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Thank you Nigeria. We did it! I knew we could but seeing it come to fruition brings back the pleasant memory I had as a child listening on the radio as the Union Jack was lowered and the Green and White Flag raised on October 1st, 1960, our Independence Day. My dear brothers and sisters, today it is independence day for Nigeria yet again. Together we have said yes to one Nigeria. Together we have agreed to be our brother's keeper. Together we have spoken with one voice to say no to dichotomy. Together we have chosen a rebirth and as a Nigerian musical Icon once said Together we shall win forever!

I have however received with great sadness the news of sporadic unrest in some parts of the country which are not unconnected with last Saturday’s elections.

I appeal to those involved to stop this unnecessary and avoidable conduct, more so at this point in time when a lot of sacrifice has been made by all the citizens of this great country in ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections.

It is with the deepest sense of responsibility that I call on all our political leaders especially the contestants to appeal to their supporters to stop further violence in the interest of stability, peace and well being of this great country.

As I said during the campaigns and now say again, I have no enemies to fight. Even at this hour, one of the finest hours of Nigeria, I want to pay tribute to Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), a man I consider as a patriot per excellence and a man who I respect and never looked at as an opponent or a rival but as a partner in progress. To Major Gen. Buhari (Rtd) and all his supporters, I open up my arms wide in embrace and remind them that "this generation of Nigerians and indeed future generations have no other country than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it TOGETHER".

I also salute Malam Nuhu Ribadu and recognize him today as a child of independence who has justified the act of independence and has proved by his gallant conduct as a Presidential candidate that the youth of Nigeria "have come of age". I am not surprised at Malam Ribadu's ability to inspire the youth. In fact, I desired his invigorating presence for Nigeria which was why I used every power at my disposal as President of Nigeria to bring equity to him causing him to feel secure enough to return to the land he loves so much and make him know that I, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and the Nigeria nation appreciates him. I look forward to a future of synergistic collaboration between the two of us.

I also salute Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and all those who participated with me in this process. As General Yakubu Gowon once said, in a contest amongst brothers "there is no victor nor vanquished". We are all Nigerians and today all Nigerians are winners because we now know that North, South, East or West, Nigeria is best! GEJ

The year was 1992, and digital effects were on the rise, with Jurassic Park and the aforementioned Terminator 2 changing the game forever. Francis Ford Coppola was in the process of making the gothic masterpiece Bram Stoker's Dracula while Keanu Reeves was simultaneously working on ruining the very same masterpiece.

Come on, act! At least move an eyebrow!

The big-budget project was to have a stylized, surreal look in every frame. The studio, going through a CG craze, dropped its top visual effects artists in the director's lap so they could paint everything in pixels and Phantom Menace that shit.

In response, Coppola fired every one of them and replaced them with his 29-year-old son, Roman. The result is a movie with effects that were 100 percent done "in camera." That is, what you see is what they shot. It doesn't sound that impressive at first, but then you start looking at the kind of shots they needed to get. What on the page was to be as simple as Reeves taking a train ride, wound up looking like this in the movie:

That's a shot out the window of the train where we see Gary Oldman's stare, hovering in the clouds for some reason. To get that, they actually filmed a model landscape moving with the eyes projected on it, then projected the whole thing in back of Reeves sitting in the train. It's a projection of a projection on a projection. And that was a piece of cake compared with this:

Normally, this book-train montage shot would be a cinch: You shoot your train, shoot your book and put it all together in the computer.

Fuck that! To get that shot, they actually built a model train and a gigantic book. Then they filmed it. What you see is what was actually there.

For those who haven't seen this film, all you need to know is that a large portion of it takes place inside Jim Carrey's deteriorating psyche as he is reliving old memories that are being simultaneously erased. The result is that as he goes through his own degrading memories, they skip around like a scratched CD, creating an extremely disjointed and surreal world where characters and settings rapidly pop in and out with no rhyme or reason.

In some ways, its the most accurate portrayal of therapy we've ever seen.

For example, at one point Carrey's character, Joel, is having a fight with his girlfriend (Kate Winslet), who walks angrily into the bathroom only to completely disappear and transport into the kitchen, then transport to the front door before leaving -- all within the same shot.

Later, Joel walks in on ... himself, talking with the doctor who is later responsible for the memory wipe.

In a blink, the shot then turns from Joel to the doctor ...

... and then to another Joel, the Joel who is in the memory itself.

This keeps happening, back and forth, as the scene unfolds.

Once more, this doesn't seem like a big deal if you can just make a real Jim Carrey interact with a CGI Jim Carrey. This method is probably how the shots would have been done for this scene if Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind had been directed by someone less insane than Michel Gondry.

Instead, Gondry relied on his theater background and insisted on pulling off the illusion using a technique known as "making his actors run and change costume really, really fast."

Above: Michel Gondry, quirking out with Jim Carrey.

No, really. For that scene where Kate Winslet seems to inexplicably appear in two separate rooms, they put a trap door in the bathroom and had her book it over to the kitchen before the camera got there -- then used a double as she left through the door.

The double Jim Carrey shot was actually much more excruciating. To create two Joels, Carrey would change his wardrobe and demeanor whenever the camera panned away from him and run to the other side of the set to play the other part as quickly as possible. It took so many takes to accomplish that Gondry and Carrey actually had an on-set argument about it because the actor didn't think it could be physically done. The strange thing is, we're pretty sure we still agree with Carrey there.

Making an actor fly or float or do Matrix-style kung fu is the oldest Hollywood trick in the book. Step 1, hang the actor from cables. Step 2, remove the cables from the finished shot, which these days can be done digitally.

So when they needed the actors to float around in the zero gravity of space in Apollo 13, it seemed pretty simple. Either do the wire trick, or hell, just composite in the actors with CGI entirely.

But NASA stepped in and said, "Look, we put dudes on the moon. Did you read about that? We can do anything. And what you need is to just get rid of this whole gravity thing."

Enter a special craft they affectionately call "The Vomit Comet." It's NASA's own KC-135 airplane designed to do one thing and one thing alone: Create a zero-G environment right here on Earth.

To accomplish this, the plane does a series of parabolic arcs, which is a fancy way of saying that it goes up and down really fast.

This action causes a brief window of complete weightlessness for anybody lucky enough to be on board. It's used as a training program for astronauts, but for Apollo 13, it was turned into the soundstage.

It took a mind-numbing 600 or so arcs to complete all the shooting. So when you watch that film again, concentrate on the faces of the actors during those shots of weightlessness and note that their looks of pants-shitting excitement are completely genuine.

Just another shot of Bill Paxton not acting.

But before you go envying them too much, remember the plane's "Vomit Comet" nickname. Look at the high-speed dives and climbs of the aircraft and imagine you're inside it, and three or four burritos are inside you. It ain't pretty.

You're probably wondering how anything from a film made in 1981 could possibly be confused as CGI. Well, they did have computer-generated images back then; they just looked terrible. Like this shot, which is supposed to be from Snake's glider's computer as he is descending on the futuristic apocalyptic cityscape that is 1997 New York City:

See? 80s graphics, man.

Believe it or not, what you see there was extremely cutting-edge for the time. In fact, it was so cutting-edge that it was completely out of the question given the film's budget. But John Carpenter wanted this high-tech graphic to appear in the film -- after all, it's supposed to be 1997! So they had to find a way to do that shot of computer graphics without using computer graphics.

For the sequel, they had to find a way to do the whole film without using a plot.

So they grabbed their model of New York, which had been used for various other shots, and bought a roll of green tape and a black light. That's it -- this cutting-edge effect was done with five bucks and a trip to the hardware store.

Also, we think there was a tiny guy with a tiny roll of tape inside every Virtual Boy.

It was a chase that destroyed the Batmobile, a Joker-themed semi, a dump truck, a paddy wagon, multiple cop cars and God knows how many bystander vehicles. And that shit was worth it.

Batman on a motorcycle. This should win Best Picture every year.

Two specific points during the insane car chase at the halfway point of The Dark Knight are so over-the-top they seem like they would have had to be computer-generated, if for no other reason than they would have killed the stunt drivers.

The first is when the Batmobile first shows up to take out the Joker's convoy. It speeds in ...

... and offers what equates to a vehicular uppercut to a garbage truck.

The scene ended up in the trailer and inadvertently encouraged a bloat of fanboys to flock to their keyboards and pound out protests against the fake-looking CGI in the movie. But as Christopher Nolan has proved time and again, he doesn't mess with that shit if he doesn't have to.

No, what you are actually seeing there is a complete one-third-scale model of the Batmobile, the garbage truck and a large section of lower Wacker Drive in Chicago.

Even the damn 180-degree move that the Batmobile pulls off at the end was done by a radio-controlled model.

So what about the climactic moment in that scene when they flip the Joker's 18-wheeler after Batman clotheslines it with a grappling hook? If that was a model, it was pretty goddamned convincing.

The flipping of the semi was accomplished with a technique known in Hollywood as flipping a real goddamned semi. To get the mind-boggling amount of upward force needed to lift the big bastard head over heels, the FX crew built a huge steam-piston mechanism in the trailer.

Wait, why can't that shit come standard in cars now?

Of course, then the challenge was to make it look like this insane stunt was occurring right in the middle of the banking district in Gotham. So how the hell do you pull that off? Build a miniature city and edit in the truck somehow? Film the truck out on an open course and use CGI to fill in the background? Shit, no! They just went to downtown Chicago, closed off a street and flipped their goddamned semi.

Why? Because that's how Batman would do it.

CGI is for squares.

You can mock its many plot holes if you want, but we're pretty sure the reason Independence Day dominated the box office in 1996 was because millions of people thought that seeing New York slowly enveloped by a gargantuan ball of fire was worth every cent of the ticket price. The ad campaign sold the film on that image -- the fire rolling down between New York skyscrapers. And by God, we lined up on opening night.

Seriously, you can leave after this scene.

And even if you watch it today, there's something oddly realistic about it, especially when compared with more recent Roland Emmerich stuff like 2012, which made the destruction of L.A. look like a very expensive video game cut-scene:

The difference, of course, is that the fire in the streets in ID4 is not CGI. It's real fire.

That sort of thing isn't easy to do in real life -- after all, how do you make the fire go sideways? Fire doesn't normally plume horizontally, which is a good thing most of the time, but the whole point of the aliens' city-destroying weapon was the unearthly way the blaze would slowly spill outward and engulf the city.

For the effects team, the solution to this shot was relatively simple.

Can you tell what you're looking at? That's a model city on its side. You'd probably recognize it better like this:

They called it the death chimney. Just turn the city model sideways, put the pyrotechnics at the bottom and put the camera at the top. Then they shot the explosion at a high shutter speed so that when the film was slowed down, they got their horrific, creeping wall of unstoppable fire.

See, this is how destruction used to be filmed back in the day. Someone spent weeks making a detailed model of New York, then you set it on fire and hoped to hell you didn't screw it up so they'd have to build it all over again (because then the model builder would find you in the parking lot and beat your ass).

"Roland Emmerich is a dick."

Here's an effect so seamless that you probably never gave it a second thought during the 27-hour runtime of the Lord of the Rings trilogy: the fact that Elijah Wood and the other actors playing hobbits are not in fact three feet tall.

The camera takes off ... a few feet.

Ah, but who cares, right? With CGI, you can probably just click on an actor and tell the computer to shrink him by 50 percent and you're done. Right?

"Bam. Hobbits. Give me 20 minutes and a chimp and I'll give you King Kong."

Not if you don't want it to look like shit. It's one thing if the actor is just standing next to the normal-size characters in a field, but at various points in the trilogy, you see Gandalf grab the tiny Frodo, hug him, ride on the same carriage with him and sit down at the same table. To pull that off Peter Jackson, needed a buffet of effects techniques ranging from simple to insane.

Sometimes it was as easy as using a child in a Frodo wig shot from behind ...

... or just compositing the actors together from different shots, or digitally sticking Frodo's face onto a tiny double. But the coolest effects didn't involve any computers or green-screen trickery at all. It's called "forced perspective."

Or Hobbitvision.

The idea is that you put one actor really far from the camera and the other one really close to the camera, then shoot at such an angle that it appears they are next to each other and that one of them is really big and the other really small. Which sounds simple, until you realize that you need to build everything on the set so that the actors can interact with it at the same time while hiding the fact that they're far away from each other.

The simplest example is with Gandalf's cart. In the movie, you see them sitting side by side ...

... but the real cart is built so that if the camera is stuck in that spot, it hides the fact that Frodo is actually sitting about four feet behind Gandalf, with Ian McKellen's body hiding where the bench is split:

But the complication comes when you realize that this works only if the camera remains perfectly still. So any shot where the camera moves around has to involve a computer, right? Nope. In scenes like this one, where they share a table ...

... they are actually sitting at two different tables, one human-sized and one hobbit-sized ...

... that are made in such a way that each piece slowly turns with the camera, so that the whole time, they appear to be one simple table, shifting with the perspective of the viewer. This required that the camera be put on a motion-control rig and half of the set be put on another rig that completely counteracted the movement of the camera. So when the shot moved, the set, props and even the actors moved accordingly (yes, while McKellen was trying to stay in character as Gandalf, he was on a stool that was slowly scooting him around the room).

"It's a little bit trippy when you've had too much pipe weed."

Take a moment to think about the crew that put that together, knowing the final goal was for you to never notice it.

We have previously pointed out how few of the effects in Terminator 2 were CGI, even though the computer-generated morphing of the T-1000 from liquid metal to Robert Patrick is all anyone talked about at the time. The vast majority of what you saw on the screen involved good old-fashioned makeup, models and trickery by FX wizard Stan Winston.

Linda Hamilton's biceps also played a substantial role in the magic.

Maybe the best example of the mind-boggling ingenuity that goes into any "I can't believe it's not CGI" scene is one that was cut from this film (a scene which, as we explained in the past, fills in a pretty big plot hole). The scene shows Sarah and John Connor opening up the Terminator's head to extract and reboot his CPU, giving him the ability to learn and adapt easier.

Here's the scene.

In a single take, we see the back of the Terminator's head in the foreground and his face reflected in the mirror in the background, clearly showing Arnold's un-animatronic likeness talking and emoting.

As much as one expects Arnold Schwarzenegger to emote ...

As they unscrew his dome, the camera moves around until the shot finally ends on the top of the non-reflected Terminator head, which is opened up like a damn pickle jar.

Now those of you who are experts in Arnold Schwarzenegger trivia already know that the man does not have a giant hole in his brain. So, what, they just had a fake head in the foreground and used CGI to put a fake reflection in the mirror? Easy!

Uh, no. There is no mirror. It's a window. On opposite sides are two John and Sarah Connors, and two Terminators miming each other's movements exactly so that they would appear to be reflected in a mirror.

But wait -- something doesn't quite add up. That's clearly Sarah Connor in both the foreground and the reflection ... what gives? It's not like there are two Linda Hamiltons out there.

Oh.

Meet Leslie Hamilton, Linda's identical twin sister. She came in quite handy during the making of this film, especially when the T-1000 took on Sarah Connor's form.

Yep, for all that you heard about the groundbreaking CGI, it all came down to identical-twin shenanigans. Basically, a special effects version of The Parent Trap.

A man carries cash. A man looks out for those around him — woman, friend, stranger. A man can cook eggs. A man can always find something good to watch on television. A man makes things — a rock wall, a table, the tuition money. Or he rebuilds — engines, watches, fortunes. He passes along expertise, one man to the next. Know-how survives him. This is immortality. A man can speak to dogs. A man fantasizes that kung fu lives deep inside him somewhere. A man knows how to sneak a look at cleavage and doesn't care if he gets busted once in a while. A man is good at his job. Not his work, not his avocation, not his hobby. Not his career. His job. It doesn't matter what his job is, because if a man doesn't like his job, he gets a new one.

A man can look you up and down and figure some things out. Before you say a word, he makes you. From your suitcase, from your watch, from your posture. A man infers.

A man owns up. . A man grasps his mistakes. He lays claim to who he is, and what he was, whether he likes them or not.

Some mistakes, though, he lets pass if no one notices. Like dropping the steak in the dirt.

A man loves the human body, the revelation of nakedness. He loves the sight of the pale breast, the physics of the human skeleton, the alternating current of the flesh. He is thrilled by the snatch, by the wrist, the sight of a bare shoulder. He likes the crease of a bent knee. When his woman bends to pick up her underwear, he feels that thrum that only a man can feel.

A man doesn't point out that he did the dishes.

A man looks out for children. Makes them stand behind him.

A man knows how to bust his balls working to feed his family.

A man has had liquor enough in his life that he can order a drink without sounding breathless, clueless, or obtuse. When he doesn't want to think, he orders Gordon's gin or something harder .When he doesnt want to not think. he stops. A real man knows when to stop drinking

A man welcomes the coming of age. It frees him. It allows him to assume the upper hand and teaches him when to step aside.

Maybe he never has, and maybe he never will, but a man figures he can knock someone, somewhere, on his ass.

He does not rely on rationalizations or explanations. He doesn't winnow, winnow, winnow until truths can be humbly categorized, or intellectualized, until behavior can be written off with an explanation. He doesn't see himself lost in some great maw of humanity, some grand sweep. That's the liberal thread; it's why men won't line up as liberals.

A man gets the door. Without thinking.

He stops traffic when he must.

A man resists formulations, questions belief, embraces ambiguity without making a fetish out of it. A man revisits his beliefs. Continually. That's why men won't forever line up with conservatives, either.

A man knows his tools and how to use them — just the ones he needs. Knows which saw is for what, how to find the stud, when to use galvanized nails.

A miter saw, incidentally, is the kind that sits on a table, has a circular blade, and is used for cutting at precise angles. Very satisfying saw. A real man knows when it is time to fess up to God .

A real man beleieves in something . A real man goes to church even if it is on TBN.

A man knows how to lose an afternoon. Drinking, playing Grand Theft Auto, driving aimlessly, shooting pool. A real man will go to the orphanage at least 3 times in his life .

He knows how to lose a month, also.

A man listens, and that's how he argues. He crafts opinions. He can pound the table, take the floor. It's not that he must. It's that he can.

A man is comfortable being alone. Loves being alone, actually. He sleeps.

Or he stands watch. He interrupts trouble. This is the state policeman. This is the poet. Men, both of them.

A man loves driving alone most of all.

Style — a man has that. No matter how eccentric that style is, it is uncontrived. It's a set of rules.

He understands the basic mechanics of the planet. Or he can close one eye, look up at the sun, and tell you what time of day it is. Or where north is. He can tell you where you might find something to eat or where the fish run. He understands electricity or the internal-combustion engine, the mechanics of flight or how to figure a pitcher's ERA.

A real man can cross the atlantic in a boat with his family if he was on the titanic and bring them back alive .If he cant he does not live to tell the tale .He can also cross the Sahara desert too.

A man does not know everything. He doesn't try. He likes what other men know.

A man can tell you he was wrong. That he did wrong. That he planned to. He can tell you when he is lost. He can apologize, even if sometimes it's just to put an end to the bickering.

A man does not wither at the thought of dancing. But it is generally to be avoided.

A man watches. Sometimes he goes and sits at an auction knowing he won't spend a dime, witnessing the temptation and the maneuvering of others. Sometimes he stands on the street corner watching stuff. This is not about quietude so much as collection. It is not about meditation so much as considering. A man refracts his vision and gains acuity. This serves him in every way. No one taught him this — to be quiet, to cipher, to watch. In this way, in these moments, the man is like a zoo animal: both captive and free. You cannot take your eyes off a man when he is like that. You shouldn't. The hell if you know what he is thinking, who he is, or what he will do next.

Denrele leaves Soundcity

Controversial Soundcity vee-jay, Denrele Edun, has confirmed his resignation from the popular urban music channel, Soundcity.

The popular presenter, who is famous for his peculiar lifestyle as well as for impressively conducting many red carpet interviews for the music channel, revealed that he voluntarily left his job of six years to pursue some other personal dreams.

"I resigned two weeks ago," said Denrele, who has now attained a celebrity status, in a telephone conversation with X2. "I believe it was time I move on to a greener pasture and do other things for myself."

Denrele, who is currently on the location of a yet-to-be titled new traditional epic movie with Funke Akindele and Yinka Quadri in Oyo State, also quickly dispelled rumours that his exit from his old job is fuelled by a fallout with his boss concerning his infamous picture with Charly Boy.

"It had nothing to do with it. The picture happened before last year's Soundcity Music Video Awards and since then, I have continued to host shows for Soundcity without any issue. Initially, I thought it will cause a little tension because I know I am a controversial figure but really it did not," he said.

Denrele also reveals that aside taking more prominent roles in movies, his next plan includes coming up with his own television show.

"I hope to soon flag up my own celebrity interview show. I have interviewed so many celebrities and I hope to use that to start on my own. Recently, I was in Dubai to host a show Usher had, so I hope to continue to do things for myself," he said.

Mid-last year, a picture of Denrele in a mouth-to-mouth kiss with Charly Boy was released on the Internet and met with wide spread condemnation.

Although Soundcity boss, Tajudeen Adepetu, isn't available to comment on Denrele's exit, he was vociferous in condemning the picture with Charly Boy in an old interview. He called it "a foolish act".

New music

Many Nigerian entertainers have released new music and new music videos over the weekend. Storm Records' new recruit, Young6ix, teamed up with Empire Mate Music's singer, Wizkid, on a dance oriented track, ‘Follow Me'. Also, Hip-Hop World Awards nominee, Lord of Ajasa, popular for his witty raps in Yoruba, has released a new single, ‘Gbafun'. Toeing his trade mark rhyming in Yoruba, Ajasa laid his braggadocio rap over a laid back beat.

Similarly, Kennis Music's frontline act, JayWon, released his latest single ‘Oya' featuring label mates, Eedris Abdulkareem and Joe EL on a Jay Sleek production.

Singer cum producer and chief executive of Kasbeats Entertainment, Kas, has released the music video of the second lead single off his debut album. The music video, ‘If You Wind For Me', is directed by Gini.

Who is Goodluck Ebele Jonathan? Who is this political phenomenon who many across the country are attempting to deconstruct? Central to most of the stories on Goodluck Jonathan is the place of destiny and providence in his meteoric rise to power in Nigeria. There is talk of “unmerited favour”, “destined to supplant superiors.” The media is awash with stories of how Goodluck has always been lucky to be in the right place at the right time. The story is all over the place that Jonathan is always there to profit from the bad luck or mistakes of his superiors. We are told he is always privileged to be fortuitously positioned to step into dead men’s shoes!

This writer spoke with Femi Ajayi who has known Mr. President from his NYSC days and also dug into the archives to know the real Jonathan story. Femi Ajayi explained: “Goodluck Jonathan is not all about good fortune. Goodluck’s academic exploits, political feats, immense goodwill and extensive social networks did not come out of sheer luck and happenstance…”

The Goodluck Jonathan that he knows, “is not the one in the fertile imagination of ideologues of unmerited favour, is a divinely rewarded honest, hard-working and dedicated person.”

Ajayi argued it is important to realise that no matter our God-given talents, situations in life or in circumstance of birth, what we become at the end of the day is largely an outcome of the result-oriented choices we make daily.

On November 20, 1957, three years before Nigeria became a nation, the family of Jonathan in Otueke, Ogbia Local Government Area of the then Eastern Region, later Rivers State, and now Bayelsa State, was blessed with a baby boy, the parents, going by the tradition in Nigeria, where a child’s name often expresses the parents’ expectations of the child or the circumstances surrounding the child’s birth, instinctively realised that this child had an element of fortune in him and so named him ‘Goodluck’. This Jonathans’ action should be taken as a prayer, a wish followed with diligence, obedience and good citizenship, Ajayi argued.

According to him, Jonathan chose to be an obedient son to his parents and a law-abiding citizen in his village. He argued he could have opted to be a deviant, become a juvenile delinquent or an outright vagabond. He recalled, in school he chose to be a bookworm who faithfully applied himself to his books rather than be a lay-about. He argued he could have dropped out of school because of one social deprivation and economic problem or the other but he trudged on until he earned the highest academic certificate, that is, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

Jonathan holds a B.Sc. degree in Zoology (Second Class Honours, Upper Division). He also holds a Msc. degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology, and a Ph.D. degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. After obtaining his degree, he worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental-protection officer, until he decided to enter politics in 1998. Jonathan is married to Patience and has two children. Jonathan is a current member of the Ijaw ethnic group.

Recalling Goodluck Jonathan’s National Youth service days which they had together, he argued it was not sheer good fortune and luck that endeared Goodluck to his students and school management then. “He was a likeable and popular person because of his generosity, hard work, commitment to duty, and dedication to service. As a youth corps member, he bought meals and books for needy-but-brilliant students, yet he earned a meagre N200 per month allowance. He organised extra lectures and practical classes to adequately prepare his students for Biology in the West African School Certificate Examination,” he said.

Again, for those whose traditional thinking is that Goodluck Jonathan is a perpetual beneficiary of good fortune, he argued that the President needed more than mother luck to survive the murky and difficult political terrain in Bayelsa. For him, it is on record that Jonathan deployed his quiet diplomacy, mediatory skills and conciliation acumen to stabilise the conflict-prone and crisis-ridden communities of Bayelsa to promote lasting peace.

He argued, “Despite all the marginalisation, deprivations, and provocations he was exposed to in Bayelsa, his legendary patience, uncommon perseverance, dovelike disposition, and meekness, even-handedness most probably endeared him to both God and man and thus ensured that he laughed last.”

And for those who do not know the hell Jonathan went through in Aso Rock when he was vice president which he called, “the fractious, difficult and challenges politics of Umaru Yar’Adua’s presidency”, he explained he became a vice president without any budget of his own in the name of one presidency. “He had great responsibility without commensurate power or resources. He stoically endured the relegation, provocation and disempowerment by the Turks that hijacked the Yar’Adua Presidency,” he said. This, he believes, like many others do too, does not make him a weakling.

In fact, commenting on the view in some quarters that “he is too soft to be a successful politician”, he explained “I do not believe that you need to carry fire on your head to be a successful leader or politician.” Goodluck Jonathan, according to Ajayi, has this allegory – the allegory of the lion and the python. “The lion and the python are two effective but radically different predators. While the python stays on one spot and patiently waits for its prey, the lion runs after and overpowers its own prey.” He said he does not believe in motion without movement or dissipating heat where light is needed. “Where you can factorise a simple equation to get your answers, why dissipate energy using the almighty formula or binomial theorem?” he argued.

Take this character trait along with the way the current elections are playing out, you would want to agree with Jonathan’s philosophy of ‘slow and steady wins the race’ so to speak. Jonathan has come out as a transformational leader who works with and for the people rather than a ruler who reigns over the people. His transformational essence, according to Ajayi, is discernible from his pan-Nigeria perspective as well as his soft power approach such as across political divides and discourse, transcending party differences. But like argued earlier on, hawkish politicians mistake this democratic disposition for weakness and prevarication.

Any observer, who trailed his political moves, campaigning for the presidential election, would have noticed the deft manner he went about it. Jonathan spoke to groups across the country – ethnic, religious, institutions of all sorts. He reached out robustly. That is the beauty of politics, of decent politics, the beauty of democracy. Jonathan has barely spent a year as the President. Within this period he has scored some goals. The Niger Delta problem is being actively addressed – several militants are outside of our shores for training, the nation’s education issue is being addressed – some universities have been established, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that will open door for robust business in the oil and gas sector is set for passing by the National Assembly, democracy is being deepened- the ongoing general election is a case in point.

quote: ‎"First Movers are not necessarily first Shakers . remember the movers in school ? remember myspace ?"

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1. Cinema war: Dagrin, Tango hit cinemas same day ! Denrele Leaves Soundcity , New 9ja sounds out http://bit.ly/fpBehV
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3. President Obama, reinvigorated The man America elected president has re-emerged. the New york Times says ..http://bit.ly/hYchLK
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5. From a village boy to Nig.eria’s most powerful Who is Goodluck Jonathan http://bit.ly/gRbWhm
6. It isn't my fault if my looks make men sexually aroused- Adaora Ukoh, actress http://bit.ly/eqcDbS
   
7. Nike Davies Okundaye on CNN International’s African Voices Breaking Boundaries & Changing Lives http://bit.ly/e0OW8m

1. Flying Eagles defeat Ghanahttp://bit.ly/eJfzhc
2. Nike Davies Okundaye on CNN International’s African Voices Breaking Boundaries & Changing Lives
   
3. http://bit.ly/e0OW8m
4. The Myth of an Ideal Man http://bit.ly/fDFYmB
5. Electoral fraud: UNIBEN ASUU disowns lecturer http://bit.ly/gcGBup
6. Buhari rejects results in 22 states and FCT http://bit.ly/dQUVKzabout 1 hour ago via bitly
7. Six reasons married women seek sexual pleasure outside marriage http://bit.ly/h7weMb
8. Can A Computer Screen Damage My Eye?: … http://bit.ly/hsjUtf
9. Post election violence in Gombe, Bauchi CPC youth unleash terror Ten Killed: Security forces fired in the air an... http://bit.ly/i4h0se
10. Kano jubilates over rumour of military coup : NSA Hotlines for Northern Nig.eria Unrest http://bit.ly/e8iul5
11. Eagles Defender dies in Greece . http://bit.ly/eYB3Nd
12. Super story Actress Toyin Tomato now works in london as uniformed support staff: This is just out of this world,...http://bit.ly/eyHyRt

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Nigeria's U-20 team, the Flying Eagles, got their campaign at the 2011 Africa Youth Championships (AYC) off to a winning start as they defeated the reigning world and African champions, the Black Satellites of Ghana, by 2-1.

Two strikes from Enugu Rangers forward, Uche Nwofor, ensured Nigeria's first victory over Ghana. The Black Satellites had recorded a hat trick of wins in the previous meetings between both teams at the AYC.

The Flying Eagles started the stronger of the two teams, with star attacker Ahmed Musa, who only joined the team on Sunday evening from Holland, posing so much threat to the Ghanaian defence.

After much incursion into the Ghanaian deeper half, the Flying Eagles deservedly took the lead in the 17th minute, taking advantage of poor defending by their opponents.

A cross from the right flank was flicked-on by Abdul Ajagun to Uche Nwofor who fired the ball beyond the reach of goalkeeper James Achampong to make it 1-0.

The goal seemed to spur the Black Satellites into action as they got back on level terms in the 32nd minute. Right-back Richmond Nketiah crossed to the near post from a corner kick which Kwame Nsor scored with a header.

With the first half ending even, both teams resumed for the second half seeking another goal that would guarantee the three points in the testy opening encounter.

Both teams had their chances to change the scoreline in the second half but it wasn't until the 82nd minute that the deadlock was broken.

Winning goal

Nwofor again found himself in space on the right flank and looked to be lining up a cross; the ball bobbled up off the pitch, causing the attacker to mis-time his kick, while the ball looped over a helpless Achampong and found its way to the back of the Ghanaian net.

At the end of the game the happier of the coaches, expectedly, was John Obuh who was thrilled by the important opening day win over Ghana. "I am happy to have won the opening game, especially against a strong team like Ghana. We have done well. Congratulations to my boys, and thank God," declared Obuh.

Ghana coach, Orlando Wellington, said he is still optimistic that his side would cruise through the group phase with six points in their next two matches to grab one of the two slots for the semi-finals, and also for the World Cup in Columbia. "My team lost because of tactical indiscipline on the part of my players. We will go home and fix the problem so that we can win the next two games and qualify for the next round.

Nigeria, now atop Group B, will be meeting the Young Lions of Cameroon on Thursday, April 21. The Young Lions had defeated Gambia 1-0. Ghana will be meeting Gambia on the same day.

I loved the group Salt and Pepa when I was growing up.  I remember how I would record their songs from the radio and then have all the lyrics memorised in barely a day. (If only I had paid as much attention to my Math and Physics homework, perhaps I would be a Shell Engineer by now. Oh well!). Just like them, I wanted to wear the same multi coloured t-shirts and jackets with cycling shorts and sneakers/boots and have my hair packed up in a curled pony tail. I wanted to sing, act and dress like Salt and Pepa!
Of course, my parents always refused to let me step one foot outside dressed like all the colours of the rainbow, so the closest I came to being like Salt and Pepa was sounding like them. I had all their songs memorised. Despite their more popular songs like “Shoop”, “Lets talk about Sex”, “Push It” and “None of Your Business”, my best song was “Whatta Man”. Although I knew all the words to the rap and chorus, I doubt very much that I actually knew the meaning of the words that were coming out of my mouth.
Today, however I find that myself and many women are holding close to the ideals expressed in that very song. The song, essentially details what the female rap group sees as the key qualities of a ‘good man’. A smooth voice like Barry, a body like Arnold, with a Denzel face and a God sent original of a man of their dreams. 
Truth is, every woman, and man, has an idea of the kind of person they would like to marry. Tall, intelligent, rich, handsome, generous, godly, the list is as long as my right and left arm put together. Most women, if they allow themselves to admit it, will confess that they have day dreamed about the exact kind of man they want to marry, and very few times does the imaginary image of this husband-to-be differ from the characteristics mentioned above. We all want to marry a man who people will look up to and admire. A good dresser, an eloquent speaker with that bad boy turned Christian attitude. A man who will forever make you the envy of your friends. In reality, there are very few men that meet that description and fewer still are available.
Recently, I sat back and listened in silence while two close friends of mine argued about the merits of dating a particular guy. I am sure I have spoken about a particular friend of mine, Temi in previous articles. Temi, would be the kind of woman you wouldn’t be happy to see your man around. Among Temi’s numerous good qualities she happens to be tall, pretty, sweet and very polite. Till this day, we, her close friends, are frankly shocked that she has been single for this long. It was this topic of Temi’s prolonged singleness, that engaged her and Ngozi in heated conversation. I sat back like a nonchalant referee, eating my chips and Shawama, praying that neither of them would ask for my opinion.
Ngozi had introduced Temi to her cousin, Eloka, hoping that they would hit it off and eventually end up dating. Unfortunately, Temi was not as ‘keen’ on Eloka as Ngozi would have liked. According to Ngozi, Eloka is an upcoming go getter, a guy in his early 30’s, who already is  a global brand manager for a multi national company, has a flat of his own and is looking to settle down. She really couldn’t see why Temi was not interested in her cousin. To be fair, Temi didn’t give much of an excuse for ignoring Eloka either. All she kept saying was “he isn’t what I am looking for”. And anytime Ngozi would ask her what she was looking for, she would say she would know when she saw it.
After seemingly trying to curtail her anger to no avail, Ngozi, let loose a tirade of statements on Temi that I am sure she had been wanting to say for quite a while but held back because of friendship. She told Temi that she had a ‘problem’ and that she didn’t know what she wanted, because she was looking for a man who simply didn’t exist. To which Temi replied “Ngozi, it is not by force to date your cousin.” Frustrated with the outcome of the conversation and my refusal to offer any words to support her cause, Ngozi gave up and changed the topic.
As I drove home, I wondered why I had remained silent throughout their argument, instead of lending my voice to support either opinion. After much reflection, I realised it was because for the first time ever, I didn’t have a single opinion on the matter. I too like Temi have dreamt of the kind of man I would like to marry. So much so, that his exact facial features, build and strut is ingrained into my frontal lobe. Infact, if he walked into a room right now, I would faint from sheer shock. So I could understand why Temi was a bit reluctant to deviate from her particular picture. But on the other hand, I did see reason with Ngozi. Maybe this imaginary picture of Temi’s was hindering her from finding her potential mate, after all, why rely on an imaginary boy-friend when you can have a real one who actually speaks, talks and could possibly marry you?
When I got home, I called Temi and my advice to her was simple. Eloka may not be her perfect man, his facial image and general outward disposition may not be what she has dreamt about since she was a teenager, but it is possible, that Eloka’s qualities far supersede any imaginary idea of perfection she has ever had. He may even have qualities that she didn’t know she would need as a woman, qualities she may come to love and fear to live without. And for those qualities she doesn’t like, maybe with a gentle nudge here and there, she could carve out a better man from the rubble that she now sees as Eloka. After all, what really is the fun in meeting someone perfect? Where is the progression in meeting someone who already has everything you want? In life, the things we learn to appreciate, the most, are the things we have contributed towards.
So for all my ladies out there, if images of a perfect knight coming to rescue you on horse back are the dreams you have been nursing for all these years, maybe, just maybe, it is time to consider that those images of perfection are the ones holding you back from living your dream.

By Glory Edozien

As usual, countless responses and feedbacks have rolled in from various angles regarding the last topic we treated in this column. As an unbiased and realistic sex therapist and sexual health consultant, it would be partial if I do not set a scale of balance by itemising six reasons married women find sexual solace in the arms of other men. 

  

These articles and my practical counselling sessions in my office are not meant to castigate any spouse, but to provide an educative medium and serve as an 'eye-opener' to things affecting marriages 'home and abroad.' Besides, through it, I have been able to restore incalculable broken homes and bring back 'alive' relationships that have been written off as hopeless, for over two decades. 
Let me quickly share the tale of two married women who gave permission to alert our husbands about the reasons married women fall into the next available arms. 
Case one: Mrs. Loveth is married to a Nigeria-based contractor; they have been married for 15 years with two children, but her husband spends more time in the office than the home. Some of her friends, who saw the level of negligence, had advised her to try out other men in order to get sexual satisfaction. She went ahead and got a younger man and provided his needs - food, clothing and shelter. The young man, on the other hand, gave her unimaginable sexual treats and serviced her 24/7. According to her, she still cherishes and treasures those memories until date. 
"Why do you have to go to such a demeaning extent?" I asked. "I was dying for a man's touch, for a man's voice, whispers, whispering sexy things to me to keep me alive. I was dying to experience those things you write in your column. I once pleaded with my husband and his only response was, 'You are jobless; that is why you only think of sex.' Do you know that I could decide to be a lesbian without the knowledge of my husband? However, I wanted sex with real men, and since he denied me, I went out." 
Case 2: A highly-cultured university lecturer was in my office at about the closing hour. She felt really embarrassed in respect of the circumstance for which she was seeking sexual consultation. Her story? Her husband has been away in the US for the past five years, and she has fought loneliness with all sorts of sex toys to the extent that she cannot feel any sensation on her clitoris again due to numbness. She even enrolled for a degree course just to beat loneliness, all to no avail. She yearned for a man's touch, for erotic escapades. Against her wish, she succumbed to the advances of another man who does not only satisfy her all the sexual craving she had, but also awaken the tigress in her. Now her husband is not only back, but he is not as sexually vibrant, bubbling, energetic and lively as her sex partner, her purpose of visit to my office is to know how to handle the situation. 
So, why does a married woman seek sexual pleasure in the arms of another man? When a married woman is sexually neglected, she falls into the arms of the next available sympathiser. 
Husbands should be aware of the fact that both men and women have identical sexual needs, desires, attractions, tastes and fantasies. It is a mirage to assume that the wife is only at the receptive end, must submissively obey, and carry out the sexual demands of her husband, ignoring the fact that she also needs to exhibit her sexual expression. God made both man and woman sexual beings with similar sexual chemistry called sexual hormones. The sexual instinct of a man is God made, but 'He' wants the preservation of sex to be within the walls of a marriage. However, when endless business trips, long distance marriage relationships, prolonged office hours, marathon fasting and prayer sessions is the order of the day in your marriage, please begin to adjust fast, there is a need for balancing. 
Sex and Money 101: From my personal experience and interactions with many couples, I have discovered that sex and money are the two most important ingredients in a marriage. When the two are present, a marriage enjoys unqualified bliss, but when any of the two is missing, just one outcome is possible: unending crises. However, how will you feel if I tell you that I have come up with a twin package that can take your marriage to the next level? To be part of the 47 couples that would be part of this package, simply text this information in the format below: SM101 * Email * Name * Location to 07055333000. Example: SM101*johnd@gmail.com*John Dale*Lagos to 07055333000. The space is limited, first come first serve. Once I receive the information from you, you will immediately receive a free document containing tips that can change your marriage forever - positively. 
Reason two: A woman's heart is her first bedroom for sex: 'space is provided' for anyone who gives attention to her heart. Ladies in general have an insatiable appetite for attention, approval, affirmations, and devotion. 
The never-ending search for attention and affection makes a married woman find sexual adventure in the arms of other men. Nothing wears down the immune system of the sex bed like a husband being too busy to spend time alone with his wife. Love and sex, to a wife, 'is spelt,' A-T-T-E-N-T-I-O-N and A-F-F-E-C-T-I-O-N. No matter what you do for her, she still requires your time. To deny her attention is to jeopardise your sex bed and create room for another man to step into the bedroom. 
Marital love to a married woman is more than a game, it is 'life.' A woman would give everything she has to have a marriage that works and a home that is the envy of everyone. A woman is ready to invest all her life to possess her dream home. 
No matter how much a husband cares, if he does not communicate in action, the wife still feels unloved. There is a desire within every wife to share her greatest dreams, deepest desires, and innermost thoughts and heartfelt needs with the man she marries. 
When a wife says to her husband, "Please talk to me now," she is pleading for both heartfelt and sexual intimacy. Unfortunately, it is an effort many husbands don't make. A recent survey showed that 86 per cent of women that seek sexual pleasure outside their marriage did so because the other man gave them attention and affection. To have a healthy sex bed, a husband must make time to give a few minutes' attention to his wife. Talk, listen and respond in love to her; try as much as possible to be as good, as caring, as supportive and as understanding as possible. Continue the courtesy of courtship in marriage. Do things that will secure her faithfulness at all times. 
Let your main objective be to continually study her, learn to know her, growing with her and protect her. Sometimes you both need to sit together and make reappraisals to see how you are doing in the relationship. Genuinely ask her about the things that both of you need to do in order to have a trustworthy sex-bed. 
Obviously, during the time of courtship, men, like hunters, hunt relentlessly for their prey and after marriage, they take the same prey for granted. You should not take your woman for granted because the monotony may send her into some ones else's arms. Keep love and affection growing by expressing love for your wife or it will die and both of you will not only drift apart, the next available confidant would have the best of sex with her. Spend as much time as possible to do things together with her, learn to greet her with enthusiasm. Such acts of courtesy were some of the reasons she chose to spend the rest of her life with you in the first place. 
She imagined that if during courtship you could be this nice, understanding, caring, loving, friendly, encouraging and tender, then spending the rest of her life with you would be the best decision she would ever make. Treat your wife, as you would love to be treated. Please don't overlook little courtesies, especially the encouraging gestures and affection. Brag about her when she is within earshot. Most times, she may pretend not to be listening, but deep inside, she is happy and smiling. If you treat your wife with extra courtesies, she will blossom and service you sexually until you protest. People tend to appreciate when they are the subjects of a worthwhile emotional investment. 

Security forces fired in the air and used teargas across Nigeria's largely Muslim north on Monday to try to quell protests over the election victory of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The vote count showed Jonathan, from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta, had beaten Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler from the north, in the first round.

Observers have called the poll the fairest in decades in Africa's most populous nation but Buhari's supporters accuse the ruling party of rigging. Results show how politically polarised the country is, with Buhari sweeping states in the Muslim north and Jonathan winning the largely Christian south.

Plumes of smoke rose into the air in parts of the northern city of Kaduna as protesters set fire to barricades of tyres. Groups of youths shouted "We want Buhari, we want Buhari".

Residents in the town of Zaria said a church was burned overnight and soldiers dispersed scuffles between rival supporters at the gates of the Emir's palace.

"They have destroyed our cars and our houses. I had to run for my life and I am now in my neighbour's house," said Dora Ogbebor a resident of the town of Zaria whose origins are in the south.

Soldiers used whips to disperse people gathering in the streets of Kano, the most populous city in the north. Gunfire broke out in one neighbourhood and protesters hurled stones.

An armoured personnel carrier, armed police and soldiers formed a barricade around the electoral commission office.

"We will have the situation under control soon," said Agbo Omaji, a police inspector securing the electoral office.

Soldiers fired in the air and helicopters flew overhead in the central city of Jos, where thousands have been killed in sectarian violence over the past decade.

Clear Win

Nigeria has a history of rigged and violent elections but Saturday's vote was deemed by many Nigerians, and foreign observers, to have been a vast improvement on the past, with the voting process orderly and little unrest on the day itself.

"Election day showed a generally peaceful and orderly process," said chief European Union election observer Alojz Peterle. EU observers said 2007 elections were not credible.

Peterle called for restraint in northern Nigeria and said all Nigerians should respect the election process.

A Reuters tally of results put Jonathan on nearly 23 million votes to just over 12 million for Buhari. The Independent National Electoral Commission was expected to announce all the results on Monday and to formally declare Jonathan the winner.

The outright win for Jonathan could ease worries over potential disruptions to crude exports from Africa's biggest oil and gas industry -- far away from the disturbances in the north.

It could also lift local financial markets which had been unnerved by the prospect of a potential run-off and the All-Share Index was up over 2 percent in early trade to its highest in nearly a month.

But Buhari's camp -- which had urged its supporters throughout the campaign to make sure their votes counted -- said some results looked suspicious, especially where turnout had been exceptionally high in some of Jonathan's strongholds.

"In most of the southeast and south-south, no real elections took place," former government minister Nasir el-Rufai, a Buhari supporter, told Reuters late on Sunday.

"In the southwest and the north, the results have no relation to what happened at the polling units and we will prove it in due course," he said.

Buhari, who also lost elections in 2003 and 2007, has repeatedly said Nigerians would not accept another rigged vote. He told Reuters on Saturday he would not go to court to challenge the outcome but that his party may chose to do so.

Reuters

Not less than 10 people have been killed while cars, houses and other valuables were destroyed in the aftermath of the presidential polls in different parts of Bauchi State. The violence also extended to Gombe State, as supporters of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) protested against what they said was the collusion between electoral officers and the ruling PDP in the state to deny their party victory in the state. Although attempts to burn the private home of the state governor, Danjuma Goje was foiled, the protesters razed the home of the state chairman of the PDP and those of his neighbours.

The mostly young protesters are displeased that the PDP recorded about 32 percent of the votes counted in the state and they blame the state government for this.

In Bauchi, the campaign office of the Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda located on Ran Road was completely burnt down while several vehicles belonging to PDP agents were also burnt by the irate youth who blocked the main Ahmadu Bello Way leading to the Sa’adu Zungur Model School which served as the collation centre for the presidential election.

In Azare, angry youth set the house of the Bauchi State chairman of the PDP, Ibrahim Yaro-Yaro, on fire as well as the house of the Deputy National Secretary of the party, Musa Babayo just as other structures belonging to PDP members were torched.

Security cordon

In Misau, reports have it that the family house of the secretary to the state government, Ibrahim Dandija was torched by the youth while a youth corps member, who was an electoral official in one of the polling centres, was beaten at his station during the exercise and is now receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Bauchi.

In Alkaleri, the youth unleashed terror on people, setting buildings and cars ablaze just as the Chairman of Kirfi Local Government Council, Ibrahim Galadima and that of Bauchi LGC, Sabo Abdullahi Mohammed were molested while their vehicles were destroyed.

In Wuntin-Dada and Guru Area of Bauchi metropolis, three people were killed by the youth who questioned why the PDP won in some of the polling units in the area, just as two more people were killed in the Kofar-Dumi area of the Bauchi metropolis with pockets of houses and cars also torched in the areas.

Armed soldiers as well as anti-riot policemen have been deployed to strategic locations in Bauchi to maintain peace. A police source said a number of the protesters have been arrested by the State Police Command which, however, has not made any public comments on the violence.

Calls to the Commissioner of Police, John Abakasanga and the command’s spokesperson, Mohammad Barau were not answered as at the time of going to press.

NSA Hotlines for Northern Nige.ria Unrest ::: 09-6303520 09-6303521 09-6303522 09-6303523 09-6303525 These numbers are to help the law enforcement agents get to troubled spots on time. Pls call if you are in distress.

After hours of protests and looting of shops belonging to non-indigenes, over the loss of the presidential election to President Goodluck Jonathan; supporters of General Buhari were seen jubilating in Kano when they saw military planes hovering over the Metropolis.

They concluded that there was a coup and the jubiliation cut across the masses and the some elites who equally would not want an 'arne' (meaning non-believer) being declared the winner.

They were also seen chanting 'a raba' (the country should be divided).