African Voice Newspaper by African Voice Newspapers UK

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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ISSUE 473

SINCE 2001

B R I TA I N ’ S N O . 1 A F R I C A N N E W S PA P E R President Jonathan receives Cote d’Ivoire’s highest national honour SEE PAGE 9

£1.00

Young people most at risk of being forced into marriage SEE PAGE 6

Teenagers convicted of manslaughter SEE PAGE 14

Improved Rights For Agency Workers By Agency Reporter

Agency workers are set to have better anti-discrimination rights after an Employment Tribunal awarded a woman over £35,000 for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal in a case funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Tribunal heard that agency worker Corinda Pegg had been dismissed after 44 weeks service due to absences caused by depression. After a series of bereavements she was absent from work for a week receiving mental health residential care. On her return to work she was sometimes late and, when questioned by her manager, explained that this was due to her disability. Two months later, she was admitted to hospital following a panic attack and, whilst receiving medical care at home the following fortnight, she was told by phone that her employment had been terminated because of poor attendance and punctuality. Although she had requested conﬁdentiality, work emails revealed that her medical condition had been openly discussed with a colleague. The

data also indicated that discussions about ending her employment had begun before requests for further information about the reasons for her absence from work. The case went to the Employment Appeal Tribunal on the legal question of whether equality law protects agency workers from being discriminated against by an organisation they are supplied to. The Judge said that, as Ms Pegg was under an obligation to work for Camden Council, it was subject to a legal duty not to discriminate. The compensation was awarded when the case returned for a full hearing to the Employment Tribunal. Commission deputy director legal, Wendy Hewitt said: “There was an urgent need to clarify the legal status of agency workers who have been discriminated against, given the increase in this type of working arrangement. “This case clariﬁes that agency workers are entitled to the same degree of protection from discrimination at their place of work as permanent employees”

Maria Miller, Minister for Women and Equalities.

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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Poor children denied school meal

Huge numbers of children in poverty throughout the country are missing out on free school meals. New analysis reveals a stark picture for children living in poverty across England. It found that in 57 constituencies alone, more than six in 10 children in poverty are not getting a free school meal. In some areas more than two-thirds of children in poverty missing out on free school meals. The highest proportion of children in poverty missing out on free school meals are in the east, southeast, southwest and London. The joint top two constituencies are Horshahuge numbers of children in poverty throughout the country are missing out on free school meals. Matthew Reed, our Chief Executive, said: ‘It is shocking that huge numbers of children in poverty across the country are missing out on a free school meal. Every child in poverty should be entitled to this vital support. ‘We know from the families we work with up and down the country that parents are struggling to make ends meet. Right now, the government is reconsidering which children will be entitled to get free school meals. We urge the government to take this opportunity to make sure all children in poverty can get a free school meal.’

Publisher and Editor-In-Chief Mike Abiola Editorial Board Adviser Dr Ola Ogunyemi News Editor Emmanuel Urhiofe Sub Editor Alan Oakley Sports Editor Abiodun Teriba Assist. Sports Editor Olubunmi Omoogun Arts Editor Golda John Columnists Michael Adekoya Rasheed Ogunlaru Photo Journalist Isaac Adegbite Graphic Designer Alvin Brown Legal Adviser Godwin Okri London Office: Unit 7 Holles House Overton Road London SW9 7AP

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African Voice is published by African Voice UK.

News

New Jobcentre Plus advisors to help troubled families A new drive to get troubled families into work is to be spearheaded by 150 specialist Jobcentre Plus advisers.

Councils had already identified more than half of the 120,000 families the Prime Minister pledged to turn around by 2015, with over 62,000 names and addresses in the system and 50 per cent more than they were asked to identify this year; Working with existing troubled families teams in councils, the employment advisers will give intensive support to whole families and for the first time track the progress made to get them into jobs. The practical support will include CV writing, job interview skills and highlight training opportunities and job vacancies in the area. They will also put families in contact with local employers, demonstrating that there are opportunities for everyone to get into work. The announcement comes alongside figures from local authorities on progress within the first year of the Government’s Troubled Families programme which show that by the end of December last year: Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: “These early results show that the Troubled Families programme is on track, changing families for the better and reducing their impact on the communities around them. We are ahead of schedule on the number of families that have been identified for intervention and I am delighted that 23,000 families are already being worked with, less than a year after the programme began.

Eric Pickles: Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government ”This programme is getting to grips with be a particular issue for some of these famisome of the hardest to help families in the lies and helping them get and keep a job can country and in doing so will help bring down be vital in turning their lives around, bringthe costs they incur to the taxpayer and the ing improved structure and stability with indamage they do to communities. But by creased aspirations and confidence. including a real push towards employment “Work can also enable parents to act as for troubled families we will also help give role models for their children, as children a sense of purpose and aspiration to people growing up in workless households are more who for too long have been allowed to fail likely to experience worklessness themby the state.” selves. Jobcentre Plus advisers will now be Secretary of State for Work and Pensions working with families to offer more targeted Iain Duncan Smith said: “There are thousupport to those who have been failed by the sands of individuals and families in the system and where no-one is working or there UK living troubled lives blighted by crime, is a history of worklessness across generaworklessness, and truancy. Worklessness can tions.”

‘Cured’ HIV baby shocks medics Doctors in the US are cautiously confident they have cured a baby born with HIV. The Mississippi baby, now 2 years-old, appears to be the first documented case of a child being cured of the virus, according to doctors and scientists. The unidentified child has now been “functionally cured” and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of the HIV infection. If the child remains healthy, it would mark only the second time in the world’s history that a person has been cured of HIV, which is the virus that causes AIDS. Genevieve Edwards, Director of Health Improvement at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “This is interesting, but the child will need careful ongoing follow-up for us to understand the long-term implications and any potential for other babies born with HIV. In the UK we already have a programme of ante-natal screening for HIV, which means that there are very few babies born with the virus. Expectant mothers with HIV are given anti-HIV treatment during pregnancy which together with a low-risk caesarean and no breastfeeding means their babies have a 98% chance of being HIV negative. But this could be of interest where mothers to be are diagnosed with HIV during labour rather than pregnancy. “The roll-out of anti-retroviral therapy across the developing world has both saved the lives of individuals living with

HIV, and also had a real impact on the rates of mother-to-child transmission. In this context, it would seem that success lies in making antenatal testing available and then giving the drugs to the mother to prevent the child getting HIV, rather than hoping the drugs will cure the baby once born HIV positive. But for those babies born with the virus, this may be significant.” The landmark case, which will prove exciting news for Africa and the rest of the developing world, was announced on Sunday (March 3) at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta. Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was one of the lead researchers and author of the report, which was released by The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). The infant was diagnosed with HIV at birth to a mother who did not receive prenatal care or HIV treatment, Dr. Rowena Johnston, director of amfAR, told ABC News. The infant was transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Centre and started on antiretroviral treatment about 30 hours after birth. Doctors took the apparently unusual step of prescribing three aggressive drugs (AZT, 3TC, nevirapine) at once after birth. Johnston points to the early intervention of the three medications as the key. Initial HIV viral load tests were high and then expectedly decreased in the first month. Viral loads were detectable

three times and became undetectable by one month of age. The baby was on treatment and in care until 12 to 15 months of age, at which point the baby was lost to follow-up after doctors lost contact with the mother and the baby stopped receiving any medication. The baby returned for care at 23 months of age. Surprisingly, viral loads were still undetectable, despite being off treatment for almost a year. Johnston said the results were all the more shocking because doctors do not usually recommend stopping treatment at any time in children with HIV from birth. The results surprised Dr. Hannah Gay, a paediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi, who was treating the child. “My first thought was to panic. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, I have been treating a child who is not actually infected,’” she said. A battery of “highly sensitive” tests confirmed the absence of HIV, according to a news release. In Mississippi, Dr. Gay gives the child a check-up every few months. “I just check for the virus and keep praying that it stays gone,” she told The Associated Press. The mother’s HIV is being controlled with medication and she is “quite excited for her child,” Gay added. The only other documented case of an HIV cure to date remains that of Timothy Brown, the so-called “Berlin patient.”

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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News

Rouge payday lenders given matching orders Payday lenders could face new restrictions on how they advertise and a new code of practice, under fresh plans announced by Consumer Minister Jo Swinson and Economic Secretary to the Treasury Sajid Javid. This comes after new evidence shows problems in the industry are harming consumers. The measures announced form part of wider Government efforts to strengthen the way consumer credit is regulated. In addition, Sajid Javid and Jo Swinson have also launched a consultation confirming the Government’s intention to move regulation of consumer credit to the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from April 2014, and provided further details of how the new regime will work. Consumer Minister Jo Swinson said: “The evidence of the scale of unscrupulous behaviour by payday lenders and the impact on consumers is deeply concerning.

“The Government is committed to tough action to tackle these problems. The Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) enforcement action will stop payday lenders taking advantage of those in financial difficulty. In April 2014, we are giving responsibility to regulate this industry to the FCA, who will have more rigorous powers to weed out rogue lenders. “The Government also wants to see tough action to clampdown on the advertising of payday lending, and will start immediate work on this. The Government will work closely with the Office of Fair Trading, Advertising Standards Agency, Committees of Advertising Practice, and industry to make sure advertising does not lure consumers into taking out payday loans that are not right for them.” Economic Secretary to the Treasury Sajid Javid MP said: “With the enforcement action and unprecedented changes to the regulation of consumer credit announced, the Government is sending a clear message to lenders that if they do not comply with the rules, action will be taken.

BT to create more than 1,000 engineering jobs BT is to launch a major new recruitment drive as its £2.5 billion pound investment in fibre broadband starts to pay off. More than 1,000 engineering jobs are being created at the company’s Openreach business, with most of the new recruits set to install fibre broadband in customers’ homes. The jobs announced are in addition to 1,500 extra engineers who were recruited during the past year. Following this recruitment, there will be more than 6,000 people working on what is believed to be the fastest fibre roll out in the world. BT’s fibre network is already the largest in the UK, passing more than 13 million premises, and the technology is being made available to an additional 100,000 homes and businesses every week. The recruitment drive reflects BT’s success with winning work that is helping to extend the benefits of fibre broadband to areas that may not have been served otherwise. It also reflects the strong demand for fibre that the company is now experiencing. Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I warmly welcome the announcement from BT. Working with business, the Government is driving a transformation in UK broadband services and with an extra 100,000 homes and businesses gaining superfast broadband availability each week, this is already taking shape. Providing much faster broadband speeds, and enabling millions more homes and businesses to enjoy these speeds is vital

for driving investment and equipping the UK to compete and thrive in the global race.” BT chief executive Ian Livingston added: “BT’s investment, together with the government’s programme, will cement the UK’s position as one of the leading broadband nations in Europe. We remain highly confident that fibre can be provided to more than 90 per cent of UK homes and businesses, making the UK a global digital leader. “Faster broadband will help to fuel the UK economy and the jobs we are creating are part of that. Almost half of the jobs will be offered under our popular apprenticeship scheme giving young people the chance to earn a recognised qualification and pursue a career as a skilled telecoms engineer.” The business will fill the 1,000 posts with a mix of apprentices, further armed forces personnel and other candidates, including some long-term unemployed. Four hundred apprenticeships are to be offered, providing young people with a training scheme lasting two and a half years. These apprentices will focus on installing new fibre broadband connections in customers’ homes during their first year, before going on to learn the full range of engineering tasks in the remaining months. At the end of their training, the apprentices will achieve a BTEC Level 3 Diploma and Certificate in ICT Systems and Principles. As part of their qualification, apprentices will also complete academic studies in Maths, English and ICT, providing them with the essential skills needed to progress in the workplace.

Jo Swinson, Consumer Minister

“The Government is introducing a fundamentally new approach to regulating consumer credit, which will ensure that irresponsible firms and bad practice will have no place in the consumer credit market-

place. Consumers can have greater confidence that the new FCA will intervene early and decisively in their interests – thanks to its more focused remit, objectives and powers.”

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News

Young people most at risk of being forced into marriage By Milton Tella

Under a planned new law parents who force their children to marry in England and Wales could be jailed. Presently, some UK parents, especially amongst the ethnic minorities, hide under cultural and religious excuses to force their children into marriages. Hundreds of young people are at risk of being taken abroad, by their parents and forced to marry against their will every year. Cases of forced marriages are common among Pakistan, India and Bangladesh communities but few cases rearing its head within the African community. Latest statistics from the Forced Marriage Unit suggest young people aged between 16 and 25 are most at risk of being forced into marriage. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Consular Policy, Mark Simmonds, said: “Forcing someone to marry is an appalling and indefensible practice which is why the Government is committed to eliminating it, with young people particularly vulnerable. We will use every means at our disposal, whether it’s engaging with schools and communities or through using mobiles and social media to reach potential

victims. We want those who are worried about forced marriage to know that there is help out there.” Freedom Charity is launching a new smartphone app designed to provide information about forced marriage with links to where potential victims can get help. The free app, which has been part-funded by the Forced Marriage Unit, is available to download on iPhone. The free app will be a useful tool for both victims and professionals alike. It is designed to look like a game and offers, among other things, advice on where to go for help, and what the warning signs may be. Home Office Minister for Crime Prevention, Jeremy Browne, said: “Forced marriage is a devastating form of abuse that is absolutely unacceptable in our society. The new figures show an alarming number of victims, including the young and vulnerable. It is vital we protect them. By criminalising forced marriage the government is sending a strong message that this terrible practice will not be tolerated. But legislation alone is not enough and the new app will also provide a crucial lifeline for po-

Jeremy Browne: Minister of State for Crime Prevention tential victims.” Freedom Charity founder, Aneeta Prem, said: “It is more important than ever that everyone in the UK is aware of the warning signs of a forced marriage. By downloading the Freedom app, developed in conjunction with the Government’s Forced Marriage Unit and the Metropolitan Police, the user is just a couple of button presses away from life saving help. It’s the 999 of

apps and we urge everyone to download it, for free, today.” The Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1485 cases involving 60 different countries across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America last year. Of the 744 cases where the age was known, over 600 of those involved were young people under the age of 26.

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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News

Land reform key to Kenya’s future By Agency reporter

Raila Odinga

Land-related grievances were among the underlying causes of the violence that followed Kenya’s disputed presidential election results in 2007. Some communities, such as those in the worst-affected Rift Valley Province, invaded land that did not legally belong to them but which they perceived to be their birthright. More recently, conflict in regions in the north and near the coast have been driven in part by land-related interests. In the northern Rift Valley area of Baringo, for example, officials are blaming a two-month-long conflict that has displaced an estimated 1,000 families on an attempt by one community to extend its administrative boundaries. “The issue of land in Kenya is the hot political potato,” veteran anti-corruption activist and chief executive officer of the NGO Inuka Trust Kenya, John Githongo, said in an IRIN film, part of a web-documentary entitled No Ordinary Elections. This feature examines the land question and its role in recurrent ethno-political conflicts. Historical Injustices Land-related disputes date back to colonial times, when British colonists displaced people from Kenya’s fertile highlands and either resettled them elsewhere or left them landless, effectively turning them into squatters. For example, some people in Central Province, which was predominantly home to the Kikuyu ethnic group, were relocated to Rift Valley Province, home to the Kalenjin. “People in Rift Valley were evicted from ‘their’ land to create room for

Uhuru Kenyatta

those relocated from Central,” said Oliver Waindi, deputy national coordinator of the Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) a non-partisan group of civil society organizations working on land reform. Some of those displaced in Rift Valley Province ended up not being resettled, leading to generations of resentment. “At independence, we did not actually address these issues. We did not redistribute the land in the way which… was fair. Instead we had a situation where the incoming elite then perpetuated some of those injustices and did not even want to address the historical injustices pertaining [to] the land,” said Atsango Chesoni, the executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission. “So you have a legacy of multiple displacements: initially part of the colonial experience, and then subsequently, part of the various regimes that came in,” she said. Since 1992, with the introduction of multi-party politics, land-related tensions, especially in the Rift Valley and later in Coast Province, have been exploited by politicians, often during campaigning, sometimes resulting in pre-election violence. “You’d have people removed from an area because they were treated with suspicion because people thought that they would not vote in certain ways. So you have those kinds of tensions - and also what was essentially an economic issue - [which] became politicized, and so it would take on ethno-political undertones,” said Chesoni. At the coast, land ownership has been one of the factors fuelling separatists sentiments. “The coastal area, also, because of beaches and because we have a tourist economy, [is] another part of the country where you have a history of displacement

and alienation. And you have entire communities living as squatters in what was supposed, historically, to be their ancestral land,” Chesoni said. Around 80 percent of the coastal population lacks land titles. Large chunks of land there were appropriated by the government after the country’s 1963 independence, and much of it was distributed to outsiders in a system of political patronage. But why land? In a country where the vast majority depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, there is enormous demand for fertile land. But only 20 percent of Kenya’s land is suitable for agriculture, with the rest being arid and semi-arid. “So we have a huge part of the population scrambling for a very small area of a country that still calls itself agricultural,” Githongo told News Agency. Land in Kenya is not just essential for agricultural production; it is a symbol of wealth, notes the KLA. “Land has a cultural and family [value], thus the dire urge for most people to be associated with it,” Waindi of the KLA told News Agency. According to Waindi, livelihood sources must be diversified. “If we are competing as [a population of] 40 million… what about when this number doubles?” he asked. “The government should enlighten its citizenry on other ways of [making money] rather than land.” Is there hope? Past recommendations on land reform - from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal/Irregular Allocation of Public Land, popularly known as the ‘Ndung’u’ land report after the commission’s chairperson, were not implemented.

The report found illegal allocation of public land in Kenya to be “one of the most pronounced manifestations of corruption”. Among its recommendations, the report called for: all allocations of public utility land to be nullified and the lands repossessed; the investigation and prosecution of public officials who facilitated or participated in the illegal allocation; and the recovery of all monies and proceeds acquired as a result of it. But there is hope for land reform, particularly after the establishment of a National Land Commission (NLC) – one of a broad range of reforms introduced by a new constitution adopted in 2010. For Waindi, the commission’s credibility rests on its independence. “Top government officials have a lot of interest in land and may hinder NLC’s 100 percent commitment,” he said. In a recent interview with Kenya’s Citizen Television, the chairman of the NLC, Mohammed Swazuri, said, “[The] Ndung’u Commission’s recommendations could not be effected because there was no political will, but the current constitution fills the gap.” Swazuri added that the NLC will work with lawyers and land and natural resources experts. “It is a people-driven commission and will not disappoint Kenyans as it has the ability to deliver,” he said, adding that the NLC would offer recommendations on the minimum and maximum size of land each owner should be entitled to. Land issues should be addressed with a sense of urgency, popular musician Eric Wainana told IRIN: “The further we go, the harder it gets to solve these historical injustices, because you say to a Kikuyu guy [in the Rift Valley] right now, ‘Go home’, he’s going say, ‘Go home? Go where? My grandparents are buried right here’.” 7

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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Africa Final frontier: China widens outlook Greek tragedies, US fiscal cliffs and eurozone woes mean that much of the developed world is offering anaemic growth prospects for 2013. Given this backdrop China is understandably looking at building trade levels with emerging nations. In addition to the fellow BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies, China has for a number of years now been turning its attention to the frontier markets of Africa. According to a report by David Gardner, Managing Director, Global Head of Project and Export Finance, HSBC countries such as Angola and Nigeria offer the attraction of untapped commodity resources and large working-age populations. China’s growing interest in Africa is already bearing fruit. In 2000 US trade with Africa was three times that of China. However, in 2009 China overtook the US to become Africa’s biggest trading partner, with China and Hong Kong accounting for 13.5 per cent of African merchandising trade, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Finance Minister, said recently that trade and investment flows between Africa and the

BRIC economies would expand and boost growth as global uncertainty continued in 2013 and developed economies struggled. Countries such as Angola and Nigeria offer the attraction of untapped commodity resources and large working-age populations Spending on improved infrastructure in Africa – notably in power generation, road and rail will be the key elements driving economic growth across the continent and the BRIC nations are playing a significant role in this process. By helping to finance infrastructure in Africa, China is in a strong position to benefit from increased trade from growing economies such as Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa. It is more than just loans that China is offering Africa. China frequently provides the technical expertise and, where required, the manpower to ensure major infrastructure and housing projects progress. However, the number of Chinese workers in Africa has been a thorny issue. Concerns were raised recently by African heads of state at the 2012 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing. The Chinese agreed to a localisation policy, employing and training local workers where possible. Opinion is divided as to whether investment should be driven internally, rather than

from overseas, but positive comments from African leaders indicate broad support for loans from China. The loans available from institutions such as the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China are attractive to many African governments because of their low cost, large volumes and relatively quick delivery times. Such financing is not available on the same terms from the traditional US and European trading partners. As Abdoulaye Wade, the former President of Senegal, points out: “The Chinese are ready to take up the task, more rapidly and at less cost”. One example of the availability of Chinese funds is the Bui Dam under construction in Ghana. In 2005, at a time when Ghana’s traditional funding sources from Europe and the US had all but dried up, the Chinese company SinoHydro offered to build the dam backed by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. The financing package was accepted by the government and construction commenced in 2008. There is further proof of China’s presence in Africa with new roads, housing, factories and ports all over the continent. The Kenyan superhighway linking Nairobi with Thika and development of key ports such as Dar es Salaam in Tanzania are good examples. There are considerable benefits for China, including satisfying the demand of its domestic economy for natural resources. African housing and infrastructure programmes also provide employment opportunities for migrant Chinese workers.

One of the most ambitious projects is in Angola where the Chinese are financing and building a new city at Nova Cidade de Kilamba. At a reported cost of USD3.5 billion, Kilamba was paid for with an oilbacked loan in which Angola supplies China with oil over an agreed term in return for credit. Such deals have been criticised by some Western powers, notably the US, who suggest that Chinese investment in Africa is primarily motivated by Beijing’s desire to access the continent’s abundant natural resources. In 2012 Hillary Clinton, then US Secretary of State, went as far to say that some African nations should consider partnerships with more “responsible” countries. However, African countries sometimes lack the skills and engineering capacity to construct large-scale projects or the capital to undertake them. Chinese support helps these projects get off the ground. There are parallels between China’s approach to Africa today and the way its own development was financed 30 years ago. In the 1970s China was determined to develop infrastructure, technology and manufacturing but with little in the way of foreign exchange with which to do it. The solution was to open Chinese natural resources, specifically oil and coal, to Japan in return for a USD10 billion loan. Africa is following a similar path, aware that some compromise is necessary for greater development and economic wealth.

Hundreds of thousands of homes deep in motoring poverty

The poorest ten per cent of carowning households in the UK are mired in transport poverty and are spending at least 27% of their disposable income on buying and running a vehicle. This equates to roughly 800,000 homes. By contrast, those in the wealthiest carowning households are spending around 12% of their disposable incomes on purchasing and operating a car. Of a total weekly expenditure of £167, those in the poorest car-owning households see £44 go on vehicle-related purchasing and operating costs. Of the £44, £16 is used to buy petrol and 8

diesel and £8.30 is spent on insurance. The high level of expenditure is revealed in analysis of previously unreleased data from the Office for National Statistics which has been seen by the RAC Foundation. Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “These figures should shock the Chancellor. We already knew transport was the single biggest area of household expenditure bar none. But this spending breakdown just for car-owning households is not normally available. It lays bare the truth about the extent of transport poverty in the UK. “There is understandable concern about home owners having to spend more than 10% of their money on heating their houses. But to most of us transport is another essential item and our outgoings on getting about eclipse all other domestic bills. “George Osborne will soon deliver his budget and is likely to tinker with the rate of fuel duty. For people already drowning under the weight of motoring costs, cutting a penny or two off the price of a litre of fuel will help but is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic - ultimately futile. To make any meaningful difference to those on the lowest incomes the rate will need to be cut much further.”

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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President Jonathan receives Cote d’Ivoire’s highest national honour Calls for intensiﬁcation of bilateral and regional cooperation

President Alassane Ouattara on Friday, March 1, conferred the Cote D’Ivoire’s highest honour, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Nation, on President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in appreciation of Nigeria’s contributions to peace, stability and progress in Cote D’Ivoire, at a colourful ceremony in Abidjan.

President Ouattara also conferred the honour of Commander of the Order of the Nation on the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan at a State Banquet in the Ivorian seat of government. Speaking at the occasion, President Jonathan who began a state visit to the country on Friday said that Nigeria and Cote D’Ivoire must continue to strengthen their bilateral cooperation for the beneﬁt of their citizens and others in the West African sub-region. “As partners, driven by shared values and a common strategic objective, namely, the security, stability and prosperity of our sub-region, we must continue to build on the historical bond of friendship and solidarity which have served our two countries very well in the past. My challenge – and also President Ouattara’s challenge – is to intensify this partnership for the beneﬁt of our citizens and the entire sub-region of West Africa. “I believe that the future of our countries lies in consolidating our relationships in all spheres of human endeavour but most

President Alassane Ouattara (Right) and President Goodluck Jonathan especially in the areas of democratisation and good governance, promotion of human rights, poverty eradication and development. “Going forward, our countries must build on the efforts of our past leaders to foster a climate of peace and security in our subregion. Without these collective efforts, our hopes and our aspiration of improving the living conditions of our peoples would be imperilled. We must ﬁght poverty collectively through pooling of our resources, value-addition, intra-regional trade and promotion of investments,” President Jonathan said. President Jonathan thanked President Ouattara and the people of Cote D’Ivoire for the special honours conferred on him

and the First Lady. “We will cherish and treasure them for the rest of our lives,” he said. “As a true friend of Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria will always be on your side to share the joys and pains of friendship, in good times as well as in bad times. We stood, shoulder to shoulder, with you all the way during some of the darkest periods of your recent history. Now that your beautiful country has turned the bend, there is even more incentive for us in Nigeria to work with the government of President Ouattara and with the people of Cote d’Ivoire to build on the progress you have worked hard to achieve in the last few years,” the President also said.

President Jonathan lauds Ahmadu Bello University at 50 President Goodluck Jonathan has commended Ahmadu Bello University for meeting the dreams and aspirations of its founding fathers.

The President made this commendation at the university’s convocation ground in Zaria during a special convocation ceremony and launching of N50billion Phase II Development Fund, on Saturday, March 2. President Goodluck Jonathan who was represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo said that the university has every cause to celebrate its golden jubilee for in the last 50 years it has graduated hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and foreigners who today occupy various positions in the country. “I am happy to note that the University has among its alumni past and present Governors, Ministers, Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, Captains

of Industry, Technocrats, scientists and the clergy. I cannot fail to mention that my predecessor, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and my Vice Architect Namadi Sambo also passed through the four walls of this University.” The President who expressed his delight for being part of the historic occasion of the University’s Golden Jubilee stated that 50 years in the life of a university called for stock-taking and self-assessment of its accomplishments in meeting with the vision and mission of its founding fathers who had a vision of a world-class university and a beacon of democratic ideals. “I make bold to say that the Ahmadu Bello University has not disappointed its founding fathers”, said President Jonathan. President Jonathan lamented the low absorption capacity of our universities, where barely a quarter of students seeking admission into universities were absorbed. He stated that despite the increase in the

number of universities in the country, the demand for university education has continued to soar. The President further stated that in his administration quest to meet world standard in university enrolment, it has established new universities and there was consideration for the establishment of mega universities with high enrolment capacity similar to those of Cairo, Pretoria, Mexico and Argentina with current students’ population of 200,000, 250,000, 314,557 and 316,050 respectively. President Jonathan, who is the visitor to the university, assured that government would continue to pay special attention to those areas of need in addition to what was being provided now through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund. He however called on the Alumni of the Institution to play key roles in the development of their alma mater.

President Jonathan warns African leaders President Goodluck Jonathan has warned that African leaders must work harder to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in their countries or face the continuous threat of political instability with its attendant societal dislocations.

Addressing the members of the Ivorian Parliament in Abidjan during his state visit to the country, on Saturday, March 2, President Jonathan said the present generation of African leaders must rise to the challenge of managing contests for political power in a manner that assures greater collective security and peaceful co-existence. The President also warned that leaders of emerging democracies in Africa must never succumb again to the lure of dictatorship as the surest way of bottling up grievances and dissent in their countries. “We are ourselves daily confronted with the multiplicity of demands and expectations that are the hallmarks of multicultural societies. There are some, here and elsewhere, who might think that the straightjacket of a dictatorship is the surest way to bottle up these grievances and dismantle dissent. “That is wrong. Nothing strengthens a society more than openness and a leadership courageous enough to understand the inherent positives that ﬂow from these contending demands. As African leaders, we have to, calmly and dispassionately, harness these energies and utilise them to serve the best interest of our people. “Indeed, it is self-evident that people, who feel secure and free, governed by the rule of law and not by the whims of men, are less likely to go to war with each other, either within or across borders, than those who do not. “We therefore risk the very institution we are trying to build if we exclude the people who voted us into power in the governance process. That is why we have to build strong institutions and allow the rule of law to take root. Democracy without strong institutions defeats its own objectives,” President Jonathan told the members of Parliament. He also told them that political leaders in Africa must do more to alleviate and ultimately eradicate abject poverty from the continent as it dis-empowers people and retards growth and development. “We must assiduously promote the welfare of all citizens and create the enabling environment in which they can fully realise their aspirations and potentials. This would enable them, as stakeholders, to invest in the protection of peace and stability of our countries. And this is achievable,” President Jonathan said. 9

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Aregbesola’s Opon Imo applauded and embraced by US Politician Back in 2011, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola expressed concern about the squalid environment in some parts of Osun State and tasked aides with proposing realistic and sustainable means to bring about much-needed change. The resulting research identiﬁed the US city of Pittsburgh, located in Allegheny County in the south-west of Pennsylvania, as a worthy rolemodel.

Highly industrialised and known as the ‘steel city’, Pittsburgh once had the dubious honour of being named the United States’ dirtiest city. Yet today it is rated as the most habitable US city. Indeed, President Barack Obama held the Millennium G20 Summit there in 2009. Nigeria despatched a delegation comprising Commissioner for the Environment and Sanitation, Prof. Olubukola Oyawoye and Mr. Suraju Olanrewaju, to contact stakeholders responsible for Pittsburgh’s astonishing transformation. The Christian Evangelistic and Enterprise Development CEED facilitated a meeting between the Nigerian team and representa-

tives of Allegheny County, including professors from the University of Pittsburgh, the University Energy Partnership, Carnegie Mellon University, La Roche College and representatives of Braddock Ceramics and Manchester Bidwell Corporation. Carnegie Mellon needs little introduction as a world leading university. The University of Pittsburgh has innovation centres responsible for incubating small scale initiatives and businesses. Manchester Bidwell takes abandoned and neglected youths off the streets. The University Energy Partnership was founded jointly in 2010 by five major research universities: the aforementioned Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh joined by Penn State University, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University. Building on their regional university alliance with the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, these five research university partners are working together to address the nation’s energy transition challenge. Braddock Ceramics innovated the conversion of sawdust and mud into water filtration pots.

A natural scepticism seems to greet any overture or offer from Africa and Nigeria in particular, leading representatives of the corporations and universities to treat the proposition of a partnership with a pinch of salt. Unexpressed doubts were clear in responses and body language during preliminary interactions and subsequent exchanges. Finally, Aregbe visited to provide the all important political will required to take the partnership and investment to another level. After meetings with Carnegie Mellon, Lavalux Led and dinner with Nigerian-Americans in Pittsburgh, Ogbeni signed a Memorandum of Partnership with the Chief Executive of Allegheny County aimed at mutually beneﬁtting all parties. Allegheny County, with a population of approximately 1.3 million, is the second largest county (to state capital Harrisburg) in the state of Pennsylvania and is headed by a Chief Executive. There are 130 municipalities within Allegheny’s 731 square miles, each with its own governmental structure. The county comprises 82 boroughs, 24 ﬁrst class townships, 16 second class townships and four municipalities. Since its colonial beginnings, Allegheny County has been a centre for business and commerce. Easy access to all the nation’s major transportation facilities, an abundance of natural resources and a plentiful

and dedicated workforce fuelled the area’s growth and early ascension in industry. Allegheny County is home to at least seven Fortune 500 ﬁrms including Heinz, US Steel, PPG Industries, General Nutrition Centers, PNC Corporation, Mellon Bank and Alcoa. Newer, high-growth companies, which have cemented Allegheny’s reputation as a leader in technology ventures, include FORE Systems, Medrad, Respironics and AEG. After pleasantries were exchanged between Ogbeni and the County Executive, democrat Mr. Rich Fitzgerald; political ideas, policies, labour-government relations and educational development projects were discussed. Opon Imo (Tablet of Knowledge), an Android tablet specially conceived, developed and mass produced by the Government of Ogbeni was presented and demonstrated, to the amazement of the Chief Executive. It contains 17 WAEC standard subjects, 54 textbooks and WAEC questions and answers from the last 10 years. Mr. Fitzgerald betrayed his emotions and publicly gave a warm handshake to the Governor. He not only ofﬁcially presented the County Flag to Ogbeni, he pledged Allegheny’s commitment to a partnership with Osun’s government, which will result in the County acquiring Tablets of Knowledge for its high school children.

All Progressive Congress (APC) Governors merger meeting in Maiduguri Borno State, Nigeria

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Photos: Taofeeq Adejare

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola[MIDDLE], General Ofﬁcer Commanding Two Division, Nigerian Army, Ibadan, Major General Ahmed Tijani Jubril [ SECOND RIGHT], Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters ,Barrister Kunle Amos, [second left] Chief of Staff to the Governor,Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola and Division Intelligence Group, Colonel Ibrahim Salihu during the Courtesy Visit at Government House, Osogbo, State of Osun

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Venezuela

Chavez tributes pour in from world leaders The death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has inspired many tributes and expressions of hope for the Venezuelan people. One of Mr. Chavez’s closest allies, Bolivian President Evo Morales, said in a teary speech on Tuesday that Mr. Chavez will continue to be an inspiration for people who fight for their liberation. He said “Chavez is more alive than ever.” Another close ally, Cuba, declared two days of mourning with flags flown at halfmast. A statement from the government said the Cuban people considered him one of their “most outstanding sons.” Argentine President Cristina Fernandez declared three days of mourning in Argentina. She is expected to travel to Venezuela for Mr. Chavez’s funeral, as is Uruguayan President Jose Mujica. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega vowed to carry on the legacy of Mr. Chavez.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered his condolences and said he may attend Friday’s funeral. China called Mr. Chavez “a great leader and great friend of the Chinese people.” At the UN, Secretary General Ban KiMoon offered condolences to the people of Venezuela. The US Obama administration, often the target of Mr. Chavez’s criticism, was cautious in its response, releasing a statement expressing support for the Venezuelan people and interest in “developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government.” In the largely Venezuelan community of Doral in the Florida city of Miami, many people who left Venezuela while Mr. Chavez was in power took to the streets to celebrate his passing. Some expressed hope that the problems they left behind -- crime, corruption, and a poor economy -- would ﬁnally begin to improve.

Hugo Chavez led Venezuela for 14 years

Argentina

Russia

Imprisoned former dictators face more charges

Ballet dancer confesses to acid attack

Twenty-ﬁve people, including two former-dictators, accused of human rights abuses during an operation that saw brutal dictatorships in the Southern Cone collude to kill an estimated 80,000 people in the 1970s and 1980s, have gone on trial in Buenos Aries.

The victims of Operation Condor disappeared, presumably murdered. Their whereabouts have never been disclosed. One example, Horacio Campiglia, was an Argentine left-wing militant who was kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro, in 1980, before being taken to a military base in Buenos Aires. He was never seen again. Most of the cases, however, are of Uruguayans who disappeared in Argentina. Two of the defendants, Jorge Raphael Videla, now 87, and Reynaldo Bignone, 85, were de facto presidents during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military rule. They are already serving life sentences for their role in the regime’s Dirty War against subversion. The trial is expected to last two years and will call on around 500 witnesses. It will rule on the cases of more than 170 victims, including 65 who were taken to the clandestine Orletti detention and torture centre in Buenos Aires. Documents known as the ‘Archive of Terror’ show the regimes of Augusto Pinochet, military leader of Chile from 1974 to 1990, and Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguay’s former strongman president, colluded with Uruguay and Argentina. Bolivia and Brazil later joined the operation. Declassiﬁed pa-

Jorge Videla (left) and Reynaldo Bignone were dictatorial presidents from 1976-1981 and 1982-1983 respectively

A star Russian ballet soloist at the famed Bolshoi Theatre has confessed to an acid attack on the outﬁt’s ballet chief, according to a Moscow police spokesman. Pavel Dmitrichenko and two accomplices confessed to masterminding and carrying out the attack on Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet, on January 17. Filin suffered severe burns to his eyes and face when a masked attacker threw a jar of sulphuric acid in his face as he returned home late at night. The 42-year-old former dancer is still undergoing treatment in Germany. Dmitrichenko, who joined the Bolshoi in 2002, has danced several major parts in recent years, including Ivan the Terrible in the ballet of the same name and the villain in Swan Lake. Bolshoi Theatre spokeswoman Katerina

Novikova said the management was not aware of a conﬂict between him and Filin, but Channel One state television reported that Dmitrichenko’s girlfriend, also a Bolshoi soloist, was known to have been at odds with the director. The Bolshoi Theatre is one of Russia’s premier cultural institutions, best known for Swan Lake and other grand classical ballets that grace its stage. But backstage, the ballet company has been troubled by intrigue and in-ﬁghting, which have led to the departure of several artistic directors over the past few years. Mr Filin’s colleagues have said the attack could be in retaliation for his selection of certain dancers over others for prized roles. He told state television before he checked out of a Moscow hospital that he knew who ordered the attack but would not name the person.

pers show the USA supported Condor. Last year, an Argentine federal judge requested that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger be interrogated as part of the investigation. The investigation into Operation Condor began in the late 1990s, when impunity laws protecting Argentina’s former military leaders were still in place. They were later overturned by Néstor Kirchner, current President Cristina Kirchner’s late husband and predecessor. “We’re delighted that after years of struggle this has ﬁnally come to trial,” said Alcira Ríos, the lawyer of a Paraguayan victim. “The ‘disappeared’ deserve justice.” 19 11

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Nollywood

My sexy boobs get me lead roles-Actress Tope Osoba Adesanya’s Anu Oju. It was like my second major movie. In 2009, I now did Ogun Mi (My Sweat) by Dayo Amusa. That was what pushed me out and people started recognising me. When did Igboro Ti Daru come into the picture? It was two years ago. The late Bisi Komolafe produced it. What role did you play in the movie? I acted as a stripper. We were supposed to be strippers but we didn’t strip anyway. Three young girls graduated, no jobs, they saw this poster that says if you know you are beautiful and you can dance, come for auditioning. We went for auditioning and at the end of the day, when they chose us, they informed us that this is a strip club and we were not willing to do it at first but we soon began dancing after we knew what they were offering us. It included N300, 000 monthly, a three bedroom flat apartment and a brand new car, among other goodies. Bisi Komolafe was my very good friend. We met on the movie location of Tipa Tikuku (By Fire by Force) by Damola Latunji.

Tope Osoba The Yoruba movie industry is blessed with many excellent actors and actresses like Jide Kosoko, Dele Odule, Yinka Quadri, Adebayo Salami, Taiwo Hassan, Bukky Wright, Shola Shobowale, Binta Ayo Mogaji, and several others. In recent times, some notable younger ones have also shown their talents in the industry. They include Toyin Aimakhu, Biodun Okeowo, Bimbo Oshin, Eniola Bhadmus, Funke Akindele, Mercy Aigbe, Iyabo Ojo, Dayo Amusa, Fathia Balogun, Femi Adebayo, Yomi Fash-Lanso, Muyiwa Ademola, Odunlade Adekola, and Saheed Balogun, just to mention a few. The Entertainer recently discovered yet another up-comer in pretty and talented Tope Osoba. Since her arrival on the scene a few years ago, the new kid on the block has dazzled in hit flicks like Igboro Ti Daru produced by late Bisi Komolafe, Gucci Girls by Mercy Aigbe, Oga Sailor by Lola His Grace, Arinzo from the stable of Iyabo Ojo and many more. In this no-holds-barred interview that lasted 90 minutes, the busty thespian opened up on her career, love life and other issues. Excerpts:

into school. My acting career came by luck because I had to feature in a Yoruba dance movie, Ijo Ya produced by Laide Bakare in 2005. It was a dance movie. I danced and acted in the movie as well. Did you ever dance for any popular artiste? I used to be Weird MC’s dancer and I did that for a year because I had to go back to school. I couldn’t keep up with the rehearsals. I did a couple of videos for her. Then, I did videos for Olu Maintain, Adewale Ayuba and Pasuma’s High Level and Joker.

What fascinated you about acting? Generally I like entertainment. I love singing, dancing, acting and anything that has to do with entertainment. I didn’t have a problem with it. I was asked by a movie director to do something for him in order to convince him to play a role. I just played a CD of Weird MC and I did the choreography of what we have done before and he said ‘that is your script, go and read it’. I read it and I discovered it was a sub-lead for the first time. That was how I got it and from then, I started full time. What year did you start dancing? Can you briefly tell us your backI started from 2004 to 2005 when I did Ijo ground? Ya. But I preferred acting. Not that I was Damilola Adegbite but you know how our society My name is Temitope Osoba, a graduate of discouraged Business Education from Olabisi Onabanjo is, especially when you dance for these Fuji University, Ogun State. artistes, they see you as something else. I didn’t want to be seen as a wayward girl so How did you get into acting? I decided to face acting. Acting wasn’t something I had intentions of doing. I was initially a dancer. Cultural and When did you face acting fully? hip hop dancer while in school. I actually I started acting from 2005. After Ijo Ya, I started dancing professionally before I got did a couple of movies. I featured in Ayo 18 12

Can you strip in real life? I cannot. We didn’t strip in the movie; we were just wearing short dresses. My family members are watching, my friends are watching. I’m sure there is no dad or aunty that would see his niece doing that and would be happy. Regardless of the offer, I will never strip. Talking about family, let us look at your family. Did they endorse your coming into acting? I am actually an orphan. I had support from my aunty, uncles, cousins and grand parents. They were not against me going into entertainment. Did they prefer acting to dancing? Yes. While I was dancing, they were not against it but they love acting more for me. If your parents were to be alive, are you sure they would approve of your acting career? When my dad was alive, he was a strict man. My mum would have no problem; she would have loved my going into acting but my dad, never ever. When did your parents die? I lost my dad in 2000. He was assassinated in Lagos. I was about 17 then. I lost my mum in 2003. I am the only child of my mum but from my dad, I had three other half sisters. We are all four girls. My mum was ill but I was told she had cancer. Later, I found out that there was more to it than just cancer, maybe they didn’t want to let me know. How is life as an orphan?

It was really hard. I am not going to lie. It is not easy not having both parents. You get pushed to do so many things but when you think of the home you are coming from, you realise you don’t have to do things you are not supposed to do. You are not going to go hungry. Right now, it can’t be so bad that I cannot go and meet somebody to ask for assistance and I would not get but it is not easy. As an orphan, how did you pay your way through school? It was through dancing and with the support of my paternal grandmother. What did you miss most about your parents, especially your mum? I wasn’t really close to my mum because I didn’t live with her. When I started living with her wasn’t so long before she died. I look like my mum a lot and I miss her so much because she was my best friend. I talk to her, we do things together. My mum will be dressing up in the room and she would ask me how she looked. We were very close. She was bigger than me in size. Now that stardom is fast beckoning, what do you miss most about her? I miss her support. I know that if she were alive, she would have been here with me. Did you take to dancing based on passion or merely to survive? I have passion for dancing and entertainment in general. I wanted to do something I like. Before I started dancing, I had done a billboard advert for ‘MTN-Life is Beautiful’. While I was a dancer, I also did a project for Econet. With the money I got, I was able to get myself into school. It was because I have passion for dancing and not because of my condition. As an actress, what would you say has been your biggest challenge? For now, I have not really seen anything too hard for me to handle, I’m enjoying myself while doing my job. Not even harassment from producers? That one is inevitable. We would like to know how you are coping with harassments as a beautiful up and coming actress? I have this believe that I am going to make it in the Yoruba movie industry. I don’t have to sleep my way to fame, that is not in my character. No, I have not dated any of my colleagues, but I am very close to most of them. I have toasters though. It is normal. How do I handle them? It is just a normal thing. Simple. Can you marry an actor or a producer? I don’t know because I am in a relationship now and then, why would I want to date a producer or actor? What if you are not in a relationship,

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Nollywood do you think you can end up marrying somebody in the industry? No. We do the same job and there is no time. Is your guy not scared that the lady he wants to marry is in Nollywood? He is very scared. Has he told you to quit? Yes, in fact, we have talked about it severally especially when he sees me on TV with a guy in a romantic position but I keep telling him that I am the one there. I can tell you our body contact is not that close, but because you are watching it on TV, it will look like he is touching me but he is not. My guy is scared. Can anything make you quit acting? No. Nothing. Even if your guy says we are getting married but I don’t want you to do this again? It is my job. I love my job. He should understand. We are going to sit down and talk about it. This is something that brings food to my table and above all, gives me joy.

I am not going to say they are coming more, I would say so because I started with Yoruba movies, so I got into Yoruba more, I later realised that it’s kind of hard for you to get into the English movie industry when you are a Yoruba girl. That is what I heard. Have you experienced it before? Not really. You are one of the newest faces in the Yoruba movie industry making waves, what stands you out from the many fresh talents in the industry? Being real. I am very real. I am very natural, I am myself. I’m just a simple person and I don’t dress to impress. That is just me. Who are those people that have influenced your career? I have a lot of people who have been good to me but I would mention a few like Ayo Adesanya, Yomi Fash-Lanso, Bimbo Oshin and Eniola Bhadmus. Bhadmus is a sister.

Have you produced any movie in the industry? Not yet but I have stories already. I want to produce this year but I need financial breakthrough to do that. Collectively, how many movies have you featured in? I have featured in over 20 movies if I am not exaggerating and the bulk of them are supporting leads and sub-leads. You feature only in Yoruba movies? No, I also do English soap operas, I featured in Shadows. It’s like the Yoruba movie jobs are coming more?

Have the boobs given you some lead roles in the industry? We only showed more of cleavages in Tekun Teje produced by Lola, a marketer. I did lap dancing too in the movie. My sexy boobs and fine body got me the lead role. Can you bare your boobs in a movie? I cannot show more than the cleavages in a movie. You have a lot of tattoos on your body. How many are they and where are they located? I have eight tattoos. I have on my wrist, across my arm, stars on my neck, my mum’s name on my back, I have a playboy logo on my neck, then I have my boyfriend’s nickname on my neck. I just love tattoos. I rather do tattoos than piercing.

Tope Osoba, are you related to the former governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba? Yes I am, but our relationship is quite distant because he is related to my paternal grandfather. So, I call myself a grand niece kind of.

How long have you been dating your guy? We have been dating for three years now.

How did he win your heart? I guess he is just the kind of guy I like. I don’t like guys that are too handsome and I don’t like ugly guys too. When he is too handsome, it is wahala, so, let it be my own taste, so when another girl sees him, she will leave him alone for me.

How often do they commend your boobs? A lot of people like my boobs.

How come there are none on your boobs? Like I said, my boobs are unique. I don’t want tattoos on my boobs and I don’t want to be like every girl that has tattoos on their boobs. I don’t think it is better to have tattoos on the breast.

What if he gets you another job in a bank or any other sector aside entertainment? Maybe, but I am not going to leave my acting career. I may not be on screen but I might be producing. I hope to be a marketer someday.

What got you attracted to him? It was very mutual. Funny enough, we attended the same university but we never met in school. He knew me all the while we were in school but I never knew him. He graduated two years before I finished.

set of teeth et al.

I have known her before I came into the industry. There are a lot of them. When men see you, what do they find most attractive about you? When they look at me, they just see the whole of me and they go, ‘my God she is beautiful’.

Have you met him one-on-one? No. Do you intend meeting him? I hope so.

The crazy ones, don’t they talk about your boobs? They do. They should like it. It doesn’t look bad.

Let’s assume that you are not acting, what would you have been doing? I would probably be doing business, maybe running a salon or boutique or something but I am not an office person.

Is it real or artificial? It is real. 100 percent real, no enlargements or artificial stuffs inside. Which part of your body do you consider the sexiest? The truth is that I see the whole of me as being sexy. There must be a unique part of your body that even your man tells you? There is no particular thing he says. He says everything. What about the average man that sees you on the street? They tell me I look good, nice shape, nice

How old is Tope Osoba? 28 years old.

Has your heart ever been broken by men or by a man? My heart has been broken before that is why I have a particular tattoo on my arm. I just got used to the rest. The tattoo is like a broken heart, a heart with a knife. I had that experience in school and I cried because I really liked him then. One day, he just called me to say he had somebody he wants to marry. We were so close, I didn’t think it would happen like that. I cannot even say why he did what he did. I guess he was just being a man. In the next five years, where do you want to see yourself?

I hope to see myself at the top of my career. I want to be one of the best actresses, one of the best producers and then one of the best role models. Which movie so far can you say is your best? I haven’t done my best yet. My best is yet to come. Which movie remains your most challenging? Ogun Mi. It was tough. I was paired with top actresses like Sikirat Sindodo, Yinka Odusanya, Kemi Afolabi, Iyabo Ojo and I was the only one who was not up to their level then. The director even made me cry because at some point, he scolded me for not being able to act. I later picked up and did my scenes very well and he was pleased with me. What is it that you like most about being in the industry? As an actress, acting takes away all my worries. When I am on set I am empty. I don’t remember problems, worries, all I am thinking about is my job. What jobs are you doing currently? This year, I have done two jobs already. I did Tomilola the Taxi Driver, I just finished another one but I don’t want to talk about that. More jobs are coming. We having this interview at AEG’s office, are you a member of the family? Yes. AEG is my consultancy company, the chairman is also a godfather to me and a big mentor. I’m his protégé. It has been wonderful working with the AEG family. Who is that Yoruba star that you have dreamt of acting with, but yet to do so? I want to act with everybody both English and Yoruba. I believe I have not done my best yet, so I am yet to act with some certain people. When you don’t have confidence in yourself you would be drowned on set when you meet big names. Acting with big names has really helped my career a lot. What can make Tope cry? I am a very emotional person. I hate people shouting at me. When I’m angry sometimes I also cry. Were you over pampered as an only child? Yes. I am the only child of my mum and I grew up alone for a long time before I had younger ones and my younger ones are so little. Even till now. I am the eldest. So, I am used to being alone. My grandma over pampered me. And you expect such from your husband too? Yes o, because I love to be pampered. By Christian A Gadibe and Anthony Obi

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CRIME

Two men found guilty of rape following Sapphire investigation Two men who attacked and raped a woman in central London have been found guilty today at court.

The victim - now aged 26 - befriended the men after leaving a bar in the West End and accepted an offer of a lift home. But she was attacked in the vehicle. Suliman Ali, 21, of Holcroft Court, Clipstone Street, W1 and Ahmed Ahmed, 21, of Parsons House, Hall Place, W2 pleaded not guilty, but after a trial at Wood Green Crown Court they were convicted on friday,1 March. Both Ali and Ahmed will be sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday 5 April. On 6 October 2011 the woman had been out for the evening with work colleagues. They had been for drinks and ended the evening at a bar in the West End. She left the bar at approx. 01:00hrs on 7 October 2011 on her own and tried to make her way to a tube station; however she became lost and disorientated. The woman was befriended by two men who walked with her. They arrived at Edgware Road Tube Station but it was shut. The woman was offered a lift to her home in Wandsworth by the men, which she ac-

Ahmed Ahmed cepted. She was in the back of the car and the two men in the front. She realised something was amiss when they drove past Edgware Road Tube Station twice, and she then became anxious. She asked to get out of the vehicle and they pulled up in a small side street. The driver - Ali - then got into the back of the vehicle and raped her. Ahmed remained in the front passenger

Suliman Ali seat. After the assault the woman managed to escape and ran off. She found herself in Edgware Road and was picked up by a Black Cab driver who took her home. She called police later that morning. Inquiries by detectives from Sapphire led to two men being identiﬁed by DNA - they were arrested in November 2011 and later charged. Both faced a charge of rape as Ahmed was deemed to be acting in concert

Two Teenagers convicted of manslaughter A teenage girl and her boyfriend have been convicted of the manslaughter of an aspiring young footballer.

The 14-year-old girl and 17-yearold boy [16 years of age at the time of the incident] had appeared at the Old Bailey charged with the murder of 15year-old Junior Nkwelle in Lambeth in 2012. The pair were found not guilty of murdering the teenager but guilty of manslaughter. They are to be sentenced on Friday 5 April. During the four-week trial the court heard how on the evening of 27 September 2012, Junior and a group of friends were playing football on a green area at outside Secker House on the Loughborough Estate, SW9. Between 20:00hrs and 21:00hrs the boys were approached by a group of females and an exchange of words between the boys and the 14-year-old girl who was part of the other group took place. The girl then threatened the boys stating that she would get her boyfriend to come to Secker House to stab one of them. Shortly after making her threats the girl went home only to return moments later carrying a knife. As she approached the group she had a knife in hand, it was swiftly taken away from her by one of her friends. No longer in possession of the knife,

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the teenage girl phoned her boyfriend who arrived shortly after 21:15hrs. As the boyfriend approached the group of boys he singled out Junior and a ﬁght broke out between the two. The teenage boy then produced a knife and Junior was fatally stabbed in the chest before ﬂeeing the scene and heading in the direction of Coldharbour Lane. Shorty after the attack the emergency services were called and the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance attended. They were unable to save Junior’s life and he was pronounced dead at the scene. In the early hours of the following day the 14-year-old girl was arrested in connection with the incident, followed by her boyfriend two days after. Detective Chief Inspector Charles King, of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: “The death of Junior Nkwelle illustrates the terrible consequences of what appears to be the casual acceptance that knives have a part to play in minor disputes between young people in some parts of our community. “Junior was playing football with friends, as he did regularly, on the estate where he lived. Following what appears to be quite a trivial argument. “This has been a sensitive investigation given the age of those involved. I would especially like to pay tribute to

Junior Nkwelle

the young witnesses who had the sense of responsibility to give evidence, despite all the difﬁcult circumstances in which they found themselves. I also acknowledge the despair and devastation this act has had upon Junior’s mother and brothers. “I hope that these convictions today go some way in helping Junior’s family move forward. I also hope that they will act as a warning to others. Situations such as these can only ever have tragic consequences for all those involved.”

with Ali. Ali maintained that everything that happened was with the woman’s consent. Ahmed initially denied being at the location or near the victim at all. He later changed his defence to say that he may have been in the car previously with a woman which is how his DNA came to be there. The jury rejected their stories after a trial that began on Monday 18 February. Detective Constable Jenny Thrower, of Sapphire, said: “Even thought DNA evidence linked both men to the crime, they pleaded not guilty and consequently prolonged this young woman’s search for justice. “She was determined to give evidence at court and we must applaud her courage in agreeing to testify. “The verdict helps illustrate our commitment to dealing with sexual assault and bringing those responsible before the courts. “It is possible that there are other victims of Ali and Ahmed who have yet to come forward. If so we ask such people to contact Sapphire ofﬁcers on 020 8733 5999, or via our non-emergency line 101.”

Police swoop on pub following drug tip-offs One man has been charged and 20 men arrested on various drugs and public order offences after police raided a pub. Officers from Lewisham’s Operation Drummer unit, Lewisham council licensing officers and the Met’s Territorial Support Group seized a stun gun and a “significant” quantity of Class A drugs during the operation at the Downham Tavern in Downham Way on Friday. More than 60 officers and sniffer dogs were involved in the raid after tip-offs about alleged drug-dealing at the premises. The 20 arrests were made on the premises. Seven were for possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply, one for a firearms offence and the rest included public order offences, affray, supply of Class A drugs and possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. The pub’s licence is now being reviewed. Various licensing measures have been put in place until a full review is heard later next month. A 53-year-old man has been charged with possession of a firearm. He was due to appear at Bromley Magistrates’ Court yesterday. Some of those arrested remained in police custody yesterday at the time of going to press. Lewisham Borough Commander chief superintendent Russell Nyman, who oversaw the operation from a helicopter above the premises, said: “Responding to intelligence, we mounted this operation to tackle criminality at the very heart of our community and made a number of an arrests as a result.

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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Sounds of Diaspora People of America

Spoilt Kanye sulks at seven

Kanye West: “Number seven bothers me.”

Kanye West has come out punching over what he sees as an insulting 7th place ranking in MTV’s “Hottest MCs List”.

West was ranked behind Drake at number 5 and Big Sean at 6 (the top places have not yet been announced), and wasn’t shy about sharing his outrage. In an arrogant move bordering on megalomania, the outspoken rapper called in to New York’s Hot 97 station on Tuesday, defending his rapping skills and claiming it’s all due to a personal dislike. “Number seven bothers me,” West complained to DJ Enuff, “I feel like for them to put me at number seven, they had to bring

up things they didn’t like,” he continues. “It’s definitely not about a body of work (..) Possibly it could be about overall rap MC swag.” West, who predicted that Lil Wayne would top the list, implied his high-profile relationship with Kim Kardashian contributed to his lowly ranking; although the reality TV star’s name was not mentioned. He theorised: “What happens with these type of judges and the people that review it, when I come in and I have the pink Polo and the backpack, then I’m checking all the boxes of that A Tribe Called Quest era and J Dilla all that, [then] they want to champion it.” “They didn’t like the Cruel Summer album. They want to diss me. And I’m like, ‘That’s a compilation! It ain’t all rappers on G.O.O.D. Music! On the flip side, however, he ranted: “They don’t like Givenchy Kanye. They don’t like Kanye in a kilt, they don’t like Kanye in a relationship.” West concluded his tirade by launching into presenter and judge Sway, saying: “I gave Sway his first TV, man. He came over my crib in Newark, New Jersey (..) I was getting a new TV and I gave Sway his first TV. “And really I didn’t really even want to call to even talk about the number seven list. I just want to tell everybody I gave Sway his first TV and he needs to remember that.”

Solange new face of Diesel African collection

Solange is advocate for new Diesel+EDUN line

Beyoncé’s little sister performed at the launch event for cult denim label Diesel’s new line at Paris Fashion Week on March 3.

Solange Knowles is an advocate for the new collection, which Diesel teamed up with ethical brand EDUN to create. The singer’s headline performance was the first in a series of live events called Studio Africa that tie in with the ethical range. “My love for African fashion, music and art runs deep to my core and has been a significant source of inspiration to me as an

artist,” Solange explained to ElleUK.com about her involvement. The 25-piece capsule collection, Diesel+EDUN, is inspired by African creativity and manufactured entirely in the continent. The project aims to improve trade and highlight Africa’s rich fashion heritage. “I’m constantly being exposed to such innovative African talent so I’m excited that Diesel+EDUN is celebrating that extraordinary creativity through Studio Africa and taking me along for the journey!” Solange gushed. Guests including Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Alba and Tilda Swinton were present at the weekend event. Diesel founder Renzo Rosso explained more about the initiative. “We married the competencies of EDUN in African trade, with our know-how and outreach, to create something that was never done before: denim which is completely sourced and manufactured in Africa and distributed all over the world,” Renzo explained. “But even more, with this project we want to show to consumers and to industry alike, that it is indeed possible to source, produce, and generate sustainable trade in Africa.” The eco-friendly denim range is available to buy online and in stores now.

Jordan bullish over ‘bogus’ paternity suit

Michael Jordan

Basketball legend Michael Jordan has asked a Georgia court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him by a woman who says the NBA hall of famer is the father of her 16-year-old son. Jordan’s lawyer John Mayoue said in the document filed on Monday (March 4) that the six-time NBA champion is not the father of Pamela Smith’s son. Jordan, who is majority stakeholder of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, has called the claim false, saying the paternity of the teen has already been “conclusively established” in divorce filings between Smith and her ex-husband. Jordan, 50, released a statement to The Associated Press on Monday through his spokeswoman Estee Portnoy saying, “Public records show that the paternity of the child was established in a prior case in

this same court many years ago and that Michael is not the father. He also filed a counterclaim seeking sanctions for the false claims made against him. It is unfortunate that well-known figures are the target of these kinds of claims. Michael Jordan will vigorously defend himself and his reputation.” Jordan’s response to Smith’s February 6 lawsuit called it a “shameless, bad faith attempt to abuse the legal system.” Smith’s lawsuit requests Jordan take a paternity test and pay child support. She also requested the boy’s last name be changed to Jordan, and for a judge to order the Georgia Department of Vital Records to issue him a new birth certificate. Given the mother’s request that the child adopt Jordan’s name, it is somewhat curious that the lawsuit requests that any hearing or trial be conducted in closed court to protect the teen’s privacy. Also, Smith’s publicist – yes she has a publicist - was forced to acknowledge that the teen posted a video to YouTube on Dec. 25, saying Jordan is his father and that he wants him to play a larger role in his life. “Pamela had no choice but to support her son and his desire to forge a relationship with his father,” Smith’s publicist, April Love – (yes, really!), said in a statement last Friday. “That’s why she is now speaking out and prompting Michael to do the right thing.” Love said Smith, 48, and Jordan met in Chicago in the late 1980s. 15 19

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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Gospel

By Michael Adekoya

LIFE HAS NO DUPLICATE

“Come to Me, all of you who are worried, weary and carry heavy burden in your head, heart and shoulder and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30.

ear Reader, in the world today, you will agree with me that we live in a fast-paced society that seems to be placing more and more demands on us with each passing day. People want everything within a short time and in the easiest possible way. Fast and painless, that is how we want everything today. People are hurrying and hustling everywhere—and they’re often desperate, rude and short-tempered. Satan, the god of this world system is engineering the society into gearing us towards getting things painless as fast as we can – instant gratification. As you can notice, we have instant coffees and fast foods everywhere; microwave Christianity and the demand for quick-fix preachers is now the latest norm because we want it quickly. Nobody wants to wait anymore for their time or turn. We live in a world of greed, self-centeredness, corruption, material, selfishness, compromise, lies, anger, bitterness, exhaustion, impatience, pressure and stress. Today, many people are experiencing marital stress, financial stress, the stress of raising children and the stress of making it or grapping it quickly. There is often mental and physical stress associated to troubled relationships, singleness, loneliness, worry, anxiety, overwork and sleeplessness. Many times this type of lifestyle causes health problems—usually adding even more stress. My friend, “Is that where you are today?” This message is for you! Cast your burdens onto Jesus He cares for you. He said, “Come to Me, all of you who are worried, weary and carry heavy burden in your heart and shoulder, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find

rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30. The word “stress” refer to the “mental, emotional, or physical tension; strain, pressure, distress that a person goes through.” This is a condition most of us are familiar with. Almost everyone today is under some kind of pressure and stress and we have accepted it as a normal part of modern everyday life. It’s hard to get through a day without experiencing stress in one way or another. Like one of my Church members usually says to me, “Pastor, I am stressed up!” This has become household slogan. However, this is not the will of God for us! My friend, your body was created by God to withstand only a certain amount of these daily pressures, but when you push yourself beyond your limitation, boundary or jurisdiction, you will begin to experience problems – headache, heartache, impatience, anger, irrational behaviours etc. Are you pushing yourself too hard? Are you under any sort of pressure right now? What are your unmet expectations? Many people today live in a perpetual state of overload - always on the verge of collapse. They just keep stretching themselves to the limit like a rubber band. A rubber band has an amazing ability to be stretched to its maximum length and then return to its precise original form. But, how many times can a rubber band do that without weakening or breaking? Do you know that if you continue to stretch a rubber band, one day it will snap? My friend, if you’re working in your house and break a rubber band while trying to stretch it around something and you can’t find another rubber band, I believe you will have to try to fix the bro-

Are you looking for a church?

Not settled in any particular congregation? Perhaps now is the time to pray about it If you are not yet saved try one of the following: Jubilee International Churchmeets at 2,30pm on Sundays at Kings Avenue, school, park hill. London SW4. Part of Jubilee International Churches worldwide. For information, you may call (020)8697 3354 New Wine Christian Church- 11am holds meeting at Ringcross Tennants club, Lough Road, Holloway, N7. a member of the Icthus fellowship

worldwide. For more information call 020 7609 959 or 07957 757 663. Praise Tabernacle- 10:30am holds meetings at 620 Western Avenue (A40), park royal Business centre, opposite Warner Bros. Cinema Complex, W3. part of The Redeemed Christian Church of God. For information you may call 020 8993 3010 New Life Christian Centre 10.30am & 6.00pm. meetings at Cairo New Road, Croydon. The church has

Gospel Star Marvin Sapp

ken one by tying the ends together. And you’ll think you’ve fixed the problem by simply tying the ends back together. Sometimes in our daily lives, we stretch ourselves beyond our capacity, and we snap like the rubber band. You may fix it by repentance to God if it is caused by sin. We may fix it by going to the doctor if it is caused by physical sickness. You may fix it by confession if it is caused by guilt. But if there is no eternal change from the same behaviour that caused us to break down in the first place, the rubber band will break again. And when a rubber band you have tied breaks again, it usually breaks in a different spot. So you will have to tie the ends together again in another knot. My friend, do you keep stretching your life, breaking it by the choice and decision you make, and each time tying the ends back together every time? Is this your lifestyle? Is that where you are today? The Good News is simple— just get rid of those things that cause worry, anxiety, pressure, stress, panic attack, impatience, sleeplessness, prayerlessness, headache, exhaustion, high blood pressure, emotional breakdown, heart attack and irrational behava bible school, primary, is involved in extensive mission work in Eastern Europe, Italy and India. For information you may call 020 8680 7671 Ruach Ministries - holds meeting at 9am, 11am and 6pm. For information you may call 020 8678 6888 International Central Gospel church - Battersea chapel, holds meetings on Sundays from 2.00pm. . For information you may call 020 8684 4934 Jesus Arena International- Sunday service at 11.00am at Broadwater farm centre, Adams road N17 The Bible Life Church UK- They meet on Sunday mornings at 2.30pm at St Giles Centre, Camberwell

iours in your life. Listen! That may work for a while, but it is not the final solution because the fact remains that you can’t totally eliminate any of these things from your life. Your only answer is to adjust your perspective and change the way you respond to the inevitable pressures and stresses you find in your every day life. If not, over time and repeated exposure to pressure and stress, your life will begin to resemble that worn-out rubber band. And before you know it, exhaustion—both physical and emotional—will begin to take its toll. Trust me, when stress depletes your bodies, your immune systems will become weak and prayerlessness, sickness (even frustration and depression) can set in. Listen! You can’t ignore God without a consequence! As ignorance is not an excuse in the court of law so it is in the court of God. Apostle Paul said, “…concerning spiritual things, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant.” 1 Cor 12:1. You can be punished for ignorance of a thing or ignoring to do certain things. Ignoring God’s Word, God’s laws and His ordained limits for your life will ultimately cause burnout. You simply can’t continue to overwork your brain, your mind, your emotions, and your body without eventually paying the price. You cannot continue to defile your body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, without paying for it. You cannot continue to worry, anxious, stressful and get angry about something that only God can do or change without having an adverse effect in your life both spiritually and physically. My friend, who sets the pace in your life? What is the driving force of your life? Do you let the pressures and stresses of everyday life drive you toward burnout or Church Street, London SE5 Christ Apostolic church (Full Gospel & Pentecostal) Surrey Docks District 163 Ilderton Rd South Bermondsey London SE16 2UT. Tel. 020 7252 2086. Time of worship: Sunday English service 9- 11.30am. Yoruba service 11.30 -2.30pm. Prophetic counselling: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 12noon- 5pm, Saturday only 5- 7pm. Holy Cross Church InternationalSunday 10.am- 1 pm at Crown House 71-73 Nathan way London SE28 0BQ Tel: 07904 234 126, 07809 381 886 Times of service:Bible study: Thursdays 8pm. Night Vigil: Friday Forthnightly 12am

heartache? Are you stressed out from trying to keep up with everyone else? Are you living under the stress of competition and comparison? Are you a perfectionist with unrealistic goals? Are you someone who has been baptized with impatience – someone who wants it at all cost? Are you someone who is chasing about “Hot Prophets” to compensate for lack of intimate relationship with God? It is very good and divine to be ambitious. But, are you over-ambitious – someone who wants to make it happen by crook means; someone who wants to go ahead or doing it by all means without checking the means from God? My friend, I believe in hard work and purpose driven life but we can live stress-free even though we live in a stress filled world and it only requires making some Holy Spirit directed and led choices and decisions—possibly some radical ones. Today, if your life has become a rubber band all tied up in knots, it’s obvious that an eternal change needs to take place. Spend this weekend alone with God! Begin to adjust your perspective to match His. Seek His face and His pace for your life. Operate from the position of rest in His Word. Allow the Holy Spirit to direct your life. Respect your body. Treat good health as a valuable gift and don’t waste the energy God has given you on stress. Save it for living and enjoying your life! Remember, life has no duplicate. Don’t die before your time! Yes, God has called us to live a life of absolute success, absolute victory, the life that goes upward and forward but we must allow Him to direct and lead us. Making it happen without Him can be stressful, exhausted, chaotic, disastrous and destructive! Be careful! Remain blessed! Sunday Service: Sundays 10am - 1pm Winners Chapel London- part of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, at Unit B1 Galleywall Trading Estate, South Bermondsey, London SE16 3PB meets Sunday 7am & 9am and 11am and Wednesdays at 7pm. For details call 020 7237 7894 CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH GRAVESEND, ST. AIDAIN’S CHURCH, ST. AIDAN’S WAY, GRAVESEND, KENT, DA12 4AG TEL. 01474 355 841, 07956 38 38 70 TIME OF WORSHIP: Wednesday Bible Study: 7:30pm to 9:00pm Friday, Night Vigil: 9pm to 11pm Sunday Worship: 12:30pm to 3:00pm

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Africa

Senegal

Children perish in dorm ﬁre

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

Newsround

Kenya

President elect slams UK over poll interference Kenyatta’s coalition and a former government minister. “The British High Commissioner [has] been canvassing to have rejected votes tallied in an attempt to deny the Jubilee Coalition outright victory.” Mr Turner immediately rejected the allegations on Twitter. “Not true that UK has position/view on rejected votes; that is decision for Kenyans and if necessary Supreme Court,” he wrote. The Foreign Ofﬁce later issued an ofﬁcial response: Kenyatta (left) and his running mate William Ruto. Both men are due to face the ICC later this year, charged with organising ethnic violence after Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential vote.

President Macky Sall has visited the scene of the ﬁre

Fire has killed nine schoolchildren at a school in Dakar.

The fire broke out as 45 children aged from six to 12 were sleeping inside a single room with wooden walls and zinc roofing in the Medina district, according to local reports. The immediate cause of the fire is believed to be a candle that was used by the children as a source of light for them when they were asleep. Fire engines are reported to have struggled to drive down the narrow road leading to the school, which is in a run-down area of the capital. The remaining children are receiving medical care for minor injuries at a hospital in the capital, local reporters say. Dakar’s mayor, Khalifa Sall, told RFM radio that the ramshackle development

of densely-populated residential areas in the city made it impossible for the emergency services to operate effectively. Meanwhile, President Macky Sall has visited the scene of the ﬁre along with senior government ofﬁcials and promised to tackle the long-standing issue of Islamic schools which are not well resourced. Human rights groups have repeatedly warned of the poor conditions in which children are housed in such schools and some teachers have been accused of abuses. Thousands of children from rural areas are sent to Dakar by poor parents to study at Islamic schools, which focus on Koranic studies but many of them have no money to pay for food and accommodation, compelling some to beg on the streets.

DR Congo

Aides representing Uhuru Kenyatta, who led main rival Raila Odinga in this week’s Kenya election as African Voice went to press, have demanded answers from Christian Turner, the British High Commissioner in Nairobi, over claims of an “abnormally high inﬂux of British military personnel in the country which began around voting day”.

Kenyatta’s Jubilee Alliance team accused Mr Turner of having a “shadowy” and “sinister” involvement in the election, and of “canvassing to deny (Kenyatta) outright victory” in the knife-edge contest. The number of rejected ballots is becoming crucial to the result, and technical arguments on whether they should be included in ﬁnal tallies have been consuming the increasingly chaotic count process. “The Jubilee Alliance is deeply concerned about the shadowy, suspicious and rather animated involvement of the British High Commissioner in Kenya’s election,” said Charity Ngilu, joint leader of Mr

“We have always said that this election is a choice for Kenyans alone to decide. We respect their sovereign will, and the authority of the IEBC and Kenyan institutions to deliver it. We do not endorse any one candidate over another. “Claims of British interference, including by the High Commission, in the electoral process are entirely false and misleading. In particular: • Alongside six Independent observer missions and representatives from the rest of the diplomatic community, the UK has had 40 electoral observers accredited by the IEBC observing the elections across the country. • British soldiers currently in Kenya are here as part of the regular training programme at British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) agreed with the Kenyan MoD. This routine exercise is completely unrelated to the Kenyan elections, and was planned nine months ago. • The UK does not have a position on the question of how to handle the rejected votes. That is for the IEBC, and if necessary Kenyan courts, to determine. We urge all sides to ensure calm, avoid inﬂammatory statements, and to take any disputes to the courts. – FOREIGN OFFICE SPOKESPERSON

Many dead as twin-prop plane crash lands Dozens of people were reported killed on Monday (March 4) when a twin-propeller plane carrying passengers and cargo crashed as it tried to land in bad weather in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Goma. “I have seen four bodies and the plane is lying in several pieces,” a Reuters news agency reporter at the scene said. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the Fokker 50, which was operated by CAA, a domestic airline. Local authorities said at least three people survived the crash. The Congo has one of the world’s worst air-safety records. There have been numer-

ous crashes in Goma, the main town in eastern Congo, where the runway has not been fully repaired after a volcanic eruption in 2002 left it covered in lava. The reporter said the plane had crashed in heavy rain in a residential area near government ofﬁces and a base used by United Nations peacekeepers. “It missed the runway because of bad weather and came down on a property,” said Lambert Mende, a spokesman for the Congolese government. Mr Mende said the plane had been returning to Goma from Lodja, about 700km to the west. “It was a Fokker 50, a plane in good condition. I’d taken it many times myself.” 17

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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African Fashion

merging from South Africa at a time when personal identity was the new differentiator, designer Jacques van der Watt has placed a distinct mark on South African fashion. Historically aware, self-referential and conceptually grounded, the energy which drives the label is consistent, but the results are never the same. Innovative thinking combined with meticulous construction and attention to detail has placed Black Coffee at the forefront of South African fashion. Jacques van der Watt’s design approach is deeply referential, meticulously engineered and ultimately divergent. It’s an ethos that embraces contrast and re-shapes traditions with an intuitive twist. The result is mysteriously familiar yet refreshingly distinct, occupying a space somewhere between history and imagination. His enormous talent, integrity and depth of understanding have placed him as a leader of South African design where he is celebrated

Black Coffee. SA as the country’s most cerebral designer. Black Coffee has shown at South Africa, New York, Berlin, Cape Town and San Francisco Fashion Weeks. The label has been nominated ﬁve times for the SA Fashion Awards and has won twice (in 2001 and 2007). In 2009 they won the Mercedes Benz Art Award with an installation that is now a permanent part of the DaimlerChrysler art collection. In 2010 they won Best Designer in a

new awards ceremony hosted by African Fashion International. ‘Every one can be a designer’ by Black Coffee is the label’s diffusion brand. Launched in 2007, Black Coffee created a totally new clothing solution: one garment that transforms into as many as ﬁve variations, each with its own look and style. This is an entire range which can ﬁt in one suitcase - a ‘capsule range’ ideal for the demands of a modern lifestyle and a must have for travel.

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African Fashion

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

Black Coffee. SA In association with

Friday, 8 March 2013 – Thursday, 14 March 2013

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Encounter

Inspiration Time With Dayo Olomu Email: iyamide.thomas@sicklecellsociety.org

Dayo Olomu, BSc (Hons), PGCE, MSc HR, Human Resources Development & Business Transformation Consultant, Executive/Business Coach, Success & Winning Strategist.

Professional Speaking: Get Paid To Speak” How Do I Become an Expert? Now that you ‘ve mastered some of the basics of becoming a public speaker and have studied widely in the field, let’s talk about niches. Becoming an expert in a niche market is the fastest way to success. You might have heard a lot about developing a niche already, because it is one of the current buzz words of the business world. The current wisdom states that the more specific of a niche that you can develop, the more successful you will be. So, for instance, specializing in organizing is no longer enough. You d be better off to specialize in organizing for attorneys. And even better off to specialize in organizing for tax attorneys. And so forth. This may seem counter-intuitive at first. After all, by tailoring your product to, say, marketing professionals, you ‘ll have a much larger audience than if you niched yourself down to market only to internet marketing professionals. However, consider this. In reality, by trying to appeal to many you will actually limit your appeal. If you prepare a speech with ten points about marketing, only two of those points may actually apply directly to internet marketing. And because you had little of value to say to the internet marketer, you ‘ve lost a significant chunk of your audience. Far better to hone your message so you have a laser focus on one important niche. You ‘ll attract far more opportunities with this kind of focus. Once you can zero in on and develop a niche, you now need to make certain that you are perceived as an expert in this niche. Let s be clear here no doubt you already are an expert in this niche, because, as we discussed at the start of this book, it is best to speak on something for which you have a burning passion. But how can you convince the world that you are an established expert on your topic? Its not going to lend you much credibility to simply state that you ‘ve loved the subject for years and have read as much about it as you can get your hands on. No, you need a strategy to establish your credentials. In his book, The 4-Hour Workweek, author Timothy Ferriss offers a way to become an expert in just four weeks. While Ferriss offers his advice to those starting from scratch, and you already know a great deal about your topic, we can certainly learn from his advice. 20

The first thing he says to do is to join two or three trade organizations, which are related to your topic. We ‘ve noted the importance of looking into organizations about public speaking. At a minimum, you ‘ll want to become a member of the National Speakers Association and Toastmasters. But don t forget that you also want to join groups that pertain to your topic. For instance, if you speak on global warming (or have niched it down to focus on green transportation alternatives) you might want to join the Sierra Club, Global Green, and so forth. This will assist you in three ways: it will keep you up to date with the most current information in your field, it will allow you to make contacts that might lead to speaking engagements, and it will help to establish your credibility. Ferriss advises reading the top two or three bestselling books on your topic. It is easy to overlook the importance of keeping up with the freshest information in your field. Since you are already an expert, you may assume that you know as much or more than you need to know about your topic. But in our information age, new books and material are constantly being released. Don t let someone else overtake you because he is more up to date than you are and never underestimate the value of being informed. One simple way to stay current is to do as Timothy Ferriss advises and read the current bestsellers on your subject. This has the added advantage of keeping you apprised of what the man on the street is thinking about your field. Next Ferriss recommends offering to give a one-to-three-hour seminar at a nearby university. This will give you immediate credibility, if you can link your name with the university. After you ‘ve done this, offer your seminar or lecture to several big corporations that are nationally known. You can tell them that you have already given your speech or seminar at such-and-such university, which, as we have noted, already lends you credibility. Finally, you can offer to write articles for trade magazines or internet websites. Many internet sites are hungry for material. They pay little to nothing, however, they will allow you to put a description of yourself and a link to your website beneath your name, and his is golden. Not only will these articles help

to get your name familiarity, they will also go far to establish your credibility as an expert in your field. Now that you have done all your homework and established yourself as an expert, it is time to put that expertise to work in, you guessed it, marketing yourself as a public speaker. Should You Join Toastmasters? In the previous week, we looked at ways to improve your speaking skills. One of the best and most cost effective ways to do this is through Toastmasters. Anybody who is interested in developing a public speaking career could benefit from joining Toastmasters. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Toastmasters is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping its members improve their communication and leadership skills (the two go hand in hand.) The primary way that Toastmasters does this is through training in public speaking. The organization is truly international, with clubs all over the world, and one reason they are so successful is that they ‘ve been training speakers since 1924. That was the year the first meeting of Toastmasters was held in the basement of a YMCA in Santa Ana, California. The group s founder, Ralph Smedley, wanted to train young men to be comfortable speaking in front of groups and he felt the best way to do this would be to present the training in the atmosphere of a social club. Early members of the group practiced their speaking skills in a supportive, informal atmosphere, and this goal continues today. However, that original club has now expanded considerably, with Toastmasters boasting over 11,300 clubs, and 220,000 members in 90 countries. Quite an accomplishment from such humble beginnings! But the reason that Toastmasters has thrived in this manner is because it is good at what it does. For the budding public speaker, there is no better way to get training in that same supportive, informal atmosphere. Wouldn’t t you rather make your beginner s mistakes in a friendly group of people dedicated to helping you, than in front of a crowd of strangers? What should you expect when you attend a Toastmasters meeting? You ‘ll find that most meetings are small, with generally around 20 or so people

attending. The meetings are structured so that each participant has a role to perform, and through performing these roles, they learn the basics of public speaking. These roles could include giving a prepared speech, saying an impromptu speech, being the timekeeper, or the evaluator, or the grammarian. Each speech is critiqued in a supportive manner by a member, who points out the good parts of the speech and also what could be improved. In this friendly manner, Toastmaster members learn the rudiments of good speaking. You might be wondering if such a program can really be worth your time and energy. The answer is yes. Take a look at this list of famous Toastmasters alumni: Debbie Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields & #61472; cookies Tom Peters, author and management & #61472; expert Linda Lingle, governor of Hawaii & #61472; Peter Coors, Coors Brewing & #61472; Company Toastmasters worked for these wellknown people from a variety of fields, and it will surely work for you, too. To get started, the organization recommends that you visit a local group. They emphasize that each club varies in personality, and if you don t feel comfortable at the first one you visit, try another. Once you ‘ve found a club you like, you can join and get started. You can see that at these low prices, Toastmasters offers great value. It will be to the benefit of your future career as a public speaker to check out a local group today.

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Yanga-Mbiwa: I want to play with the best players When Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa joined Newcastle United in the winter transfer window, he became the latest in a wave of French speakers to join the Premier League strugglers. The 23-yearold former Montpellier defender is one of ten French players in the Magpies squad, and is now working hard to earn a regular place in central defence. “It’s a new league and a new team, he told FIFA.com. “It’s not easy!.” Yanga-Mbiwa’s first league start came last weekend in a 1-0 defeat by Swansea City, the kind of result that Newcastle cannot afford to repeat too often after their disappointing first half of the season. By and large, however, results in 2013 have justified the club’s French-flavoured recruitment policy. Newcastle’s new signings have helped lift the side clear of the relegation zone, with Moussa Sissoko in particular showing fine form since his arrival. To some, Yanga-Mbiwa’s decision to leave his formative club halfway through the season to join a team fighting for Premier League survival seemed a gamble. But the man himself has long dreamed of playing in the English top flight, and believes he is well equipped to succeed. “There’s good football here, and people are passionate about football,” said Yanga-Mbiwa. “The fans live for their club, they’re always behind their team and they do everything to help them perform as well as possible. There’s also a great tactical culture and recognition for good bits of skill on the pitch, even defensive ones. There’s everything I need here to thrive.” Before joining Newcastle, Yanga-Mbiwa had heard positive feedback from existing Newcastle players while on international duty. And this, as he explained, helped to sway his decision. “Yohan Cabaye told us a lot of good things about Newcastle,” he said. “Obviously, when someone you know talks about their experience in that way, it makes you want the same.” Bleu ambitions With Yanga-Mbiwa, Cabaye, Sissoko and Mathieu Debuchy all now in the Magpies squad, manager Alan Pardew has a core of regular France internationals at his disposal. The France squad has, in recent years, been made up of players based in various countries, and Yanga-Mbiwa believes that having so many Frenchmen in one place can only be good for the national team. “Playing together all year round obviously lets you build an understanding on the pitch, and helps you to get to know one another better,” he said. “If we then end up together at international level, that can

Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa in action

certainly help the French national team.” A similar concentration of talent has worked wonders for Spain, whose national team is, for the most part, made up of players from Real Madrid and Barcelona. France host La Roja in late March in qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, having earned a 1-1 draw in Spain earlier in the campaign. Yanga-Mbiwa missed that game but will be hoping to feature this time. And while the defender has yet to establish himself at his new club, he is fast becoming a regular for France and is keen to build on an impressive 2012, which led to him being considered one of the brightest young talents in French football. His rise started with Montpellier’s surprise maiden Ligue 1 title, and culminated in a call-up from newly installed France coach Didier Deschamps, who put him straight in the heart of the French defence alongside Mamadou Sakho. Yanga-Mbiwa was included in former coach Laurent Blanc’s preliminary squad for UEFA EURO 2012 but did not make the ﬁnal cut, so he is savouring being part of the set-up now. “Even though I didn’t get to go to the EURO, it was great for me just to have made it into

the provisional squad,” he said. “It gives me even more motivation to work hard every day, so that I can continue to be part of this adventure in the years to come.” Yanga-Mbiwa had previously been invited to represent Central African Republic, the country of his birth. But the ambitious youngster chose to decline their offer and focus his attention on Les Bleus instead. “Without wishing to offend anyone, France are among the best teams in the world,” he said. “My goal was to do everything I could to get my foot in the door of the French national team. Being a France international is, for me, a key ingredient for a great career, and that’s exactly what I want to have. I want to play with the best players and for big clubs, and this is one of the steps.” Yanga-Mbiwa, it seems, already has his career mapped out, and has his mind set on playing into his 40s: “At the moment I’m looking for the recipe to stay in shape and keep playing for as long as possible. I’ve already researched the secrets of some of the Manchester United players. Apparently, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and David Beckham do yoga and eat a lot of pasta with olive oil, but I’m still investigating!”

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Joel Obi, Ameobi set for Eagles recall

Inter Milan ace Joel Obi and Shola Ameobi are likely to make the 25-man Eagles squad for a 2014 World Cup qualiﬁer against Kenya later this month.

Shola Ameobi

Joel Obi

Obi missed the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa due to a long-term muscle injury, while Ameobi’s contract at English premier League club Newcastle prevented him from the tournament. However, defensive midfielder Obi has not been involved with his Italian Serie A club lately. Officials are also insisting that injured Spartak Moscow striker Emmanuel Emenike will be fit in time for the March 23 clash against the Harambee Stars in Calabar. Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi is expected to meet with the technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation on Wednesday to defend his call-ups. Top officials of the Federation told MTNFootball.com,”Keshi is to defend his team list for the World Cup qualifier against Kenya on Wednesday before the list is released.” “Coach Stephen Keshi is expected to come up with a 25-man list for the game against Kenya,” further stated NFF general secretary Musa Amadu. The Super Eagles are expected to re-group this weekend at a training camp in Abuja with players from the domestic league before they relocate to Calabar a week to the match.

Continued from back page

Following a circular from the Congolese Minister of Sports, Beaudoin Banza Mukalayi, which could jeopardise his privileges, FIFA have threatened the Democratic Republic of Congo with heavy sanctions. In his note dating 28 November 2012, the Minister enforces the organisation of national competition fixtures in state-owned stadiums, as well as the authorisation of the latter for the signing of any contract of sponsorship of national teams. Faced with such interference, football’s supreme body has flexed its proverbial muscles, sending a warning to Banza Mukalayi this Monday 4 March. “The FIFA statutes explicitly warn that member associations shall manage their affairs in an independent manner, failing which they risk being sanctioned,” reminded FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, who did not hesitate to mention the possibility of a suspension for the Congolese Federation. “A suspension would signify that any national team or club and any FECOFA official could no longer maintain relations on the sports front (besides participating in any competition or continental or international event) and that all the FIFA and CAF assistance programmes would be interrupted with immediate effect.” If FIFA were to carry out their threat, the DR Congo Leopards would see themselves excluded from the 2014 World Cup, their Juniors excluded from the 2013 under-20 Afcon and TP Mazembe, V-Club and DCMP eliminated from CAF competitions. The ball is now in the court of the state of the DR Congo and their Minister of Sport.

Sudan lose appeal against World Cup points deduction

Zubairu Mohammed from Niger Tornadoes and Jiya Mohammed of Bayelsa United. The players will open training camp in Abuja from Sunday, from where they will be joined by foreign-based players next week for the trip to Calabar. The full squad: Goalkeepers: Chigozie Agbim (Enugu Rangers), Daniel Akpeyi (Heartland) Dele Ajiboye (3SC) Defenders: Egwueke Azubuike (Warri Wolves), Papa Idris , Zango Umar (Kano Pillars), Godfrey Oboabona, Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars), Chibuzor Okonkwo (Rangers), Ezekiel Bassey (Lobi Stars), Benjamin Francis (Heartland), Zubairu Muhammed (Tornadoes) Midﬁelders and Forwards: Sunday Mba (Nigeria), Gabriel Ruben, Gambo Muhammed, Ubale Mannir (Kano Pillars), Pius Samson (Ranchers Bees) Gomo Onduku (Sharks), Obinna Nwanchukwu (Heartland), Ayo Saka (Enyimba), Jiya Muhammed (Bayelsa FC), Emeka Eze (Rangers), Anthony Okputu (Lobi Stars), Adepoju Taofeek (3SC).

Fifa issue DR Congo threat

Strikers Victor Ochieng L and Allan Wanga celebrate a goal

Sudan have lost top spot in its 2014 World Cup qualifying group after sport’s highest court stripped a victory against Zambia for fielding an ineligible player. The Court of Arbitration for Sport says it rejected the Sudanese Football Association’s appeal against a FIFA ruling to award Zambia a 3-0 win by default. CAS says Sudanese officials “couldn’t not be aware of the fact that” Saif Ali was suspended and ineligible to face Zambia last June. Ali scored in Sudan’s 2-0 win in Khartoum, four months after being sent off when the same teams played an African Cup of Nations quarterfinal. The court’s ruling puts Zambia top with six points from two matches, three ahead of Ghana. Sudan falls to third with one point. Lesotho also has one point. Ghana, now second on the log with three points, will need to win its two-legged ties with Sudan and an away match to Lesotho. Ghana could be fancied to beat Lesotho away and Sudan at home. However, beating Sudan at its home is a herculean task.

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ISSUE 473

Yanga-Mbiwa: I want to play with the best players

SEE PAGE 22

Elections delay Kenya World Cup camp

Victor Moses in action

By Agency Reporter

The delayed announcement of the Kenya presidential polls results has forced the country to shift a camp for a World Cup tie in Nigeria.

The training camp will now begin on Thursday as the Harambee Stars begin preparations to travel to African champions Nigeria on March 23 in Calabar in a World Cup qualifying match. Newly appointed coach Adel Amrouche said his players are already in town awaiting to enter camp on Thursday morning. Amrouche, who earlier this week said that he is not afraid of facing the Super Eagles, said although they were meant to report for training on Wednesday, they were informed that no one is working because of

the elections. The former Burundi coach appointed to take over Harambee Stars named a provisional squad last week. The selection of players was local based with the foreign-based pros expected to join up later. Kenya are bottom of Group F with one point, three points behind leaders Nigeria. Squad: Goalkeepers: Duncan Ochieng, Boniface Oluoch, Fredrick Onyango Defenders: Edwin Wafula, James Situma, Abdalla Juma, Collins Kisuya, Abdulatif Omar, David Owino, David Ochieng, Eugene Asike, James Mulinge, Crispin Odula Midﬁelders: Anthony Akumu, Anthony

Kimani (Sofapaka), Peter Opiyo, Daniel Onyango, Kevin Omondi, Bob Mugalia, Francis Kahata, Paul Were Strikers: Jesse Were, Rama Salim, Paul Mungai, Michael Olunga, Allan Wanga, Mohamed Hassan. Meanwhile, Nigeria coach Stephen has picked 24 players from the domestic league for a 2014 World Cup qualiﬁer against Kenya in Calabar on March 23. The full list of foreign-based professionals will be announced on Thursday morning, ofﬁcials said. The call-ups from tje local league include six of those who made the squad to the recent AFCON - Chigozie Agbim, Sunday Mba, Godfrey Oboabona, Gabriel Reuben and Azubuike Egwuekwe.

There were also recalls for Papa Idris, Daniel Akpeyi, Chibuzor Okonkwo, Zango Umar and Solomon Kwambe. Fresh invitees are Shooting Stars duo of Dele Ajiboye and Taofeek Adepoju,

Continued on page 23

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