitely they are not; they are only speaking largely for the North of their vision, not the North of free and patriotic Nigerians."By tradition, they always align with the government of the day. They are part and parcel of the ruling class. And under this current situation, they think their economic interest is being threatened."Irked by a statement credited to former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Chief Richard Akinjide in which he was alleged to have supported the military action in the Niger Delta, Gbomo said the young generation of the Niger Delta people does not consider his comments as relevant but would like to remain focused to put an end to the injustice the region is facing because of the opinion of the likes of Akinjide.He said: "The Niger Delta people did not put oil and gas in the region the same way the people of Lagos did not create the land for which they are landowners today. Let him tell the Americans in Texas that the oil discovered in their ancestral homeland was not put there and so it belongs to everyone to use to the detriment of the person on whose land the resource was discovered."According to Gbomo, if Niger Delta people continue debating with the likes of Akinjide, another 50 years will pass without any result.Akinjide had, in a media publication entitled: "There is Still Fear of Secession", allegedly supported the on going Federal Government's military offensive against the militants, an action which civil society groups and prominent Niger Delta leaders have said claimed the lives of many innocent civilians.The former Attorney General of the Federation was said to have argued that oil and gas resources in the Niger Delta have always belonged to the Federal Government by virtue of the British Colonialist mineral ordinance law which rested all the oil in the central government in Lagos.Like Gbomo, the Chairman of the Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC) and a member of the Niger Delta Technical Committee, Mr. Anyankwe Nsirimovu, said he was disappointed by what he described as Akinjide's conjectures."This is very disappointing, coming from a man I thought I respected before now. He has expired, that is the best way to describe his out of currency ideas. Very remote and backward looking. 'His God given oil' indeed! But such ideas must be attacked, else they hold sway in shallow minds like his all over the land.After a protest at the Downing Street today, members of Niger Delta Solidarity Campaign will then proceed to the Nigerian High Commission and deliver another petition to the High Commissioner, Dr. Dalhatu Tafida.Both the co-ordinator of the Campaign, Inemo Samiama and an official of the High Commission, confirmed this to The Guardian yesterday. "We're aware that they're coming, they've informed us," the official said under condition of anonymity. Speaking with The Guardian moments later, Samiama said: "This campaign is not about the Ijaw or just the IPC (Ijaw Peoples Congress) issue, we've formed alliances with other organizations who will be coming out to support us." Revealing the modus operandi of the demonstration, Samiama said: "We will be at the Downing Street , chanting slogans and carrying placards and also singing between 12 noon and 2pm, but at exactly 2pm, we'll go to No 10 Downing Street (Prime Minister's office) to hand in our petition to the Prime Minister."Asked if Brown is aware that they'll be petitioning him and also demonstrating in the periphery of his office, Samiama answered in the affirmative. "No 10 is expecting us, we will deliver the letter to him and then move to the High Commission."The protest was being planned at the weekend as Col. Abubakar said the task force had uncovered a grand plan by "MEND intellectuals" in the Diaspora to engage in a smear campaign and propaganda against the JTF by linking them with different foreign bank accounts and houses abroad.According to him, the purported plan has it that the illegal oil bunkering which has been going on for a very long time was jointly perpetrated by some top army commanders for gratification which made them exceptionally rich with property and foreign accounts.He said: "The aim of this campaign is to tarnish the image of JTF and distract it from its task in the Niger Delta. The JTF therefore wishes to inform this group and any other group that it would not be intimidated and no amount of smear campaigns as being hatched by this group would deter it from carrying out its national duties."
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For anyone to be truly beautiful she must dwell in the realities of beauty. What is called beauty today, 70% of the time is far from the real nature of beauty. Many women are dissatisfied today with how they look because of the standard they are using to measure their beauty.What really make one beautiful? Is it the habitual Jenny Craig slim fit? Is it the MaryKaycosmetics or the some fitted outfit from Italy and New York? Ladies, what are the realities of beauty? You see, different cultures have their different definitions of beauty. What the Yorubas will call beautiful might irritate the Ijaws: what is beautiful in Pakistan might be ugly in Ghana.I want you to know that it doesn’t really matter the measure with which the society you live measure beauty. It is beyond Hollywood or beauty pageant standard. It is far beyond human artificial make-over. it is what I will choose to call nature make-over. Something beyond the adoration of the eyes, something that can even charm and mesmerise the human soul. Something even the closed minded chauvinist can’t resist: some charm that leave other supposedly envious women starring. It is the natural realities of beauty. Very briefly. we will look at three most powerful realities of beauty.Reality #1: Natural SmoothnessEvery human was born smooth. From the inside out, what you will touch is some kind of smoothness. Something that even you should be proud of about yourself. It is definitely abstract. Something that makes you smile when you remember it, something that makes you say to yourself, ‘I am bad.Ladies, understand that the smoothness men want is beyond the smoothness of the skin; I call it the smooth nature. It is a nature no man can resist. It is that light from within you that shows in everything you do; in your smile, looks, walk, talk etc. Some kind of inner satisfaction; some choose to call it inner joy. unspeakable. full of glory. inner radiance, unpretentious manners, free and relaxing, happy with nature and everyone.Men want to see women who have self-excitement; who generate their own happiness, not those who only derive happiness from others. Those who have enough happiness for themselves and some to spare. Nobody. wants to buy emotional liability. You are not beautiful enough, if you don’t have that inner smoothness. You need enough smoothness, more to freely express: to excite smoothness in others. The first thing people notice about you when you appear is your smoothness, an overflow of the satisfaction within. Don’t you know even your dog can see your depression on your face? It is that kind of smoothness I am talking about.You must know that people are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within. You need that light within. It is what will attract people to you and keep them around you. At the best, try never to be moody if you must stay beautiful. A depressed face is a boring nature no man wants to hang around for long. When your natural smoothness sparkles, every human with a soul will respond.Reality #2: Natural ConfidenceThis is the substance that supplies radiance to any form of beauty. No matter what physical endowments you are blessed with without this inner pillar, you will stand hollow. People will perch on you like a fly on a hot stove and then disappears. Most 21st century models are furnished with this form of radiance. That is why you admire them. They simply exude inner confidence in what they wear as well as who they are. They don’t seem to care what you think, they wave around I-am-good-looking-and-I-know-it attitude. Their confidence is not born out of pride but out of strong understanding of the uniqueness of self. Royalties likewise are nurtured with natural confidence. They are not intimidated by anyone and they don’t care what you think, they only know what they are. Please. do yourself a favour start treating yourself as royal. that is what you are.Genuine confidence is born out of a depth of self-worth. It is an irresistible charm in a woman that gave birth to the adage, ‘you can’t do without ‘em, you live with ‘em’. Natural confidence never repels, it attracts. Other women are attracted by it too. I have never heard of any man who can resist it. This is what a man saw in a woman that made him throwaway everything and marry her. This is what many men are searching for. It is the one thing that tells a man that a woman is ready for the responsibilities of marriage. It was Ruby Dee who once said, “The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within—strength, courage, dignity.’”Reality #3: CharacterCharacter they say is like smoke; it will always reveal itself no matter how you try to hide it. It heralds fire, the same way character emits true beauty. A man’s search for a woman is a search of character, not of fleshy beauty. For true beauty lies in what the eyes can’t see but the soul can drink satisfaction from. No doubt fleshy beauty can attract, but only true character beauty can attach. Fleshy beauty can attain, but only true unfeigned character can retain. They say it’s beauty that captures your attention and personality which captures your heart.True character beauty is the soul of fleshy beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make any women truly beautiful. It can do for you what pretty legs and blond hair have failed to do. I have met with several ladies who at first meeting didn’t strike me as beautiful but after relating with them a little. their character beauty rub off on me and I ended up seeing them with a third eye. Such ladies are the type that my mind believes to be truly beautiful on the long run. For others. I just wish they were a little bit this or that.A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness, says John Keats. A thing of beauty is not for consumption, it is not for sale, it is not for sex either. it is a thing of joy forever. You can be truly beautiful and irresistible, just cultivate these three natural realities of beauty. You are not created just for sex. you are created to be cherished; this is why you are beautiful. You are beautiful, yes you are; just let others start to see that true beauty locked up within you.
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An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris hit strong turbulence and lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast.
Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, had 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand said. The flight left Rio on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time (2200 GMT Sunday).
About four hours later, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said.
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The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday). An automatic message was received at 0214 GMT (10:14 p.m. EDT Sunday) "signaling electrical circuit malfunction."
The plane disappeared about 190 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of the coastal Brazilian city of Natal, near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian air force spokesman said. The air force began a search began Monday morning near Fernando de Noronha, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with air force policy.
The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio.
Air France said the 216 passengers included one infant, seven children, 82 women and 126 men. It says the plane entered service in 2005 and last underwent maintenance April 16.
A police official on Fernando de Noronha said the weather was clear last night into this morning.
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