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Five months ago, a friend of mine, who edits a national daily, sent me a text message agreeing substantially with my column, ‘The Punch and the rest of us’, except the generalised conclusion that “all (journalists) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the profession”. There are still some journalists, he submits, who toe the narrow path of integrity. Of course I knew where he was coming from, but I also knew the context in which I had made that statement.

I revisit that statement in light of the stories spewing out of the political beat, specifically on the race for the 2011 presidential elections and how it affects the integrity of news.

As part of the effort to sell his candidature for the presidency, former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) invited as many as 40 journalists to his Minna home on August 14 for an interview. I have heard questions asked about why he should invite journalists to his home instead of a public place if he didn’t have an ulterior motive, and why he should offer monetary gifts to the journalists in the name of paying for their transportation.

One news medium, which has championed this opposition in the open, is the online agency, Sahara Reporters. According to SR each of the journalists received N10 million for heeding Babangida’s call on his presidential ambition. That is N400 million just for one night’s interview from an aspirant yet to win his party’s nomination if it were true. But it was not. When some of the journalists complained about the fictional sum, SR changed the story on August 19, saying it was just “a paltry N250, 000 each”. Rather than admit its initial error SR simply said, “our accountants have told us that going by the number of 40 journalists in attendance, we are still around the same ballpark of N10 million”. So much for credible reporting!

Three days later, SR followed up with ‘IBB and his Rogue Journalists’, accusing the journalists of roguery and professional misconduct; roguery, because they collected money from two sources—their employers who presumably authorised and funded the trip and their news source, IBB; misconduct because it is unethical for them to demand/receive gratification from news sources for their services.

And on August 23 in ‘IBB Nocturnal Press Parley: Punch fires Editorial board Chairman’, SR stayed on top of the story by reporting that Adebolu Arowolo, editorial board chairman of the Punch, had lost his job for going on that trip without his management’s approval..

*Nigeria: Is Occultism The Solution?

By Ikechukwu Enyiagu

One can hear a number of our Nigerian university students cheering and saying, “aha, we know it; we know that cultism is the only safe way through school, and when we graduate, we will metamorphose into our fathers’ occults to take our places in the nation-we always knew we were right.” As for our fathers and our leaders of the ages, “what an old man sees while sitting down, the young can’t see even while standing"- so they often quote. But suppose, only supposing, that I beg to differ in this case, will the generals involved dare to consider this truth they have only refused to acknowledge for decades?

There once was a young man who had to, as a matter of no-alternative, become a cult member in order to muster enough bullies to rig the councilorship election in his favour. And he sure won. I once knew of a local government chairman who, on campaigning, had to offer the life of his first son before he could be granted the chairmanship position of his L.G.A. The story is, “and he sure won.” Just lately we were brought to the awareness of state lawmakers in naked blood oath taking. Our polity has been marred from the beginning by occult introduction and acceptance. For the uninformed, occultism in our polity is what has been rebranded ‘godfatherism’. ( Continues below….. )

Granted, Wole Soyinka, in an interview, explained the genuine and commendable (permit me to say) reasons confraternities were introduced in Nigeria. Looking back upon the years gone, I wonder how this myopic birth has fared. Cults metamorphosed into occults hence, cultism and occultism. While the cult boys and girls rule our universities and streets, the occult fathers and mothers rule the nation.

The sole purpose for the emergence of cultism and occultism in our country was and has always been to instill fear in the opponents in order to subdue them and subvert justice. This is the tool that has successfully held Nigeria under one cord-dictatorship. This dictatorship tells its story when PDP openly rigs elections by the shameless comments and decisions they make before elections are conducted. Over the years, occult groups became Nigeria while Nigeria became just a name.

The basic criterion for winning an election in Nigeria has, for decades, been established as the name of the so called elders’ groups one belongs to.

Research has equally proven that within a short space of time, two different cult and/or occult groups are bound to have a misunderstanding and, since violence and terror are their greatest tools, blood often spills. ( Continues below….. )

Photo Above: University of Ado-Ekiti (UNAD) students demonstrate against cultism. *Ado Ekiti is a city in Ekiti State, Nigeria. It is also known as Ado. The population in 2004 was 44,6749.

But the question here is, “whose blood, whose child?” It has always been the simple, the innocent and the quiet in the land; it has always been Nigeria. Taking a second look at our national political parties will give you an even clearer picture. They are like a bunch of children playing the “ghost and blood games”, gambling, as it were, with our future that they have called personal business. Now that the election is our closest neighbor, there are blood initiations, oath takings, missing of persons, blood sacrifices, and all the evils only them can tell how they are done going on in different constituencies.

All hope is not lost, however, for my true fellow Nigerians. Change is coming to America through Obama, a change commensurate with what the country needs at a given time. In the case of Nigeria, a change has already begun but it wont be a change via pleas. The change that is coming on Nigeria shall be as strong as the heart of Nigeria-it shall not be measured less. There is a clarion call; Get rid of this evil practice and let Nigeria breathe.

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Finally and after all considerable considerations, I permanently stand to oppose the majority who agree that occultism is the solution for Nigeria. No, it is not!

Ikechukwu Enyiagu can be reached at ike.enyiagu@gmail.com

Comedian Teju Babyface has taken the next step in his career with the introduction of his TV show, ‘The Teju Babyface Show'. The show which is forged after the Ellen DeGeneres', Arsenio Hall, Benny Hill and The Tonight's Show was launched on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 on Silverbird Television, (STV),. Teju gives us an insight into his new role as producer/talk show host.

Before the vision I caught the dream a few years ago when I got tired of waiting for my phone to ring, because that is what comedians do. We wait to hear ‘Hello, is that Teju Babyface, we have an event, are you busy?'

I thought it was time to be proactive and find other means of income that is not largely dependent on people calling us to be MCs for events.

People have said to me in the last few years ‘Teju we do not hear about you, you are not doing shows anymore and all that.' [Reason is] I have spent the last three years trying things that have not worked. I tried to do what I called ‘Comedy Academy'.

I needed funds and there were no sponsors. I also tried to do what I called ‘healing laughter', it was supposed to be a day of comedy at Christmas for the less privileged handicapped but there were still no corporate takers so I put it on the shelf.

Then it occurred to me when God gave me this vision that if I had a show on TV, I will be able to sell any other kind of vision that I have.

The show

The ‘Teju Babyface show' is not only a talk show, it is like your one-stop shop as far as entertainment is concerned. Though influenced by international shows, you need to remember that it started with the Bala Mila show, a fantastic NTA production, and Zoom Time. The show will deal with political, medical, scientific, astronomy-related and religious issues. This show is [also] supposed to be home for up and coming comedians.

So far, the following people have been featured Abimbola Fashola, Muiz Banire, Dele Momodu Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD), Asa, Basorge Tariah, Ali Baba, Basket Mouth, Okey Bakassi, TA, Holy Mallam, Koffi, Gbenga Adeyinka the first, amongst others. Excerpts from the show, reveal RMD miming Victor Olaiya's ‘Baby Jowo', Asa's dream guy and Mrs. Fashola answering questions on whether she suspects her husband of being unfaithful. Talking about the director of the show, Tade Ogidan, Teju says, "I did not think Uncle T will ever direct my show. You know how you think that asking somebody to do something is an insult, it was that sort of thing. A lot of the comedy ingenuity in the show that makes me look like a genius are the things he told me to do on the spur of the moment. As I speak to you, we are spending millions on the Teju Babyface Show and Mr. Ogidan has not taken or asked me for a dime. I have also been privileged to use his editing suite free of charge." He adds tongue-in-cheek. "The downside is that he now calls me for his family members wedding and I dare not open my mouth and charge."

The snags

When this vision was delivered to me from God, it seemed and it still seems like a lot do. Getting funds, the venue, the infrastructure, the equipment, editing, was a challenge. We rented the venue for two weeks, which means we had to shoot everyday for two weeks. Then the questions arose. "Where are you going to get the guests that will sit down? If you send out invitations for a hundred spaces, are a hundred people going to come? Are they going to come on time? How many shoots do you schedule per day? How do you make sure that Professor Utomi, Mrs. Fashola, King Sunny Ade, are in the country in those two weeks? All these and funds posed a challenge. Nobody wants to sponsor you anymore, everybody wants you to put it on TV and get followership before they come on board. We do not mind, it just means, if you should have paid N50 million at the inception, you will pay N250 million when it starts to air..

Winding up

I hope that the time would come when, if you want to debut a new single or album in Nigeria, the Teju Babyface Show must be one of the places where you do it because our following is that strong. We have a segment that we could not accommodate in the first season which is called ‘Sweetest Moments of Life' where people send us pictures or short videos of things that they have seen or experienced.

For the next season, I also plan to bring on Ibrahim Babangida, dance performers Alfa Sule and magicians. The website comes online soon. There is a fan page on Facebook called the Teju Babyface Show and a YouTube channel where viewers can view excerpts of the show and drop comments on what they want. We plan to be on African Independent Television (AIT), Televison Continental (TVC), Galaxy and on every possible station here in Lagos before we begin to move into other parts of the country and then we go cable...

Until recently Potomac, Maryland (20854 – 20859) was known for its very affluent and highly-educated residents. Ranked seventh on the list of top-earning American towns for 2008, by CNNmoney.com. Its annual crime rate is 0.71 per 1,000 residents. But in

First, it was Prince Abubakar Audu, whose wife, Aisha took a protective order against him, barring him from visiting or contacting her and their children;after the former governor had unleashed mayhem on them in their Glen road residence in Potomac, Maryland.

The full text of the order, read:1.The respondent (Prince Abubakar Audu) shall not abuse, threaten to abuse,and/or harass Aisha Audu.

2. The respondent shall not contact (in person , by telephone,in writing or by any other means) or attempt to contact Aisha Audu.

3.The respondent shall not enter the residence of Aisha Audu, at 12301 Glen Rd, Potomac MD,20854. (Residence include yard, grounds,outbuildings, and common areas surrounding the dwelling)

4. That the respondent shall vacate the home immediately(home includes yard, grounds,outbuildings, and commom areas surrounding the building) at the 12301 Glen Road, Potomac, MD 20854.

5. That custody of Abubakar Suleiman Audu(Jnr) and Shezali Mohd Audu is awarded to Aisha Audu.

We can also report that Prince Audu has abandoned this mother of three kids which includes a barely one month old baby in the United States of America without providing for them financially and otherwise.

Many would remember Prince Abubakar Audu who allegedly looted his state's treasury bare and only left the sum of N500, 000 for his successor as stated in a Nigerian newspaper, Sunday Sun, August 29, 2004. He was detained for misrule and theft of state funds and released on bail by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission when he left office.

Audu’s wife, the former First Lady of Kogi State, Mrs. Aisha Audu recently filed papers at the District Court of Maryland, Montgomery County, seeking a Temporary Protective Order against Prince Audu, her husband of over 10 years, alleging that the former governor assaulted her severally.

It was learnt from family sources that the former governor and Mrs. Audu’s matrimonial problems started a few months back after Mrs. Audu refused to perform a ritual in the governor’s hometown in Kogi State, to denounce an allegation that she planned to poison the politician.

The source said Prince Audu’s eldest daughter, Maimuna had told Prince Audu that a former domestic staff had informed her about Mrs. Audu’s plans to poison him. The former governor was said to have confronted his wife with the allegation, which according to our source, she perceived was a ploy to break their marriage and force her out of the family home.

Prince Audu we gather is on the verge of taking a new wife.

Considering the weight of the allegation against the former First Lady, our source said her family and Prince Audu’s deliberated severally on the matter which saw Prince Audu insisting that his then five month old pregnant wife would have to walk over the former governor’s father’s grave naked and perform some rituals to convince him that she had made no plans to kill him.

Mrs. Audu and her family, according to our source opted to swear by the Quran to prove she had made no such plan, but the families failed to reach a compromise on this.

Habiba, an ex-wife of Prince Audu, who died in London sometime in 2007 allegedly went through the same ordeal and became severely sick after she was made to perform the fetish act at the supervision of a witch doctor. She was then forced out of their home by the former governor and did not recover from the strange ailment until she died in a London hospital.

Mrs. Aisha Audu has refused to be lured into performing the same voodoo. They are currently enmeshed in a bitter legal battle that may become a reference point for many Nigerian thieving politicians with real estate assets abroad often acquired with looted funds from government coffers.

According to court papers dated May 19, 2010, exclusively obtained by THEWILL, Mrs. Audu told Judge Dennis Michael Mchugh that Abubakar Audu physically assaulted her during their last Christmas and New Year holiday at the Audu’s $1.7 million dollar family mansion in posh Potomac, Maryland and sometime in March 2010 in Nigeria.

She also alleged that Prince Audu threatened to cause her serious bodily harm and verbally abused her and the kids, which caused her to seek the court’s protection.

"The abuse started in December ‘09 during the Christmas vacation at the above address. We had arguments over issues of where to have my baby because I was already over 16 weeks pregnant and also on issues of where the kids will school since they will have to be with me if I am having the baby here because I already started anti-natal with my GP," Mrs. Audu wrote in her petition to the court.

Continuing, she said; "The violence continued, he got physical by hitting, slapping, punching, throwing things at me and abusing me and the kids verbally in front of others including my step children…."

"On getting to Nigeria, things escalated and he threatened to eliminate me by all means wherever I go. He had refused to continue paying the children’s school fees while school is still on. He then eventually locked me and the kids out of the house and I was left with no option but to return to our Glen Road residence because I was lucky to have our passports in a safe place," the former First Lady wrote.

after the court order was served on Prince Abubakar Audu, he immediately moved to throw his kids and wife out of the Glen road mansion with the backing of his controversial daughter, Maimuna.

He hired a law firm by the name Rismiller Law Group, LLC of Rockville, Maryland to appeal the section of the restraining order which gave Mrs. Audu and the kids temporary custody of the their Potomac home.

Ms. Maimuna Audu (35), who still lives with her father flew in from Nigeria to represent the former governor and his firm, Gold Window. She led the onslaught to evict her siblings and father’s wife.

Prince Audu and his lawyers then came up with a plan. They averred that the Glen road mansion is not a family home but a company property belonging to Gold Window LLC. They added that the Audu’s sought the permission of Gold Window LLC to use the property for their Christmas and New Year holiday. The lawyers said the company wanted to take back possession of the mansion.

search at the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, Montgomery County, of the Glen Road mansion history revealed that Prince Abubakar Audu purchased in cash, the two-storey mansion in his name from Par Development, LC for $1,719,954 on March 15, 2001. On April 22, 2001, he transferred (Sold) the mansion for $1.00 (One dollar) to Belside Properties, LLC, a company allegedly registered to himself and his first son, Aliyu. Belside Properties was later acquired by Gold Window LLC, another company registered to Abububakar Audu and his son, Aliyu. Both father and son are currently not on speaking terms after Abubakar Audu evicted Aliyu from the same property a few years back after they had a brawl.

Orji Kalu Saga

Just as the residents of the serene town were settling down to normalcy, Orji Uzo Kalu, the former governor of Abia state, came into town and two days later, his Potomac home became a crime scene, when Masi Chinwe, a lady alleged to be his mistress died mysteriously. Thus far two different versions of the account of what transpired in Orji Kalu home has emerged.

A version from the deceased family, read: “Chinwe met OJ (Orji Kalu) sometime early June at the store where she worked as a fragrance model. He came in to make some purchase at her stand and left a generous tip of 300 dollars to her. He did not forget any cologne at the store”.

“At this point they probably exchanged numbers but she wasn't aware of who he was. They spoke on phone several times but never met until after a few days later when he sent her a cheque through his aide/driver who came and dropped it off at her apartment. She came to Nigeria on the 30th of June and did not see OJ but they did speak”.

“The reason they didn't see was because he had wanted her to spend just a week with her relatives and then join him in Lagos to go to Abuja and then his hometown but she also complained to her friends and family that she found him a bit too controlling! (She used this word specifically). She didn't see him all through her stay”!“She left Nigeria last week Tuesday (same day OJ claimed that she called to return his perfume). She spoke with him though after she arrived at the US and they agreed to see on Thursday at his residence in Potomac. On that fateful day, she spoke several times with a close relative on the West Coast and set out to meet with him for dinner at his residence. She arrived there at about 9pm (Maryland time) and checked in with her relative on the West coast. The conversation lasted a few minutes and her relative also spoke with OJ. She described her conversation with him as being somewhat cold and even a bit brusque. He handed the phone back to Chinwe and while the deceased continued to exchange pleasantries, OJ said to her to wrap up the call and speak later with her relative”.

“At about 3.30am Maryland time, the police called the deceased's relative on the West coast to pronounce her (Chinwe) dead and make inquiries as to the last time they had spoken. They told the relative that OJ had called 911 after he claimed that he was lying down watching TV while Chinwe was in a separate bedroom. He said he heard her call for help and he got up to see her trying to come down the staircase. Halfway down, she fell down the rest of the flight of stairs and he called 911. There was no one else at the residence to corroborate this story and this is the statement he gave the police. So far the autopsy is still pending but the deceased's home was searched for any traces of medication she might have been taking for any ailments or sicknesses. Nothing of significance was found. The detective in charge Deena Mackie was at the scene and also took statements from OJ and led the search in her apartment”.

“Chinwe was a robust lady who was full of life and joy. Always laughing and had a big heart. She would be missed dearly.”

Delta Airlines on Monday said a female passenger was found dead on one of its flights from Atlanta, United States to Lagos.

Delta sources said the 57-year-old passenger was accompanied by her son when she died on Monday. The Associated Press quoted the American carrier’s Corporate Communications Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Ms. Olivia Cullis, as saying that the passenger was found unresponsive early Monday aboard Delta Flight 53, about an hour out of Atlanta and about 11 hours from the time it took off.

Delta said it could not provide the passenger’s identity due to privacy restriction laws. Cullis added, “Approximately an hour from Atlanta, the crew of Flight 53 alerted flight operations that a passenger was unresponsive and had no vital signs. The flight landed normally and we are coordinating with medical authorities. Delta extends its sincere condolences to the passenger’s family.”

A statement by the Senior Manager, Media Relations, Delta, Susan Elliot, said the airline was working with medical authorities to determine the facts in the case..

AP quoted Atlanta’s police spokesman, Otis Redmond, as saying that foul play was not suspected. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner’s investigator was sent to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, according to the report.

Atlanta police spokesman Otis Redmond told AP that foul play was not suspected in the woman’s death. Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said the woman’s body was taken to a crime laboratory for an autopsy.

Bankhead said the FBI was investigating the matter because the death occurred on an international flight.