UYO—AN unprecedented flood in the history of Akwa Ibom State has sweptthrough Itak Abasi fishing community in Ibeno Local Government Area ofthe state leaving in its trail six persons dead and 17 others missing.

No fewer than 40 fishingboats were also swept into the Atlantic Ocean by the flood. The villagers who described the incident as atsunami, said the flood swept more than three quarters of their oncelively community into the ocean.

Governor Akpabio who visited the island, weekend, expressed sadness over the disaster, assuring that he would take care of the victims andensure that they were relocated in a safe settlement.

The governor also directed the Local Government Council to gazette names of all victims affected and to forward the list to his office.

Akpabio who was touched by the plight of the victims, asked the council Chairman to arrange a make shift shelter for the people who hadbeen suddenly rendered homeless as the agony of those who lost theirloved ones lingered.

However, Vanguard learnt that Akwa Ibom State Government might not be able to address what appeared to be its worst flood disaster alone,except the Federal Government and the other agencies collaborated withit.

Executive Director, Projects, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Arc. Esoetok Etteh who hails from the area toldVanguard that the 15, 000 strong citizens of the settlement needed helpas the flood had wrecked havoc on them.

Some of the residents told Vanguard that they were worried because the flood had washed away nearly all their fishing materials and hadtaken over their only primary school and health centre.

Vanguard was told that the attention of ExxonMobil, a U.S. international oil company was drawn to the impending danger, but thatthe company was allegedly insensitive to their plight. Vanguard alsolearnt that in 2002, Hon. Nduese Essien, the current Minister, Housingand Urban Development had advised the people of Ibeno to channel thematter to NDDC and the National Assembly through him.

In 2008, the Senate Committee on Environment visited the area with Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, andrecommended what should have been done in the area.

Vanguard investigation revealed that NDDC had allegedly awarded the contract to reclaim the land, said to be receding at about four metresyearly to a certain firm at the contract value of N6 billion, but threeyears after, nothing had been done even when the said firm had loadedshoreline protection equipment that had long been rotting at Upenkangvillage in Ibeno.

Councilor representing Ward II of the local council, Patrick Usenekong, who was evacuating some of the people trapped by the flood,told Vanguard that some of the people trapped by the flood now lived ontop of their houses or on roof tops.
Usenekong said: “We haven’t seen anything like this in a decade. The last this happened was 25 years ago.”

At press time NDDC had donated relief materials worth about N500,000 comprising 700 tubers of yam, 60 bags of rice, 60 gallons of groundnutoil and other food items.
NEMA also donated materials worth N5 million including 300 mattresses,300 bags of rice, 300 buckets for carrying water, 30 bags of beans,while ExxonMobil was said to have only made promises of support.

Prayer Warrior's nation.

Prayer Warrior's nation.

You must be wondering who “they” are! Well, ‘they’ would be the political gladiators and the men and women who hold sway in Nigeria as the custodians of our destiny.

I know you would also want to ask me where they want to have us. Well, they want us to feel dejected, believe there is nothing we can do. If you go through most of the write ups by op ed writers and blogs, you find a common theme of calling on God (predominantly amongst those who believe in a supreme being) to come and liberate us from the celestial human lords who hold sway in Abuja and all the nook and crannies of Nigeria.

But do you blame Nigerians? Even the most liberal of critics, in private, discuss the state of hopelessness. One public thinker recently opined that only a bloody Jerry Rawlings model revolution can save us from the blood sucking vampires we call political leaders in Nigeria

Those who have tried every democratic option from civil disobediences, open letters, lobbying, campaign, blogging are now so tired that some simply say they will not mind a Thomas Sankara model military coup to save us from a leadership long on facebook promises and short on delivering even the most basic of needs and electoral promises.

What is most appalling are those who surround the current president of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan. The same men and women who fret at the mention of the name of certain cabals of few months past, have now turned themselves into a new cabal. They who kept quiet when the constitution of our Country was being trampled upon, are now the ones who feign surprise when we question the profligacy of the new man in the saddle.

Like Musa Yar’Adua, the current President appears to be a prisoner of some sort - imprisoned by a greedy cabal. Let us be clear, we seem to have replaced a mild gluttonous cabal with thirsty vampires. They flock together and do whatever they like. The voice of the people is of no consequence. The legacy of the current government would probably be a post mortem of Waste! Waste! Waste! And more Waste!

Let us take a look at the borrowing from the World Bank. A proposal to get a loan of One Hundred and Thirty Eight Billion Naira from the World Bank was justified by the minister of finance Segun Aganga with some Goldman Sach coated explanation before you could say Goodluck Nigeria. Anyone calling for a review was seen to be lacking in the understanding of how modern economics work.

In Britain, from where the minister was borrowed, the government is cutting down on waste and saving for the future. Well the opposite is the case in Nigeria, a government going cap in hand to international financial institutions decided to budget a huge sum of money on a 50th anniversary celebration. By the time President Goodluck Jonathan “consulted” with his over 150,000 fans on face book and coordinated some gyrations with the PDP controlled law makers, the ‘owambe’ bill had risen to 17 billion Naira.

They were not finished yet, the President’s Power committee set up to look into the power palaver in Nigeria had budgeted almost 900 million naira on food, cars and hotel bills for 73 members of staff for an assignment that will last 12 calendar months. Not completely satisfied, Mr President and the men and women who swore to protect us, fancied some modern executive jets.

If the men and women of God in churches can play with executive jets, why not spend 23.2 billion naira ($154.3 million) on a a Gulf stream G550 and two new Falcon 7X Aircraft. What is wrong with the jets bought by Olusegun Obasanjo? They say it’s Tokunbo, how about the jets bought by Babangida? Not good enough? Well did Abacha not buy some too? They can’t find them.

We are in trouble, but we should not be overwhelmed, the battle to save Goodluck Jonathan from his own blood sucking cabal is now. After all, Goodluck did not fight to protect our constitution; neither did his array of special advisers. It was ordinary Nigerians who marched on the streets of Lagos, Abuja, New York, London and many more who rightly called on Turai to release power to a man who was only used to being in the shadow of his ogas.

His inexperience of taking the reigns of power have been brought to the fore in his allowance of some sycophants that have introduced the ethnic card, saying Goodluck Jonathan is spending “our oil money.” Niger Delta money? Is he spending it on the people of the Niger Delta? No. This man and those who surround him are milking your common wealth. If Jonathan loves the Niger Delta so much, we should have witnessed oil clean up exercises going on in all nook and crannies of that blessed region. Like President Barack Obama did in America, our President would be taking a dive in at least one of the local rivers in the Niger Delta. But No! Mr President wants Jets, He wants to Party and He wants more money from the IMF.

Our president is either in bondage, confused or at best unconcerned as it is “our time” to have a bite of the National Cake - oh sorry, the Niger Delta cake.

But it is not too late.

The president can change. He will be excused if he spends a greater percentage of the money to clean up the mess in the Niger Delta, a place neglected by his government and governments before him. Surely, the President knows that loads of Ghana must go bags filled with millions of Naira given to some self styled militants won’t solve the problem in the Niger Delta.

He must stop all the waste, the unnecessary spending. He should pick on one issue - be it holding credible elections, or even nationwide security, we will be forever grateful to him. He should not fail Nigeria the way those before him have failed our nation. GEJ can put his foot down and write his name in gold. No one is denying him his God given right to contest in 2011, but he should not sacrifice Nigeria’s development for his own ambition by abandoning governance to the politics of “catch me if you can, will GEJ run or not run?”

For those of us who get frustrated by the minute, it is not the time to moan, it is the time to let go of our differences, support this government when it is doing what is right but stand in its way when it is going down the wrong path. Unfortunately at the moment, it appears to specialise in doing more wrong than right.

We must not be overwhelmed; we can not give up on Nigeria. We don’t have a Rawlings waiting in a Nigerian barrack ready to liberate us from our fellow Nigerians. We are our own Rawlings when we start holding them to account. For every one “liking” Jonathan’s Facebook page and telling him he is the best thing after the discovery of mobile telecommunications, you should not complain when he starts taking you for granted.

We can not afford to fail our children; the campaign for change must not stop. We can go a step further, identify programmes for change. In Nigeria, the Puritan is scarce but we can get something close to a revolution as a prelude to the full blown revolution. Maybe GEJ can still change to change Nigeria. That is a long shot maybe but the least change we need is enough change to stop this slow death. Siddon look is what they want us to do; being onlookers as they milk us dry will be a disservice to generations yet unborn.

Stallone knocks out Julia Roberts at box office

The opening, which was in line with bullish expectations, marks a boost not only for Stallone, who directed and co-wrote the project as well, but also for Lionsgate, whose Lions Gate Entertainment Corp parent is fending off a hostile takeover from investor Carl Icahn.

The film, predictably, played strongest with older men who are nostalgic for ‘80s action flicks with high body counts and loud explosions. A sequel is reportedly in the works.

Julia Roberts, whose career has been almost as cold as Stallone's in recent years, followed at a distant No. 2 with "Eat Pray Love." The big-screen adaptation of a bestselling memoir about a woman's international search for herself, opened with $23.7 million, also in line with expectations.

The drama, which was targeted at older women, was released by Columbia Pictures. The Sony Corp unit topped the box office last weekend with "The Other Guys." The Will Ferrell cop comedy fell to No. 3 with $18 million, taking its 10-day total to $70.5 million.

A third newcomer, the comic-book adaptation "Scott Pilgrim vs The World," bombed at No. 5 with $10.5 million. It marks the second disappointment this month for General Electric Co-owned distributor Universal Pictures, following "Charlie St. Cloud."

From left: Former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife; FirstRepublic Minister, Chief Mbazulike Amechi; Anglican Bishop, MaxwellAnikwenwa and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu at the South East PoliticalSummit in Enugu.

ENUGU—SOUTH East geo-political zone, yesterday, unanimously adoptedPresident Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential candidate for 2011 atthe South-East Political Summit attended by prominent Igbo leaders andleaders of various groups from the five states in the zone.

They declared that Jonathan’s presidency would not only further the Igbo cause, but bring the much needed development to the South Eastregion.

This came just as former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has promised that for unity, fairness, justice and progress of the country,he would only serve for one term if he won the election and handover tothe South.

Chief convener of the summit, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, who read the communique issued after the event that lasted for five hours, however,said the Jonathan ticket would depend on negotiation that would enableNdigbo table their expectations.

Mbazulike stated that in consideration of the national quest, Ndigbo would no longer accept to play second fiddle and considered irrelevantin a country where they played leadership roles during the struggle ofits independence.

The communique read: “At independence Nigeria was made up of three regions which later became four regions that were further divided intostates by military fiat over which Ndigbo had little or no say.

“The North has ruled the country for 33 years, the West 12 years, zoning or no zoning, rotation or not. The old Eastern region, for thesake of equity and justice, shall produce the next president ofNigeria. \

The region that produced over 90 percent of the wealth of the country should for a change, have a prime position in the governance ofthe country.

“That given the fact that what is now known as Bayelsa State used to be Brass District of Eastern Region, and that the Eastern andMidwestern regions have been marginalized in the presidency of Nigeria.Consequently, the summit has decided to endorse the presidentialaspiration of Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan.”

The communique added that Jonathan’s endorsement “would depend on a successful negotiation of terms and conditions and agreement over otherdetails.”

In his remarks, member, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, suggested that Igbo leaders should meet with Jonathan tonegotiate for the collective interest of the South East zone andpersonal and selfish interest of individuals.

Iwuanyanwu who declared that Igbos did not want the position of Vice President as the zone was likely to get the presidency depending on thedecision of PDP, added:

“When PDP adopted zoning as a party policy, it did not take into consideration that a president may die in office and in the presentsituation, the party should look at the Nigerian constitution whichempowers a Vice President to take over administration of the country inthe event of a president’s death.

I will govern for one term, handover to the South, Atiku

Few hours after declaring his interest to contest the 2011 President election, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has promised that forunity, fairness, justice and progress of the country, he would onlyserve for one term if he won the election and handover to the South.

He said: “I will relinquish power to the South on May 29, 2015 to encourage the unity and progress of Nigeria.”

Atiku noted that the road map to the emancipation and development of the Niger Delta was enshrined in his 2007 policy statement because heassembled and personally commissioned technocrats and experts from thearea whose works and recommendations tally with the position of theNiger Delta Technical Committee Report.

Running for one term

Speaking with a political pressure group, Princewell’s Political Associate, PPA, after adopting him as their South-South candidate forthe 2011 presidential race, the former Action Congress presidentialcandidate said: “On the issue of running for only one term in office,it was at the 1994/5 Constitutional Conference moderated by the lateGeneral Shehu Yar’Adua.

The Southern delegates brought the principle of zoning/rotation of power between the South and the North was first mentioned and it wasaccepted by all. So to me, the principle of zoning or rotation of poweris sacrosanct and inevitable and abiding on me.”

Atiku who said he was committed to issuing a white paper on the Niger Delta Technical Committee Report if he became the President said:“One other thing that was achieved during the 1994/5 ConstitutionalConference was the increase in the derivation principle.

From my checks with CBN, what the Niger Delta States have collected in the past ten years exceeds what the entire country has collected forthe past 40 years.

“What I intend doing is to ensure respect for fiscal responsibility through which funds made available to States are judiciously used forthe development of the States.

“On the creation of Oil Producing Commissions, to me that is a good idea but I will prefer to set-up an ombudsman which will be moreeffective and better to monitor so as to ensure that the revenuesderived from oil are used to develop the communities that produce theoil.

“This will require amendments, but I will send a bill to the National Assembly on this as the best option that will enhancedevelopment of the region. States can not be told what to do but theycan only be encouraged.

“I am happy that I have been adopted as your South-South candidate so I am a son of the region, but be rest assured that after dueconsultation with the various interests in Nigeria the best for ourpeople in the region will be implemented.

I have lived most of my life in the region and my businesses run by the Niger Delta people within the region are there for all to see. Theregion shall be well protected during my administration.

“On religious conflict the truth is that we must stop it wherever it exists. One way to do so is to demonstrate that there are consequencesfor such actions. That does not appear to be the case at present. Thatwill change.

However I must say that many times what appears to be religious conflict is more social in nature and can be linked directly to thepoverty we talked about earlier.

“This can only be achieved by addressing the social issues and this is what I will seek to do. Having a desire to improve the lives of thepoor in itself does not make it happen.

Leaders need the capacity to do so. I believe I am your man. Just as I have contributed to making people politically, I have also done socommercially and educationally.

I can make Nigeria a better place; I just pray that I am given a chance to.”
Earlier, the PPA Secretary General, Osima Ginah, after adopting Atikuas their presidential candidate presented six major demands on thepresidency of Atiku Abubakar on behalf of the South- South region.

These included, that “Atiku Abubakar on assumption of office come May 29, 2011 should, within one month issue a white paper on therecommendations and findings of the Ledum Mitee led Niger DeltaTechnical Committee Report and take reasonable steps in implementing itas the future of Niger Delta rested on the implementation of that roadmap towards justifying the wrongs and wickedness the people havesuffered in the hands of past administrations in the country.

THE stir caused by a female student who allegedly preached against Islam during a Jumat service in the University of Ibadan mosque, hasled to the paralysis of all academic and commercial activities in theinstitution.

A religious crisis was averted on Sunday by the efforts of the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Olufemi Bamiro who condemnedthe action of the female law student and appealed to the muslimstudents who cried foul of the action.

Led by the Muslim Youths leader, Ajibola Akeem, thousands of Muslim students in the institution staged protest round the campus yesterdayblaming the school authority for releasing the student to her parent.

As a result of the protest, all gates leading to the institution were blocked by the protesting students who spread their mats on majorroads within the campus vowing to continue doing so until theinstitution acceded to their demands.

Other demands of the students who trooped out as early as 6am were that the female student, Miss Adegunsoye be expelled outrightly fromthe institution adding that her continued presence would beantithetical to peace on campus and a threat to the muslim community;that her fellowship, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry (MFM)should be asked to vacate the institution.

They also demanded that “preaching and disturbing forms of worship should stop in lecture rooms, halls, cabs, buses, cafeteria,laboratories, common rooms and other public places outside designatedareas; that the free period on Jumat day should be between noon and 3pmirrespective of the period it is”

While pleading with the students to calm down, the Vice Chancellor said, “it was the height of provocation. It is unbelievable. It hasnever happened in the history of this university because what thisadministration has been doing is to ensure inter-religious harmony oncampus”.

“This one that happened beats everybody’s imagination. When it happened, the muslim community invited me to the mosque to appeal tothe students. What we promise is that this administration will do allwithin its power to get to the root of this matter and that is what weare doing”, he explained.

He said the affected student had already been suspended from the institution and that investigation into the matter would continue.

Bamiro added, “I assure the muslim students that justice will be done at the end of the day. This is what I am re-assuring them. I havebeen at the mosque and I know the gravity of what the girl has done.”

The protest denied academic and non-academic workers of the institution entry into
The school premises and this resulted into traffic snarl-up asmotorists on the ever busy Ibadan-Ilorin road had hectic time fromgoing to their destinations.

The students marched from one faculty to the other under the watchful eyes of the security agents with the angry students crying forthe removal of the Chief Security Officer of the institution.

Ajibola said the protest was to register their grievances on alleged injustice of the school authority in handling the case of the 400level student who allegedly disguised into the mosque to preach againstIslam.

The lady, whose name was given as Oluwaseun reportedly deceived other Islamic faithful with a veil and sat among other females at theupper chamber of the mosque last Friday.

Immediately, after the Jumat service, muslim students who were predominantly male had gathered to beat the lady but the situation waschecked by the security personnel in the institution.

She was said to have been protected and moved away from the angry muslim students.

Bamiro described the incident as very surprising and unfortunate. He said, “We will look into the matter and ensure that justice is done. Wewill take a drastic step. We must prevent this kind of occurrence,”.

It was further learnt that the incident prompted some Islamic faithful to stage a peaceful protest yesterday morning.
As at the time of filing this report, there was tension and themanagement of the institution was having a closed door meeting on theissue.

Lamido who spoke in an interview with CNBC Africa Television also said that he would be satisfied with 9.0_9.5 per cent inflation rate inthe country and that creating economic growth was the priority of CBN.

He said in the television interview: “When you have a country of 150 million people with 70 percent below the poverty line, it is extremelyimportant to provide a stable environment to ensure that growth of theeconomy is not hampered by some desire to pursue a very lowsingle_digit rate of inflation.

Lamido Sanusi

“We have brought inflation down in the last one year, from 16 per cent to 10 per cent. We think we can do single digits and that is goodenough, nine or 9.5 per cent, would do for me.”

Sanusi who said that two foreign institutions were involved in the bidding process for the rescued banks, as well as several local banksand private equity firms in partnership with foreign banks, added: “Theadvisers have finished analysing bids already received for four of thebanks. We expect the bids for the others to have been completed by theend of this month.”

He, however, gave no further details as to who the bidders were.

The nine rescued banks are Afribank, Bank PHB, Equitorial Trust Bank, Finbank, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank, Spring Bank andUnion Bank. Wema Bank and Unity Bank were also judged to haveinsufficient capital but did not receive an emergency cash injectionbecause it had a healthy liquidity position.

Foreign banks

The foreign banks that had openly expressed interest in investment opportunities in Nigeria include South Africa’s First Rand, StandardBank and Nedbank. Nigerian banks considering a bid for a rescued peerinclude First Bank, Fidelity Bank, Skye Bank and Diamond Bank.

Chief Executive of Fidelity Bank, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi, told CNBC Africa television recently: “We need more distribution, we need morecontact points with our customers. The institutions we are interestedin are institutions that have the retail network.”

Vanguard gathered that CBN and Ministry of Finance were in the process of finalising the setting up of an asset management company,AMCON, which would purchase non-performing loans with collateral andchase the recovery of the bad loans in the rescued banks. AMCON wouldalso inject funds and take equity stakes if there were unsecured loanswhich needed absorbing.

Sanusi said much work had been done in the last month to value the bad loans and gauge how much of them were unsecured..

He said a recommendation had been made to the President on the constitution of AMCON’s board and was confident that once that wasapproved, deals to buy non-performing loans from the rescued bankscould quickly be announced.

Sanusi said: “I don’t see any reasons why AMCON can’t take these decisions in the next few weeks,” noting that the recovery of badassets would take much longer.
He added: “As far as the details are concerned, it will take a year togo and audit every asset, to do every valuation, do legal duediligence, set up systems and processes.”

Interest rates have been on hold at 6.0 per cent for more than a year and inflation is in double digits.

Kano - A cholera outbreak in Nigeria has killed 87 people during the past month while 1 315 others have been infected, official figures showed on Monday.

The outbreak in the northern states of Bauchi and Borno was believed to be because of poor sanitation and the contamination of wells, while Nigeria's rainy season often sees a surge in cholera cases.

Bauchi State has recorded 47 deaths and 1 200 infections in the past month, state health commissioner Mohammed Yahaya Jalem told AFP by telephone from the state capital.

Borno State health commissioner Abdurrahman Terab told AFP on Thursday that 40 people had died from cholera in the state within the previous week while 115 others were infected.

Jalem attributed the outbreak to poor sanitation and the contamination of open wells on which rural communities largely depend as major water source.

"We have mobilised health personnel and drugs in the affected areas and we have stepped up... campaigns on how people can guard against cholera and other water-related infections especially in the rainy season," he said.

Cholera is a water-borne disease and can also be transmitted by food that has been in contact with sewage. It causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting leading to dehydration.

Health experts say a surge in cholera outbreaks is noticeable in Nigerian villages in the rainy season when rain water washes dirt into open wells and ponds.

More than 260 people died of cholera in four northern states in the last quarter of 2009.

Complete Fashion is a new magazine focused on the very best of commercial Nigerian fashion and celebrating the stylish looks of Nigerian fashionistas.
The magazine is lead by General Editor Franka Asindi and the new issue of the magazine features a double cover with Nigerian actress Dakore Egbuson on one cover and designer Ohimai Atafo of MAI on the other cover.
Dakore looks absolutely dazzling is three dresses by MAI. On the cover, she rocks a black monosleeve dress with a dramatic jewel detailed neckline by MAI. The dress is paired with red platform sandals and a black fascinator. Inside the magazine, we see Dakore in a gorgeous floor-length red gown with a multi-coloured brouch also. by MAI. Her final look is a swinging knee-length yellow dress with a delicate black lace overlay. The dress was paired with pearls and black and gold platforms.

Ohimai looked dapper as always in a blue blazer paired with a striped shirt and white trousers.

In her interview, Dakore talks about her personal style (vivacious and playful), her famous locs (she calls them ‘locs’ because they are “not dreadful” and she is “not locked” – so she took out the “dread” and the “k”) and style addictions (Louboutins). She also discussed her projects including The Dakore Show.

In his interview, MAI opened up and detailed his journey into the world of fashion (he started out buying waistcoats for his friends who were getting married). Ohimai also had words of encouragement for up and coming designers and finally he discussed the future plans for his label.

We are totally loving the concept of the double cover and photoshoot! Kudos to Complete Fashion and the team behind the shoot.
For more information on the magazine, check out www.completefashiononline.com

What are the best approaches to contacting women online? Here I discuss some things to watch out for.

Men, once you have joined one of the leading subscription dating services online you may be wondering what is the best approach to contact women. The first point to understand is that it is perfectly OK to contact several women at the same time. At this stage you are simply trying to make new friends and are still a long way off from concentrating upon one single woman.

However, when you have selected the women you would like to contact from their photo personal ads, it is important not to overstretch yourself and try to contact too many women at once. For example, if you were to send the same e-mail to a number of different women it would be clear to most if not all of them that what you have sent was a generalized e-mail not intended for someone specifically as an individual.

Nothing could be more offputting -- this kind of e-mailing amounts to a sort of spam. In order to contact somebody correctly it is important that you read their profile carefully and pick up on the individual things they say about themselves, such as their hobbies and what interests them. After all, it is their personalities as expressed in their personal ads that has made you want to e-mail them in the first place, isn't it?

A particular woman's photo may have been the very first thing that attracted you, but if you do not like the sound of that woman as a person there is no point in trying to begin any kind of relationship. Also, watch out for the fact that some less than sincere members of dating services may use photos of models to in effect lie about their own appearance.

So, you need to get writing individual e-mails to your chosen female contacts. A good approach is to begin by treating each one as if they were a new colleague at your place of work. So, be friendly but not overfamiliar.

Don't make the initial e-mail too long, and make sure that you show an interest in what the woman you are writing to has expressed as her own hobbies and interests. If these match your own, you could briefly mention your own activities in this context. Most of all, ask some questions to give her a good reason to e-mail you back and continue the conversation.

Avoid trying to "sell" yourself to the other person in your e-mail. You are striking up a new friendship, not undertaking a job interview. Be brief and to the point, friendly and interested in the other person, but not too personal. When you ask questions do not begin to sound as if you are interrogating.

If you haven't had a reply to your initial e-mail after a few days, then try again using a slightly different approach. Before you write this second e-mail go back and re-read your first -- was there anything in it that might have put somebody off? If you don't get a reply to your second e-mail cross this woman off your list and move on to the next.

If she does reply try to respond to her e-mail quickly, as nobody likes to be kept waiting, especially when contacting people for the first time. In your first few e-mails try not to say anything that would embarrass you later if you were to meet her friends. Women sometimes share the early e-mails of a new online relationship with their friends, and this is perfectly normal. But you do not want to be in the position of wishing that you had not said something, later on when you meet those friends.

Finally, as with any online contact who you do not know very well, do not believe everything that you are told and keep in mind the matter of online safety. Never give out your personal details until you know somebody well offline, as well as online.

For more interesting articles, check my site on www.mynetcompany.blogspot.com">www.mynetcompany.blogspot.com

Monday, 16 August 2010 00:00 By Regina Akpabio, Seye Olumide (Lagos), Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu (Benin City) and John Akubo (Dutse)

Jigawa flood destroys 200 houses.

CALAMITY struck at the weekend in Lagos, Edo and Jigawa states with about 42 people feared dead and 200 houses destroyed in multiple road accidents and heavy flooding.

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state has reinforced the position of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with a declaration that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is not a registered member of the party.

The governor while reacting to Atiku’s declaration yesterday to contest the 2011 presidential election under the PDP banner, said the former vice-president cannot run for the presidency in the 2011 general elections under the platform of the PDP because he was not a party member.
Governor Nyako, who spoke to journalists in Yola, shortly after participating in a live local radio programme, explained that the state chapter of the party is being cautious in admitting those defecting from other parties because of the fear that some of them are coming in to cause confusion in the party.

“I only read about Atiku’s activities on the pages of newspapers; even when he declared in 2007, he wasn’t a member of any party, so he is declaring today again with no party,” Nyako maintained.
Peoples Daily recalls that Atiku’s return to the PDP has met with stiff resistance from Governor Nyako and a state faction of the party loyal to the governor.

The Chairman of the governor’s faction, Alhaji Umaru Mijinyawa Kugama, had declared at the weekend that as far as the party is concerned, “Atiku Abubakar is not by any means a registered member of the PDP.”
“Atiku knows that he is not yet a PDP member. He knows that there is a process of admittance into the party, which he must obey if he really wants to return to the party,” he had emphasised.

He condemned the former vice president for registering with a faction of the party in the state that is rebellious to the administration of Governor Nyako.

But National Vice Chairman (North-East) of the party, Senator Paul Wampana, has affirmed that to the best of his knowledge and that of the PDP national working committee (NWC), Atiku is a member of the party.
“As a leader, I have access to some compendium which contains names of the executives of the party that were elected; honestly those that registered Atiku are the party authority in his ward which closes the case that he illegally registered,” Wampana is quoted to have said.

From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

Some unidentified men at the weekend invaded the recently refurbished Nasarawa office of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and carted away the newly installed ‘Mikano’ heavy duty generator.

Policemen posted to man the centre after the theft, confirmed that the thieves overpowered their colleagues who were on duty at the office.

Information on the incident was sketchy, yesterday, as the police were not forthcoming on how two armed policemen were overpowered by the hoodlums. Even the Area Commander in charge of Lafia, Elisha Kazza, who confirmed the incident, failed to throw more light on the issue.

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police, Nasarawa state Command, Ephraim Amakulor, said they would not comment on the matter until properly briefed by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the area.

The management committee of the NUJ, has however, expressed surprise of the theft, directing all inquiry to the government and police. It has wondered how Governor Aliyu Doma’s good gesture should be the subject of such ‘babarism’.

MONTREAL - Although a Montreal nightclub is distancing itself from an invitation on its Facebook page that specified "NO FAT GIRLSALLOWED!!!!!!!!!!" people familiar with the local party scene say clubsregularly -if not so overtly -discriminate based on looks.

"Everybody knows. (Clubs) are selective," said Stefano Apostolakos, owner of SMAN Productions, a Montreal promotions company.

A nightclub that wants to attract a certain kind of crowd will neveropenly turn people away based on weight, he said, but if people don'tfit in with the club's look, a bouncer can still find some excuse toturn them away -whether it's a long wait time, an expensive bottleservice fee or claiming the club is at capacity.

"(Discrimination) comes with the right to refuse entrance," Apostolakos said in an interview.

Nightclubs can openly turn people away based on age or dress by setting age minimums or dress codes, he explained.

The invitation was posted last week on the Facebook page of Muzique, aposh nightclub on St. Laurent Blvd., and included the ban on "fatgirls," followed by the emoticon of a winking smiley face..

The party was to celebrate the birthday of one of the club's partners onSaturday. The invitation was taken down on the weekend.

"When I saw it, I freaked out. I was livid," said one plus-size woman whoreceived the message as a member of Muzique's Facebook group.

Speaking on condition that her name not be used, the woman said her weight hasnever stopped her from going out -but she won't be visiting Muzique ifit discriminates against people who are overweight.

The management at Muzique said the comment was an accident and they are thinking of posting an apology.

"We didn't even realize (the comment) was there until a couple of daysago, and it was too late to retract it because the event had alreadyhappened," said John Jay, who oversees communication and marketing forMuzique.

Jay says it was the party planners who posted the event invitation, not himself or the owners.

He added that a friend of the club's partner thought it would be funny toadd the line to the event invitation as "an inside joke."

"It was taken down as soon as we found out about it," Jay said. "It was notan intentional thing. It was actually an accident. It was someonethinking he was funny.

"We don't think it's funny at all."

After the invitation went up, a handful of Facebook users expressed theirdisapproval. One user copied and emailed the event listing and thecomments to The Gazette before they were taken off the Internet.

"I found it immature and ridiculous," Joanelle Dufresne told the Gazettein an email. She posted a reaction to the invitation on Saturday.

Another Facebook user wrote: "Is there going to be a weight scale at theentrance? What's the maximum weight to get in? Frankly, I thought I hadseen everything until now."

Shant Kojakian, who owns the Montreal promotions company Look Kool, said weight is not much of an issue at nightclubs.

Race tends to be more of a factor when it comes to selecting people at theentrance, Kojakian said, adding that he's never seen a bouncer tell apotential customer he or she was too fat to get in.

Of course, nightclubs want to attract a certain kind of clientele -people who arewell-dressed and will spend money inside, Apostolakos and Kojakiansaid.

"They'll never tell you you can't come in because of your looks," Apostolakos said.

"But at the end of the day, that's what it comes down to, usually. ... It's the sad truth."