Jos, Plateau.

Jos, Plateau state.

Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Still on Ibadan...



http://www.nairaland.com/attachments/1637732_ibadan_19_jpgcb52dbfefc56db8fb9da8937775b8f70[/img]

Ibadan...

Starting with Ibadan

It is a know fact there there has been lots of argument about beautiful cities in Nigeria. I am going to be posting pictures of some cities in Nigeria except Lagos and Abuja for obvious reasons.

All the pictures were gotten from the internet, most especially http://www.skyscrapercity.com, so if anyone is not satisfied with the pictures posted, you can as well post yours. We need to appreciate what we have achieved as a country. I don't need to bore you guys with pictures of Nigeria's underdevelopment, I am sure we have seen lots of those....so, enjoy!



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What is the oldest country in the world? This is not an easy question to answer as many countries have ancient histories which form a part of their heritage. However, many geographers and historians are quick to point out that the ancient empires were often an agglomeration of city-states or fiefdoms and not really the equivalent of today’s modern nation-states. The Roman Empire, like Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, no longer exists and in its place are a number of modern countries.
According to geographer Matt Rosenberg:
Ultimately, it is difficult to judge which country is the world's oldest due to a variety of complex factors. One might answer that San Marino, Japan, or China is the world's oldest country and still be accurate.Let’s take a closer look at the three countries mentioned by Rosenberg.
Japan:
Japan often claims to be the oldest country in the world: in 660 BCE the Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇)established the country. While the imperial house of Japan claims descent from Jimmu, many modern historians feel that there is little actual evidence of his reign. Many historians feel that the reign of Emperor Kimmei (509-571 CE), the 29th emperor of Japan according to tradition, is the actual first emperor for which there are verifiable dates. Many archaeologists and historians regard Emperor Jimmu as a legendary figure who may have been a composite figure.
According to the traditional stories, Jimmu was the direct descendent of the sun goddess Amatetasu. He was born on 13 February 711 BCE and died on 11 March 585 BCE.
A portrait of Jimmu is shown above.
China:
China celebrates 221 BCE as its founding year. At this time Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) became China’s first emperor.
However it was not until the Han Dynasty in the third century CE that a unified Chinese culture and tradition developed. The Republic of China was founded in 1912 and the People’s Republic of China came into existence in 1949.
At one time there were a number of people who felt that the story of Qin Shi Huang was more mythical than real. Then, in 1874, thousands of terracotta warriors were found near a burial mound. Since the initial discovery, archaeological investigations have revealed that this is the burial place of the first emperor.
A modern statue of the first emperor is shown above.
San Marino:
San Marino is one of the smallest countries in Europe: with 61 square kilometers it ranks third after the Vatican and Monaco. This means that it is about one third the size of Washington, D.C. San Marino claims to be the world’s oldest republic. It was founded by a Christian stonemason named Marinus on September 3, 301.
Shown above is the founding of San Marino.
San Marino adopted a written constitution in 1600 (usually credited as being the world’s oldest written constitution), but it wasn’t recognized as an independent sovereign country by the Pope until 1631.
Some other countries:
There are a number of other countries which trace their origins back more than 500 years. While some go back more than 1,000 years, none goes back more than 1,200 years. Some of these are:
France: 843
Austria: 976
Denmark: 10th century
Hungary: 1001
Portugal: 1143
Mongolia: 1206
Thailand: 1238
Andorra: 1278
Switzerland: 1291
Monaco: 1419

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More trouble appears to be brewing for the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, as a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the suspended governor to appear before it in a suit filed by some aggrieved shareholders of defunct Intercontinental Bank of Nigeria.

Ruling on an ex parte application filed by Mr Chris Uche on behalf of one Abdullahi Sani and two others, Justice Abdulramat Mohammed ordered the service of the originating summons on any adult in the office of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on the notice board of the bank.

The plaintiffs, in their originating summons supported by a seven-paragraph affidavit want the court to determine whether the suspended governor, Lamido Sanusi did not act fraudulently by deliberately strangulating the banking operations of Intercontinental Bank to the detriment of the plaintiffs as shareholders.

They are therefore praying the court to declare the sale of Intercontinental Bank by Mr Lamido Sanusi as unlawful, fraudulent and of no legal effect whatsoever.

Joined in the suit as defendants, are the Central Bank of Nigeria and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Justice Mohammed subsequently fixed the suit for May 14

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NewsRescue-Helicopters have been reported to have been ferrying attackers and weapons around the north of Nigeria, most recently seen in the Katsina genocidal attack that claimed over 100 lives and destroyed whole towns. Choppers have also been seen carrying arms and fighters for Boko Haram in the northeast. Nigeria’s Aviation authorities are being quizzed on how these crafts can possibly be flying unidentified in the nations airspace. Are these army choppers and is that why they fly “undetected?” DailyTrust reports:

Helicopters reportedly flying in bandits and weapons into parts of the North could not have been doing that unless if their operators connive with officials, aviation experts told Daily Trust.

They spoke in the wake of revelations made in the Senate last week that helicopters were seen landing at certain parts of the North, dropping attackers and their weapons.

“We have reports that helicopters were used to ferry the people who carried out attacks. They land in the forest and dropped the attackers,” Senator Abu Ibrahim said last week, days after bandits killed more than 100 people in his zone in Katsina State.

Speaking to Daily Trust, Captain Daniel Omale and Captain Mohammad Joji said with the total radar coverage in Nigeria, there is no way helicopters would come into the country’s airspace undetected.

Captain Omale of the Aviation Resource Service said the recently installed Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) covers the whole of Nigeria’s airspace.

“Each of the TRACON cost the country 60 million euros…. The entire Nigerian airspace is covered,” he said.

“The TRACON in Abuja covers the whole North and parts of our neighbouring countries while the one in Lagos covers the whole South and parts of Benin Republic.

“So how would they use helicopters without these equipment picking them? Anything is possible in this country. Our military are spending 1.3 trillion (naira) on security and yet we are in this problem.”

Omale said apart from the TRACON, the Federal Government years back purchased surveillance aircraft for the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Nigerian Customs Service for aerial patrol.

“About N8bn was spent on the aircraft but now they are rotting away in Kaduna without these organisations using them,” he said.

“If they are truly ferrying weapons and attackers with helicopters, one day they will kill all of us. Let us be honest, what are the military personnel doing despite huge budget?”

For his part, Captain Mohammad Joji, a former Managing Director of the defunct Nigerian Airways, said with total radar coverage there is no way the helicopters would fly in without officials knowing.

He said Nigeria possesses three equipment to pick objects flying in its airspace. Joji, who is the CEO of Skypower Airways, listed them as satellite, radar coverage and surveillance aircraft of the Immigration and Customs.

“From the scope, they can know where the aircraft are coming from, where they are going and what have you,” he said.

“If this thing is happening it means we are in serious danger. Does this means that these equipment are not working? Are our agencies conniving with these people? Answers must be provided for the posers.”

NewsRescue-US Speech: Adamawa Gov. Murtala Nyako Accuses Pres. Jonathan Of Sponsoring Boko Haram
But Managing Director of Finum Aviation Services, Engr. Sheri Kyari, said the lateral component of the radar in Lagos and Abuja are just being installed “so that it can pick any flying object at the height of about 2000 feet. But then helicopters can be extremely difficult to capture if they decide to fly at 1000 feet above ground level, it’s quite difficult to pick.”

Asked if the TRACON presently installed is not capable of picking objects flying at 1000 feet, Kyari said: “It is after they have installed the other component that it is supposed to pick lateral objects, it might but they will still have limitation.”

When contacted, spokesman for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mr. Supo Atobatelen, said the installed radar equipment cannot detect low-flying helicopters.

He explained that the radar currently installed is only designed to pick objects high up, “not helicopter that is flying below 9000 feet. The design of that radar can’t pick something that is below 9000 feet or 800 metres. The design of the radar that we have now cannot pick low flying aircraft.”

He said because of the shortcomings in the radar design, NAMA was planning to introduce a system in the Niger Delta area that “will capture low flying aircraft.”

Also, when contacted, spokesman for the Immigration service Chukwuemeka Obuah confirmed that the service’s aircraft are grounded.

“We have two aircraft which we use to carry out our activities before, they are now grounded in Kaduna,” he told Daily Trust by telephone.

“Therefore the issue of border security, especially in the situation the country is presently, surpasses the capability of the Nigerian Immigration service.

“In the operation of the JTF the Comptroller General of Immigration is an administrative head for his officers but the operational command lies with the military.”

Obuah added that there are efforts to tighten the border security.

“Nigeria is on the road to sign some pacts with Cameroon and other neighbours and very soon we might have joint operations with those countries to secure the boarders and hopefully stop the insurgency across the borders,” he said.
Residents in Borno and Yobe villages had been saying they do see helicopters dropping weapons and other supplies to insurgents operating in the areas.

Daily Trust learnt also that some people who were once held in Boko Haram bases had also related the stories of helicopters landing and taking off at the camps, providing arms and ammunition to the insurgents.

When contacted for comments on the claims about helicopters ferrying in weapons, Director of Defence Information Major General Chris Olukolade said in a text message on Thursday: “The relevant security and intelligence network in the country are already working on this information. The extent of the effort cannot be the subject of news or public discourse for now please.
Source: Daily Trust

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Mark Zuckerberg:
I'm excited to announce that we've agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology.

Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we're in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.

This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you're actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it's different from anything they've ever experienced in their lives.

Oculus's mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences.

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there's a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We're going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

But this is just the start. After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home.

This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.


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Its shimmering azure chimney stacks towering into the sky, the latest cement works launched by Africa’s richest man lies idle in a Senegalese meadow -- stopped in its tracks by legal action and cut-throat competition in a rapidly growing industry.
Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote’s cement business has been flourishing elsewhere in Africa and the Senegalese project, first conceived four years ago, was due to start production in June.
But the west African nation’s government is being taken to a regional arbitration court in Ivory Coast by French manufacturer Vicat, which claims that the plant represents a “distortion of competition” in a country where the market is already saturated.
“This is the first time in the history of Senegal that we have seen a plant built in violation of all the rules,” said Boubacar Camara, president of Sococim, a Senegalese subsidiary of Vicat.
Dangote, 56, made his first fortune in Nigeria more than three decades ago when he started trading commodities with a loan from his uncle.
His cement business is the jewel in the crown of the Dangote Group, the largest industrial conglomerate in west Africa according to Forbes magazine, which describes Dangote variously as “the richest black person in the world” or “Africa’s richest man”, with a personal fortune of $25 billion (18 billion euros).
He has been expanding his empire outside of Nigeria in recent years -- Dangote Cement now has operations in 15 African countries -- but the Senegal project and the court case aiming to stop it may come to represent a frustrating inability to leverage his influence across the entire continent.
4,000 jobs
“A cement plant is dangerous, you need permits, prior authorisation and you also have to conduct an environmental impact study. That hasn’t been done,” Camara told AFP.
The water-cooling technology involved in the $630 million (457 million-euro) plant would require a daily withdrawal of 4,500 cubic metres of groundwater, a precious commodity in an arid Sahelian country like Senegal, according to Camara.
“It’s a race against the clock. Once production begins, it will be much more difficult to intervene,” Camara told AFP.
“Given the conditions in which he has installed his plant, Dangote could come and set whatever prices he likes.”
Dangote has said the operation would create 4,000 jobs and, in any case, the state has no power to oppose it, a source close to the Senegalese Ministry of Mines told AFP.
“Initially, there was were certain procedural irregularities that Dangote fixed,” said the source, adding that “the main problem was the environmental impact”.
French President Francois Holland wrote to his Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall in January about the plant “in order to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by Sococim”, according to a source in the Senegalese presidency.
Sall responded to the effect that “the rule of law and the Senegalese courts” would must be allowed to decide whether the project could go ahead, the source told AFP.
Welcomed with open arms
It is not the first time that the controversial project has run into problems.
Senegalese courts ruled during construction that it encroached on a sacred forest owned by the descendents of Cheikh Amadou Bamba, a Sufi Muslim mystic and religious leader who was revered by millions of Senegalese.
Construction was only allowed to recommence when Dangote offered the family a persuasive $12.6 million in compensation.
Villagers in Galene, the tiny settlement on the doorstep of the cement works 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Dakar, say it has been installed on land once used by thousands of farmers and their animals.
“We fear that it is going to stop us growing and raising our animals,” said Oumy Ba, the village chief.
Community leader Bougouma Thiongane said however that the project had been “welcomed with open arms”.
Galane and the surrounding villages have no electricity or tap water and Dangote promised to change that, while also raising employment prospects for every young person in the area, Thiongane said.
The plant, one of the largest in Africa, will be ready to begin operating “within 90 days”, Aramine Mbacke, the CEO of Dangote Senegal, told Financial Afrik magazine earlier this month.
It will produce three million tonnes of cement annually, three-fifths of which will go onto the local market, he said.
The operation is being launched amid increased competition between Sococim, which has a 65 percent market share, and Ciments du Sahel, which makes up the rest.
“Both plants already have a combined capacity of six million tonnes for a market of two million tonnes. They produce below capacity. That explains the reason for this war,” an official from the Ministry of Mines said.
“In the sub-region, everyone wants to make cement,” he added.
The management of Dangote Senegal declined to comment. Source: Dailytrust


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The erratic supply of electricity to homes and business premises in the last two weeks is as a result of the drop in power generation by about 963 megawatts as a result of gas supply constraints.

The electricity generation, which was put at 3,463.40MW as of March 20, dropped to 2,500MW on Mondy.

The Board Chairman, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Waziri, who disclosed this to journalists on Monday on the sidelines of the investors’ conference organised by the firm in Abuja, said the worsening state of power supply in the last two weeks was as a result of the series of incidents that had bedevilled the sector lately.

He said, “Gas supply has dropped significantly in the last two weeks; in fact, it is exactly two weeks. That has resulted in reduced generation to about 2,500MW as of this (Monday) morning; we are back to square one. But we are addressing all these issues.

“Then, of course, we had accidents along the Benin-Sapele road and a lot of transmission lines collapsed due to fire incidents. These affected a very small area in that locality in terms of giving them power. But like I said earlier, these issues are being addressed.”

At the conference proper, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said the Federal Government was in bilateral and multilateral relationships with the governments of other countries for the importation and exportation of electricity.

Nebo, who was represented by the Minister of State for Power, Mr. Mohammed Wakili, told the investors that the country needed about $8bn to boost its power transmission infrastructure in the next five years.

He said the Federal Government had signed a Memorandum of Understating with the Democratic Republic of Congo to supply electricity to Nigeria.

Nebo said, “The government of Nigeria is in bilateral and multilateral relationships at various stages of advancement with other governments for the importation and exportation of power. For example, Nigeria has signed an MoU with the Democratic Republic of Congo for the importation of electricity from the Inga Dam Power Plant for both local consumption and export to other countries.

“The Inga is envisaged to exceed 40,000 megawatts on full exploitation. The TCN network spreads to all parts of the country and across the borders to some neighbouring countries to form part of the West African Power Pool.

“With the realisation of Inga and other initiatives, Nigeria will become a regional hub in international electricity trade, exporting large swathes of internally generated as well as imported power to the WAPP countries.”

Nebo said the measures would greatly ramp up the total generation on the TCN grid, necessitating the massive and rapid expansion of the transmission and other infrastructure.

He said, “It is projected that the TCN requires $8bn in the next five years to prosecute its capacity expansion programme. We hereby invite all and sundry to partake in this investment bonanza. Government has established various mechanisms to safeguard and protect your investments in the TCN and elsewhere in the Nigerian electricity supply industry.

“The electricity supply industry has undergone radical changes. Traditionally, the ESI involved itself with the generation, transmission and distribution of electric power, usually by vertically integrated utilities. Today, we have trading in electricity with well-developed spot futures market in some places.”

On the level of investment to be undertaken by the TCN, Waziri said the company had $1.5bn annual target to boost power transmission.

He said, “What we are looking at in our template is $1.5bn per annum for the next five, six years.”

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, TCN, Mr. Mack Kast, said although the company had garnered some funds from the Federal Government and donor agencies, more was still needed to effectively boost transmission.

He said, “What we are asking for over the five-year period is in the neighbourhood of $7.7bn and we believe that we can reach our goal. We already have some funding; we have the Federal Government funding, the secured debt and we have potential proceeds from the sale of the NIPP assets, but that isn’t enough.”

Copyright PUNCH.

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The Hague, Netherlands (CNN) -- President Barack Obama and other world leaders have decided to end Russia's role in the group of leading industrialized nations, the White House said Monday.
The move to suspend Russia's membership in the G8 is the latest direct response from major countries allied against Russia's annexation of Crimea.
"International law prohibits the acquisition of part or all of another state's territory through coercion or force," the statement said. "To do so violates the principles upon which the international system is built. We condemn the illegal referendum held in Crimea in violation of Ukraine's constitution.
"We also strongly condemn Russia's illegal attempt to annex Crimea in contravention of international law and specific international obligations."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier in the day that being kicked out of G8 would be no big deal.
Russian standoff in 'eleventh hour' WH: Isolate Russia and support Ukraine What is Russia's next move?
"G8 is an informal organization that does not give out any membership cards and, by its definition, cannot remove anyone," he said during a news conference. " All the economic and financial questions are decided in G20, and G8 has the purpose of existence as the forum of dialogue between the leading Western countries and Russia."
Lavrov added that Russia was "not attached to this format and we don't see a great misfortune if it will not gather. Maybe, for a year or two, it will be an experiment for us to see how we live without it."
Ukraine orders Crimea troop withdrawal
In a nod to political and economic reforms, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy added Russia to their group in 1998 -- transforming it from the G7 to the G8.
An aide to British Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed to CNN that a group summit initially planned for June in Sochi, Russia, where the Winter Olympics were just held, is now off.
The United States and its allies in Europe are "united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far," Obama said earlier in the Netherlands where he attended a nuclear security summit with other world leaders.
Western powers have imposed sanctions and other penalties against specific people in Russia close to President Vladimir Putin.
A senior Obama administration official, not speaking for full attribution, said Obama and other leaders agreed that further steps to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin could include sanctions on energy, banking and defense sectors -- all areas where Europe is deeply engaged economically with Russia.
Those additional sanctions could be prompted if Russia further escalates its incursion into Ukraine, which the official defined as sending troops beyond Crimea into the southern or eastern parts of the country. Violence in the contested peninsula could also trigger further sanctions.
While the official said further penetration of Ukraine by Russian troops remains the most immediate source of concern for the United States, other potential land grabs also worry the United States and its allies.
NATO has expressed concern Russia could attempt to reclaim a region of Moldova with Russian sympathies.
Can Obama's European trip re-assert U.S. global leadership?
Obama has said a military incursion in Ukraine is off the table, and his advisers are hesitant to even frame the crisis in Ukraine as a bad '80s flashback -- Obama in one corner, Putin in the other. It's not "Rocky IV," as Secretary of State John Kerry said.
White House officials don't care to publicly muse about Putin's intentions.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the Russian President's actions speak for themselves.
The White House emphasis throughout the Russian occupation of Crimea has been "de-escalation."
Asked whether the United States will provide military aid to Ukraine's woefully underfunded armed forces, administration officials cautioned that such assistance could inflame tensions.
"Our focus has been and remains on the economic and diplomatic instruments at this point," Rice said. "Our interest is not in seeing the situation escalate and devolve into hot conflict."
Lavrov met with Kerry on Monday and said Russia's action in Crimea was necessary.
"It was the necessity to protect Russians who live there and who lived there for centuries," he said in the news conference. "And when our partners compare Crimea to Kosovo, because in Kosovo a lot of blood was shed then its independence was proclaimed. So we have a question then: Is it necessary for the blood to be shed in Crimea to agree on the right of the people in Crimea for self-determination?"
While Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the United States are stepping up their calls to provide Ukraine with light arms and other military aid, administration officials have argued that sanctions put in place so far must be given time to take hold.
With an estimated 20,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's border, the question is whether Obama's use of soft power will deter Putin.
With little resistance, the Russian President could easily move into eastern Ukraine even as Obama seeks to isolate Moscow in meetings with European allies. It's a possibility not lost on senior administration officials.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, argued the Russian leader is likely eying more opportunities in the coming days.
"(Putin) has put all the military units he would need to move into Ukraine on its eastern border and is doing exercises. We see him moving forces in the south in a position where they could take the southern region over to Moldova," Rogers said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
There are other approaches. Obama's former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, urged the administration to intensify its policy of isolating Putin.
"Mr. Putin's Russia has no real allies. We must keep it that way," McFaul wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times.
What does Putin want next?

Source CNN:

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The article you are about to read was written by Ihechukwu Njoku, a freelance journalist who writes occasionally for Emmanuel TV. Read below...
Whether it’s addressing contentious issues on Facebook, prophesying world calamities or witnessing celebrity ‘deliverances’ in his Lagos-based church, the name of controversial Nigerian Pastor T.B. Joshua can’t seem to leave the news of late.
The events of his church service broadcast live via Emmanuel TV on Sunday 23rd March 2014 proved to be no different as The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) witnessed the confession of two lesbians who said ‘demons’ were behind their lifestyle.
Maria Terese George from Delta State, Nigeria explained to the congregation that her poverty-stricken background pushed her to seek help from an older lady. However, she had ulterior motives in promising to help the attractive 19 year old.  “She took me to a club where we went drinking,” Maria explained while speaking in the packed church. “She took me to her house and started touching me. Because I was drunk, I responded.”

The day after this drunken encounter, Maria (pictured above) had an unusual dream. “A half-naked lady came to me in the dream and fed me with rice, stew and meat.” Upon waking up, Maria’s affection for men disappeared and she began to admire her fellow females. “That was how the spirit of Lesbianism entered me. I noticed that whenever I saw a female that was busty and curvy, I would always admire their features... I became a chronic lesbian,” she admitted.

The same lady who introduced her to Lesbianism brought her into a local prostitution ring, assuring her that the riches she desired could easily be attained. “If I needed money, I would go to meet men who were very rich – politicians and businessmen – but if I wanted to enjoy sex or feel ‘real’ love, I would go for a woman.”

Prostitution led Maria to a neighbouring African country where her immoral lifestyle seemed only to worsen. However, resources disappeared as readily as they arrived. After several years of frustration, she decided it was time to return to Nigeria.

“When I came back, I called some of my old partners for connections,” Maria explained. “They started laughing at me and told me they are now married with kids.” Maria was perplexed. She never thought it possible for one to leave Lesbianism after tasting it.

“I was confused and asked them what they meant. All four of them independently told me they went to T.B. Joshua’s church for deliverance,” much to the delight of the crowd. “Maybe The SCOAN doesn’t know that they have delivered a lot of lesbians,” she added.

Making up her mind to visit the church based in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, her resolve was immediately followed by a terrible nightmare.  “That half-naked woman came to me in the dream and said, ‘Look – you think you can leave me! Go and pick up a knife and kill yourself.’ ” Upon waking, Maria immediately packed her bags and left for The SCOAN that morning.

During the church service on Sunday 16th March 2014, one of T.B. Joshua’s ‘Wise Men’ prayed for Maria and she experienced the ‘deliverance’ her friends had spoken of. “I have never experienced that type of thing before! I had gone to other places for ‘deliverance’ but it didn’t go. That is when I found myself even craving more for women.” According to her, when prayed for, she began ‘manifesting’ and a strange voice spoke through her.

After the ‘deliverance’, Maria testified to a total transformation.  “I no longer have affection for women. When I see any woman, I don’t feel it again – I see you as a sister or as my mother. I am seeing myself now as a woman that will settle with a man.” Advising people, the former lesbian told the congregation, “This lesbian spirit is a very stubborn spirit – it takes the grace of God for it to leave you.”

In his comments, T.B. Joshua said, “Don’t hate the people; hate the act. Jesus loves the sinner but hates the sin. Now you are delivered, it is time to live in the Word,” he warned Maria. “Because of Christ, you are delivered – for the salvation of your soul.”

The story of Nneoma Onyema was not so dissimilar. Running away from home aged 18 and becoming a hair stylist in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, a rich lady approached her in the salon one day. After complimenting her appearance, she gave Nneoma extra money and invited her to a high profile club. Intoxicating the teen with alcohol, she awoke the next morning in bed with the lady carousing her.  “She changed my name to Jennifer and took me to a man who put tattoo of love on my back,” she explained to the church. Immediately after this encounter, Nneoma’s affection and attention turned only to females.

Dancing in a club to make a living, she had no contact whatsoever with her family who hadn’t heard from her in three years. However, after being viciously attacked by a girl who claimed she ‘took’ her girlfriend, a friend advised Nneoma, whose life was clearly in a mess, to visit T.B. Joshua’s church in Lagos for help.

“When the Wise Man prayed for me, I felt an electric shock pulsating through my entire body” Nneoma recounted her experience. The ‘demon’ that spoke through the young Nigerian said it was ‘a great lesbian’ and had tormented her life.

In a remarkable twist of fate, Nneoma’s brother Emmanuel who had not seen her for three years was in The SCOAN congregation that very day. “I always used to put Nneoma’s picture on the screen of Emmanuel TV when T.B. Joshua prayed. I was so shocked to see her in the church that day,” Emmanuel explained, adding that he was hearing this confession from Nneoma for the very first time. T.B. Joshua pledged to support Nneoma in her education so as to enable her to start a new life.

In the wake of Nigeria’s recent anti-gay law, T.B. Joshua courted controversy in January 2014 when he declared that homosegxwals should not be condemned.

“Judge not, so that you will not be judged. We should talk to people to be saved and not to die. I mean, we should talk salvation, not condemnation. The Bible is my standard,” he said in a Facebook post.

“God hates sin, not sinners. When I say, ‘Do not judge so that you will not be judged’, I mean we should hate sin, not the sinner because sinners can change. If you have killed a sinner by judging him, there will be no opportunity for change. Sinners can be delivered. We should hate the act, not the people because our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the ‘spirit beings’ that cause all these acts.”
 
He clearly distanced himself however from the nation that he supported a homosegxwal lifestyle, saying, “If my parents were one, I would not have been given birth to. Those that are asking this question – if your parents were one, you would not have been given birth to. You that are reading me – if your parents were one, you would not be reading this today. God bless the reader and the hearer.”


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Leadership speaker and Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, Pastor Sam Adeyemi, while preaching on "Prepaper for the wedding", on Sunday March 16th, shared his opinion about women proposing to the man and also gave insight on how they can go about it. Below is what he said

"Some people may ask, Pastor is it okay for it to be the lady that will tell the guy about marriage? Well, is there anywhere in the bible that says a lady can't tell a man? The thing though is, a lot of time, it's better for the guy to pop the question because men become suspicious a lot of time when they are being chased. They like to eat meat that they chased in the bush. They don't like the one that falls on their lap dead. However., sometimes, all the signs are there that she is the one but he is not just speaking. Its also not healthy for the lady emotionally for the man to be so close to her and yet not say anything. So in such a case, a lady needs to prod him.

So how can a lady go about it? Ask him where are we going? I sense this is where the relationship is going, what do you think? Its either a yes or a no, but with that, you know where you are going instead of being on an emotional roller coaster and your heart is smashed into pieces at the end of the day".

Pastor Sam supported his position with the story of Ruth in the Bible who was taught to propose to Boaz whom she eventually married according to Ruth Chapter 3  in the Bible. He however emphasized the need for women to apply uttermost wisdom when proposing to a man.


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An Indian restaurant is letting customers dine with the dead after they built their business around an old graveyard.

And the owner of the eatery in Ahmadabad, India says the graves are great for business.

The New Lucky Restaurant features tables scattered around real coffins which date back to the Muslim cemetery on which the café was built.

Owner Krishan Kutti decided to preserve the graves rather than ripping them out to make way for his restaurant.

But despite the ghoulish interior, the restaurant has become a popular hang-out.

Kutti said: "The graveyard brings good luck. Our business has been flourishing because of these graves. It gives people a unique experience.

"We have maintained the graves as they were. Our customers don't seem to mind."

But Kutti has little idea who the graves belong to.

Some locals claim they contain the remains of followers of a 16th-century Sufi saint whose tomb lies nearby.

Around a dozen graves lay inside the restaurant, and have been sealed off by iron grills.

Every morning, when the shutters of the restaurant are pulled up, waiters spend some time wiping the gravestones and decorating them with fresh flowers.

"We begin our day by paying respects to the graves. We wipe them and cover them with cloth and also shower flowers on them. It is important to respect the dead," said Kutti.

Customers, on the other hand, don't seem to concerned about the presence of the dead. They just come to relish tea and butter rolls.



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A former Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey has accused Nigeria of sabotaging the supply of gas to Ghana.He says Nigeria has failed to respect the sanctity of the Gas Supply Agreement it signed with Ghana.According to him Ghana must realize that Nigeria has betrayed it and respond appropriately.In his recent article titled, ‘Waking up from the Pipe Dream’ on the West AfricanGas Pipeline Project, the Chief Policy Analyst for the Ghana Institute for Public Policy Options (GIPPO) said, ‘’instead of begging Nigeria to get some “soppy” supply, let us absorb the reality and wakeup from the West African Pipe dream and take bold and decisive steps that ensure a reliable and ample supply of our own gas resources to fuel our power plants.’’Dr. Wereko-Brobbey who had earlier told Citi FM in an interview that Ghana’s Energy Ministry was making excuses for WAPCo for its failure to in meeting it gas supply obligation to the country noted in his article that ‘’Ghana should as a matterof urgency open both eyes, wake up fromthe West African pipe dream’’.He said Nigeria and WAPCo must be made to pay for their incompetence and self – oversight, which led to delays and non-performance that has literally cost Ghana several millions of dollars.
Meanwhile the mechanical construction the Ghana Gas project which will process gas from the Jubilee oil fields will be completed at the end of march. The gas is expected to reach the thermal plants at Tema and Aboaze by september this year for generation of electricity.

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Lovely Okojie, former wife of Odianosen Okojie (Mercy Johnson’s husband) in a new chat with Encomium says she has moved on after the debacle that saw the father of her two children move on with very popular actress, Mercy Johnson.
Lovely who is in her early 30s maintained the episode which made her husband go for another woman is now history.  She had maintained a deafening silence for long until Saturday, March 15, 2014, when she spoke with ENCOMIUM Weekly from her base in Canada.

“I have no explanation to anybody.  Life is full of ups and downs. I have accepted my fate.”

 How are the children doing now?
“The children are doing fine.  I thank God for them.”
How have you been able to cope with the children’s welfare?
“Like I said, I thank God. I am coping well.”
But when Lovely was asked if her former husband (Odianosen Okojie) has been assisting in the children’s upkeep, she got furious, insisting the man in question is in her history.
“What do you mean?  That is my past.  Don’t ask me questions about my past.  I don’t want to relate with my past.  In fact, I don’t know what you are talking about,” and the phone went off.
However, a source close to Lovely revealed to ENCOMIUM that she (Lovely) is still very much bitter about what happened to her marriage to Prince Okojie.
“She is still bitter.  She felt betrayed.  She is not thinking of another marriage now, she is yet to recover from the past experience.”



Lovely came to public consciousness when she raised the alarm in 2011 that the man actress Mercy Johnson was planning to marry was actually her legal husband.  At this time, preparations towards the wedding was going on with the super star actress shopping for her wedding in Europe.

And when everything seemed to be going smoothly, Lovely dropped the bombshell with pictures of her marriage to Okojie to back up her claim.  There was a slight setback and when many had thought the setback would truncate the marriage plans, the lovebirds, Odia Okojie and Mercy Johnson presented a united front.  They were married at the Christ Embassy Church, Oregun, Lagos on Saturday, August 27, 2011, amidst tight security.  The couple are now blessed with a child


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A picture dated May 14, 1995 shows a patient affected by the deadly Ebola virus carried on a stretcher at the Kikwit hospital in DR Congo

An Ebola epidemic which has already killed dozens of people in Guinea's southern forests has spread to the capital Conakry, the United Nations Children's Fund said on Sunday.

"At least 59 out of 80 who contracted Ebola across the West African country have died so far. Over the past few days, the deadly haemorrhagic fever has quickly spread from the communities of Macenta, Gueckedou, and Kissidougou to the capital, Conakry," UNICEF said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Conakry, a vast, sprawling port city on Guinea's Atlantic coast, is estimated to have a population of between 1.5 and two million.

To date, no treatment or vaccine is available for Ebola, which kills between 25 and 90 percent of those who fall sick, depending on the strain of the virus, according to the World Health Organisation.

The disease is transmitted by direct contact with blood, faeces or sweat, or by segxwal contact or unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

 UNICEF said at least three victims of the outbreak, which began on February 9, were children.
"This outbreak is particularly devastating because medical staff are among the first victims, so far it has killed at least eight health workers who have been in contact with infected patients, hindering the response and threatening normal care in a country already lacking in medical personnel," UNICEF said.

The organisation said it had rushed five tonnes of aid, including medical supplies, to the most affected areas in Guinea's south.

"In Guinea, a country with a weak medical infrastructure, an outbreak like this can be devastating," said the organisation's Guinea representative, Mohamed Ag Ayoya.

"UNICEF has pre-positioned supplies and stepped up communication on the ground to inform and sensitise medical staff and the population on how to avoid contracting Ebola."

The organisation urged Guineans not to attend funerals wherever possible and to avoid all contact with the sick and the dead.

Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases, was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1976 and the country has had eight outbreaks.

The most recent epidemic, also in the DRC, infected 62 people and left 34 dead between May and November 2012, according to the country's health ministry.

There are fears it could be used in a biological weapons attack.

According to researchers, the virus multiplies quickly, overwhelming the immune system's ability to fight the infection.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement on Saturday it had set up isolation units for suspected cases in the southern region of Nzerekore and was seeking out people who may have had contacts with the infected.

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