Posted by 9jabook.com on October 13, 2009 at 7:52pm
Today, Toye Arulogun will be asking a Federal High Court in Abeokuta to declare Faith Academy and the Covenant University Health Centre, along with their staff, guilty of negligence, leading to the death of his daughter, Morenike Yireobong Toye-Arulogun, a JSS1 boarder with Faith Academy. She had complained of a headache and chills at the Convenant health centre but by the time a test was conducted four days later, she was semi-conscious.
The young girl was diagnosed with cerebral malaria, decreased urine production and acute kidney failure. She was referred to two other hospitals but she never regained consciousness. She was 11 years old when she passed away on November 21, 2008.
Child killer
"Malaria does not begin at the cerebral level," said Mr. Arulogun, her father, who lives in Ijaiye, Ogba, Lagos. "It degenerates when it is badly handled, and if they were more alert and competent, Morenike would still be alive. I am probing the medication, the source of the medication, the purchase procedure and the drugs administration for sick students in the school as at the time my daughter fell ill."
Miss Arulogun's medical report, dated January 15, 2009 and signed by Convenant's chief medical officer, Dr. Nma Ndubisi, states that she was given paracetamol, Artesunate and Fansidar when she complained of a headache and chills on November 13, 2008. The next day, symptoms persisted and she was "further placed on some antibiotics (Amoxyl) pending laboratory review".
By November 16, 2008, Miss Arulogun was found semi-conscious and talking irrationally. The doctors at the Convenant centre, suspecting cerebral malaria, decided to take her blood sample for investigation. By then, her blood pressure was 100/50 with a temperature of 39°C. The next morning, her blood pressure had risen to 110/80 and she was suffering from kidney failure.
"The week my daughter was administered paracetamol at Covenant University Health Centre was the week the Lagos State Commissioner for Health (Jide Idris) briefed the press on the existence of fake paracetamol in the market which was responsible for shutting down the kidneys of children," Mr. Arulogun said. "This is exactly what happened in the case of my daughter. I have requested for my daughter's medical file but Covenant University Health Centre has refused to let me see it."
Cerebral malaria
A medical practitioner, Tuyi Mebawondu-Olowu, of Medway Hospital, Obalende, Lagos, explained that cerebral malaria is a severe form of malaria affecting the brain and brain tissues due to a high level of parasites in the body which block the blood vessels, leading to the destruction of red blood cells and also the kidneys.
"In a proper quality set-up, you run tests before administering drugs," he said. "For there to be cerebral malaria, there must be a high index of suspicion. This means that for a child with a temperature of 39°C to be acting confused or drowsy, you have to assume it is severe or cerebral malaria or meningitis until it is proven otherwise."
Denial
But Ogochukwu Mbamalu of Jumbo Chambers, the counsel to Faith Academy, Convenant and seven other defendants named in the suit, denies any medical negligence or breach of fiduciary duty by his clients.
"The defendants say that due professional care and diligence obtainable in the medical profession were engaged and observed throughout the period the plaintiff's daughter was in their medical care," Mr. Mbamalu's statement of defence read.
The principal of Faith Academy, Oluyinka Oluwadare, said the school, which is owned by Living Faith Church Worlwide (Winners Chapel), did not fail in its fiduciary duties as guardians. She denied allegations that Miss Arulogun was not promptly attended to.
"No, it is a lie," she said. "The first day it happened that she was sick, immediately we took her to the clinic and immediately, the mummy (Miss Arulogun's mother)came. It was on Sunday and immediately on Monday, they transferred her to another place. So where is the mismanagement there? I thought he (Mr. Arulogun) has passed the stage of newspaper. I don't think we need to talk on the pages of newspapers again. We'll meet in court."
Little sympathy
But the Aruloguns, who were members of the Winners Chapel for 11 years, said they were informed of their daughter's condition on Sunday (November 16), four days after she reported sick. Mr. Arulogun also said that 11 months after his daughter's demise, his family is yet to receive a letter of commiseration from her school.
"Precisely on Saturday, January 3, 2009, the school's representatives visited me only once, six weeks after my daughter had passed on," said Mr. Arulogun.
"And that was because I wrote a protest letter to my area pastor. Why should it take a protest letter and six weeks to visit the parents of a departed student?
No obligation to commiserate
But Mr. Mbamalu, speaking on behalf of his clients, said there is neither legal nor medical obligation owed Mr. Arulogun "to formerly commiserate" with him, or visit him over the unfortunate demise of his daughter. But Mrs. Oluwadare said the school's policy is to write condolence letters to only people living outside Lagos and refused to explain the reason for the school's official visit to the Arulogun family six weeks after the student's death.
Mr. Mbamalu is also praying the court through a preliminary objection by virtue of S.6 (6) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution to strike out the names of seven of the defendants, including Faith Academy and its governing council, because they are not proper persons before the court.
But Mr. Arulogun's lawyer, Oluyinka Oyeniji of Banwo, Adeyemo and Igbokwe Chambers, said the defendants are recognised entities who by law can sue and be sued just like individuals.
"If these defendants are not juristic persons capable of being sued, then they have a question to answer why they parade themselves as recognised associations and conduct transactions in their names," Mr. Oyeniji said.
The first lady
For the Aruloguns, memories of Morenike "the first lady" Arulogun, who had wanted to be a teacher, are all they have left. She was the only girl in a long line of boys. The girl's grandmother said, when told of her granddaughter's demise, that her "mirror has been shattered.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on October 13, 2009 at 7:13pm
Disquiet over rising rate of suicide
Suicide may be defined as an act of deliberate self harm with a fatal outcome. It is an intentional, self-inflicted death. This disturbing phenomenon constitutes a global affliction, with higher rates reported in industrialialized countries of the world compared to less technologically advanced societies. About 1 million people commit suicide all over the world annually with about 3000 such acts occurries daily.
For every completed suicide, it is estimated that there are about 20 who attempt it. The World Health Organisation (2004) reported that in the year 2002 alone, about 6000 deaths in Nigeria were due to “self-inflicted injuries” (suicide). A flurry of media reports on individuals who recently committed suicide across our landscape is a cause for disquiet.
Indeed, suicide is the “end-point of a complex series of psychological, sociological and situational/personal factors”. In terms of social variables, it is observed to occur more commonly among males (for males to one female), older age groups, people who are single, separated or divorced, the unemployed and those within the two extremes of social class stratification. Middle social class somehow appears to be protective. Consequently, social ills such as social marginalization, isolation and poverty have been associated with suicide. With regards to adverse life events, studies have shown potential triggers of suicide to include: loss events (bereavement), financial difficulties/reversals and the effects of long standing physical illness e.g. chronic diseases.
In terms of psychological factors, more than 90% of people who commit suicide are suffering from a recognizable form of mental abnormality. Among the young, minor depression in reaction to life’s frustrations e.g. academic setback, dysfunctional relationship with parents and adolescent problems, are particularly common. In older individuals, severe depressive reactions, personality problems, alcohol and drug abuse, and major mental disorders may be possible causes.
Suicide prevention strategies should receive cardinal attention in all communities. Population-based strategies should focus on reducing the availability of lethal methods e.g. controlling the prescription of potentially lethal drugs, health education on safe medication handling, tighter gun control laws, and review of laws in relation to attempted suicide.
Other population-based methods will involve developing and implementing policies to tackle homelessness, unemployment and social marginalisation. It is also important to responsibly regulate media reporting and discourage heroic portrayal of suicide. High risk individuals are those who suffer from diagnosable mental disorders especially major depression and the effective preventive strategy among them is to upscale mental health services provision and monitoring in our communities.
At this juncture, the review of the Nigerian laws relating to attempted suicide deserves a more critical dissection as a necessary strategy in suicide prevention. While in the industrialized economies, attempted suicide has been de-criminalized, it retains its place as an offence against the person in section 327 of the Criminal Code. Thus, the suicide attempter in Nigeria is viewed as “bad” rather than “mad”.
It is therefore disquieting that Nigeria has chosen to remain one of the few countries where suicide attempt is still considered a crime. With the current logic of law, it would seem that the punishment is basically aimed at the “failure” in the act, because “success” i.e. death, apparently exonerates the victim from the wrath of the law. Thus, as long as attempted suicide remains punishable, it is likely that those who employ this absurd mode of dealing with psychological discomfort may be more desperate and diligent in ensuring that they succeed in their attempt at self-mortification, knowing that failure may result in the possibility of incarceration.
Therefore, it is our opinion that the current law as it relates to attempted suicide is anachronistic and urgently requires remodeling to conform to modern psychological views on the subject.
In conclusion, suicide remains an enigma and a catastrophe whenever and wherever it occurs. We resolve not to ignore those who talk about suicide, even in a casual manner or anyone who seems to have lost the wish to live. Encourage such to have a chat with a mental health professional without delay.
Drs. Ogunlesi, Adeowale and Ogunwale, are of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta
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Why do boys always cheat on their girlfriends? Is it that she is not enough for them or wat, me i dont understand but this is the worst case happenin in relationships nowadays, my friends have been victims of this, i also have been a victim.So boys watch out cuz we girls will surely retaliate
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Posted by A2 BrothazZ on October 13, 2009 at 4:45am
A Message of HOPE from A2 BrothazZ (Afro-Asian BrothazZ) feat. Ray Zeem... saying don't worry, be happy...forget bout yo troubles!Listen, Subscribe, Rate and Listen...
Posted by 9jabook.com on October 13, 2009 at 3:59am
When an intrepid and award-winning Pakistani journalist, Hamid Mir scooped an exclusive interview with the world’s most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, the world’s intelligent agencies swooped on him like bees.
Osama bin Laden
They wanted to know how he was able to get an interview with a man who had defied the prying searchlight of the world’s most sophisticated intelligent agencies, like America’s CIA, Pakistani Intelligence Services, Israeli’s Mossad and Britain’s M-15, among others.
Mr. Mir scaled through the rigorous intelligence inquest only because he posed the toughest of questions to the godfather of Islamic terrorism, Osama bin Laden and the nemesis of Western imperial swagger.
He said: “In going to interview Osama, I risked my life. Here was the man the whole world was looking for. Then I was also investigated by the various intelligence agencies. I was vindicated just because I put the very hard and unfriendly questions to the most wanted terrorist in the world. The US Ambassador in Pakistani told me: ‘You were saved because of your questions.”
Ironically, Mr. Mir was also put through severe, life-threatening test before the interview by al Qaeda operatives, who feared that he might be a mole of the Western intelligence agencies who would do anything to get Osama bin Laden dead or alive.
Mir’s story is the story of grit, gut and willingness on the part of a journalist to risk his life to get a great story. A great story he got, but not before passing through the eye of a needle.
The Osama people had to put the poor reporter through a baptism of fire, as a precautionary measure to protect the world’s most wanted extremist and elusive fugitive.
As part of the baptism of fire, Hamid Mir recalls: “They asked me to take a bath with hot water. They placed some jell on my body; then they gave me some medicines and I had loose motions. I was not well when I was interviewing him. They took all precautionary measures. For two days, they were giving me medicine and I was just shitting. They were putting jell on my body again and again.
“I took hot water bath 15 times before interviewing him. They were suspecting there were some chemicals on my body, which could make it possible for the Americans to detect my location through the satellite. That’s why they asked me to take bath again and again. They were suspicious that maybe I had something in my stomach.
So, they gave me medicine for loose motions. You see, they never treated me very well.”
Mir was the moderator at the annual conference of the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress and 58th General Assembly, which took place in Helsinki Finland from June 6-9, 2009. He was at the IPI to moderate the topic: “Talking to Terrorists: Should journalists, who provide the public with the information they need to understand the complexities of the battle against terrorism, talk with terrorists? Do they do so at the risk of becoming pawns in the terrorists’ public relations campaign? Where should journalists draw the line?”
As part of his remarks, Mir, who had interviewed Osama bin Laden thrice, told the delegates part of his Osama story. He said:
“When I interviewed Osama bin Laden first in 1997, at that time he was not a very popular international figure. My objective was to know whether he was involved in the killing of the Pakistani soldiers in Somalia in 1993. I was just trying to investigate who killed the Pakistani soldiers who were there on United Nations peace mission. And he confirmed: ‘Yes, I killed Pakistani soldiers because they were guarding the US soldiers.’
“So, actually I was trying to find out the story and I got the story. Then in 1998, he issued a fatwa to kill all the Americans and I asked him: Can you justify the killing of innocent people in the light of Islamic teachings? The third time, it was after 9/11. And I must tell you it was a lot of risk I had to take. When I went there I was not sure I would arrive back to my office safely. I even made a will to my wife. I wrote a letter of apology to my wife explaining why I went to risk my life.
“It is not a very easy but then when you are confronting a big terrorist, one thing must be kept in your mind; that you should not become a tool. He wants to propagate his views; he wants you to ask easy question; he wants you to become his mouthpiece but it is your duty as an objective journalist to ask him difficult questions so that if you are arrested by the intelligence agencies or your government is not happy with your mission, then you can present your questions as an evidence that you actually confronted the terrorist and you actually exposed him, you actually proved him wrong. Your conscience, your professional ethics, everything must be kept in mind. I believe as journalists we should serve the society; we should not serve terrorism.
“In going to interview Osama, I risked my life. Here was the man the whole world was looking for. Then I was also investigated by the various intelligence agencies. I was vindicated just because I put the very hard and unfriendly questions to the most wanted terrorist in the world. The US Ambassador in Pakistan told me: ‘You were saved because of your hard questions.’
“The intelligence agencies could not find him. At the time I went there, the war was still going on in Afghanistan and it was very difficult for any journalist to enter that area. When I reached Kabul, a massive carpet-bombing had started. I lost the hope of living. I thought I would be killed. I was the only journalist left in Kabul. Immediately after that interview, they entered the city of Kabul—the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Maybe that was the last interview he gave to any journalist. For me, it was only madness that drove me. I got the interview out of madness. There was another journalist, Robert Fisk. He also interviewed Bin Laden three times.”
When asked by a journalist on the floor why he did not brief the CIA after his trip, Mir responded: “It is not our job to brief CIA. It is the job of the CIA to learn something from us.”
After the discussion we, the two reporters from The Sun, engaged Hamid Mir in an exclusive interview on his life as a journalist and what prompted him to go to Afghanistan in search of Osama bin Laden. According to him, it was simply “madness” and a challenge to prove to an American lady reporter that he had the gut to do what the Americans couldn’t do — by going to cover the Afghanistan war from the war front in Afghanistan and not from the safety of a five-star hotel in Pakistan like the American reporters did.
Excerpts:
What prompted you to come into journalism?
I became a journalist because my father was a professor of journalism and he died at a very early age because he was fighting against the dictator in Pakistan. He poisoned him and I became a journalist just to continue his mission.
How did you learn the ropes?
I learn journalism after the sudden death of my father. I was a college student at that time. He died at a very early age. I was the elder one; so it was my responsibility to look after my family. So that’s why I became a journalist.
What kind of journalist was your father?
The name of my father was Waris Mir. He was the professor of journalism in the University of Pujab, Lahore, Pakistan. And he used to write a column in the biggest newspaper of Pakistan, which is called Daily Jang. He was a great critic of General Zia-ul-Haq, who ruled Pakistan from 1977 to 1988. General Zia-ul-Haq introduced some so-called Islamic laws in Pakistan. He started helping America in fighting in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. So, my father was against the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. He started criticising him. And in 1987, General Zia-ul-Haq killed my father through slow poisoning. So when my father died, I was only 22 years old at that time. I just graduated from college and was about to go to the university.
We were not a very rich family. It was my responsibility to look after the family. I was the editor of the college magazine; so I applied for a job in the same newspaper; my paper was writing for and I got the job of an apprentice reporter in training there. That’s how my journalistic career started in 1987. Now, I am 22 years in journalism.
How did you rise in the profession?
I made a name for myself through scoops and big interviews. First of all, in 1994, I interviewed the Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres in Switzerland. I was there with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. It was at the World Economic Forum meeting. As is known, Pakistan and Israel do not have diplomatic relations. I was the first ever Pakistani journalist to interview any Israeli leader. So that was my major scoop. And then in 1995, I interviewed President Nelson Mandela in New Zealand. And then I interviewed President Yasir Arafat. So, that’s how I made my name.
These interviews made me very famous in Pakistan. Especially, the interview with Nelson Mandela was a big hit. Because I was the only journalist in the whole of the South-Asian region, including India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, to ever interview President Nelson Mandela. And with the passage of time, after a few years in 1997 I interviewed Osama bin Laden for the first time. I interviewed him again in 1998 and then I interviewed him for the third time in November 2001. And after that, in 2004, I interviewed the U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell. Then I interviewed Condoleezza Rice. Then I interviewed Tony Blair. Then the President of Afghanistan, Mr. Hamid Kazei and many international celebrities.
How important are these big interviews in the life of a journalist?
These interviews are important because when you talk to tough people, you talk to famous people, and you ask them tough questions, valid questions, your readers come to know about your competence. They can judge your quality through your questions. If you have dug out a big story out of an interview, you are a good journalist.
What kind of preparation did you make to get Osama bin Laden?
When I was going to interview him for the first time in 1997, I was not aware of who he is, where he is from. I had very little knowledge about him. But when I interviewed him after 9/11, I asked him tough questions. And when I asked those tough questions, sometimes he got angry with me. He never answered some of the questions. And when the interview ended, he had tea with me, then he tried to terrify me. He said: “Mr. Mir, the bombing is going on, you may be killed with me and I will be happy to go to paradise.” But I told him: “I will go to hell with you.”
How did he react to your statement?
He never responded because he was not expecting such an ugly answer from me. Because at that time, I was of the view that I would not be alive. I felt that in the next few minutes, maybe I would be killed, so why should I be terrorised under pressure by this man? So he was talking nasty with me and I was talking nasty with him.
What are some of the hardest questions you asked him?
One of the questions was: “How can you justify the killing of innocent people in the 9/11 attacks?” Then I asked him another question: “There is a rumour that you have married the daughter of Mullah Umar, the head of Taliban. And that is why he has provided you with sanctuary in Afghanistan.” He was not expecting these kinds of questions from me. I also asked him: “You are suffering from kidney disease and you may not live very long.” But he said: “No, no, no, I am not suffering from kidney disease.” These were questions he had not been asked before and these were the questions, which saved me, because after coming back to Pakistan I was investigated by the Pakistani Intelligence Services and the Pakistani Intelligence Services were provided a lot of questions by the American CIA. They actually wanted to arrest me but I was very careful.
I never violated any international law. I got visa; there were visa stamps on my passport; I had the recording of the interview on my tape, I had the pictures, the negatives, each and everything. Many people said I had not interviewed bin Laden and that I was making the wrong statements just to become famous. But the CIA, the Pakistani Intelligence Services and the CNN — Nick Robertson of CNN — investigated and said it on CNN that “it is a genuine interview; we have examined the negative; we have examined the audio tape recorder, each and everything.” That was how I survived.
Who took the photographs while you were interviewing him?
I had my camera with me, but bin Laden never allowed me to use my camera. He never allowed me to use my camera because he was very careful. He took my camera; he emptied the camera; my film was removed. He put his film inside my camera and he gave that camera to his son, Abdulrahman, who took the pictures of me and bin Laden. He also recorded that interview on some small DVD Sony cameras. He recorded that for himself on the video camera, but for me, he gave only some still shots and the recorded interview on the tape recorder.
How come he was not suspicious of you? You could have been a spy.
Because I interviewed him two times before and his people spent two days with me in Afghanistan. They asked me to take a bath with hot water. They placed some jell on my body; then they gave me some medicines and I had loose motions. I was not well when I was interviewing him. They took all precautionary measures. For two days, they were giving me medicine and I was just shitting. They were putting jell on my body again and again. I took hot water bath 15 times before interviewing him. They were suspecting there were some chemicals on my body and the Americans can detect my location through the satellite. That’s why they asked me to take bath again and again. They were suspicious that maybe I had something in my stomach. So they gave me medicine for loose motions. You see, they never treated me very well.
What gave you the courage for all these?
It’s a good question. When the Americans started the war in Afghanistan, the whole Western media came to Pakistan. And they started covering the war in Afghanistan. They were standing on the roof of Marriot Hotel in Islamabad. So, one day I had a discussion with an American television journalist. She was a producer at the CBS news channel. And I asked her: You people are covering the war in Afghanistan while standing on the rooftop of a five-star hotel. Why don’t you go to Afghanistan? And she said arrogantly: Why don’t you go to Afghanistan? You also don’t have the balls to go to Afghanistan. You cannot face the bombing. That was the challenge for me.
So, I said: I will go. You will give me your cameramen and I will go and I will make some good shots. So, interviewing bin Laden was not on my mind. When I entered Afghanistan, the bombing started; so it was not possible for me to go back. Because that road was bombed by the Americans. So, we rushed toward Kabul. We reached Kabul and I was the only journalist there and the bombing was going on there. That was in November 2001, two months after the war. All the journalists run away. I had no option than to stay there because bombing was going on. And in the meantime, I met some fighters there in Kabul. The city of Kabul was empty.
There were only Al Qaeda fighters there. One of them recognized me and said: “Mr. Mir, how are you?” I asked him: “Where is your leader? I want to interview him.” He said: “No, no, no, he cannot give you an interview this time. The war is going on.” I said, “OK, I can stay here.” Because it was not possible for me to go back. I was stuck up in the war zone. I spent two days and finally I was able to get that interview. I got the interview out of madness. Because the war was going on and one American journalist challenged that if she cannot go to Afghanistan, then I cannot go too. But I proved that I can go to Afghanistan. That was the main objective. To go to Afghanistan. The main objective was not to interview Osama bin Laden.
What lessons can you draw from this concerning what makes a good reporter?
I must say risk is the beauty of journalism. If you don’t take risks, you cannot become a good journalist. A good reporter must be well-read; he must be honest; he should be objective; he should not take sides with political parties or whoever.
For me, a good journalist cannot remain neutral. I don’t believe in neutrality, because you cannot become neutral between good and bad. One thing is good; one thing is bad. If you are writing an opinion column, then you have to take the side of good people, you have to take the side of justice, you have to take the side of honesty. You cannot take the side of dishonesty. You cannot take the side of the President or the prime minister of the country. Always take the side of the good and honest people. If you are reporting news, you have to be objective. But if you are writing an opinion column, you have to take the side of justice and honesty.
What is news?
News is 5Ws. (Who, What, Where, When, Why?) Any incident taking place at any particular time at any particular place is news, and you have to report it. You should become a mirror in which the reader of your paper can see the incident. So a good reporter should behave like a mirror. And a good opinion writer, opinion column writer should act like a guide, should act like a man who is giving light in the darkness.
What does it mean to report?
You have to report what happened, where it happened and who did it. That’s all: 5Ws. This is the international principle of reporting. But a reporter should not become a tool of any political group; he should not become a tool of any terrorist group; he should not become a tool of any government; he should remain neutral. But I am repeating again and again, a good editorial writer and a good opinion column writer should not be neutral. You cannot be neutral; otherwise nobody would read your column.
What’s your impression of Osama bin Laden?
The main source of his strength is the bad American policies. If America today corrects its policies, if today America is ready to resolve the issue of Palestine, withdraw its forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, Osama bin Laden would be eliminated politically. But if you are not ready to resolve the issue of Palestine, you are not ready to resolve the issue of Kashmir, you are not ready to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan and Iraq and you want to kill Osama bin Laden, you will not get rid of terrorism. You can kill him physically but you would not be able to kill him politically. So, try to eliminate him politically by addressing some political issues.
In your opinion, is he still alive?
Yes, he is still alive and he is hiding somewhere in the eastern or southern part of Afghanistan.
Can you describe the milieu in which you found him?
First time I met him in the mountains in 1997. Second time I met him in the city of Kandahar. Third time I met him in the city of Kabul.
Can you describe him?
He is a very tall man, very smart man. I must say he is a lady killer but you don’t have picture of beauty.
What was the challenge of being the youngest man to edit a national newspaper in Pakistan?
I became editor at the age of 30 in 1996. When I became editor, I had never interviewed bin Laden. I became editor because my chief editor was of the view that I may become a very successful editor because I was very hardworking. So hard work and honesty forced my chief editor to appoint me editor of my newspaper.
What did you take after your father?
I learnt honesty from my father. I learnt bravery and courage from my father and I am very proud to be his son and I think that today I have outstanding achievements in journalism because of my father.
What values did your father stand for?
He stood for democracy, for human rights, for liberal and progressive Islam and he always stood for the truth.
How about your own family?
I have one son and one daughter. My son is not interested in becoming a journalist but my daughter is very much interested and I think she would become a good journalist.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on October 12, 2009 at 8:00pm
What could possibly be going through their minds? Wyclef challenged Akon to do twenty push ups on stage during the Awards. Akon takes up the challenge with part of the agreement as stripping to their boxers So they strip but Akon takes it a step forward – taking his mic and putting it in his boxers. There’s no way that would be called sexy but foolish.
Akon checking the mic from his boxers and Wyclef
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D’banj wins artiste of the year again at this year’s MTV MAMAs. MI grabs two plaques for Best New act and Best Hiphop Video beating Jay Z and Kanye West who were also nominated, P Square won Best Group and Tuface won Best R n B. Nigerian acts present at the awards are Kel, D’banj, M.I., 2face, Darey, Naetoc, Bigiano, Mo Hits with P Square absent. Kel lost to Amani for the Best female category and Late Lucky Dube was honoured with a post-humous award with Akon and Wyclef hosting the event. Here’s the list of winners:
1. Best Listener’s Choice Awards – Nameless
2. Best New Act – M.I.
3. Best Group – P Square
4. Best Female – Amani
5. Best Performer – Samini
6. Best Male – Nameless
7. Best RnB Act – 2Face
8. Best Alternative – Zebra & Giraffee
9. Best Video – HHP
10. Best Hip-Hop Act – M.I.
11. Artist of the Year – D’Banj
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The Ogun State police command at the weekend charged a 27-year-old man, Okwaja Joseph Ochibo, to court in Abeokuta for allegedly duping his victim of N50,000 after he claimed to be part of a hired killer gang.
The suspect, who is now facing arraignment at the Isabo High Court in Abeokuta was a former employee of the victim, according to the command’s Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, .
Mr. Ochibo was alleged to have demanded for the sum of N100, 000, via a message sent from his phone, from the manager of an insurance company in Abeokuta as “settlement” to spare his life and that of his family members. The suspect reportedly claimed that some people had paid him to kill them all.
The police’s spokesperson said the scared family reported the matter to the police and were advised to play along with the “assassin”, and it was agreed that the sum of N50,000 to be deposited in his account.
The suspect was said to have agreed to his victim’s term and the amount was paid into his Skye Bank Account Number 2241010050010at Sapon -Abeokuta. Unknown to him, however, his ATM card had been blocked by the bank on the advice of the police so that he was thus forced to approach the counter at the bank to cash the money.
He was about to do just that when police officers, who had laid siege for him at the bank, apprehended him. The relieved victim would later tell the police that the suspected was his former house security guard.
Mr. Ochibo appeared in court last Friday and was remanded in prison while the case was adjourned till December 16, 2009.
Mr. Adejobi, who said the command appreciates the support of the people of Ogun State in its efforts to combat crime, said members of the public should be more security conscious.
“People should harness all security resources around them, vis-à-vis the use of circulated police phone numbers around them, to reach out to the police when the need arises,” he said.
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Is it how you treat your house help that they behave to you ?
Do you Treat your househelp well ?
Ijeoma Ugwumba’s euphoric mood over the date she had just had was shattered when she waltzed into her Lekki apartment one sultry Sunday evening. “I saw a note from my househelp, Oluchi (Muoghalu), saying that she had left,” said the mid-level federal civil servant.
“Her (mobile phone) number was not going, I called her parents (in Anambara State) and they said they did not see her. I was rushing to keep an appointment with my date, so I gave her N30,000 to pay into the bank for me. When I came back, Oluchi had disappeared with her bags and my money.
“Not only that; she left with my DVD (player), my manicure kit, and even had the audacity to take some of my underwear,” she added. Ms. Ugwumba’s four days of an extensive manhunt eventually unearthed Ms. Muoghalu in far away Delta State.
She had aborted a pregnancy, unknown to her employer, and eloped with a boyfriend to Asaba. She had also, to Ms. Ugwumba’s chagrin, borrowed N10,000 from a neighbour on her employer’s behalf. Ms. Ugwumba’s plight represents that which a growing number of Lagos residents pass through in the hands of domestic workers like maids and houseboys.
The rapidly growing number of working women and the demands of living in an overpopulated mega city like Lagos has necessitated the need for hired helps to take care of homes, and children in some cases. In downtown Surulere, Bernadene Ihekweme, got a scare recently when she got home from work, around 10pm one night, to find her maid and three children missing. “Apart from my first son, (Jude), the rest are normally in bed by that time. I nearly had a heart attack.
I panicked and started calling every neighbour to know where they were,” she said. Her fears were assuaged when it turned out her husband, who works and resides in Abuja, had paid a surprise visit and played a prank on her by whisking the family away. “Normally, I shouldn’t have panicked like that, but in this era of maids and houseboys conniving with kidnappers, do you blame me?” added Ms. Ihekweme.
Her suspicions are equally mirrored by majority of respondents; even in cases where domestic servants have been with their employers for long periods.
Bad eggs
Having served her employer for a “loyal” eight years, Kikelomo Olarenwaju, is indignant at the suggestion that her trustworthiness could be suspect. “That one can never happen,” she declared. “My madam (Abisola John-Martins) can never try to suspect me for anything. I have been here for so long that I can’t mess up. In short, I am now a part of the family. My madam has already registered for my JAMB; that is because she now wants me to go to university just like her children.” Emilia Ike is an economics graduate, and manages a cyber cafe at Aguda, Surulere.
She has served as a househelp to Cyprain and Geraldine Okwara since 1996. “There was a time I had a problem with madam, but since then I have a very good relationship with them,” she said. “I am very grateful to them; oga sponsored my education from secondary to polytechnic, and even opened this cyber cafe for me to manage. I will stay with them until I marry.”
Expert advice
Dave Uko, a legal practitioner, believes that some of these domestic workers that misbehave do so as a reaction to the unfair conditions of labour they might be subjected to. “Some of these people that complain about their maid or houseboy did this and that are the cause of their woes,” he said. “What do you expect from a maid who is overlaboured and underpaid? There are bound to be feelings of resentment in such cases.
How many people know that their domestic servants, who are not relatives, are entitled to workmen’s compensation insurance under the Workmen Compensation Act? Domestic servants are human, and should be treated with the utmost respect.” Ms Ugwumba is adamant that she treated her erstwhile maid well, and believes she has been unfairly rewarded. “Now, her ungrateful parents are accusing me of all sorts of rubbish and even threatened my father when he went to their house to explain what happened,” she said.
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Can a man die for love? If your answer is in the negative, a man has proved you wrong. Nnamdi Odoegbu, a resident in Lugbe,a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory believes no price is too much to pay for love. Penultimate Thursday, Nnamdi demonstrated this. He took his life after his lover, one Jumai reportedly decided to jilt him. Neighbours woke up to find thelifeless body of Nnamdi,aka Iron Iron hanging from a rope.An eye witness said that the deceased decided to end his life since he was unable to effect a change in the attitude of his lover, Jumai. Nnamdi had reportedly accused Jumai of frequenting night clubs, an allegation which forced her to end the love affair.Unable to bear the separation, the late Odoegbu was said to have resorted to always threatening to commit suicide if he was unable to bend Jumai’s mind. Not even the intervention by some of his family members and friends could help the situation, it was further learnt.Police in Abuja confirmed the story and said they got involved when Jumai reported a threat to her own life by the deceased.“Quite naturally, the deceased was arrested and later detained and released to go and settle his crisis,” Police said.But the deceased was said to have gone to the extent of physically assaulting his lover after the intervention of the Police. Apparently frustrated by Jumai’s unyielding attitude, the deceased was said to have confided in his friend called Peter that he was going home.Unknown to Peter, the deceased “went home” the next day. Authorities at the National Hospital were said to have pronounced Odoegbu dead.Police told Daily Sun that Odoegbu has since been buried in his home town, Okpuje in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on October 11, 2009 at 8:38pm
THE Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU), has suspended strike for two weeks.
Announcing the suspension at a news conference at the Imo State University (now Evan Enwerem University, Owerri), the Presideent of ASUU Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie noted that they took the decision in compliance with the agreement reached in order to move the educational sector forward, hoping that the Federal Government would dialogue with the body conclusively in favor of the growth of the sub-sector.
The suspension, he said, took effect from yesterday.
Awuzie, a teacher at the Imo State university, Owerri, said: "In reference to Mr. President's intervention, the strike is hereby suspended for two weeks with effect from Friday, 9, October, to enable a cordial atmosphere for the peaceful conclusion to ensue. The union expects that this gesture would accelerate the returning of the Nigerian university system to normal activities and calendar."
Awuzie regretted that those universities that could not identify with the union did what they wished, adding that the union was working in consonance with other stakeholders to uplift the academic system.
He urged Nigerians and all stakeholders to understand the stand of ASUU to uplift the growth of education in line with global requirements.
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Ok first of all let me ask you: have you ever tried achieving a goal?Have you tried and failed before?Are you willing to try again?Do you believe you’ll make this time?Ok. Everybody has their fears. Even great heroes have their greatest fears….For instance: Superman has Kryptonite as his greatest fear... Indiana Jones fears Snake the most… even I, Prosper, I have my Fears... So it’s not a crime for you to have what you fear the most... But it is a very big crime for you to let your fears to defeat you, so don’t give up.A saying goes: if you want to create a Hero, you must first create a Villain... for a hero is not complete without a villain..Everybody will one day face his/her fears.. no matter how much you try to run away from it.Everybody has a talent, but what everybody don’t have is the courage to follow their talent to the unknown place where it leads… you must have that courage..Have you tried and failed before?All I have to say to you is TRY AGAIN.If you don’t feel pain, you won’t know how joy feels.If you don’t cry, you won’t appreciate laughter.If you don’t fail, you wont value Success..Sometimes we get to conscious of our past failures that we forget that the future is depending on us…I know it’s the past that makes us who we are… you must let go of the past so you can grab the future… all I am saying is: forget the memories of your failures and create a story of you Success.. Just believe and look beyond what you see, foresee a future so bright, so lovely, so beautiful… and TRY AGAIN.
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Ok.. first of all.. i have something to tell you... i hate to say it.. but its the truth the.. I AM SHY...ok.. in this situation.. it is very Hard for me talk to a girl...but when Ladies do the talking.. it simply means : Giving guys as shy as me.. the chance to Express themselves..i know its the normal thing for a boy to walk up to a Lady.. and ask her out.. but it also goes both ways..Men are just so much Human as Ladies.. So it is not a horrible thing to say.. that Women should also do the talking.Ok.. imagine this Fictional story.. :He Loves Her.. and She Loves Him too... but there seem to be a big gap between the two Hearths...the Gap is Communication.. the Boy is too Shy to ask.. and the Girl think the Boy hates her...but.. His Hearth calls for Her Love.. and Her Hearth returns His call.. but they walk pass Each other every dayhoping that one day.. their paths would cross.. instead..Fear of Rejection kept His Love inside.and Her hearth shed tears for any day that passed without a link to her Love..they Live close..and Now.. she is about to fall for the wrong guy (a player)so you see that if she had Talked.. the two hearths would be long lost in Love.. but it never happened..you see.. maybe you are not the shy type.. but you can play a part in this Mentality Adjustment..Let the Ladies know that they should Follow their Hearths.. and Give the shy guys a Chance to Love a Love filled Life..Every boy has a "Prince Charming" inside him that needs to be let out..and Every girl has a "Sleeping Beauty" inside her and needs Woken..Everybody can achieve their Dream.. if Only we could learn to Unleash our Selves.. Thanks for reading..Read more…
Hello and how are you doing? How is your weekend going? Anyway I only called to say hi and Please have some fun, relax and enjoy your weekend.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on October 9, 2009 at 2:44am
He pursued the girl with lunatic passion, but she rebuffed his advances, until he succeeded in defiling her. But even this was not enough for Chinwikpe Ikezie. he made good his threat to kill the girl’s mother, her opposition to his advances. Abiola Azeez reports the gripping tale of a love intention gone wild.0
Was it a case of love gone sour or that of a professed love to one’s heartthrob being turned down or truncated by forces more powerful? No matter the deductions one makes out of the story, the deed has been done, and the deceased has been left for the bereaved to bury.
Okwoyi Isieke Ibeku is a rural village in Umuahia North local government area of Abia State. The usually peaceful community,which is just about three kilometres away from the heart of the state capital, was thrown into mourning, anger, and confusion on Wednesday evening, when the news filtered into the community that a 17 year-old young man had murdered a 35 year old mother in a cassava farm.
Members of the community, particularly the leadership of the youth, gathered and formed a search party. They went after the alleged killer, going from one neighbouring village to another, apparently to deny the murderer any form of escape and to hand him over to law enforcement agents.
Their efforts paid off after much exertion of energy; the alleged murderer, Chinwikpe Okezie, who allegedly committed the heinous crime at about 5 p.m., was tracked down at about 3 a.m. the next day at a bush path in the neighbouring village.
It was discovered that he had his own network of informants to help him immediately he fled the community after committing the dastardly act.
Investigations conducted by FeaturesXtra revealed that Chinwikpe regularly visits Okwoyi Isieke Ibeku, which is his maternal community, where he had lived with his mother in Okwoyi Isieke Ibeku, since the mother was thrown out of her husband’s house unceremoniously.
Another version to the personality of the Chinwikpes had it that his mother had no clear cut means of livelihood and was also a trouble maker in the community.
This, members of the community said, made her husband to wake up one morning and engage the services a truck driver, who helped him to pack her belongings back to her community in the full glare of everyone present at the market square of the village. Her bride price was not paid.
Members of the community, in separate interviews, said that Chinwikpe had, about two years ago, used a cutlass to cut the hand of one of his older kinsmen during a fight. Also, no member of the community could confirm his source of livelihood.
While some said he never attended school, others said he was a drop out, while some others said he was available for any casual labour since he was not known to be on apprenticeship with anyone.
Speaking with FeaturesXtra, a former youth leader of the community, Mr. Ibeabuchi Abarikwu, said the deceased, Chikamnayo Nwakaaku Young (nee Ikpo), aged 35, was a native of Okwoyi Isieke Ibeku in the Umuahia North Local government area of the state, but was married to one Abel Young, an indigene of Amankwu Amiibo in Ubakala community of Umuahia South local government area of the state.
Abarikwu said the couple got separated when the man could not complete the payment of brideprice on Chikamnayo, a development which he said made her to take her children along with her to her father’s house.
”Chikamnayo is a peasant farmer. She had gone to her farm in the morning of the day of the incident. Earlier, before the day of the incident, her assailant, Chinwikpe, had been threatening her, and telling people that he would kill the woman.
“Chinwikpe’s mother is from Okwoyi Isieke Ibeku, just like the deceased. Interestingly, no other girl in the community caught Chinwikpe’s admiration and love except the deceased’s daughter, Chinagorom Young, aged 17. He was trying to befriend the daughter of the deceased, which the deceased vehemently opposed, saying that her daughter is a blood sister to the boy.
She said they couldn’t have any love relationship. Many people are aware of how the girl in question had rejected the advances of the boy on many occasions, yet he continued to trouble the girl.
“Their neighbours even said that the boy had succeeded in raping the girl once, saying their houses are close to one another. So, because the mother refused to consent to their relationship, the boy vowed that he would kill the deceased and also rubbish the girl.
“The deceased had made several complaints to elders of the community, among other people, yet no action was taken, not even calling the boy to order.
“On Wednesday morning, Chikamnayo went to her farm. However, one of her friends in the community, who had a funny feeling, a sense of an impending danger, about her friend, went to her house to warn her about the ominous feeling she had about her. But the woman only met her children, who told their mother’s friend that their mother had gone to the farm.
She, therefore, traced her to the farm, where she met her and told her about the feeling of danger she was having. She succeeded in persuading the deceased to come back to the village with her.
“As fate would have it, the children had nothing to eat at home and the deceased decided to go back to her farm in the evening, at about 5 p.m., to get some vegetables needed to cook a meal for her children. People said immediately she left, they saw Chinwikpe trailing the deceased to the farm.
“When we saw her corpse, already battered by machete cuts in the chest and back, with her face lying on the ground, we learnt that the boy was still lurking around the vicinity. Thus, we alerted everyone in the community.
We also raised a search party. Do you know that it was not until 3 a.m. on Thursday that we eventually caught the boy in a neighbouring community? We then handed him over to the police. The police have since commenced investigations into the matter.”
Asked what he knew of the boy previously, Ibeabuchi said:“Two years ago, when I was the youth leader in the community, Chinwikpe’s elder brother used a machete to cut the arm of one of his elder kinsmen in the community. Then, I warned his people that he should not come back to the community after the incident”, he said.
Describing how they tracked the suspect down in the dead of the night, the youth leader said, “It was a tough experience. When we got the information that he was still hanging around in the area after committing the crime, we mobilised all the youth in the area and searched the community.
We immediately went from Ukome to other neighbouring villages. We also gathered that some people were communicating to him through GSM phones about our journey, which we made with a car, and particularly about my personal involvement in the effort to get him. At a point, we would see him, but he would quickly hide inside the bush on seeing the head lamp of the car we were using to track him.
So, at a point, I advised that we should park the car and go on foot. We then mobilised all the neighbouring communities. Again, he saw us and tried to take cover in the bush. As he was scampering out of the bush at Isieke, we caught him and handed him over to the police.”
Meanwhile, a new twist was added to the story as some sympathisers of the alleged murderer insisted that Chiwinkpe was a friend to the deceased’s daughter and that she even had an issue for the alleged murderer. Speaking on this twist, a native of the village, who wanted to remain anonymous, denied such a story, describing it as a figment of the peddlers’ imagination.
“They were not friends at all. The deceased’s daughter told me that the guy had made several attempts to befriend her, while the girl said she shouted ‘obara Jesus’, meaning blood of Jesus. The guy knows what that means. Yet he continued to pester her. The guy succeeded in raping the girl; the whole village can testify to this. Because of the incident, the girl cried out to the whole community. If they were friends, there would not have been such an alarm.
“Because of this incident, the deceased did not hide the matter but cried out to the whole community over the sacrilegious occurence. The deceased even contacted the guy’s mother with the hope that his mother would caution him. But due to the way the guy was brought up, he never listened to his mother, as his mind was already made up. The elders were still looking into the matter until the killing of the deceased.
If he was innocent or ignorant of what he did, he would not have run away. When he was eventually caught in the bush, he never argued about his offence. He never uttered a word. There was a feeling of disgust and shock because the village saw it as a sacrilege for a boy to have killed someone in his maternal home.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Tribune gathered that the case is being handled by the state Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Umuahia, while the village called on the police to look carefully into the case. They said the boy should not be allowed bail and that he should face the consequences of his action.
“Our community is a law-abiding one. We could have meted out justice to him the night we caught him, but we decided to hand him over to the police immediately. We believe in the police and the court of law. Justice must take its full course. Such a thing has never happened in our place before”, he said.
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The explosion of Information Technology in Nigeria has meant that more people have access to internet connection and other innovative IT solutions, but this has brought its own ills.Two years ago, the Internet Crime Report ranked the country tops among the African countries from which fraudulent credit card transactions and other forms of cyber-crime originate. The local parlance for the perpetrators of these cyber cons is “Yahoo boys”.All that is needed for start-up is between N300 and N500 for an all-night internet access at a cybercafé or even a dial-up connection, a second rate laptop from the Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos and a handful of software. As the con man toils all-night, setting traps for gullible citizens while they are asleep; he goes to sleep in the day, expecting to wake up to a harvest in form of money, in local and foreign currencies, saleable items like computers, or the PIN of somebody’s ATM card.Bolade Akeem, a resident of Ibadan, recently fell victim of these fraudsters. “I lost my one month salary to ATM fraud,” he said while narrating his predicament to NEXT.“I do hear about Yahoo boys, but I don’t know how they operate. The way they operate is secretive because victims do not talk about it, probably because doing so reveals their palpable vulnerability,” he said.“I responded to an email, purportedly from Interswitch, which said I needed to update my ATM card details. I didn’t know such email is rampant until I spoke out and other people started relating their own experiences,” he said.“Should every victim narrate his/her experience exactly the way it happened, many more people will not be entering it and the ‘yahoo business’ will be heading moribund by now,” said Mr. Akeem.Indeed, more young people are taking to the practice, either on a part-time or a full-time basis, as revealed by the manager of a Lagos Island-based cybercafé who spoke to NEXT on the condition of anonymity.Evil partnership“It’s difficult to run a profitable internet cafe in Lagos without the patronage of these boys,” he said, adding that “many Yahoo boys are unemployed. Some of them quit after getting regular source of income. At least I know about four that have quit.”From a list that included secondary school leavers, undergraduates, and unemployed university graduates, he deduced that more than poverty, idleness and lust for “quick money” are the reasons given by some of the boys he had spoken to.According to Mr. Akeem, the fertile avenue for the business of internet scam remains the public cybercafés.“The latest strategy, I learnt, is that they (scammers) liaise with some cybercafé owners and plug a particular device into computer systems. The device records any entry made on popular e-commerce and email websites, including credit card number and PINs,” said Mr. Akeem.Solution“We are being forced to embrace the ‘e-trends’ – e-payment, e-banking, e-this and e-that without a plan for e-security. These scammers can easily link up with their pals overseas for advanced scamming technology. This ‘Yahoo business’ is dynamic and has gone international,” said the cybercafé manager.However, Mr. Akeem suggested that the best protective measure is to be wary of unsolicited emails and use trusted internet network on a trusted computer equipped with latest protective software. “And the only computer you can trust is your own,” he added.Jide Awe, an IT expert and founder of Jidaw.com in a website post on cybercrime, listed some of the internet fraud schemes as those perpetrated through e-mail, chat rooms, message boards, or websites.According to the him, fraudsters are taking advantage of the speed and easy accessibility of the internet, cheaper to use fraudulent, deceptive “spamming” e-mails to dupe unsuspecting victims and the anonymity that the internet sometimes offers.Mr. Awe urged security agencies to be equipped with the skills, know-how and the insight necessary to fight cybercrime effectively.
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Attack Sequence 1: Direct Questioning• Stage 1. Ask your question directly.• Give no advance warning of the subject you’re about to bring up or of any feelings of mistrust.• Never reveal what you know first. Ask questions to gather information to see if it’s consistent withwhat you already know.• The way you present yourself can greatly influence the attitude of the other person. Three powerfultips for establishing building rapport:1. Matching posture and movements – if he has one hand in his pocket, you put your hand in yours.2. Matching speech – if he’s speaking in a slow, relaxed tone, you do the same.3. Matching key words – if he’s prone to using certain words or phrases, use them when speaking.• Ask a question that you know will produce a response similar to how you expect him to react. In otherwords, if he waves his arms around no matter what he’s talking about, you want to know this.• Use a relaxed and non-threatening posture, and square off so that you’re facing each other.• Never, ever interrupt. You can’t learn anything new while you’re talking. Ask open-ended questions.• Stage 2. Silence.• Stage 3. Really? At the end of his answer respond with “Really?”• Stage 4. Sudden Death. Follow with “Is there anything you want to get off your chest?”Attack Sequence 2: Lead and Confine• Stage 1. Ask a leading question. For example, “you were back by two A.M. last night, weren’t you?”• Stage 2. Reverse course: You’ve got to be kidding! For example, “I was hoping you did, so you would havegotten it out of your system. Please tell me that you’ve done it, so I know that it’s over with.”• Stage 3. This is not going to work. For example, “I thought you were somebody who had a sense of adventure.Someone who knows how to live a little.”Attack Sequence 3: Time Line Distortion• Scenario: You suspect several employees in your store of stealing money• Stage1. Setting the scene. Let the conversation turn casually to stealing and say, “Oh, I knew right from thestart what was going on.”• Stage 2. It’s no big deal. “You had to know I knew. How else do you think you could have gotten away with itfor so long? I hope you don’t think I’m a complete idiot.”• Stage 3. I appreciate what you’ve done. “I know that you were just going along with it because you werescared of what the others would do. It’s really okay. I know you’re not that kind of person.”Attack Sequence 4: Direct Assumption / Shot in the Dark• Stage 1. Set the scene. Be somewhat curt and standoffish, as if something heavy-duty is bothering you. Thiswill cause his mind to race to find ways to explain the “error of his ways.”• Stage 2. I’m hurt. Say, “I’ve just found something out and I’m really hurt [shocked/surprised]. I know you’regoing to lie to me and try to deny it, but I just wanted you to know that I know.” You establish that (a) he’sguilty of something and (b) you know what it is.• Stage 3. Holding your ground. Say, “I think we both know what I’m talking about. We need to clear the air,and we can start by your talking.”• Stage 4. Continue to hold your ground. Repeat phrases such as “I’m sure it will come to you” and “The longer Iwait, the madder I’m getting.”• Stage 5. Apply social pressure. “We were all talking about it. Everybody knows.” Now he begins to getcurious about who knows and how they found out. As soon as he tries to find out, you’ll know he’s guilty.Attack Sequence 5: The Missing Link• Scenario: You think that your mother-in-law may have hired a private investigator to follow you around.• Stage 1. List facts. Tell her something that you know to be true. “I know you’re not very fond of me, and thatyou objected to the wedding, but this time you’ve gone too far.”• Stage 2. State your assumption. “I know all about the investigator. Why did you think that was necessary?”• Stage 3. The magic phrase. “You know what, I’m too upset to talk about this now.” The guilty person willhonor your request because she won’t want to anger you further. An innocent person will be mad at you foraccusing her of something that she hasn’t done and will want to discuss it now.Attack Sequence 6: Who, Me?• Stage1. Setting the scene. He suspects that his ex-girlfriend broke into his house. He phoned to let her know ina very non-accusatory way that that there had been a break-in and some items were missing. The following typeof conversation would ensue:Winston: The police are going to want to talk to everyone who had access to the house. Since youstill have a key, they’re going to want to speak with you. Just routine stuff, I’m sure. Ofcourse you’re not a suspect.Ex-Girlfriend: But I don’t know anything about it.Winston: Oh, I know. Just policy, I guess. Anyway, one of my neighbors said that she got apartial license-plate number on a car that was by my house that day.Ex-Girlfriend: (After a long pause) Well, I was driving around your neighborhood that day. Istopped by to see if you were home. But when you weren’t, I just left.Winston: Oh, really? Well, they did a fingerprint test too. That should show something.Ex-Girlfriend: What test?Winston: Oh, they dusted for prints and…• Stage 2. Inform non-accusatorily. Casually inform your suspect of the situation.• Stage 3. Introduce evidence to be rebutted. As you introduce the evidence, look to see if every one of yourstatements is met by explanations from him as to how the evidence could be misunderstood. For example, yoususpect that a co-worker had shredded some of your files. You would first set the stage by letting him knowthat you can’t find some important files. Then say, “Well, it’s a good thing my new secretary noticed someoneby the shredder the other day. She said she recognized his face but didn’t know his name.” An innocent personwould not feel the need to explain in order to avert the possibility that he might be wrongly accused.• Stage 4. Continue. Continue with more facts that the person can try to explain away. But in actuality, as soonhe starts to talk about why the situation might “look that way,” you know you have him.Attack Sequence 7: Outrageous Accusations• Stage 1. Accuse him of everything. In a very fed-up manner, accuse him of doing every imaginable dishonestand disloyal act.• Stage 2. Introduce the suspicion. Now introduce the one thing you feel he really has done, and in an attempt toclear himself of the other charges, he will offer an explanation for his one slip-up. Say, “I mean, it’s not likeyou just stole a file, that would be fine. But all these other things are unspeakable.” He responds, “No, I juststole that one file because of the pressure to get the job done, but I would never sell trade secrets!” The onlyway to prove his innocence to all of your outrageous accusations is to explain why he did what you reallysuspect of him of doing.• Stage 3. Step in closer. This increases anxiety in the guilty. He feels he’s being closed in on.Attack Sequence 8: Is There a Reason?• Stage 1. Introduce a fact. For example, if you want to know if your secretary went out last night when she saidshe was sick, “I drove by your house on the way home. Is there a reason your car wasn’t in the driveway?”Had she been home sick, she would simply tell you that you were wrong – the car was in the driveway.• Stage 2. One more shot. “Oh, that’s odd, I called your house and I got your machine.” If she’s guilty she willlook for any way to make her story fit your facts.• Stage 3. Stare. Staring makes someone who is on the defensive feel closed in; your glare is infringing on herpersonal space, inducing a mental claustrophobia. Lock eyes with her and ask again.Attack Sequence 9: Third-Party Confirmation• Scenario: You suspect one of your employees is having someone else punch out on the time clock for him.• Stage 1. Accuse outright. After gaining the assistance of a friend or coworker, you have this person make theaccusation for you. Such as “Mel, I was talking to Cindy, and she told me she’s getting pretty tired of yourhaving someone else punch out for you so you can leave work early.” At this point Mel is concerned only withCindy’s disapproval of his actions. Your friend is thoroughly believable because we rarely think to questionthis type of third-party setup.• Stage 2. Are you kidding? “Are you kidding? It’s common knowledge, but I think I know how you can smooththings over with her.” See if he take the bait. A person who’s innocent would not be interested in smoothingthings over with someone else for something that he hasn’t done.• Stage 3. Last call. “Okay. But are you sure? At this point, any hesitation is likely to be sign of guilt becausehe’s quickly trying to weight his options.Attack Sequence 10: The Chain Reaction• Scenario: You suspect several employees in your store of stealing money• Stage 1. Setting the scene. In a one-on-one meeting with the employee, let them know that you’re looking forsomeone to be in charge of a new internal theft program for the entire company.• Stage 2. The iron is… “We’re looking for someone who knows how it’s done. Now don’t worry, you’re notgoing to get in trouble. As a matter of fact we’ve known about it for some time. We were more interested inseeing how efficient you were. Quite impressive. Anyway, we feel that since you know how it’s done, you’llknow how to prevent it. Granted, it’s pretty unusual, but this is an unusual instance.”• Stage 3. I told them so. “You know, I told them that you would be too afraid to have an open discussion aboutthis. They were wrong, I was right.” Look for hesitation on his part. If he’s guilty, he will be weighing hisoptions. This takes time. An innocent person has nothing to think about. Only the guilty have the option ofconfessing or not.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on October 5, 2009 at 9:06pm
It is the month of August, a resort town sits next to
the shores of a lake. It is raining, and the little town
looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in
debt, and everybody lives on credit.
Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town. He enters the
only hotel, lays a 100 Euro note on the reception counter,
and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick
one.
The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs
to pay his debt to the butcher. The Butcher takes the 100
Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig raiser. The
pig raiser takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt
to the supplier of his feed and fuel. The supplier of feed
and fuel takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to
the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave
her services" on credit. The hooker runs to the hotel,
and pays off her debt with the 100 Euro note to the hotel
proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.
The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note back
on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect
anything. At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after
inspecting the rooms, and takes his 100 Euro note, after
saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves
town.
No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now
without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of
optimism.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the Irish
Government is doing business today.We hope naija can cash in on this strategy !
This is the only way to Economic recovery, bailing out all those FAT CATS up-stream does not guarantee that it will flow down-stream. Trickle-Economics will definitely flow up-stream, although it defies Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation. Have a great day
Thanks to Osamuyi Paul Ogbebor for sending in this one !Read more…
Highlight: As The Age reports today, federal police are investigating whether Securency bribed Nigerian officials to win a bank-note contract. The probe centres on a series of multi-million-dollar payments made by the company into an offshore tax haven account of two
UK-based businessmen, Benoy Berry and Mike Harding, who boast high-level political connections in Britain and Africa. The men were paid to help Securency win a 2006 contract from the Central Bank of Nigeria to print its polymer notes.
An Age investigation unearthed evidence the firm paid millions into a tax haven bank account belonging to Dr Berry, while an overseas-based source claims Securency paid $1 million into accounts tied to two companies overseen by Mr Harding. Our investigation also found that Mr Harding directs some of his companies' earnings into a tax-free business zone at Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates.
The RBA declined to answer questions about Securency's activities in Nigeria, in the same way it kept mum last month when Securency's Africa manager, Peter Chapman, resigned and the company's convicted South African middleman, Donald McArthur, was sacked. The sacking took place only after The Age revealed McArthur had pleaded guilty last year to reckless trading involving fraudulent transactions. Again, the details of Securency's engagement with McArthur raise questions of the RBA
Complete Story:
For obvious reasons Australians are entitled to expect their central bank to comply with the highest standards of probity, transparency and good governance. This includes an assumption that the Reserve Bank, as chief custodian of the nation's financial system, would apply proper scrutiny to the activities of its subsidiary companies, especially when those companies seek contracts, however lucrative, in corruption-riddled parts of the world.
And yet as The Age continues to expose a worrying trail of dubious deals struck by the RBA's half-owned subsidiary Securency, the Reserve has maintained a somewhat undignified silence on the subject. We acknowledge the RBA acted properly in initiating a federal police probe - and KPMG audit - into commission payments made by Securency to politically connected foreign middlemen. We would not expect the RBA to say anything that cuts across those inquiries.
But the silence is beginning to smell like an unwillingness to face facts and to act on them. Securency's operations, namely the engaging of middlemen with shady pasts and the payment of commissions into offshore tax haven accounts (contrary to RBA rules) and the curious size of those commissions, raise serious questions about the extent of the RBA's knowledge and the quality of its oversight.
At the very least, we deserve some kind of explanation about why, in the Reserve's recent annual report, governor Glenn Stevens expressed confidence in the way the bank had supervised Securency's activities. The bank has effectively opened the door on its own probity through this extraordinary assertion.
The Reserve's failure to stand down officials within Securency while the company remains under investigation - a convention of good governance - is also mystifying.
Nigeria:
As The Age reports today, federal police are investigating whether Securency bribed Nigerian officials to win a bank-note contract. The probe centres on a series of multi-million-dollar payments made by the company into an offshore tax haven account of two
UK-based businessmen, Benoy Berry and Mike Harding, who boast high-level political connections in Britain and Africa. The men were paid to help Securency win a 2006 contract from the Central Bank of Nigeria to print its polymer notes.
An Age investigation unearthed evidence the firm paid millions into a tax haven bank account belonging to Dr Berry, while an overseas-based source claims Securency paid $1 million into accounts tied to two companies overseen by Mr Harding. Our investigation also found that Mr Harding directs some of his companies' earnings into a tax-free business zone at Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates.
The RBA declined to answer questions about Securency's activities in Nigeria, in the same way it kept mum last month when Securency's Africa manager, Peter Chapman, resigned and the company's convicted South African middleman, Donald McArthur, was sacked. The sacking took place only after The Age revealed McArthur had pleaded guilty last year to reckless trading involving fraudulent transactions. Again, the details of Securency's engagement with McArthur raise questions of the RBA.
And there's more. Why did Securency in 2003 engage an arms dealer linked to the supply of weapons to Latin American drug gangs to help it win a bank-note printing deal in Paraguay? Why did Securency discuss its bank-note technology with Sudanese central bank officials last year? Doing business with Sudan would not violate Australia's international obligations under the UN sanctions regime, but should an RBA subsidiary even be talking to a country backlisted by the US for supporting terrorism and ranked among the world's most corrupt by Transparency International?
And, while we're at it, why did the RBA pay $500,000 to a self-styled ''white witch'' to oversee an ultimately disastrous workplace overhaul at the fully owned Note Printing Australia, Securency's sister company? On the other hand, perhaps a consultant with special powers may have helped Securency's officials better appreciate the risks of using agents in corruption-prone countries.
Government agencies and departments must also account for their knowledge of Securency's activities, and their action, or inaction, as a result. But first, we wait for our bank to speak.
Read more…
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WHO is India's best known Nigerian right now? The answer may surprise most readers of IndiaPage.
With due apologies to other claimants to such distinction, there is virtually no need to hold any opinion poll! I am pretty certain who India's best known Nigerian is: Its Odafa Onyeka Okolie. Odafa Who? How Come? - Hang on!
He is a 25-year-old Nigerian footballer - current captain of Goa-based Churchill Brothers Sports Club. He has been known among Indian football aficionados for past six years.
Nevertheless, his hat-trick during 10 minutes of extra time of 122nd Durand Cup final in New Delhi on September 22 has transformed him into a legend.
Odafa single handedly sank chances of famed Mohun Bagan Club of Kolkata of winning the Durand, India's most coveted, world's third oldest football cup.
Churchill Brothers' 3-1 Durand victory followed similar victory over same Mohun Bagan in IFA Shield final a few weeks ago which, too, was largely engineered by Odafa.
Odafa has been playing with various football clubs in India since 2003.
He renewed his annual contract with Churchill Brothers earlier this year reportedly for a fee of around N30 million- making him highest paid footballer in India.
That kind of money puts Odafa into a different Indian league: that of Bollywood stars, who earn even more. But, that's another story!
Odafa has outclassed other forwards in the penetrating zone for the last three years. After the 21st round, Odafa led the scorers' tally with 24 goals. Felix Chimaokwu (Churchill Brothers) and Ranty Martins (Dempo SC) came next with 11 goals.
Starting his Indian sojourn in 2004, Odafa never had to look back though he had some anxious years with Mohammedan Sporting of Kolkata and Bangladeshi side Muktijoddha.
However, he won't be the first footballer to touch the Rs1 crore base in India. Mahindra United defender Mahesh Gawli was signed for close to Rs1.25 crore for a three-year term.
Read more…
The lingering mêlée involving Peter and Paul Okoye with their brother and manager, Jude Okoye and the owner of the property in which they currentltly reside in Omole Estate, Phase 1, Lagos is gradually degenerating into a scenario of shame with accusations and counter accusations flying like missiles from both camps. The two parties held a press conference concurrently in Lagos last week to elucidate the genesis of the squabble.It will be recalled that late last year, P-Square’s landlord, Chief L Charles Nwangwa, the Chairman/CEO of Zedex Petroleum Nig. Ltd. staged a press conference in Lagos to intimate the public on the damages the Okoye brothers had done to his property by breaking a concrete wall dividing the two rooms in the BQ and converted it into a musical studio without his consent. He revealed then that the most annoying thing they did that got him really upset was lying to the media that they had bought the house. He described it as a shameful and cut-price hype on the part of the artiste. The Okoye brothers however maintained sealed lips then.The ruckus later re-generated few days back when the landlord called a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday September 29th and claimed that the Okoye brothers’ squad attacked him on Monday September 28th when he had gone to dispatch the quit notice that is expected to take effect from October 1st, to them based on his lawyer’s advice. “…one guy assaulted me in the presence of witnesses and a crowd had begun to gather when Jude finally appeared. I managed to free myself from the clutches of the guy that was holding me and I gave the letter to Jude which he read and my efforts to make him sign the acknowledgement earned me more battering. I immediately reported the case to the police”. These and many more the landlord told Journalists present at the conference after which he took them to the house but the Okoye brothers refused them entry.The next day which was Wednesday September 30th, P-Square organized their own emergency press conference at their residence where they put in plain words their own part of the story to the media. They revealed that the man had never been beaten before like he publicly professed. “We actually started on a good note before things went sore between us. He was a constant feature in the same studio he is now complaining about. We started having disagreements when he began bringing people to us to sign on our label and we told him we were not ready for that now. He later brought his son and we told him the same thing. Another time he said he wanted to take up the marketing of our albums and we also refused. That was how we fell out and he started saying derogatory things about us. He called a press conference last year but we refused to comment. What further escalated the issue was his demand on a percentage from our album sales because we have a recording studio inside the compound”, Jude Okoye said.Peter and Paul have for a long time distanced themselves from this feud. They claimed that they actually didn’t interact much with the landlord because all businesses were transacted between him and Jude. The Okoyes later revealed that the original agreement was to buy the house from the landlord but they abandoned the plan to commence the building of their own house inside the same estate when the landlord kept increasing the price whenever they approached him with the subject matter. Journalists present at the press conference in their house were later taken on an inspection to the new site where the construction of the house is currently going on. Those present affirmed that it was magnificent.However, the landlord said he has brought them before the court of public opinion to judge the case between him and the Okoye brothers. He also appealed to their mum to help salvage the situation but the Okoye brothers maintained that they are unperturbed by his actions. Their house rent expires next yearMeanwhile, they revealed that their new album has sold a million copies since its release.Read more…
