African voice newspaper issue 488 by African Voice Newspapers UK

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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ISSUE 488

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 Africa welcomes Obama and a cast of many

£1.00

Nigeria: Pending formal visa bond proposal

SEE PAGE 6 & 7

SEE PAGE 25

Rapist, Wendell Baker jailed SEE PAGE 14

Public sector lose automatic rises in pay A spending review announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (aka Jeffrey) has put civil servants, jobseekers and pensioners who have retired abroad in the ﬁring line.

Cutting £11.5 billion in spending, the chancellor said balancing the nation’s books involved “difﬁcult decisions”, adding: “There never was an easy way to bring spending under control.”

Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said the new round of cuts represented a “comprehensive failure” of the Chancellor’s economic strategy. Mr Balls said: “This out of touch Chancellor has failed on living standards, growth and the deﬁcit and families and businesses are paying the price for his failure.” But Mr Osborne insisted his measures, which only spared schools, the NHS, overseas aid and the intelligence services,

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Jobseekers who cannot speak English “will have to attend language courses until they do.” George Osborne were necessary and fair. Mr Osborne gave further details of his planned welfare cap, which will come into force in April 2015 - a month before the next general election. Housing benefit, tax credits, disability benefits and pensioner benefits will all be included, although the state pension will not. The Chancellor said public sector pay rises will be limited to an average of up to one per cent for 2015-16 and automatic progression pay and re-grading were being

scrapped. He said: “Progression pay can at best be described as antiquated; at worst, it’s deeply unfair to other parts of the public sector who don’t get it and to the private sector who have to pay for it (..) So we will end automatic progression pay in the Civil Service by 2015-16. And we are working to remove automatic pay rises simply for time served in our schools, NHS, prisons and police.”

Continued on page 3

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Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Have You News GotNews Makaziwe blasts media “vultures” For Us Newsdesk: 020 7274 3933

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UNHCR Credibility Assessment Report

Separately, a UNHCR report relating to Europe and asylum focuses on a central part of the examination of an asylum claim: determining whether statements and other evidence provided by an applicant are credible. UNHCR notes in this report that applications for asylum are often turned down in the European Union due to questioning of the credibility of the evidence presented. With this report, and in light of the steps taken by the European Parliament, UNHCR hopes to contribute to the further harmonization of Member State practices as they relate to the assessment of credibility. At a time when a common understanding of and approach to the credibility assessment process among EU Member States is still lacking, the report “Beyond Proof - Improving Credibility Assessment in EU Asylum Systems” provides unique insights into state practices based on research in EU Member States, guidance from other states and court rulings. UNHCR calls for a fair EU asylum system with objective and impartial asylum decisions that take into account the applicant’s individual background and circumstances. The report includes checklists and flowcharts that translate the legal and theoretical concepts into practical tools to assist decision-makers and support a fair assessment of credibility.

Publisher and Editor-In-Chief Mike Abiola Editorial Board Adviser Dr Ola Ogunyemi News Editor Peter Olorunnisomo Managing Editor Alan Oakley Sports Editor Abiodun Teriba Assist. Sports Editor Olubunmi Omoogun Arts Editor Golda John Columnists Ryan Holmes Ben Savill 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.

Mail & Guardian Online reports that Makaziwe Mandela, the oldest daughter of Nelson Mandela and emerging family matriarch, has lashed out at foreign media for their coverage of her father’s health, saying it smacked of racism. While she flatly refused to provide details on his health during a studio interview with SABC, referring such questions to the presidency, she said Mandela apparently took a turn for the worse but the family had not entirely lost hope for a recovery. “He doesn’t look good ... I’m not going to lie,” she told the state broadcaster in an interview. “But I think that for us as children and grandchildren we still have hope because when we talk to him he’ll try to open his eyes ... When you touch him he still responds.” Makaziwe used most of the rare interview to criticise the media coverage of Mandela’s health, repeatedly and animatedly criticising the intrusive nature of reporting. “The fact that my dad is a global icon, one of the 25 influential people of the 21st century, does not mean that people cannot respect the privacy and dignity of my dad. I don’t want to say this, but I’m going to say it. There is sort of a racist element with many of the foreign media where they just cross boundaries.” She then compared media stationed outside the Heart Mediclinic Hospital in Pretoria, where Mandela is being treated, to vultures hovering over the carcass of a lion. “At this point as a family, as an African, I know that at this time you have to be

Makaziwe Mandela has described media as akin to vultures circling a lion at peace ... you have to have a sense of decorum. That is what is required. I don’t know how people come here and just violate everything in the book ... Is this because we are an African country?” Asked about the hunger for detail on Madiba’s health from the South African public, Makaziwe said there was no similar coverage of the failing health of Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan. “I have never seen it in the history of the world.” She similarly criticised reporting on activity around what may become Mandela’s gravesite near his home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape – and indicated that the site would not be a place of pilgrimage open to the public. “Family graveyards ... they’re not for the public. They are for public once you’ve buried a loved one and you invite people to that. And that is the end. After that it

becomes strictly a family’s sacred place.” The interview came as much of the family are at the Pretoria hospital, including elders from his village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape, while President Jacob Zuma cancelled a scheduled trip to Mozambique after a visit to the hospital on Monday night. Meanwhile, hundreds of South Africans gathered outside the hospital to bid farewell to the former statesman after he was rumoured by international media on Wednesday night to have died. However, Mandela’s grandchildren addressed the media at the entrance of the hospital on Thursday morning to report that the father of the nation is still alive, although he is “in a critical but stable condition”. The grandchildren collected flowers left by supporters and took them into the hospital before leaving a few minutes later. ANC and South African Communist Party supporters dressed in military garb sang struggle songs with fists in the air for the most part of Thursday morning (June 27). Supporters sang songs while they hanged up an ANC flag with Mandela’s face in the middle. Scores of artists brought fresh portraits of Madiba, while other artists brought clean canvases to paint on just near the entrance. Children bearing flowers and clad in ANC flags were brought in by their families. Presidency spokesperson, Mac Maharaj, said President Jacob Zuma cancelled his trip to Mozambique for a regional summit, creating the impression that Mandela’s situation is very critical. The family showed their gratitude to everyone that came to the hospital and to those who continued to pray for them.

£100bn infrastructure plan outlined The Government followed-up its spending review this week with the announcement of plans for a £100bn modernisation of the UK’s infrastructure, including new homes, road repairs and improved flood protection. The package also seeks to promote new sources of energy, such as shale gas. Treasury Minister and Liberal Democrat MP Danny Alexander, who outlined the plans to Parliament on Thursday, claimed the project would put “long-term priorities before short-term political pressures”. But opposition parties were not wit out criticism. Labour said the projects must immediately as capital investment in the economy was actually falling, while the Greens decried the plans for their likely environmental danger. The key projects are: • £3bn to build 165,000 new affordable homes.

• £28bn for road improvements, including £10bn for essential maintenance.

• £10bn to clear a “backlog” of school building repairs. • 850 miles of railway to be electrified as part of £30bn rail investment. • £250m for extended super-fast broadband to rural areas. • £370m for flood defences. Agreement with industry to provide affordable insurance for flood-hit homes. • £800m extra funding for Green Investment Bank. • £150m for health research including into dementia. • £100m for a new prison in Wales. The spending is set to be stretched out over the next seven years: while the first £50bn is committed to infrastructure projects starting in 2015-16, the rest is for the period from 2016 to 2020.

“This is an ambitious plan to build an infrastructure that Britain can be proud of,” Alexander told the House of Commons. He described the road building plan as the largest for forty years, and the support for affordable new housing as the biggest in two decades. Nuclear power will also be supported under the new programme, with new support to help the building of plants, including a third at Hinkley Point in Somerset. There will also be a guaranteed price for offshore wind energy and tax incentives brought in for shale gas projects. Alexander’s comments came just as a new report was being published showing that the UK’s shale gas reserves are much greater than previously estimated. The £50bn for 2015-16 actually represents a real-terms fall of 1.7% from the infrastructure budget for 2014-15. However, the coalition says the figure is still higher than the one Labour was planning in 2010.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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News

Osborne snatches public sector annual rises and pensioner fuel payments Continued from page 3

The move prompted union outrage. Brian Strutton, national officer of the GMB, said: “This is just another unpleasant dig at public sector workers who have already been made scapegoats for problems they had nothing to do with.” Mr Osborne announced that the council tax freeze, due to come to an end next April, would be extended for the next two years. He said that would mean nearly £100 off the average council tax bill for families. But he warned that local councils would have to make “the kind of sacrifices central government is making”. He said the local government resource budget would be reduced by 10 per cent in 2015-16, but claimed that when changes affecting local government are taken into account including local income and other central government funding, local government spending would be reduced by around two per cent. Sir Merrick Cockell, chairman of the Local Government Association, said the cut would “stretch essential services to breaking point in many areas”. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not escape the squeeze with all three required to find savings of 2%. Mr Osborne also said that the Ministry of Defence would face further cuts to its civilian workforce as its budget was maintained in cash terms at £24 billion - representing a real terms cut. But the equipment budget

will rise by 1% per annum - as previously promised - and there will be no further reductions in military personnel. The intelligence services - MI5, MI6 and GCHQ - emerged among the winners with a 3.4% increase in their annual budget. But there will be cuts of 6% at the Home Office, 8% at the Foreign Office and 7% at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport - although funding for elite sports will be protected. Winter fuel payments for expat pensioners who have retired to sunnier climes will be linked to a “temperature test” from autumn 2015, the Chancellor confirmed. “People in hot countries will no longer get it. It is, after all, a payment for winter fuel,” he said. A “limit on the nation’s credit card” will be brought in, he said, adding: “We will act to ensure that we will stop the cost of paying the Winter Fuel Payments made to those who live abroad rising in a way that no one ever intended. “Paying out even more money to people from all nationalities who may have worked in this country years ago but no longer live here is not a fair use of the nation’s cash.” Mr Osborne also announced that jobseekers will be required to come to the Jobcentre every week rather than once a fortnight and the introduction of a new seven day wait before people can claim

benefits. He went on: “From now on, if claimants don’t speak English, they will have to attend language courses until they do. This is a reasonable requirement in this country.” The Chancellor promised investment in education and accelerated school reform, with the overall budget of the Education Department increasing and schools spending protected in real terms. To transfer power - and money - from town halls and central bureaucracy to schools he said grants to councils and spending on central agencies were being reduced while cash going to schools will go up. He also announced schools spending will be allocated in a “fairer way” so the lowest funded local authorities will receive an increase in their per pupil funding through a new national funding formula. He said the pupil premium, introduced “to make sure we are fair to children from low income backgrounds”, will be protected in real terms “so every poor child will have more cash spent on their future than ever before”. Mr Osborne also announced funding for an unprecedented increase in the number of Free Schools - 180 in 201516. The Conservatives say they inherited the biggest peacetime deficit from Labour when they came to power in 2010 and have cut it by a third. Their favourite line

of attack is that Labour can never be trusted to manage the economy again. But Labour accuses Prime Minister David Cameron’s government of pushing through too many cuts too quickly, a tactic it says is stifling growth and delaying a recovery. It believes in more stimulus, but has been reluctant to promise to borrow more for fear of being branded irresponsible. Labour reminded Osborne of his 2010 pledge to eliminate the budget deficit by 2015. “The Chancellor (Osborne) spoke for over 50 minutes today, but not once did he mention the real reason for this spending review - his comprehensive failure on living standards, growth and on the deficit,” said Ed Balls, Labour’s finance spokesman. “Surely the Chancellor should be taking bold action now to boost growth this year and next.” Economists said further pain lay ahead as the government sought to eliminate the deficit by 2017/18. “While today’s cuts will be very painful they’re only a precursor to steeper cuts after the 2015 election,” said Matthew Whittaker at the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank which focuses on issues facing lower-income Britons.

Senator chides Kenyan legislators over plot to derail devolution

Kipchumba Murkomen

ELGEYO Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen has criticised members of the national assembly who are out to frustrate devolution, according to The Star.

Murkomen rebuked members who are behind delayed funds to manage the devolve system of governments. The Senator said the National Assembly is not fully committed to implementing devolution. “As much as we are trying to ensure that counties are funded well by increasing budgetary allocations, members of the national assembly are on the other hand

frustrating the efforts by reducing the resources,” he said. Terming the legislators as enemies of devolution, Murkomen reiterated their commitment as senators to ensure that a devolved system of government be safeguarded against threats by anti-reformers. Murkomen who chairs the committee on devolution said MPs are determined to ensure county government operations are paralysed by denying them the resources they require to function properly. Murkomen was speaking in Iten during the swearing-in ceremony of members of the county executive committee and Public Service Board members nominated by Governor Alex Tolgos. He said MPs should not expect governors to deliver on their mandate without adequate budgetary allocation. “We are not going to sit and watch enemies of devolution try to frustrate operations of county government for the benefit of the people,” said Murkomen. He called on Kenyans to rally behind them in their bid to safeguard devolved system of government from being scuttled by members of the national assembly for selfish political gains and warned that should the new system of governance be done away with, the ordinary people would be bound to suffer in all spheres of social and economic development. 3

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Health

Need for accessible end-of-life care for ethnic minorities brought into focus A report commissioned by Marie Curie Cancer Care and Public Health England to provide evidence for key stakeholders and policy makers planning future care for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups highlights that the care currently being provided is often far from adequate. The evidence-based report “Palliative and end of life care for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups in the UK” describes the current demographic profile of the BAME populations and reviews the current evidence on palliative and end of life care provided to them. The report raises the question of how care, which is currently reported as inadequate, will meet the needs of even larger numbers of people, including those usually not represented in research. Data from the 2001 and 2011 Censuses show that England has become more ethnically diverse, with an increase in both numbers and proportions for all BAME groups from 2001 to 2011 (with the exception of White Irish). Although most residents reported their ethnic group as White British in 2011, there was a reduction in both numbers and proportions of people from this group (7.2% reduction in proportion or 467,900 fewer residents). In 2011, 86.2% of all residents in England (over 45 million people) reported that they were born in the UK. Although the number of residents who were UK born has increased by almost 1.1 million since 2001, there has been a decrease in terms of the proportion of the population (in 2001 the UK-born represented 90.7% of all residents). On the other hand, both numbers and proportions of the foreign born population have increased since 2001, reaching over 7.3 million people (13.8% of the resident population) in 2011 compared to almost 4.6 million in 2001 (or 9.3%). Across England, London had the highest proportion of foreign born residents in 2011 (36.7% or almost 3.0 million) while the North East had the lowest (5.0% or 128,573 people). Almost 900,000 people in the UK either cannot speak English well or cannot speak it at all. It is likely that there are older people amongst them and evidence shows that there is a dearth of translation services. Examples of best practice are understandably localised in areas with more ethnic diversity. However, this raises questions about whether minority ethnic groups living in less diverse areas would benefit from good practice shown to be working elsewhere. About two-thirds of the population in England reported having a religion, and it is likely that a number of them would have specific requirements at the end of life (which currently are not always met). Robust and relevant intelligence is critical, particularly as growing evidence suggests that a significant number of people living with advanced disease miss out on palliative care and end of life care. For example, older patients, the poor, and specifically those from BAME communities, are less likely than younger patients, white patients, and more affluent groups to use appropriate specialist services including 4

inpatient hospices. This situation exists in the UK despite palliative care being free at the point of delivery from the NHS and the independent charitable sector. Potential explanatory factors for the low uptake of palliative and end of life services includes lack of referrals, lack of knowledge about services or about what palliative care involves and religious traditions and family values in conflict with the idea of palliative/hospice care. Other factors include structural barriers such as geographical location of inpatient hospices and social segregation, previous bad experiences when in receipt of care and demographic/ epidemiological characteristics of BAME populations. The Public Health England report recommends that service providers and commissioners recognise the growing need for improved end of life care for BAME communities and that they learn from examples of best practice, some of which are highlighted. While the report acknowledges that better training is needed for health and social care professionals to enable them to provide appropriate care to BAME groups, it also notes the importance of avoiding assumptions and stereotypes and listening to patients and their families about their needs and preferences at the end of life. Professor Julia Verne, Clinical Lead for Public Health England’s National End of Life Care Intelligence Network said: “This report shows that there are examples of excellent practice both in the UK and internationally. We need to learn from these to ensure that end of life care is both equi-

table and accessible to all. “This can mean addressing practical issues, such as providing adequate translation services where these are needed, and understanding how quality of care varies from one area to another. For example, the report shows that examples of best practice are localised in areas with more ethnic diversity. We need to ensure that learning from these areas is shared across the UK. “Above all, we need to listen to what BAME communities need and remember that every individual is different.” The evidence-based report “Palliative and end of life care for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups in the UK” describes the current demographic profile of the BAME populations and reviews the current evidence on palliative and end of

life care provided to them. Written by researchers Natalia Calanzani, Dr Jonathan Koffman and Professor Irene J Higginson at the Cicely Saunders Institute at King’s College London, the report was commissioned by Marie Curie Cancer Care and Public Health England to provide evidence for key stakeholders and policy makers planning future care for BAME groups. The report also had valued contributions from the Department of Health, Help the Hospices, Leicestershire Social Care Development Group, the National Council for Palliative Care and the Race Equality Foundation. This report shows that, similar to the White British population, BAME groups are also ageing and will represent a substantial number of people in need of palliative and end of life care in the future. It also highlights that care which is currently being provided is often far from adequate. Authors present recommendations from the literature and develop further recommendations based on the evidence with the aim to improve care for BAME populations in the UK. In England and Wales it is predicted that by 2026 there will be over 1.3 million people from BAME groups aged 65 and over, compared to just over half a million in 2001. By 2026 almost half a million will be aged 70 and over. With this ageing population, there is an urgent need to address reasons for low levels of use of palliative and end of life care services by BAME communities. With Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups aged 65 and over set to treble in the next 25 years, a PHE-commissioned report highlights the growing need to make end of life care more accessible and appropriate. A report, Palliative and End of Life Care for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities in the UK, commissioned by Marie Curie Cancer Care and Public Health England from the Cicely Saunders Institute at King’s College London, published today, highlights that the end of life care needs of BAMEcommunities are varied, growing, and despite examples of good practice, overall not adequately met. In England and Wales it is predicted that by 2026 there will be over 1.3 million people from BAME groups aged 65 and over, compared to just over half a million in 2001. By 2026 almost half a million will be aged 70 and over. With this ageing population, there is an urgent need to address reasons for low levels of use of palliative and end of life care services by BAMEcommunities.

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Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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News

Africa welcomes Obama and a cast of many Obscene cost of trip may be trivial compared to potential to bolster US trade opportunities

By Alan Oakley

President Obama will visit nations in the west, east and south resident Barack Obama is on a one week trip to Africa, during which he will visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. The following is an extract from a White House briefing issued in advance of trip: We see Africa as one of the most important emerging regions in the world, and a place for the US to significantly increase our engagement in the years to come. There are growing economic opportunities there for increased trade and investment and increased engagement by US businesses. Trade and Investment We, frankly, have heard a high demand signal from the US private sector for us to play an active role in deepening our trade and investment partnerships in Africa. And I think one of the things you’ll see on this trip is we’ll be incorporating events that bring in the private sector in each of the countries that we’re visiting. And we’ll also be bringing a number of members of the President’s economic team from our new US Trade Representative USTR, Mike Froman, to representatives from OPIC, from the Export-Import Bank, and including Raj Shah, our AID Director, who also plays a role in these issues. So trade and investment and the economic opportunities on the continent are going to be an important part of the agenda; also democracy and democratic institution-building. Democracy and Institution Building Each of the countries that we’re visiting are strong democracies, and the President has made it a priority to support the consolidation of democratic institutions 6

in Africa so that Africans are focused not just on democratic elections, but institutions like parliaments, independent judiciaries, and strengthening of the rule of law -- both as necessary elements of a democratic government, but also as necessary elements of development. Because when you have the assurance that comes with the rule of law, it is easier for companies to invest and for economies to take off. Young People I think you will also see a focus on young people. Africa has an extraordinarily large youth population, and it’s important for the United States to signal our commitment to investing in the future of African youth. And this, too, is a part of unleashing development on the continent because if you have young people who are able to access opportunity and able to shape the direction of their countries, that’s going to be in the interest of Africa and the United States as well. Development Agenda And you’ll also see the President speaking to the key pillars of our development agenda, which has focused on economic growth and also on issues such as food security and global health, where we’ve really shifted to a focus on capacity-building on the continent. So it’s not simply a model of assistance, it’s a model of capacity-building so that Africans are forging solutions to their own challenges. All of this, I think, adds up to a US engagement and leadership on the continent that is focused on unleashing African economic growth, democratic progress, and ultimately that will have a positive impact on a range of issues, including peace and

President Obama will visit nations in the west, east and south security issues - because if we’re working and partnering with strong economies and strong democracies, we’re going to be better able to deal with the security challenges on the continent as well. President Obama’s hero status in parts of Africa has not been matched by his political influence if one uses the previous Bush administration as a yardstick. The George W. Bush government played a role in the signing of the peace agreement that brought an end to decades of civil war in Sudan, showed a lot of interest in bringing an end to the wars in the Congo region and helped bring about an end to the civil war in Liberia, helping to ensure Charles Taylor’s resignation and eventual prosecution. The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a $15 billion commitment to tackling HIV/ AIDS, was launched under President Bush. By comparison, Obama’s only significant intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa so far has been to ramp up the United

States’ military presence. The countries President Obama will visit were carefully chosen to take in subSaharan Africa’s three major regions, yet avoid areas thought to present an unacceptable security risk and those considered political ‘hot potatoes’. The three most populous nations on the continent – Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Republic of the Congo — all have serious governance and security issues, and none is a model of the rule of law. In what is certain to be viewed by some as a snub, Mr Obama will not visit Kenya, his father’s birthplace. The White House will almost certainly be concerned about charges of crimes against humanity brought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Kenya’s recently elected president, Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, in connection with violent clashes that erupted in the wake of the country’s 2007 general election. Ignoring the US President’s obvious association with a nation in which many of his family continue to reside, a spokes-

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News

The US President and First Lady visited Ghana in July 2009 man for Kenya’s government offered a dispassionate reaction to the White House’s apparent rebuff, commenting: “It’s for the Americans to decide where Obama goes. There are 54 nations on the African continent and he’s only visiting three, so I don’t see the real big deal about not going to Kenya.” President Obama visited Ghana early on during his first term in office. He used the brief 2009 stay to advocate homegrown governance and stronger institutions and remedies across the continent. Ghana was chosen to illustrate an African country that enjoys political pluralism and a growing economy. Plans for a subsequent trip to Africa were abandoned in the light of pressing foreign policy matters in Afghanistan and North Korea and the United States’ financial meltdown. On the subject of US finances, some estimates put the cost of Obama’s Africa trip at between $60 million and $100 million. Hundreds of Secret Service agents; 24-hour monitoring of Air Force One’s airspace by a squad of jet fighters flying in shifts; a ship stationed offshore with emergency luxury accommodation and a fully-staffed medical centre; 56 support vehicles, including 14 limos and something like 3 truckloads of anti-ballistic grade glass to reinforce hotel windows doesn’t come cheap. Ben Rhodes, Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communication told the Washington Post. “The infrastructure that accompanies the president’s travels is beyond our control. The security requirements are not White House-driven, they are Secret Servicedriven.” The US President’s expensive trip also runs the risk of paling into insignificance given the reportedly deteriorating health of Nelson Mandela. If the South African former-leader dies during Obama’s visit to the continent, which cannot be ruled out, nothing Obama says or does is likely to warrant more than a footnote anywhere

in the world. Jonathan Berman, a senior fellow of Columbia University’s Vale Center and senior advisor at the consulting firm Dalberg is comfortable with the cost of the trip, calling it “money well spent” in view of the potential gains for US commercial enterprises. The US is still nursing the wounds of being usurped by China as Africa’s leading trade partner as far back as 2009. Obama’s trip to Africa comes as China engages the continent even more aggressively. The Asian nation is pouring billions of dollars into Africa, running oil and mining firms. Africa ranks second— behind emerging Asia—as the fastest growing region of the world. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that sub-Saharan Africa will grow at a rate of 5.4% this year, about 50% faster than Latin America, and infinitely more than Europe, which is currently expected not to grow at all or even contract. Moreover, Africa’s growth is not from a small base. Africa today is a $2 trillion economy, roughly the same as Brazil or India (where few would regard a presidential visit as wasted). Of course, Africa is not one country—its many individual nations mean the growth, risks and opportunities vary widely. However, few would deny that West Africa, East Africa and South Africa each hold significant growth opportunities for US companies. It’s wise of the White House to have the President visit all three, drawing guests from the whole region and not just the host countries. Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, will be in Africa at the same time. Bush has made multiple visits to Africa since leaving office, and will be in Zambia next week, where he is working with his global health initiative to renovate a cervical cancer screening and treatment centre. While the 44th and 43rd president are not scheduled to meet, first lady Michelle Obama and her predecessor, Laura

The President and First Lady meet with patients at the La General Hospital in Accra during their 2009 visit to Ghana Bush, will attend the African First Ladies Summit in Tanzania on July 2. President Obama will be in Senegal on Thursday and Friday, arriving in South Africa on Saturday. Whilst there, he will spend the weekend taking part in a host of activities, including a meeting with the

nation’s leaders and a visit to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent a majority of his prison term. He will spend Monday and Tuesday in Tanzania, and is expected back in Washington on July 3.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Foreign investment in SA drops Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into South Africa decreased by 24% between 2011 and 2012, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).

The Unctad World Investment Report released on Wednesday shows that South Africa recorded a decline from $6bn (R60.6bn) in 2011 to $4.6bn (R46.46bn) in 2012. Unctad said this was largely due to net divestment in the third quarter of 2012 as a foreign mining company offloaded its stake in a local subsidiary. However, South Africa was Africa’s third-largest recipient of FDI inflows in 2012, after Nigeria and Mozambique. Although the decrease in FDI represented a 24% year-on-year reduction, it was above the pre-recession average of $3.9bn (R39.39bn) a year. Furthermore, South Africa experienced far more FDI inflows in greenfield new investments, particularly in the renewable energy sector. FDI flows into South Africa represented 9.1% of Africa’s total inflows in 2012. South Africa’s total FDI inward stock stood at $139bn (R1.4trn) in 2012, repre-

senting 35.6% of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 9.9% in 1995. South Africa’s stock of FDI in Africa stood at $18bn (R181bn). In 2012, FDI flows into Africa increased by 5% to $50bn (R505bn). Jorge Maia, head of research at the Industrial Development Corporation, said South Africa should not be concerned yet. “Even though you did have a decline last year, obviously the global conditions remain very difficult. Most of the regions of the world experienced a decline in FDI flows. South Africa was not alone there,” he said. Maia said there were reasons South Africa lagged behind Nigeria and Mozambique. “In Nigeria there is a lot of inflows going into extractive industries, natural industries and the oil industry,” he said. Mozambique was also attracting investment into its natural resources. “The bulk of the big investment is focusing on specific natural resources such as gas fields and coal fields,” he said. Maia said South Africa’s performance was good in a year that most citizens viewed as difficult one. “We are compet-

ing in a very fiercely competitive global environment. Countries are scrambling for FDI and in Africa you’ve got so many countries looking for FDI,” he said. “We will have to play the game very

cleverly. We have to make sure that we have an attractive investment environment in this country otherwise, we will lag behind.”

Central Bank of Nigeria’s Cashless Policy Extends to more States The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy is to commence in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), Abia, Anambra, Kano, Ogun and Rivers States effective July 1, 2013. The policy, which is currently operational in Lagos State, aims at reducing the amount of physical cash circulating in the economy, and encouraging more electronic-based transactions payments for goods, services, transfers among others. The policy is aimed at driving development and modernization of the payment system within these States as all individuals and corporates will be encouraged to adopt electronic payment and banking options. The following modalities will thereby apply in the above mentioned States from July 1, 2013: The cash-in-transit lodgment and cash evacuation services will no longer be available to customers or merchants; 3rd party cheques above N150,000 shall

NOT be eligible for encashment over the counter. Value for such cheques shall only be received through lodgments into customer’s account; For individual account holders, charges will apply when daily withdrawals and deposits are in excess of N500,000;For corporate account holders, charges will apply when daily withdrawals and deposits are in excess of N3,000,000 The applicable charges under the policy are for deposit- individual 2% on excess; corporate 3%. For withdrawal- individual 3% on excess; corporate 5% on excess. Exemptions have however been granted on lodgments and withdrawals for accounts operated by Embassies, Diplomatic Missions, Multilateral Agencies, Aid Donor Agencies, Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government (revenue collections only), Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs).

Ghana Gas Owes Sinopec, $750m Project Halts Construction work at the $750 million Atuabo gas processing plant in the Western Region of Ghana has stalled due to lack of funds to pay contractors working on the project. According to report, state-owned Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas), reportedly owes Chinese construction company, Sinopec, more than $400 million, resulting in some sub-contractors abandoning the project site. 8

The situation has been compounded by a vessel which arrived in the country to carry out post-offshore survey on the offshore pipes also leaving the project site. According to official sources, the main contractor has not been able to pay $30 million it owes the sub-contractor and that the post-offshore survey vessel left after several postponements of the dates the main contractor promised to pay.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Boko Haram leader is from Niger Republic Peter Olorunnisomo

According to a report by the Nigerian Senate joint committee, the leader of the Boko Haram sect which has terrorised the northern part of Nigeria has been reported be from neighbouring Niger Republic.

The man, identiﬁed as Abubakar Shekau, was initially thought to have been an indigene of Shekau village in Yobe state of Nigeria until the visit of the committee to the Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima who told them that Shekau hailed from Niger Republic. The senate joint committeee stated this in its report investigating the violent attacks witnessed in Baga town, Borno state. The report also noted that the Boko Haram sect was comprised of some Chadian and Cameroonian nationalities but was dominated as much as 80% by Kanuris from Niger Republic. The sect had ter-

rorised the country from common armed robberies in Maiduguri to brazen terrorist methods of daring and brigandage holding the country to ransom with attacks on cities like Kano, Kaduna, and Abuja; all in the northern part of Nigeria Shekau who became leader of the group in 2009 after his predecessor, Mohammed Yusuf, died in 2009 in police custody regrouped the sect. It is noted that he has hardly made public or open appearances since then but he is known to have made recorded videos where he claims responsibility for attacks and mocks the efforts of the Nigerian government. The Baga town incident, by the Senate report stated that “the death toll of 185 was exaggerated but there may be more than 37 deaths. This is possible as there is no documentary evidence from either the natives or the military to ascertain ﬁgure quoted.”

Abubakar Shekau (wanted Boko Haram Leader)

1st D-8 Trade Ministers confab holds in Nigeria Peter Olorunnisomo The ﬁrst meeting of Trade ministers known as the Developing Eight (D-8) countries recently took place in Abuja, Nigeria to implement the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and improve intra-trade relations among member countries .

The D-8 countries include include Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan and Egypt. The Nigerian Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, commenting on the need for such an alliance averred that “if you look(ed) at the eight countries, they are countries of a sizeable proportion of the world’s GDP, and if they can come together and implement the Preferential Trade Agreement, it will be a win-win situation for every country. He added that “the D8 countries have come together as developing economies to help and support each other, to make sure that through trade they can deliver sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The idea is to look at certain items which are imported by different countries or produce based on competitive advantage.” In pointing out the imperatives of the group, he noted that “as a result of the current global ﬁnancial, economic and sovereign debt crises which have adversely affected many countries, most countries have realised trade and investment are the most powerful tools for achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth and

development.” Underlining the importance of a methodology, Mr. Agagnga pointed out that Nigeria, on its part, would work closely with other D8 countries to strengthen and improve mutually beneficial trade relationships among member countries within the next five years. Consequently, he proffered the need for country and regional strategies to be developed based on areas where each country enjoyed comparative and competitive advantages. Nigeria would also develop her own strategies on similar lines one of which would be to examine appropriately import substitution relative to trading with any of the member countries. “There are three most important things that D8 member countries need to work on immediately. The first thing is to allow our business men and women to have easy visas which will make it easier for them to move across member countries to do their businesses. “The second thing is to have a better and friendlier environment for customs in terms of operations. “The third thing is to have a Preferential Trade Agreement across member countries in the areas where we have competitive and comparative advantage.” Speaking specifically about Nigeria, the Honourable Minister said, “Our emphasis will be on improving the quality, volume and value of trade by moving away from exporting raw materials to exporting semi-processed and finished goods so that we can create jobs locally.”

Members of the D-8 with President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria

Also speaking on the D-8, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru called on the Organised Private Sectors of the D-8 countries to take advantage of the Preferential Trade Agreement to boost trade and investment among member countries. He pointed out that “the Trade Ministers Council Meeting, as the highest policy making body of the Preferential Trade Agreement, is expected to consider the report of the Supervisory Committee on the PTA and the junior ofﬁcials’ trade meeting, which took place on Monday.” In his opening remarks, Dr. Seyed Mousavi, Secretary-General of D-8 said

that the meeting would look to practical approaches toward increasing intra-trade among D8 countries. He said, “One of the core objectives of the D8 Roadmap is to increase the intra trade of D-8 countries to at least 15 to 20 per cent of their total trade in the world by the end of 2018. Mr Aganga noted that “at the moment, the value of intra trade between D8 countries as of 2012, is about $150 billion, but our target is $500 billion in the next ﬁve years.” By the ‘Abuja Declaration’, the D8’s Preferential Trade Agreement will also attempt to make sure that Africa forms an integral part of the global chain through various trade developments. 9

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Empowering minds and imparting lives in Osun

By Mike Abiola

ike Abiola, Editor in Chief of African Voice reports on his visit to the State of Osun in Nigeria to witness the official launch of Opon Imo, a tablet of knowledge. Education is a critical tool for development, yet most leaders in Africa ignore this fact and instead squander resources on white elephant projects with no direct bearing on human capacity building. Osun, a state in the southwest of Nigeria is one of the beneficiary territories of the free education scheme of late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. But over the years, education has not enjoyed such pronged focus from previous administration. So, when an administration comes in with a determination to revolutionise education, it is imminent that the region is again about to witness another historic achievement reminiscent of the Awolowo days. The launch of (Opon Imo), tablet of knowledge is aimed at creating world class learning conditions for the next generation. The official launch proved to every doubting Thomas that it is, indeed, possible to

equip students with this powerful, educational tool. My visit afforded me the opportunity to travel by road to the venue of the launch in Ilesha via Gbongan - Ife Road and back to Osogbo. The trip allowed me time to interact with the people of the state who are the direct beneﬁciaries of the innovative policy. Everywhere, across the state, the impact of governance is being felt. The governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is seen as a God-sent at this period in the life of the state in view of his approach to administration and the public value of the dimension of projects he is embarking on. The Aregbesola led government is embarking on several projects geared towards capturing the hearts, needs, and empowering the minds of the young ones. Opon Imo is just one of such developmental projects. Ogbeni Aregbesola’s purposeful, passionate and focused committment on development through education is targeted at the youths. The strategy in ‘catching them young’, and preparing them as responsible leaders of tomorrow will account, in part, for the reason his administration is revamp-

Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola holding up a copy of Opon Imo (Table of Knowledge)

Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, his wife, Sherifat and his son Kabiru Aregbesola

ing and giving a massive boost to the education sector. The administration’s commitment to raise the living standards of the people and through education has been a priority. And through the instrument of an education summit to crystallise the agenda, it has clearly been demonstrated that the state is determined to attain achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Highlights of the steps taken include the construction of state-of-the-art schools with modern facilities, free uniforms, elementary school free meals, payment of registration fee and WASC examinations, bursary, scholarship awards and, now, the e-learning project. The concerns of many Africans, Nigerians, and indigenes of Osun state in the diaspora asking why challenges facing the continent cannot be tackled by educational empowerment of the people as a means is being answered. It is therefore noteworthy to witness the developmental agenda of Osun state of in enriching lives positively, 10

and prescribed for replication by every serious- minded leader in Nigeria and Africa as a whole to lift the people out of degradation and poverty. The almost three-year old administration of the governor rendered, on his ﬁrst 100 days in ofﬁce, employment of 20,000 youths through the Youth Empowerment Scheme, OYES and a further 20,000 employed in the second year. This is a record - breaking initiative among government in Nigeria. With the introduction of calisthenics into schools, the state is grooming a generation of physically robust and mentally sound students for leadership. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola brought into Osun state governance a revolutionary step in the teaching methodology of delivering education using technology as a veritable tool to impact on the peoples’ aspirations and learning processes. It is instructive for purposeful and visionary leadership in Africa to inculcate technology to drive development.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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State of Osun students in callisthenics display to celebrate this Year’s Children’s Day at Osogbo City Stadium

Dignitaries at the launch: Former Governor of Osun Bisi Akande, Deputy Governor Titi Laoye - Tomori, Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, his wife, Sherifat and Nigeria’s Speaker House of Representative Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. Governor Rauf Aregbesola said his administration embarked on the project to build a knowledge-based society and digitaldriven economy to build human capacity to gain competitive advantage. Governor Aregbesola while addressing the gathering at the ofﬁcial unveiling ceremony said Africans should no longer accept the tag of a continent without hope or future, insisting that with the launch of Opon Imo, Nigeria and, indeed, the entire black continent has sent a signal of its arrival on the world stage of development. Aregbesola said there could be little argument that Opon-Imo is a veritable tablet of knowledge that levels the learning playing ﬁelds for all students from different social backgrounds. The tablet will allow students to learn at their own pace, wherever and whenever they choose, saying that it provides robust and uniform learning content for them, offering a feedback mechanism for monitoring of their performance. According to him, “this little device will greatly facilitate our free education policy by saving the state a lot of money that would have had to go into procuring text books on annual basis. “The Tablet of Knowledge is a standalone e-learning tablet that provides the

high school pupils with the contents required to prepare for school leaving examinations. It provides three major contents categories, textbooks, tutorials and practice questions. According to him, among other things that make Opon Imo ground-breaking is its stand-alone customised content, which works regardless of data networks, making it suitable for developing countries with unreliable networks. He said: “Indigenous and customised content like multimedia content that has 56 tutorials and e-textbooks covering 17 subjects, over 40,000 practice questions and answers, seven extra- curricular books. Opon Imo can track academic progress of the pupil. “First of its kind, stand alone educational tablet, using indigenous content. It will save the state of Osun an estimated N8.4 billion ($53 million) annually in textbook procurement costs.” The Deputy Governor of Osun State, Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, who is also the Commissioner for Education, said the digitalisation of education in the state is a demonstration of government’s effort to revamp education. She described Aregbesola as a special gift, who is passionate about

State of Osun students display copies of Opon Imo

Drama presentation on the importance of learning the development and progress of the state. How is this possible in a nation without regular supply of electricity? But as African Voice probed further, one of the officials of the government and commissioner responsible for Information, Honourable Sunday Akere, said independently-powered, communal solar charging systems are installed in the schools for convenience. The device can also be powered by electricity at home with six hours of battery life. Akere said, plans are being concluded for a manufacturing plant for the Opon Imo in Osun. Osun has proven how progressive government policies can benefit its people. Joy knew no bounds as the unveiling and handing out of Ipon Imo to students reverberated from the venue of the launch in Ilesha and throughout the state as citizens were glued to television sets to watch the official launch broadcast across the country. Indeed, Osun is witnessing a new dawn. In the words of Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, “the electronic device would afford the pupils in the state the opportunity to learn faster than their counterparts in other parts of the country. Prof. Soyinka said Aregbesola has revolutionised the education sector. Osun school children have

every reason to be proud and to be motivated”. The UNESCO Director General, represented by the Country Director, Professor Hassana Alidou, said the world education and cultural organisation is ready to partner with any government like Osun, which puts education on the front burner. “The tablet will contribute immensely to bringing about learning in the state. I will challenge the beneﬁciaries (students) to effectively use this powerful opportunity to extend their reading and learning capacity. “The tablet will be for me too a life-long learning opportunity. The message that is included in the tablet is a message of a father who loves his children. It is a message that all parents would love to communicate to their children”. In leaving the state, a feeling of pride engulfed me and was particularly glad to have witnessed history in the making. Those of us in the Diaspora should not get disillusioned with the seeming ‘rot’ in Africa but demand that purposeful leaderships with well-guided aspirations for development emerge. Rauf Aregbesola the executive Governor of Osun is one of such leaders that the continent must take a cue from. 11

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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News

Zuma cancels trip as anticipation grows over Mandela

outh Africa’s president Jacob Zuma has postponed a planned trip to neighbouring Mozambique following a visit on Wednesday evening to the bedside of Nelson Mandela, who remains critically ill. The move adds to fears worldwide that the man considered to be father of a democratic South Africa is not expected to survive his current bout of ill-health, although media reports that the former president is being kept alive artificially remain unconfirmed. The sense of anticipation and foreboding about Mandela’s fate has grown since late Sunday, when the South African government declared that the condition of the statesman had deteriorated. A tide of emotional tributes has built on social media and in hand-written messages and flowers laid outside the hospital and Mandela’s home. On Wednesday, about 20 children from a day care centre posted a hand-made card outside the hospital and recited a poem. “Hold on, old man,” was one of the lines in the Zulu poem, according to the South African Press Association. In recent days, international leaders, celebrities, athletes and others have praised Mandela, not just as the man who steered South Africa through its tense transition from white racist rule to democracy two decades ago, but as a universal symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation. In South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, where Mandela grew up, a traditional leader said the time was near for Mandela, who is also known by his clan name, Madiba. “I am of the view that if Madiba is no longer enjoying life, and is on life support systems, and is not appreciating what is happening around him, I think the good

The world’s media clings to Jacob Zuma’s every word in vain hope positive news about the condition of Nelson Mandela Lord should take the decision to put him out of his suffering,” said the tribal chief, Phathekile Holomisa. “I did speak to two of his family members, and of course, they are in a lot of pain, and wish that a miracle might happen, that he recovers again, and he becomes his old self again,” he said. “But at the same time they are aware there is a limit what miracles you can have.” For many South Africans, Mandela’s decline is a far more personal matter, echoing the protracted and emotionally draining process of losing one of their own elderly relatives. One nugget of wisdom about the arc of life and death came from Matthew Rusznyah, a 9-year-old boy who stopped outside Mandela’s home in the Johannesburg neighbourhood of Houghton to show his appreciation.

“We came because we care about Mandela being sick, and we wish we could put a stop to it, like snap our fingers,” he said. “But we can’t. It’s how life works.” His mother, Lee Rusznyah, said Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison under apartheid before becoming South Africa’s first black president in all-race elections in 1994, had made the world a better place. “All of us will end,” Thabo Makgoba, the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. “We just want him to be peacefully released, whatever he’s feeling at this moment, and to be reunited with his Maker at the perfect time, when God so wills.” The archbishop said: “Ultimately, we are all mortal. At some stage or another, we all have to die, and we have to move on, we have to be recalled by our Maker and Redeemer. We have to create that space for

Madiba, to come to terms within himself, with that journey.” On Tuesday, Makgoba visited Mandela and offered a prayer in which he wished for a “peaceful, perfect, end” for the anti-apartheid leader, who was taken to the Pretoria hospital to be treated for what the government said was a recurring lung infection. In the prayer, he asked for courage to be granted to Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, and others who love him “at this hard time of watching and waiting,” and he appealed for divine help for the medical team treating Mandela. Visitors to the hospital on Wednesday included Mandela’s former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The couple divorced in 1996. Mandela, whose 95th birthday is on July 18, served a single five-year term as president and afterward focused on charitable causes, but he withdrew from public life years ago and became increasingly frail in recent years. He last made a public appearance in 2010 at the football World Cup, which was hosted by South Africa. At that time, he did not speak to the crowd and was bundled against the cold in a stadium full of fans. On April 29, state television broadcast footage of a visit by Jacob Zuma and other leaders of the ruling party, the African National Congress, to Mandela’s home. Zuma said at the time that Mandela was in good shape, but the footage — the first public images of Mandela in nearly a year — showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to hold his hand. “Let’s accept instead of crying,” said Lucas Aedwaba, a security officer in Pretoria who described Mandela as a hero. “Let’s celebrate that the old man lived and left his legacy.”

Barclays threatens to cut last Somali transfer accounts wealth Office (FCO), asking the UK government to find a solution. They say that the money transfer service is a crucial “lifeline” for an estimated 40% of the Somali population – about 3.8 million people – who rely on the transfers from the estimated one and a half million Somalis living overseas. Somali authorities said last year that around one-third of the country’s GDP enters Somalia through “hawala” or small money transfer US Somalis protesting the banking sector’s clampbusinesses. down on money transfers last year Barclays plans to close its acA group of aid practitioners are urging count with Dahabshiil, the largest the UK government to stop Barclays money transfer business providing services bank closing the last account in Somalia to Somalia, on 10 July. The letter’s signawhich allows its citizens overseas to send tories want the UK government to ask Barmoney back home. Barclays is the last clays to extend its termination deadline for major British bank to still provide such at least six months. money transfer services in Somalia. Barclays told Dahabshiil it was “a comOver 100 academics, researchers and aid mercial decision due to the risks of the secworkers, including Somalis both at home tor in which you operate”. and in the diaspora have written to Mark “The decision to exit our business reSimmonds of the Foreign and Commonlationship with you is not a negative re12

flection of your anti-money laundering standards, nor a belief that your business has been unwittingly been a conduit for financial crime,” the bank said. Abdirashid Duale, CEO of Dahabshiil, said Barclay’s decision could have dire consequences, leading to money transfers pushed underground and into the hands of “unregulated and illegal providers”. “Barclays’ decision to terminate its relationship with Dahabshiil results from changes in Barclays eligibility criteria, which have affected a large number of Barclays’ customers in the Money Service Business sector, including Dahabshiil,” Mr Duale explained. The Somali Money Services Association (SOMSA), a UK umbrella group of transfer services, has confirmed that 12 of its 17 members have already lost their accounts in the UK, including at Barclays and HSBC. The letter to the FCO says Barclays – the last UK bank providing services to money service businesses (MSBs) – is to withdraw services from up to 250 remittance companies. “Somali MSBs provide fast, reliable

and trusted transmission of funds from the diaspora (estimated at around 1.5 million people) to their relatives at home,” said the letter. “In addition, many other diaspora groups from Horn of Africa – in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan – send remittances to their family members using the same companies.” Barclays’ decision follows last year’s imposition of a $1.9 billion (£1.24 billion) fine on HSBC by US authorities for poor money laundering controls. HSBC said last autumn it would leave the money-service sector entirely. Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland says it has been reviewing its customers more frequently to ensure they meet compliance standards. The UK Serious Organised Crime Agency has also identified MSBs generally as a potential money laundering risk. But SOMSA said in a statement: “The key issue is the damage to flows of cash to the vulnerable Somali people, who depend on remittances for their livelihood; and the likely threat of this action to economic and political stability in fragile parts of the Somali region.”

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Ten hour Texan ﬁlibuster defeats abortion bill USA

Democrats in Texas successfully blocked a new bill extending abortion restrictions this week when a mammoth 10 hour “ﬁlibuster” speech by state senator Wendy Davis meant some Republican backers of the bill were unable to vote before the midnight deadline. Although complaints of rule violation meant her speech was cut short about two hours short of the deadline, allowing the Republican-controlled Senate to begin voting, insufﬁcient votes were cast by the closing hour of midnight, 25 June, for the motion to be carried. The bill called for stricter standards for abortion clinics, banning abortions after 20 weeks. Republican backers said the measures would protect not only women’s health but that of the foetus itself, based on disputed research that suggests pain is felt by a foetus after 20 weeks of development. Opponents said it would force nearly all Texan abortion clinics to close or be re-

built. 50 year-old Davis, who began speaking at 11:15 a.m., was prevented by procedural rules from deviating off-topic or taking a break by eating, leaning against her desk, sitting down or using the toilet. Republicans tried to disrupt her by charging that she meandered off-topic and, at one point, received help adjusting a supportive back brace. Davis spent the whole afternoon and evening reading testimony and messages decrying the legislation, reciting previously suggested changes to the bill and reﬂecting on her own life history as a single mother at 19. She said the bill would have cut off her own access to a local Planned Parenthood clinic. “I was a poor, uninsured woman, whose only care was provided through that facility. It was my medical home,” said Davis, several hours into her speech. Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, the Texan Senate president, suspended the ﬁlibuster after roughly 10 hours, despite shouts of “let her speak” from supporters. Filibustering, better known in the UK as “talking out the bill”, is a parliamentary

Berlusconi guilty on “bunga bunga” sex charges Italy president Hosni Mubarak, denies having sex with Berlusconi. Concluding the twoyear trial, the three judges, all female, also convicted him of abuse of office by arranging to have El Mahroug released from police custody when she was detained in a separate theft case. As a result, he has also been banned from public office. The former PM will now appeal against the ruling The verdict against the Former Italian Prime Minister controversial politician, who is also a powSilvio Berlusconi has been erful businessman and the owner of AC sentenced to seven years in jail by Milan, added to the complications facing a Milan court, after being found current Prime Minister Enrico Letta, whose guilty of paying for sex with a 17 fragile left-right coalition – only in power since August – is supported by Berluscoyear-old girl. ni’s centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) Berlusconi, 76, was found guilty party. of paying for sex with former teenage A number of PDL members have urged nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, Berlusconi to withdraw his backing for nicknamed Ruby Rubacouri (“Ruby the the government, and now he may be more Heartstealer”), during the alleged “bunga tempted to do so if he thinks it is giving bunga” sex parties at his private villa near him no legal protection. Milan in 2010. Nonetheless, the case is far from over and Berlusconi has always denied any wrongBerlusconi will not be heading to jail yet. doing and says he is being persecuted by With two appeals possible, it could be years left-wing politicians, stating that the purbefore a verdict is final and Berlusconi’s ported sex parties were only dinner parties lawyers have already announced they will wherein the female guests performed “burfile an appeal against the most recent ruling, lesque” shows. El Mahroug, a Morrocan with counsel Niccolo Ghedini calling it and the granddaughter of former Egyptian “completely illogical.”

Senator Davis, 50, defeated the bill by speaking non-stop for 10 hours

procedure in which opponents of a bill attempt to obstruct it by delaying the vote beyond the deadline. Although used since Ancient Rome and not unknown in the UK, it features especially frequently, and often

to great effect, in US senatorial politics. After the session, Davis said on social media that it was “an incredible victory for Texas women and those who love them.”

Emir hands over power to son Qatar Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani looked to ensure a smooth succession last week when he handed power to his son, Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim, in a rare abdication by a hereditary Gulf Arab ruler.

“The time has come to turn a new page in the journey of our nation and have a new generation carry out responsibilities ... with their innovative ideas,” announced Sheikh Hamad, who overthrew his own father in a 1995 palace coup. Gulf political analysts have said they anticipate no signiﬁcant policy changes after the handover. Sheikh Tamim has already

been involved in running the state under his father’s direction. Although Qatar only has a population of two million, it is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and a key player in Middle Eastern diplomacy. Under Sheikh Hamad, the U.S. alliedcountry has been a high-profile supporter of the Arab Spring uprisings, but remains an absolutist monarchy itself. Sheikh Hamad has cracked down on dissent at home: in February a Qatari poet was jailed for 15 years for criticising the emir and attempting to incite revolt. A Qatari official said that the transition of power, once announced, took immediate effect.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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CRIME

Rapist, Wendell Baker jailed

Wendell Wilberforce Baker A man who brutally attacked, raped and left a woman locked in a cupboard for 15 hours has been found guilty on Tuesday 25 June, in a landmark double jeopardy historic case at the Old Bailey. Wendell Wilberforce Baker, 56 was convicted of the rape of Hazel Backwell, 66 which took place in January 1997 at her home address in Litchfield Avenue, E15. He will be sentenced on Friday 28 June. The investigation, known as Operation Starfield, began after retired Mrs Backwell - who has sadly since died - was raped in the early hours of 23 January 1997. She had woken up to find Baker standing on a chair in front of her wardrobe. Startled and frightened at finding Baker in her room, she asked him what he was doing. Baker shouted at her not to look at him and he jumped down off the chair and pulled the blankets over her head. Her

hands were tied up with ﬂex and Baker began hitting Mrs Backwell before later raping her. After Baker subjected her to the rape she was locked in a cramped cupboard for 15 hours where she was unable to stand properly. Mrs Backwell desperately called out for help and was eventually found by a friend who happened to be passing. Police have no doubt she would have died had she not been found. An investigation began at a borough level and DNA samples were taken from the victim and sent to the national DNA database. No match was found. In January 1998 Baker was arrested for a burglary in Hackney. On arrest he gave a saliva sample which was sent to the national database. Baker was charged with burglary but later acquitted of the offence. The law at that time stated that DNA of an individual could only be retained if they were convicted of a recordable offence. The burglary sample should therefore have been destroyed, but remained on the database and showed a clear match with DNA from the rape. There was only a one in 17 million chance that they were not from the same person. On the basis of the DNA match, Baker was arrested on 15 October 1998 and charged with the rape of Mrs Backwell. He refused to provide a fresh DNA sample, so - as permitted by law - a sample of his hair was taken and used to provide a second DNA sample, which also matched that taken from Hazel Backwell. However, as Baker had been arrested and charged with the rape only on the basis of the saliva sample from the burglary, which should have been destroyed, the de-

Brixton Hill burglars sentenced

Victor Ellis aged 55yrs, of no fixed address was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment on Friday 14 June 2013, for Burglary. Inner London Crown Court heard that Officers had received an emergency call to an address in Beechdale Road, SW2 on 29 October 2012 at 15:20hrs. A resident at the property, which had been divided into three flats, had called to say that two men were trying to break in. Officers arrived at the scene within minutes, to find the front door and three doors off the communal hallway had been kicked off in order to gain entry. Two suspects were in the property and upon seeing police tried to escape. They ran towards the officer and after a short struggle they broke free. Officers gave chase and both were arrested a short distance away. The men were identified as Victor Ellis and 28year old Leon Thompson of Fortrose Gardens SW2. Thompson was found to have socks on his hands and was in possession of jewellery and electrical equipment later found to be from the address. 14

Ellis was wearing gloves and also had jewellery, electrical goods and razor blades in his possession. He had a key which was found to be to a vehicle parked just a street away. Thompson was charged at 16:02hrs on 31 October with Residential Burglary at three ﬂats. He made no reply to caution. Ellis was also charged at 16:18hrs with three counts of Residential Burglary. Both were remanded in custody to appear at Camberwell Magistrates. Thompson was sentenced on 24 May to a total of 44 months imprisonment for the burglaries and breaching a court order. DI Adam Guttridge said; “This was an excellent response from Police ofﬁcers in Lambeth to a 999 call .They took decisive action to detain both burglars and the subsequent investigation has rightly resulted in lengthy custodial sentences. We will continue to target burglars through all means to prevent them causing misery. Local residents are reminded to make full use of property marking schemes available through their Safer Neighbourhood Teams.”

Wendell Wilberforce Baker fence argued that the match should not be disclosed to the jury. The rape trial was discontinued by the Judge on 19 June 1999 and Baker was acquitted of the rape of Mrs Backwell. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appealed the Judge’s decision but lost. The case was taken to the House of Lords in December 2000 and an appeal was granted but this did not change the fact that Baker had been acquitted. In 2001, prompted in part by the House of Lords judgment, the then Home Secretary Jack Straw announced plans under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 to retain all genetic samples on the database indeﬁnitely, even when a suspect was acquitted. Sadly Hazel Backwell died, aged 72, in 2002 before seeing a change in the law that

would allow her case to be heard before a jury. After new legislation regarding the double jeopardy rule became effective in 2005 (meaning individuals could be tried twice, in certain circumstances, for the same specified serious offences), officers from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command (HSCC) Special Casework Investigation Team were assigned in October 2007 to reinvestigate the rape, as it fulfilled the criteria for double jeopardy. However, when officers tried to obtain the original case files, they found they had not been retained. The MPS approached the court, the CPS and the House of Lords, none of whom had retained copies of the case papers. On 30 July 2009, BBC Panorama broadcast a programme on double jeopardy and referenced the rape of Mrs Backwell. In 2010, officers established that the original defence solicitors had retained a set of case papers which he obtained from them by court order. The authority of the Director of Public Prosecution had to be obtained for police to further investigate Baker. He was then re-arrested for the rape of Hazel Backwell on 14 September 2011. He gave a DNA sample which matched the sample from the rape. He was charged with the offence and remanded in custody. Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Burgess, head of the Specialist Crime Review Group, said: “This was a horrendous and brutal assault on a lone female in her home. Baker subjected Hazel to a frightening and terrifying attack and callously locked her in a cupboard where she feared she may never be found.

Man jailed for 11 years for firearms offences

A man was jailed on Friday 21 June, for possessing “lethal” firearms and ammunition. Ali Lamnouoir, 33 of no fixed abode was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to eleven years after admitting two counts of possession of firearms with intent to endanger life, two counts of possession of ammunition and one count of possession of a firearm (sound moderator/silencer). He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Monday 20 May. Lamnouoir was arrested following an intelligence-led operation in Brent Cross on 13 November 2012. Officers found an assualt rifle, a handgun and large quantities of ammunition at the address in Brent Cross as part of the intelligence-led investigation by the Trident Command. The operation was part of an investigation into criminal networks by the Trident Gang Crime Command with the assistance from specialist firearms officers from CO19 and surveillance teams from SC&O11. A search warrant was executed at a storage facility based on the North Circular Road, NW2.

A storage container was found to contain a MG4A5 assault rifle, a Biakal handgun, a silencer, 298 rounds of ammunition for the assault rifle, three rounds of ammunition for the handgun, two clips for the assault rifle and one clip for the handgun. Ali Lamnouoir had access and control of this storage container. The recovery was the result of Trident’s ongoing efforts to target gang members and organised criminals operating in the North London area.

Ali Lamnouoir

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Sounds of Diaspora People of America Bobby ‘Little Boy’ Blue recalled to heaven at 83 Meal-ticket mania? Mama Jackson won’t lie down

Bobby Bland continued to tour even at the ripe old age of 83

One of the great Blues/Soul/RnB voices of the 20th Century fell silent on Sunday (June 23) when Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland passed away in Memphis. Though he possessed gifts on a par with his most accomplished peers, Bobby Bland never achieved the popular acclaim enjoyed by contemporaries like Ray Charles and B. B. King. But he was nevertheless a mainstay on the rhythm-and-blues charts and club circuit for decades. A prolific performer whose career began in 1947, Bland produced a formidable body of work, but anyone seeking a point of entry might start with his towering 1961 LP, Two Steps From the Blues. Like most full-lengths of its era, Two Steps From the Blues was actually a collection of Bland’s previously released singles for Houston’s Duke Records from the late 1950s and early 1960s, but the LP boasts such perfect sequencing and thematic cohesion that, taken in its entirety, it plays like a multi-tiered musical essay on love, lust and loss. Bland’s signature mix of blues, jazz, pop, gospel and country music was a good decade in the making. His first recordings found him working in the lean, unvarnished style of B. B. King, even to the point of employing falsetto vocal leaps patterned after King’s. Bland’s mid-’50s singles were more accomplished; hits like “It’s My

Life, Baby” and “Farther Up the Road” are now regarded as hard-blues classics, but they still featured the driving rhythms and stinging electric guitar favoured by King and others. It wasn’t until 1958’s “Little Boy Blue,” a record inspired by the homiletic delivery of the Rev. C. L. Franklin, that Bland arrived at his trademark vocal technique. “That’s where I got my squall from,” Bland said, referring to the sermons of Mr. Franklin — “Aretha’s daddy,” as he called him — in a 1979 interview with the author Peter Guralnick. “After I had that I lost the high falsetto. I had to get some other kind of gimmick, you know, to be identified with.” Bobby Bland has left a legacy of music to be savoured, cherished, and given renewed energy as living work. Whenever a voice as irreplaceable as Bland’s is lost, there are those who will take it as opportunity to rage at the tyranny of Autotune, TV talent show fodder and generally yell at the 21st century to get off their lawn. But the better and far more honest way to celebrate Bobby Bland is to purchase a copy of Two Steps From the Blues, put it on late some night and, as it washes over you, let yourself be reminded that all this was once new too.

Jackson matriarch Katherine, 83

It can’t be, can it? Yes, Tuesday marked four years since the tragic passing of Michael Jackson, the veritable King of Pop if only because he managed to appeal to the same demographic for 40 years while not losing the admiration of many of the fans he accumulated along the way. Say what you will about the likes of Cliff Richard; his appeal to adolescents has been limited for decades, while successive generations of kids spun, kicked and slid to MJ right until his career was cut short on that fateful June 25 afternoon. Prince Michael Jackson, the eldest son of late pop star, is expected to testify

on Wednesday (June 26) in the wrongful death suit filed by his grandmother against concert promoter AEG Live, a Jackson family attorney said. Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, is suing privately held AEG Live, which was promoting Jackson’s “This Is It” concerts, for negligence in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray as his personal physician. Mrs Jackson’s suit lists Michael’s three children, all of whom are still minors, as co-plaintiffs. Mrs Jackson, along with Michael’s nephew ‘TJ’, is joint guardian of the children. Prince was 12 when Jackson died from an overdose of surgical anaesthetic Propofol while the singer rehearsed in Los Angeles for a series of comeback concerts in London in 2009. The 16-year-old will follow expert witness Gordon Matheson, a physician, who testified that Dr Murray had a conflict of interest while caring for Jackson because Murray’s heavy debts and monthly salary from AEG Live would bias his care of the singer. AEG Live has said it did not hire or supervise Murray and argues that Jackson had prescription drug and addiction problems for years before entering into any agreement with the company.

Minor car scrape could send unrepentant Brown to jail

Chris Brown is on probation for his infamous assault on Rihanna

Chris Brown has been charged with hit-and-run after he hit the back of another car while driving without a valid licence. The singer may face jail if the judge considers him to have violated the terms of a probation order resulting from his 2009 pre-Grammys assault on former girlfriend Rihanna.

Brown called the charges “ridiculous” on Twitter and posted a photo of the car he said was involved in the accident, saying it was “just a dirty car.” “It’s not a hit and run if u get out the car, exchange information (who has NO DAMAGE to either cars). This is really ridiculous,” he wrote on Twitter. “I have a valid drivers (sic) license and I gave the woman the right info. She saw cameras and wanted to make a scene,” Brown said. “I will not stand for this bullying and yellow journalism!” The “Kiss Kiss” singer was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community service and domestic violence counselling after pleading guilty to beating singer Rihanna on the eve of the 2009 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Brown has been involved in a number of highly publicised altercations, including a night club brawl with rapper Drake last year and a fight with R&B singer Frank Ocean outside a West Hollywood recording studio in January.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Gospel

By Michael Adekoya

CHRISTIANITY IS A LIFESTYLE

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were astonished and they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13.

ear Reader, to the Jewish leaders, it was clear that Peter and John were not educated. They were possibly illiterate and certainly “untrained.” Using a Greek word which is the source of our English word today, “idiots” would have been the appropriate word to describe these followers of Jesus Christ. The leaders felt that these two were certainly not qualified to understand the Law, the Prophets, or their traditions, let alone to teach or preach. After all, these early disciples had been simple fishermen; yet it could not be denied that amazing things happened through them. Thousands had responded to Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Deliverance, healing, miracles were performed. In fact, standing next to them was a beggar who was healed of 38 years sickness. To these New Testament Christians, Christianity wasn’t a language, it was a lifestyle…it wasn’t about making noise but being a voice…it wasn’t about information but about impartation…it wasn’t about fame or promotion but the manifestation of the Holy Spirit...it wasn’t an empty word but an anointed and powerful word from the Lord. They were ordinary and they were unschooled, but they all had one common BWJ degree (Been With Jesus). They acted like Him, talked liked Him and they did the works He did (John 14:12 ). They hear from Him before they do anything. The Bible tells us two very important things about Peter and John. They had been “with Jesus,” and they were confident and

bold in their message. Daniel said, “The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” Dan. 11:32. My friend, as a New Testament Christian, how confident are you right now? People around you may be sceptical, placing limits on what God can do. You may feel that your problems are too big, that God can’t help you, or that miracles can’t take place today. You may even feel inadequate or unworthy to be used by God, thinking that you don’t have the right talents, gifts, skills or background. But, as Peter and John proved, God can use anyone - young or old, educated or illiterate, rich or poor, male or female, black or white. Listen! God wants to use you, even use you in your home, in your street, among your family, relatives, friends, colleagues and co-workers. You may ask, “Writer, what must I do in order to be used by God or to experience His healing and miracles?” My friend, like Peter and John, you should spend time with Jesus. That is what it means to know God. Have you experienced new birth and given your life to Jesus? Do you have an intimate relationship with Jesus? Learn from Him. Make Him your Lord. Study God’s Word, and make it the standard of your life. Know His Word and what He has to say on any given matter, any issue or subject. It means to know God’s character because that never changes. It means to have personal encounter with Christ and know who you are and your authority as a believer. It means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, depending on His power because power and authority are not in words but in rela-

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

South African Gospel

tionship. It means to come boldly, in prayer and faith, to the throne of grace …the secret place ...and stay there until you hear His voice, instructions and directives. Jesus said, “I have given you authority…to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Luke 10:19. Paul, the Apostle, said we should “reign in life” through Jesus Christ Rom 5:17. Authority, power and dominion come in relationship, not in words. Because of the relationship of a policeman or policewoman with the government of your land, he or she has the power to stop you and you must stop. Power to succeed or to cast out demons is not in words but in relationship with Jesus. My friend, this message is a challenge to you and me in these last days. These disciples were not waiting to establish their own kingdom, striving to advertise themselves or their own ministry…they didn’t seat in church and get fat and fat after they had received power of the Holy

Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Instead, they were demonstrating the Kingdom of God everywhere they went. They were just on their way to the prayer meeting when they met a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. What happened? They gave this paralyzed man, not silver or gold, but what they had – Jesus. They carried enough presence of God that healed the man who was dancing in the Temple praising God. When 5,000 men had been won to Christ with a single sermon in a single service, the religious authorities of the day feared them, the people loved them and everywhere they went, they brought the presence of God to the glory of God. They don’t have what we are praying for today - wealth - but they have the Holy Spirit in them. You may ask, “What was their secret?” It is not gimmicks, manipulation, noise, inspirational speaking, exhortation words, programs, discussions, advertising or marketing strategies. It wasn’t even the beauty of the auditorium

a 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

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

of their local church or by their own strength. Their secret was that they had been with Jesus. My friend, this is my prayer and the passion of my life. How about you? As you stay long enough in the presence of the Most High God in fervent prayer in faith, you will be anointed and empowered. You’ll hear and see! Deep things will be revealed to you. You’ll be bold, gain confidence and do exploits. Listen! Never, ever, limit God. He is still doing great things through insignificant, unpopular, illiterate, unrecognised, low profile, humble and common people. Jesus started His church with ordinary and unknown people who are obedient and faithful to His commands. I see a new army of disciples who God is going to use mightily as we are coming to the end of all things. In God’s agenda, there is a day called, “The Day of His Power.” Psa 110:1-3. It is the day when God’s sons and daughters…the Church… will reign and rule in the midst of our enemies. It is a time of dominion when mortal men and women will walk like spirits. It is the era which God describes as, “Before they call, I will answer. While they’re still speaking, I will hear.” Isa 65:24. Listen! I see a great revival on the way. Jesus is going to use people who are presently in the pews of our churches and those who are yet to give their lives (but eventually will) to Jesus. They will impact people, save souls, deliver and heal people and change lives! The first is going to become the last. My friend, God wants to use you. Are you prepared? Are you ready? You need personal encounter with Jesus today! 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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First new political party in 5 years launches South Africa

Mamphela Ramphele hopes to make an impact in next year’s elections

Apartheid-era activist and former World Bank managing director Mamphela Ramphele ofﬁcially launched South Africa’s ﬁrst new political party since 2008 in Pretoria this week. Agang, meaning “Let’s Build” in Sesotho, are hoping to challenge the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in next year’s elections. The ANC have been the sole ruling party of South Africa since 27 April 1994, when Nelson Mandela won 63% of the overall vote, a day still celebrated in the postApartheid state as an annual public holiday. Yet the hitherto undefeated party have in recent years faced criticism over their

failure to tackle persisting issues of corruption, unemployment and inequality. In 2008 an ANC splinter group founded the rival Congress of the People (COPE) party, but have only had a limited electoral impact. Ramphele, 65, the former partner of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko, said that South Africa “has reached a crossroads.” “I for one do not want to think about where we will be in five years time unless we change course,” she announced at the Agang launch event. Ramphele has said that she has been “in conversation” with the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s official opposition, but believes Agang “can reach much further than where the DA can reach, because we are not bringing any baggage to the party.” Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, a critic of the modern-day ANC, has given his blessing to the party’s launch. “I have known Dr Ramphele for more than 30 years as a brave and principled leader who has been ready to take costly stands for social justice,” he wrote last week. “If Dr Ramphele formally enters the election race next year, and goes on to attract sufficient votes to become a parliamentarian, there is no doubt that South Africans will benefit from her experience and her knowledge – and from hearing her voice. “She is an African woman – I happen to think women make better politicians than men – and she is entering our political discourse on a clean slate, so to speak.”

At least 37 killed as gold mine collapses Central African Republic east of the capital, Bangui. The area lies within the control of the former rebels of the Seleka alliance, who ousted president Francois Bozize in March. President Michel Djotodia has declared three days of national mourning. “The toll of 37 is provisional as there were many injured,” said Prosper Ndouba, spokesman for the president’s ofﬁce, adding President Djotodia has declared three days of that 10 injured miners had mourning been rescued but there were At least 37 gold miners were killed an unknown number of bodies still buried and many others injured in the after the accident. The CAR has endured decades of inCentral African Republic (CAR) stability and unrest, yet the former French when a pit in which they were colony is also rich in gold and diamonds. working collapsed after heavy However, much of this resource is smugrains, the country’s presidency gled out of the country clandestinely. The has announced. World Trade Organisation estimates that The incident occurred last weekend at the mining sector accounts for about 7% of a gold mine in Ndassima, about 270 miles the country’s GDP.

Africa

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

Newsround

First new political party in 5 years launches Kenya At least 15 people have been killed in a grenade attack in a remote village in north-east Kenya, near the borders of Somalia and Ethiopia, according to the Kenya Red Cross and local ofﬁcials.

More than 20 people were injured in the attack about 18 miles from the town of Banisa, in Mandera county. It follows fighting last week between two clans in the same area – Degodia and Gari – which left at least six people dead. Hundreds are reported to be fleeing. Police have now deployed more officers to the region. An officer in Mandera was quoted by AFP news agency as saying: “Those killed were in one of the IDP (internally displaced people) camps where people displaced in recent attacks have been staying.” No group has so far come forward to say it carried out the attack. Community leader Ibrahim Hussein, who has been taking part in attempts to defuse the violence, appealed to both clans to lay down their arms. “We will not allow people, particularly

Kenya’s remote Mandera county, where the attacks have taken place

women, children, the elderly to be killed in a senseless manner,” he told the BBC. The epicentre of the ﬁghting is about 500 miles from the capital Nairobi, a remote area in which residents usually rely on vigilante groups for security. Many homes have weapons to deter invaders, while herders often carry guns to protect their livestock as there is almost no police presence. “More than 20 people have lost their lives, hundreds are ﬂeeing their homes, the police and the military are just watching, they are doing nothing,” Ibrahim Issack, a resident of Mandera said.

President threatens again to cut off South Sudan’s oil pipelines Sudan’s President Omar Hassan alBashir has threatened again to stop oil ﬂows from South Sudan unless it stops supporting rebel groups operating across their shared border. Khartoum ﬁrst said two weeks ago it would close within 60 days two pipelines carrying oil exports from landlocked South Sudan to Port Sudan unless the south cut ties with Sudanese rebels. The south denies doing so, and accuses Sudan in turn of backing insurgents on its soil. “They [South Sudan] only want to implement the oil deal,” Bashir told his National Congress Party last weekend. “As long as these people do not execute all agreements by 100%, no barrel of oil will be piped to Port Sudan.”

The two neighbours agreed in March to restart oil ﬂows and end the hostilities plaguing them since South Sudan became an independent state in July 2011. Under the deal, both sides were supposed to boost bilateral trade, improve border security and set up a buffer zone along their disputed boundary, having come close to war in 2012. But, in violation of the deals, both armies are still reported to maintain troops and tanks inside the zone. Recent satellite images show that South Sudan’s army still have checkpoints or camps in at least nine locations near the southern side of the border. Sudan’s forces have positions in at least ﬁve places where tanks or artillery could be seen.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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African Fashion

orto Momolu (pronounced Cut • Toe – Mo • Mo • Lu) A fashion designer and stylist. Korto was born in Monrovia, Liberia and lived there until 1990 with her parents and siblings. They left due to civil war and settled in Canada where Korto pursued her passion and studied fashion design at the L’Academies des Couturiers Design Institute in Ottawa, Ontario. After graduation, she moved Arkansas with her husband to live and raise their daughter and began producing chic women’s wear and accessories inﬂuenced by her African roots and inspired by rich fabrics. After working as an independent fashion designer and continuing her education at the renowned Parsons School of Design, Korto followed her dreams and won a place on the 5th season of Bravo TV’s hit show Project Runway. Throughout the show, Korto stood out as a designer who embraced color and diversity and displayed such extraordinary talent that she was awarded the fan favorite prize. During the season ﬁnale of Project Runway, Korto presented her spring 2009 collection at Bryant Park during New York Fashion Week and ultimately ended the season as 1st runner up. After Project Runway, November 13th was named Korto Momolu Day in Little Rock, Arkansas and Korto continued

Korto Momolu

to present her collections and sell her accessories. Since ending her season Korto was asked to appear on Project Runway All-Stars. After her appearance, Korto partnered up with Madera Exotic Woods to design The Saba Collection- an exclusive line of fashionable eco-friendly jewelry. Branching into ﬁne jewelry and keeping things eco friendly she also launched a line of ﬁne jewelry called “Green Love” during her spring 2011 show at New York fashion week. Highlighted as top 5 designer to watch by New York Magazine for fall 2010 collections at new york fashion week, Korto has been featured in Southern Living magazine, People magazine, Essence magazine, Kouture magazine, LA Times, Ladybrille. com, InStyle.com, and Washingtonian magazine. Momolu has had editorials in Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine, Kouture magazine, Iconography magazine as well as appeared on the cover of Celebrate magazine, Celebrity Parents magazine and Little Rock Family magazine along with her daughter. TV and radio appearances include the Monique show, Regis and Kelly, The Wendy Williams show , My Black is beautiful, The Tom Joyner morning Show and most recently on CNN International’s African Voices.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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African Fashion

enyan Designer, Sara Karay has made her mark on the Kenyan fashion industry since releasing her debut collection last year. The young fashion designer who is also a student at the United States International University in Nairobi, does an excellent job in blending earth elements with mother nature’s destructive elements. The inspiration behind her collections is not the common seasonal categories: Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring but instead classical elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

Sara Karay

Her style is infamous and unpredictable as she aims to stand out. Constantly evolving and moving away from the Kenyan trend of incorporating solely Ankara fabric in her work, Sara Karay is different from her peers in the industry. Sara Karay’s design aesthetic ranges from prints, especially animal print and tribal prints, and loud but tasteful colors to subtle hues. Sara Karay is currently working on including menswear into her collection and expanding her brand to a swimwear line as well.

Friday, 28 June 2013 – Thursday, 4 July 2013

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Arts

Edinburgh Fringe: Mecca missing offerings Peter Olorunnisomo

Watching the television during the Ramadan month features at different points muslims all over the world visiting Mecca on pilgrimage. It is a cultural call to the Islamic world on what to focus on as a believer. It is a fulfillment of a tenet. In similar guise, the Edinburgh fringe festival commands the same zeal. While it is not a compendium of performances it fulfills the calls of performance spread across all facets of the arts in one form or the other. It calls the presenter and the viewer to parley and ‘moderates’ the agreement of both: one to what has to be offered and the other what has to be met. The crucible to the organisers is the vintage quality and representation that has to be guaranteed. At some point in my earlier reportage (Edinburgh Fringe: Whose Journey?), I had acknowledged the imbalance that exists by the inadequate representation of richest art and cultural continent in the world – Africa. Performances of dance, poetry, music, theatre et al that is a cultural identity of most of over two thousand ethnicities in Africa will readily attest to this. Plays such as Sizwe Bansi is dead, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, Langbodo, The King Must Dance Naked, Kurunmi, etc to mention a few have

no place resting in local theatres archived by cobwebs when much of the world gravitates to untested notions of other artistic grandiloquence. “I came, I saw, and I conquered”. Yes, I did. My venture to the fringe was not merely to lead-role in the Nigerian version of Chaucer’s The Miller’s Tale aptly titled Wahala Dey O! But also to soak in as much of the culture, the ambience, the colour, the taste, and the brew of all performances and genres that was on offer as much as I could. No doubt, I couldn’t lap it all; but what I did, I took away with me in the treasure chest of my mind. I saw the Korean performance, the Spanish, the American, the English, et all in multiple diversities of creativity and realized how wasted the world would be without creativity manifest in forms of art. I was witness to people wait on long queues for sold out performances and the patience on their faces bore an assurance that they knew what they were waiting for was worth the price they paid. I was witness to the thronging of people in the streets that reminded me of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. I was witness to the crowd that mobbed the books stands at the book fair and could feel the

charged ions in the air of people with over a million peculiar usage of one language to say things that only the minds of others can capture. I was witness to a city where all the inhabitants were submerged to the flow of

Etisalat Nigeria inaugurates prizes for African fiction Peter Olorunnisomo

The management of Etisalat Nigeria, one of the national mobile communication carriers, a leading telecoms giant in Africa, recently added another dimension to its policy for supporting the growth of the creative writing industry in Nigeria and much more so in Africa. Before now, the company has been supporting literature through the children genre. The main prize is aimed at recognising and celebrating members of the African literary community. Though the creative writing sector warmed up to the news of the resurgence of the African Writers Series, early in the year, which was at one time chaired by a late icon of African literature, Professor Chinua Achebe, that the midwifing of works by an increasing entry of new writers on the African bloc did not reflect the situation was not in doubt. As though to calm the frayed nerves of many lovers of African fiction and fill up the vacuum created by the recent death of legendary writer, Prof. Chinua Achebe, the prize value will also see to the challenge to African writers to meet the standard so benchmarked by such writers as Achebe. It is necessary to note that the prize beats that of the prestigious Bridport Prize for poetry among others in setting notable standard and establishing the challenge. The Etisalat Prize for Literature is the first ever pan-African prize celebrating first 20

time writers of published fiction books. The prize will bring together high profile writers, book critics and academics from across the continent and beyond to identify new writers of African descent. The prize, launched in line with the company’s vision of promoting passions, nurturing talent and providing a platform for communicating ideas, will serve as a platform for the discovery of new creative talent across the African continent, for bringing much needed awareness and acclaim to the art of Fiction writing, to applaud and reward new writers while encouraging further participation and invariably promote the burgeoning publishing industry in Africa. The first edition of the Etisalat Prize for Literature was recently announced at an opening ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria. The prize accepts submissions from writers of African citizenship. It is specifically directed at first time writers of published novels. The winner of the Etisalat Prize for Literature receives £15,000, a Samsung Galaxy Note and a Montblanc Meisterstuck. In line with the vision of promoting upcoming writers, Etisalat will sponsor a book tour to three African cities. The winning writer will also embark on the Etisalat Fellowship at the University of East Anglia mentored by Professor Giles Foden (author of The Last King of Scotland) which will include significant opportunities to meet other writers,

publishers and most importantly work on their second book. Shortlisted writers will win a Samsung Galaxy Note and also go on a book tour to two major African cities. The Etisalat Prize for Literature is unique in that it also aims to promote the publishing industry at large and will therefore purchase 1000 copies of all shortlisted books which will be donated to various schools, book clubs and libraries across the African continent.

influx when a whole month of worship and adoration of art forms became the celebration of humanity: and cultures brought their offerings. Yet there was one whose offering was not enough, as what it brought was lapped out with a thirst for more. Encore.

Soyinka launches Memoirs For Our Future

Internationally renowned playwright and Africa’s first Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka will launch the publication of the Anthology “Memoirs for Our Future” to an audience comprising of mainly young people ages 12-21 and their families - all designed to herald the 2014 Open Door Series edition that would mark Soyinka’s 80th anniversary under the banner WS80. The event which is scheduled for Saturday, 20th July, 2013 at 3pm will take place at The Africa Centre, 38, king Street, WC2E 8JT. Attendance of the event is free and targeted at young children and their families. The organisers have advised that booking should be done in advance through www.ws79memoirsforourfuture.eventbrite.com and further information can be got by making contact through calls to 07944 579 530 / 07558 549 599 and e-mail to zmirageuk@gmail.com. The event is a forerunner to the celebration of Professor Soyinka’s 80th birthday come 2014. The Open Door Series, an initiative of Zmirage Multimedia Ltd is primarily aimed at using art, culture and literature as tools for the fostering of youthful minds towards national development and improved leadership for the future.

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Arts

The Test of Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again By Peter Olorunnisomo Ola Rotimi’s comedy, Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, found its way into London albeit not for the first time, and onto stages of the George Wood Theatre, The Broadway in East London and in Edgware for a run. It is, perhaps, a test of the waters that such a tested play set in the period of Nigeria’s early years after independence brought back scenery and issues that would have been thought to be buried in the pages of history but are still relevant today. This is one of the hall marks of Ola Rotimi whose plays have been known to possess strong doses of satire touching on social themes in the Nigerian society. Not that it is only relevant in that society, but that it speaks for almost all developing societies particularly of African extract that have been touched by westernisation in one way or another. Rotimi’s preferred fabric here is to put the daily lives of people on canvas and paint their capacities for aspiration and adaptation in the different colours of challenges that they face. The political role of a man in society is reflected in the cultural expectation of achievements, hopes, wealth, and leadership outside the traditional infrastructure but into the promises of western democracy. Why the hero of the play, RahmanLejokaBrown - an ex-combatant is chosen as the pivot of the satirical comedy is best known to Rotimi but it is certainly a most workable and acceptable choice given the status that military men had at the time and even now. It is significant that the soldier transforms into a politician and does not stay retired

after his de-commissioning neither does he stay within the cultural roots of the farming enterprise which would perhaps be as high yielding in wealth and value to society. Keeping his Islamic religious beliefs on the hand and harvesting wives, he maintains his ancestral home more like a museum of heritage, and hangs his fate on the balance of a charmed snake that must see him through political goals. His wives have defined reasons for coming into his life and they all have added value to his status and political aspirations. But the hero is simply a man. He has an ego to protect, learn the trickery of women some more or stumble through them, oper-

ate within the limited specialty of his military training as a tool for his political machinery, and learn that a harem of women is about as resourceful for a coup as a barrack of soldiers. The audience will no doubt be engrossed in the suspense and deliberate tease of the domestic tension in a house where jealousy, rivalry, marital subservience and responsibility, cultural education, western education, and a mash of cultural values brew a drink probably worse than the locally distilled gin, ogogoro or akpeteshie, for Lejoka-Brown to quench his thirsts. While I will not forebode what would happen, one may rest in the assurance that his

military experience in Burma and in the Congo would serve him well here. Though the retailing of the plot is not my mission, it serves very well to show the lengths that Ola Rotimi went to bring seriousness into un-seriousness and yet achieve filling a hall of people with laughter every so often. It is the mark of a master satirist, an icon of his generation. And he is late. With the play going on stage in the different parts of London and enjoying good attendances, it has served to show that African plays indeed have a void to fill to entertain and educate Africans in diaspora and indeed people of other cultures. The impact it would have in appropriately explaining and re-educating people from other cultures cannot be underscored. Yet this gap is unfilled and the yearning a latent one to be tapped into. While reports gathered about the shows stated that there was quite a turnover of actors and actresses in the roles which does prove that there is a rich gathering of talents in the underground, this could pose quite a challenge for the artistic direction and achieving a distinctive, creative rendition of the play to speak for the African theatre in London. Comments received would not compare it to the classicus watched several years back neither did it draw gasps of unbelievable ingenuity. But the applause of a play with local flavour selling laughter so cheaply, the appreciated efforts of the cast, crew, producers and promoters endearingly always brought each show to an end.

An ancestral homestead for the diaspora in Igbale-Aiye By Peter Olorunnisomo

When, out of the blues, a king joins up with other kings of cultural and heritage affiliation to found a homeland, not for their immediate subjects but for their subjects lost, dead, and far flung to the corners of the earth, then it is a call for home-coming. So it is that the Olofin II, Olofindji Akande, a king in the Republic of Benin, envisioned a sense of re-unification of the Yoruba nationhood without borders where all that could find their ancestry and those departed as a result of the slave trade could be re-united to their past and the their present. Whereas this may seem quite wacky but the cultural altruisms of the Yorubas does not accept the alienation of one’s heritage whether physically or spiritually. This, however, takes for granted that the trauma of the trans-Atlantic slavery has never truly healed as their are still so many people pining for their spiritual and physical heritage for their physical lives to have meaning. The Olofin II has thus attempted to provide this succour to give a new beginning and a future by building an independent city between two countries, Benin and Nigeria, named Igbale-aiye. Igbale-aiye, in the Yoruba language could be translated to mean ‘the place of rest for the world’- the Yoruba world.

And when this is tied into the concept of ‘the departed souls find rest at home’, then it becomes an ancestral habitation for all generations living or dead. In the English parlance, it is christened the African Renaissance City, and designed as “home for all nations, black people in particular, and irrespective of nationalities”, “to become one and free” from the nation state borders created by colonialism. It is “in tribute to departed and enslaved African Ancestors”, a documents on the project states. “Quietly starting from the scratch with several culture-related events spread across the year, African Renaissance City is designed to cover border areas of Republic of Benin and Nigeria, with as much as 600, 000 acres expected to be taken across the two countries.

Already notable personalities such as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Prof. Wole Soyinka, American civil right activist, Rev Jesse Jackson, Late Ambassador Segun Olusola, Giles and Yvette Saverd-Forget, among others have been inducted into the African Renaissance consciousness during the last five years of the project.” “It’s a concept that started 30 years ago,” the founder, the Olofin II profferedas he led over three hours procession of the 2013 edition of the African Renaissance convention titled Humanism at the Benin rural area of Akpotokou, near Ilara, a border town between Ogun State and Republic of Benin. About an hour earlier, the Olofin II had, on behalf of African Renaissance, honoured over 10 people including royal fathers from the border towns and some young enthusiasts of the projects.

Also, posthumous honours were given to Ambassador Segun Olusola and a Beninese Erin Ilu Rabiu Asabi Adeaga. Among top dignitaries and multitude of pilgrims at the entrance of the future city where the ceremony held were familiar faces such as a monarch, the Fadesewa of Simawa, Ijebu, Oba Gbenga Sonuga, Thomas Atanda Idowu, Arolagbade II of Dinyin and former Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON) Chief Taiwo Alimi. The concept, the Olofin II stated, was inspired by what he described as the needs for Africans to have a centre of spiritual convergence. He therefore sees African Renaissance as the Blacks’ “Vatican City”, where people across nations will feel at home, except that unlike the Roman city, “African Renaissance is not based on one religion; its home for all faiths.” And in seeking support for the project, the Olofin II disclosed that “it has the recognition and support of UNESCO.” At the period of the visit, there were activities spread across three days, involving visitors from the African continent and the Caribbean. However, the only visible structure was what looked like the entrance to the future city; a huge plaque, erected as one makes a roundabout at an ongoing road construction designed for the city. 21

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NollyWood

Omotola Makes TV Debut In the US By NEHRU ODEH

igeria’s screen goddess, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde’s appearance on the world’s movie circuit takes shape as she makes her debut in a television drama series, Hit The Floor, in the United States today. She will be starring alongside Hollywood A-list actor, Kimberly Elise and hiphop superstar Akon. Written and produced by James LaRosa, Hit The Floor is an American drama television series which follows Ahsha, a girl who joins the NBA cheerleading team the Los Angeles Devil Girls, unaware of the treacherous and tempting world that follows. The story is built around the Los Angeles Devil Girls, a preeminent dance team in professional basketbal. The show will be on VH1, Monday night at 9pm. Omotola, who was in April named one of

the most influential people by Time Magazine made this known via her facebook page and twitter handle. “Okay! Finally its on Monday,9pm! #HitTheFloor ! My U.S Tv Debut! God is good y’all,” she said, posting a stunning photograph she took with Elise on facebook. No sooner had the multi- talented and multiple award winner broke the news than her colleagues, friends and fans across the world expressed their admiiration, support and joy. @Tonya_King, who wrote the script for the drama series, tweeted from Los Angeles. United States: “SO thrilled/lucky 2 have THE Omotola in my episode!” @SarahEFahey, also part of the movie’s production team. tweeted: “Can’t wait for the rest of you to see @Realomosexy in next weeks episode of @HitTheFloor.” @Noah Tsika, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, tweeted from New York: “Don’t miss the great Omotola JaladeEkeinde (@Realomosexy) on @HitTheFloor, Monday, 9pm. The series is lucky to have her. #NollywoodIcon.” When the news of the actress’ US TV debut broke last February, it was reported that the TV series would be known as Bounce. “Bounce has all the elements we know VH1 viewers love; a world very much on the pop culture radar, an incredible cast and compelling, addictive storytelling. These are all set against a glamorous backdrop where amazing dance numbers organically break out as part of the story. We wanted to create a scripted series at VH1 in which music is a strong narrative force, and we have found that with Bounce,” said Jeff Olde, VH1′s Executive Vice President, Original Programming and Production, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at the time. With this TV appearance, Omotola, who made her movie debut in 1996 with the box office hit, Mortal Inheritance, has nothing more to prove concerning her fast rising international status as an actress and musician. Aside starriing in over 300 Nollywood

movies, Omotola made her breakthrough on the international scene by starring on the award winning films, Ije and Ties That Bind. Reporting for Leadership Newspaper, entertainent journalist Anthony Ada Abraham takes a look at her journey to fame and her recent naming as TIMES MAGAZINE’s one of the most influential personalities on earth. She came like a silken drape, with innocent smiles that encompasses the earth. Christened Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, some call her Omo Sexy. When she was born to the Shola Jalade family of Lagos on February 7, 1978, little did they know that their daughter would make a mark in the movie industry. Her innocent countenance and humility is something lots of people and industry watchers have continued to talk about. She is one of the leading actresses, a singer and a philanthropist. Though her original career ambition was to work as a business manager, and while awaiting her results from University, she

began modeling to earn a living. She has never looked back since she debuted in Nollywood in 1995, staring in over 300 astounding films, selling millions of copies so far. Early Life Omotola attended Chrisland School Opebi (1981-1987), Oxford Children School (1987), Santos Layout: Command Secondary School, Kaduna(1988-1993), a brief stint at Obafemi Awolowo University and finally Yaba College of Technology Yaba (1996-2004), where she studied Estate Management. Times Most Influential Person Recognition When the news went viral that the world’s most productive English-language film industry Nollywood not Hollywood has been recognised and that She was recently honoured on the 2013 TIME 100 Most Influential People In The World List alongside Michelle Obama, Beyonce and Kate Middleton, it didn’t come as a surprise because she has paid her dues.

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NollyWood The teeming Nigerian cinema grinds out some 2,500 movies a year, mostly direct-to-DVD quickies mixing melodrama, music and an evangelical Christian spin. (Think Bollywood via Tyler Perry.) Employing a million Nigerians, Nollywood enthralls millions more who come for the thrills, the uplift and the artful agitations of Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde — the Queen of Nollywood. Philanthropist Omotola became a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Ambassador in 2005 going to missions in Sierra- Leone and Liberia. Omotola has been active in the ‘Walk the World’ project and participated in the Walk the World campaign in Liberia with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Omotola is known as a fierce Human Rights campaigner and her philanthropy efforts are centered on her NGO project, called the Omotola Ekeinde Initiative for Youth Empowerment. The undertaking brings hundreds of youths together for the Empowerment Walk and Convention. Omotola lent h e r

voice in 2010 to the Rewrite The Future Campaign of Save The Children UK and became an Amnesty International campaigner in 2011. She has participated in campaigns in Sierra- Leone (Maternal Mortality) and her recent campaign of The Niger Delta in Nigeria, where she shot a video asking Shell and the Government to Own Up, Clean Up, Pay Up and take responsibility of the Oil spills in the Niger- Delta. Nollywood After receiving numerous high-profile awards, launching a music career, and amassing an enviable fan base, the press has revered the Screen Nation ‘Best Actress’ as The African Magic. She is the first African celebrity to receive over 1million Likes on her Facebook page. Today, she is not only noted for her incomparable showbiz accomplishments, but is also applauded for her remarkable humanitarian efforts. Over the years, Omotola has been a pioneer in the Nollywood film industry, successfully becoming the most watched actress in Africa.

From the 1996 Mortal Inheritance to the 2010 super production Ijé, shot partly on location in Los Angeles, the thespian who wedded her airline pilot husband aboard a flight from Lagos to Benin, brings a juggler’s grace to her roles as actress, singer, reality-show star, mother of four and philanthropist. Success hasn’t spoilt the Africa’s most renowned leading lady. Rather than going Hollywood, Omotola wants to stick with Nollywood. Reaction Dorothy Njamanze - Indeed she deserves it. She has paid her dues in the film industry. We just have to say that more grease to her elbow. This is a sign of good things to come to us in the movie industry. I want to appreciate the industry for grooming talents and creating millions of jobs for people around the globe. Its really great. Francis Ajala - If you look at her background you would understand where she’s coming from. She is just one of the few actress in Nollywood that doesn’t have extra-marital controversy hanging on their neck. She is a devout mother, housewife,

and intelligent actress. This does not come as surprise because she deserves more than this. Kudos my sister Omo Sexy. Uche Elendu - Though we have had criticism coming in from all angles. But its what makes us strong and professionals. The movie industry it’s no longer the way it used to be. Many people now come in from even the revered Hollywood. We hope to see more of this. Last time it was Forbes. She is my colleague in the industry and a wonderful person. I wish her many more good things. Ene Oche - I love her films. Well I don’t know what people are happy about. But I know she is a good actress. Not everyone can cope with the role of a parent and a celebrity. KennySam - She worked for it and she‘s appropriately appreciated by Time Magazine. We look forward to more awards and celebrations of our artistes not only in Nollywood but also in the music industry.

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News

Immigration Minister meets ‘brightest and best’ students coming to UK Mark Harper, Immigration Minister, highlighted the UK’s excellent offer to attract the best international students during a roundtable meeting with members of Plymouth University.

He met international students, the university’s two Deputy Vice Chancellors, a representative from START, a charity which helps refugees in further education, as well as the local MP Oliver Colvile. PhD students from Morocco and Syria recounted their experiences of how being educated in the UK has beneﬁted them and discussed continuing opportunities for foreign students in the country. Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show Plymouth University has seen a 10.4% increase in non-EU students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the year 2011/12, compared to the previous academic year. Immigration Minister Mark Harper said: Plymouth is a great example of growth in the university sector for the right rea-

sons. In the rest of the country we have also seen gains with the number of sponsored student visa applications rising by 5%. This shows the UK continues to be in high demand, attracting the best students from around the world. He added: We have launched measures to encourage the brightest by offering students the chance to stay on after completing their studies so long as they get a graduate level job earning more than £20,300 a year. At the same time we are committed to stamping out the abuse of the study visa route by installing a more selective system that works in our national interest. The Chairperson, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa has claimed that the United Kingdom will pay dearly if its conservative government goes ahead with the planned 3,000 Pounds visa bond that will be required by some travellers from Nigeria. Mrs Dabiri-Erewa while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise

UK abolished Right of appeal for family visit visas

Immigration Minister Mark Harper

The full right of appeal for appli-cants seeking entry to the UK as a family visitor has been removed. From 25 June, 2013, there will be no right of appeal against the refusal of a family visit visa application, unless the appeal is on human rights or race discrimination grounds. Immigration Minister Mark Harper said: Family visitor appeals make up more than a third of all immigration appeals going through the system, with many applicants using it as an opportunity to submit information that should have been included in the ﬁrst place. Removing the right of appeal will save £107 million over the next decade, making the process faster and cheaper for applicants and allowing ofﬁcials to focus on more complex cases, such as asylum claims and foreign criminal deportations. 24

The Home Ofﬁce claim previously, the right of appeal was being used by applicants to submit further information to support their claim, instead of making a fresh application. Under the new system, anyone refused a visit visa may reapply as many times as they like and can provide additional information in support of their application. A decision will also be received much more quickly through this method – typically 15 days in comparison to the appeal route, which can take up to eight months. With 46,000 visit visa appeals received last year alone, removing the burden of these appeals should allow visa staff to make decisions quicker and lead to an improved customer service. These changes were brought in as part of the Crime and Courts Act, which received royal assent in April.

Immigration Minister Mark Harper visited Plymouth University

Daily demanded that a policy of reciprocity by the federal government on all British travellers to Nigeria, adding that they should “even be made to pay a lot more.” According to the lawmaker, some level of politics is involved in this policy as she claimed the ruling Tory party which seeks re-election, might be using the immigration policy to drive up sentiments ahead

of the polls to help, “but it’s probably going to hurt them more” she warned. In a bid to curb its immigration crises, the UK government is reported to commence the new visa bond policy by November on ﬁrst time travellers from countries considered as ‘high-risk’ such as Nigeria, Ghana, India and Pakistan.

Two men arrested for sham marriage Groom and a wedding guest arrested at Weybridge registry ofﬁce sham marriage raid.

A groom and a wedding guest were arrested just moments before they were due to take part in a suspected sham marriage in Weybridge. The groom, an Algerian, was due to marry his French bride. Acting on information that the relationship may not be genuine, Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers swooped in on the ceremony at Weybridge Registry Office at around 11.30 am on Tuesday 25 June. Enforcement officers also interviewed the guests present and found an Algerian man who had overstayed his visa. The 23-year-old groom and his 20-yearold wedding guest, both Algerians, were arrested and detained pending removal. Both had been in the country illegally having overstayed their visas and lived at the

same address in Weybridge. The operation was carried out with the full co-operation of the Superintendent Registrar. A sham marriage or civil partnership typi cally occurs when a non-European national marries someone from the European Economic Area as a means of attempting to gain long-term residency and the right to work and claim beneﬁts in the UK. According to Telegraph Newspapers, Humanist marriage move could open way to surge in sham weddings, claim registrars Moves to use the Government’s samesexmarriage bill to introduce humanist weddings could lead to a surge in sham ceremonies and “demean the whole status of marriage”, registrars have warned. The Government’s Marriage (Same – Sex Couples) Bill is due to complete its committee stage in the Lords.

Home Ofﬁce Immigration Enforcement ofﬁcers raid

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News

Nigeria keeps powder dry pending formal visa bond proposal

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has said that the federal government is yet to be officially informed by the British government regarding the £3,000 bond it intends to fix for Nigerians who intend to travel to the UK. Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru indicated that there was need for the government to receive a formal proposal from the UK in respect of the issue before taking any action. Britain is putting in place a policy that would require visitors from Nigeria and five other countries whose nationals are deemed to pose a “high risk” of immigration abuse to provide the sum of £3,000 (about N750,000) before they can enter the country. “I don’t really want to say much about that because the Nigerian government has not had any formal communication

with the British government over the issue. We have to receive a proposal from them (and) look at it before we now know what to do,” Ashiru said. The chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, has described the policy as discriminatory and unacceptable. In a statement issued on Monday (June 24) in Abuja, the lawmaker said such a policy would not be in the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians, adding: “it is unworkable and impractical, as it was targeted at non-white Commonwealth countries.” According to Ukeje, the decision was political and breached an agreement entered into by Nigerian authorities and Prime Minister David Cameron. Ukeje added that the House Committee on Foreign Affairs would take a critical look at the policy as it affects Nigerians and come up with a way forward.

Ghanaians told to ignore visa bond ‘rumour’ Murtala Mohammed, Ghana’s deputy information minister has told Ghanaians to treat news of having to pay £3,000 to visit the UK as a guarantee for their return as a rumour.

He added that this controversial issue was also not a subject of discussion during last week’s bilateral talks between Britain’s David Cameron and Ghana’s John Mahama, during the latter’s visit to the UK. According to Home Secretary Theresa May’s announcement on Monday, the intention is to make the immigration system more ‘selective’ and deter people from ‘overstaying’ once their visitor visa has expired. The scheme will be piloted from November, for people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Ghana. But speaking on Joy FM in Ghana on Tuesday, Mr Mohammed said the UK

government has not officially communicated this “policy”’ to the Ghana government. In the absence of any official communication, government considered it inappropriate to issue a response or seek clarification from the UK Embassy. He said even the UK had not taken any firm decision on the policy. “We might as well treat it as a rumour,” he suggested. The minister said he was surprised at the reactions of some Members of Parliament on the matter, without first checking with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs. Earlier, Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsuaem, Eugenia Kusi demanded that UK residents must be treated the same way when they want to visit Ghana. MP for Manhyia South, Dr. Mathew OpokuPrempeh pushed for a formal statement to be read on the floor of the House to signal Ghana’s unhappiness with the new policy.

Olugbenga Ashiru is Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs

Theresa May’s pilot scheme aims to deter overstayers 25

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Travel Travel

In association association with with In

Arik Air plans for destination expansion

By Milton Tella

Arik Air is committed to expansion plans and has signed a firm contract with Bombardier for three CRJ-1000s and four Dash 8-400 NextGens. Based on the list price of the CRJ1000 NextGen and Q400 NextGen aircraft, the contract, announced during the 2013 Paris Air Show at Paris Le Bourget, is valued at approximately USD297million. Arik Air currently operates four CRJ-900s and two Q400 NextGen aircraft. Bombardier is the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains with it headquarter in Montréal, Canada. The company is evolving mobility worldwide by answering the call for more efficient, sustainable and enjoyable transportation everywhere. Arik’s commitment shows that the airline is planning to provide the best platforms possible to respond to the rapidly growing interest in the African destinations. “Africa was the second fastest growing tourism region in the world last year, after Asia, and these two regions are expected to lead global tourism growth again this year. This has naturally made tourism in Africa appealing to the tourism industry across the

value chain, especially as developed markets become saturated.” says South African Tourism Chief Executive Officer, Thulani Nzima. Meetings Africa 2014 will expand on the theme of “Advancing Africa Together”. “We saw a surge in interest at Meetings Africa 2013, both in terms of new exhibitors and new buyers and we expect this growth to be sustained next year,” says Nzima. In total 2 884 delegates attended Meetings Africa 2013, which included over 350 buyers, 70 percent more than the number of buyers who attended last year’s show. These new international buyers represented 23 markets outside of South Africa. “The industry can expect an additional 61 410 business event delegates to come to South Africa in the next 12 months as a result of buyers’ attendance at Meetings Africa 2013. There was also a very strong contingent of African exhibitors at Meetings Africa, representing 12 destinations in total, all of whom reported a very productive and busy Meetings Africa, writing new business as well as establishing exciting potential for business to come. It was very encouraging that 78 percent of the buyers this year were attending Meetings Africa for the first time, which shows that inter-

Aircraft Bombardier CRJ-1000 est in our region is growing considerably,” adds Nzima. Buyers at Meetings Africa were carefully vetted this year to ensure that only buyers who met the criteria and were serious about doing business were invited. South African Tourism remains committed to continually increasing the quality and the

number of qualified hosted buyers at next year’s Meetings Africa. “The South African National Convention Bureau, South African Tourism’s business unit that organises and hosts Meetings Africa, has delivered exceptional results and has greatly boosted South Africa’s global competitiveness in pursuing a tar-

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Competition get of R6,2 billion in direct spend via business events over the next five years,” says Nzima. Meetings Africa 2014 takes place from 24to 26 February in Gauteng. INDABA 2014 At this year’s INDABA an announcement was made by South African Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk of plans to modernise and expand the exhibition and to make it a truly Pan African platform. Minister van Schalkwyk also highlighted that government is committed to investing heavily to make INDABA the Pan African show it is meant to be with full participation from the rest of the African continent including the African Indian Ocean Islands. “A big focus of INDABA 2014 is on including more exhibitors from the rest of the continent. We are extending an invitation to product owners from across Africa

to be part of Africa’s only global travel trade show, INDABA, as we strive to work with our African counterparts to shape our continent’s future,” says Nzima. “This year, South African Tourism hosted no less than 249 top quality international buyers at INDABA and we have already activated our strategic plans to grow this number even further in 2014 as part of our continued investment and commitment to this trade show,” says Nzima. “No doubt about it, it has been the South African industry’s commitment to INDABA that has made it the success that it is today, and the commitment of the trade to work together that has seen this industry flourish since the advent of our democracy. As we prepare to celebrate 20 years of democracy in 2014 I call on all of the industry to work with us to make next year’s INDABA the best yet,” says Nzima.

Win A Return Flight Ticket Courtesy Arik Air HOW TO ENTER To be in with your chance to win a return ticket to Lagos, simply answer this question: What are the aircraft colours of Arik Air? a) Blue Ox blood White b) Red White SkyBlue c) White Ox blood Blue Send your answer with full name, telephone number and postal address on an email to africanvoicenews@gmail.com or postcard to the Promoter: African Voice Newspapers Unit 7 Holles House Overton Road London SW9 7AP. Winner will be picked at random.

Terms and Conditions. South African Tourism Chief Executive Officer, Thulani Nzima

African Travel Market Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) has announced the dates for a threepronged approach in holding three key promotional events at the same time and at the same venue. The “Africa Travel Week” will be staged in Cape Town from April 28 to May 3, 2014 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The three main events merged into one week of promotional activity for travel to Africa will be WTM Africa, IBTM Africa, and ILTM Africa, showcasing inbound and outbound travel, general leisure, luxury travel, business travel, and the MICE sector. Reed is aiming to create a unified platform to promote Africa, which will make the Cape Town event THE place to be next year for all and sundry dealing with African tourism and travel. Richard Mortimore, the Managing Director of Reed Travel Exhibition, was quoted

in a media release saying: “Reed has been exploring opportunities in Africa for some time, and the success of our first launch event, ILTM Africa, has given us the platform to now introduce two more of our global industry brands to create ‘Africa Travel Week’ and make it the leading global event for the continent’s travel industry. ‘Because of the sheer size of the continent and diversity of its travel offering, all three brands will help bring the world to Africa and promote Africa to the world’s leading source markets. RTE is committed to the African continent and its future as a global player in the leisure, business, and luxury tourism sectors.” WTM Africa, taking place between May 2-3, is expected to attract exhibitors from all categories of the leisure travel industry within sub-Sahara Africa as well as North African destinations, aligning itself with other RTE sister events like WTM, WTM Latin America, Arabian Travel Market, and International French Travel Market

Last month’s competition winner: Ajiri Udoroisi Answer to the question: c) 90 minutes

1.Competition is open to UK residents only aged 21 years or over. By entering this competition you are agreeing to receive marketing communications from Arik Air. 2. The ticket prize is for a return economy flight from London Heathrow to Lagos for one passenger. (Taxes to be paid by winners). 3. Winning tickets must be redeemed during off peak period. Black-out dates apply (including Easter, Summer, Christmas – please check with Arik Air reservations). 4. Competition closing date: Midnight 15th July 2013. 5. Entry is restricted to one entry per person. No purchase is necessary. An independent person will randomly pick one winning entrant from the pool of all eligible entries within 48hrs of the closing date. The winner will be notified within 7 days of the draw date by telephone or email. 6. Travel insurance and travel documents such as valid passports and visas are the responsibility of the winner. 7. Prize is non transferable, non exchangeable and non changeable. There is no cash alternative offered. 8. All expenses, including but not limited to, hotel accommodation costs, transfers from airport, fuel costs, parking, meals, beverages and items of a personal nature are not included in the ticket prize and will be the responsibility of the ticket winner. Ticket prize excludes travel to and from departure airport in the UK. 9. Once travel dates have been confirmed changes cannot be made. 10. The prize is subject to availability and restricted travel dates to be advised to the winner at the time of booking. 11. The promoter is not responsible for any delays or cancellation of the ticket or for any inability of the ticket winner to take up the prize. The promoter reserves the right to suspend, change or terminate the competition at any time, and for any reason, without notice. 12. Entry to the competition implies acceptance of all relevant terms and conditions by the entrants. 13. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the partners in this promotion accept no liability for any loss, damage or injury caused by, or to, the prize winner or their guest whilst taking the ticket prize. 14. If the winner cannot be located within 21 days of the drawing of the prize, then the runner-up from the draw will be selected as the new winner. 15. Events may occur that render the ticket prize draw itself, or the awarding of the ticket prize impossible, due to reasons beyond the control of the promoter and accordingly, the promoter may, at its absolute discretion, vary, or amend the promotion and the entrant agrees that no liability shall attach to the promoter as a result thereof. 16. The draw is not open to employees, agents, contractors of The African Voice or their families or anyone professionally connected with the prize draw. 17. The Promoter is not responsible for the entrant’s submission of incorrect telephone numbers, e-mail or postal addresses or for problems with entries caused by any factors outside their control. 18. Ticket prizes are subject to availability and the Promoter reserves the right to substitute alternative prizes of similar value. Promoter: African Voice Newspaper UK. 19. Any other conditions will be advised at the time of booking. 20. Promoter: African Voice UK, Unit 7 Holles House Overton Road, London SW9 7AP, England.

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FIFA remembers Marc-Vivien Foe Even the bustling world of football seemed to stand still on 26 June 2003. After 75 minutes of the FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final against Colombia at Stade Gerland, Cameroon’s Marc-Vivien Foe collapsed on the field and died a short time later. Today, 26 June 2013, is the tenth anniversary of the tragedy. “I have very precise but also very sad memories of the game in Lyon. Marc was taken to hospital, and we weren’t aware he was in such a bad way. When we were informed of his death immediately after the final whistle we were totally shocked,” recalled Mohamadou Idrissou, who played the full 90 minutes on the night, in a conversation with FIFA.com. Francisco Maturana, Colombia coach at the time, still retains emotional memories of what happened: “This day will remain for ever in the memory of everyone involved. I can remember the situation exactly: Marc lost the ball during a Cameroon attack, and his attempt to win back possession failed. He started to track back but fell to the ground, and our player Jairo Patino was at his side straightaway, trying to help. He immediately realised it was serious and called for help. When Marc was on the stretcher, you

sensed everyone was concerned. And when we eventually became aware he had died, we were all very sad and some of us cried. A moment like that stays with you all the time.” The referee, Germany’s Markus Merk, confessed when he ended his career in 2008 that it was the most difficult moment of his career by far. In subsequent matches, the respected official said, he had an uneasy feeling the minute he entered a stadium. Even a decade later, then Indomitable Lions coach Winfried Schaefer is still struggling to accept the tragedy, as he admitted to FIFA. com: “It was a devastating day for all of us, naturally for his family above all. His wife, his kids and his mother were at the stadium. Marc was a big personality, not only as a player, but also as a wonderful person. I’ve been in the game many long years now, but I’ve never experienced anything else like this. After the match I was in no position to help my players, because I needed help myself. When we heard the news, we broke down and cried.” Foe was only 28 but had represented a number of clubs as a professional, starting with Canon Younde in his home country, Lens and Lyon in France, and West Ham United and Manchester City in England. The 1.94m midfielder was respected and

admired by his team-mates, and was a gifted player out on the field. In 64 full international appearances, Foe scored eight goals and represented the Indomitable Lions at the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ in the USA and the 2002 edition in Korea and Japan. A broken leg meant he missed out on the 1998 tournament in France. The news of his sudden and wholly unexpected death in 2003 shocked the world of football and relegated events on the field to a peripheral role. Just an hour after the match in Lyon, hosts France faced Turkey in Paris in the second semi-final, but the thoughts of many were with Cameroon’s lost son. In unprecedented scenes on a football field, the crowd and viewers saw the players console and encourage each other as they struggled to hold back tears. When Thierry Henry scored the opening goal, the France star declined to celebrate, instead pointing to the heavens and dedicating the goal to his deceased colleague. Foe’s presence in spirit was tangible at the final, as the Cameroon and France players came together behind a huge photograph of the much-loved player and observed a minute’s silence. “Just coming out for the final was very difficult, but the French honoured the tragic death of our friend and colleague when both captains

Swansea join race to sign Wakaso

Mubarak Wakaso, Mali v Ghana 2013 30

lifted the trophy together for Marc,” observed Idrissou, recalling the magnificent gesture of France captain Marcel Desailly, who called Cameroon skipper Rigobert Song to him at the trophy presentation so the pair could raise the trophy together. Many banners paid tribute to Foe, one of them bearing this poignant message: “A lion never dies, he only sleeps.” “The tragic death of Marc-Vivien Foe came as a genuine shock to me. I felt great sorrow in thinking of him, his family, his loved ones and his team-mates. The overriding feeling, however, was one of powerlessness in the face of fate, mixed with a sense of anger that death had chosen to make its presence felt in our sport, where it has no place. Sport is happiness, plenitude and well-being. Sport is life. It is not death. “I visited the Cameroon team in Lyon, where we prayed together, and I went to the funeral. It was a time of profound reflection, intense emotions and togetherness, paying our respects to a remarkable and highly respected young man who suffered a tragic fate. His death triggered a general awareness of the absolute necessity to intensify efforts to prevent sudden cardiac arrests from occurring when playing football.

English Premier League side Swansea have joined the long queue of clubs interested in signing Ghana midfield star Mubarak Wakaso.

The Wales-based club are prepared to splash €5million to be able to sign the midfielder from his Spanish club Espanyol. Swansea become the fifth club reported to be keen on signing the powerhouse midfielder. Apart from mild interest from Juventus, Wigan also has also been in contact with his current club Espanyol. Speculation in Italy suggests the Serie A champions Juventus are lining up a €7million (£6m) for the Ghana international while Inter Milan are also thought to be monitoring the situation. Everton have at the same time been credited with an interest in Wakaso and Roberto Martinez, who has succeeded David Moyes as manager at Goodison Park, is rumoured to be a fan. But while the 22-year-old is pleased his star performances are being recognised, he knows a decision on his future rests with Espanyol. Wakaso said: “Espanyol will decide about my future. Juventus have been monitoring the exploits of the former Elche and Villarreal player since the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. Wakaso, 23, has been a revelation in the setup of coach Javier Aguirre since moving to the Barcelona club last summer and he played 24 times scoring thrice in the just ended league season.

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Norwich City step up Elderson chase English Premier League side Norwich City have stepped up their bid to sign Nigeria defender Elderson Echiejile. Elderson, 25, shone at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil including scoring a goal against Tahiti in a group game. And according to two Portuguese sports newspapers ABola and Ojogo, Norwich have now renewed the interest they have had for the left back who has established himself with African champions Nigeria this year. Both newspapers said Norwich manager Chris Houghton, who himself was a fullback during his playing days with the likes of Tottenham Hotspur has been in constant touch with Portuguese club Sporting Braga over Elderson. Incidentally, Norwich will step up their pre-season with a friendly against Braga in Portugal in August. Elderson has a year left of his contract at Braga, who he joined from French club Stade Rennes in 2010. Last year, there were serious interests for the former Bendel Insurance of Benin star but Braga placed a high price tag on him. EPL side Fulham, German Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart as well as Besiktas of Turkey are also in the hunt for the attackminded Elderson. And while Elderson is on his way out of the Braga, the Portuguese club have secured the services of compatriot and U20 international forward Chidi Osuchukwu from Nigeria league outfit Dolphins. Osuchukwu has signed a four-year deal with Braga and he is expected to join the club immediately after the U20 World Cup in Turkey.

Elderson Echiejile

Mikel blasts misfiring strikers Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi has said Nigeria exited the FIFA Confederations Cup because the strikers were wasteful in front of goal. Speaking after the team’s 3-0 loss to Spain in its last group game, Mikel stated that the chances created by the team were too numerous but were simply not converted. “We came out to defeat the Spain and I think we even had a better possession against the world champions, but we simply did not take our chances and they took theirs, so we paid dearly for our mistakes and are now out of the competition,” lashed out a disappointed Mikel. Mikel also described Spain as a fantastic side but had it been Nigeria strikers were potent enough, it would have been a different result. The Chelsea star, who played the last two games with a slight fever, promised Nigeria will be back in Brazil next year from where the world will see the best of the reigning

Messi’s anti-malaria campaign in Senegal

Barcelona star Lionel Messi was this week in Senegal to help Qatar’s Aspire Academy’s anti-malaria campaign.

The Argentina captain helped to distribute mosquito nets to locals in a bid to reduce malaria outbreaks in the area. Attending the official launch of the Soccer for Health world programme that kickoff in Dakar, Senegal’s capital the soccer icon was very emotional. In a chat with media Messi said: “I know my trip to Senegal is a difficult one because I see the suffering that malaria causes, but I know that we have a great chance to use the power of football to help save lives. “Every 90 minutes 180 children die from this horrible disease in Africa, but almost all of these can be avoided by using bed nets. “Football Combating Malaria is a very special project to me because I know it will help save thousands of young lives, and I’m delighted to be involved and throw my support behind it.” Emblazoned with Messi’s image, the mosquito nets was distributed to children and families from the rural localities of Mbour and Saly Portudal. International soccer star Lionel Messi took to his Facebook page to deny the allegation of tax charges evasion earlier this month. “We have just known through the media about the claim filed by the Spanish tax authorities,” read the statement in Spanish and English. “We are surprised about the news, because we have never committed any infringement. “We have always fulfilled all our tax obligations, following the advice of our tax consultants, who will take care of clarifying this situation.”

Ghanaian youngster Nyarko signs for Dortmund Ghanaian youngster Evans Nyarko has signed for German giants Borussia Dortmund.

Mikel - Eagles strikers were wasteful African champions. Meanwhile, the Super Eagles have departed Brazil en route Lagos on Monday. The team are to stop over in Johannesburg, South Africa, before landing in Lagos.

Some of the foreign-based players will not be part of the returning party as they jetted out to either join their clubs for preseason training or plan for new bases for the coming season in Europe, which begins in the August.

The 20-year-old joins Bundesliga II side Fortuna Dusseldorf where he played for two seasons. The midfielder will start off his career with the Borussia Dortmund II side who play in the third-tier league of German football. Nyarko will be assessed there by the coaching staff before climbing up the ladder to the Bundesliga side coached by Jurgen Klopp. Ghana national team coaches will be monitoring the progress of the youngster. 31

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ISSUE 488

Mikel blasts misfiring strikes SEE PAGE 31

Ivorien player dies on soccer pitch

Vivien-Foe (Cameroon) in remembrance match By Peter Olorunnisomo When Savadogo Abima, 17, And at the FIFA Confederations Cup, stepped onto the football pitch to a minute silence was observed and play for his club, Shadrach FC applause followed just before the match between Brazil and Uruguay got under in Mafere south of the Ivorian way. commercial capital Abidjan , little The whole stadium was party to this did he realise that he was unto his gesture in honour and remembrance last match. of Marc Vivien-Foe, the Cameroonian Playing against Bonoua Sport in the Regional Division as a defender for his team, he definitely would have had hopes ensuring that come-what-may he would not let any player go past him if he could help it. And that was exactly his role when he bumped against into his own keeper while both men were trying to deflect a dangerous air ball. On collision, he fell back to the field floor on his back and was unconscious. The referee called for help and he was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead a few minutes later.

player who died on the field of play when he represented his country at the same competition years back. Cameroon, then, had the African Cup in her clutches. Vivien-Foe had played for Lens (France) and West Ham ((England) among other teams. In the same vein, a Nigerian, Sam Oparaji died on the field of play in 1989 at the Nigerian National Stadium while playing for Nigeria at the World Cup qualifiers. He had been playing professional football in Germany and was regarded a stalwart of the Nigerian midfield and defence.

Ethiopia sacks Federation’s Sec-Gen. Over W/Cup blunder

Following a spate of gaffes by African teams in the qualification series for the 2014 World cup in Brazil, one such affected country, Ethiopia, has sacked the General Secretary of its Football Fedration. Not only did the Ethiopian Federation admit to FIFA that they fielded an ineligible player but the fact that it could cost them the three points the country needed against Botswana when they played on June 8 and therefore a possible elimination from the series , was too much consideration to bear. While the Ethiopian soccer ruling body voted to sack Ashenafi Ejigu, they rejected the resignation offer of the vice president Berhanu Kebede, who also had a portion of the blame.

Despite for calls by the members of the FA and media for the whole executive crew to be relieved of their stewardships, the Federation’s president, Sahilu Gebremariam, was only speculated to submit his resignation by the forthcoming elections to the executive committee. He was reported to have said, “This was a massive blunder so we all should have resigned. ut we have responsibilities ahead so we voted to stay until September.”

African Voice Newspaper is published by African Voice Communications. Unit 7 Holles House Overton Road London SW9 7AP. Tel: 020 7274 3933 Registered at the British Library as a newspaper. ISSN 1475-2166.Email: africanvoicenews@googlemail.com