Court Finds Fmr President Olusegun Obasanjo Guilty Over Book Launch!

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in his new autobiography "My Watch", released the new book, Tuesday, in Lagos, days after the court order of putting the book Launch on hold.
 Due to the nature of the content, Buruji Kasahmu attempted to use a court order to block the publication of the book due to a drug trafficking allegations against him in the book. President Jonathan also personally contacted the former president to appeal that the book not be published until next year, after the 2015 presidential election.
 Despite this My Watch launched yesterday, Dec. 9, in Lagos, in the presence of prominent political figures and officials.
In the Review of the three-volume text, the court said it was guilty of character contempt and ordered it put on hold.
However, details gathered that some of the pages characterize Mr. Jonathan as weak, callous and incapable of managing Nigeria.
He also criticizes the handling of the Boko Haram insurgency crisis, the PDP, and the Governors Forum, among other things.

“I can assure you that the next Democracy Day will witness a new government.”- President Goodluck.

At the 2014 Democracy Day Inter-denominational Church Service in Abuja. The Nigeria's President in his speech said “I can assure you that the next Democracy Day will witness a new government.”
   He also made notes on the issues of terrorism and insecurity as spearheaded by the Islamic Sect, Boko Haram to bring his Government down, he however pointed out that it would not affect the credibility of the 2015 Elections.
   “I remember when I was in my village this morning to collect my permanent voter’s card, a journalist asked me whether there will be elections in Nigeria, and I told him there would be elections in this country.
“This country will continue to move forward in spite of some of the setbacks we are witnessing,” the President said.
He thanked all the religious faiths for their prayers for the Government and the country which has kept the country in unity.
“Without your prayers, it would have been worse. With your prayers, our girls will be seen by our security men.
“All these distractions were planned to bring this government down. Since they failed, terror will also fail.
“Forces of darkness will never prevail over light. I call on all Nigerians to continue to pray and, with God on our side, we shall overcome,” he said.
President Jonathan thanked God for the 15 straight years of democracy in the country, saying it is the best form of government.
He said his administration’s ‘Transformation Agenda’ was not a mere campaign promise, but had yielded visible dividends and positive developments in every sector in the past three years.
The President listed some of the benefitting sectors to include rail, roads, airports, agriculture, petroleum, power, industry and housing.
In the message delivered by Pastor Goodheart Ekwueme pointed out the Biblical Allusion Mordecai to Nigeria's Crisis, Book of Esther, chapter 4 verse 13 in the Holy Bible..
“It is when the time is darkest that God chooses to reveal its glory and I believe Nigeria will arise. A new Nigeria is about to be born.
“Nigeria is simply experiencing child labour, which will give way to the birth of a great nation,” he said.
NAN reports that congregational prayers were offered for security, peace and development, as well as for the victims and families of recent bomb blasts.
However, Prayers were also said for the successful search for and rescue of the Chibok schoolgirls, as well as for President Jonathan and his family and the three arms of government.
The service was attended by the First Lady, Patience Jonathan, the President’s mother, Madam Eunice, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, cabinet ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, service chiefs and presidential aides.

Rivers State Government Points Finger For Ahoada High Court's Bombing!

Rivers State Government has indicated that the Supervising Education Minister Nyesom Wike, along with the leader of the opposition lawmakers in the state House of Assembly, Evans Bipi, might be the ones behind today's bombing of the State High Court at Ahoada, in Ahoada East Local Government Area of the state.
According to eyewitnesses, the first explosion occured at about 2 a.m. with a shattering sound. Upon resuming work, the registrar of the Court saw two suspicious objects and alerted the police. However, one of the bombs went off at the block where the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) is located before experts arrived.
The building was badly damaged.
Experts from the Bomb Disposal Unit then proceeded to diffuse the second bomb also within the premises of the High Court.
Commissioner of Information and Communication, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, stated that the bombing of the Ahoada High Court was sanctioned by the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), the political platform of Minister Nyesom Wike.
In a similar develpment, a State High Court in Okehi was also razed down by fire in the early hours of Monday. There was no clue as to what caused the fire.
"We don't know what the intensions of the arsonists are, but it may not be unconnected with the on-going court cases in both courts which are related to the current political crisis in the state," Mrs. Semenitari said.
"The bombing and arson looks like the handiwork of people who are close to the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, and the member of the House of Assembly, representing Ogo-Bolu Constituency, Evans Bipi," she continued.
"Members of the GDI and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as it is currently constituted, are those likely to be behind these sought of violence. You will recall that there was an explosion at the office of the Deputy Governor, Engr. Tele Ikuru towards the end of the year. You know also that there was an explosion at the Abonema Wharf last year."
Reacting to both incidents, the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Worgu Boms, lamented that the actions were designed to instill fear in the judiciary.

Najj

10 things you didn't know about Nelson Mandela(He may be one of the most famous men in the world, but there's plenty to learn about him).

Most of us know Nelson Mandela as the South African revolutionary and politician whose long imprisonment became a rallying cry for dismantling apartheid. We know that he went on to be elected the first black president of the Republic of South Africa in the first open election in the country's history and that he has remained one of the most inspiring and admired men in modern history.

 

But there’s so much more to know. Consider the following:

 

1. His parents didn't name him Nelson
Upon his birth on July 18, 1918, he was named Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela. He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the tradition of giving “Christian” names to students.

 

2. He was a poor student

Mandela was expelled from the University College of Fort Hare for his participation in a student protest. He completed his BA through the University of South Africa before attending the University of the Witwatersrand for his law degree. By his own admission, he was not a very good student and left in 1948 without graduating; he also was unable to complete a law degree that he started at the University of London. It wasn’t until his last months in prison that he obtained his undergraduate law degree. He now has more than 50 honorary degrees from international universities.

 

3. He traveled under an alias

In 1962, he took on the alias David Motsamayi and secretly left South Africa for other parts of Africa and England to rally support for the liberation movement and the African National Congress (ANC); he received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia.

 

4. He was a master of disguise
Forced to go underground to evade the police, Mandela disguised himself as a chauffeur, a chef and a garden boy. “I would wear the blue overalls of the fieldworker and often wore round, rimless glasses known as Mazzawati teaglasses. I had a car and I wore a chauffeur's cap with my overalls. The pose of chauffeur was convenient because I could travel under the pretext of driving my master's car,” he wrote in his autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom."

 

5. Some of his most famous words were spoken in court

In 1963, Mandela and nine others went on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial, when he delivered his famous speech in which he concluded, “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Facing the death penalty, they were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

 

6. His principles were more important than freedom

He spent 27 years in prison until his release in 1990, nine days after the unbanning of the ANC. Throughout his imprisonment he had rejected at least three conditional offers of release.

 

7. He was deluged with ticker tape
In 1990, he embarked on a world tour, visiting British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the U.S. Congress, and U.S. President George H.W. Bush. An estimated 400,000 attended a ticker tape parade through the canyons of Wall Street in his honor.

 

8. He loves tripe

Umleqwa (farm chicken), ulusu (tripe), and amasi (sour milk) are among his favorite foods. His chef since 1992, Xoliswa Ndoyiya, published a cookbook with his favorite recipes.

 

9. He was a concert promoter

Mandela was the driving force behind the 2003 AIDS awareness event in Cape Town called the 46664 Concert. The huge event included performances by Beyonce, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Bob Geldof and many more. The name of the concert references Mandela’s prison number.

 

10. His honors have no limits

Mandela has received more than 695 awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize and the U.S. Congressional Medal. In addition to his honorary degrees, he has also been bestowed with honorary citizenships, organization memberships, and a large number of streets, buildings, schools and other various things have been named for him — and his influence can even be seen in Hollywood. In "The Cosby Show," the grandchildren of Cliff and Clair Huxtable, Winnie and Nelson Tibideau, were named after Mandela and his former wife.

 

MNN

Update Anambra 2013: Several Protesting Women Injured

Anambra on Wednesday was thrown into Pandemonium as women protested against the Election that was conducted on Saturday. Reports gathered was that the protesters known as the 'Anambra Women' wanted a cancellation of gubernatorial election and are against the yet fixed Supplementary Election Date. 

Nigerian Policemen in their well known duty fired Tear gas into the air to dispersed the women injuring majority especially the elderly women among the protesters.

Mrs. Tina Akonobi, one of the leaders of the protesters, said they were at the INEC's office to “mourn for the disaster, destruction, doom, robbery and fraud that took place on the November 16.”

“The election was a sham aimed at insulting the integrity, intelligence and intellectual ability of the people of the state and Nigeria in general.

“INEC brought a fraudulent register three days to election where they removed names of voters whose name starts with the letter ‘O’ like Okonkwo and Okeke at Idemili.

“They brought fraudulent people to conduct election here; it was a scam and destruction of a generation and Igbo land.

“We are calling for the cancellation and resignation of Prof. Attahiru Jega for the doom that is impending because this is what will happen in 2015,” she stated.

Anambra's flawed Gubernatorial Election: INEC's test case for 2015 polls?

It is no longer news that last Saturday's gubernatorial election in Anambra state, an election expected to test INEC's readiness and competence to conduct controversy-free polls in 2015, fell far short of expectations. In fact, if the election was indeed a test for INEC, the nation's election regulator and organizer failed woefully

The gubernatorial election mimicked the 2015 elections in many ways: For instance, there were 3 strong parties and candidates, the APC (Chris Ngige), APGA (Willie Obiano), and PDP (Ifeanyi Ubah), the incumbent party had been in power for years, and the electorate was well informed. Furthermore, Anambra is a fairly populous state, which meant that the ability of INEC to coordinate logistics was always going to be better tested than it would have been if the election was in a smaller state like Osun. Finally, the fact that Anambra was the only state holding elections meant that enough attention was focussed on it, a scenario that is likely to be present in 2015 as well.

Anambra is a test case amongst the 36 states...it is clear that even though INEC has put all resources in terms of logistics, security, voters constituencies in place for the Election....yet reports showed elections held were not free n fair, coupled with late arrival of election materials and missing names in voters registers where original registration was made by voters..this shows when its time for the 36 states in 2015, these irregularities shall repeat itself on a larger scale. One of the peculiar problem Electorates have with INEC is the allegations of double registration by some people, a problem INEC hs been unable to solve since 1999.

From the look of things, INEC failed it its responsibility of conducting a free, fair, and representative election in Anambra state, and this does not bode well for the all-important 2015 general elections. The least INEC can do to redeem her image is to conduct fresh elections in a more effective manner, make sure that the mistakes made in Anambra are not repeated in Osun  come January next year 2014, and develop their logistics system in preparation for the 2015 elections.

President Goodluck Jonathan Approves The Appointment Of Four Permanent Secretaries.

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had on Tuesday approved the appointment of four permanent Secretaries into the Federal Civil Service.

In a statement signed by the Director (Communications) in the office of Head of the Civil Service, Dr Tope Ajakaiye. Reports gathered that the new appointees are: Abbas Mohammed (Kaduna); Adelakun Saheed Kayode (Lagos); Bukar Mohammed B. (Yobe) and Magaji Abubakar G. (Zamfara).

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Aji said “The new appointments have been made to fill the slot for Yobe State which became vacant following his appointment as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
“It is also the retirement from service of permanent secretaries representing Lagos, Zamfara and Kaduna States that have created vacancies for their slots, he added (NAN).

2014 Budget Postponed by President Jonathan Again!

Last week tuesday, due to the Senate and House of representatives not adopting the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, it was suspended for a week.

Reports gathered that a week was sheduled for the next meeting but news reaching us now is that President Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the meeting. The President wrote to the Senate Assembly and also the House of Representatives and the Senate indicating his decision to postpone the budget presentation today as it was earlier fixed.

Details shortly.

Pastor Charged For Conducting Same-Sex Marriage for Son Goes on Trial.

A Pennsylvania pastor charged under United Methodist law with officiating his son's same-sex marriage is scheduled to go on trial. The Rev. Frank Schaefer could be defrocked if a jury comprised of fellow Methodist clergy convicts him of breaking his pastoral vows by officiating the 2007 ceremony in Massachusetts.
The nation's largest mainline Protestant denomination accepts gay and lesbian members, but rejects the practice of homosexuality as "incompatible with Christian teaching."
The issue has split the church. Hundreds of Methodist ministers have publicly rejected church doctrine on homosexuality, and some of them face discipline for presiding over same-sex unions.
Schaefer's trial will take place Monday at a Methodist retreat in Spring City, Pa.

Huffypost