AfricaWorld Newspaper 16-31 March 2015

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IS NIGERIA A SOURED SOUP?

by. Ukachukwu Okorie

As Nigeria go to its 5 quadrennial election since the end of military era in 1999, voters will have a tough choice to make. Though it is a general election, however, electing the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has pitched Nigerians among themselves, even kinsmen against each other. The polls which will elect members to the bicameral National Assembly, comprising House of Representatives and the Senate, will also elect Governors and State officials. In this no-hold-barred election, particularly the tussle over the tenancy of Aso Rock Villa (seat of power), many fear the worst amidst reassurances from security operatives, who were partly the reason for the postponement of the election from 14 February to 28 March 2015. Continue on 36p

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The Great Mirror Vitamins for the mind Life is a mirror, and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.

- Ernest Holmes Everyone is a mirror image of yourself your own thinking coming back at you.

- Byron Katie What others say and do is a projection of their own reality.

- don Miguel Ruiz Smile and the world smiles with you.

- Anonymous I am a Mirror for Love and Light, but never for Anger or Fear.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie Man’s enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.

- Lao Tzu There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.

When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

- Martin Luther King, Jr. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

- Matthew 5:43-44 Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.

- Lester B. Pearson Life is a reflection of intent.

Love reflects love.

Hate reflects hate.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie Your point of view sets you up well in advance for how you view the events as they unfold.

- Mary Anne Radmacher The beauty does not live out there; the beauty’s in my eyes.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie What we see depends mainly on what we look for.

- John Lubbock Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.

- Franz Kafka You have a choice about the perspective you take on life.

See tragedy, and the world is tragic see beauty, and the world is beautiful.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie Regards Paul Aniugo No judgment,no expectation.Learn from yesterday Live for today Hope for tomorrow!

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Hate is never conquered by hate, Hate is only conquered by love. - The Buddha When you pray for anyone, you tend to modify your personal attitude toward them.

- Norman Vincent Peale Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.

- Lester B. Pearson Hate is like fire; it burns those who hold it. - Alden Loveshade Fear makes strangers of people who would otherwise be friends. - Shirley MacLaine Revenge... is like a rolling stone, which, when a man hath forced up a hill, will return upon him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion.

- Albert Schweitzer Through violence, you may ‘solve’ one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.

- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama Man’s enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself. - Lao Tzu Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.

When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

- Martin Luther King, Jr. The ugliest word in the world is revenge. It spells hate; it spells fear; it spells greed.

For my loss, I must kill; I must steal - must avenge. It’s your fault; you must pay; you must bleed.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie Life is a reflection of intent. Love reflects love. Hate reflects hate. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Every thought we think is creating our future. - Louise L. Hay All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him.

If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. – The Buddha Well-being is making its way to you at all times. If you will relax and find a way to allow it, it will be your experience. - Abraham (Esther Hicks) You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. - Matthew 5:43-44 Because the word “enemy” carries the connotation of mutual hatred, I prefer the wording, “Love even those who hate you.” to “Love your enemies.”

You have heard that it was said,‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’

But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. - Matthew 5:38-39 Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. - Martin Luther King, Jr. Hate is never conquered by hate, Hate is only conquered by love. - The Buddha No judgment,no expectation.Learn from yesterday Live for today Hope for tomorrow!

By. Paul Aniugo

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Health & Lifestyle

BEWARE OF SALT

By Jachimma Nwachukwu

Salt is critical to life and is a basic element of which our body is made. With water, salt regulates all metabolic bodily functions. “. . .all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And, when we go back to the sea . . . we are going back to whence we came.”

- John F. Kennedy Although salt is important, eating too much salt can cause serious health risks. Common salt, (sodium chloride) has high sodium content and can cause a serious impact on almost all biochemical pathways of the body. Adults need less than 1 gram per day. An excess of 2000 milligrams per day can inhibit the

proper absorption of nutrients and upset normal body functions, and this can result in a number of dangerous health consequences including diabetes, asthma, osteoporosis, kidney problems, and even Ménière’s disease. Let’s look into aa few of the most common; Hypertension SALT increases blood pressure. It’s interesting to note that High Blood Pressure is a major risk factor for death in women in the USA, It contributes to close to 200 000 female deaths annually, which is over 5 times the that of breast cancer.

Heart Defects The consumption of excessive amounts of salt can lead to abnormal heart development. An increase in blood volume would cause the heart to become larger than normal,

resulting in thinner heart valves. The heart would then become weaker as it has to work twice as hard to ensure adequate circulation. Symptoms include breathlessness, chest pains.

Stroke According to actionsalt.org.uk, Stroke is the third biggest killer in the United Kingdom and leading cause of severe adult disability. It is caused by the killing off of cells in the brain, brought about by an insufficient supply of oxygen to the head. High blood pressure is the single most important risk factor for stroke and high salt consumption is a major cause. Strokes could lead to ‘vascular dementia’; A common form of dementia characterised by loss of brain function that affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and behaviour.

Dehydration and Swelling The feeling of thirst is a direct

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response to consumption of salty food. An excessive amount of sodium in the blood draws water out of cells and into tissue. Dehydrated cells then signal the brain for water. Fluid filled tissue makes a person look swollen and bloated.

These symptoms are most prevalent in the lower body.

Digestive Diseases The acid-base balance of blood as well as body fluids is regulated by sodium. An excessive amount of sodium could cause an acid reflux resulting in heart burn and damage to the upper digestive tract. This could cause stomach ulcers and cancers in the long term.

Reducing Salt Intake Examples of Foods High in Common Salt Some foods contain high levels of salt because of the way that they are made. 75% of the salt we eat is already in everyday foods such as bread, breakfast

How healthy are your relationships?

We let people into our lives and allow them treat us as we expect to be treated. If we feel contempt for ourselves, significant others or even friends, we reflect this image back to us. If we are willing to tolerate negative treatment from others towards ourselves,

or treat others in negative ways, it is possible that we also treat ourselves in a similar way. If you are an abuser or a victim of abuse, you may want to consider how you treat yourself.

There are quite a number of indicators of to tell whether you’re in

cereal and ready meals. The NHS provides a list of foods high in salt.

To cut down on salt consumption, one should probably eat these foods less often; Anchovies, bacon, cheese, gravy granules, ham, olives, pickles, prawns, salami, salted and dry roasted nuts, salt fish, smoked meat and fish, soy sauce, stock cubes, yeast extract. [www.nhs. uk] Sources: www.nhs. uk/salt: the facts www.actiononsalt. org.uk/less/Health/ index.html www.3fatchicks. com/7-healthrisks-of-eatingtoo-much-salt/ www.heart.org/ HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/ NutritionCenter/ HealthyDietGoals/ The-Effects-ofExcess-Sodiumon-Your-Healthand-Appearance_ UCM_454387_Article.jsp

By Jachimma Nwachukwu dency 7. Domestic violence From the listed signs and issues above, we look into three of the 1. Controlling major problems; behavior Physiological 2. Self-neglect abuse 3. Isolation 4. Extreme jeal- Psychological abuse is also reousy 5. Psychological ferred to as mental abuse or emoabuse tional abuse, is any 6. Co-depenan unhealthy relationships. A couple of these many behavioral signs are listed below;

behaviour that is designed to control and dominate another human being through the use of fear, humiliation, and verbal attacks. Sometimes, the use of physical assaults is used to achieve the same goal.

This form of abuse can include anything from de-

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structive criticism and pressure tactics, to persistently putting you down in front of other people and manipulation.

Mona, 25, is based in Brunei and works as a secretary at ‘Special Olympics Brunei Darussalam’. She recently got out of an emotionally abusive relationship. She tells us about her experiences; “I used to be with someone who had no particular interest in anything in particular. He made me question the things I was interested in, like music, studies, clothes, even my own friends and beliefs. He even admitted that he was trying to mould me into basically, the female version of him. My self-esteem and self-image was completely obliterated and I tried to battle it several times in my own ways – getting a haircut without telling him, starting a What-I-WoreToday blog, going to gigs on my own – but on the whole, I was completely exhausted from trying to salvage something that shouldn’t have been threatened in the first place.

Health & Lifestyle

Never again” Co-dependency Co-dependency is a type of dysfunctional helping relationship where enables another’s addiction, poor mental health or under-achievement. One main characteristic is an excessive reliance on other people for approval and identity.

Codependency affects an individual’s ability to have a healthy, mutually satisfying relationship. It is also known as “relationship addiction” because people with co-dependency often form or maintain relationships that are onesided, emotionally destructive and/or abusive.

Co-dependency is a learned behaviour, and can be passed down from one generation to the next.

Pastor Sam Karanja is a pastor at Masters Touch Fellowship Church in Kenya. He also gives counselling to couples in troubled relationships as well as support to those in emotionally vulnerable places. As well as seeing a mental health profession, suggests the following; “Break free from co-dependency on others. You can love and admire

people, but never allow them to determine how you feel about yourself and how you carry yourself. A great way to become more comfortable with yourself is to take time to do things and go places by yourself.

There is nothing wrong with treating yourself to a nice dinner or a movie. In fact, it can be a great way to learn how to stop depending on people for happiness and approval.

When you can get to the place where you enjoy spending time with yourself, self-esteem increases, and the chains of rejection are broken.”

Domestic Violence Physical abuse, as defined by ‘Queens health, counselling and disabilities services’; is an escalating pattern of physical violence or intimidation by an intimate partner, which is used to gain power and control. It can include other forms of mistreatment and cruelty such as constant threatening as well as financial or sexual abuse.

Abuse usually comes about from one partner’s obsession to control the other.

Rose, 49, from Archway in London is a mother of two

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very young adults and has been separated from her partner for over ten years. She explains; “Domestic violence only escalates, it doesn’t go away.

The only way to end it is to leave the situation.

People don’t ever really change just like that, and you cannot change them. My partner started from smashing plates at the wall to smashing me into the wall. His constant name calling went on for so long that I started to believe the things he said about me were true” What to do?

Educating yourself about abusive relationships could save a lot of pain.

Consider seeing a mental health professional if you feel you may be in such a situation. A counselor can help you understand the impact of an abusive relationship and can also help you learn healthier ways of relating to others and caring for your own needs.

Characteristics of healthy relationships Now that we have explored some of the elements of unhealthy relationships, let’s look into some of the elements of

what we should be looking for when bonding with another person; 1. Shared power 2. Trust and support 3. Non-threatening 4. Open communication 5. Shared responsibility 6. Honesty 7. Respect 8. You have fun together Apart from having a common purpose, loyalty, patience and honest communication, to mention a couple more, a good and healthy relationship should include some elements of fun! If you seem to be having more bad times than good, and very little happy memories with your significant other, you might need to assess the situation you’re in.

Remember…Nobody loves you more than you love yourself.

Sources 1. www.bewelldowell.org 2. www.counselingcenter. illinois.edu/selfhelp-brochures/ relationship-problems/emotionalabuse/ 3. www.mentalhealthamerica.net/ co-dependency 4. http://www. womensaid.org.uk 5. www.wikipedia.org

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Rivers of Babylon of_babylon_lyrics. So, let the words of How can we sing our mouth html ] King Alpha’s song ‘Cause the wicked And the meditaIn a strange land? tion of our heart carried us away in Be acceptable in captivity Psalm 137 Thy sight Required from us a Oh, Fari song 1 By the rivers of How can we sing Babylon we sat We got to sing it King Alpha’s song and wept together Psalm 137 - The In a strange land? when we reEveryone major part of the membered Zion.

La la la la la lyrics ‘Cause the wicked 2 There on the Psalm 19:14 - Let carried us away in poplars By the rivers of the words of my captivity we hung our Babylon mouth, and the Required from us a harps, Where he sat down 3 for there our capmeditation of my song heart, be acceptHow can we sing And there he wept tors asked us for able in thy sight, O King Alpha’s song When he rememsongs, bered Zion LORD, my strength, In a strange land? our tormentors and my redeemer. demanded songs ‘Cause the wicked Sing it out loud of joy; The Lyrics in full: Sing a song of free- carried us away in they said, “Sing captivity Rivers Of Babylon dom, brother us one of the Song by Boney M. Sing a song of free- Required from us a songs of Zion!” song By the rivers of dom, sister 4 How can we sing How can we sing Babylon the songs of the Where he sat down So, let the words of King Alpha’s song Lord In a strange land?

And there he wept our mouth while in a foreign When he rememAnd the meditaland? bered Zion tion of our heart ‘Cause the wicked 5 If I forget you, carried us away in [ Lyrics from: Be acceptable in Jerusalem, captivity http://www.cloverThy sight may my right Required from us a lyrics.com/e98952Oh, Fari hand forget its song jimmy_cliff~rivers_ skill.

“Rivers of Babylon” is a Rastafarian song whose lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Bible.

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell.

“Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”

8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.

9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Editorial - AfricaWorld News and a resurgent Ireland I bring you good tidings from the editor’s desk as the Celtic Tiger’s roar reverberates from afar.

Although AfricaWorld news was born in this island, however, the story of this media brand and the Republic of Ireland are intertwined. It is a story of hardwork and resilience. Ours is an account of success after tribulation. As vicissitudes are part of life, we take solace in the proverb that says that - The strength of a man does not lie in not falling but in rising each time he falls.

We have not published our biweekly for a couple of weeks due to logistics problem. But we are now back and happy about it. This newspaper shall continue to be the voice of the unheard as we were created to serve and inform.

This edition has interesting articles and photo news as our tradition demands every fourteen days. We are happy to be back to you especially this period Ireland celebrate St. Patricks day.

Thanks.

Come in Uka

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Bishop Oyedepo One week ago I wrote a piece on ChatAfrik website in which I described General Overseer Enoch Adejare Adeboye as a man of God with a difference.

Today I am writing on Bishop Oyedepo of the Winners Congregation as the consummate pastor/politician of his generation.

I have seen many a pastor in my close to 70 years in this world as I revealed in the Adeboye article but I am yet to meet any pastor with the very sharp political instincts and the oratorical talents of Bishop Oyedepo. Bishop T.D Jakes is arguably one of the best black pastors America has produced. I am using T.D Jakes as my point of comparison because he is a black man like Bishop Oyedepo.

I have a premonition that T.D.Jakes’s great grandparents might have been Americans of Yoruba origin who probably came to this land as American slaves. I see some striking similarities between T.D. Jakes and Bishop Oyedepo.

I fully understand that God Almighty does not believe in quota in ditching out his grace or blessings to humanity and mankind. If that were so, he would not have singled out the Jews or the Zionist regime as his own chosen people from a long list of other ethnic

groups he has created around the world.

The same God chose to specially bless the House of Windsor in Britain in a country of roughly 60 million people. The same God chose to specially bless the Kennedy Family of Massachusetts as the royal dynasty of America. The same God in his infinite mercy and power has specially blessed the Prescott Bush Family of Connecticut in America. To its credit, that family alone has two members’ father and son who have become Presidents of this great nation. One was the 41st and the other was 43rd President of America.

Another Bush offspring is eyeing the presidency one time too many in a country of 386 million people. . The same God had chosen to make a little boy from Hope Arkansas who lost his father when his mother was 3 months pregnant with him. His biological father Mr. Billy Blythe, a used car salesman was traveling in a car with his pregnant wife when their car blew a tire and they both had an accident close to a river bank.

The father got thrown out of the car as the car somersaulted several times over.

The poor man fell inside the river which carried his

dead body to another location far away from the spot of the accident. His wife, Virginia and the fetus inside her womb survived the accident. Bill Clinton was born and named William Jefferson Blythe.

His mother a nurse later remarried Roger Clinton Snr. She had another son for him named Roger Clinton Jnr. In 1962 Virginia divorced Roger and then reconciled with him 3 months later.

Little Bill who never knew or met his own father tried to curry favor with his stepfather by legally changing his name to William Jefferson Clinton even though his stepfather never formally adopted him. The same Bill became the 42nd President of the United States and his first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is on a fast lane to becoming the 45th President of the United States barring any unforeseeable development. Their daughter, Chelsea, an alumna of Oxford and a very gifted child is being raised for President someday.

There is no quota system in American politics. There are more Yoruba pastors today than Igbo or Hausa Pastors. It is just a fact of life. Oyedepo is one of them.

The point I am making is that God does not subscribe to quota system the way we human beings do. That is why a great number of

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Nigerian powerful pastors and clergies are Yorubas as listed in Commander Obey’s album to mark his 70th birthday celebration in Nigeria. The list has Chris Okotie and Oyakhilome listed and I added Idahosa, Olumba Olumba Obu in the Adeboye article.

If you check out the list you would find, like I did, that most of the pastors were all Yoruba by ethnic origin. I am therefore as proud as hell to note that Bishop Oyedepo is also a Yoruba man.

I have a suspicion that Bishop T.D Jakes himself may well be a Yoruba man if you check him out. I visited Brazil a few weeks before the world cup in Brazil. I met a man at one of the Favelas, the ghetto neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro where I met a man I could have sworn was the twin brother of Bishop T. D Jakes.

I actually thought the man was Bishop Jakes before he told me his name was Fenandez Olivera and that his ethnic origin was Yoruba and that the deity that he worshipped was Odudua. He actually took me to his house to see a big shrine of Oduduwa in all his majesty. I could not believe my eyes. He told me there was a Yoruba community in Brazil that worships Sango, Osun and Obatala. We immediately became friends because of our Yoruba identity. I then

told him about a Bishop Jakes of America, his carbon copy and we both laughed about it. For all you know Bishop Jakes might well be an American of Yoruba origin.

The Yorubas are all over the world including Cuba and much of the Caribbean. The Yorubas are amazing talents whether you like it or not The Yorubas are very gifted people in the commonwealth of Nigeria.

I am proud that Oyedepo is a Yoruba Bishop. He did something for President Jonathan a few days ago that only a genius like him could have done. Can you imagine Pope Francis inviting an Italian President running for a second term to come to the Basilica to get the same kind of reception and endorsement that Bishop Oyedepo cleverly and deliberately arranged for President Jonathan with his congregation after Jonathan confided in him his greatest problem was how to counter the kind of challenge he had faced due to the amazing popularity of a Redeem Pastor that General Buhari has picked as his running mate.

Bishop Oyedepo assured him there and then not to worry because he was sure he could do something equally dramatic to minimize or wipe out any lasting damage the Osinbajo selection

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must have done to Jonathan and his chances in the election. It was a desperate moment for Jonathan who confessed his campaign had run into a brick wall.

I call Bishop Oyedepo a politician in the robe of a Bishop because of the graphic way he pulled a fast one of his congregation and the nation by saying that he only had a few hour notice to arrange the reception his congregation gave to Jonathan at his Ota Auditorium which was large enough to house more than 100,000 worshippers at a time during what he himself described as the third service for that day. I don’t know how much mobilization fee Bishop Oyedepo took from the President to be able to arrange that coup de grace but it must run to several millions of Naira.

He invited the President to come witness the kind of crowd and voters he could pull for him during his short visit to Lagos.

The President flew in a helicopter dressed in white Agbada to match looking like a Winston Churchill or a Napoleon or a Dwight Ike Eisenhower who returned from Europe as a victorious NATO commander to come seek the presidency of the United States. The Church was jam packed with people. The President entered the Rotunda feeling like the

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embattled Julius Caesar. The dapper don Bishop took over the microphone announcing the arrival of the President with a thunderous applause that would have shamed Femi Fani Kayode, his flamboyant campaign Director who has done more harm to the President, if you watch few of the videos he had recorded against the President Jonathan for the short time he was a member of the APC. I have seen some of those videos myself. If the Buhari campaign managers are wise, they should simply asked the panel arranging the presidential debates in Nigeria to simply use the time allotted to Buhari to play one of those videos. Buhari does not need to show up for the debate. Let the Fani Kayode video speak for him. That would be my recommendation to General Buhari and the APC. Bishop Oyedepo is a master politician and public relations juggernaut.

The dapper don Bishop Feeling on top of his game briefly introduced the President describing him as King as stipulated in the Holy Scriptures. After the President took his seat to a standing ovation he ordered the congregation to make a special prayer for the President that the President could hear with his own ears. The

man went to town to round up the prayers describing the President as the quintessential man of God or the man who is going to cut of the head of Gorgon the Medusa that Boko Haram has become to Nigeria.

He whitewashed the President in such a way that you would think that Jonathan was Charles DeGaule or Winston Churchill.

He did not stop there he made the President come out to say a few words to the congregation before television cameras and public address system which had been carefully prearranged for at least 2 weeks or more making sure that the whole world press was there. The Bishop told a big lie he could easily cover up when he said he had only a few hours to arrange the coronation or the Durbar for a president who has never been more embattled in his political life.

The opposition in Nigeria has never scared any sitting President like the APC and General Buhari and Osinbajo are currently doing to the PDP and Jonathan.

The PDP has never seen any wave election like the one they face this year. Bishop provided a big relief for the President for a brief moment in the last 2 months by kind of welcome and make-belief adulation he was showered with at the

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so-called Canaan village out there in Ota on the outskirts of Lagos. The President could easily have paid 50 million Naira for that kind of honor. That was why I called Bishop Oyedepo an evil genius if not a super star working for God...

The Bishop did not stop there.

He preached a sermon arguably more powerful than the “Orbi et Orbi” homily that only a Pope could have given. He spoke in tongues to create an aura of mystique around his message asking his congregation and the whole of Nigeria not to embrace change because President Jonathan has performed wonders in his 6 years in office, and would perform more wonders in the next 4 if Nigerians give him a chance.

It was a political campaign rally and not a church service they claim it was. I have never seen anything like that before. Pastor Joel Osten who uses a whole stadium as his Church in Houston, Texas could never have done that for any American politician without someone accusing him of mixing religion with Politics.

“Ri ko ko ko Ye. A bu kata Chi, Chindere ma, Slobo ye.

Ari ma ma ma. A ri ba ba ba, E vu si vous plait, Ba bu turenchi, Onye mulu soja gba ka wan El Shadai ,Jehova Chikena Jihova Jireh Tete-

lestai , slobo ye meaning that the Lord has done it for the President. It is a done deal. It is finished. “O ti pa ri, Shikena Allah Ikemu. Osalobua la ho. Ota mi de, ada mi da” I thought for a moment I was listening to Patrick Obahiagbon before I realized the man was speaking to impress the President and his congregation he was having a direct communication with El Shadai. God must be amused about how far some people can go using his name to create an illusion.

The bishop spoke in tongues in a way that had to get the attention of the President that the Bishop had delivered what he promised in some graphic details. The President left the congregation that day feeling like a winner for the first time in this campaign season because of what Bishop Oyedepo had done for him.

Professor Moshood Peller who used illusion and magic to get the attention of his audience could never have scored a home run for the President by pleading his cause in a direct communication with God in the language I have quoted above. I take off my hat for Bishop Oyedepo. He is another “Ebora Ota” if you get my point.

The way his congregation were saying “Amen”and “Kun Faya Kun” to

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every prayer point for the President in the ecumenical gathering did not reveal any disagreement any of them with ties to the APC may have had with the colorful Bishop.

Many must have disagreed with the Bishop behind closed doors, but they dared not express it or they get a dirty slap like happened to the young Igbo lady

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who had the effrontery to admit she was a witch for Jesus. What I saw in that video showed a unanimous consensus for President Jonathan that Osinbajo and Daddy Adeboye must now find some ways to counter if the Redeem Church must stand up for one of their own like Bishop Oyedepo has unequivocally done for President

Jonathan.

If you are waiting for that to happen, you are probably the crab hunter that is waiting around the water edge for the crab to take a nap. You are probably going to wait forever because Oyedepo and Adeboye belong to two different kettles of fish as men of God. One is a politician to the core and a used car sales man

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who can sell you a dead cockroach, and you will laugh all the way home believing you have hit a jackpot. The other is that quintessential man of God who will not call the name of God in vain and who will never claim to be God himself or pretend to be one like the Jesu Oyingbo or the Olumba Olumba Obu of Nigeria.

My goal in this

30 Evils of Obasanjo: A Compendium Obasanjo Is Living In The Past By. Anthony Nze Obasanjo Is Living In The Past Obasanjo is spearheading a secret agenda tied to his personal political interests. What Nigerians should realize from the former president’s antecedents is that he is a very deceitful and insincere man who was complicit in creating the mess Nigeria is in today 1. Obasanjo was the most corrupt of all Nigerian leaders. He stole Nigerian oil money as the President and Petroleum Minister.

He awarded road contracts and did not build the roads but pocketed the money 2. Obasanjo was the same man that attempted third term and was confronted headlong. He is the same man that destroyed our nation. He later imposed a sick man as a leader and we

are where we are today.

3. Mr. Obasanjo is “the same man that gloried and celebrated corruption in Nigeria. Obasanjo the former president “ensured that corruption got its solid foundation, and today he is the so called moral voice of Nigeria. It is dangerous and scary. Obasanjo did not believe in the principles he wrote about in a leaked letter that descended on Mr. Jonathan with harsh words.

Obasanjo has no moral standing to criticize corruption during his administration. He started his Presidency with only about 20,000 naira in his personal bank account but left the Presidency with a university to his name (The Bell University) worth billions of dollars and his Ota farm (currently holds 6000 employees) worth billions of dollars was

largely expanded.

Nigerian wants to know how he got this money. This is corruption. Where is EFCC? 4. Iyabo Obasanjo said that her father- Olusegun Obansanjo, is a liar, manipulator, hypocrite’ Remember that Obasanjo abandoned his wife and six children.

5. Obasanjo’s first son Gbenga years ago exposed his father to a bigger public ridicule years ago by claiming that he slept with his wife.

Obasanjo (evil man) have no moral standing.

6. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC Chieftain in December 2011 said: “what integrity has Obasanjo in terms of his legacies for Nigeria to speak on elections? Apart from his aborted third term ambition, he brought about and left a legacy of electoral corruption in the

country. What is Obasanjo talking about? He should go away and retire in shame politically. He should leave the political landscape of this country alone. He brought a whole salad of corruption, manipulation and failures.”

7. Obasanjo killed several of his political enemies in the hundreds including his wife.

Obasanjo is a murderer and human right abuser 8. It is a fact of history that during Obasanjo’s Presidency, his Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, was assassinated by operatives just before he resigned from the cabinet to go and revive his Alliance for Democracy (AD) to deny Obasanjo access to the South West, the home base he desperately needed to make certain his second term in power.

Chief Marshall Harry, Chief Ami-

article is accomplished, if you get the difference, and if you will not allow any Pastor to pull a fast one on you. Don’t let any pastor mislead you and don’t mislead yourself. Vote for change which is long overdue in Nigeria. Vote for Buhari and Osinbajo on February 14.

I rest my case.

nasori Dikibo and many others were murdered, and the killers were never found. Obasanjo ordered the abduction of Governor Chris Ngige and the burning of the Government House and public offices in Awka, the Anambra State capital. The kettle calls the flask black!

9. In a long-awaited revelation of the main motive behind the assassination of General Murtala Ramat Muhammed (MRM), a smoking gun have been found recently. In the numerous wiki-leaks whistle blower case OBJ was fingered by a foreign government cable as one of the top officers who were lining their pockets at that time of MRM. 10. OBJ was one of those corrupt Army Generals who were scheduled to be retired because of massive corruption before the Dimka coup. The late General Murtala Muhammed (MRM) himself wanted to retire

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some top people in his cabinet on corruption-related issues before he was assassinated”.

OBJ knows something deep about the death of MRM. It would be interesting to get OBJ’s comment on this particular issue.

He must not go to his grave without telling Nigerians the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

11. Did Obasanjo forget his political assassinations (including that of Bola Ige, his attorney general and minister of justice) during his macabre rule, the massacres in Odi and Zaki Biam.

12. Obasanjo’s administrations, 1976-1979 and 1999-2007: Obasanjo seems to have forgotten too soon his squabble with his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, which made nonsense of governance.

13. Obasanjo poisoned Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s food because Yar’Adua inherited Obasanjo’s kitchen staff.

This was revealed from a leak cable recently (reference 08LAGOS153).

It revealed that Yar’Adua inherited Obasanjo’s kitchen staff. It will be recalled that Yar’Adua reversal of the sale of state owned refineries drew the anger of Olusegun Obasanjo.

14. On his command thousands of Biafran children starved to death.

15. On his command the World

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witnessed one of the most tragic abuse of human rights and a genocide which repeated itself in Odi community, Bayelsa state, in his second coming.

16. Obasanjo rigged all his elections during his tenure using government security agencies. It was a do or die affair for Obasanjo 17. Obasanjo accuses Jonathan of supporting nonPDP candidates for governorship elections in Ondo, Edo and Anambra for his personal political purposes.

I ask, what about Obasanjo, who pulled PDP out of the race in the 2007 Imo governorship election because the winner of the primaries in the PDP, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, was not his anointed candidate. He went ahead to support Chief Ikedi Ohakim of the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) to clinch the seat.

Ohakim continues to pay pilgrimages to Obasanjo’s house hoping he will swing another magic wand to enable him return to power. Has he forgotten so soon?

Well, we have not!

18. Chief Obasanjo’s letter was a confirmation of the heavy blow his administration dealt on democracy when election rigging and manipulations were used to muscle out opposition parties and recalled that APGA suffered the same terrible fate

in 2003 when its victory was given to PDP and it took three years of legal battle to reclaim the mandate.

19. Obasanjo also wails that Jonathan is plotting a “third term”! Well, the courts have said he still has the constitutional right to run for a second, not third term in 2015. The kettle is calling the flask black because Obasanjo suffered the most humiliating defeat when his third term agenda was nixed on the floor of the Senate on May 16th 2006. Where was the “morality” then which Obasanjo now preaches? What about his refusal to abide by the pact he had with the North to run for only one term as a precondition for his being selected to stand in place of the murdered Chief Moshood Abiola, to whom Nigerians gave their mandate on June 12th 1993?

Obasanjo, at that time, was expected to copy the good example of Dr. Nelson Mandela, who voluntarily stepped down from the presidency after only one term to give his country a chance to move forward under a younger blood.

Obasanjo had blatantly rejected the call for him to “do a Mandela”, saying: “I am no Mandela”!

That was the cause of his fights with Atiku Abubakar, his Vice.

20. Obasanjo is the one that locked

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funds of a federating state, the one who wanted to change a constitution he helped mould in 1979, for his personal third term ambition, he is the one under whose presidency the PDP had a faction. He is the one who oversaw Ngige’s travails in Anambra because his ‘son’, Andy Uba was involved. He is the one who the other Lamido, not the CBN governor, that “I will make you president.”

He turned a few governors against their party leader and president. He is the ‘unclannish’ president who massacred the Odi people.

21. Obasanjo tried to impose his fellow illiterates’ cronies on Anambra State in particular and Nigeria in general. Obasanjo had no formal education but was a motor mechanic 22. Obasanjo organized the five Governors who just moved from PDP to APC. When their move did not yield the result he expected. Obasanjo the Godfather of evil came out in the open. He will lose again and all those governors will lost big time particularly Amaechi. We will show them.

23. Obasanjo did all he could to go for third term.

Thank God that he failed. How dare him challenge someone who is going for his second term?

24. Obasanjo was the most tribalist leader in the his-

tory of Nigeria. He built all the power stations during his tenure in his village and the immediate surrounding Chief Obasanjo continued to promote ethnic and religion differences, that resulted in wholesale violence and loss of lives that qualified him to be tried for crime against humanity.

Obasanjo’s agenda is to engender distrust in the polity, demoralize the public, and grossly undermine the legitimacy of this republic.

Obasanjo’s latest intervention is no doubt anchored on the politics of 2015. In his messianic posturing, he feels he has a divine right to determine or at least have a say on who emerges as president in the 2015 election 25. Under Obasanjo’s Presidency, corruption and impunity became a way of life in the country when privileged few where given monopoly on economic powers.

26. Obasanjo was in Jigawa State as guest of Governor Sule Lamido recently making a case for Lamido as the next President of Nigeria, the same Lamido whose sons have been indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for laundering billions of Jigawa State fund through companies owned by the governor. That is

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the type of corrupt morale that governs Obasanjo’s life 27. Obasanjo and his corrupt cronies are the people who divided Nigeria because he did nothing when the north declared Islamic republic and introduced sharia laws in a secular democracy. Obasanjo divided Nigeria is the person who shared oil allocations amongst his colleagues in the army and friends and families and gave 83% of allocations to northerners and almost nothing to people from Niger delta and Eastern region from where the bulk of the oil is found.

Obasanjo and his cronies are the people dividing Nigeria are those who talk about placating terrorist without saying a word about their victims.

28. Obasanjo is the person who divided Nigeria by pursuing a scotch earth policy against Eastern Nigeria and did not allow federal investments in Eastern Nigeria during his term.

29. Obasanjos and his corrupt cronies are the people dividing Nigeria by sponsoring Boko Haram, pursuing Islamic economic and social agenda for Nigeria and threatened to make Nigeria ungovernable if Jonathan becomes president of Nigeria.

30. PDP has been collapsing since Obasanjo attempt-

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ed to get a third term and dealt with all those who opposed him. Ask erstwhile governor of Abia state Orji Uzor Kalu.

He knows how Obasanjo deals with those who opposed his third term ambition and critics.

Obasanjo’s sanctimonious attitude and rehashed criticism of Jonathan is self-serving, hypocritical, and diabolical. He is as much a part of the problems he condemns, as those he now blames for them.

During his term, Bola Ige, his attorney general was murdered in cold blood and he did not even address the nation about it and those accused of his murder and they made it to the Nigerian senate during his watch.

Obasanjo tell us the difference between an administration which shelters murders or drug dealers?

Obasanjo and his failed administration need to know that politics should not be an arena where the worst of us compete on who would steal most from the rest of us, but a stage where the best of us contest to do the most for the rest of us. It should not be a chance to give expression to our primordial sectarian prejudices, but an opportunity for us to showcase the best humanity can offer in honesty, humility, service, justice, equality, tolerance and probity. This has not been the

case in Nigeria and it is time for people like Obasanjo to show some humility and remorse for the mess they have made of Nigeria and stop over heating the polity because they want to have their way Obasanjo instead writes a disingenuous letter to the President and leak it to the media to create the maximum sensation, which is part of his well-known plot to bring down the man he made because he has lost out (as usual).

What the chicken cannot eat, it will scatter.

Obasanjo wrote and leaked this letter to the media to raise a mob action against Jonathan; a crafty follow-up to the rebellion he used the governors he planted in the states to stir in their party, all in efforts to stop Jonathan in 2015.

People often say we should take the message and forget the messenger.

As far as we are concerned, there is little in the letter Obasanjo wrote to Jonathan that is worth taking. It is a windy, convoluted, hypocritical hogwash!

Obasanjo instead of writing a sanctimonious letter to Nigerians under the guise of righting to the President should be apologising to Nigerians for unleashing evil on them. The Nigerian government and general assembly should look at the matters raised here and commerce a

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major investigating of Obasanjo and his corrupt cronies’ deeds.

Obasanjo should be in prison now.

Obasanjo’s letter to President Jonathan is a desperate attempt to stop Jonathan from contesting in 2015, so that Obasanjo can install a northerner as another President of Nigeria so that they call off their attack dogs and claim to be the only ones who can bring peace to Nigeria. It is a high octane political move to force Jonathan to abandon his plans to contest in 2015. Obasanjo knows the Nigerian constitution, if all the allegations he made are true, why did he not present them to the national assembly to investigate and if valid, institute impeachment proceeding against Jonathan.

Obasanjo chose Jonathan for the very reasons he is now complaining and condemning his leadership.

He chose him because; he thought he was a quiet man who he could control from his Ota farm. Unfortunately for him, he has found out that even though Jonathan is a quiet man and appears naive to some extent in power play, he is his own man and has his own mind and agenda.

Obasanjo seems to find it hard to accept that Jonathan knows what he wants to do with the power which is now in his hands.

As a general,

Obasanjo is now crying about how he underestimated Jonathan and so has decided to go on the offensive.

Obasanjo’s letter is not an advice from a friend, it is a killer shot from a disgruntled benefactor who is trying to destroy who he made.

However, the question remains, what is Obasanjo’s true motive for delivering this killer punch to Jonathan at this time? It is difficult to see the evidence that Obasanjo is motivated by the higher values he appealed to in his criticisms of the leadership of Jonathan. It would seem that he is motivated by his legendary huge ego, selfish and sectarian considerations which have guided his politics.

If Obasanjo is patriotic as he claims, and loves Nigeria as he stated; why did he do the things he did, when he was in power? Why did he not do more to lay the foundation of a transparent and accountable democracy? Why was he rigging elections in favour of PDP and disenfranchising Nigerian voters?

Why did Obasanjo not empower EFCC sufficiently and made it independent to enable it function effectively as an anti-graft organisation? Why did Obasanjo allow EFCC to be under the Presidency and used it as instrument to pursue his political enemies?

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Why was Obasanjo selective in his fight against corruption? Why did he not lead by example? Why has Obasanjo not accounted for his stupendous wealth?

Why did Obasanjo do nothing when northern governors declared Islamic state in north Nigeria?

Truth be told, Obasanjo’s anger

quire his enormous wealth, it could not have been on his pension as a retired Army General and Head of State nor on his pension as a former two time civilian President. We as Nigerians recall that not too long ago during Obasanjo second stint as civilian President, KBR and its subsidiary Halliburton

with President Goodluck is based purely on his suspicion that President Goodluck might exercise his constitutional right and seek a second term in office. Is that not what democracy is all about. Jonathan Goodluck if he decides to run, should make his case to the Nigerian public, and let the public pass the ultimate judgment.

Politics should not be based on unsubstantiated back room deals on who runs and for how long. Obasanjo especially in this case has no locus standi to preach to anyone on whether to run for a second term or not. Nigerians have not forgotten his chicanery when he tried to amend the constitution to seek a third term!

Obasanjo has no credibility to lecture Nigerians on corruption. How exactly did he ac-

pleaded guilty to conspiring with its joint-venture partners and others for authorizing, promising and paying bribes to a range of Nigerian government officials, including officials of the executive branch of the Nigerian government, NNPC officials, and NLNG officials, to obtain the EPC contracts.

KBR also pleaded guilty to payment of tens of millions of dollars in “consulting fees” to two agents for use in bribing Nigerian government officials We as Nigerians also remembered that Obasanjo did nothing to prosecute the criminals in his government nor did he do the honourable thing and resign. Instead a this criminal enterprise and its permanent blight on Nigeria was swept under the rug by with the

establishment of a Special Investigation panel headed by for InspectorGeneral of Police, Mike Okiro even though it declared in its Interim report that the Retired General from Ota was directly and irrefutably involved in the Halliburton bribery scandal where over $180 Million were paid as bribe to “key government officials and Politicians” including Obasanjo. As our own anti-corruption crusader Balarabe Musa said “There is a popular demand

by Nigerians that the government should investigate Obasanjo’s regime because of the numerous financial atrocities committed by him. No government can be more corrupt than the government of Obasanjo.

His eight years reign exposed us to the present challenges bedeviling us.”

When there has been overt abuse of power in the administration of Jonathan, he has not defended them, but acted quickly to remedy them, unlike in the time of Obasanjo, when he paid no attention to whatever anybody said.

Obasanjo is a leader who thinks he knows everything, while Jonathan is a leader who knows that no one knows everything.

It is inevitable that sooner, rather than later, they would disagree on methods. We are glad that the govern-

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ment of Jonathan has learnt to accept criticism, but it is also important for critiques to accept that the government has a right to have its way. This is how democracy works.

When critics become subversive and seek to undermine the ability of the government to govern, it is time for the President Jonathan’s government to use every legal means to preserve its right to do what it considers to be in the best interest of the country, irrespective of what the critics say. Unfortunately for people like Obasanjo, they believe that one must do as they say, because of their superior knowledge. They are not content to have their say, they must have their way Jonathan needs to be a fox to spot a trap and a Lion to frighten a wolf.

When one is in politics, one must know how and when to move against those who are determined to stop you from doing what you believe is best for the people, no matter who they are.

Jonathan needs to use the enormous power he has as Nigerian president to make Nigeria better and deal with those who he has been trying not to offend but have now turned against him. Jonathan need to act swiftly and assert his powers and authority, and dispel the allegation that

he is deep into corruption.

President Jonathan should realise that no one can achieve greatness with power, if they are afraid to exercise power to preserve their mandate, fight corruption, injustice, ensure justice and fairness.

Chief Obasanjo should not misinterpret the Presidents humility as weakness, because Obasanjo should be in jail by now for sundry crimes against humanity, in Odi and Zakibiam massacres Nigerians in 36 states already knew that Obasanjo is a criminal and has no right to decide for them who leads Nigeria.

What GEJ needs to do is ignore the buffoon and focus on working for the good of all Nigerian. Obasanjo the thief is inconsequential and must go back to prison Jonathan is a Saint when compare to Obasanjo because Jonathan have delivered on most of his promises Jonathan is a good man and has the right to go for his second term and he will receive the vote and support of all Nigerians!

Documented by Nwachukwu Anthony Anakwenze, MD,MPH,MBA

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africanworldforum

The real trouble with Nigeria

By Richard Dirim Odu (08033374378) We are once again in the dawn of another election year. Tension is rising. The political temperature has reached the boiling point as politicians crisscross the nation and their home states canvassing for votes, pouring vituperations on one another. They are making promises and sweet-talking members of the electorate. Hidden in their innermost being is the ambition, not to serve the people but to make fiefdom out of Nigeria while they remain the lords of the manor.

Nigeria has continued to have the misfortune that just very few of its politicians spare a thought for the existence of Nigeria as a nation.

Majority of them only concentrate on grabbing power at the wake of an election period either for protecting their vast economic empires or for projecting clannish interests.

It becomes doubly heartbreaking that majority of the electorate who are often at the receiving end of the antics of these unscrupulous politicians decide to align with them and fight among themselves, perhaps in anticipation of crumbs from the fiefs’ tables. No one appears to give a thought to the real

problem besetting the nation, causing the series of crises in the country, and how it could be dealt with.

What is this real trouble with our nation, blessed as it is, yet unable to outgrow certain threats identifiable with nascent states, even when it has existed as a country for half a century? It is easy for us to jump into conclusion that the nation’s woes have hinged only on tribalism, ethicism, corruption, election malpractices, marginalization and stuff like that.

Indeed, tribalism, or the expression of ethnic or religious sentiments, is not as bad as we have painted it to be. Why should it be a sin for one to love, project and protect one’s people? It is only natural that one would love what one finds as one’s own.

As the saying goes, however, your freedom to swing your hands ends where my nose begins.

As for corruption, man, in his base nature, reeks heavily of corruption all over. Only the little ego and the super ego which he cultivates in an environment that permits it put a check on him. Election malpractices?

If we are sincere to ourselves, we would admit that every politician’s ultimate ambition is to win an election and would not mind rigging to get to his destination. The late Presi-

dent Umaru Musa Yar’ adua, one of the few Nigerian politicians who still had some polished conscience, was able to admit that the election that brought him to power was flawed.

But he did not resign the position.

When we mention marginalization, we are only reechoing a phenomenon that occurs in a human setting which, in its raw nature, appears more or less to be a jungle where every animal preys on the weaker ones. Yes, when jungle is mentioned, we might discover that Nigeria is not far from it and so is replete with every undesirable phenomenon associated with the jungle. If we are able to admit this basic fact, we would be moving closer to the real trouble with our dear nation, Nigeria. What the jungle lacks is order and that is exactly what the Nigerian nation lacks – a national order, a set of mutually acceptable binding principles.

Somehow, it appears indiscernible how this has affected the nation adversely, given the series of laws, constitutions, decrees, legislations, acts, codes of conduct, ethical standards and the like that fill our statute books. Nigeria is not lacking in this sphere. Yet it continues to experience troubles, simply because much

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of these laws are skewed to the interest of a section in the union.

Everyone recognizes the diverse nature of the Nigerian nation. There is, therefore, the inevitability of conflicts which stream mainly from our differing backgrounds - political, religious, economical, cultural, even a general view of life. To achieve harmony and peaceful coexistence in a situation like this, it is essential to define terms which should be mutually agreeable to every unit of the union, which Nigerians have not been able to do to the extent that sections and tribes feel used by others. Under this situation, crisis is perpetual.

Just recently, human rights activist Olisah Agbakoba, and Pastor Tunde Bakare, Gen Muhamadu Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election, came up with proposals that suggest that the basic elements of peace in our pluralistic nation are yet to be put in place and might be needed before the election this month.

While Agbakoba chastised the two major parties, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), for not remembering to include in their manifesto this all important requirement of a national order for Nigeria, Bakare wanted the elections pushed forward to allow the implementa-

tion of some of the agreements at the last national conference initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan. We might have to absolve PDP from Agbakoba’s accusation as the president had once conducted a national conference, which is in line with what he is canvassing.

The duo appears to be on the same page and every peace-loving Nigerian ought to be thinking along that trajectory. As it stands, the opposition, APC, is not ready to hear, let alone accept any shift in the scheduled election which, American Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed so much concern about its peaceful conduct in view of the prevailing security situation in the country. APC lives under the illusion that they have won the election already, or could it be part of their political tactics to weaken the ruling party’s supporters psychologically?

A majority of the North has created the impression that it is averse to the conference and its outcome or even the institution of a national order, judging by some whimsical statements emanating from the region, such as that the oil at the Niger delta belongs to the North, or that power is their mainstay and must remain with them, the bornto-rule mentality.

Besides, they made

14 |March 16 - 30 - 2015

the conference so rowdy that the resultant cacophony impaired in-depth deliberations and so it ended up with wishy-washy proposals. This apparent aversion for talking things over is the biggest threat to one Nigeria.

Since the end of the civil war, Nigeria has continued to operate a false federalism where the central government dictates the pace of how every Nigerian should even breathe. If we must answer federal, let it be a true one, at least because of its inbuilt mechanisms that are capable of

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taming avarice and corruption which have become known characteristics of a Nigerian. We have had enough of the capin-hand begging from our regions to the centre. A national order specifies everyone’s right and banishes the emerging neo-feudalism.

So much pillage, injustice, impunity and disrespect of the next-door neighbour’s feelings have been going on in the nation such that everyone chases the ultimate federal power, mainly to be on top, be the hammer rather than the nail.

Under true federalism, rather than this winner-takeall system, power would devolve more to the federating units. When there isn’t much to loot at the federal level, the “hawks” will be boxed within their own home units and would have no hold on the wealth of another federating unit. If nothing is in the hawk’s home, he is forced to make his home fertile instead. Well, home hawks are easier to manage than the visiting hawks. The latter strike and run back to their own base while the prey suffers the pillage.

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Whether we accept it or not, one thing is certain, that the rumble in the house of Nigeria is an indication of disquiet, disagreement, unrest, bottled up strife and this makes the country a seething volcano.

In the interest of all of us, all areas of interest need to be discussed and addressed for us to enjoy our stay in this house. That candidate averse to a national order, a true federalism, is an enemy to the country. If we don’t get it we will continue to wallow in a false federation where some of us remain, as

late Ikemba Nnewi Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu would say, like Jonah in the belly of the fish. And peace will remain elusive. It is too late to postpone the election.

What we must pray for is a set of men and women who would actualize this much needed national order for peace to reign.

Those beating the drums of war should recognize that war is a gale that blows no one any good. This is a period that calls for circumspection.

Odu writes from Owerri

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Interview

MEET DR KING MACAIRE

March 16 - 31 - 2015 |15

What are the aims and objectives of IRCEG? They can be summarised by: to Support Capacity building of communities and their members with a vision to have a just and equal Society where human dignity and rights are respected in all social, economic, political and cultural aspects of everyday life How successful was your last training on domestic violence?

Many people attended and would like to have such workshop regularly. The demand is higher for those who were not there.

What is the next project on the pipeline for IRCEG? Many projects: organic garden, short film on domestic violence, computer training, homework club, Investment seminar, Personal Development training and English classes.

Can you rate immigrant organizations and their performance in Ireland?

6/10 but Struggling because of lack of found

Can you inform our readers more about you?

My name is Macaire Kingidila, originally from Democratic Republic of Congo. I am Dublin (UCD). Founding member of IRCEG and current CEO. Miss Congo Ireland (founder and organiser) Founding member also of many organisations including African Students Association of Ireland (ASAI), Presence Francophone en Irlande (PFI), Congolese Irish Business Exchange (CIBEx), Ethnic Minority Network, Welcome Group Portlaoise‌, In brief I am an active member in the community.

How do you fund the IRCEG? Contributions from members, found raising and the Community Foundation for Ireland.

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Photo News

IRCEG AWARD TRAINEES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Irish Community Empowerment Group held an Award Ceremony last Saturday 21st February to recognise trainees to its course on Domestic Violence. The ocassion also afforded the organisation the opportunity to present Certificate of Appreciation to support groups and persons that facilitated the program. Chief Executive Officer of IRCEG, Dr. Macaire King PhD, who was born in the Congo appreciated the support and efforts of all present while the organisation’s Chairperson Justin Pambi called for more financial assistance to widen their integration roles. Fingal County Council Mayor, Cllr. Mags Murray graced the ocassion. Other guests include Cllr. Lorna, Cllr.

McCamley, Kesava FEN Chairperson and immigrant community leaders. See AfricaWorld TV on Facebook for clips of the event.

Links on Africaworld TV CEO DR. MACAIRE KING SPEECH

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Photo News

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROL! Pretty Carol Igboanugo had a special day with friends on Saturday 28 February to commemorate the day she was born. Happy Birthday!

Photo News

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Photo News

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GOODLUCK JONATHAN OR MUHAMMADU BUHARI - WHO WINS?

peace in the land and asking God to appoint the leader whom God wants to rule Nigeria.

But does God reregion adherents DO NIGERIANS one, indivisible, ally want Goodluck WANT A BALKAN- united, strong and and even pagans IZED COUNTRY? prosperous nation. within this nation, Ebele Jonathan or general Mohameveryone wants It is a fact that all madu Buhari? peace to reign

BY DUNSTAN UKA- religious bodies GA within Nigeria are now and after the We have seen different prophets elections. I have in fervent prayer and ministers of been to a couple From the south to for the success God say differently of churches and I the north, in spite of the 2015 genof our religious eral elections even saw church leaders whom God wants. and their congre- Some say God and ethnic divides, among Muslims, Nigerians ask for African traditional gations praying for wants Jonathan to complete his tenure, some say with Buhari Nigeria will see new found love, peace and prosperity.

Indeed Nigerians are confused with the babel of voices coming out from religious leaders.

What about the agitations by Boko Haram?

What about the agitations by the peoples of Biafra?

What about the agitations by the Ijaw nations? What about the agitations by the Odua peoples Congress?

You could begin to list the different nationalities that make up Nigeria agitating for that etc but deeply within them, none wants a balkanized Nigeria. Even the Hausa/Fulani who have ruled Nigeria for ages are also agitating.

But what are these nationalities agitating for? At times I cannot tell what they want.

If you ask me sincerely what Boko Haram wants, I cannot tell. Are they fighting against the government of Jonathan Goodluck Ebele because they think they are only the ones

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born to rule or do they want a dead Nigeria? Only God knows. In fact I doubt if they really know what they want.

The few Biafrans in the south east shouting for a divided Nigeria has no one voice as most captains of industries from the south east have their investments scattered all over Nigeria especially Lagos and should Nigeria disintegrate, who loses?

Yet Nigeria stands on the precipice.

With one major mistake, there may be no more giant of Africa called Nigeria. We are descending into the murky waters and politics is being played dangerously nowadays between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the opposition Alliance for Progressive Congress (APC).

A few days ago as I drove through the south east, I saw new faces around my town and other towns we visited.

As I inquired about their reason for coming home, they said they could not trust to stay in the north and south as the elections come close. According to them they think home is safe and the best bet is to be home until after the elections are over. This is indeed scary.

Wow, this new thought form is frightening. Are they prophets?

Have they foreseen the imminent break up of Nige-

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tion to Jonathan’s candidacy had led to the defection of “dozens” of PDP MPs in the House of Representatives.

This is the season of elections.

According to the Wikipedia:’’The Nigerian general election of 2015 will be the 5th quadrennial election to be held since the end of military rule in 1999. Voters will elect the President and Members to the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan will be seeking a second and final term.

It was first scheduled to be held on 14 February 2015, then postponed by six weeks to 28

Nigerian Constitution stipulates that a presidential candidate will be duly elected after attaining both the highest number of votes cast; and has received at least a quarter of the votes at each of at least two-thirds of all the states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.

If no candidate satisfies the requirement, a second election will be held between the two leading candidates within seven days from the pronouncement of the result.’’

Jonathan officially confirmed his candidacy on 11 November at a rally in Abuja, announcing to cheering supporters:[7]

and in the quiet of my family, and after listening to the clarion call of Nigerians, I have accepted to present myself to serve a second term.”

Jonathan officially confirmed his candidacy on 11 November at a rally in Abuja, announcing to cheering supporters:[7]

March 2015. Article 134 (2) of the

“After seeking the face of God,

Christian southern- kar, Imo State Governor Rochas ers, and opposi-

ria? I love Nigeria.

Not just me, we love Nigeria and we want one Nigeria.

President Jonathan ran unopposed in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primaries on 10 December 2014, receiving the nomination of the party. However, this was against an unwritten rule that the PDP’s presidential candidacy should alternate between Muslim northerners and

Basically the All Progressives Congress was formed as an alliance of four opposition parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria, the Congress for Progressive Change, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance. Its primaries, also held on 10 December, were won by former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari,who defeated Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Vice President Atiku Abuba

Okorocha and newspaper editor Sam Nda Isaiah. On December 17, APC chose Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the running mate of General M. Buhari.

The list bellow are the nominees, their running mates and parties going for the 2015 general elections on 28th March.

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Interestingly, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has dominated Nigerian politics since democracy was established in 1999. While opposition parties have failed to present any serious opposition in the past, the All Progressives Congress is now being viewed as a serious challenge to the PDP in national elections with ‘’CHANGE’’ as their motto.

The main opposition candidate president Jonathon Goodluck faces is general Muhammadu Buhari of the APC. While inaugurating a 250-bed Orthopaedic Hospital in Wamakko, Buhari said: “We will stop corruption and make the ordinary people, the weak and the vulnerable our top priority.’’

The statement sounds great but most Nigerians are asking how would the retired general stop corruptions in Nigerian? Is he going to stop corruptions with these old politicians who almost looted and sank Nigeria or with a new born again folks?

Change is all we want. Stopping corruptions sounds so easy to say. After all former Nigerian presidents and leaders stated the same thing and what happened when they were elected?

What is this change general Buhari is pontificating about? How

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would he stop corruption? These are the few truths Nigerians want to sincerely hear about.

Nigeria is not all about corruption because almost every aspect in Nigeria needs upliftment.

Before general Buhari deposed the then democratic elected Nigerian government, he claimed he came in to instill discipline and stop corruption, general Babangida said the same, general Abacha said the same, general Abubakar stated the same, reformed Obasanjo stated the same, even Yaradua till death claimed he was fighting corruption yet the Transparency Internationals and Nigerians know Nigerian leaders pay lip service to corruptions and count Nigerian as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. So how would the retired general kill corruption? With whom does he intend to achieve this? Certainly Pastor Osibanjo his running mate as a teacher of the Word of God will be a good stuff to fight corruption but do Nigerians trust politicians who cue around general Buhari to fight corruptions?

Another hydra headed monster tearing Nigeria apart is insecurity which has been president Jonathan’s biggest challenge since the inception of his government. But most

recently Jonathan has been winning the war against Boko Haram and Nigerians appreciate this feat.

However many Nigerians think most northerners and some APC’s elements have soft hearts and links with Boko Haram, if some Nigerians don’t accuse Buhari of being a religious fanatic supporting Islamic fundamentalism, they see him as a tribal jingoist who has lost touch with modern democratic tenets, they see him as an arrogant general who could not tell Nigerians the truth about his credentials and educational background.

The furor and bad blood generated by the scandalous released West African Examination certificate of the general has made so many ask questions if the man is fit to lead Nigerians. Whether that certificate is true or fake, only the general and the exam body know the truth. Hate general Buhari or dismiss him, yet millions love him, will vote for him and are ready to die for him. Not just within the opposition party, even among the ruling party, so many love the general and think he is the right man to steer Nigeria out of the murky waters.

Is Jonathan not fit to lead Nigeria through the murky waters?

The younger generations of Nigeria’s online voters and genre think

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power should stay with the south since the north is not the only tribe born to rule Nigeria. Among many people I interviewed, most especially within the south, they do not want any northerner to rule Nigeria for now until every tribe in Nigeria tastes power and in the absence of any credible candidate from the south, they would pitch their tents with president Jonathan. According to my online pool, most southerners and some northerners contend that it has been the north that led Nigeria to this sorry state and any northerner aspiring to the office of the presidency for now is a mischief maker.

Did the opposition party get it wrong?

What about credible and tested politicians from the south like governor Fashola of Lagos state who has performed so well?

What about the Edo state governor, whose sources say he is doing well or the Imo state government of Rochas Okorochas who has changed the landmark of Imo state into a beautiful and secured land? Could the opposition party not choose among these fine democrats and pair them with a northerner? Why the rush to choose general Buhari who many Nigerians think is old and weak to lead this nation and with all the controversies

around him?

How about the conductor of the 2015 general elections? I doubt if she is ready because up till now I have not gotten my permanent voters card and INEC does not know where mine is or does not want to give it to me. On February 8, 2015, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced that “presidential and national assembly elections will now hold on March 28 while the governorship and state assemblies election will take place on April 11, due to security concerns related to the Boko Haram insurgency.

This announcement saved Nigeria from the brink of death. Before this postponement, the polity was over heated and most voters lived in great fears.

I would rather opine that INEC was not ready for the 14th February election because even till now most voters do not have permanent voters card.

The postponement was called on the grounds of the INEC failing to deliver Permanent Voters’ Cards to millions (around 34%) of voters reportedly only around 45.1mn of 68.8mn registered voters had received PVC’s. Additionally, on February 5, the National Council of State (chaired by President Jonathan) told INEC that it had just launched

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a major, decisive offensive against Boko Haram for six weeks. Due to the assets and resources that would go into this offensive, the military would be unable to provide security and logistics support for elections.

This is a disputable claim, since election security is the primary responsibility not of the military (which should only act as support) but of the police and civil defence corps. There is speculation over whether or not the postponement was motivated by politics rather than security and has raised questions

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over the political neutrality of the military as well as the independence of INEC. Nigerians know INEC is independent and want a peaceful and successful elections.

Yet there is still fear in the land. Most Nigerians we interviewed feel if Buhari loses this elections, the north will run amok and if Jonathan loses this elections, the Niger Delta militants will wreck this nation.

2015 elections: How to make Nigeria the winner

by Abdulrahman B. Dambazau.

Reading through

this great article I would love to end my write up with what Abdulrahman B Dambazau writes:’’ THE theme “2015 Elections: How to make Nigeria the Winner” appears simple, but I found it very complex and thought provoking. Certain assumptions could be made with regard to our theme today: first, that although most of the elections conducted in Nigeria in the past had presented some serious challenges, the 2015 elections are likely to present much more serious challenges that could jeopardize national secu-

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rity interests unless plans are made to ensure hitch-free elections.

Hitch-free elections Second, that going by what has been speculated within and outside Nigeria, there is the possibility that the country will disintegrate, and the 2015 elections would probably be the platform for it unless it is handled with care; third, that there is hope the 2015 elections would provide the opportunity to strengthen Nigeria’s unity and uphold her integrity; and fourth, that the 2015 elections would provide op-

portunities to elect good leaders that would clear the path for peaceful co-existence, security, and national development.’’

Who wants Nigeria dead at all cost?

Not me. Not president Jonathan, not general Buhari, not even the core fundamentalists fighting what they do not understand.

Come 28th of March, Nigerians should vote for the best candidate who means well for us. I love my country. I love president Jonathan. I also love general Buhari.

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How a Movie Star Contracted HIV in The Church Her story runs like a novel, yet it is no fiction. It underscores the saying ‘misfortunes bring out the best in a person.”

For Ghanaian actress cum singer, Joyce Dzidzor Nartey, the unfortunate turn of events in her life marked the ultimate beginning of a new dawn.

ria to spread it, the church member was infected by HIV virus and he decided to spread among members of the church.

And so Ghana’s Dzidzor Nartey contacted HIV in her church but today she is a star in many ways and the virus in her has been contained to the extent that she is living a norThe 27 year-old mal life. She is HIV/ mother of two AIDS Awareness battled growing Ambassador who up. Her humble has travelled to background chal- many parts of the lenged her and world to create she pulled many awareness on the strings to escape virus and preach poverty. She was against stigmatisadetermined to part tion. She is marwith poverty. And ried and a happy she felt her skill mother. in dancing could expose her to the Joyce is also a entertainment backup singer and world and poshas backed top sibly to stardom.

Ghanaian musiThe fund to pursue cians in her quest university educa- to make a profestion was not there sion. but she believed in Last year, she her skills. delved into movie production to inAlthough she be- tensify education came vulnerable, and to compleexposed to rape ment the governand many vices ment’s effort to the irony was that sensitize the public she ran to a church of the dangers of where salvation the disease. It is ought to beckon also to strengthen on her but doom education on prefollowed. marital sex and the dangers involved.

A church member who was expected The movie titled, to preach salva‘My Cross Roads’ tion to her played featured herself, A Patrick Sawyer and top Ghanaian to her. Just like the film stars like Ekow American Liberian Smith Asante, John who knew he was Dumelo and Vicky infected by the Eb- Zugah. She also ora virus but who, has a new movie full of evil, deliber- in the market tiately arrived Nige- tled, “Jewel of the

Waters”which she is using to further propagate her campaign against the spread of the HIV virus.

Interestingly, for the past seven years, Joyce has been living with the disease and on anti-retroviral therapy. She tells her story on DSTV’s AfricaMagic channel.

By Abdul Yusuf house. When he removed his clothes, I saw some kind of rashes all over his body. I was terrified, as I innocently asked him why he was like that.

He covered up, saying it was a minor skin infection and that it was nothing serious.

But when he wanted to make love to me, I insisted that he must used condom. He told me Living with HIV that he didn’t like Virus using condom.

However, when I I have lived with HIV/AIDS virus for insisted, he agreed but he never used seven years now. it. He removed I contacted the it while entering disease in 2007.

But I’m just a nor- into me. We did it mal person. When several times that night. After few people meet me weeks, I became and tend to find pregnant for him. out how I’m feelWhen I told him, ing, I always tell them I’m a normal I was pregnant, he advised me to person. abort the baby. But As a matter of fact, I refused, insisting I visited a school to on keeping the baby. educate the students. After talking to them they were He later warned me that if insisted, I keen to test for would have myself HIV. I also joined the queue and got to blame in future.

I never knew what tested but it was negative. It means he meant until I one must stay with was diagnosed HIV positive. He also one’s medication infected other laforever. Regular dies in the church medication can before he died. make it read that way. It doesn’t mean such a per- Growing Up son is no longer a Growing up was in career. a very poor backHow She Contact- ground. I discovered my love for ed The Disease music and dance.

I was very ambiI contacted the tious, passionate disease in 2007, through a member about my dance of my church. I was skills. All efforts to get help to go to to spend a night school failed. I was with him in his

vulnerable, most times raped. I had to attend all kinds of events in my neighbourhood to exhibit my skills in dancing. In my case, there was no one to confide in.

I hawked all kinds of things to make ends meet’.

Why she Became HIV/AIDS Awareness Advocate I was driven by the need to help other carriers of the HIV/ AIDS virus. This is because most AIDS patients are brought to the hospital when they are almost dead.

Victims find it difficult to undergo medical test to determine their HIV/ AIDS status.

I realised when people get to know about their HIV status at the early stages and they are put on medication, they wouldn’t die. They would live their normal lives. So, I decided to use myself as an example.

That was what motivated me to begin the campaign against HIV/AIDS virus.

Platform and The Benefits I started sensitising the people on the streets. I went to a business district in Accra, and my purpose of going to the area was to share my story, as well as sell some copies of my music which I had on CD to enable me re-

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alise some money to feed myself.

The first person I approached when I got there shouted, and never allowed me to utter a word. The moment I mentioned I was HIV positive, he shouted at me, and warned me to leave the place immediately. But I wasn’t discouraged.

Later, I went to Dacuma, another area. At the place, whenever there was traffic congestion, I would start to tell my story, “I’m HIV positive, you have to be very careful with your life,” I would start.

In addition, I had copies of my CD, but nobody was buying them from me. Some people thought I was lying, and that was when I met a certain pastor in the a traffic. I was moving from one vehicle to another, sharing my story with who cared to listen. When this pastor heard me, he parked and was ready to listen to me.

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out hesitation, I applied for visa and travelled to Amsterdam in 2010.

That was how my story changed.

Sharing Her Story on TV A Ghanaian TV host, popularly known as KSA invited me to his programme, “Future Leaders” to share my story on air. I rejected the idea, insisting that I could only speak in schools and churches.

I told him that appearing on his show would be a very difficult one for me. But he insisted, advising that I should be bold about it. When I finally agreed to go on air, I requested that my face be covered as well as my voice distorted. He agreed to my condition, and I went on air to share my story. But then, I was still afraid to unveil my face to the world because of the stigma that is associated with the disease.

That was how I went on air for the first time in Ghana to share my story.

It went on like that, until I suddenly made up my mind to come out. The reason being that I needed to educate the general public, and in addition,I realised that if you have a talent and you don’t have money, it would be very difficult for one to make head way in life.

Then, he was running a TV programme in Amsterdam. At that moment, he took my contact, and later, he sent me some money to process my International Passport.

He told me that he had a TV station as well as a radio station in Amsterdam, and he would want me to come over there and share my So, I pondered story the way I did over it and rein the traffic. With- solved within my-

self to come out.

It was my belief that it would draw attention to me and by so doing, I could start singing, or acting for people to reckon with my talent. So, I saw two opportunities at the same time; educating people as well as getting exposure for my musical career. That’s why I became popular.

When She Returned from Amsterdam I returned from Amsterdam to continue what I started in Ghana.

I was invited by different organisations. Later, I travelled again to speak on the topic “30 years of HIV, the way forward.”In 2012, I went for the AIDS conference in America.

Recently, I was in the UK, where I premiered my movie, “My Cross Roads” which captures my story. The movie was first premiered at the National Theatre in Ghana and it recorded a huge turn out of dignitaries.

The storyline of the movie is basically about me.

It’s a true life story of Joyce Dzidzor Nartey but currently, I have a new movie in the market titled, “Jewel of the water.”

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moment, medically both of us are negative to HIV virus. This is because we have been put on medication for long.

But that does not mean, we should stop taking our medication. Even though we test negative now, we keep taking our medication. We had one child together who did not test positive to HIV because of the medication.

Life After Contacting HIV/AIDS Virus

That’s not the end of the world for any carrier of the HIV/AIDS virus.

There is life after contacting the deadly disease.

The HIV virus can be found in the semen in the man, and not in the sperm because the sperm is what goes to form a baby. It doesn’t carry the HIV virus, but the semen is what contains the HIV virus.

So, HIV positive man who is on medication can share sexual activity with an HIV negative woman, and they both can produce an HIV negative baby. You can see that there is life after contacting the HIV virus.

HIV positive man can marry an HIV negative woman, and they can still make babies withHIV Husband and out him infecting the wife or the Wife baby, just as an HIV Before we got mar- positive woman ried, my husband can also marry an HIV negative man. was educated There are a lot of about the deadly couple today who disease. But he is wouldn’t come also a carrier of the disease. At the out to share their

stories, but who are living with HIV/ AIDS virus. They are keeping the secret to themselves.

Marriage Life Marriage for me was normal but they say, in every marriage there are challenges. Things have happened in the past which I wouldn’t want to talk about here.

Talking about the stigma, there was one day, my sevenyear old son came from school and told me to stop that HIV thing that I am doing. According to him, his friends said, they wouldn’t play with him because his mum is HIV positive. There are challenges but life must go on.

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How a Movie Star Contracted SWAYOCO GLOBAL CALL OF ACTION TO FREE PUDEMO

By Abdul Yusuf HIV in The Church PRESIDENT MARIO MASUKU Free Mario Masuku: The story of a persecuted democrat who never gives up Mario Masuku is the President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) - Insika Yenkhululeko YeMaswati. Since 1983 PUDEMO has been banned in Swaziland because political parties are illegal. Since time immemorial PUDEMO has always called for multi-party democracy and believes the legitimacy of any government is in the will of the people as expressed through a democratic vote.

Masuku has for years been a victim of political witch-hunt and tyrannical oppression. He has been jailed and persecuted for years as a way of deterring all Swazis from demanding democracy and freedom. However, his never say die spirit has inspired generations after generations to reject Tinkhundla dictatorship and demand democratic change. It is because of his steadfastness and his resilience that even today the fires of democracy are still burning in Swaziland. He stands proudly as the face of a people’s desire and determination for democracy in Swaziland. Masuku is no stranger to prison life; he was first arrested in 1990 as part of 10 senior PUDEMO leaders who were charged with High Treason for conspiring to form a political party. He was again to be arrested in 2002 for sedition and Terrorism in 2008. In all these cases he has always been found not guilty. In May 2014 he was arrested and charged with sedition for a speech he presented at the Workers day celebration in Manzini (the speech can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etfY3of0QO4) All these trials and tribulations are just some of the illustrative experiences of a journey through the valley of sacrifice, pain and humiliation for a man who has dedicated his life to freedom and democracy in Swaziland.

Through his selflessness the world has came to recognise the suffering of the Swazi people and the tragedy of a silently bleeding society. At last, the world can no longer be blinded by false pretentions, hypocrisy and double standards where other dictators are criticised for suppressing democracy while keeping a muted response to Mswati’s obstinate autocracy. Dating back to the days of the struggle against apartheid, Masuku has always been at the forefront of a brave resistance as part of the ANC led internal machinery inside Swaziland operating to advance the cause of South Africa’s liberation. The unholy alliance between Tinkhundla and apartheid resulted in the brutal killings of so many comrades and activists of both the South African and Swazi liberation movements. Masuku has many scars to show for his solidarity with the people of South Africa.

Most recently, Masuku has been subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment while in jail when prison officers refused him access to medical treatment when his sugar diabetes showed signs of getting worse. As if that is not enough, his case constantly gets postponed at the high court while the prosecution clutches at straws trying to find evidence for his case. Meanwhile, he has also lost two of his brothers while in jail and therefore unable to bury them. He is emotionally drained and his health is deteriorating very fast. I know this because I also spent 44 months in prison after being charged with Terrorism only to be found not guilty in mid year 2014.

After a speech I made on the same day and same event as Mario Masuku, I was forced to run to exile as police wanted to arrest me on frivolous charges. My Secretary General, Maxwell Dlamini, and President Mario Masuku, were not so lucky. I have told my story here (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=H8JyOSEJ2dk) as part of an effort to alert the world at the repression the people of Swaziland are subjected to. I know the pain that Mario Masuku goes through each time he is hunted like a common criminal and sent to jail for long periods for daring to demand democracy for his people.

As President of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), the biggest youth movement in Swaziland, I have suffered enough torture, persecution and humiliation for demanding political change. Many of my colleagues and leaders are either in exile or in jail. I call for the world to support our call for the release of Mario Masuku and all political prisoners in Swaziland. This is a moral call to all those who stand on the side of justice and democracy. Let us all say with one voice that NO MORE SHALL KING MSWATI IMPRISON AND HUMMILIATE AN ENTIRE NATION WHILE THE WORLD WATCHES AND DOES NOTHING. Below is what you can do to support the campaign: 1. Organize a film screening for a small group of people and raise awareness Consider hosting a film. Two of the most interesting films that depict the situation in Swaziland is without the king (watch trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o37iJhBo7VU) or contact us on our details below for copies.

2. Arrange a lecture, workshop, rally or protest There are many speakers ranging from academics, politicians, trade unionists and cultural activists

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that we can suggest for you to host. Be in touch with us and we can put you in contact.

3. Organize a release Mario Masuku action Organize a Swaziland boycott action or support targeted sanctions campaign. You can encourage your relevant student council, trade union branch or municipality, church or political party to join this campaign. Targeting Mswati’s investments for boycott goes a long way in crippling his rule. Contact us for all his business ventures or those of his accomplices for possible action.

4. Join us online – #FreeMarioMasuku Help us spread the word online about Mswati’s oppression and Mario’s unjust incarceration. Follow PUDEMO on Twitter and Facebook, including using the hash tag #FreeMarioMasuku and share photos and reports from events you organise or attend.

5. Be creative Give us plain T shirts, banners or any material we can use to write messages for the release Mario Masuku campaign. If you can design any messaging for our campaign we would gladly appreciate that.

As a start T-shirts written release Mario Masuku would be more than welcome.

Indeed, it was Martin Luther King Jr who made correctly observed that “the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”

Below is Mario Masuku’s short biography to know more about the man.

My life story

By Mario Masuku I am the sixth born from a family of five boys and five girls. My father Malcom, the famous Sihlahla, was a worker -- a mineworker, and later a cattle guard under the Ministry of Agriculture to be specific. He was based in the Shiselweni region until he retired from government. My mother, Fakazile, popularly known as Mavalane, was just a simple and humble housewife born from a Zwane family.

There was an interesting contrast between my parents. My mother never saw the inside of a classroom, but grew up herding cattle and later working as a maid in farms. On the contrary, my father was educated and very well educated by standards of the time as he got trained as a teacher at the then prestigious Adams Mission at Amanzimtoti.

I grew up in the lowly but humble village of Makhosini located about thirteen kilometres from Nhlangano town, past Ngwane Teachers College in southern Swaziland. Our homestead has always been situated very close to the banks of Umfuzane River. Like all young boys, I passed through the experience of looking after the family cattle. I eventually enrolled in the local Makhosini Primary School. Life was never easy at all. It was quite usual for me and my siblings to occasionally run out of school fees, sometimes as low as 50 pence. My tasks included taking the cattle to the dipping tank and looking after them after school and on weekends. Each day became a duplicate of the other with me going to school, coming back in the afternoon, eating whatever there was and changing clothes. Then I would run as quickly as I could to the veld to relieve those who were looking after the cattle.

In 1966, while doing standard six, I and a local boy, Raymond Ndlangamandla got invitations to enroll for Form 1 at Evelyn Baring High School provided we passed our examinations. Evelyn Baring, situated in Nhlangano, was a prestigious ``whites only’’ school that had recently been deracialised. We were to become part of the first contingent of ``black’’ students to enroll in this school. Early in the following year, I was on my way to my new school. The first born and eldest sister, Dudu, had to walk me to this new school where I became a boarder and for the first time in my life I had to sleep and stay away from home!

At the time my father was involved in party politics in preparation for a democratic Swaziland that was under British colonial administration. He was a member of the Swaziland Democratic Party, a political party that also involved the likes of Sishayi Nxumalo, Dr Allen Nxumalo and many others. My elder brothers Patrington and Thanduxolo were also involved in politics. I could only listen to the many informative debates that were taking place around me.

In 1967, the Nxumalo’s convinced a conference in Mbabane that they were going to attempt to change King Sobhuza II’s party, Imbokodvo National Movement, from within. Consequently they disbanded the Swaziland Democratic Party.

That same year, I and a friend, Charlton Mncwango, together with one Shedrice Bhembe were involved in an altercation with one white teacher, a Mr Vall. He had wanted us to play football which we did not like, but had preferred to do something else instead. As punishment, he instructed us to write an essay about ``Wild animals in Africa’’. We felt completely provoked and in return, we decided

28 |March 16 - 30 - 2015

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to write about ``Wild animals from Europe’’ that had come to spoil our Africa. I was eventually expelled and had to stay the whole second term and partly the last while looking for alternative space. My father had to come down from the South African mines where he was employed and negotiated my return to school with the then king, but no nonsense principal Mr H S Telford. We had nicknamed him Nsizwa. I then continued with my studies until 1971. During those years, I eventually developed not only into a footballer of note, but also captain and a school prefect.

My early political experiences At the end of 1971, after writing my final examination, I came straight to Mbabane in search of a better life. Luckily for me, whether by fate or design, I got myself employment at the then prestigious Barclays Bank. At the time there was a huge influx of freedom fighters from both the Republic of South Africa and Mozambique. Those from South Africa were struggling against the apartheid regime, while those from Mozambique were in a bloody fight for freedom against Portuguese colonial rule. In the process and interaction with these various freedom fighters, I was able to make a lot of friends with whom we shared political ideas and experiences. As a bank worker, I eventually joined the then Swaziland Bank Workers Union and was very active.

While still enjoying my new found life and experience of living in the capital town as a worker, a very strange occurrence just took place. This was like the biblical apocalypse! It was an incident that was not only to raise my political consciousness, but also of many fellow Swazis and the beginning of calculated and systematic oppression of the people of this country. In the year 1973, King Sobhuza II, in what was to be known as the King’s Proclamation to the Nation made a very strange announcement that was to change the political landscape of our country. The King had summoned the Swazi people to his traditional headquarters at Lobamba while parliament was in session. In the proclamation, he announced that he was now suspending the national constitution and assuming all powers including legislative, executive and judiciary powers. This proclamation effectively banned political parties and free political activity in the country.

Subsequent to this proclamation, there was heightened tension, repression and fear orchestrated by the state. In spite of all this, there were growing political activities and discussions that took place underground in an effort to reverse the environment created by the king’s proclamation. I soon found myself amongst a group of such and we eventually formed an underground political organisation called the Ngwane Socialist Revolutionary Party (NGWASOREP). Some of our members were former members of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) and the Swaziland Democratic Party (SDP). As a result of our activities, some were detained under the 60 days’ detention without trial order.

Others, of course, decided to go into exile while others including myself opted to remain in the country. Due to the heavy clampdown and the scattering of the members, the activities were seriously curtailed and became non-existent.

However, the student uprising of 1976 in South Africa and those of 1977 in Swaziland were to prove to be a crucial catalyst for the revitalisation of political activism in Swaziland which spread into the local university at Kwaluseni.

In 1982, the old king died and soon there was a huge cloud of uncertainty amongst the people of Swaziland -- mainly they believed the country could not survive without the ``wise and magical king’’.

Compounding the uncertainty, was the growing tension within royalty with regard to the question on who was to become the next prince to ascend to the throne? In the absence of the king, a supreme council of state, Liqoqo under the leadership of the all powerful Prince Mfanasibili, took charge of the responsibility of governing the country. In the ensuring conflict within royalty, the Liqoqo eventually dethroned the Queen Mother of the nation at the time who was Dzeliwe Shongwe. This did not only infuriate people within royalty, but also a lot of ordinary people within the Swazi populace. This resulted in university students led by a very powerful Student Representative Council deciding to march to the High Court grounds in protest of the dethroning of Queen Dzeliwe.

Me and PUDEMO – the early years In midst of the deep-seated arrogance and repression by the state, a group of workers, intellectuals and students assembled on the banks of Mbuluzi river near Mantjolo dam on the July 6, 1983. It was in this historic gathering that the People’s United Democratic Movement was born. I was part of that historical gathering. A gathering that gave birth to an organisation aimed at uniting the people of Swaziland in the struggle for liberation from the manipulative and oppressive Tinkhundla royal regime.

The organisation was born during trying conditions when the apartheid regime in South Africa was in strong collaboration with the Swazi authorities under the rule of Liqoqo. In their collaboration, they mounted the fight against cadres of the South African liberation movements who were in hiding in the country. Our alliance with these organisations dates back to that time.

The Swazi regime further waged attacks on PUDEMO members. As a result of this political repression by the regime, some of our cadres were forced into exile. Such cadres included Jabulani Matsebula, Dumezweni Dlamini, the late Dr Gabriel Mkhumane, Gavin McFadden, David Vilakazi, Lucky Mthembu

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and others.

In 1986, I was elected into the position of president. It was in this period where we waged a fierce campaign in mobilisation and information distribution. I still remember the New Year message I made on behalf of PUDEMO. We called for combined mass resistance by students, workers, the church and the poor against the Swazi regime to achieve a democratic Swaziland. In January 1990, I made a similar call at a New Year ``party’’ that we had organised at Mawelawela on the banks of Usuthu river and was attended by various people across the social divide.

Further addresses were made to the people of Kukhanyeni about the ills of this government. This campaign continued even to other forums. More members were incorporated in carrying out this campaign. Such cadres included the late Dominic Mngometulu and Benedict Didiza Tsabedze. The campaign was so successful that it badly shook the regime to its core. As a result, the state rounded eleven of us and charged with treason. Our trial was at the High Court with Justice. Nicholas Hannah was the presiding judge, while Adrinka Donkoh, one Thwala and some South African legal experts prosecuted on behalf of the state. Renowned attorney Peter Dunseith was our defence counsel and instructed one Advocate Elna Revales who was from South Africa.

Immediately on my indictment, my employer Barclays Bank terminated my services. The trial commenced and we were all acquitted of the main charge of high treason, but were found guilty of attending ``illegal meetings’’. Mngometulu, Peter Shongwe, Sabelo ``Brazo’’ Dlamini and Boy ``Qhawe’’ Magagula engaged in a hunger strike and were subsequently admitted to the Mbabane government hospital. We appealed against the sentence and were successful.

I went back to my employer and negotiated for my reinstatement. In February 1991 I was successful and was finally reinstated and continued with my work.

New leadership, new beginnings The year 1991 was to be yet another historic chapter in our ever growing and strengthening struggle.

It was in this year that we held our congress at Ipelegeng Centre, Soweto, because of the very harsh political environment in our country. It was in this congress that Comrade Kislon ``KP’’ Shongwe was elected the new president while I became his deputy president.

This is where again PUDEMO crafted one of her most important documents, The Way Forward: Towards a Constituent Assembly Through a Negotiated Settlement. We further demanded a new peopledriven national constitution. We also took a decision to unban ourselves in order to pursue our activities openly and challenge the state and mobilise our people for democratic change.

This is the year in which our youth league, popularly known as the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), was formed under the leadership of our departed young lion Benedict ``Didiza’’ Tsabedze. Working with our youth league, we were able to challenge and exert more pressure on the state.

The domestic pressure consequently led to international pressure being exerted on the state and forcing it to introduce political changes. In 1996, King Mswati III established and announced the discredited Constitutional Review Commission chaired by Prince Mangaliso now carrying the title Chief Logcogco. Twenty-nine Swazis including myself were appointed by decree into this commission.

PUDEMO and other progressive formations objected to the terms of reference on the commission put forward by the king. We began to engage the king on the shortcomings of the commission, but we were ignored. The Swaziland Democratic Alliance (SDA) wrote many letters to the king and his office highlighting the wrongs in the commission and suggested solutions, but no response was ever received.

In 1997, PUDEMO took a strongly resolution to withdraw my participation in this royal project. Shortly thereafter, Jerry Gule, Mhawu Maziya and Nkonzo Hlatshwayo also withdrew their participation from the commission. This left behind chiefs, royal praise singers, stooges, princes and princesses as members of the commission.

The post-1996 struggle As noted previously, 1996 was a politically eventful year for PUDEMO and the country. It was to be a year that heralded even more social unrest and political activities in the coming years post 1996.

In 1996, I was again voted in as the president of PUDEMO. It was in this same year that the country experienced massive labour protests that brought the country to a standstill. I, on behalf of PUDEMO, was unequivocal in publicly expressing our support for the labour protests with their Popular 27 Demands that expressed nothing else except total social transformation in the country. However, this public support was to eventually cost me my job as the human resources manager at Barclays Bank. I was given an option to either support capital or the suffering working class and the poor. As I opted for the latter, I was then made to lose my job.

During these trying times, I had countless meetings with political leaders and other leaders in the broader Swazi society. This even led me into having secret meetings behind closed doors with the king at different times. He was the convener of these meetings. In our engagements, the king openly and completely refused to see and accept any other view that was contrary to his. It became very clear that he was not prepared to see reason and find common ground that would take Swaziland forward.

Indeed it was time and energy wasted. Maybe Swaziland would not be in this political mess and crisis

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if the king had been prepared to see reason instead of demanding to have his way and nothing else!

In the year 2000, the turn of the century, a chieftaincy dispute erupted at Macetjeni and KaMkhweli areas. This was a direct result of the country’s traditional authorities at Ludzidzini brutally imposing the king’s brother, Prince Maguga, as the new chief of both areas. This action and decision automatically meant that the ruling chiefs of both areas were now demoted into becoming ordinary members of their communities. The people in these areas strongly objected and challenged this imposition. After several attempts at resisting this decision, an eviction order was issued by the then minister for home affairs, a brother to the king, Prince Sobandla. Swiftly, the country’s security forces were deployed to these areas to forcefully evict and drive out scores of people from their homes, especially those that were seen as anti-Maguga. They were taken in the still of the night in police, army and government trucks to be dumped in faraway areas unknown to them. This was one of the cruellest acts of oppression ever visited on the people of Swaziland, on the poor and helpless, by the royal rule.

With all these mounting social and political crises, the general Swazi population was thoroughly shaken and it brought both fear and anger on almost everyone save for the royal bootlickers and hangerson. Consequently, the SDA decided to call for a national gathering in Manzini to deliberate on the ills engulfing the country. However, the state banned such a meeting and deployed its security forces to ensure the meeting never took place. Faced with this danger and arrogance from the state, the SDA resolved to hold this mass meeting outside the country in Nelspruit at Nelsville. Over 5000 people from the country travelled to Nelspruit. After many lengthy deliberations, the Mpumalanga Declaration was drafted. Many resolutions were put forward and one of those was to continuously organise and hold rolling mass action all over the country. It was in October 2000 during one of these mass protests that I was arrested and charged with sedition and subversion.

I was eventually given admission to bail with one condition,that I must report at the Mbabane police station every Friday, which I tried very hard to comply with although it was tough and at times annoying!

Beyond 2000 As mentioned before, the bail conditions were felt so unfair and annoying. It made no sense that I was outside the prison walls because the conditions never made me feel completely free. To make matters even worse, the state never seemed prepared to bring me to trial.

In 2001, PUDEMO held her general congress at Sikhawini in the month of September. After serious and long deliberations, it was resolved that we defy all the bail conditions. I implemented the resolution and never went to report at the police station as expected. In October I was detained for not complying with my bail conditions. I was booked into Matsapha Maximum Security Prison and put in solitary confinement.

I was in detention through the remainder of 2001 without the trial resuming. Sometime in the year 2002, the trial began. The prosecution was led by the attorney general, one Mr Ngarua. Appearing for the defence team was Advocate Piet Ebersshon instructed by local attorney and friend Paul Shilubane.

Justice Josia Matsebula was the presiding judge.

After a long period, the trial was finally concluded in August 2002. I was acquitted of the charges. In October of the same year, I busied myself with seeking solidarity by travelling abroad to countries that included South Africa, Denmark and Holland. Wherever I went, I was able to address large audiences and met influential people on the question of Swaziland and its lack of democracy. In all my travels, I was very successful because from then on many people internationally began to understand our plight and took strong and active interest in our struggle for democracy. In the process, PUDEMO was able to create friends and allies that were to prove very valuable and effective in assisting us to carry the struggle forward.

From 2003 to 2005, there was huge focus on the national constitution making process in the country. It was during those years that I met the Commonwealth team, ambassadors from the European Union, United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Republic of South Africa and many others on the question of Swaziland. In spite of all these efforts, the king refused to take advice from all these groups and consequently went ahead to gazette a document he called the ``national constitution’’ in July 2005 at his traditional headquarters at Ludzidzini. However, the constitution was suspended and it became effective in 2006!

In December 2006, I experienced a life-threatening challenge when I was attacked by diabetes and pneumonia in combination. I was admitted in the Mbabane Clinic where they failed to handle the condition and was transferred to the Mbabane Government Hospital where I was taken straight into the intensive care unit where I spent four days. For the whole of December I remained hospitalised. Very close to the end of December, I was discharged and for the first time and went home. This was one of the most trying and painful moments of my life ever.

When the 6th PUDEMO General Congress was held in Matsulu while I was lying in the ICU. In spite of my medical condition at the time, the delegates elected me as the president of the organisation again.

I however, spent the whole of 2007 recuperating while doing all I could to serve the organisation.

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No surrender…

In life, besides one’s own affairs, there will always be people who make you what you are. In this case, my wife Thembi uLaMkhonta has been my pillar of survival. She has on many instances held fort while I engaged in battles with the state even in the most of trying times. She not only raised single-handedly our six children, but further withstood state pressure and even some derogatory and reactionary advice from all angles. Thembi is the main link between me, PUDEMO, the church, my mother, my siblings and the entire extended family. She has walked and hiked daily to wherever I was incarcerated to come and see how I was doing even if she had nothing to give me. If ever anyone deserved revolutionary humility and perseverance honours, it can be none other than Thembi.

As a freedom fighter, leader and family man, there are moments when you find yourself alone, lonely and helpless. You simply feel conditions around you are in collusion with the state enemy and ask yourself- which way now?

Never in my life have I felt pain like when I lost my son Tsepo in the year 2000. This was because of what he told me about the torture he went through in the hands of the police. But even worse, the assassination of my comrade leader, brother and patriot, the former deputy president of PUDEMO, Dr Gabriel Mkhumane. I could not and still cannot accept why Dokotela had to depart in this manner. I still shed a tear alone when his memories resurface. The organisation, his wife Zoraida, sons and family all lost immeasurably. I knew Africa Magongo very well and he was no doubt a leadership material for PUDEMO. I also knew that he was not well, but when reports came that he was had gone, I was shattered.

I have cried when we lost comrades Dominic Mngometulu, David Mngometulu, Didiza Tsabedze and many more, but the loss of comrades Musa ``MJ’’ Dlamini and Jack Govender really disempowered me. All these were comrades I knew from their early lives in the struggle and had very high hopes on them. I still respect them even where they are today, deep in the belly of this unkind earth.

I believe the journey must one day come to finality. I remain committed even today to walk this steep and difficult last mile to our freedom. No amount of torture, beating, murder, victimisation or incarceration will hinder me from fulfilling the ultimate goal of the fundamental democratisation and transformation of Swaziland. I stand by this ideal and will do so all my life. Many times I have said that nobody, yes not even me, is bigger than the people’s organisation!

PUDEMO is my life. I will serve the disadvantaged and poor people of my country until POWER GOES BACK TO THE PEOPLE! SURRENDER IS NOT AN OPTION AND SHALL NEVER BE!! follow as on twitter @Africaworldnews Join thousands who follow us on facebook Africaworld Photos, Africaworld Cartoon Africaworld folktale &Entertainment Africaworld TV Africaworld News Africaworld gossip Africaworld youth

32 |March 16 - 30 - 2015

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HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO A DEDICATED FAN Amadi Chizoma Ezinne became 26 on 24th February Pretty nurse, Chizoma was born in umuoyima village - Owerri Muncipal Council and lives in Port Harcourt Nigeria with Mum and 3 sibling (sisters). Slim, tall and chocolate in complexion, beautiful Chizoma, who is the frist out of 4 girls love singing and reading. “I am happy always, with good morals but hate cheating and lies. I am a God fearing Christian”, the freshly graduated nurse informed AfricaWorld. WE WISH YOU MANY MORE BIRTHDAYS.

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THE MOTHERS’ UNION - Church of Ireland (Anglican Communion) On Sunday, 15th March 2015, the Church of Ireland (Anglican Communion), Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough celebrated the Diocesan Discovery ‘Mothering Sunday’ Service & the Inauguration of Discovery Mothers’ Union. The service was officiated by the Diocesan Chaplain - The Revd Obinna Ulogwara.

Are you an Anglican or do you want to worship in a truly mixed environment? Contact Phone/Fax 01 4444596, 0872476339.

See video clips of the memorable event on Africaworld TV facebook page..https://www.facebook.com/africaworldtv?ref=hl

March 16 - 30 2015 I 33

34 I March 16 - 30 2015

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AFRICAWORLD EDITOR

Uka, like the African gong, you sound it no matter whose ox is gored that - unless the hunted gives his account, the story of the hunt will always favour the hunter. As you add one more year on 18th March, we wish you more wisdom from Yahweh. Lots of Love!

Signed - The AfricaWorld Team

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Longevity with Joy Longevity with Joy This book, Longevity with Joy, was written mainly to improve the quality of life from birth to a ripe old age.

We are globally living longer. Good news! The author already enumerated and discussed the factors contributing to living longer in some parts of the world in this book. As a result, she wrote this book from the research and investigations made on quality, long life. It is not living long that really matters but the quality of the longevity. The author was born and bred in Nigeria. Despite the factors that militated against her survival and education, she got educated, taught in postprimary schools, and worked in the Ministry of Health before she left for Dublin, Ireland, in January 1999.

She went further to study health care and ICT. Evangeline Omini has been a writer since 1992. Her latest book, ?God?s Love Prevails,? was published by Xlibris in USA in 2013.

Follow the link http://www. amazon.co.uk/ dp/1496993357/ ref=cm_sw_r_fa_ dp_nVWFub0QJJJ7C

Book review

March 16 - 30 2015 I 35

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IS NIGERIA A SOURED SOUP? As expected and predicted by pundits, supporters of the frontrunners have clashed, causing divisions on religious and socio-political life of the country and its citizens. Beside the regeneration efforts being put in place by the incumbent leader, President Goodluck Jonathan and the dirt this election has excavated, many argue on the ills inherent in the country. Some liken Nigeria as a country on the brink or a soured soup. Is Nigeria really a soured soup and why?

Sokoto which was established, after invading, annexing and defeating the Hausas and their Habe rulers and the KanemBorno Empire. In addition, there were flourishing Kingdoms of the Yorubas, the AroChukwu sprawling economic dynasty and hundreds of stateless Igbo communities. There were many independent peoples merged with force as a new Nigeria by imperial Great Britain. And this was the beginning of trouble for Nigeria.

jo, who was one of the main actors during the Nigeria war against breakaway Biafra from 1967 - 1970, saw the rise of restiveness in the Niger Delta.

Apart from the Igbos whose kith and kin are also embedded on the eastern territorial stretch of the River Niger, others are minorities in population when compared to the 3 maWhere is the Nijor tribal groupings ger Delta and who in Nigeria. Howevmakes up the reer, for administragion? tive convenience, the region is called The Niger Delta is - south-south. simply the delta of the River Niger at At the end of the Gulf of Guinea Olusegun Obasanof the Atlantic jo’s tenure in May Ocean, in Nigeria. 2007, Umaru Musa For administrative Yar’Adua became convenience, the the President of region has taken Nigeria and the many names, start- 13th Head of State, ing from the Oil with Bayelsa GovRivers because it ernor Goodluck Until the return to was once a major Jonathan, a minorAs a creation civil rule in 1999, producer and exity from the Ijaw of the imperial northern Nigeport zone of palm becoming vice draughtsman who ria have had the oil at the end of president. Howsought his ecolion share in the the illegitimate ever, the death nomic well-being, leadership of the slave business and of Umaru Musa Nigeria’s problem country with an the beginning Yar’Adua threw up like many other abysmal report of what the Britan unusual politiAfrican countries card in developish termed era of cal solution in Nihinged on the con- ment and quality legitimate trade. geria - a southern ference in Berlin of life for the Nige- The Niger Delta Ijaw minority behosted by Otto von rian. Although the was the British Oil coming president.

Bismark between first and second Rivers ProtectorPrior to the 9th 1884–85. republics (civilian ate from 1885 until February 2010, in leadership) were 1893, when, after which a motion Sequel to the ced- truncated by mili- its expansion befrom the Nigerian ing of the areas tary intervention, came the Niger Senate invested around the great they were bedev- Coast Protectorate. Goodluck JonaNiger River to iled with religious A fact is that the than the powers the British impeintolerance, tribal region is an oil-rich as acting President rial authorities, acrimony and cor- region, and has of the federation the amalgamation ruption. Far from been until recently, because President of the southern the known conven- a section of resYar’Adua went for and northern pro- tional reasons are tiveness in Nigeria medical treatment tectorate in 1914 the intimidation, due to devastating in Saudi Arabia in brought home victimization and pollution, ecocide, November 2009, one of the impedi- marginalization neglect and hua cabal led by the ments to post co- of minority ethnic man rights viola1st Lady, Turai lonial Nigeria. The groups. tions.

Yar’Adua reigned. territories that are After a long wait, now Nigeria were The return to deThe Niger Delta is when it was evifragmented. There mocracy in 1999, peopled and con- dent that the cabal were the powerful which saw the trolled by differhad been decepBenin Empire, the northern military ent ethnic group tive with regards Lower Niger King- mafia hand over which include: to the health of doms, of which power to retired Ijaw, Igbo, Edo, the head of state, fell under the new former military Urhobo, Isoko, and in accordance Oil Rivers, the Fu- ruler, General Itsekiri, Oron, EfiK, with the order of lani Caliphate of Olusegun Obasan- Ibibio, Annang etc. succession in the

Nigerian constitution following President Umaru Yar’Adua’s death on 5th May 2010, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 6th May 2010, becoming Nigeria’s 14th Head of State.

Later on 15 September 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan announced on Facebook that he will stand in for the general election in 2011 to do his first term if elected. Together with Namadi Sambo, who until his appointment as vice president, was the Governor of Kaduna State.

President Jonathan won the general election against General Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate Nuhu Ribadu with 59% of the votes.

Today again, for the fourth time, retired General Muhammadu Buhari is the top challenger to the incumbent Nigeria leader Goodluck Jonathan among twelve others from different political parties. Though Nigeria practices multiparty politics, but the main rival to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is the All Progressive Congress (APC) which was a coalition of some opposition parties.

Top on the minds of the Nigerian voter include: inse-

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curity, corruption, electricity, derivation, economy and implementation of the reports of the last conference.

As Nigerians go to the polls on March 28, there are worries across the globe, especially on the stability of Nigeria and the region, of which the country is a powerhouse. More so, many Nigerians are apprehensive too on developments after the election as the forthcoming presidential polls remain the most keenly contested in the electoral history of Africa’s most populous country. Already each side has been trading blames and beating their chests on possible victory. After the postponement from February 14 to March 28, many have questioned how free and fair the election could be, as evidence show lack of preparation of the organizers, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Warranted or not, the recent postponement raised further questions about the body’s independence and credibility. In tampering with the set date showed INEC’s dependence while their inability to distribute Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) to a good percentage of voters, and the commission’s head, Prof. Attahiru Jega being accused of unilaterally setting up more polling centres in the north, thereby

showing bias as a northerner. Knowing fully well the implication for the nation, the Frontline candidates have been beating down the drum of violence coming from supporters.

1966, Nigeria has been ruled by northerners, and they have nothing to show for it.

In countering the Gen. Muhammadu Buhari “Change” argument, supporters of incumbent leader, President Goodluck Jonathan beat their chest over the achievement of the incumbent leader. “President Jonathan is a man of due process and rule of law. He is better than any leader Nigeria have ever had”, Abiodun Omotosho informed AfricaWorld. One of the achievements his supporters boast about is the promotion and practice of true democracy by creating an enabling environment where people from diverse backgrounds and with divergent views and opinions can be accommodated. Under the watch of Goodluck Jonathan administration, they argue, APC was registered

by INEC as a mega opposition party big enough to challenge the ruling PDP at both state and national levels. This would have been unthinkable some years back.

March 16 - 30 2015 I 37

the Hausa/Fulani elite led in wrecking the country.

“How can Buhari come back to lead Nigeria when he is bias? Are you not aware how he overthrew a democratically elected Shagari, and jailed Ekwueme while letting his brother go? Buhari and his people want power at all cost, but they refuse to give account of the past and their plans for the future, he said.

the old Hausa city states of northern Nigeria. Having conquered the Habe rulers of Hausa, the Fulani adopted their language and merged with them to create a Hausa-Fulani ethnic group Although the All under the rule Progressive Conof what we now gress have tried to know as the Sokobuild their camto Caliphate. They paign towards have intermarried change, but many with the Hausa, doubt their sincerand have mostly ity as most of their adopted the latleaders were forter’s customs mer PDP members and language, who lost favour Below are some of although some or position. APC’s the factors that will Fulani decided to flag bearer, retired influence this elec- stay pure by retainGen. Muhammadu tion and possibly ing a nomadic life.

Buhari, who is very future of Nigeria: The northern Haupopular among sa-Fulani have held many northerners - Buhari is Fulani, a sway in Nigeria afespecially adhermigrant west Afri- ter being favoured ents of sharia law can tribe thought by British colonialadds momentum to have originated ists against their as he spoke in supfrom the middle much educated port of it during east through Sen- southern Igbo and the reign of former egal. Although Yoruba contempopresident Olusetraditionally most raries. gun Obasanjo.

Fulani have been Gen. Buhari is also cattle herders, Many Nigerians known as a less through the centu- are against Gen. flamboyant and ries, many settled Muhammadu Bustrict leader, who down and turned hari due to the could tackle corto politics, success- arrogance of the ruption. However, fully establishing a Hausa-Fulani elites his opponents series of kingdoms who have arroargue about his between Senegal gated themselves time as petroleum and Cameroon the tag of “Born minister and milibefore the 20th to Rule” in Nigetary ruler in which century, and con- ria. Since the end large sum of monquering the Habe of the civil war in ey disappeared rulers of Hausas by 1970, which they and his truncation beginning of the led others against of democracy. His 19th century. The Biafra with the asage and involveFulani held much sistance of Great ment during the of northern Nigeria Britain, Russia Nigeria/Biafra war in subjection until (former USSR) and also raise lots of defeated (1900Arab nations, the dust among some This election sheds 1906) by the BritHausa-Fulani have Nigerian voters. light on the surish. Many Fulani led or decided From investigavival of Nigeria are Muslim and who leads. The two tions, many Nige- as Africa’s most have often justified Olusegun Obasanrians are afraid of populous countheir conquests on jo era as military going back to the try. In assessing religious grounds. and civilian leader past, of which Gen. the question - Is Their turning point were facilitated Buhari was a major Nigeria a soured in Nigerian came by the poweractor. Apart from soup?, Emenike in 1804 when Oth- ful Hausa-Fulani Olusegun Obasan- Chibudom of man dan Fodio, a military cabal. jo and Aguiyi Ironsi Ndoni in Ogba/ Fulani preacher, Even Umaru Musa who was killed by Egbema/Ndoni began a holy war Yar’Adua who died northern officers local council think that resulted in after taking power to take power in General Buhari and the subjugation of from Obasanjo is

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a Fulani. Goodluck Jonathan, an Ijaw and vice president to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua became president after agitated Nigerians and the international community became worried over non application of relevant powers of the 1999 constitution. It took the Senate to save Nigerians the shame by the cabal. As the first minority leader from the south, President Goodluck Jonathan has faced great opposition from the north especially those who feel rulership of the country belongs to them. Boko Haram whose base is in the north initially gained encouragement from the region’s elite, as the latter boasted of making the country ungovernable for the new leader.

Northern Nigeria had always been a slaughter ground for the christian south especially when they feel provoked.

In a 2012 interview, Gen. Buhari who under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) lost in the 2011 election, painted a gory picture of Nigeria as that of a hound and a monkey engaged in a battle for survival said, “If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.’’ In that election, nine University graduates serving

as Corps members were killed in Bauchi State in the post election violence that erupted on April 18. The nine corps members were Adewumi Seu (Ekiti), Teidi Olawale Tosin (Kogi), Adowei Elliot (Bayelsa), Okpokiri Obinna (Abia), Gbenjo Eb

enezer Aypotunde (Osun), Ukeoma Ikechuwku Chibuzor (Imo), Nwaze ma Anslem Chukwuonyerem (Imo), Adeniji Kehinde Jehleel (Osun) and Akonyi Ibrahim Sule( Kogi).

Seven of them were killed in Giade Police station where they

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had ran to for safety, but the Buhari supporters overpowered the policemen on duty and killed the Corps with machetes and sticks before setting the station ablaze.

Those who are against Goodluck Jonathan com plain against the

security menace created by Boko Haram and corruption, but the earlier issue was hatched from the day he became acting president. CONT on www.africaworldnewspaper. com

6AfricaWorldnewspaper |March 16 - 30 - 2015

Advert Notice

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PUBLIC WETHDRAWER OF CASENOTICE AGAINST MR. DUNSTAN UKAGA RE: COP VS DUNSTAN UKAGA CHARGE No. D/66/2014 My name is Rose Ada Bosah (Mrs). My address is as stated above. I an: the complainant in the above mentioned case. Angela Bosah, the giri alleged to have been defiled in the above case in my daughter.

1 wish to withdraw this case against the defendant (Mr. Dunstan) on the ground that facts that are now at my disposal were not as at the time this case was reported. 5’ Sir, the accusation is false. I have taken time to get the truth from my daughter and she admitted to me that nothing of the nature of this allegation ever happened between her and the defendant in this case.

It is along family issue that I would not_1ike to bore you with, suffice to say that I will soon be getting married to the defendant who has been the one sponsoring my daughter’s Education and responsible for her welfare, though the relationship does not go down well with my peopie. I I I will never be a party to injustice against the defendant especially now that I know somebody, somewhere is trying to capitalize on my daughter’s age and innoceime. i anticipate a due consideration of this application.

Yours faithfully, I ROSE ADA BOSAH. » I

Invitation to South African Human Rights Day Celebrations On the 21st March 2015 ANC Ireland is hosting Human Rights Day, previously known as “ Sharpville Day” following the brutal murder of 69 peaceful protesters against pass laws in 1960.

Date: 21st March 2015 Venue; Teachers Club, Dublin.

Time; 16h00 to 19h00 Speakers: 1. Ms Ashimedua Okonkwo( Practising Solicitor): What exactly are human Rights and how the human Rights culture has been received in Africa.

2. Sean Crowe T.D Sinn Fein Party: How the land issue evolved in Post-colonial Ireland.

3. Ms Jilan Wahba( Deputy Head of Palestinian Mission in Ireland): What global political forces are at play delaying the realisation of the overdue Palestinian State.

Before the start of this afternoon Programme members of ANC Ireland will pay visit to Beechpark in Foxrock where the Bill of Rights to the world renowned Constitution was first drafted. Members of Media are invited throughout this programme.

Any further information contact: Mike Segoapa: 0879051630