The Voice magazine

ISSN:2588-8807

ISSN:1571-3466

Motto: Actuated towards Africa’s advancement

Volume 21. NO. 184 May 2019

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First complete African magazine published in The Netherlands since August 1999

Christine Among passes on but her legacy lives on

Vote Patience Mayaki-van der Horst for European Parliament seat

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Contents

The Voice Magazine Volume 21. No 184 May 2019 Edition

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Call us today on +31684999548 or +31648519292 E-mail: info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com Page 8 - Editorial: When military intervention seems the only option in Africa!

Pages 10 & 11 - Feedbacks – Pages for your letters Pages 12 & 13 - Paul Biya must be shocked, America says after Sudan, Cameroon is next!

Pages 15- 17 - Tributes to Late Christine Among Pages 18 & 19 – Is Kenya in upward trajectory after the 2017 elections?

Pages 24- 27 - Face to Face with Caroline Pouw Page 28 - Nigerian sex hawker killed in Italy Page 30 - Celebrating Icon of African Democracy Honour for Dr. Kenneth Kaunda at 95 Page 31 - Meet Nigeria’s Dr. Wendy Okolo, 26, an award winning NASA aerospace engineer Pages 32& 33 - Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo did not commit suicide says a mourning father, Dr. Fayimewo Pages 34 & 35 - Mother who killed her daughter’s raper set free by the court in South Africa Pages 44 - 47 – Vote Patience Mayaki-van der Horst for European Parliament in May 2019 Pages 50 & 51 - East Libyan warplanes hit Tripoli government positions Page 53 - 2020 Gov. Polls: The Naked Dance by Politicians Pages 54 & 55 - Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crew ‘repeatedly’ followed recommended procedures but couldn’t regain control, investigators say Pages 56 & 57 – Alpha Solar Systems boss received royal welcome in Ondo State.

Pages 58 - 61- Just Skirt presents Business Seminar for would be entrepreneurs in Amsterdam Pages 62 & 63 – Anthony Joshua v Michael Hunter to be confirmed for June 1 2019 showdown Pages 64 & 65- Sports stories: Big Baby’ Miller failed three drug tests before match up with AJ

Send us congratulatory message on our 20th anniversary of the Voice magazine

For just 50 euros, you can wish us well and be part of the celebration this year. The date is 16th August 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. If you can join us on this trip, still celebrate with us. Many of you have been part of the journey so far with your finance, advertising, subscribing to the magazine and making donations. All is appreciated now and forever.

Be part of this celebration.

Thank you. TV Management.

Account details: Bank Name: SNS Bank Iban No: NL29SNSB0908374372 Account Owner Name: Stichting Paddi Europa www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

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Living positive

Eliane

Facts about HIV and other conditions • HIV is a viral infection that can be treated effectively. In The Netherlands the medication and treatment are accessible to all who need and costs are covered by the basic health insurance.

• HIV medication has to be taken every day to keep the virus suppressed and when suppressed, the virus cannot be passed on during sex, U = U. • There are many regimens available and changing regimen is possible when side effects remain or when interaction with other medication occurs.

• Never stop or change the HIV medication without consulting the HIV specialist.

If only I could choose…

Some people say that they would prefer diabetes or any other disease above HIV. Well, I have both.

Living with double trouble. If only I could choose, I prefer to have HIV. In 1999 I was in a boarding school in Burundi. I started feeling fatigue, had a constant headache, a dry mouth, I could drink litres of water and still be thirsty. I urinated very often and my sleep was disturbed as I needed to go every half hour. One day in class I collapsed. I was taken to the hospital and it turned out that I had high diabetes. Normal sugar levels in the blood are between 4.1 to 6.1. Mine was as high as 24! It was life threatening. When a person with diabetes has a high sugar level it’s called ‘hyperglycaemia’. Insulin is used to push it down to normal. I was at intensive insulin treatment for ten days. It was – and still is – a struggle to live with diabetes. I was on a strict diet. Sometimes I was afraid to eat, as there was food I was not allowed to eat. I would still inject myself with insulin, without having eaten. This results in ‘hypoglycaemia’. The sugar level will drop below 4.1, to 3 or 2. When it drops to 1, you enter in a coma and you can even die asleep.

They prescribed medication, ‘metformin’, two tablets per day. Then, four years later, HIV came into my life. I was under treatment with two different healthcare providers. My diabetes was getting worse and the medication was raised. I often visited my GP because of diabetes complications. I then realised it was in my own interest not to hide my HIV status, because my GP and HIV specialist need to work together 6

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to avoid any medication interaction. I am having many complications of diabetes, like high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. I even had a heart attack in 2015 and last year my eyes were operated for cataract. It is quite difficult to manage diabetes and many times I went into a ‘hypo’, as we call it when the sugar level drops. Every night I go to sleep being afraid that I may not wake up. So I have emergency tools at hand, like cola, dextrose and biscuits, that rapidly level the sugar when I go into hypo. Also for health professionals it is confusing to deal with double trouble. One day I consulted my GP for something and she told me: “Eliane, I am not sure what to do with your problem, go consult your HIV specialist.” Then my HIV doctor tells me that this problem should be addressed by the GP. I am like: “Should I blame diabetes or HIV for this?”

Still, I feel very fortunate that they all work together as a team, the GP, the HIV specialist and the pharmacist. This is why it is so important to tell other health professionals about HIV. I am still here and my journey continues!

Hiv Vereniging The Dutch Association of People Living with HIV (Hiv Vereniging) represents the interests of all people with HIV in the Netherlands, irrespective of background.

We provide information about living with HIV and organise all kinds of meet-ups.

Servicepunt Our team of expert volunteers can be contacted for any question about living with HIV, by telephone on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 14:00 – 22:00 hrs, or by email: servicepunt@hivvereniging.nl.

See www.hivvereniging.nl

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Editorial

When military intervention seems the only option in Africa!

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hen there was an attempted military takeover in Gabon, in our editorial we hailed the attempt and moves of the military to remove the sick leader who had refused to hand over power despite his incapacity to govern because of ill-health. Many of our readers wrote to condemn our editorial and reaction to the stand we took on the matter applauding the military guys’ effort to remove a President who has begun to show dictatorship actions; the argument was that the worst civilian administration is far better to the best military regime ever. We were and still not agitating for a military regime or military stay in power again in Africa or anywhere else around the world.

But where the peoples’ wishes and desires are not met or respected through political dialogue, ballot boxes elections, o r general rebellion of the people against such governments will not be respected, the military becomes the last option and hope of the people to get these dictators out of the way. As the president enjoys the support of the military as command-in-chief of the Armed Forces, when they no longer enjoy the support of the military, they know the time is over to hang on to power. We have seen it happen in Zimbabwe, now in Sudan, it is obvious it would be the fate of Cameroon, Uganda,

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Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Algeria and many more African countries showing signs of long stay in power through rigging and other crude devices. Even in Sudan, the military had backed the ousted President Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh for so long until they turned Editor-in-Chief against him now and even an effort for them to stay in power, is being resisted by the ordinary people, they don’t want the military in power, except to help removed the dictators. The people are demanding a total break away from the old order and regime, the old guard of, military generals who backed and supported AlBashir for this 30 long years in power.

A lesion for all the seat put African leaders that the will of the people will prevail at the long run. They better begin to put their houses and structures in place to succeed and ease them out of power or else they would be disgraced out of office and power. A word is enough for the wise, those close to the remaining African dictators should be put on notice that their days are numbered in power. They may not be so lucky to leave office with their lives spared.

The Voice magazine The Voice magazine is editorially independent although we enjoys the support of our readers, subscribers, advertisers, non-­governmental organizations and in­ dividuals of like minds; however the magazine publishers are in no way af­filiated to any of these bodies or to any other ­ publishing institution or political interest or group.

The Voice magazine strives to foster awareness among the African audience and bridge the widening gap between Africans and the rest of the world in news gathering and dissemination.

The Voice is published digitally online except on demand, we print hard copy..

If you want to receive a copy, send us your email address.

On the Editorial board are Ambassador Elvis Iruh, Jonathan Mgbejume, Sandra Iruh-Monsels, and Henry Oduenyi READ THE VOICE ON LINE AT www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com Our Affiliate partner: www.thenigerianvoice.com Registration NO: (Kvk. Nr. 34.110.928) TAX (BTW) NO: NL806215809B01 ISSN: 1571-3466 (For Print edition) ISSN: 2588-8807 (For Digital edition) For payments, use these bank details: Stichting Paddi Europa SNS Bank Account No: NL29SNSB0908374372 Swift Code: SNSBNL2A OR Stichting Paddi Europa Knab Bank Account No: NL77KNAB0725202238 Swift Code: KNABNL2H

THE VOICE MAGAZINE TEAM Publisher: Stichting Paddi Europa Editor-in-Chief Pastor Amb. Elvis Ndubuisi Iruh elvisiruh@thevoicenewsmagazine.com Founding/Contributing Editor Edward Idahosa Ogbee apexbest2000@yahoo.co.uk Managing Editor Henry D. Oduenyi (Nigeria Office) henry@thevoicenewsmagazine.com Project Coordinator Ifeyinwa Ezeagabu i.ezeagabu@thevoicenewsmagazine. com

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The Voice magazine is published in the Netherlands by Stichting Paddi Europa and it is p ­ ublished online from 2016 around the world. It is registered at the Chamber of Commerce Amsterdam. The Voice aim to serve as a vital link among African readers in the Diaspora and we ­provide ­objective information and organizes opinion exchange among African people both in the ­continent and abroad. Thus it strives to foster and enhance complete understanding of ­developing c­ ountries problems and bring information to help address those issues. TV

Volume 21

NO 184

May 2019 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

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feedback Letter to the Editor Congratulations on your planned event in Kenya.

Dear Editor, I have followed the progress of your publication, The Voice magazine and what a pleasant surprise , it is nearly 20 years already. You probably don’t remember me again, I used to subscribe to your magazine for close to 5 years before I left back to Africa. To see that the magazine has grown this big and plus the Voice Achievers Award. I have not witnessed that event and I would like to be part of this year’s event and happening in Africa (Kenya) for th first time. How can I be part of the celebration in Kenya. I live and work in Nigeria now. Thank you all.

Abraham Komolafe Lagos, Nigeria.

Editor’s Response: Mr. Komolafe, thank you for your letter to the Editor. You are part of those unique subscribers who brought us this far. We would love to see you at this event in Kenya. We have good package and program for the event. Details inside the magazine , please go through the magazine.

Editor.

What is happening in our society today?

On my way to the metro station in my neighborhood in Rotterdam I spotted a white young man lying on the floor close to the metro station at Maashaven. How he was lying and

had committed suicide by jumping through the window of one of the flat. Another person informed me that it is a hotel so there is other probabilities, he could have been pushed out or jumped

wearing a white T-shirt did not arose my suspicion of anything serious wrong, probably drug and tired and fell asleep on the road side. The weather was nice the previous day. I first thought of two things. He was beaten up or upset by something. There was nobody around him either. I thought back to the moments that I was helped myself. So I got out at Zuidplein and took the metro back. I thought I’d like to help him.

Arriving at Maashaven, everything had changed completely, all within 6 minutes or so. Police, ambulance, fire brigade, trauma helicopter and a large crowd. The police held a cloth for him.

What a shock. The man according to some people claimed he

himself. This is really the very last thing I expected. I don’t know the man and why he had to die this way! Still, that image of how he was lying down there is in my head and it keeps haunting me. I have been close to two major incidents within a week. First the shooting of 80 meters away from the shooter and now seeing a man die this manner. It is shocking to say the least. Chill out Rotterdam South. Damn.

RIP unknown young man

By Simão Miguel Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

FEEDBACK Dear Editor GIVE ACCURATE COVERAGE THROUGH YOUR EDITORIAL PLEASE Thank you very much Pastor/ Ambassador, I am highly grateful for the soft copy of your educative and informative magazine. It’s really keeping me informed on happenings in The Netherlands after leaving the shores of the country.

However, I have reservations on your editorial, regarding the “genocide” story. There are more killings in Zamfara and Borno than all the selected states mentioned in the editorial. In Zamfara alone, over 50 fifty people were killed in one week. Nobody said it was a genocide. The killings in Kaduna involves both Muslim community in Kajuru and Christian community of Kachia. Therefore your editorial board should not rely on social media story but need to conduct serious investigative journalism before reaching conclusion on such serious subject like genocide.

My warm regards A Diplomat at Nigeria mission in Senegal.

Editor’s reaction.

Thank you sir for your mail and we completely agree with you that our coverage should be more comprehensive in terms of the reportage in Northern Nigeria, we condemn all forms of killings in Zamfara and Borno, it is horrifying to see how innocent people are slaughtered and our military is helpless to help the citizenry; all we get is press releases from the Presidency condemning the killings while each passing day, new attacks and killing mostly in these two mentioned states. It is obvious that Nigeria government requires external assistance to get to the bottom of the killings. All of these killings should be considered as genocide and the present government of President Buhari held accountable for lives been killed.

Thank you for writing in.

Editor

OUR COLLECTIVE FAILURE CAUSED YOUR DEATH We knew about the dangers that took your life but we did nothing about it. That’s who we are, that’s what we do best. Please forgive us. And rest in peace.

Sadly it’s not in our culture to value life. We as a nation value things of less value. We value matters that distract us from the main focus. Don’t blame us, blame our leaders. Okay I’m wrong, do blame us, for we are deserving of the kind of leaders we get.

For the leaders are a product of the society, the mind set and culture. If only things were different. If only matters were a little bit unlike the norm.

If so, you, a House Officer, won’t be stabbed by the infamous Idi-Araba boys who wanted to rob you in front of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

We are told that these idiots are domiciled in front of LUTH. They do drugs openly.

They do crime in the open. They don’t do it undercover. But we tolerate such people and go after the responsible lads with dreadlocks, tattoos and other hip hop anointing.

To shade their acts close to the canal and at night they sell terror, blood and danger.

The authorities and those that should do something do nothing.

They do anything but disturb them. They do nothing close to reprimanding them.

One of my Facebook pals here said you managed to crawl back, to get yourself back to the Emergency ward in the heavy rain.

“Despite his best efforts at saving his own life, he passed out and died at the emergency ward due to fatal loss of blood” he said of you.

So that’s how you ended this journey untimely. A day earlier, you were among the hundreds who had their convocation at Unilag.

Next day you departed the world in a despicable manner. Let’s not imagine the pain of your parents and loved ones. Let’s just hope they can live through these trying times.

How does one cope after sending his son to become a doctor, only to be killed mercilessly by street criminals known to the authorities and yet nothing was done to remove them. You died with anyone to help you.

Should we imagine the pain of your mum? Or the anguish of your loved ones. This is painful.

This is Nigeria.

Sleep on. Rest on. We will move on. We always move on. We do nothing. We just move on. We don’t care. That’s who we shamefully are. Sorry but I do think you will get justice were you are now much more than you will get here.

I dare say. I will do my part. I will keep inking. It’s all I have power to do. The pen is my gun. The ink my bullet. One by one, I hope to kill our wrong mind set. I hope to arrest the injustice around. I hope...

Your Mother’s Tears Spotter, #JusticeForDrSteven Ediale www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

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Paul Biya must be shocked, America says after Sudan, Cameroon is next!

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he United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy has declared that after People Power overthrew the regime of Omar al-Bashir, the next concern of the American Government is Cameroon.

The former American Ambassador to Guinea and to Ethiopia made this declaration while addressing an audience in Houston, a city in Texas, USA last month.

Tibor Nagy said thanks to the activities of the Cameroonian Diaspora who are making sure their views are known, “Cameroon is the country I hear more about from Members of Congress.”

The Diplomat schooled the audience, to the surprise of some Cameroonians that there are two Cameroons as he acknowledged an ongoing civil war in a part of Cameroon which formerly was a British Colony, referring to the North West and South West Regions now wrapped in an armed conflict.

He went on that “Cameroon had been former colonies; British and French. They came together, they voted for one country under a Federation but the Federation was done away with by the Cameroonian President”, referring to the era of President Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo who illegally abolished the Federation.

Tibor Nagy categorically stated that “Anglophones are basically fighting for their rights which started with very serious complaints”, referring to the Teachers’ and Lawyers’ grievances in 2016.

The United States Assistant Secretary of State for African

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Affairs added that unfortunately, the government of Cameroon has not responded in a way that would persuade the concerns of the Cameroonians, depicting the poor way in which the regime of President Paul Biya has handled the crisis.

As I said, we’ve had so much good news from Africa. Last year, look what’s happening in Ethiopia, look what’s happening in the whole of Africa; look what’s happening in Angola.”

He went on that “More recently, look what’s happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which for the first time in its History may actually become Democratic and a Republic. And maybe, the world’s richest country may actually share some of its wealth with its own people.

The Diplomat also drew attention to what happened in Sudan, saying that People Power overthrew the corrupt and bloodthirsty regime of former President Omar al-Bashir before concluding; ” My next concern is Cameroon and you know how I feel about hating the violence that’s going on there” Tibor Nagy who also mentioned during his Houston Discourse that Africa is very rich but its wealth is left only in the hands of colonial powers or the government in place but not for the people living there was in Cameroon last month.

Tibor Nagy met with Paul Biya at the Unity Palace, the official residence and offices of the Cameroonian President in March 2019, accompanied by Peter Henry Barlerin, the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon.

The two officials discussed trade and bilateral relationship between Washington and Yaounde and the political situation in the French-speaking regions and the deteriorating armed conflict in the Englishspeaking Regions of Cameroon.

Unrest in Cameroon’s two Englishspeaking regions began in October 2016 as a disagreement in language but government mismanaged it, turning it into a demand by majority of Anglophones in the North West and South West for a separate state called Ambazonia.

Gun battles have ensued and the government has been accused of numerous Human Rights violation, including targeted killings and the burning down of entire villages according to credible reports from the US Ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, reputable Human Rights Lawyer Agbor Balla and Bishops of Mamfe and Kumbo.

Anti-Paul Biya protest holds in Rome.

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huge crowd of Cameroonians in the European country of Italy have held antiPaul Biya demonstrations, in April 2019.

According to Claudine Mayo from the Italian capital of Rome where the demonstrations took place said the people are tired on the unconcerned attitude of the President to the plight of their people and the unnecessary killings with the international community standing bye and do nothing to stop it.

President Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician serving as the President of Cameroon since 6 November, 1982. He won last Presidential Elections under questionable circumstances and since then, there have been protests in various parts of the world calling on him to step down.

The protesters on the streets of Rome carried dozen of placards, calling for an end to the killings in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon.

Unrest in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions began in October 2016 as a disagreement in language but government mismanaged it, turning it into a demand by majority of Anglophones in the North West and South West for a separate state called Ambazonia.

Gun battles have ensued and the government has been accused of numerous Human Rights violation, including targeted killings and the burning down of entire villages according to credible reports from the US Ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, reputable Human Rights Lawyer Agbor Balla and Bishops of Mamfe and Kumbo.

Other placards decried what they call; Electoral Holdup while others said thirty-six (36) years is enough. Many have accused Biya 85, in office since 1982 for desperately holding to power, asking him to step down for Kamto.

Prof Maurice Kamto, Chair of Cameroon’s main opposition political party, Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) competed in the Cameroon’s Presidential Elections and went

on to declare he won.

He later challenged the results at the country’s Constitutional Council where the Council’s ruling was considered by many Cameroonians as jaundiced. Kamto believes the Electoral Commission imputed figures to favour the incumbent especially as elections were boycotted in the North West and South West Regions buried in an armed conflict.

On January 26, 2019, at the behest of Kamto, Cameroonians observed peaceful demonstrations in Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam and in other cities. A mammoth crowd attended the protests, denouncing what they term Electoral Holdup.

Abroad, many Cameroonians who were protesting invaded Cameroon Embassies in France, Belgium, Britain, and Germany causing material damages. In Cameroon, several protesters were reportedly shot by police, including Michele Ndoki, a famous female lawyer.

Authorities reacted by arresting Prof Maurice Kamto, his closest party aides and allies, Christian Penda Ekoka, Albert Dzongang and, several other party activists in Douala before they were ferried to Yaoundé where they’re now standing trial.

Kamto is now charged with Rebellion, Sedition, and Insurrection, inciting Violence, Disruption of Public Peace, Complicity, and Association with wrongdoers and Hostility against the nation.

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Tributes to Late Christine Among Some people are so lively and so full of energy that you can hardly believe that someone is no longer there. Christine Among died en route to visit her mother in Uganda. I got to know her while making her portrait for the HIV Association. We first spent more than an hour chatting in her back yard about how she had escaped death and all of her great initiatives.

She told me about the taboo of homosexuality among Africans and how she organized afternoons in the Bijlmer to educate the people. Women who were excluded from daily life in Africa received loans through her organization so that they could manage a piece of land themselves and together with other women could buy machines again so that they could survive. She told me about the boys who were hanging around in the streets and actually need a roof over their heads at night so that they do not fall into their old habits and behaviours again.

But what stayed with me in particular was her beautiful, spontaneous, happy, energetic person, who completely let go of the camera, pulled the fly curtain around him, danced with me

while we were shooting.

Christine died in Kampala at the age of 54, leaving behind five children. Through her friend, Reina Foppen, she made it possible that her children could make it to her funeral in Uganda. All help is welcome no matter how small it is to support her children.

By Henri Blommers

Christine Among: Adieu, I choose not to mourn you.

I have known Christine for years, over year and half ago, she came to visit me at the Voice magazine office with another dear sister and friend of her, Reina Foppen and after that conversation, sometime came over her and she had to tell me a secret- that she was not well, she has been seeking medical attention and she would need to have an operation – from that moment on, I became her praying Pastor. She would call me at any time of the day, before and when in the hospital, we would pray. When I go visit her in the hospital we would pray and talk. When her name came up for nomination at last year’s Voice Achievers Award, I was so happy for her. I thought if she does not get the award, I will use my veto power to award her one. But she didn’t need it, her records spoke for her. Then the sickness hit her so hard that she told me she would not come to the awards AND that her daughter will come and represent her. I assured her that God will give her the strength to make it to the award so she could be recognized and celebrated.

She made it to the award night in November 2018, she collected her award herself and sat for a while to enjoy a bit of the evening, she ate our Award Gala dinner. She sat on the same table with two

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of my Bishop and Pastor Friends, for her it was so special, they prayed for her and she was at peace.

After the event, she wrote me these words in an whats app message to me.

It reads as follows: MAIL FROM CHRISTINE AMONG AFTER HER AWARD IN NOV. 2018 Dear Pastor Elvis, Hope you have managed to sleep well after the long and tired evening of yesterday? I want take this opportunity to thank you very much for everything, for the The Voice Achievers Award 2018. It was a wonderful day. I slept well and woke up feeling much better.

Did you realize that, the table you put me yesterday was surrounded by Pastors? It was a blessing. My life is full of blessings and I will live to fulfill all that God wants me to accomplish in this world.

Greetings from my daughter and she sends her appreciation for your support and love.

Wish u a blessed weekend. God bless Christine.

Christine Among left a good legacy.....

Christine Among passed away on April 14, 2019 at the age of 54 at the Mulago hospital in Kampala due to complications from Kidney Cancer. She visited the Voice magazine office two years ago and we spoke about several things not meant for publication of course; it was about the future and plans, dream. But at the end of the conversation, she sounded a note of warming that her health was not so strong, she would need a surgery. I encouraged her on and she did had the surgery in July 2018 to curtail the spread of the cancer on her liver. She spend a couple of months in the hospital, in and out but she kept faith and hope alive. I remember severally visiting her, all she asked for was prayers to keep her faith strong.

Twice or thrice she was rushed back to the theatre as the bleeding from the inside will not stop. Then she could go home and continue her treatment. Then came the letter for the award then she said she said she would not make it. “I am very weak, I am not strong enough to make public appearance now, my daughter will come and pick the award for me, but thank you so much for everything including the prayers”, she told me on phone. In November 2018, she made it to the award, it was a miracle, I was pleasantly surprised to see But I knew should make it because she is a strong character. On that date, she defile Cancer and she came out to be celebrated.

She enjoyed the evening and went back home. Often times, she would softly tell me I am fine although

weak. In February 2019, she broke the bad news to me again, the Doctors say the Liver cancer is back and this time more aggressive and nothing much they can do for her. As usual, we prayed and kept hope alive then she told me, I will plan to travel to Uganda to see my aged mom and the rest of my family.

But she wanted to come back to The Netherlands when she improves, she wanted to see her mother; I learnt her mom is 93 years old. She wanted to go to her native home so much to visit to regain strength to come back and continue the fight against Liver cancer. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to see her mother alive as she was too weak and tired to travel to Soroti in Uganda, her birth place. She ended up in the hospital again and this time, she gave up the fight.

Through great friends like Reina Foppen and others that I do not personally know, they made it possible for her five children to travel to Uganda to bid farewell to their mother. Loving and caring, dark skilled but yet her smile lightens up a dark room. Her presence was always felt. Despite the short notice, many have expressed their love towards the children; s moral lesson for us all – do what you need to do here on earth but this is not our home, we are on a journey of life. Christine Among has completed her journey of life and gone to rest.

I pray she rest in peace. Amen

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KENYA VOICE ACHIEVERS BUSINESS SUMMIT/AWARD GALA

IS KENYA IN UPWARD TRAJECTORY AFTER THE 2017 ELECTIONS?

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rotests are fascinating to study not only because they are exciting moments when old regimes fall and new orders arise, when the power of the people takes to the streets, but also because they are a window onto broader social and political questions the uprising witnessed in Africa of late in Sudan, Algeria and the most barbaric xenophobic attacks in south Africa point something most African leaders are ignoring at their risk.

The surging and growth of educated youths in the continent without jobs is a time bomb about to explode, whether the feeling of youths are true due poor leadership, corruption and corrupt regimes that is making it difficult to penetrate the already congested market of job hunting or entrepreneurship.

It’s still debatable whether the projected growths per

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countries by world financial institution like IMF or World Bank are really felt deep down in the villages. Kenya is one country, which have been with mixed fortunes in the global scale both financially and politically, especially after the general elections of 2017. It was first marred by controversies and then later the boycott by the main opposition party overshadow the whole electioneering period but may be the death of senior manager at the electrical body and resignation of one the astute figure just be the elections day created confusion and mistrust on the whole process. There have been also some sporadic terror attacks here and there in Kenya, but one thing you have to give the Kenyan people standing ovation for is their resilience and humility even during the hard times.

Anyway, fast forward, after the elections and swearing in of the opposition leader as the people’s president, was the epitome of the whole confusion never to be acted according to public script at a time when the global lenses were all zoomed at 4K resolution on the aftermath. How the succession debate being mooted going to materialize or the government of Jubilee was going to arrest the opposition figures’ we were all shocked when the president and opposition leader came out from the Harambe house the president office to the glaring cameras with heartily greetings which later on was referred to the handshake. By the Kenya has been pacesetter in many ways, if you talk about mobile money transfer without mentioning Kenyan then that will be injustice to the friendliest creatures on earth.

The handshake as it is famously known bring normalcy and individuals and organization are trooping back to Kenya be it for business, leisure or connecting to other African countries, that’s why Jomo Kenyatta International Airport’s (JKIA) was ranked as the best Airport in Africa and 38th globally by the Air help worldwide ranking group in the 2018 Air Help Annual Score ratings of the world’s best airlines and airports.

One of the pioneer awards in Europe and The Netherlands made its foray into the Kenyan soils that’s after over a decade of recognizing Africa and friends of Africa. The Voice Achiever’s awards will be held in Kenya from the 15th -16th August 2019. How will Kenyan and East African benefit from the Voice Awards may be many will be wondering, I will quote what George Wachiuri, The Africa Business Personality Award winner 2018.

“This Award is a door opener to do more in Africa in terms of achieving the well-being of African people, job creation and shelter provision to the people of Africa This Award is a big blessing to our massive diaspora clients whom we have been empowering to acquire properties in Africa, allowing them to take part in building this great continent and its people, not tomorrow, but now. The Award is a big win to all diaspora who believe and support the Optiven Group’s vision” Being nominated from Kenya to come and collect the award in The Netherlands was appreciation and recognition of African by Africans no matter the geographic demographic, so long as there is good deeds and impactful achievements whichever way its beings seen The Voice Achievers Award ceremony is to encourage

Africans and friends of Africa in various fields of human endeavours to do more and attain an outstanding status.

We are in no way saying these people we have chosen are the best, but they do have outstanding qualities that we are proud to present to the world.

This Award is unique because it offers not only recognition per excellence to the winners but also create an opportunity to meet other professionals and entrepreneurs from other communities around the globe in an interactive atmosphere to exchange new ideas and expand their networks.

We recognize governments, institutions, entrepreneurs as well as charities, social enterprises and those businesses that are making proven positive social or economic impact on Africans or in African countries.

Will you be in Kenya in August and be part of the globe network, Networking is not about just connecting people.

It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.

Your opportunity whether in business, entrepreneurship or Government institutions. “ As the Zambian proverb will tell you the worlds of the elders do not lock all the doors; they leave the right door open.”

By Abeka Salim Abdallah. He is a Kenyan and on the team of The Voice magazine putting this event together.

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Amanda Lazmon launches her first book Multiple award-winning gospel singer/ songwriter, Amanda Lazmon launches her first book Purposed Beyond My Scars.

The relentless minister who is also a motivational, speaker, radio/TV host says her clearly defined purpose in life is to be a voice of encouragement to the used, the abused and the broken-hearted. Amanda says in her own words “Purposed beyond my scars is a detailed account of my true life story.

A chronicle of my journey, struggles, challenges, doubts, fears, loss, pain and joy truthfully told to motivate, inspire and encourage anyone to whom life may have dealt traumatic blows.

Discouraged, hurt, wounded, abused, rejected, and abandoned with scars visible and or invisible, are you too scared or

discouraged to face life with boldness?

No matter where your scars are located- on your face, in your heart or your soul- they should never stop you from, discovering, pursuing and achieving your dreams because . . . your purpose in life is bigger than your scars.

Available on Amazon, Kindle & Major book stores in Nigeria.

MARVELOUS BOOKSHOP SHOP 17 BALE STREET, AJEGUNLE APAPA. TEL 08035807590 Marvelous Bookshop SHOP 10 Ede Shopping Plaza Opposite Observer Newspapers Airport Road Benin - city Bible wonderland Lagos

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Victory Outreach is a Pentecostal Church, Bible based believing people in the trinity of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

What would you like to know? Our vision?

Which activities we organize? Or would you like to hear testimonies about how we follow God? One thing is certain, we would like to get to know you and therefore you are more than welcome to visit one of our services. You can visit us every day of the week.

You may have been a believer for many years already. Or you might still be searching for the meaning of life and asking yourself whether or not there is God. Within Victory Outreach Almere we would like to help you find the answer. We will gladly teach you the exact meaning of “a living faith�. With us you will truly see and experience the supernatural power of the living God. You can always count on love and comfort when you need it. You will discover that we have a wonderful diversity of people

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with lots of different backgrounds, characters and personalities. But there is one thing we have in common. We all follow the same God, Jesus Christ.

In that diversity and love for God we are a family where you are more than welcome.

We personally hope to meet you during one of our services.

God bless you as you come in Jesus Christ name.

Amen

Pastor Roel & Ida van Rooij Senior Pastor Victory Outreach Almere.

Barbeelstraat 12, 1317 PZ Almere The Netherlands Telephone: 036-8417007; Telephone: 036-7505571 info@voalmere.nl www.voalmere.nl

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Address: 17A, Femi Okunnu Estate, Lekki Phase1,

Lagos, Nigeria Africa Email: aig_imoru2001@yahoo.com Tel: +234 8103 0484 00, +234 9082 9081 55,

08099448292

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Face to Face with Caroline Pouw “ I only have one chance to be in this world, if there is any kindness or goodness I can show, I would rather do it now, because I will not be back once I am gone.” - Caroline

Pouw

Our guest this month is a special lady with a big heart to promote integration within the two cultures she finds herself as an Africa and a Dutch woman by marriage and having to leave her homeland of Kenya to live in The Netherlands. Apart from pursuing a professional career, she has continued in her own ways to support laudable projects being done to improve lives in Kenya. She is the originator of Fashion High Tea (FHT). It is aimed to bring together the diverse cultures in the Netherlands using a social platform to network, exchange ideas and do business with the proceeds for the event going to a nominated charity.

Activities of the FHT with the slogan ‘Fashion with a Cause’ include fashion shows, high tea, entertainment, lotteries (with an assortment of prizes to be won). There are also several temporary boutique stands selling various goods and services. This charity inspired event is an annual occurrence and is the brain child of Caroline Pouw, who by her own right is a fashion authority.

Kindly enjoy our interview with her. Quite revealing on her life.

Excerpts: TV: For those of our readers who don’t know you.

Please introduce yourself to our readers?

Caroline Pouw: My name is Caroline Akoth OmondiPouw. I was born in Kenya at a small town called Kakamega. My father worked at the then biggest sugar miller in Kenya Mumias Sugar Company and my mum was a housewife. I am the second born in a family of 6. I moved to the Netherlands at the age of 26 and I live with my husband and twin boys aged 4.

TV: Tell us what you do for a living?

Caroline Pouw: I currently work part time at Elis Klarenbeek in the Service department in the Warehouse. This is a company specialized in Work clothes, sanitary products, mats and clean room products.

Before that I worked at Moduslink BV, under the TomTom contract, but took a break to spend time with my kids after they were born.

TV: You presently live in The Netherlands and how long have you lived here?

Caroline Pouw: It’s close to 9 years now since I moved to the Netherlands. My reason for migrating to Europe was my husband. We first met when he was visiting Kenya for vacation, and after visiting each other for some time, one of us had to make the decision to move. His argument for me to move to Europe, was that I may have a platform to do more than I actually was doing while in Nairobi. At that moment 24

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I was working as a reservations Manager at Hemmingways Safaris, it was a very good job. I got to meet people from different walks of life, got to learn how to deal with different pressure situations.

TV: How was life there for you in Kenya?

Caroline Pouw: My life in Nairobi was great, like anyone in their 20s, spent a lot of my time with friends. I didn’t get to see my family that much since they lived a couple of hours away from Nairobi, so special moments had to be planned for me to visit or have them come over. My life in Nairobi was much more relaxed compared to my current life in the Netherlands, but that comes with growth, responsibilities and the cultural differences.

TV: Are you still in contact with your country of origin and if yes, what contribution do you make towards its advancement?

Caroline Pouw: I am still very much in contact with my country of origin. I enjoy it when I see a fellow countryman or woman is thriving in something they are doing. I have connected a few businesses in Kenya with different individuals/ businesses, in such a way that both parties benefit from either a collaboration, receiving a service or a product. I also help in marketing products from my home country to the people near me. And I would also say that my contribution to my country is also through Fashion High Tea Eu, we raise funds for different charities, and raise awareness on different issues that affect us as diaspora or our loved ones back home.

TV: You run your own foundation! Tell us a bit about it and what does the foundation do?

Caroline Pouw: FHTeu actually became a reality in 2017

just before we had our flagship event. It actually came up from my need to want to share the beauty and the goodness of our roots with the ethnic Dutch community. And I thought its best to do this on a social platform where the richness of both cultures can be shared. And since Africans are not the only immigrants to The Netherlands, other nationalities are also welcome.

TV: The first time I heard about you was you organizing a Fashion High Tea. Was that a onetime event or regularly. Tell our readers more about it?

Caroline Pouw: Why I use Fashion is that clothes are emotional, they make one feel some kind of way. We all strive to look good in our own kind of way, and it’s also a form of identity and pride. African fashion has evolved in recent years and it will be a dream come true if one day, the African print (designers or fashion houses) can compete with the mainstream brand names in Fashion. I also feel as a human, we owe one thing to one another, and that is to guard humanity, stand in the gap for a brother, use your voice for the voiceless, make noise and speak up about issues that affect us as humans.

If we are in a position to help another human, it’s such a fulfilling thing to do.

So then I combined these two, fashion and raising awareness on issues such as mental health, lack of water, effects of immigration on kids born from African fathers to Europe to join a family with a European Dad, Sanitation, Food at schools, poverty etc. We do this by working with existing charities by holding an annual event, specifically committed to raising funds and getting as much heard and seen of the charity chosen that year. We follow up once the donation is made to find out what has really happened on the ground.

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Continued from Page 25 TV: What are your plans for 2019?

Caroline Pouw: This year, 2019 is dedicated to a charity called Metoyou. This is an organization that was set up by a Kenyan born (Joyce Sando), she is living in Amsterdam. She focuses on providing menstrual towels to girls in the Naivasha region so that they can stay in school and not miss a day just because they are on their flow period. We will be doing this by activities in schools, churches and if possible radio to collect as much as we can.

In the long run, we aim to switch to a more sustainable and cheaper solution in the long run.

TV: How do you fund this your event and what do you expect from the public?

Caroline Pouw: We have approached various businesses in Apeldoorn to help us make this years event a success and we are glad that the response has been positive so far. The Gemeente Apeldoorn is also looking into ways of supporting our cause. Hopefully with the additional assistance and support from the Kenyans in The Netherlands, we will reach our goal of providing 600 girls with enough material so that they do not miss a day from school.

The event is mostly funded from ticket sales and sponsorship. We call out to different individuals and or business to join hands and donate as much as possible. We would appreciate the help of volunteers, because there is a lot in the organizing of an event. The more

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volunteers we have, the less costs we incur in the preparations of the event. This year it will be on the 14th of September at the Bolwerk in Apeldoorn.

TV: We know you are married with children so how do you

cope with all of these activities?

Caroline Pouw: This will be our 8th year marriage anniversary with my husband. Its not easy combining, work, the organisation, kids, my husband and friends. I did struggle a bit in the beginning until I found my way of doing things.

I actually have to say am grateful to my husband, he has been very supportive. He was actually the one who told me that if I don’t put up what I have in my mind, it will just remain an idea. He would stay with the kids in case I have to travel or have a meeting planned. And we also found a way of organizing everything around the kids programme at school so that there is always one of us available. I would also say that I am a very organized person and I work a lot with lists. So at the end of the day or week, I feel fulfilled if everything on my list is checked. I however had to cut down time on social engagements with friends and spend more time on things directly or indirectly connected to my organisation.

After the first time it gets easier, because you build a network of people, you know more and can learn from your mistakes. .

TV: Do you have time for relaxation and how do you relax?

Caroline Pouw: I enjoy traveling, changing my usual routine even just for a few days is enough to get me rejuvenated. I enjoy massages and reading. Though it doesn’t really last that long, since being a social entrepreneur inspiration or opportunities are almost everywhere, I tend to switch from relaxation to work mode when needed. I have been able to make business deals during vacations, you know just grab the opportunity when it presents itself.

TV: What else motivates outside of your job?

Caroline Pouw: My children are my greatest inspiration.

They are my miracle babies and when they were still growing in my stomach, I asked God to use me in any way He will. They are a constant reminder to me that there is a God, and he hears and since he is faithful. Waking up every morning, breathing without a problem, is so much undeserved grace, that I just feel like I have to keep going for as long as my lungs will allow.

TV: What future plans and how do you intend to work more

with Africans in Europe?

Caroline Pouw: My plan is that one day FHTeu will be the biggest fashion event in Europe, where Africans from the entire continent will get to share their artistic gifts. That we will have a platform to celebrate our rich culture and share our struggles. Nothing beats telling your own story yourself. We are working slowly with various contacts in Europe to achieve this. And I cannot do this on my own, we need to work together to raise the colours of the respective countries we came from.

Its so funny, but my Kenyan flag has so much meaning for me now that I live far from home. She will remain my home all my life no matter where I live, and since our kids are a part of this, it’s our duty to keep our cultures alive, so that they can share in it and identify with their other country.

TV: Apart from your normal job, have you been involved in other activities with Africans and if yes, like what please?

Caroline Pouw: I am open to working with any African that will approach me, I believe strongly that together we are strong. I work closely with Kenya Hub, and organisation for connecting Kenyans around the World. I have also worked with Chakula BV, a Kenyan owned catering Company. I have helped in raising funds for one of our dear Kenyan lady , who was diagnosed with a disease that was not covered by insurance companies but needed immediate action to stop its progression. I have had a hand in coordinating a lot of events involving our people. I helped raise funds for Upendo4kids. I am basically willing to help in any way I can. I believe in being kind, even to those who are not kind to you. I am a big advocate of supporting each other in any way we can.

TV: We cross path at The Voice Achievers Award, what do you think of the awards and what is your impression for the future of the event?

Caroline Pouw: I love the Voice Achievers Award, its a very good platform of letting Africans in the diaspora and also back home, know who is who and what they have done or are doing for the African continent. It also gives a platform where these individuals are celebrated, for the effort taken in whatever they do.

The Voice Achievers Award should continue holding these events, also to provide a platform to network and discuss how we can change the African narrative.

TV: Lastly what would be your advice to those reading your interview right now?

Caroline Pouw: My advice to anyone reading is that don’t die with your song in your heart and to never forget how wildly capable they are. Make noise, in anyway you can, someone will hear you. Or someone is watching.

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Just Skirt presents Business Seminar for would be entrepreneurs in Amsterdam.

We are delighted to inform you that Just Skirt Business Seminar in collaboration with other financial experts are

coming to Amsterdam. We would like to use this opportunity to introduce the Just Skirt Business platform.

Just Skirt Vision JUST SKIRT is a faith based organization that organize business seminars and raise entrepreneurs. Our platform is a

Nigerian sex hawker killed in Italy The identity of the Nigerian lady who was killed in Italy over sex has been revealed. The deceased identified as Blessing Benedicta Daniels but popularly known as Anita, was a Nigerian sex worker in Italy. She was murdered by Leopoldo Scalici, 40, and he reported himself to the police after the murder thereafter he was detained. Of course there is a different version of events leading to her death; according to other sex hawkers who spoke under anonymity claimed that she was killed by the Italian for her failure to sexually satisfy him.

According to Italian website, Modena Today, Scalici approached Benedicta on the streets of Modena North for sex over the weekend. He loaded her on board the van on which he was travelling to

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tool that God use to bring intelligent to the Body of Christ, and to help people discover multiple ways to create income, because man was created a living soul which speaks of the will, the emotion, and the intelligent of man. In Just Skirt platform we ignite entrepreneurs to respond to their creative ability in a professional way.

Just Skirt Mission *JUST SKIRT is design to equip entrepreneurs with the strategies necessary to expand and birth their ideas. To assist with capitalization if necessary, to help make money from their passion and to build their professional brand in style.

My team and I want to use this opportunity to officially invite you and the (potential) entrepreneurs in your congregation on the 18th of May 2019. We would love to have you on board and make it a success.

Please see below detailed information; Date: Saturday 18th May 2019 Theme: Fixing the money thing!

Time: 13:00 pm Venue: Schepenbergweg 15, 1105 AS Amsterdam Zuid-Oost Point of focus on Saturday 18th of May - Building your personal brand - Finding your niche - Developing a budget plan - Forex Trading insight - An introduction to multiple streams of income.

reach a secluded place where they were believed to have had sex.

Benedicta was reportedly killed after the duo had had sexual intercourse and an argument had broken out, which led to Scalici hitting the Nigerian prostitute with a heavy object on the face and head.

It was however speculated that Scalici hit Benedicta because he wasn’t satisfied sexually. Another version says he probably murdered her when she demanded for her money as they must have agreed before she boarded his vehicle and travelled with him to where she was murdered.

Italian police have detained Scalici, after he voluntarily confessed to the crime. And investigation is ongoing on the matter. The Nigerian Embassy had been informed of the incident and other Nigerians are demanding justice for her.

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Celebrating Icon of African Democracy

Honour for Dr. Kenneth Kaunda at 95

Honour for Dr. Kenneth Kaunda Five former African Heads of States were among hundreds of guests who visited Africa’s living liberation legend, First Republican President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda to mark part of his 95th birthday celebrations in Zambia.

The five, who are part of the African Forum delegation confirmed the visit to the Zambian High Commission in Pretoria South Africa.

Former President of the Republic of Mozambique His Excellency Joacqim Chisano, who is the current chairperson of the Forum led the delegation to visit Dr. Kaunda.

Other delegation members include former Malawian President His Excellency Dr. Bakili Muluzi and former President of the United Republic of Tanzania His Excellency Ali Hassan Mwiinyi.

Former President of the Republic of Botswana His Excellency Festus Mogae and his Namibian counter His Excellency Hifkipunye Pohamba who have been listed as part of the delegation.

The delegation was in Zambia since the end of April as part of the people that celebrated the 95th birthday of the political liberation leader This is the first time that a delegation of former heads of states have visited Dr. Kaunda to mark his birthday celebrations.

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And Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Mwamba has described the visit as historic and a symbolic recognition of his great contributions to the liberation of Southern Africa.

He said Zambia was honoured to have former heads of states from Africa visit Dr. Kaunda.

Mr. Mwamba mentioned that Dr. Kaunda worked hard to contribute to the liberation Africa as a whole.

He said that it was pleasing to Zambia as a country to have such visits especially to Dr. Kaunda who has been recognised internationally as a major contributor to Africa’s liberation from colonialism.

This is according to a statement issued by Mrs Naomi Nyawali, First Secretary Press and Public Relations at Zambia High Commission to South Africa.

Meet Nigeria’s Dr. Wendy Okolo, 26, an award winning NASA aerospace engineer Dr Wendy A. Okolo is the first black woman to obtain a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and the 2019 winner of the BEYA Global Competitiveness Conference award for the most promising engineer in the United States government.

Nigerian born Dr. Wendy Okolo is an aerospace research engineer at the Ames Research Center,

a major National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research center in California’s Silicon Valley. Okolo. NASA is the U.S. agency responsible for the civilian space program, aeronautics and aerospace research.

Okolo works as a special emphasis programs manager in the Intelligent Systems Division of the Ames Research Center. According to Black Engineer, she is currently leading work on a System-Wide Safety (SWS) project, and a Space Technology Mission Directorate Early Career Initiative (STMD-ECI) project. The SWS project involves predicting GPS faults in unmanned aerial systems commonly known as drones. While the STMD-ECI project, aims to develop unconventional control techniques for deployable vehicles, to enable precision landing and improve maneuverability during the entry, descent, and landing phases of spaceflight.

Her past is just as impressive; at only 26 years old she

became the first black woman to obtain a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, where she earned both her undergraduate and doctoral degrees.

Wendy Okolo Receives “Black Engineer’s Most Promising Engineer in Government Award” Dr. Wendy Okolo, an aerospace engineer at NASA Ames, has received the “Black Engineer’s Most Promising Engineer in Government Award” at the BEYA STEM Conference in Washington D. C. Okolo is a Special Emphasis Programs Manager in the Intelligent Systems Division at Ames.

Okolo is working on the System-Wide Safety (SWS) project and a Space Technology Mission Directorate Early Career Initiative (STMD-ECI) project at Ames. For the SWS project, she led the task of predicting GPS faults in unmanned aerial systems commonly known as drones.

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Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo did not commit suicide says a mourning father, Dr. Fayimewo

L

ate Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo with his “wife” Maria Earl and their grandson, Noah who came to life in December 2018. Maria Earl told authorities that Femi died of suicide, but available facts point to homicide. But we are waiting for investigators to arrive at their final result. But my son was not suicidal. These are the words of Dr. Moshood Fayemiwo whose second son, Femi was reported dead in April and the first announcement stated that Femi had committed suicide. Our publisher, Pastor Elvis Iruh put a condolence to him at his resident in Texas, USA and the first reaction from the mourning father is this: “My second son, Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo would not have died, if he had listened to wise counsel. He would still be with us if his mother; Adeola Adefeso had not pushed him to the extent that every fatherly advice and entreaties I gave to my son would always be countermanded by this woman. Here is a woman I have left nearly fifteen years ago; she went ahead to marry twice, but both marriages crashed” While probed further to know why he is holding his ex-wife responsible for their son’s death, he has this to say. “This woman; Adeola kept assuring me nothing would happen to our son.”Nothing would happen to Femi, Mariah cannot do that; nobody can kill my baby,” she retorted rather dismissingly. I told her we’re not talking of voodoo here, but the prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of Adeola to reiterate what I told my son to do-relocating from California to Texas-to stay off the

impeding tragedy, she told our son not to mind me his father, but should stay in the abusive and dysfunctional marriage to “work it out.”

The father confirmed that he was in constant touch with his son via the telephone, and according to him, his son, Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo kept telling me over the phone: “Daddy,

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Maria is planning with people, her friends to kill me.” I said the Holy Spirit had shown me too; so why not go and report at the local police station at the Marine Base in California.

He said they would not believe him. So I asked him: “Is there any life insurance policy on your life?” To my astonishment, my son replied that; “Yes, Daddy, if I die, Maria Earl stands to collect $200,000.00 (Two Hundred Thousand Dollars) life Insurance.” I told Femi that would be the trigger and he should get out of Dodge quickly and fast. Again, his mother called from Tampa, Florida and countermanded my fatherly advice.

“Daddy, mummy said I should stay in the marriage and work it out.” I called the mom in Tampa, Florida once again; she shouted and said nothing would happen. The next thing I heard was on Facebook where Adeola flew our son, Mariah Earl and their new born-baby; Noah from California to Tampa. They were all decked in Yoruba attire smiling as shown in the pictures published on facebook. I was aghast. I lost it. But what could I have done but pray. Yet, there are numerous times wisdom and obedience to the warning of the Holy Spirit supersede prayers.

So how did you know about your son’s death? “Last Tuesday morning, Adeola called me from Tampa, Florida to inform me that our son, Oluwafemi Emanuel Fayemiwo had died.

I wanted to know how and why; albeit I had been shown as earlier stated. She said Maria Earl called her that Tuesday morning from the US Marine Corps Base Camp, Pendleton near Oceanside California that our son had committed suicide.

I told her, No Way, Femi could not and would never commit suicide. He was killed by Maria Earl and her acolytes. It was a case of homicide and the reason was the $200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Dollars) Life Insurance Maria Earl stands to collect from Femi’s death. I have called Maria Earl twice, she has not returned my call, and because she knows I knew how and why my son died.

Thereafter, I made frantic efforts to talk to the mortuary people in Oceanside, CA where his body was deposited. They told me they are still investigating and we wait.

Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo was born in 1993 in Lagos, Nigeria, immigrated to the United States of America with his parents, and served in the marine where he met his wife and they had a son together but it was a difficult marriage with accusation of immorality from Femi against his wife. He died mysteriously on 4th April 2019. He has since been buried but investigations continue on his death.

Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo (1993-2019)

The final journey of ex-marine officer, Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo allegedly murdered in California last month came up at Tampa Florida on Friday April 19, 2019. The funeral ceremony took place at Blount & Curry Terrace Oaks Funeral Home and Crematory 12690 N. 56th Street Funeral Home in Temple Terrace, FL 3361 where family and friends came to say goodbye to him but this seem the beginning of the story as the father of the deceased, Dr. Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo, of Cameron Texas, USA has refused to accept the earlier report by his son’s wife that Femi committed suicide. Please read the story on the side page. Our sincere condolence to the bereaving families particularly the father, Dr. Fayemiwo who happens to be a former boss to our Publisher, Pastor Elvis Iruh.

“My son was murder by his strangled wife over 200,000 dollars insurance claim” - Dr Moshood Fayemiwo

On Oluwafemi Emmanuel Fayemiwo’s death On the death of Femi Fayemiwo, I share in the grief of the parents of a Young man gone at 26 leaving behind a Young son who will not grow to know is biological father.

More painful is the accusation that he has been murdered by his own wife, although we do not have evidence to support this claim as investigations continues on the matter. One person that has no doubt what has happened is the father of the deceased, Dr. Moshood Fayemiwo. He categorically told me ‘my son was murdered by his wife, for the 200,000 dollars insurance claim on my son’s life”. He told me that there was already cracks in the marriage and he pleaded with his son to flee from the marriage but he did not listen that he would work things out with his wife. This story is personal to me, I know this Femi even though as a Young boy, I used to drive him in his father’s car to school as a kid, and he was my Publisher son. He was quite, gentle and easy going, of course he grew into a man, who went into America marine corps, served United States of America and then fell in love and got married.

This is the little of him that I know, I went through his Facebook page and postings, he

did not display any sign of a man who was distressed and capable of taking his own life, he had his Elder brother, Father and mother. He was communicating excellently with them despite the divorce of his parents. He was full of life and from the blues, the news came that he has taken his own life. No suicide note or any message of distress call for help.

The Father suspect a foul play in his death and he has vowed to pursue this matter to get justice for his son. “I would never belief that my son committed suicide, they need to show me evidences that points to that”. He actually warns parents who have Young adult children who marry foreign women in America to be more vigilant because of mysterious deaths like this is becoming common and most times, it is one of the spouse responsible for the death of the other.

We would keep an eye on the investigation and update you if there is any evidence to the allegation so the bereaved father. Until then, we keep the sweet and good memory of Late Oluwafemi Fayemiwo.

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Mother who killed her daughter’s raper set free by the court in South Africa

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okubonga Qampi became known as the “Lion Mama” in South Africa after she killed one of three men raping her daughter and wounded the others. She was charged with murder but after a public outcry the prosecution was halted, and she was able to focus her efforts on her daughter’s recovery.

It was the middle of the night when the telephone call came, waking Nokubonga from her sleep. The girl at the other end of the line was just 500m away and she said Nokubonga’s daughter, Siphokazi, was being raped by three men they all knew well.

Nokubonga’s first response was to call the police, but there was no answer. She knew, anyway, that it would take them time to reach her village, in the rolling green and brown hills of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. She was the only person that could help.

“I was scared, but then I was forced to go because it was my daughter,” she said. “I was thinking that when I get there, she might be dead... Because she knew the perpetrators, and because they knew her and knew she knows them, they might think they had to kill her so she couldn’t report them.”

Siphokazi had been visiting friends in a group of four small houses in the same village but had been left alone, asleep, when her friends went out at 01:30. Then three men who had been drinking in one of the other houses attacked her.

Nokubonga’s sparsely furnished hut has two rooms, a bedroom, where she had been sleeping, and a kitchen - where she picked up a knife. “I took it for me, for walking the distance between here and where the incident was taking place, because it is not safe,” she says. “It was dark and I had to use the torch on my phone to light the way.”

She heard her daughter’s screams as she approached the house.

On entering the bedroom, the light from her phone enabled her to make out the awful sight of her daughter being raped.

“I was scared… I just stood by the door and asked what they were doing. When they saw it was me, they came charging towards me, that’s when I thought that I needed to defend myself, it was an automatic reaction,” Nokubonga says.

Nokubonga refuses to go into detail about what happened next. The judge in the court case against the attackers said Nokubonga’s testimony showed she had “become very emotional” as she saw one of the men raping her daughter, while the other two stood nearby with their trousers round their ankles, waiting to take their turn again.

Judge Mbulelo Jolwana went on to say, “I understood her to mean that she was overcome with anger.” But in recounting the 34

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story now, all Nokubonga will admit to was fear - for herself and her daughter - and her face betrays only sadness and pain.

It’s clear, though, that when the men charged at Nokubonga she fought back with her knife - and that as she stabbed them they tried to flee, with one even jumping out of a window. Two were seriously injured, and the other died.

Nokubonga did not stay to find out how badly hurt they were.

She took her daughter to a friend’s house nearby. When the police arrived, Nokubonga was arrested and taken to the local police station, where she was kept in a cell.

“I was thinking of my child,” she says. “I got no information [about her]. It was a traumatic experience.” At the same time, Siphokazi was in hospital worrying about her mother, imagining her in her cell and heartbroken about the prospect of her being jailed for years. “I wished that if she spent time in prison, I would be the one who would serve it on her behalf,” she says.

Still in shock, she could remember little or nothing of the attack. What she now knows she heard from her mother when she arrived at the hospital two days later, after being freed on bail.

From that moment on they have been each other’s emotional support. “I didn’t get any counselling but my mother has been able to assist me,” Siphokazi says. “I am recovering.”

Nokubonga’s efforts are focused on ensuring that life continues just as it was before.

“I’m still the mother and she is still the daughter,” she says. They share a laugh about the closeness of their relationship, joking that Siphokazi cannot get married, because then Nokubonga would have no-one to look after.

In the 18 months since the attack occurred they have come a long way.

Buhle Tonise, the attorney who represented Nokubonga, remembers that both seemed to have given up when she first met them, a week after the attack. “The mother was distraught,” she says.

“When you are meeting with people that are at that level of poverty, then you know most of the time they would feel that the mother is going to jail because she has no-one to stand by her side. The justice system is for those who have money.”

As Buhle spoke to Nokubonga, Siphokazi watched her silently, as though the attack had deprived her of the power of speech. Although Buhle says she was confident Nokubonga could argue convincingly that she acted in selfdefence, she feared it would be a struggle to overcome her

client’s overwhelming pessimism. What neither of them had foreseen was the help they would get from the media, which ended up creating the legend of the Lion Mama.

It is rare in South Africa for a rape case to get more than basic news coverage. This may be in large part down to the sheer number of rapes in the country, estimated at around 110 per day - a situation President Cyril Ramaphosa recently labelled a national crisis.

The Eastern Cape province - the country’s poorest, with unemployment of over 45% - has a higher level of rape per capita of population than any other. In Lady Frere, the village where Nokubonga and Siphokazi live, there were 74 recorded rapes in the year 2017/2018 - an astonishingly high figure for somewhere with a population of less than 5,000.

But among the numerous harrowing stories of rape in South Africa, Nokubonga and Siphokazi’s story stood out. The press quickly latched on to the tale of a mother protecting her daughter. Unable to name Nokubonga, to protect her daughter’s anonymity, one newspaper labelled her “Lion Mama”, placing the story next to a picture of a lion and her cubs. The name stuck.

“For me, at first, I didn’t like it because I couldn’t understand,” Nokubonga says. “But in the end I knew it meant I was a hero, because when you look at a lion it would protect its cubs.”

The public responded by criticizing the decision to charge Nokubonga with murder and raising funds to help her mount her legal defence. This raised her spirits, but the extent of the public support did not sink in until her first appearance in a local magistrate’s court, a month after the attack.

“Going to court I was scared, I woke up and said a prayer,” she says. When she got there, she found the place was full of well-wishers.

“There were a whole lot of people from all over South Africa. What I said to people is thank you, because the fact that the court was filled to the rafters, it meant that they supported me. They really gave me hope.” She was quickly called before the magistrate.

“I was told the charges had been withdrawn,” she says. “I just stood there, but I was excited, I was happy. At that moment I knew the justice system is able to separate right from wrong, they were able to tell I had no intentions of taking someone’s life.”

Buhle Tonise recalls the impact the magistrate’s decision had on Siphokazi as well.

“After the case was withdrawn, she calls her daughter. For the first time ever I heard her daughter laugh. I think that’s when [Siphokazi] said she also wants to see the guys going to jail.”

They had to wait over a year for that to happen, but in December 2018 the two remaining attackers, 30-year-old Xolisa Siyeka and 25-year-old Mncedisi Vuba members of the same clan as Nokubonga and Siphokazi - were each sentenced to 30 years in prison.

“I was happy about it,” says Siphokazi, now 27. “I felt a bit safe, but a part of me just felt they deserved life imprisonment.”

This is as close as Siphokazi gets to showing anger toward her attackers.

Once the case was finished, she decided to waive her anonymity in order to give encouragement to other rape survivors.

“I would tell a person that even after such an attack there is even life beyond it, you can still go back to society. You can still live your life,” she says.

Nokubonga also shows a surprising lack of anger for someone compared by the media to a lioness.

In fact, she has hopes that her daughter’s rapists can achieve something positive in the future. “I’m hoping that when they finish their sentence they’ll come back as reformed or changed people,” she says, “to tell a story about it and be a living example.”

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Jeffangs Beauty

This is a one-stop shopping center for all your hair and body products.

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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS FROM 23RD - 26TH MAY 2019

Vote Patience Mayaki-van der Horst Patience is Nigerian-born Dutch citizen, married and lives together with her husband in the Netherlands, Patience Mayaki-van der Horst is a candidate at the coming European parliament elections and she is asking for your vote so she could represent Dutch citizens including people of minority background in the European parliament. Patience is the second of five children. Her father is a retired civil servant who was

born in the South-South region (Niger delta) of Nigeria. Her mother is both an entrepreneur and a dedicated housewife who gave herself largely to the home front, taking care of the family. Patience spent most of her childhood and early adult years living, studying and starting her professional career in different parts of the country. She moved to Europe almost 15 years ago to pursue advanced studies after being awarded a postgraduate fellowship by the European Commission.

Patience has always had a deep curiosity of the world around her and is well known for her eagerness to learn and gain new knowledge. Right from primary school, her teachers testify to her boundless energy, relentless questions and lack of satisfaction with generalized answers. Throughout her primary and secondary school years, she was known to be involved in several extra curriculum activities including the literary and debating society, civil liberty organization and science quiz club. She held several leadership positions during this time.

Her interest in the environmental sciences was born by chance and has grown tremendously over the years charting her professional career in ways

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she had least imagined. Patience currently works for one of Europe’s largest bilateral development financial institutions as a senior environmental and social officer with a global focus in emerging markets of Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. She supports her institution’s efforts in empowering entrepreneurs in developing countries to promote a better quality of life, improve people’s wellbeing and ultimately build a better world.

Patience saw...

As a postgraduate student studying in Europe, Patience saw a unique opportunity to garner exposure in the international diplomatic community. She participated in several international conferences, including the United Nations where she addressed high level country delegates and government representatives at various plenary sessions as a youth advocate.

Patience graduated with First Class Honours in her undergraduate studies in Forestry and has postgraduate degrees in European Forestry and Business Administration (MBA) from different European Universities. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of bankers of Nigeria.

Her Person Patience is known to be inspiring, genuine and speaks from the heart. Coming from the developing world, she has encountered first-hand some of the global challenges’ our world leaders strive to collectively find enduring solutions. She is result driven, goes to the heart of the problem and gives ownership to the people.

YOUR VOTE MATTERS; LET US VOTE PATIENCE INTO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Why Vote for Patience?

• She is concerned about Migration • She is concerned about Human Rights • And she is concerned about Climate Change Like many of you, she has stood on the side lines over the years listening to the debate on various issues that affects our daily wellbeing and impacts our lives But no longer, Patience Mayaki-van der Horst has offered herself to be elected into the European Parliament so she had add her voice to decision making policies of Europe.

To help solve the problems that confronts us. “We must not be afraid to take a journey to the source”.

I have watched the news and seen the traumatic experiences of people fleeing from their homeland, never knowing if they will ever see it again in their life time. I have also seen how young men, women and children have been lured into the web of deception

regarding a better life in Europe only to end up in either prostitution, forced or bonded labour. Many endure unimaginable hardships and long for their freedom. The promise of a better life in Europe has become an illusion, a fading dream.

Empowered with my Dutch citizenship, the right to vote and be voted for, I believe it is time to step out of the sidelines and bring a new voice to the table.

A voice that sends a clarion call for action and unity, a voice that warns that a house divided among itself cannot stand and finally a voice that brings potential solutions to the table, not from hearsay but from firsthand experience as a young Afro-Dutch woman born in the developing world with insights into how we as a Union can effectively and collectively tackle the challenges of migration, human rights violation and climate change within and outside of our borders.

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Vote Patience Mayaki-van der Horst EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS. Migration Problem According to a recent study by the European Asylum Support Office, applications for asylum across Europe has reduced well below the pre-crisis level in 2014. This means that we may no longer be dealing with a migration crisis on our hands anymore. Yet, migration is still a major issue that threatens the future and stability of our union and we cannot be complacent in our approach to finding a permanent and humane solution. There are those who sow the discord of fear, anxiety and insecurity but we have also seen nations grow and benefit immensely from the diversity of their citizens.

Studies after studies have shown that the widening of income inequalities and growing poverty levels within countries, and among countries are key factors explaining why millions of people are moving across borders to wealthier nations to find better working and living conditions. So how do we effectively deal with immigration and is there a lasting solution to this highly complex issue?

Debate Many of the political debates I have witnessed in recent times have failed to separate the migration discourse clearly.

I have seen fear and distrust increasingly dictate individual

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country positions on what is acceptable when it comes to dealing with migrants trying to enter Europe. It helps to put the debate into some context: In a broad sense, we have two types of migrants, those I have chosen to group as conflictinduced migrants and economic migrants.

Conflict-induced migrants are those forcibly displaced from their home countries as a result of armed conflicts, natural disasters, human rights violation or persecution and for these reasons seek refuge in Europe. Economic migrants on the other hand are those fleeing their home countries because they no longer have any hope of a good future and hence long for greener pastures and better quality of life elsewhere.

For this latter group, the important question to ask is this: if there is good quality living standards in their home countries, would these group of migrants leave their homelands in the first place? What can we do as a Union to help reverse these trends and turn this crisis into a win-win solution?

Mrs. Patience Mayaki-van der Horst has always been an advocate for addressing these challenges and electing her will give her a better standing to add voice and represent you properly in the European parliament. She is passionate about politics for impact. She is a firm believer that we can build a better world working together.

VOTE PATIENCE MAYAKI-VAN HORST FOR EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

How to vote in the European Parliament Elections

Are you a Dutch or European citizen living in The Netherlands and want to know how best to exercise your voting rights, visit this website for all the information you need.

https://www.european-elections.eu/ *****

EU Parliament Elections FAQs

What is the date of the elections?

The elections take place on 23 May 2019 in The Netherlands.

Where can I vote?

Voters in The Netherlands can vote in polling stations based in their municipality. If you need to vote in another municipality, you need to request a voter´s pass.

What is the voting age?

In the Netherlands, you have to be at least 18 to vote in the European elections.

How many Members of the European Parliament are elected in The Netherlands?

Voters will elect 29 Parliament members in 2019, three more than in the 2014 elections.

What is the deadline to register to vote?

If you are a Dutch citizen, you do not need to register to vote.

The Dutch authorities does this for you automatically.

You will receive a voting pass at your home address prior to the elections. If you change your home address after 9 April 2019, check out this website.

Can I vote in the Netherlands if I am from another EU country?

Yes, you can but you have to register to vote by 9 April 2019 at the very latest. You can register at your local city hall by completing the Y32 form online. The Y-32 form is available between 26 February 2019 and 9 April 2019.

Scroll down for more information.

What documents do I need to bring to the polling station?

You need to bring your ID card, passport or driver´s license, and your voting pass.

Can I vote by mail?

No, in the Netherlands it is not possible to vote by mail.

Can I vote by proxy?

Yes, this is possible in The Netherlands. You can authorizes another person to vote on your behalf (by proxy) using either the back of your voting pass, or a separate authorization form.

Voting by proxy (resident of the same municipality) To authorize another resident of the same municipality to vote, you need to fill in the back of the voting pass, and both you and

the authorized person must sign it. You must also give them a copy of your ID. They must present the copy of your ID and their own ID at the polling station. They can only vote on behalf of others while casting their own vote.

Voting by proxy (resident of a different municipality) To authorize a resident of a different municipality to vote for you, you must submit a written request for a proxy vote. These forms (model L8) are available in the municipal offices. You and your chosen authorized representative must both sign the form and the representative will receive a certificate of authorization to vote for you. The form must be submitted no later than five days before the election.

What are the constituencies?

In the Netherlands, there is just one national constituency, which means people across the country choose from the same lists of candidates.

What is the threshold for political parties to be elected to the European Parliament?

In the Netherlands, there is no threshold to be elected to the European Parliament. Political parties do need to receive a sufficient percentage of votes for one seat. There will be 29 Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands elected. Thus each political party will need to get at least 3.44% of the votes to secure one seat in Parliament.

How will the Members of the European Parliament be elected in the Netherlands?

The Netherlands uses preferential voting, which gives the voters the option to indicate their preferences within the party list they choose. Candidates who receive the most preferences are more likely to be elected.

Who are the candidates? Which political parties can I vote for?

Political parties or individual people who wish to stand for the elections should register with the national election authority by 9 April 2019. You should find a complete list of all candidates on their website once the registration period expires on 9 April 2019.

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East Libyan warplanes hit Tripoli government positions

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astern Libyan forces bogged down in street battles in a push to seize the capital Tripoli deployed warplanes last month to hit several government positions, as more civilians fled the fighting despite United Nations call for ceasefire and respect for dialogue in Libya.

More than 1,000 people gathered in central Tripoli to demand that Khalifa Haftar stop the advance of his Libyan National Army (LNA) on the coastal city.

Haftar launched the campaign last month, in the latest conflict in a cycle of anarchy since the 2011 overthrow of Dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

But forces loyal to Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj’s internationally recognised government have so far kept them at bay, with fierce fighting round a disused former airport about 11 km (7 miles) from the centre.

An LNA warplane bombed the camp of a force allied to Serraj in Zuwara, west of Tripoli towards the Tunisian border, an LNA military source and residents said.

Zuwara is near the Mellitah oil and gas plant, jointly operated

by Italy’s ENI and state oil firm NOC, which supplies Italy with gas through the Greenstream pipeline.

An LNA warplane also attacked the only partly functioning airport in Tripoli, Mitiga, where anti-aircraft guns opened fire in response, witnesses said. The extent of damage and possible casualties in both places was not clear.

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Weeks of battles has killed hundreds of people – mainly fighters but also civilians and wounded another 323, according to the latest UN tallies. Some 13,625 people have also been forced out of their homes.

As the sound of fighting echoed around their city, residents sought to maintain some normality. Some families were eating in cafes next to the fish market where people were stocking up for the long run as nobody knows when this new round of fighting would end.

“We have got used to wars. I fear only God,” said Yamim Ahmed, 20, who works in a fast food restaurant. More than 1,000 people staged a protest in Martyrs Square in central Tripoli to demand an end to the offensive, witnesses said. The turnout was bigger than the first protest a month earlier.

As well as the humanitarian cost, the conflict threatens to disrupt oil supplies, increase migration across the Mediterranean to Europe, scupper a UN peace plan, and allow Islamist militants to exploit the chaos.

CITY STALEMATE Haftar, 75, a former general in Gaddafi’s army who later joined the revolt against him, moved his troops out of their eastern stronghold to take the oil-rich desert south earlier this year before sweeping up to Tripoli at the start of April.

But Serraj’s government has managed to halt for now the advance, helped by forces with machineguns on pickups, and steel containers across the road into Tripoli. The Tripoli government says it has taken nearly 200 prisoners from Haftar’s forces.

The United Nations, which had hoped to organize a national conference this month bringing the rival eastern and western administrations together to organize an election, has called for a ceasefire. The United States, G7 bloc of wealthy nations and European Union have also urged the LNA to halt its offensive.

Tripoli-based Foreign Minister Mohamed Siyala urged the UN Security Council to call on Haftar to halt the advance.

The UN health agency said it fears outbreaks of tuberculosis, measles and diarrhoea due to poor sanitation, especially among those displaced.

Five ambulances have been hit trying to extract wounded people from the conflict zone, World Health Organization (WHO) representative Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain also told a Geneva news briefing from Tripoli.

The WHO said it had only two weeks of medical supplies available for Tripoli’s hospitals.

Haftar casts himself as a bulwark against Islamist militancy who wants to restore order to Libya. But opponents see him as a potential would-be dictator like Gaddafi.

He has so far resisted UN pressure to accept a power-sharing settlement, using his leverage as an ally of the West in attempts to stem jihadists in North Africa.

About 1,500 refugees and migrants are trapped in detention centres, the head of the UN refugee agency said. “They must be urgently brought to safety. Simply put, this is a matter of life or death,” Filippo Grandi said in a statement.

Libya is a major transit point for migrants pouring into Europe in recent years, mostly trafficked by smuggling gangs.

Gaddafi’s Son, Saif al-Islam is running for President to restore prosperity and peace in Libya Saif al-Islam, who is the son of the late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, was confirmed as a candidate for Libya’s presidential elections.

A tweet posted by Africa Research Centre reads, “Saif al- Islam Gaddafi, Son of the late Libyan Leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is to run as a candidate in the country’s presidential elections this year.

His candidacy was announced by officials in the Libyan Popular Front party during a news conference last month but the elections is in doubt with continue fighting in different parts of the country.”

Saif al-Islam has always supported the holding of presidential elections in Libya.

He was once an heir to Libyan fortunes, but since he was released in 2017, he has not chosen to appear in the public very much, being a fugitive even.

Khaled Guel told al-Araby al-Jadeed, a pan-Arab newspaper, “The humanitarian situation is deteriorating and the path

forward is unclear. Therefore many Libyans now believe that the only way to save the country is through Saif alIslam.”

Libya has been locked in an unending state of chaos following the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed political revolt. The country is fractured, and unity is a remote possibility with how things are. Libya is divided into two parts – the eastern, which is governed by the elected local parliament, and this legislative body is backed by the Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar; and the western part is run by the UN and EU-backed Government of National Accord and led by Tripolibased Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj.

It is hoped that by the end of the year, at least these elections should have been conducted.

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2020 Gov. Polls: The Naked Dance by Politicians Politics in Nigeria has become a source of livelihood for many who have decided to put in their best for the good of many. The politicians have built a reputation around themselves as people who have the interest of their people at heart and there are no permanent friends but interests that bind themselves together.

Interestingly however, if an interest is at variance with another, there is bound to be some disagreement of some sorts. No wonder we have seen that some people have distanced themselves from the political arena. They will not want to take active part in politics despite the fact we are all described as political animals.

However, most Nigerians are not in any way surprised with the appalling attitude of some politicians who are ready to engage in any unholy act to continue to remain relevant.

There is no doubt that one of the problems we are facing today as a nation stem from the fact that the political space has been occupied by too many charlatans, praise singers, bootlickers and jobbers in the garb of being politicians.

This largely explains why the country has become a laughing stock in the comity of nations and too many right thinking individuals believe that there is so much frustration, anger, hatred, and widespread disappointment amongst politicians.

It has been observed that there is so much bickering and acrimony amongst politicians and over eighty percent of decisions taken by the political class somehow clashes with the interest of the people who voted for them.

This is because very most politicians put their selfish interest over and above the people when they are in the corridors of power.

The situation is even worse when some politicians engage themselves in battles to cling on to political power and at some point they no longer care of the consequences of their actions which are invariably at the expense of the generality of the people.

They do not mind dancing naked in the market square, throwing all caution to the wind to get what they want, or scoring some cheap political point. Their methods are crude and their primary aim is lace with selfishness.

But the sad aspect is that they lose all sense of decorum to the extent that they can decide to tear down the structures they have fought hard or invested so much to build all along without blinking an eye. They deploy clandestine machineries, oiled with funds from bed fellows who were once friends but overnight enemies.

As the 2020 governorship polls draws near, we are already witnessing the emergence of a group, Concerned Progressives of Edo state CPE, used to distract the governor of Edo state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki from his vision of providing quality leadership for the All Progressives Congress, APC and developing the state.

These are no doubt antics of some politicians in the state to cause disaffection and throw spanners in the wheel of progress in the state. Their recent lamentation that APC may lose Edo if Obaseki is fielded in the 2020 polls has been described as an attempt by the political jobbers to execute the bidding of their pay masters.

In as much as there is the freedom of expression, their statement in the Vanguard Newspapers recently, signed by its coordinator Mrs. Jessica Imade is uncalled for and perceived as a witch hunting by those not happy with the system for whatever reasons.

It is however the opinion of the good people of Edo state that all hands should be on deck to assist the governor succeed in his task of transforming the state in the interest of everybody and not to satisfy just a segment of the people who are politicians

By Eubaldus Enahoro. He is a Deputy Editor with the Nigerian Observer Newspapers, Benin City, Nigeria

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Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crew ‘repeatedly’ followed recommended procedures but couldn’t regain control, investigators say

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n Ethiopian Airlines pilot followed proper emergency procedures before the crash, a new report found. The Ethiopian Airlines crew commanding the Boeing 737 Max 8, which crashed last month and killed all 157 people on board, followed all recommended procedures but couldn’t regain control of the doomed flight, Ethiopian investigators told reporters last month.

Ethiopian Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges said preliminary findings from an investigation into the deadly crash show the aircraft had a valid certificate of airworthiness, the pilots were licensed and qualified to conduct the flight, and the plane’s takeoff appeared to be “very normal.” As the jet began nose diving, the pilots “repeatedly” performed all emergency procedures provided by Boeing, the manufacturer, but they “were not able to control the aircraft,” Moges told reporters at a press conference in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 went down in clear weather in the morning on March 10, six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. The American-

made jet, carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew members, was headed to Nairobi, Kenya.

Based on the initial report, Ethiopian safety investigators recommend Boeing reviews the aircraft flight control system of its new 737 Max 8 model and that avian authorities verify the flight controllability has been adequately addressed by the manufacturer before resuming operations of this aircraft, according to the transport minister.

Two aviation sources familiar with the probe told the press that the Ethiopian Airlines flight suffered a damaged angle-of-attack sensor upon take-off from a bird or foreign object, triggering erroneous data and the activation an anti-stall system called MCAS -- sending the pitch of the plane downward and ultimately crashing into the ground.

According to the sources, the pilots did not try to electronically pull the nose of the plane up before following Boeing’s emergency procedures of disengaging power to the horizontal stabilizer on the rear of the aircraft.

One source told the press that they manually attempted to bring the nose of the plane back up by using the trim wheel. Soon after, the pilots restored power to the horizontal stabilizer.

With power restored, the MCAS was reengaged, the sources said, and the pilots were unable to regain control before the crash.

Boeing said a statement later that: “We urge caution against speculating and drawing conclusions on the findings prior to the release of the flight data and the preliminary report.”

The Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer has supplied more than 370 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets to 47 airlines since the model debuted in May 2017, and 72 of them are currently flying in the United States, according to Boeing.

French and American investigators are assisting in the Ethiopian probe and at the center of it is an automated antistall safety system on the Max and its possible link to issues in the Ethiopian flight and a Lion Air crash in 2018.

In both crashes, the Boeing 737 Max aircraft struggled to maintain a steady flight path. The planes repeatedly lost and gained altitude before entering a dive to the earth’s surface. In the two incidents, a new anti-stall safety system on the Max that controls trim – MCAS was activated, sources have told the press.

Commercial airline pilots are trained to disengage the system in the event of runaway trim, when the airplane is making unexpected pitch movements. It’s unknown what would have kept the pilots of the Lion Air flight from disengaging the system and trimming the aircraft.

Lion Air has defended the training of its pilots.

In the days following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, airlines and aviation authorities around the world grounded the Max. The United States was the last to do so on March 13, after the Federal Aviation Administration concluded the refined satellite data that became available to the agency that day warranted a temporary grounding of the Max. Last month, the acting FAA administrator went to Capitol Hill to defend the government’s response to the two crashes. Daniel Elwell told senators that while the FAA may have been among the last aviation regulators in the world to ground the Max, it and Canada were

GHANA: U.S is now Visa-free for Ghanaians

the first to make a decision based on robust data from the aircraft.

Boeing says it is working a software update for the automated safety system and it is expected to be approved by the FAA and offered to airline in a few weeks.

The NPP government is delivering its promises for ensuring a stress-free travel for Ghanaians.

Aside reducing the processing times in acquiring passports, the government has increased the validity of Ghanaian passports from 5 to 10 years.

Today, Foreign Minister Shirley Botchwey has signed a visa-free travel policy with the United States on behalf of all Ghanaians.

In this new policy, holders of Ghanaian passports without any criminal records are entitled to visit the United States without visas for a period of 30 days only.

The Satirist Attachee at the embassy, Dr. Baffour Gyawu (Mphil, Phd) told the press present that the only document needed to board a plane to the US is a valid passport and Police clearance certificate.

“Traffic offences are considered criminal”, he added.

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Alpha Solar Systems boss received royal welcome in Ondo State.

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he founder of Alpha Solar Systems, Pastor Duncan Spier from The Netherlands was on a working visit to Nigeria which took him to Lagos, Enugu, Abuja and finally at Akure, Ondo state where he was a guest to the chairman Poinsetts Group Nigeria Limited and the AGBAKA of ALAGBAKA, Chief Prince Afolabi Obasuyi who took him on a short tour of the town, attending two weddings with the wife of the AGBAKA of ALAGBAKA, IYALAJE of Akure Kingdom and their children at a function at the Jojein hotel and Resorts Akure.

After that he was taken to pay a courtesy visit to His Royal Highness, the Deji of Akure Kingdom, , Oba Aladetoyinbo O g u n l a d e A l a d e l u s i (Odundun II) where he explained the plans of his company for Nigeria and in particular with Prince Obasuyi for Ondo State.

The company and its Chairman was

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welcomed and invited to come back as they are ready to do business with him. He was accompanied on the trip by Mrs. Lilian Akintokun, a staff of the company in Nigeria, her husband and two children.

Pastor Spier is grateful to the High Chief for his kind hospitality and reception on a short notice. He also used the opportunity to present him his 2018 The Voice Achievers Award, which he missed in Amsterdam in November of 2018.

Congratulations to the AGBAKA of ALAGBAKA, Chief Prince Afolabi Obasuyi

Just Skirt presents Business Seminar for would be entrepreneurs in Amsterdam One woman has set out to address a challenge many women face today, the challenge of wanting to become professional successful entrepreneurs or career people but they find themselves lacking motivation, unhappy and unsatisfied. Pastor Favour Dare started a foundation simply called Just Skirt. What is in a name you may ask? She set up this foundation with other women of like minds to design program to train and equip women with the necessary tools to combine confidence and compassion, style and substance and of course beauty and brain to be annex to maximize their professional potentials.

She has organized several programs till day but there is a special one on 18th May 2019 in Amsterdam. (See flyer published) Pastor Favour as she is popularly addressed is the co-founder of House of Refuge Ministry in Deventer in The Netherlands where she serves along with her husband to care for the sheep God has given to them.

She spoke in this exclusive interview with The Voice magazine Publisher, Pastor Elvis Iruh on her coming event. Read along with us:

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TV: For those of our readers who don’t know you. Please introduce yourself to our readers?

Pastor Favour Dare: Hello readers my name is Favour w.p.

Dare. I am a proud Nigerian living in the diaspora- The Netherlands to be precise. I am the founder and president of Just skirt network, a platform where I raise entrepreneurs.

I am the CEO of Unisex Baffs Collection, I am an author, and mother, a wife and a financial strategist.

TV: You are a Pastor, tell us about your ministry and Christian works?

Pastor Favour Dare: I am a co-pastor of House of Refuge Ministry in Deventer, I am a PK (Pastor’s kid). I have been born again for more than 3 decades now. I am a word base believer that approach live from the finished work of the Cross.

TV: You presently live in Holland and how long have you lived there?

Pastor Favour Dare: I am living in Holland for 16 years already.

TV: You are a wife, a mother as well as a full time minister so how do couple with these pressures of life?

Pastor Favour Dare: It had been by His grace to be honest.

His grace is sufficient hahaha.

TV: You do a lot social media broadcast and what has been the response from the public?

Pastor Favour Dare: Wow the response is so great and huge, it’s amazing. The people response is wonderful. I am really grateful. I really thank God for the social media platform and I would love to encourage everyone to make use of this window of opportunity. Since we all cannot be on television, let’s use the social media to tell the vision of our Lord Jesus Christ.

TV: Are you still in contact with your country of origin and if yes, what contribution do you make towards its advancement?

Pastor Favour Dare: Yes am in contact with my country by

the grace of God. Our outlet there is joining our community to eradicate unemployment.

TV: You run your own foundation! Just Skirt - What is the reason behind and what exactly do you do?

Pastor Favour Dare: Waw this is a great question, thank you for asking. Like a great man of God said; the graveyard is the richest place because of untapped potential and having a full understanding as a child of God we are no more broken, we are whole because of what Jesus has done. If you look around the body of Christ, there is so much discontent people that are not making the proper connection to what has been provided for them through the finished work of Christ on the cross. So the Just Skirt platform is one of the way in which God is obstructing their mediocrity and helping them to have the right perspective, brilliance and awoke the entrepreneurship in them. So we raise entrepreneurs, we also encourage those that are redundant to their God given purpose, we stare up passion in them to be their authentic self, how to be their personal coach, how to brand themselves; help them with a business plan, also help them with their setup capital if they are part of the Just Skirt Community fund.

TV: We have been told of an event happening this month – Just Skirt Business Seminar. Tell us what is it all about?

Pastor Favour Dare: Amsterdam we are coming, you guys are privilege to taste from this amazing phenomenal platform.

I am coming with my team and some great financial expert that will help us fix the money thing, because we need to fix the money thing. In collaborating with other great financial platforms.

TV: Who are those who can attend this business seminar?

Pastor Favour Dare: Anyone can attend, Anyone that want to expand their business and those who are new in business (start-ups) by experience our target is foremost the millennial and the boomers generation. Anyone that want to grow, and take whatever they are doing to the next level is welcome on board.

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Just skirt Business Seminar invites ......

Continued from Page 59 TV: And what should we expect – who is it open for and who is going to be speaking at the seminar?

Pastor Favour Dare: We have great line up of professionals that have content who will be speaking at the seminar.

I promise you, you can’t attend this meeting and stay the same way...

The impact the seminar will make on those who attend. We are deliberate in our teaching, you will be inspire, transformed, build up, there will be strategy giving for effective mobilization for your assignment, you will be taught how to niche your brand, budgeting, information on when to buy share and when to sell (forex trade), how to start your business from ground to the top.

Just to mention a few. I promise it’s going to be content so just attend!

TV: Finally, tell us how people can participate at this seminar?

Pastor Favour Dare: Just show up to go up please. The venue is @ Schepenbergweg 15, 1105 AS Amsterdam Zuid-Oost TV: Thank you for your time Pastor Favour Dare: Thank you sir, we look forward to

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seeing you there.

For more information on our ministry, you can reach us this address: House of refuge ministry Building lives with His word Zutphenseweg 55, 7418 AH Deventer T: +31(06) 52549647 E: Houseofrefuge@hotmail.com FB: House of refuge ministry

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Anthony Joshua v Michael Hunter to be confirmed for June 1 2019 showdown

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fter the disappointing saga of drugs test failure of Jarrell Miller, the World Boxing council has found a replacement to fight Anthony Joshua on 1st June 2019. The new challenger to be confirmed is Michael Hunter.

This is all happening on the back of Jarrell Miller recording the worst case of drug test failures on record, Joshua was left with no choice but to find an alternative fighter to make his American debut.

Very quickly, former cruiserweight world title challenger Michael Hunter becomes the favoured replacement.

WBN released a shortlist just hours after Miller’s failed test.

Hunter was the top name on the pile.

It’s understood talks progressed swiftly last month and will be concluded with relative ease for Hunter to take Miller’s spot.

Hunter was due to fight on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk

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on May 25. Usyk is the only man to defeat Hunter. The Ukrainian has also been mentioned as a future opponent for Joshua.

At this stage, it was far too early for Usyk to be considered.

Unlike Usyk, Hunter has acclimatized to 200 pounds plus.

The 30 year-old has three impressive wins at heavyweight. Hunter is in good shape despite being a massive underdog against Joshua and poses a dangerous opponent that could not be under rated in boxing.

Luis Ortiz is the preferred choice but has so far ruled himself out. Barring a massive U-turn by Ortiz, Hunter will get the nod.

Holding four versions of the top division crown, Joshua is a formidable force at the weight.

Speaking earlier about the possibility of facing AJ at Madison Square Garden, Hunter was largely unfazed by the task.

“I like the sound of [the AJ fight]. It’s heavyweight boxing so any time you get to that weight class. Everybody has dynamite in their hands,” Hunter told the press.

“I’ve been training all my life for fights like this so I would not miss the chance to fight Anthony Joshua. I respect him

because he’s won a gold medal. He’s done amazing things in the pro game. Joshua is big and strong. He has a lot of people behind him.

“He’s a great fighter and he has accomplished a lot of things.

The things that people do say about him is that he is a little green in certain areas and he is still learning.

“But he is always willing to learn so that’s always a good thing. If I fight him, it’s definitely going to be a test and all the truths will come out.

“There are a handful of guys who should all be competing with each other and can make great fights happen. But I don’t think he stands out as the top one.”

When official, Joshua v Hunter will top a huge card featuring an undisputed women’s lightweight title clash between Katie Taylor and Delfine Persoon.

Kal Yafai puts his WBA superflyweight strap on the line against Nolberto Jimenez, whilst Kell Brook and Callum Smith are also pencilled in to feature.

Rounding off the current confirmed bill are Brit stars Joshua Buatsi and Josh Kelly.

More fights are expected to be added soon.

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Big Baby’ Miller failed three drug tests before match up with AJ

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eavyweight contender Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller will no longer be fighting got the biggest price money of his career and the opportunity to win three world titles after he failed a drug test two months before his showdown with Anthony Joshua of Britain in his first professional fight outside of the UK. Miller had ran into several problems before his drug failed test result was released to the public. He was already denied a boxing license earlier last month in New York for a world title fight because of a positive test for a banned substance. Then came the shocker that he has failed a second and third test for other banned substances, sources with knowledge of the test results told the press.

The results from a blood sample collected from Miller by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on March 31st came to light late last month and were positive for human growth hormone (HGH), which is on the World AntiDoping Agency banned list.

A urine sample also collected on March 31 returned positive results for two additional banned substances, EPO, which increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, which would help a fighter from showing fatigue late in a fight, and GW1516, which an athlete might use to assist in fat loss or as an endurance booster.

“Salita Promotions and Greg Cohen Promotions are very disappointed in these findings and feel awful fight fans will be deprived of what would have been a great fight,” Dmitriy Salita and Greg Cohen, Miller’s co-promoters,

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told the press in a joint statement following the revelation of the positive test. “It’s a terrible outcome and unfortunate situation for all parties involved.”

Earlier, results from a urine sample Miller provided to VADA on March 20 also tested positive for the banned substance GW1516. The New York State Athletic Commission denied Miller a boxing license, all but ending his hope of being able to challenge unified heavyweight world titlist Anthony Joshua on June 1 on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs), 30, of Brooklyn, New York, has asked for the B sample from the March 20 test to be tested, and it will be on April 24. While Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing is looking for a new opponent, Miller could conceivably save the fight, but only in the extraordinarily unlikely event that the B samples from each sample are negative which is nearly impossible now. However, Hearn said he is moving on.

“To be honest I can’t believe it. You always want to give an athlete the benefit of the doubt, but this leaves no doubt,” Hearn told the press. “It worries me that fighters feel the only way they can beat AJ is by taking banned substances. One thing we know is Miller is out. AJ’s new opponent for June 1 will be announced this month. Clean fighters only need apply.”

Hearn has been talking to various candidates to replace Miller to challenge Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs), 29, the British superstar, who is due to make his United States debut and his seventh title defence.

HGH, which is usually given by injection, is used by athletes to increase lean muscle mass and also to help in recovery. It is not detectable by a urine test, but blood testing has been developed in recent years to find it. It is also a substance that typically remains in humans for only about 24 hours.

After the first positive test result, Miller claimed he had not knowingly taken a banned substance.

“I am absolutely devastated upon hearing the news my boxing license has been [denied] in NY State and I will be vigorously appealing this decision,” Miller wrote on social media last month. “I have NEVER knowingly taken any banned substance and when I found out the news I was totally shocked. My team and I stand for integrity, decency & honesty and together we will stand to fight this with everything we have!”

The positive test for HGH is the third positive test of Miller’s combat sports career. In 2014, when he

Jarrell Miller admits he ‘messed up’ after adverse drug tests see Anthony Joshua fight unplugged

Jarrell Miller says he “messed up” after reported drug test failures forced an upcoming fight with Anthony Joshua to be scrapped. In a contrite video message posted on Instagram, Miller said it was “time to do right” and pledged to “come back better”.

Miller’s participation for the New York heavyweight bout

on June 1 was already under threat after the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) informed both camps of an adverse finding in a drug-testing sample, leading to him being denied a licence for the date at Madison

was participating in Glory kick boxing, he tested positive in a urine sample for the banned substance methylhexaneamine after a decision loss to Mirko Cro Cop. The California State Athletic Commission suspended Miller for nine months and fined him $2,500.

Getting dumped from the fight with Joshua will cost Miller a career-high purse of $4.875 million. He was also due to earn additional money from a percentage of the pay-per-view profits from the fight on Sky Sports Box Office in the United Kingdom. In addition, Miller will lose out on at least another $3 million because his deal with DAZN called for two $1.5 million comeback fights in the event of a loss to Joshua. The biggest purse of Miller’s career was a little over $500,000 for his fourth-round knockout of Bogdan Dinu on November 17th 2018.

Square Garden.

Miller retained the right to request a further sample and to reapply for that licence to challenge Joshua in what will be the champion’s US debut.

However, Anthony Joshua’s camp is searching for a new opponent says Eddie Hearn However, a second doping violation by Miller meant that fight was off the cards, promoter Eddie Hearn said.

Responding to the initial adverse finding, Miller had written on Instagram he had “never knowingly taken any banned substance and when I found out the news I was totally shocked”.

But when the two other results came back positive, he struck a different tone, telling fans: “I messed up. I made a bad call. [There were] a lot of ways to handle the situation, I handled it wrongly and I’m paying a price for it.

“I messed up a big opportunity and I’m hurting on the inside. My heart is bleeding right now - I hurt my family, my friends, my team, and my supporters.

“But, I’m owning up to it. I’m going to deal with it. I’m going to correct it.

I’m going to come back better and I’m humbled by the experience.” Miller said boxers “go through a lot” and he did not want to give his fellow fighters a “bad name”.

Anadverse finding for GW1516, a metabolic modulator also known as cardarine and endurobol, was made in a sample on March 20th. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

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Nigerian Global Diaspora Conference successfully took place in Almere, The Netherlands from 25th to 27th April 2019

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igerians from Europe, Middle East, the US and Africa gathered from the 25th to 27th of April 2019 at Royal Event Center to participate at the 2nd Nigerian Global Diaspora Conference.

The event is a follow-up to London 2018, when Nigerians from across the globe gathered last July in London to establish a template for an increased Diaspora engagement in Nigeria’s development.

Speaker after speaker emphasized the need for the Diaspora to unite so that their representative body, the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO), could become more effective.

Honorable Kenneth Gbandi, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Europe (NIDOE), explained that there was a lot of misconception about the function of NIDO. He said the body was the officially recognized platform for the engagement of Nigerian professionals in the Diaspora in the development processes of their homeland.

Honorable Gbandi, a Germany-based media entrepreneur, policy consultant and politician, appealed for increased support of Nigerians for NIDO so that it could better represent their interests and contribute more effectively to national development.

“We all care about the situation of our dear homeland; NIDO is the opportunity for us to positively intervene in its development,” he emphasized.

Among those who spoke at the opening ceremony are Pastor Elvis Iruh, a Netherlands-based clergyman, publisher and entrepreneur; Mrs. Grace Obar, a UK-based chartered accountant and development activist; Mrs. Vire Komolafe, Ireland-based health care specialist and NIDOE scribe; Engr.

Cornelius Obot, Netherlands-based IT expert and ViceChairman of NIDOE, Pastor Duncan Spier, a friend of Nigeria and Solar Energy Expert and Mr. Femi Awoniyi, publisher of African Courier based in Germany and a media consultant for NIDO Europe among others.

Top of the agenda at the ongoing conference are: - Enrolment of Diaspora Nigerians in the National Identity Management System - Clamour for Diaspora Voting Rights - A Diaspora Agenda for the Nigerian Diaspora Commission - Diaspora and Irregular Migration.

On day 2 of the conference, Nigerian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Ambassador Orji Ngofa spoke passionately about Nigeria and what role the Diaspora could play in its advancement.

He called on his countrymen and women living in the Diaspora to get more actively involved in the affairs of their home

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country. “You’re the future of Nigeria, without you Nigeria has no future,” the ambassador said.

Ambassador Ngofa advised Nigerians abroad not to be deterred by the problems in the country, as there were plenty of opportunities for those with good ideas for the country. He described the conference as an opportunity to reflect on the challenges facing Nigeria.

In his speech, Alhaji Abdul Bin Rimdap, Nigeria’s former ambassador to Germany and Austria, praised the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) for its efforts to contribute to national development and spoke about his engagement with the organization since its inception.

The retired career diplomat launched his book “Confidence in Diplomacy”, on his more than three decades in the diplomatic service of Nigeria that took him to Pakistan, Zambia, Austria and Germany, at the event.

Kenneth Gbandi, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Europe (NIDOE), praised Ambassador Rimdap for his immense support for NIDOE during his tenure as envoy and in retirement.

Gbandi also talked about the achievements of the organization since his assumption of office in 2016, including the floating of the Diaspora Housing Investment Fund, holding the first-ever Nigerian Diaspora Global Development Conference in July 2018 and the increased visibility of the body.

Other speakers at the event include Dr Badewa AdejugbeWilliams, who represented Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora; Adetunji Adeleke, President of NIDO Americas (Indiana); and Patience Mayaki-Van der Horst, who is running for a seat in the European Parliament from the Netherlands on the platform of the Christen Unie/ SGF. Mrs Adejugbe-Williams, who is the founder of the Abuja Film Village and Convener of the Nigerian Diaspora Investment Summit, advised Nigerians abroad to use the opportunity of the ongoing enrolment to register, which will fasten the process of securing their voting rights.

Mr Adeleke called for unity among Nigerians in the Diaspora so that they could work together better for the progress of their homeland.

Panel discussions were held on the ongoing enrolment of Nigerians abroad in their country’s national identity management system and the efforts being made for the enactment of a legislation that will make it possible for Nigerians outside the country to vote at elections.

Panelists also talked about the energy crisis in Nigeria and the way out.

The participants after the day one session went on a boat ride at the central city of Amsterdam to see the historic sites of the country as part of the program on the 3-day conference.

On Saturday, 27th April, 2019, more presentations followed with former chairman of NIDOE Europe, Hon Collins Nweke who presented a paper on Diaspora & Diaspora Commission: Which way forward.

The 3-day event is a follow-up to London 2018, when Nigerians from across the globe gathered last July in the British capital to establish a template for an increased Diaspora engagement in Nigeria’s development and governance processes.

The very successful event was rounded off with an Award/Gala night where various Nigerians were recognized for their contributions to the advancement of the country and the NIDOE organization.

Find some photos and more reports to follow in the next edition of The Voice magazine.

Materials courtesy of Femi Awoniyi Publisher, African Courier, Germany.

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