Lagos State Government has concluded plans to hand over the three children that lost their parents in the Dana air crash in Iju, Ishaga, Lagos, to foster parents.

The three children-Joel Okwuchukwu (11), Chisom Okwuchukwu (9), and Esther Okwuchukwu (7), were all residents of No. 12 Olaniyi Street, a two-storey building that was hit by Dana Airline plane on penultimate Sunday. They lost their parents, Jeremiah and Josephine in the mishap.

The plight of the children attracted the attention of Lagos State Governor Babaunde Fashola and other people who visited the scene of the plane crash after they declared that they could not find their parents.

The children had said they did not know the house of any of their parents’ relatives and claimed to know just one Uncle Tony Okechukwu that lived in Abuja.

Fashola, who took the children to the Government House, had promised to give them an environment of love that would hasten their healing. The state promised to take care of the children until their relatives were located.

But sources close to the late Okwuchukwu told our correspondent on Wednesday that the state government had concluded arrangement with a couple who will act as foster parents to the children.

The source, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of either the government or the family, said, “As at two days ago when we had a meeting with the deputy governor, she told us that the children would be handed over to their new parents anytime from now.’’

According to the source, government had held a series of meetings with family members of the deceased and their pastor with a view to agreeing on the best way to rehabilitate the children. He said the younger brother of the children’s father was still young and couldn’t afford to take care of the children.

“Other family members wanted to take the children but government was more concerned about getting the children settled in a family that has the means to take very good care of them.

“But at our last meeting, the deputy governor told us that they’ve got a well-to-do family to take care of them,’’ he added.

KANO—The last mass wedding in Kano State aimed at finding husbands for divorcees and widows is now mired in controversy as Hisbah Board has uncovered two fake couples in the list of those given out in marriage.

Hisbah, the Sharia implementation outfit, has equally suspended one of its field commanders believed to have planted the two married couples in the list to pave way for full scale investigations.

Director-General of Hisbah, Abba Sa’id Sufi told newsmen in the state that “the two couples were earlier married in real life,” pointing out that “they made the final list due to connivance of someone within.”

Sufi said: “The board had retrieved all the benefits including furniture, N20,000 empowerment gesture and the N10,000 bride price provided by the state government.

“Henceforth, anyone caught perpetrating sharp practices will be prosecuted according to existing laws.”

He added that the board’s screening committee had been reconstituted to include the district head, the police, and the officer in charge of State Security Services, SSS, in the 44 local government areas in the state.

is she waiting for taxi?

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed and Former First Lady, Hajiya Turai Umaru Yar'Adua, are poised for a bitter struggle over the ownership of a plot of land in the Central Business District, the heart of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Controversy over the land started after the FCT revoked ownership, which had been granted to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) Women And Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF), sponsored by Hajiya Turai.

The land was then purportedly re-allocated to another organisation, African First Ladies Peace Centre, to which by the current first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is believed to be a sponsor.

Although the minister is suspected to be fighting a proxy war for the first lady, LEADERSHIP could not confirm if she is aware of it.

Records of the transaction obtained by LEADERSHIP, showed that the choice plot of land, beside the ThisDay Dome, was allocated to WAYEF on February 19, 2010 only for another document dated August 11, 2008 to surface from the FCT administration, indicating that the same plot had earlier been allocated to the African First Ladies Peace Centre.

In response, WAYEF filed a suit at an Abuja High Court challenging the action of the FCT administration, which has turned a blind eye to the ongoing construction. In a ruling delivered by Justice Peter Affen on March 5, 2012, the court issued an injunction ordering the FCT to restrain all parties from any further activities at the site.

Two weeks after the injunction was issued, however, persons believed to be working for the African First Ladies Peace Centre have resumed work on the disputed land, forcing Turai's lawyers to file contempt proceedings against the FCT Minister.

Also joined in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke; Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS); and the Federal Capital Territory Administration.

Turai's lawyers claimed that WAYEF, had not only obtained the requisite approvals, but had also paid N166million of the statutory N184million in September 2011, to the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) for the right of occupancy. A balance of N18million was paid in November 2011.

However, despite the said payments, the FCT revoked WAYEF's title to the property.

Although the August 2008 C of O issued to the African First Ladies Peace Centre had indicated that the land was to be used only for ''public institution,'' the centre is not listed in any official document as an agency, department or parastatal of the federal government.

Yet, according to the letter of revocation dated, November 2, 2011 and signed by Mrs Asma'u Mukhtar on behalf of the FCT Minister, the title was revoked "due to an overriding public interest."

In the same vein, another letter of revocation was also issued to the African First Ladies Peace Centre by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory signed by Mrs Asma'u Mukhtar and also dated November 2, 2011.

Subsequently, the court granted the prayers of the plaintiff and orders thus: ''I will and do hereby record an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants whether individually or collectively from taking any action or step that adversely affects the title, rights and interests over and the said piece of land pending the determination of this suit."

Despite the subsisting court order, WAYEF said it noticed movement of earth moving machines on the disputed plot. This prompted counsel to the NGO in a letter dated 24th April, 2012 to draw the attention of the FCT authorities to the pending court order and the need to adhere to it.

Also on the 30th March, 2012, counsel to WAYEF wrote the commissioner of police, FCT command complaining of trespass against the construction company working on the disputed property.

In the said letter, the legal practitioner seeks the intervention of the police in order to "halt, immediately, the unlawful action and trespass by Construction Limited or whoever they are acting for."

Legal search report at the Department of Land Administration in the FCT showed that though the land in dispute belongs to WAYEF, the title was withdrawn due to the ongoing litigation between the FCT authorities and WAYEF.

 

GBAM

The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh, has been sent on compulsory leave.

Though details of Oteh's suspension were sketchy at press time, LEADERSHIP gathered that, the DG'S suspension was based on her alleged financial mismanagement of the Commission's funds.

LEADERSHIP gathered that, the decision to suspend Oteh, was taken by the Udo Udoma-led board of SEC after a long meeting that ended at about 9pm.

The board found the DG SEC guilty of gross mismanagement of funds in the Project 50 of the commission. The Project 50 is a programme to mark 50 years of SEC in Nigeria.

Oteh was also found guilty of overstaying in one of the highbrow hotels in Abuja for up to eight months against the commission's policy.

The SEC board further asked Oteh to hand over to the most senior executive commissioner, Daisy Ekineh and directed that a forensic audit should be carried out on the commission's finances

The travails of Oteh began when Hon. Herman Hembe –led House of Representatives Committee on near collapse of Capital Market accused her of mismanaging the commission and embarking on limitless spending.

But Oteh fired back and accused Hembe of demanding bribe from her.

She further claimed that the lawmakers were furious at her because she turned down the request of Hembe for a N44million tip.

Oteh said the lawmaker first asked for N39 million to defray the cost of the ongoing public hearing, and when she denied, the chairman asked for N5million.

According to her the development was in addition to the commission sponsoring a foreign trip for members of the committee, and paying them estacodes.

She questioned the credibility of the Chairman of the committee in conducting the probe, considering her allegations.

She also described the probe as a 'Kangaroo court', and likened the probe to an era of former Uganda leader, Idi Amin, saying "not even during the Idi Amin regime, did we have this kind of session."

In his response, Hembe noted all the allegations listed by the SEC and subjected himself and the committee to another probe which he ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take up.

THE incessant bombings in the country by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, may not be unconnected with plots by certain elements in the northern part of the country to destabilise President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration, using the terrorist group as cover, investigation has revealed.

Fresh facts emerged at the weekend from various sources to the effect that a group of individuals were unhappy with the appointment of General Andrew Azazi as the National Security Adviser (NSA) and some key ministers, outside the North.

Azazi assumed office as NSA on October 4, 2010, thereby becoming the first non-northerner to occupy the office since independence.

It was gathered that the group of the aggrieved individuals had vowed to destabilise Jonathan's government through the perpetration of attacks on strategic national institutions.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cited the continuous retention of Azazi as being reprehensible to this group, as they had vowed to continue to sabotage his efforts at combating national insecurity.

According to the source, the aggrieved group may be vexed that the strategic office of the NSA had, for the first time, slipped out of the hands of the North and was currently being held by "a southerner and outsider."

Specifically, the group was said to be aggrieved that discreet hints to President Jonathan to dump Azazi had failed to yield fruit.

To this end, the group, it was learnt, had vowed that the present administration would not know peace until their demands were met by returning to status quo ante.

Investigations revealed that the group had been pressuring the president, through some politicians and traditional rulers, to sack Azazi and replace him with any of the former military chiefs that had held the office before.

The office of the NSA had always been occupied by northerners.

For instance, Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, a retired Major-General, served as NSA between January 2, 1990 to August 30, 1993; Abdullahi Mohammed, also a retired Major-General, served as NSA between July 3, 1998 to May 29, 1999; Aliyu Mohammed, a retired Lieutenant-General, served as NSA between May 29,1999 to June 1, 2006 and Sarki Mukhtar, a retired Major-General, served as NSA between June 1,2006 to March 8, 2010.

Gusau returned to serve between March 9, 2010 and September 20, 2010 as NSA.

Multiple sources confirmed that there were fears over the safety of President Jonathan if the position of the NSA slipped into the hands of those currently scheming for it.

"Jonathan has no problems with the North. After all, millions of northerners voted for him. He is, however, keenly aware that the office of the NSA controls the Presidential Air Fleet and, therefore, directly oversees his safety in the air.

"You see, some of those lobbying for the position now are persons Jonathan cannot entrust his life to," a source said.

i am happily married

There's no end to published material aimed at stoking women's fears and anxieties about love and marriage. Preachy self-help books about relationships are an impressive cottage industry chock full of troubling notions about women's segxwality, male desire, and tips about what you can do better to meet the man of your dreams. According to these books, men are perfect creatures — their only flaw is that they are generally honeypot-hungry beasts (until they meet Mrs. Right of course).
Despite their supposed ape-like simplicity, we are told that men are also complicated enough to criticize every minutiae of your being, which is why their judgments should be the barometer for all female behavior. And all female behavior should lead to marriage, obviously.
The latest in books that say shitty things to women comes courtesy of Tracy McMillan, author of the viral article "Why You're Not Married" wasted no time in publishing a book on the same topic, Why You're Not Married . . . Yet: The Straight Talk You Need to Get the Relationship You Deserve, which continues her diatribe about your perpetual singledom. Bonus insights include gems like, "you're crazy," "you're godless," and my personal favorite, "you're a dude."
Similar to many other self-help types (like the various authors behind such classic tomes as He's Just Not That Into You, Marry Him: The Very Real Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough, and Why Men Love Bitches), McMillan points a few things that are true: A lot of people are delaying marriage or long-term relationships, dating can be awful, rejection painful, and sifting through dates — like it's your job to find the "one" — the worst.
We all want to work on bettering ourselves, but few of these books offer solace; instead, the reader gets shaming advice and tough love about how she is a crazed, angry, clingy (or too independent, get your story straight), desperate bitch who has to try harder. But these authors and their books are wrong. They are outdated and their advice works only to make a reader hate herself more if she takes heed.
Nevertheless, people are delaying marriage (or not getting married at all) far more than they used to. Is it just because all women are crazy, angry, slutty liars? Doubtful. Here are 10 much more realistic reasons for why you are probably not married:
1. You are focused on your career.
And you are not going to apologize for it. Some people call this being a "bitch," because you are a lady and you have a job that you might be more focused on than smiling pretty and making sure you don't intimidate Mr. Right. Most of us just call this being alive in 2012 (you know the time the economy tanked and we had to work to eat).
2. You have standards.
You know you could have settled for Mr. "I just don't like your friends," or, "I just don't think women have ever done anything important," or, "so, about that Ron Paul," or even, "I only cheated on you once," but you realized you could do better. And frankly, being alone is just more manageable and makes you happier than being in a relationship that's the pits. So you didn't marry him, even though you probably could have.
3. You can't afford it.
According to the Brookings Institute marriage rates are down for people that don't have money. It's not even that women don't want to get married, as much as men don't feel ready to propose until they have the cash to support a family. There is no special Spanx you can buy that will bolster a man's self-esteem to convince him that you don't care he is broke. Many people are still tied to the idea that men have to out earn women, even though you have a job (remember that you are mega-focused on) and could probably support the both of you. Plus, the average cost of a wedding is 27, 000 dollars. Yes, you read that right.
4. You are waiting until all people can get married.
Yup, that's right, your personal life is a phyuking statement about love in America. (Good job Obama and states that passed same-sex marriage legislation).
5. You don't need or want a symbolic public ceremony to celebrate something you already have.
You already know you and boo are ride or die, why spend the money on a wedding when you can do that Spanish immersion program you have been planning for the entire time you've known each other? You two are an adventurous lot, committed to each other and show it in more genuine ways than the most traditional and played out way ever known to civilization.
6. You've got a life and friends that you are happy with.
If a dude shows up that's cool, but you are not sweating it because every day is an awesome new adventure full of phone calls from loved ones, cupcakes, yoga classes and dance parties. You enjoy each minute, focus on the positive and when you are down (a symptom of life, not just single life) you have 500 friends to call, because you have spent time on all types of relationships, not just the kind that will lead to marriage. Friendship-the realest investment a lady can make.
7. Monogamy just doesn't work for you.
You tried it and it didn't work. It's better to know now then put unrealistic expectations on yourself and your partner only to have a crappy break-up where it is revealed you are an infidel. We don't have "respectable" models of these characters (because often cheaters are A*#Ss), so we assume they are all sex crazed home wreckers, but some are genuinely just born this way.
8. You are segxwally liberated.
See also: segxwally adventurous, referred to as "slut" by people from the olden days, religious leaders, people that think honeypots are gross and Tracy McMillan. Right now, you just wanna get down, and that's not a lie, that's libido #realtalk.
9. You have "issues."
And you fully realize this and want to deal with them before you get into a serious relationship. Instead of being irresponsible and shoveling them under a rug to save face and look like Mrs. Right, you are dealing with your shit and getting ready to be in a serious long-term relationship. That does not happen overnight and you shouldn't rush yourself because of some invented standard age by which you should be married.
10. You legitimately just don't want to get married.
No, you are not lying to yourself; you actually just don't want to get married. You've been to lots of weddings, you appreciated some of the sentiments, you were happy for everyone, but you didn't walk out wishing it were you that got married. In fact, the idea of a wedding dress makes you break out into hives and you don't want a blood diamond, you think forever is bullshit and you have no interest in feeding into the romantic industrial complex. You have a hard time reconciling your politics with what you see as a deeply problematic institution. (Or, you're just an atheist.)

In a modified version of the film “Indecent Proposal,” a German couple have auctioned off their wedding night to a stranger – and been offered just €366 for it.
An online advert placed by “NicoleBlow37” – whose real name is Sandra – reads, “Yes, you read correctly: You may take me in front of my husband on our wedding night.”
The Bild newspaper reported on Tuesday that one lucky bidder bagged the chance to fulfil the couple's long-time fantasy, which involves the 38-year-old woman being seduced by a stranger in a hotel - only to be caught by her groom.
“We'll meet in a hotel which you, as a gentleman, will pay for,” the advert continued, although did not specify that the wealthy stranger role had to be fulfilled by a millionaire as in “Indecent Proposal” – nor that he had to look like Robert Redford.
“We will get to know each other and when we start getting down to business I will ring my husband and tell him to come to the room,” continued Sandra, who obviously fancied herself in Demi Moore’s role.
To confirm the legitimacy of whole shebang, Sandra, from North Rhine-Westphalia, assured bidders on the gesext.de sex auction site that she would bring the marriage certificate.
The lot was open to anyone on the erotic auction website, which managing director Herbert Krauleidis told Bild was very unusual. “Sometimes couples put a wedding night auction up on the site but open to a very selected group of pre-approved bidders.”
The newlyweds, who married on Saturday in North Rhine-Westphalia, were not available for comment, the paper said. Neither was their mystery wedding guest.
via The Local/jcw

ONE THING ABOUT SUICIDE IS, IT IS A SPIRIT ONCE POSSESSED YOU CANT HELP BUT GO LIKE JUDAS ISCARIOT

John I. Nnorom, a former Executive Director for Finance at Air Nigeria, has warned Nigerians to stop flying the airline until they are sure that its planes are being properly maintained.

In a blistering public petition, Mr. Nnorom, who resigned his appointment with the airline on April 1, 2012, blamed the situation on big businessman Jimoh Ibrahim, the chairman of Air Nigeria, whom he accused of being uninterested in the maintenance of company aircraft.

“Some of the certifying Engineers and I are under threat of assassination by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, if we reveal this secret to Nigerians,” he said.

Mr. Nnorom said that upon his resignation, he wrote a letter in which he said he preferred to die than to be a witness to over 100 souls perishing in an Air Nigeria aircraft.

He disclosed that Air Nigeria is in financial crisis because money loaned by Bank of Industry of N35.5Billion has been diverted into Mr. Ibrahim’s NICON INVESTMENT LTD, a non-finance company popularly called wonder bank, leading to air safety being compromised, and stressed that there is a great possibility of a disastrous Air Nigeria crash, which can occur at any time.

He recalled that in Jan 2012, Licensed Engineers in Air Nigeria went on strike because they were being forced to certify unfit aircraft into the air, and another strike was averted in March 2012 following the intervention of the DG-NCAA, Demureen.  Both events, he said, were based on failure on Failure To Meet Safety Standard, and are verifiable information the public is aware of.

Why are Air Nigeria flights sometimes delayed for as many as eight hours?  According to the petitioner, that is because the aircraft for that flight is not ready.  “While passengers are waiting, engineers are battling to put the aircraft on Air.  Several times our Aircraft on Runway taxing to takeoff, turns back to offload passengers due to some technical faults observed by Pilots.”

He said that of the 11 aircraft being operated by Air Nigeria, only one, Embraer, is safe to fly Nigeria Air space, with all of the others needing “deep and heavy” technical maintenance.

“This explains why Air Nigeria has never operated more than six Aircraft out of eleven Aircraft. Air Nigeria do not have the money to fix these Aircrafts. Let anybody go and check now, some of the Aircraft and Engines have been grounded for the past one year.”

Mr. Nnorom even advised Nigerians who choose to take the risk of flying Air Nigeria not to eat or drink anything, pointing out that passengers have been poisoned because Air Nigeria serves bottled pure water, and that passengers have complained of being served “smelling waters.”

Mr. Nnorom further claimed in the petition that Mr. Ibrahim’s companies, including Air Nigeria, do not have tax clearance certificates.  He listed the others as Global Fleet Oil & Gas, NICON Insurance, Nigeria RE-Insurance, NICON Properties Ltd, Nicon Luxury, Nicon Hotels Okitipupa, VGC & PHC, Newswatch Communications, Newswatch Daily and National Mirror.

“In Air Nigeria, just to renew expatriate resident permit, Bar Jimoh Ibrahim will instruct a vendor to forge all the tax clearance papers which is filed with the immigration.”
Mr. Nnorom alleges that Mr. Ibrahim:
•    As the chairman of Air Nigeria, has diverted N5billion From a BOI aviation industry intervention loan Of N35.5billion granted last year by the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria into NICON INVESTMENT LTD;
•    Diverted $18m Out Of $40m Afrixim federal government support of the aviation industry; with $26,969,505.63 diverted into Mr. Ibrahim’s acquisition of Energy Bank of Ghana;
•    Diverted N10 billion released by the government through the office of the Accountant-General of Nigeria for the payment of pensioners into Nicon Insurance Plc released the sum of, with no pensioner being paid.

Mr. Nnorom insisted that Mr. Ibrahim is trying to kill him, and attached his letter of resignation and subsequent acknowledgement by the CEO and FOREIGN LEASSORS to the petition.

“On the SFU, recovery of $75,000 from me, I was never arrested, never invited by SFU, did not make any statement, I do not know how money was recovered from me,” he said.  “I am ready to sponsor any person to come with me to SFU and show me my statement,” attributing the matter to Mr. Ibrahim’s “poor character of cheap blackmail.”

According to the former Executive Director, “Jimoh Ibrahim is after my life but if my death will save hundred Nigerian souls from plane crash and that is the will of GOD, my soul will be happy to meet my creator anytime.”

The management of Dana Air, is expected to pay not less than $100,000.00 as insurance claims for each of the 153 passengers who died during the incident. This is in line with the requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The expected compensation regime is also  in line with the the standard set by the ICAO, Montreal Convention, which a few years ago raised the compensation to $100,000.00 from the $10,000.00 stipulated by ICAO, according to the Warsaw Convention.

Also, DANA Air is expected to pay $250,000.00 respectively to the families of the two pilots, as compensation, while, the six crew members’ will each be paid $150,000.00 each.

However, the Government agency have begun DNA tests for the 148 Dana crash victims who are already being taken to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) morgue in Ikeja in order to allow their relatives to identify them.According to a Federal Road Safety Commission spokesman Jonas Agwu gave the details of the recovered bodies as males 88, females 48 and children 12.
He noted the recovery of  bodies would continue today. The General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the DNA test is very important for victims who burnt beyond recongnitions.

He said the tests were being carried out at LASUTH.
The bodies were taken to the morgues at  LASUTH and the Mainland General Hospital. An official said the identified bodies were tagged.  Another FRSC official Mr. Fatai Adesina Bakare stated that, “We have also recovered a number of personal effects, like handbags, traveler’s bags, shoes, combs and cash.

“We have, for instance, an identity card of an employee of NNPC, and from his purse, we recovered some cash, and business cards, which have been lodged. We also recovered a woman’s a purse containing $114 and N4,000 cash.”
“We have created a desk where all those personal effects are been documented and officials who are in charge would do justice to them and ensure that it gets to family members of the victims safely.”

A 10-year old girl who was a victim of segxwal abuse has made a shocking confession, saying that she cannot do without having sex with men daily.

She narrated how an old man, who was their neighbour at Mile 12, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria, lured her into sex at seven and since then she cannot resist having sex everyday.

The primary two pupil said if she did not see any man to have sex with her in her area, she would go to a popular under bridge at Mile 12 Lagos and beg for sex from touts.

She said she came from Enugu state to Lagos to live with her aunt after the death of her father.

Her case has become so serious that she had to be referred to an NGO, Community Health Support and Empowerment Initiative, COHSAEI, which has taken up the challenge to rehabilitate her.

The little girl said she was lured into sex by a man she called Baba who lived with her aunt in the same compound.

She said the man (Baba) usually called her to his apartment whenever his wife and her aunt were not around and will put his finger inside her private part.

“He will tell me to come back home immediately our school closes and when I reach home he will be waiting for me to finger my honeypot,” she narrated.

She said with time he started having real sex with her.

She said when the man that initiated her into it moved out of their area, she resorted to meeting other men in the area without her aunt knowing.

She said she has become addicted to sex and cannot do without it.

“When I desire sex and I do not see anybody to do it in my area, I will go under the bridge and beg the touts to do it for me,” he said.

Her predicament came when she confessed to her teacher what she was going through after the teacher noticed some abnormal behaviour in her. The teacher contacted her aunt who contacted an NGO for assistance.

The programme coordinator of the NGO, Mrs. Priscilla Ingbia, noted that her case was very pathetic because of her age. She said her group took up the challenge to rehabilitate her because it was clear if nothing was done urgently her future was in danger.

She said her organisation has started the process of rehabilitating her by carrying out series of tests on her to ascertain her health conditions.

Ingbia stressed the urgent need to relocate her from her present environment and start a new life for her.

She said her organisation has not been able to do so because of the financial cost of doing so.

PMNews

'American Idol' judge Jennifer Lopez looks amazing in this photo shoot by Mario Testino for the June 2012 issue of Vogue
Can you believe this woman is 42? Let's be real. Jennifer Lopez is hot!
 

Another day, another photo of the Kardashians wearing little clothes! Today's installment: The newest ad for the Kardashian Kollection lingerie line, featuring a scantily clad Khloe, Kim and Kourtney ... and more than a little airbrushing. The three ladies are seen posing in different styles of their brand name skivvies, which of course begs the question Who's the hottest? Kim, Khloe, or Kourtney?

Its grip on its members is firm and almost shocking right from day one, but over the years this has helped Boko Haram get its members to hug violence like a second skin
In 2005, a young journalist named Ahmad Salkida was living in Maiduguri , in northeastern Nigeria , when one of his mother’s friends knocked on the door. Her son had dropped out of university to study under a local imam. She begged Mr Salkida to convince him to return home.
The student refused to change his mind and instead introduced Mr Salkida to the imam, Mohammed Yusuf, a “brilliant orator” heavily influenced by the conservative teachings of a 13th century cleric. Soon Mr Salkida began praying at Yusuf’s mosque – and reporting on the rise of an increasingly radical, if obscure, sect.
Today Boko Haram, or “western education is forbidden”, is notorious throughout Nigeria . The police execution of Yusuf in 2009 sparked an insurgency in the country’s north that has become as violent as any in the world.
About 500 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed this year in Boko Haram raids, suicide attacks and commando-style assaults targeting police, students, the media, churchgoers and ordinary civilians. Indeed on Tuesday, news agencies reported that at least seven people were killed in separate overnight shootings in northeast Nigeria , which they said were linked to the sect.
Yet with the Islamist group holding no territory and providing no services to local populations to win support – unlike the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Shabaab in Somalia – it remains largely faceless and mysterious to many Nigerians.
 But not to Mr Salkida. The 37-year-old journalist is one of the few people outside the sect able to talk authoritatively on the Boko Haram ideology, its leader Abubakar Shekau, its choice of targets and what Mr Salkida describes as the group’s growing links with al-Qaeda.
 Arrested with Yusuf in 2009, Mr Salkida narrowly survived being killed by police, and has continued to report on Boko Haram, as his old contacts, now underground, sent him video clips of attacks and personal details of suicide bombers, and claims of responsibility. The closeness of his relations became clear in March, when, in an effort to initiate dialogue between the government and Boko Haram, the head of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria asked Mr Salkida to act as a go-between with the insurgent leaders. Mr Salkida secured Boko Haram’s commitment to talks but they subsequently fell through due to a dispute between the government and the Supreme Council.
 Though his closeness to the insurgent leaders has led to harassment and questions about his partiality, causing him to take a break from writing, few question his expertise or knowledge. Shehu Sani, a civil society activist in northern Nigeria , says: “He’s the most authoritative voice on Boko Haram today.”
 Mannir Dan Ali, editor of the Daily Trust, Mr Salkida’s former employer, adds: “He is the one journalist with access, who understands their position.”
 In an interview in Abuja , Mr Salkida said that Mr Yusuf, the movement’s founder, has based his teachings on the works of Ibn Taymiyya, after whom he named his mosque in Maiduguri , and who has influenced other modern radical Islamist movements. Ibn Taymiyya believed in the strict adherence to the Koran and principles of the Prophet Mohammed, and was devoted to the concept of holy war.
 Boko Haram was founded on ideology, but poor governance was the catalyst for it to spread.
Yusuf, who named his sect “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad”, reasoned that elements in the modern education system conflicted with this interpretation of Islam – hence his movement’s nickname. “On education, he did not want mixed schools, or the teaching of evolution. He wanted children to have more time to study their religion,” says Mr Salkida. “But it was not just education. Democracy was alien to him, and he said he could not support a government whose constitution was not based on the Koran.”
In northern Nigeria , sharia law was already in place before Boko Haram launched in 2002. But it was applied mildly and failed to check the rampant corruption, inequality and injustice. Poverty levels were high, and growing, and for most young people there were few job prospects. 
“Boko Haram was founded on ideology, but poor governance was the catalyst for it to spread. If there had been proper governance and a functioning state, Yusuf would have found it very difficult to succeed,” Mr Salkida says.
 Before Yusuf’s execution, Boko Haram had a microfinance system, operated a farm and its own ruling council and emirs, Mr Salkida says. His following stretched far beyond Maiduguri and Borno state, across northern Nigeria , as well as into neighbouring Niger , Cameroon and Chad . Mr Salkida witnessed the fervency of Yusuf’s followers when violence first erupted in July 2009. On capturing a policeman – a fellow Muslim – they “slaughtered him like a goat”. At the same time, hundreds of Boko Haram members were thrown into police cells – as was Mr Salkida. When Yusuf was brought in, Mr Salkida heard police singing “no mercy, no mercy”. Yusuf was executed by an impromptu firing squad behind Mr Salkida’s cell.
 “I don’t think that the police were acting on orders, but emotions. Boko Haram was killing their colleagues.”
 Yusuf was also growing increasingly militant. In an interview with Mr Salkida days before his death, he said: “Democracy and the current system of education must be changed otherwise this war that is yet to start would continue for long.”
Mr Salkida returned to Maiduguri as a freelancer in 2010. Yusuf’s mosques and many homes had been destroyed, causing huge resentment. Some sect members who survived fled to neighbouring countries selling their stories of injustice, Mr Salkida says.
Having been dormant for more than a year, Boko Haram re-emerged under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau, Yusuf’s deputy. Mr Salkida knew him before 2009 and estimates that he is 34 years old.
“Shekau was always studying and writing, and was more devoted and modest than anyone else. He would only wear cheap clothes and did not accept even to drive a car, preferring a motorbike. Even when Boko Haram was peaceful, he was somehow more feared than Yusuf.”
Initially, Boko Haram launched small attacks on security forces.
In June last year, the first suicide bomber struck, driving his car full of explosives into the police headquarters in Abuja . Two months later, a second bomber blew up a UN building in Abuja . This was an attempt to tighten existing links with al-Qaeda in the Maghreb by illustrating Boko Haram’s capacity to strike “western” institutions, Mr Salkida says.
“In the past few years the relationship with al-Qaeda has been about ‘capacity building’. But the links are growing.”
The recent attacks on Christian churches were designed to provoke retaliation against Muslims, which could drive more people into Boko Haram’s arms, Mr Salkida says. But he rejects the notion that the insurgency is a reaction to having a Christian president, Goodluck Jonathan, or that some northern politicians are involved.
“If there was a Muslim president tomorrow, this would not end. The war is not about individuals, it’s about institutions. Boko Haram sees the northern governors and emirs as part of the institutions.”
Mr Salkida dismisses reports that the group has different factions. Its 30-member ruling council is largely unchanged since 2010, he says, apart from two members arrested by police. “It’s clear they (Boko Haram) are winning the war,” he says. “But I believe Boko Haram wants to end this, just not in a climate of uncertainty and insincerity. Compromises are possible.”
Source: Financial Times

we are not watching it free on DSTV we are paying monthly subscriptions. I will not use my money to buy nollywood films. after all we have mnet and so fort. lol

WASHINGTON - The United States should take the lead and break the long tradition of an American always heading the World Bank, Nigerian finance minister and a nominee for the top post Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Monday.

Speaking after a “marathon” three-and-a-half-hour interview by the World Bank board, Okonjo-Iweala said the decision on who leads the global development institution should go to the candidate with the best skills for the job.

During her interview with the board, Okonjo-Iweala said she did not ask for the support of countries but pressed them to ensure that the selection process was open and merit based.

Under an informal agreement between the United States and Europe, an American has always headed the World Bank and a European has led the International Monetary Fund since their founding after World War Two.

Rising economic powers such as China, India and Brazil have called for an end to the long-standing tradition and are demanding more influence in global finance institutions.

Okonjo-Iweala, who left a top post at the World Bank last year for a second stint as Nigeria’s finance minister, is up against former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo and U.S. nominee Korean-American health expert Jim Yong Kim.

Ocampo and Kim are set to be interviewed by the 25-member World Bank board on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

It is the first time that candidates from developing countries have challenged Washington for the top post.

“Somebody has to break this” agreement, Okonjo-Iweala told an event hosted by the Center for Global Development and Washington Post. “Therefore, who is the leader in this world? The U.S. is looked on for that leadership,” she added.

The board is set to decide through consensus on a new president of the World Bank on April 16. Kim is likely to succeed Robert Zoellick as World Bank president given the U.S.’s large voting bloc and support by European allies.

Okonjo-Iweala dismissed the argument by some U.S. politicians that the United States would stop financing the World Bank if a non-American took the reins of the institution.

She said she would use her “persuasive powers” to convince Congress to keep funds flowing to the World Bank.

“You cannot look at global governance in the same old way and should recognize the changing constellation of powers,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “I do not believe that if we ignore this reality we can really have global governance that works because these countries will not feel valued in the global system.”

Okonjo-Iweala said her vision for leading the World Bank was influenced by her own life story of growing up in a village in Nigeria and her experiences as an international economist.

“It is not good enough to say you know about poverty. You have to live it,” she said.

As head of the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala said she would focus on job creation, which was a problem facing both rich and poor countries alike.

“Across the globe, policymakers are grappling with one problem, and that is the problem of job creation,” she said, “I have yet to meet a single poor person who did not want the dignity of a job.”

She said her experience as finance minister and as managing director of the World Bank gave her unique insights into the complex problems facing emerging market and developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

She said the World Bank should also focus more on helping developing countries build roads, railway systems and power grids to help their economies grow, and it should invest more in education, health and gender issues.

She said complex global problems facing developing countries required a World Bank that could respond quickly and creatively to the needs of the poor.

“We need a Rolodex of experts that we can call on very fast,” she said. “The bank needs to be fast in delivering knowledge. Middle-income countries are no longer willing to wait when they need a question answered.”

While working at the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala said she compiled a list of 11 issues that frustrated her the most about the institution, which she shared with the board during her interview on Monday.

On her list of frustrations was the lack of data to make vital decisions on poverty reduction in low-income countries.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/09/okonjo-iweala-calls-on-us-for-leadership-role

LET HIM GO TO HELL POOR WHITE ABI ALBINO