Ahead of tomorrow’s gubernatorial primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State, the national leadership of the party has reversed the disqualification of Mr Godwin Ezeemo from contesting for the party’s ticket for the November 16 governorship election in the state.
Ezeemo was earlier disqualified by the party’s screening panel on the ground that he had dual citizenship.
The national caucus of the party in a meeting in Abuja after one of the gubernatorial aspirants, Senator Annie Okonkwo, stepped down for Senator Chris Ngige adopted the later as the consensus candidate for the Anambra gubernatorial election.
Based on protests over his disqualification, Ezeemo was later cleared by the party’s appeal panel to contest the primaries.
Following his clearance, Ezeemo yesterday arrived in the state into the warm embrace of hundreds of his supporters who thronged the Amanse, the border town between Enugu and Anambra States.
The enthusiastic supporters carried cards which variously read: “With Godwin Ezeemo, Next Level, here we come”, “The hero of our time, Ezeemo is as a divine messenger”, “Anambra 2003, not 2013”.
In his speech Ezeemo expressed deep appreciation for the support given to him by the party faithful, coming out to receive him in such great numbers, saying that he would not disappoint them.
He pointed out that the reversal of his disqualification followed the petition he forwarded to the appeal panel via the internet, pledging that, “Our children will be part of the current internet technology.”
He pointed out that Anambra State had not developed in the pace it ought to, saying that if he becomes the governor he would transform the state to its rightful socio-economic position.
Meanwhile, as a result of disappointments over the adoption of Nigige by the party, the state chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Prince Chuba Ike Agwu stated that all members of the party in the state had decamped the newly registered Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM.
leadership
Saturday, 31 August 2013
Woman Commits Suicide Over Husband’s Failure To Buy Her iPad
A 41-year-old woman, Mrs Catherine Sefunmi Urouna, who allegedly drank a substance suspected to be chemical to protest her husband’s alleged refusal to buy her an iPad device was reported dead.
Her family of five and neighbours were thrown into mourning when they discovered that the deceased who was adjudged to be comfortable in her husband’s house took her life over a minor domestic disagreement.
The motive and cause of her death is however, being probed by the Ondo State police command.
The late Mrs Urouna, who was a mother of two boys and a girl, was buried on Friday. She was a senior executive accounting officer in Akure North local government area in Ondo State.
Although investigations into her death are still on, police sources disclosed to LEADERSHIP Sunday that trouble started when her husband who works in one of the states in the northern part of the country came home as usual to visit the family in Akure and his late wife welcomed him joyfully.
The deceased was said to have served her husband a good meal and thereafter asked him whether he brought the ipad she had earlier pleaded with him to buy for her, but the husband told her quietly that he was yet to buy it.
It was further gathered that he pleaded with his late wife to continue using the Blackberry phone he had earlier bought for her, pending the time he would be able to purchase ipad for her.
The reply of the husband was said to have not gone down well with the late Sefunmi who immediately threatened to kill herself if he would no accede to her request.
But the husband was said to have taken the threat lightly and as the argument persisted, the woman was said to have gone inside her room, took a substance suspected to poisonous chemical and headed for the toilet where she locked herself up.
Unfortunately she was said to have succeeded in drinking the substance before her daughter who saw her locking the door of the toilet and suspected she might want to do something funny because of her mood could reach the place.
Leadership correspondent gathered that when the daughter got there and started knocking at the toilet, there was no response from within.
Leadership
BREAKING NEWS: APC wins LG rerun election in Kwara
The newly registers All Progressives Congress has recorded it first victory. A yet to be confirmed report has it that the APC has just been declared the winner of Offa LGA re-run Election in Kwara state. The broom revolution has just begun.
Detail soon
247nigerianewsupdate
More Troubles for PDP As Akpabio, Other Governors Abandon Jonathan At Eagle Square
The split witnessed in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP during the special national convention of the party in Abuja yesterday may just be the beginning of more troubles for the party if the actions of Governors in the party are anything to go by.
But for Governor Usman Dakingari of Kebbi state and Isah Yuguda of Bauchi state, all the governors elected on the platform of the Party, who had attended the convention at the eagle square left President Goodluck Jonathan at the venue on Saturday night.
The governors, after hearing about the walkout of six of their colleagues, left the venue of the party’s convention one after the other, dejected.
Aside the governors, many supporters of the party who may be loyal to their governors also left the venue of the mini convention, leaving a handful of supporters till the close of the event.
Others who stayed with President Jonathan till the end of the event were his deputy, Namadi Sambo, factional National Chairman of the party, Dr. Bamanga Tukur and few others.
Surprisingly, Governor Godswill Akpabio also did not stay till the close of the programme. Akpabio, who had earlier spoken eloquently and assured the President of the support of his fellow governors, walked out of the venue with his head bowed, looking dejected and unhappy.
He refused to speak with journalists or acknowledged greetings from his people when he was leaving
abusidiqu
Pastor, 2 teenagers, 27 others arrested for pipeline vandalism
No fewer than 30 suspected oil pipeline vandals were, yesterday, arrested by the officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, in Isheri-Oshun axis of Ogun-Lagos states border. This came a week after the NSCDC, Lagos command arrested eight suspected vandals in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA.
Among the suspects were two teenagers, identified as Micheal Oyedotun and Azeez Ajani, who both claimed to be apprentices at different fashion institutes, and a Pastor over illegal possession of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the suspects: were arrested at about 3:00 am after a gun battle between the vandals and the officers of the NSCDC. It was also learnt that two vehicles owned by the suspected vandals were impounded while over 20, 000 liters of fuel in drums were recovered.
vanguard
Among the suspects were two teenagers, identified as Micheal Oyedotun and Azeez Ajani, who both claimed to be apprentices at different fashion institutes, and a Pastor over illegal possession of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the suspects: were arrested at about 3:00 am after a gun battle between the vandals and the officers of the NSCDC. It was also learnt that two vehicles owned by the suspected vandals were impounded while over 20, 000 liters of fuel in drums were recovered.
vanguard
How PDP has blessed Nigeria – Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan,yesterday, described the 14-year-rule of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as a blessing to the country. In a speech to the Special National Convention of the ruling party, Jonathan noted the strides in various sectors of the polity including communication, power, education and transportation as progressive developments that only those in the critical segment of the opposition have refused to acknowledge. The President, in a speech covering 3,735 words, said the task before the party was “difficult, thankless but ultimately rewarding.”
His speech to rouse the party faithful nonetheless did not stop six governors present at the occasion to walk out to form for the first time, a parallel faction of the ruling party.
Before him, senior party officials, including the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Obong Godswill Akpabio, had, in remarks at the Convention floor, reiterated the need for unity and determination to rally round the President. Anenih, while noting what he described as the seeming grievances among party men, pledged to redouble his efforts in reconciliation. Tukur, as he if in anticipation of the walk-out, called on the faithful to remain vigilant as he noted that troubles against the party were not yet over.
Jonathan, in his speech, narrated how the PDP had since it came to power at the federal level in 1999 posted several successes in the different sectors in the polity. He also took out time to subtly poke the opposition, noting that the PDP had remained one without changing identity, flag, or name. In a subtle dig at the Lagos State government, he also said the PDP governor would focus on attacking destitution instead of attacking destitute persons. Commending members of the former National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party who resigned to allow the regularisation of the election of members of the NEC, he said their action was in conformity with the party’s inclination to the rule of law.
“They are patriotic party members unlike others who drag the party to unnecessary litigation. We commend them and promise that the party will reward them. We are here fellow delegates in obedience to due process. We are confident that all those who will. be elected today into positions of responsibility entrusted with the mantle of leadership within the party will work diligently as one team. The party has provided a level playing field for all contestants to demonstrate their readiness for this call to service.”
Noting how the party has survived because of its inclination towards internal democracy, he
said: “Of the three political parties registered in 1998, and I want you to listen, only PDP has retained its singular identify and core vision as a political movement till date while others have been imploded along the way or subsumed their identity in search of political direction and relevance. The PDP has remained a strong fortress of hope for our people but remained focused on building a greater Nigeria, one that can afford this generation and the generation to come better life.”
The President started his narration of PDP’s delivery of democracy dividends with the multiplication of telephone penetration which, he said, progressed from “400,000 in 1999 before the PDP came on board to over 120 million today. Our telecom sector has grown to be the biggest in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world providing jobs for millions of Nigerians and creating a new generation of successful entrepreneurs and industrialists.”
Jonathan also cited developments in the banking industry which, he said, has flourished and the education sector developments “critics never want to acknowledge”. Besides what he claimed as progressive revival in primary education, he noted the construction of over 120 Almajiri primary schools and the establishment of nine federal universities.
The President also chided those arriving the federal capital for failing to acknowledge what he described as the state of the art road network leading into the city saying: “Our belief is that our critics don’t come into Abuja through our airport, (otherwise) they would see the airport road. If they drive round Abuja, they would have seen the outer lanes and others. We have changed the face of Abuja”, he said. “Under the PDP government we have embarked on massive infrastructural development that all the
geo-political zones are being linked up and people are acknowledging that driving across the country is now less painful. Though we are yet to get to where we want to, surely PDP will lead Nigeria to where we want to go.”
In what could be interpreted as a dig at the recent removal of some destitute persons from the All Progressive Congress, APC, controlled Lagos to Anambra State, Jonathan said:
“We recognise Nigeria as one indivisible entity, we deplore ethnic distrust among our great people. For we are one people under one umbrella in this republic. In the PDP, we fight against poverty not the poor. In the PDP, we attack destitution, not the destitute. “In the PDP, we believe in the tenet of democracy and development. This is who we are. We must remain a party of national unity, we must insist on justice and equity. We must insist on defending Nigeria from those who threaten her in words and deeds. We are a nation in God’s hands and we must keep it so.”
In his own speech, Tukur said: “This is the first time this is happening in the annals of Nigeria to repeat the entire process of an electoral process of any political party. PDP is indeed showing a good example for other political parties to follow. Apart from this, the Special Convention is also coming on a very official and significant date which coincides with the birthday of our party which was launched on August 31 1998,that is 15 years ago.”
Anenih, also addressing the PDP Convention, said: “As you all probably knows, a lot has been written about conflicts and crises in our party, almost on a continuous basis. Let me assure you that a great deal of what is published is exaggerated. While it cannot be denied that there are differences and disagreements, now and again, our party has a very effective arrangement for conflict resolution.
I want to take this opportunity to assure you that the PDP is one great family and appeal to all those who have one reason or the other to be aggrieved to take advantage of the abundant opportunities for conflict resolution in the party.” “As Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, my focus has always been on reconciliation, party cohesion and discipline. It is true that given the enormous size and spread of the party, there are bound to be challenges in his organization.
However ,you will agree with me that recent challenges problems of indiscipline are weighing heavily and affecting the smooth operations of the party in nearly all of its chapters. We have a strategic obligation to put our house in order to retain our dominant position in the Nigerian political system and continue to be a stabilizing force in the Nigerian democracy.”
Meanwhile, voting commenced at the PDP convention ground shortly before 3.00 p.m. after the chairman of the electoral panel, Senator Ken Nnamani, addressed delegates on the voting pattern. Delegates from all 36 states voted for the different positions on the ballot according to their states and each state was led by the highest political office holder.
Jonathan led delegates from Bayelsa State, Vice President Namadi Sambo led delegates from Kaduna, while the president of the Senate, Senator David Mark led delegates from Benue .However, voting was restricted to statutory delegates from Anambra and Adamawa States as elected delegates from the different factions were barred from voting.Voting ended around 4.30 pm following which the long process of counting the votes commenced. As at press time, counting was ongoing.
vanguard
His speech to rouse the party faithful nonetheless did not stop six governors present at the occasion to walk out to form for the first time, a parallel faction of the ruling party.
Before him, senior party officials, including the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Obong Godswill Akpabio, had, in remarks at the Convention floor, reiterated the need for unity and determination to rally round the President. Anenih, while noting what he described as the seeming grievances among party men, pledged to redouble his efforts in reconciliation. Tukur, as he if in anticipation of the walk-out, called on the faithful to remain vigilant as he noted that troubles against the party were not yet over.
Jonathan, in his speech, narrated how the PDP had since it came to power at the federal level in 1999 posted several successes in the different sectors in the polity. He also took out time to subtly poke the opposition, noting that the PDP had remained one without changing identity, flag, or name. In a subtle dig at the Lagos State government, he also said the PDP governor would focus on attacking destitution instead of attacking destitute persons. Commending members of the former National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party who resigned to allow the regularisation of the election of members of the NEC, he said their action was in conformity with the party’s inclination to the rule of law.
“They are patriotic party members unlike others who drag the party to unnecessary litigation. We commend them and promise that the party will reward them. We are here fellow delegates in obedience to due process. We are confident that all those who will. be elected today into positions of responsibility entrusted with the mantle of leadership within the party will work diligently as one team. The party has provided a level playing field for all contestants to demonstrate their readiness for this call to service.”
Noting how the party has survived because of its inclination towards internal democracy, he
said: “Of the three political parties registered in 1998, and I want you to listen, only PDP has retained its singular identify and core vision as a political movement till date while others have been imploded along the way or subsumed their identity in search of political direction and relevance. The PDP has remained a strong fortress of hope for our people but remained focused on building a greater Nigeria, one that can afford this generation and the generation to come better life.”
The President started his narration of PDP’s delivery of democracy dividends with the multiplication of telephone penetration which, he said, progressed from “400,000 in 1999 before the PDP came on board to over 120 million today. Our telecom sector has grown to be the biggest in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world providing jobs for millions of Nigerians and creating a new generation of successful entrepreneurs and industrialists.”
Jonathan also cited developments in the banking industry which, he said, has flourished and the education sector developments “critics never want to acknowledge”. Besides what he claimed as progressive revival in primary education, he noted the construction of over 120 Almajiri primary schools and the establishment of nine federal universities.
The President also chided those arriving the federal capital for failing to acknowledge what he described as the state of the art road network leading into the city saying: “Our belief is that our critics don’t come into Abuja through our airport, (otherwise) they would see the airport road. If they drive round Abuja, they would have seen the outer lanes and others. We have changed the face of Abuja”, he said. “Under the PDP government we have embarked on massive infrastructural development that all the
geo-political zones are being linked up and people are acknowledging that driving across the country is now less painful. Though we are yet to get to where we want to, surely PDP will lead Nigeria to where we want to go.”
In what could be interpreted as a dig at the recent removal of some destitute persons from the All Progressive Congress, APC, controlled Lagos to Anambra State, Jonathan said:
“We recognise Nigeria as one indivisible entity, we deplore ethnic distrust among our great people. For we are one people under one umbrella in this republic. In the PDP, we fight against poverty not the poor. In the PDP, we attack destitution, not the destitute. “In the PDP, we believe in the tenet of democracy and development. This is who we are. We must remain a party of national unity, we must insist on justice and equity. We must insist on defending Nigeria from those who threaten her in words and deeds. We are a nation in God’s hands and we must keep it so.”
In his own speech, Tukur said: “This is the first time this is happening in the annals of Nigeria to repeat the entire process of an electoral process of any political party. PDP is indeed showing a good example for other political parties to follow. Apart from this, the Special Convention is also coming on a very official and significant date which coincides with the birthday of our party which was launched on August 31 1998,that is 15 years ago.”
Anenih, also addressing the PDP Convention, said: “As you all probably knows, a lot has been written about conflicts and crises in our party, almost on a continuous basis. Let me assure you that a great deal of what is published is exaggerated. While it cannot be denied that there are differences and disagreements, now and again, our party has a very effective arrangement for conflict resolution.
I want to take this opportunity to assure you that the PDP is one great family and appeal to all those who have one reason or the other to be aggrieved to take advantage of the abundant opportunities for conflict resolution in the party.” “As Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, my focus has always been on reconciliation, party cohesion and discipline. It is true that given the enormous size and spread of the party, there are bound to be challenges in his organization.
However ,you will agree with me that recent challenges problems of indiscipline are weighing heavily and affecting the smooth operations of the party in nearly all of its chapters. We have a strategic obligation to put our house in order to retain our dominant position in the Nigerian political system and continue to be a stabilizing force in the Nigerian democracy.”
Meanwhile, voting commenced at the PDP convention ground shortly before 3.00 p.m. after the chairman of the electoral panel, Senator Ken Nnamani, addressed delegates on the voting pattern. Delegates from all 36 states voted for the different positions on the ballot according to their states and each state was led by the highest political office holder.
Jonathan led delegates from Bayelsa State, Vice President Namadi Sambo led delegates from Kaduna, while the president of the Senate, Senator David Mark led delegates from Benue .However, voting was restricted to statutory delegates from Anambra and Adamawa States as elected delegates from the different factions were barred from voting.Voting ended around 4.30 pm following which the long process of counting the votes commenced. As at press time, counting was ongoing.
vanguard
Prologue: Between Suntai and his sponsors: A puppet and his puppeteers
There is a decidedly fatal embrace in the air. In this instance, however, Danbaba Suntai would not be the first.
Before Suntai, there was Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. But before Umaru, there had been, in other climes, Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria, Woodrow Wilson, Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, Deng Xiao-peng, Ferdinand Marcos, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Menachem Begin – all these individuals had had one form of infirmity or the other, some bordering on mental disability, while in office.
The lesson to draw from their situations, as explained in a book, WHEN ILLNESS STRIKES THE LEADER: THE DILEMMA OF THE CAPTIVE KING, by Dr. Jerrold M. Post and Robert S. Robins, is that these individuals as puppets and those shielding members of the public from the true position of their health as the puppeteers, are locked in an egregious and fatal embrace, “each dependent upon the other for survival – a captive king and his captive court” – while exploring what was described as the impact of physical and mental illness on political leadership.
Suntai is the puppet and the puppeteers are the likes of his wife, Jerry Gana and John Dara who told Nigerians last Sunday that Suntai was hale, fit and hearty to rule Taraba State.
Alas, and without prejudice to Suntai’s very personable personality before the air crash which forms the bane of his present situation, the Suntai Nigerians have been privileged to see cannot be subjected to the rigours and demands of governance of a state. Simple!
Therefore, the lessons from the book are simple and straight forward.
It must be acknowledged: “The illness or disability of a leader can change the course of history. When Lenin became too infirm to remove Stalin from a position of power, when the Shah of Iran’s terminal cancer was kept secret from fellow Iranians and foreign supporters until Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic revolution had succeeded, the political consequences were monumental.
“In this absorbing book, two experts in political psychology reveal how the infirmities of leaders have affected their own societies and the broader course of world events”.
In this society of clashing interests that Taraba State is, religion and ethnicity are being brought in.
Firstly, Suntai is a Christian. The logic in some quarters there is that once he’s out, a Muslim would take over as governor. Cheap talk! Those Christians who are expressing this fear should be considered as pagans or Christians of little minds. When in 1999 Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi chose a Christian as his deputy, the talk in Kaduna was that the governor turned senator may not last and a Christian would take over as Kaduna State governor. Behold, Makarfi’s deputy died even before the tenure was completed.
Then came Governor Patrick Yakowa who succeeded Namadi Sambo when the Office of the Vice President was offered to the latter. Some people went to town insisting that they would have to endure over eight years of a Christian governor in Kaduna. By a twist of faith per cruelty, Yakowa lost his life in a plane crash. There was Yar’Adua who also passed on before the expiration of his tenure paving the way for Goodluck Jonathan. Whereas no one should celebrate at the demise of another, human beings are very fond of playing god by removing God from the equation.
Those who seek to enthrone this needless silliness on the polity in Taraba were part of those who complained when a cabal hijacked the Presidency to the embarrassing exclusion of a sitting Vice President Jonathan. They are all members and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Were Taraba State to be under the control of the All Progressive Congress, APC, what vibes would have been emanating from the PDP headquarters?
Were Suntai to be a Muslim, what would some masquerading Christian leaders be saying about that?
From the look of things, Taraba State itself might become incapacitated. Alhaji Garba Umar, the Acting Governor, has been instructed by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Haruna Tsokwa, to continue his job and disregard any shenanigans oozing forth from Suntai’s end.
The issues to look at are so simple and straight forward in this unfolding disgraceful show:
What does the Constitution say?
Has the law been breached?
How was it breached?
What constitutes incapacitation?
All indices of gauging the situation and responding to these posers suggest that Suntai and his handlers cannot score anything good or convince anyone that they are right.
Therefore, the fatal embrace, the delusion of which suggests to the puppet and the puppeteers that they are in good stead, is no more than a delusion of grandeur which would, in the final analysis, spell doom as was the case with the respected and respectable but the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua whose handlers subjected Jonathan to ridicule. Therefore, Mr. President, as leader of the PDP, should do that which is right and stop this show of shame.
vanguard
Before Suntai, there was Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. But before Umaru, there had been, in other climes, Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria, Woodrow Wilson, Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, Deng Xiao-peng, Ferdinand Marcos, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Menachem Begin – all these individuals had had one form of infirmity or the other, some bordering on mental disability, while in office.
The lesson to draw from their situations, as explained in a book, WHEN ILLNESS STRIKES THE LEADER: THE DILEMMA OF THE CAPTIVE KING, by Dr. Jerrold M. Post and Robert S. Robins, is that these individuals as puppets and those shielding members of the public from the true position of their health as the puppeteers, are locked in an egregious and fatal embrace, “each dependent upon the other for survival – a captive king and his captive court” – while exploring what was described as the impact of physical and mental illness on political leadership.
Suntai is the puppet and the puppeteers are the likes of his wife, Jerry Gana and John Dara who told Nigerians last Sunday that Suntai was hale, fit and hearty to rule Taraba State.
Alas, and without prejudice to Suntai’s very personable personality before the air crash which forms the bane of his present situation, the Suntai Nigerians have been privileged to see cannot be subjected to the rigours and demands of governance of a state. Simple!
Therefore, the lessons from the book are simple and straight forward.
It must be acknowledged: “The illness or disability of a leader can change the course of history. When Lenin became too infirm to remove Stalin from a position of power, when the Shah of Iran’s terminal cancer was kept secret from fellow Iranians and foreign supporters until Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic revolution had succeeded, the political consequences were monumental.
“In this absorbing book, two experts in political psychology reveal how the infirmities of leaders have affected their own societies and the broader course of world events”.
In this society of clashing interests that Taraba State is, religion and ethnicity are being brought in.
Firstly, Suntai is a Christian. The logic in some quarters there is that once he’s out, a Muslim would take over as governor. Cheap talk! Those Christians who are expressing this fear should be considered as pagans or Christians of little minds. When in 1999 Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi chose a Christian as his deputy, the talk in Kaduna was that the governor turned senator may not last and a Christian would take over as Kaduna State governor. Behold, Makarfi’s deputy died even before the tenure was completed.
Then came Governor Patrick Yakowa who succeeded Namadi Sambo when the Office of the Vice President was offered to the latter. Some people went to town insisting that they would have to endure over eight years of a Christian governor in Kaduna. By a twist of faith per cruelty, Yakowa lost his life in a plane crash. There was Yar’Adua who also passed on before the expiration of his tenure paving the way for Goodluck Jonathan. Whereas no one should celebrate at the demise of another, human beings are very fond of playing god by removing God from the equation.
Those who seek to enthrone this needless silliness on the polity in Taraba were part of those who complained when a cabal hijacked the Presidency to the embarrassing exclusion of a sitting Vice President Jonathan. They are all members and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Were Taraba State to be under the control of the All Progressive Congress, APC, what vibes would have been emanating from the PDP headquarters?
Were Suntai to be a Muslim, what would some masquerading Christian leaders be saying about that?
From the look of things, Taraba State itself might become incapacitated. Alhaji Garba Umar, the Acting Governor, has been instructed by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Haruna Tsokwa, to continue his job and disregard any shenanigans oozing forth from Suntai’s end.
The issues to look at are so simple and straight forward in this unfolding disgraceful show:
What does the Constitution say?
Has the law been breached?
How was it breached?
What constitutes incapacitation?
All indices of gauging the situation and responding to these posers suggest that Suntai and his handlers cannot score anything good or convince anyone that they are right.
Therefore, the fatal embrace, the delusion of which suggests to the puppet and the puppeteers that they are in good stead, is no more than a delusion of grandeur which would, in the final analysis, spell doom as was the case with the respected and respectable but the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua whose handlers subjected Jonathan to ridicule. Therefore, Mr. President, as leader of the PDP, should do that which is right and stop this show of shame.
vanguard
Article of Faith: The Word of Paul is not the Word of God (2) By Femi Aribisala
It is ridiculous to insist, as some Christians do, that Paul’s word is the word of God when Paul himself contradicts this.
No other person in the bible writes like Paul. Far more than everybody else, Paul talks about himself. He is always drawing attention to himself. His epistles are littered with “I,” “me,” “my” and “mine.”
In Romans, Paul refers to himself 103 times. In 1 Corinthians, he refers to himself 175 times. In 2 Corinthians, he refers to himself 103 times. In Galatians, which is one of his shorter books, he refers to himself 69 times! Clearly, Paul is just as concerned about telling us about himself as he is about telling us about God.
Jesus says: “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.” (John 5:31). Virtually all of Paul’s credentials are his witness of himself. This is a tell-tale sign that his word is not the word of God. If God wants to talk about Paul, he would get others to do so.
All about Paul
With Paul, the gospel is not just the gospel: it is Paul’s gospel. (Romans 2:16). God is not our God: he is Paul’s God. (Philippians 4:19). We are not just God’s beloved, we are Paul’s beloved. (1 Corinthians 10:14). We are not just God’s children: we are Paul’s children. (Galatians 4:19). It is not just about Christ’s sufferings: it is about Paul’s sufferings. (Colossians 1:24). It is not just about Christ’s doctrine: it is about Paul’s doctrine. (2 Timothy 3:10). Here is a man so totally consumed with himself that he even blatantly appropriates the things of God. The words of such a man must not be confused with the word of God.
Paul says: “Those in Asia have turned away from me.” (2 Timothy 1:15). But the question is: have they turned away from the Lord? Paul also says: “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9). This can never be the word of God because Jesus, and not Paul, is God’s standard.
It is ridiculous to insist, as some Christians do, that Paul’s word is the word of God when Paul himself contradicts this. Paul says to the Corinthians: “I speak not by commandment … and herein I give my advice.” (2 Corinthians 8:8-10). Paul’s “advice” may or may not be sound, but it certainly is Paul’s and not God’s. Indeed, Paul sometimes makes a distinction between the Lord’s commands and his own commands. He says: “Unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord .., but the rest is from me, not from the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 7:10-12). Therefore, Paul’s commands are not commandments of God.
If Paul’s word is the word of God, it would not be necessary for Paul himself to flag us when he claims to be speaking the word of God. For example, Paul says: “We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching…” (1 Thessalonians 4:15). This is not the Lord speaking but somebody speaking about the Lord. If Paul’s word is the word of God, it would be totally ludicrous for him to say: “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.” (2 Corinthians 11:31). This is the statement of a man given to speaking his own words, whose words have been questioned.
Self-opinionated Paul
Who is speaking here: “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes.” (1 Timothy 2:9). Is it Paul or is it God? There really should be no argument about this because Paul himself admits it is his word. This would explain why Christian women ignore it and continue to braid their hair, and wear jewelry and expensive clothes.
Paul is very self-opinionated. For example, he says in his conceit: “Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give my own opinion.” (1 Corinthians 7:25). If Paul has no commandments from the Lord on a subject, it is best for him to keep quiet. Are we now to conclude that his opinion is also the word of God? Certainly not! As observed, even Jesus never once offered his own opinion. Neither did he ever speak his own words. (John 12:49-50).
Paul’s pride often gets the better of him, leading him to say things he himself admits he should not say. For example, Paul says: “Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast.” (2 Corinthians 11:18). He then boasts about his pedigree and declares himself the best of all Christians. Can we then still insist that even Paul’s foolish boasting is the word of God? Certainly not! Elsewhere the same Paul admonishes us: “What, then, can we boast about? Nothing!” (Romans 3:27).
Pagan plagiarism
Paul cannot be speaking the word of God when his word is littered with plagiarised quotations of pagan writers. The man who hardly ever quotes Jesus is in the habit of quoting pagan writers; including Hippolytus, Aratus and Menander; men who extolled the idol god “Zeus.” When Paul says: “We are his offspring,” (Acts 17:28), he is not speaking the word of God. He is quoting the Greek poet Aratus’ “Phaenomena.” When Paul says: “God is not far from each one of us for in him we live and move and have our being,” (Acts 17:27-28); he is not speaking the word of God. He is plagiarising the Cretan seer, Epimenides. When Paul says: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons,” (Titus 1:12); he is not speaking the word of God. He is here again quoting Epimenides.
When Paul says: “Bad company corrupts good manners,” (1 Corinthians 15:33); he is not speaking the word of God. He is plagiarising the Greek dramatist Menander’s “Thais.” When Paul says: “The good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not do, that I do” (Romans 7:19); he is not speaking the word of God. He is plagiarising Hippolytus. When Paul says: “If any widow has children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home” (1 Timothy 5:4); he is not speaking the word of God. He is plagiarising the Roman playwright Terence. When Paul says: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12); he is not speaking the word of God. He is plagiarising the Mahaparinibbana Suta Buddhist scriptures.
Time-bound words
Jesus says: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.” (Matthew 24:35). This shows that the words of Jesus are the words of God because they are from everlasting to everlasting. But many of the words of Paul have passed away. Christians don’t subscribe to them anymore.
Paul says: “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak.” (1 Corinthians 14:34). If this injunction is the word of God, why is it that virtually no church in the world today obeys it? Women don’t keep silent in the churches. Therefore, this word of Paul has passed away. It was never the word of God. It was, and will always be, the word of Paul.
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Fraud Reduction: CBN Orders Banks To Raise Employee Competencies
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered commercial banks to engage in capacity building of employees so as to enhance competence in the industry and reduce the incidence of fraud in the industry. Deputy Governor in charge of Financial System Stability of the CBN, Kingsley Moghalu, made the call following the low level of competence in the banking industry which is attributable to insufficient manpower development.
Speaking at the 2013 Investiture of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos, Moghalu reiterated the apex bank’s commitment to ensuring that banks adhere strictly to competence in their operations. He said continuous engagement in capacity building will make bankers to be abreast of events in the sector, especially in this era of technology.
Speaking with journalists shortly after he was conferred with an Honorary Fellow of the Institute, he said the award is a significant professional recognition to him and to other awardees at a period when CIBN is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary. He said, “One of the four pillars of the CBN reform programme is to enhance the quality of banks. So, the whole question of the quality of manpower is critical to improving the quality of banks,” the deputy governor reiterated.
Mr Tay Laun, Chief Executive of the Institute of Bankers, Malaysia, who spoke on ‘Competency Framework in Banking: The Malaysia Model’, told the audience how he developed the competency framework in Malaysia and urged bankers to put in right skills to ensure confidence in the industry.
leadership
Speaking at the 2013 Investiture of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos, Moghalu reiterated the apex bank’s commitment to ensuring that banks adhere strictly to competence in their operations. He said continuous engagement in capacity building will make bankers to be abreast of events in the sector, especially in this era of technology.
Speaking with journalists shortly after he was conferred with an Honorary Fellow of the Institute, he said the award is a significant professional recognition to him and to other awardees at a period when CIBN is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary. He said, “One of the four pillars of the CBN reform programme is to enhance the quality of banks. So, the whole question of the quality of manpower is critical to improving the quality of banks,” the deputy governor reiterated.
Mr Tay Laun, Chief Executive of the Institute of Bankers, Malaysia, who spoke on ‘Competency Framework in Banking: The Malaysia Model’, told the audience how he developed the competency framework in Malaysia and urged bankers to put in right skills to ensure confidence in the industry.
leadership
‘There is no Aviation Ministry anywhere in the world except Nigeria’
The renovation/remodelling projects embarked upon by the Aviation Ministry across major airports in the country has sparked controversy. While some stakeholders say there is scam in the scheme, others express disappointment on why airports are commissioned when the work done is said to be not up to 50 per cent.
The Deputy Secretary General, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Alhaji Mohammed Tukur, in this interview, urges President Goodluck Jonathan to scrap the Aviation Ministry and grant Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) full autonomy to run the sector. He also calls on the National Assembly to probe airport projects across the country.
Why do you want President Jonathan to scrap the Aviation Ministry?
There is no Ministry of Aviation any where in the world where the citizens work honestly to develop their economies. It is only in Nigeria that we have Aviation Ministry. Our own ministry has become so ineffective and must be scrapped to ensure sanity in the industry. NCAA must be granted fully autonomy to run the industry like what obtains in developed countries.
For example, the President granted waivers on importation of aircraft and spare parts to enhance growth in the sector but some people in the ministry are trying to hinder the process of free importation of aircraft to exploit the airline operators. They would tell you to go the ministry and obtain a written note from someone on a policy that Mr. President has already made a pronouncement. Jonathan has done his part, but some people in government are creating problems for him.
Most airline operators are already expressing discontent about the airports projects even when President Jonathan has commissioned those projects. Does it mean he is not aware that the work done is not up to 50 per cent?
The truth is that Jonathan has good intention but implementation by people working with him, especially the contractors, is very poor. It is quite obvious that some people in government are creating problems for the President by not doing a good job. He must have been deceived to commission the airports when the projects are not completed. Those people know exactly what they are doing, because they allowed the President to commission the airports when the work done is not up to 50 per cent.
Why did the President not carry out a thorough assessment of the projects before commissioning?
Looking at the way the whole exercise took place. Jonathan was deceived by the people who knew that the projects were not fully executed. For instance, because of the insecurity in the country, he could not thoroughly inspect the projects by himself. So, he just saw part of the airports and commissioned with the hope that the work was fully done. If we want to do the right thing, the contractors must be called back to do the work well for sustainability.
Can you list specific airports where the projects are not fully executed?
Kaduna airport is number one. The quality of work there is nothing to reckon with. The terminal building is not completed and they left it half way. What is even surprising is the fact that the Vice President is not saying anything about the poor quality of work in the airport. Kano airport is worse than Kaduna because, as I speak, there is no counter for people to use. After launching, it was locked up and now rain has removed the roof. You can see the shameful situation we are in this country. Work in Enugu airport has not finished till now.
Are you saying the renovation of airports across the country is not a good initiative?
No, that is not what I am saying. The renovation of airports is a good initiative but the work is not properly done. The poor quality of work done is the reason the whole thing is becoming an issue. The contractors must be called to order.
What is the way forward?
The Senate must take the step to probe the airport projects across the country. Their oversight function should include checking the projects done and the amount given to ascertain if the projects are commensurate with the billions of Naira released so far. The Senate must also investigate how much money was collected for a particular airport and the level of work done, because so much has been given for the projects and yet an airport is already leaking after rains.
Are you sure the minister is aware of the poor quality of work done at these airports?
If the Minister is not aware, then let her set up another committee to inspect the projects and monitor the activities of the contractors in charged, instead of saying that people don’t like her. What legacy will she leave behind with these projects? For instance, the glasses used at airports are not of good quality and that is why you have to close your ears due to the sound. The Minister must prepare her records to reconcile with the money collected and what she has done. The poor quality of work is a national disgrace for Nigeria and a slap on our faces.
Many people in the industry are complaining about the quality of work done at the airports. Why is the Managing Director of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) not talking?
Well, the Managing Director of FAAN has a good team but he cannot come out openly and talk. May be some people are preventing him from saying the right thing.
What are other challenges facing the industry at present?
Another challenge now is the new policy introduced by the Minister, which contradicts the Civil Aviation Act of 2006. The existing Act complies with the aviation regulation globally and if we throw it away and accept the new policy, Nigeria may lose the Category One certification. It took NCAA time and efforts to achieve the Category One and we may end up losing it just like that.
The new policy was written by the current Minister with some people. They just wrote something and took it to government for approval without passing through the National Assembly. Such policy is not recognised because it was signed when there was no Director General of NCAA. The former Director General left office and handed over to a senior Director in the organisation. So, the paper signed is invalid, because there was no Director General and due process was not followed.
This new policy may pose a serious challenge for the new Director General of NCAA, because even the Category One given to Nigeria still has some outstanding issues to tackle, in order to achieve 100 per cent certification.
Another challenge is the fact that we have not finished the remodelling projects but the airports have been launched already.
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The Deputy Secretary General, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Alhaji Mohammed Tukur, in this interview, urges President Goodluck Jonathan to scrap the Aviation Ministry and grant Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) full autonomy to run the sector. He also calls on the National Assembly to probe airport projects across the country.
Why do you want President Jonathan to scrap the Aviation Ministry?
There is no Ministry of Aviation any where in the world where the citizens work honestly to develop their economies. It is only in Nigeria that we have Aviation Ministry. Our own ministry has become so ineffective and must be scrapped to ensure sanity in the industry. NCAA must be granted fully autonomy to run the industry like what obtains in developed countries.
For example, the President granted waivers on importation of aircraft and spare parts to enhance growth in the sector but some people in the ministry are trying to hinder the process of free importation of aircraft to exploit the airline operators. They would tell you to go the ministry and obtain a written note from someone on a policy that Mr. President has already made a pronouncement. Jonathan has done his part, but some people in government are creating problems for him.
Most airline operators are already expressing discontent about the airports projects even when President Jonathan has commissioned those projects. Does it mean he is not aware that the work done is not up to 50 per cent?
The truth is that Jonathan has good intention but implementation by people working with him, especially the contractors, is very poor. It is quite obvious that some people in government are creating problems for the President by not doing a good job. He must have been deceived to commission the airports when the projects are not completed. Those people know exactly what they are doing, because they allowed the President to commission the airports when the work done is not up to 50 per cent.
Why did the President not carry out a thorough assessment of the projects before commissioning?
Looking at the way the whole exercise took place. Jonathan was deceived by the people who knew that the projects were not fully executed. For instance, because of the insecurity in the country, he could not thoroughly inspect the projects by himself. So, he just saw part of the airports and commissioned with the hope that the work was fully done. If we want to do the right thing, the contractors must be called back to do the work well for sustainability.
Can you list specific airports where the projects are not fully executed?
Kaduna airport is number one. The quality of work there is nothing to reckon with. The terminal building is not completed and they left it half way. What is even surprising is the fact that the Vice President is not saying anything about the poor quality of work in the airport. Kano airport is worse than Kaduna because, as I speak, there is no counter for people to use. After launching, it was locked up and now rain has removed the roof. You can see the shameful situation we are in this country. Work in Enugu airport has not finished till now.
Are you saying the renovation of airports across the country is not a good initiative?
No, that is not what I am saying. The renovation of airports is a good initiative but the work is not properly done. The poor quality of work done is the reason the whole thing is becoming an issue. The contractors must be called to order.
What is the way forward?
The Senate must take the step to probe the airport projects across the country. Their oversight function should include checking the projects done and the amount given to ascertain if the projects are commensurate with the billions of Naira released so far. The Senate must also investigate how much money was collected for a particular airport and the level of work done, because so much has been given for the projects and yet an airport is already leaking after rains.
Are you sure the minister is aware of the poor quality of work done at these airports?
If the Minister is not aware, then let her set up another committee to inspect the projects and monitor the activities of the contractors in charged, instead of saying that people don’t like her. What legacy will she leave behind with these projects? For instance, the glasses used at airports are not of good quality and that is why you have to close your ears due to the sound. The Minister must prepare her records to reconcile with the money collected and what she has done. The poor quality of work is a national disgrace for Nigeria and a slap on our faces.
Many people in the industry are complaining about the quality of work done at the airports. Why is the Managing Director of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) not talking?
Well, the Managing Director of FAAN has a good team but he cannot come out openly and talk. May be some people are preventing him from saying the right thing.
What are other challenges facing the industry at present?
Another challenge now is the new policy introduced by the Minister, which contradicts the Civil Aviation Act of 2006. The existing Act complies with the aviation regulation globally and if we throw it away and accept the new policy, Nigeria may lose the Category One certification. It took NCAA time and efforts to achieve the Category One and we may end up losing it just like that.
The new policy was written by the current Minister with some people. They just wrote something and took it to government for approval without passing through the National Assembly. Such policy is not recognised because it was signed when there was no Director General of NCAA. The former Director General left office and handed over to a senior Director in the organisation. So, the paper signed is invalid, because there was no Director General and due process was not followed.
This new policy may pose a serious challenge for the new Director General of NCAA, because even the Category One given to Nigeria still has some outstanding issues to tackle, in order to achieve 100 per cent certification.
Another challenge is the fact that we have not finished the remodelling projects but the airports have been launched already.
Vanguard
Friday Box Office: 'One Direction' Tops, 'Getaway' Bombs
One Direction: This Is Us had a strong first official day, earning $8.9 million on its first 1.25 days, including $2.7m in Thursday showings. Yes, that means that the film did 30% of its business on Thursday night and yes it will be massively front loaded going into the holiday. But with figures like this, who cares? The $10 million concert documentary will A) make its budget back by the time you read this and B) become out gross every other Morgan Spurlock documentary combined by the afternoon (that’s a total of $12.5m, with $11m of that going to Super Size Me).
The film should end the four-day weekend with over/under $25m, good for the second-biggest Labor Day opening weekend of all time, behind the $30m debut of Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake and ahead of last year’s $21m debut of The Possession. So yeah, it may not reach the heights of Michael Jackson: This Is It (which debuted with $32m over five days but had surprisingly strong legs for a $72m finish), but it will out gross The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience ($19m) and Katy Perry: Part of Me ($25m) by Monday or Tuesday. It looks like Mr. Spurlock is now due for a “one for me” project.
The second new Friday release, Warner Bros.’ The Getaway pretty much crashed with just $1.74 million for the day. The Ethan Hawke/Selena Gomez “cars go fast and crash” thriller produced by Dark Castle cost just $18 million, but it probably won’t even reach that in domestic ticket sales by the time all is said and done. This is merely a classic “Why did anyone think anyone would want to see this?” entry in the late August dump.
The other somewhat surprising bomb of the weekend is Closed Circuit. Now normally I wouldn’t call a low-key legal thriller with Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall a surefire hit, but Focus Features has had a periodic knack for successfully scheduling theoretically smart and adult genre fare on this very weekend, such as The Constant Gardner ($10m) in 2005, The American ($16.6m) in 2010, and The Debt ($12.8m) in 2011. This time around it is not to be, as the frankly not-very good potboiler earned just $511,000 since opening on Wednesday and will likely only rack up over/under $3 million for its six day opening weekend. The screen count is just 862, so we’re not looking at any lower-end per-screen records here, but it is a disappointing result for what I can only presume is a very inexpensive film (I don’t have official budget figures but I’ll update today or tomorrow if I can come upon them).
The most successful limited release of the weekend will be Lionsgate’s debut of Instructions Not Included. The Spanish-language father/daughter dramedy earned $1.93 million on just 347 screens, setting it up for a $7-$8m four-day debut and a rock-solid per-screen average over/under $20,000-per. Note to studios: Hispanics go to the movies too. In holdover news, The Butler expanded by 220 screens and earned $3.6 million (-24% from last Friday) in 3,330 auditoriums. Its domestic cume is up to $62 million and it should flirt with $15 million for the four-day weekend and a $75-$80 million cume after eighteen days.
We’re The Millers held strong in its fourth weekend, earning another $3.1 million (-23% from last Friday) and crossing the $100 million mark. The Conjuring grossed $345,000 and should crack $1 million for the four-day weekend, with its current cume at $132 million. Pacific Rim is pretty much done domestically, but it may cross $100 million domestic and/or cross $400 million worldwide by the end of the weekend.
The Grandmaster expanded to 749 screens and earned another $740,000 for its troubles. The edited-for-American-consumption martial arts film has now earned $940,000 and will crack $1 million today. Elysium grossed $1.58m yesterday and now has $73.7m. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones grossed a poor $1.44m in its second Friday (-53% from last Friday) and now has $18.9m dume. The Smurfs 2 grossed $400,000 and now has $64.5m domestic while Grown Ups 2 snagged $180,000 for a $129.4m domestic cume
Forbes
The film should end the four-day weekend with over/under $25m, good for the second-biggest Labor Day opening weekend of all time, behind the $30m debut of Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake and ahead of last year’s $21m debut of The Possession. So yeah, it may not reach the heights of Michael Jackson: This Is It (which debuted with $32m over five days but had surprisingly strong legs for a $72m finish), but it will out gross The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience ($19m) and Katy Perry: Part of Me ($25m) by Monday or Tuesday. It looks like Mr. Spurlock is now due for a “one for me” project.
The second new Friday release, Warner Bros.’ The Getaway pretty much crashed with just $1.74 million for the day. The Ethan Hawke/Selena Gomez “cars go fast and crash” thriller produced by Dark Castle cost just $18 million, but it probably won’t even reach that in domestic ticket sales by the time all is said and done. This is merely a classic “Why did anyone think anyone would want to see this?” entry in the late August dump.
The other somewhat surprising bomb of the weekend is Closed Circuit. Now normally I wouldn’t call a low-key legal thriller with Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall a surefire hit, but Focus Features has had a periodic knack for successfully scheduling theoretically smart and adult genre fare on this very weekend, such as The Constant Gardner ($10m) in 2005, The American ($16.6m) in 2010, and The Debt ($12.8m) in 2011. This time around it is not to be, as the frankly not-very good potboiler earned just $511,000 since opening on Wednesday and will likely only rack up over/under $3 million for its six day opening weekend. The screen count is just 862, so we’re not looking at any lower-end per-screen records here, but it is a disappointing result for what I can only presume is a very inexpensive film (I don’t have official budget figures but I’ll update today or tomorrow if I can come upon them).
The most successful limited release of the weekend will be Lionsgate’s debut of Instructions Not Included. The Spanish-language father/daughter dramedy earned $1.93 million on just 347 screens, setting it up for a $7-$8m four-day debut and a rock-solid per-screen average over/under $20,000-per. Note to studios: Hispanics go to the movies too. In holdover news, The Butler expanded by 220 screens and earned $3.6 million (-24% from last Friday) in 3,330 auditoriums. Its domestic cume is up to $62 million and it should flirt with $15 million for the four-day weekend and a $75-$80 million cume after eighteen days.
We’re The Millers held strong in its fourth weekend, earning another $3.1 million (-23% from last Friday) and crossing the $100 million mark. The Conjuring grossed $345,000 and should crack $1 million for the four-day weekend, with its current cume at $132 million. Pacific Rim is pretty much done domestically, but it may cross $100 million domestic and/or cross $400 million worldwide by the end of the weekend.
The Grandmaster expanded to 749 screens and earned another $740,000 for its troubles. The edited-for-American-consumption martial arts film has now earned $940,000 and will crack $1 million today. Elysium grossed $1.58m yesterday and now has $73.7m. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones grossed a poor $1.44m in its second Friday (-53% from last Friday) and now has $18.9m dume. The Smurfs 2 grossed $400,000 and now has $64.5m domestic while Grown Ups 2 snagged $180,000 for a $129.4m domestic cume
Forbes
PDM praises Atiku, governors, for breaking PDP
A new party recently formed by associates of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, has praised leading members of the Peoples Democratic Party for walking out of the ruling party’s special convention Saturday and announcing a parallel faction.
Atiku’s associates formed the PDM weeks ago and there are speculations that the platform was registered principally to actualize the presidential ambition of the former vice president.
The PDP had today descended into a full blown crisis when Atiku, seven state governors and other leading party members walked out of the Abuja convention and then addressed a press conference to say they had taken over the party.
But in a statement Saturday night, National Chairman of the PDM, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, praised the dissenting PDP chieftains for displaying bravery and statesmanship in challenging authorities of the PDP.
“The Peoples Democratic Movement today salutes the bravery and statesmanship of the dissenting delegates of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for staying calm in the face of utmost provocation and outright oppression during the just concluded PDP National Convention, held at Eagle Square Abuja,” the statement said.
“We appreciate their bold, brave and patriotic stand of these delegates for refusing to participate in an election which they knew gave no even playing ground to all stakeholders.’’
Mr. Bashir added that PDM, which he described as a party of true democracy, equity fairness, would continue to “stand shoulder to shoulder to shoulder with all true democrats who wish to make Nigeria great again through positive political change”.
The PDM, he said, would, within a few weeks, throw open its online and manual registration of prospective members within and outside the country.
Atiku and his colleagues had walked out of the convention to protest the actions of the organisers who had disqualified majority of the contestants vying for party positions.
Over 50 of the 75 aspirants, mostly presumed to be loyal to opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition within the PDP, were disqualified from vying for the 17 available National Working Committee, NWC, positions of the party.
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Atiku’s associates formed the PDM weeks ago and there are speculations that the platform was registered principally to actualize the presidential ambition of the former vice president.
The PDP had today descended into a full blown crisis when Atiku, seven state governors and other leading party members walked out of the Abuja convention and then addressed a press conference to say they had taken over the party.
But in a statement Saturday night, National Chairman of the PDM, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, praised the dissenting PDP chieftains for displaying bravery and statesmanship in challenging authorities of the PDP.
“The Peoples Democratic Movement today salutes the bravery and statesmanship of the dissenting delegates of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for staying calm in the face of utmost provocation and outright oppression during the just concluded PDP National Convention, held at Eagle Square Abuja,” the statement said.
“We appreciate their bold, brave and patriotic stand of these delegates for refusing to participate in an election which they knew gave no even playing ground to all stakeholders.’’
Mr. Bashir added that PDM, which he described as a party of true democracy, equity fairness, would continue to “stand shoulder to shoulder to shoulder with all true democrats who wish to make Nigeria great again through positive political change”.
The PDM, he said, would, within a few weeks, throw open its online and manual registration of prospective members within and outside the country.
Atiku and his colleagues had walked out of the convention to protest the actions of the organisers who had disqualified majority of the contestants vying for party positions.
Over 50 of the 75 aspirants, mostly presumed to be loyal to opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition within the PDP, were disqualified from vying for the 17 available National Working Committee, NWC, positions of the party.
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I'm ready to spend N1bn for PDP to win Ekiti election -Kashamu
Prince Buruji Kashamu is the financier of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State. In this interview with SEGUN OLATUNJI, he speaks on the many controversies surrounding his personality and the crisis rocking the PDP in the South West
Is it true that you are an international drug dealer?
I do not know what you are talking about. I have been in business since I was 18 years old. I built my first building in life in 1978 - a block of four flats in Ikotun Egbe, Lagos suburb. Today, I can count 65 houses; an industry that produces raw cotton (ginnery) in the Republic of Benin; two estates and many houses being managed by my real estate company; two hotels; an investment company that trades in shares, running into billions of naira and an oil marketing firm, among others. I have given you this background information to let you know that I do not have any reason whatsoever to be involved in drugs.
I have never in my life travelled to America or had any business in America, or even applied for its visa since I was born. So, if there was a case of mistaken identity, that does not make me to be a drug dealer. But our kind of politics is such that people take delight in blackmailing their opponents. But that will never deter me from my commitment to liberating our people. More often than not, politicians ride on the back of our poor people to attain positions of authority, albeit violently. In the process, a lot of people die cheaply over a meagre N1, 000 or N2,000 but when they get into office, they soon forget the poor on whose back they rode to power. Intoxicated by perks of office and attraction of power, they would begin to impose their surrogates on the generality of the people. This is the kind of politics that I detest and have been fighting. A drug dealer does not fight publicly. A drug dealer does not live in the public eye. I am a genuine businessman with verifiable sources of income who has over 2,000 workers on his pay roll.
Furthermore, I think I have sufficiently addressed this issue in the newspapers and other media. The case that my detractors always refer to was a case of mistaken identity in a drug-related offence which happened over 19 years ago and for which I have been discharged and acquitted by the British courts. The British court, as per Lord Justice Pill and Mr. Justice Bell of the High Court of Justice, Queen Bench Division, said the US authorities suppressed exculpatory evidence in their desperation to indict me and discharged me in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Human Rights Act, 1998. The District Judge Tim Workman in finally discharging me in 2003 found from the evidence adduced during the three-year trial that I was not the person sought by the U.S. authorities and it was a case of mistaken identity. The U.S. Judge Norgle, in whose court I was also tried, held that I am not a fugitive from justice.
District Judge Workman in his judgment said, "As a result of the evidence that the Defence has placed before me and the evidence which the government has tendered in rebuttal, I find the following facts: that the defendant has a brother who bears a striking resemblance to that of his brother; I am satisfied that the defendant's brother was one of the co-conspirators in the drugs importation which involved Catherine and Ellen Wolters…
"I am however satisfied that the overwhelming evidence here is such that the identification evidence, already tenuous, has now been so undermined as to make it incredible and valueless. In those circumstances, there is then no prima facie case against the defendant and I propose to discharge him." So, if the first and second British courts tried and discharged me, what is the hullabaloo about? Again, you may wish to cross-check with the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency if I am one of the suspected drug dealers on its list.
In fact, the NDLEA in a counter-affidavit dated 6th of July, 2013 in Suit No FHC/L/CS/49/10, deposed to by one of its operatives, Kareem Olayinka, said in Paragraph 13 "That up till date, the United States Government has not made any request for the extradition of the Applicant (Prince Buruji Kashamu) to the 4th defendant (Chairman, Nigeria Drug Law and Enforcement Agency) to arrest, harass, detain, intimidate or prosecute the applicant for any reasons." It also attached a list of wanted suspected drug suspects.
What's the source of your wealth?
(Laughs) Well, I don't know what you mean by the source of my wealth. But if you meant where I get the money to pay my bills, I will say that I am a comfortable businessman and an entrepreneur. Since I ventured into business as a teenager in secondary school, I have never looked back. I am a shareholder in a number of companies here in Nigeria and across the West Coast. By the grace of God, I have an oil marketing firm. I own hotels and a property company with assets running into billions of Naira, among others. Now, the thing is not that I am the richest man in Ogun State or even in my community but the difference is that I give more freely than most of the rich men around; whatever I have, I share with people around me. And the more I do this, the more the almighty Allah blesses me. That is what makes it look as if I am outrageously rich!
But the United States' Federal Bureau is looking for you...
(Cuts in) I put the question back to you: what is my offence? And what is my business with FBI? Where is the warrant of arrest? Indeed if any international security agency is looking for anyone, it will go through the Interpol. I have had cause to publish the Interpol report which exonerated me of any wrong doing, both locally and internationally. It is dated 4th March, 2008. The Interpol in the six-page report, signed by ACP Haruna H. Mshelia for the Commissioner of Police (Interpol), particularly at Clause XI says "That contrary to the allegation, the suspect was not found to have engaged in fraudulent/clandestine activities as all records were checked both locally and internationally and all our probes were returned negative.
The suspect was never declared wanted or convicted either in Nigeria or anywhere in the world."
It went on to say in Clause XVI of the report "That all our letters written to Interpol London, Lyon, Washington and Cotonou relating to enquiries on criminal/drug/conviction records of the suspect were returned negative to the effect that the suspect was never convicted of such offence in their territory." I am giving you a copy of the report. You are at liberty to publish it for the whole world to see.
Why are you constantly linked with drugs?
It is simply because of politics. You would have noticed that this issue usually crops up when it is time for politicking. Since they have tried every other trick without success, they resorted to blackmailing me with this drug allegation with a view to getting me out of the way, so they can ride roughshod over our people. The reports of the Interpol and other statutory bodies and institutions have sufficiently answered this question.
But many people still believe you're a drug baron
Who are the many people? Perhaps, my detractors. But the truth is they are not as many as the masses in Ogun State who believe that I am being maligned because of my insistence on empowering the people and returning power to them. There is no day that at least 50 people do not come to me or call me for one assistance or the other. You have been covering our events for some time now; don't you see the thousands of people that troop to my house in Ijebu-Igbo anytime I visit? So who are the many people? Perhaps the elite who want to continue to suppress and oppress our people, hence they must paint me in the picture they have in mind and make it look as if it is the popular view. Those who were drug barons who later got into politics, embezzled money and perpetrated unimaginable violence, which led to the death of many people know themselves.
Funding a major political party is capital intensive. Where do you get funds for financing the PDP?
I told you earlier that I have flourishing businesses with over 2,000 employees. Now, like I previously said it is not that I am the richest man in my community or state but the difference is that I am a more generous giver. And I did say that the more I give, the more the almighty Allah blesses me. As I meet people's needs, wiping away their tears, the almighty Allah replenishes my pocket in million folds. So, deductively, I will say the almighty Allah is the source of my flourishing businesses and funds. I now love the game of politics and I'm passionate about the PDP.
What caused the misunderstanding among you, Chief Bode George and Gbenga Daniel?
I do not have any personal problem with either Chief Bode George or Otunba Gbenga Daniel. Our point of divergence is on principles. I think some of them do not like my guts. I cannot see black and call it white. The history of how Daniel invited me into the politics of Ogun State has been told several times than to warrant a repeat here. The same person later turned around and launched a campaign of calumny (like the drugs allegation) against my person just because of my principled stance on how to resolve the then lingering crisis of confidence in his administration during his second term. As for Chief Bode George, I have a lot of respect for him and he knows it. All through the struggle for the soul of the Ogun State PDP, he was with us. But what I think made him to join forces with my detractors was because some of our people within the Lagos PDP and the South West are saying it is not justifiable for certain people to continue to lay claim to the leadership of the party in their states and the South West without being able to win their polling booth since 1999; without being able to give to the party.
Chief George feels that since some of those canvassing these views are close to me, then I must be behind it, hence he too joined the bandwagon of "Operation Pull Down Kashamu". It is unfortunate. Well, we are on speaking terms. There is nothing personal. I can pick up my phone and call anyone of them at anytime or even visit them and vice-versa. The other day, I visited Chief George in his Ikoyi and Abuja homes. I have visited Daniel a couple of times, just as he has visited me.
What's the relationship between you and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo?
It is an indisputable fact that the only superior, leading leader that we have in Yoruba land is Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. All others, including my humble self, are his foot soldiers. There is no quarrel between me and our Baba. He has been my father and he will continue to be my father. Even if we disagree on principles, we will resolve our differences like father and son that we are. He is my father and commander-in-chief. I say once again that I am just one of his foot soldiers.
Why are you in politics?
I am in politics to put smile on the faces of our people. As I have often stated, my venture into politics was more or less accidental. I joined politics as a peace-maker and consensus builder. I joined politics from my ward and I know how it works and thank the almighty Allah for where he has brought us today. But along the line, the very people who invited me, abandoned me and turned round against me. And anyone who knows me would tell you that I am not one who shies away from responsibilities. So, having set my hands on the plough, I could not look back in the battle to liberate our people from the stranglehold of the plunderers of our common wealth, empower them, restore their confidence and set them free from feeding on the crumbs that fall from the master's table.
How do you expect people to believe the story that it was your late younger brother that was involved in drugs?
It is not a story; it was the findings of well-established investigative agencies, such as Interpol, NDLEA and the confessional statements by the perpetrators themselves which resulted in my exoneration by many court judgments. I am only quoting the excerpts of the judgment.
Is it true that British police too are looking for you?
Again, the Interpol report in your possession refers. That has sufficiently addressed the issue. How can the British Police be looking for someone without a request to the Interpol?
When last did you travel out of Nigeria?
Oh! I do not know that as a private citizen when I travel or do not matters. But if you care to know, apart from short business trips within the West African sub-region where I have companies, I travel anytime I want.
Which countries have you travelled to?
I visit countries of my interest like Germany, France and others. May be when next I am travelling, I will invite you to come with me.
Why were you not present at the meeting President Jonathan held with South West leaders in Abuja on Wednesday?
The people they call South West leaders, sixty per cent of them are working for PDM. Two, they went there simply because they are of no political value. They went there to lie to Mr. President and that was why they did not include my name. They all know that over 80 per cent of our followers and members in the South West love me and they believe in my struggle to liberate our people regardless of politics. I want to say that Obasanjo is our leader. He is my father, I have worked with him, I've mobilised for him and I love him a lot and I'll always respect him because he's a man of honour. Bode George betrayed Baba Obasanjo and he believes that he can be using me to do many things which I'm not disposed to.
The congress that we were supposed to do on Saturday 24th, after Bode George had weighed all the delegates, they were afraid that if the congress should hold I would mobilise more people than they could have done and perhaps eventually, I would have defeated them. They were afraid of that and that was why they quickly arranged and went to Mr. President to lie to him that there was an injunction stopping the conduct of the South West congress that was supposed to take place last Saturday.
They told Mr. President that because of that court order and because the caretaker officers had already resigned, he should allow them to appoint a caretaker committee that would take charge of the party in the South West in place of the one appointed by the court. They were doing that hoping that Mr. President would give instructions that night and announce the names they had submitted to him so that they would be able to have the South-West through their own people, and through that, come back to political reckoning again. They had forgotten that the members of the former caretaker committee were appointed by the orders of the court and this court ruling forbids them from dissolving the caretaker committee until the election of new officers at a properly organised South West congress. The ruling dated 11/04/2013 restrains them from appointing any new caretaker committee. If they do that, it would amount to contempt.
How would you react to claims by your opponents that you cannot lead the party in the South West because you are a new entrant and that even in Ogun State where you control the party machinery, the PDP has been in permanent crisis?
The party is not in crisis. You have witnessed a lot of mobilisation that we have been doing. These people are afraid, they don't love our party and they don't love Mr. President. I believe that they have another agenda. I'm not telling Bode George to quit. I'm not telling all the elders, including Baba Obasanjo to quit. I respect all of them. In every party there are foot soldiers. Bode George and the others are our respectable leaders and so we don't expect them to go and mobilise people. We don't expect them to go to the streets and wards to mobilise. They are supposed to be there as our leaders and advisers and we would be under them. They must allow those who have the money, who believe in and have passion for the PDP and who do not care to spend their money and use their resources for the party, to mobilise for the party to grow so that we can be strong enough to take over from the ruling party in the South West in 2015.
They cannot say that I cannot lead the party in the zone. It is totally wrong for them to say that. I am capable any day, any time. I have the resources.
Some of the PDP leaders are of the opinion that you must reconcile with former President Obasanjo if you want to continue to relate with President Jonathan...
(Cuts in) You know all these people have been blackmailing me, calling me this and that. But do you know what they call "Ibon Oselu". That is the gun of politics.
It is a situation where they continue to blackmail you with different stories and all sorts of things everyday. But I'm not bothered. I used to mobilise for President Obasanjo. I was the one that took over the structure of the party in Ogun State and if I had wanted to use it to become the governor, I would not take the power and hand it over to Baba Obasanjo. What kind of fight would I engage in with Baba Obasanjo? Baba Obasanjo is my father any day, anytime. I don't have any problem with Baba Obasanjo and I remain one of his foot soldiers. I'm not looking for appointment, I'm not looking for governorship or ministerial positions, I have a passion for the PDP and I love President Jonathan. I can shed my last blood for President Jonathan. Those sycophants around Baba Obasanjo who go to him are the ones saying all the rubbish but because I believe that Baba Obasanjo is my father, there is no way he would continue to believe those people. By next week I will be in baba Obasanjo's house. I call him regularly and we speak anytime, any day. I also speak with his family.
But that does not mean that if there are some people around baba that are doing something that is not good and they don't want to see reason that their actions are wrong, if it becomes necessary, we'll engage in a fight. We are all baba's children and anyone that has an upper hand after the fight, is the winner. That is life.
But some leaders of the PDP are said to prefer Bode George to you as their leader in the zone?
I'm not disputing the fact that Chief Bode George is a leader of the party in the South West. But what I'm trying to make clear is that Bode George is not a foot soldier who can go to the wards, the streets to mobilise. There are leaders and there are leaders and whether they like it or not, I'm one of the leaders in the South West. But what I'm saying is that they must give me my own role so that I will be able to mobilise. My own objective is to ensure that the PDP takes the South West in 2015. I don't want to fail and I don't believe in failure.
There is this opinion being expressed by the party leaders that with you as the leader of the PDP in the South West, the party would not be able to dislodge the ruling party in the zone in 2015?
(laughs) You can see that we are proving them wrong with the situation of the party in Ogun State. You are aware that thousands of the members of even the ruling APC, the Labour Party and the PPN have been defecting to the PDP in Ogun State.
In Ijebu-Igbo recently about 5,000 defected to the PDP. This evidence is very clear for all to see and I'm telling you I'm one of the foot soldiers. I'm ready to contribute resources for mobilisation but this is what many politicians don't like doing. For example, I'm ready to spend even N1bn to ensure the success of the PDP governorship candidate in Ekiti State during the forthcoming election. It would be a shame on my part if I fail to do that. I'm ready to do the same thing in Osun and Oyo States. I did not just start doing all of that today. A reference point was when Alao-Akala wanted to contest for the governorship in Oyo, because of the passion I have for the PDP, I spent over N200m to support him and he won. I also supported Timipre Sylva in Bayelsa State.
I gave him over 17 jeeps, three trailer-loads of Ankara clothing materials with his picture and that of his deputy embossed on them and also gave him a lot of cash because President Jonathan was campaigning for him and he asked all of us to join hands in ensuring his victory at the poll. After Sylva won, he gave me the IGR in Bayelsa which I managed for about two years and during which I raised the revenue from N200m to over N1bn monthly before I left the state. Also, when Obanikoro contested for the governorship in Lagos, I knew the millions of Naira I spent with about ten new cars that I gave to him. I supported him fully. If I have done all this and with all I have been doing for the PDP since 2009, I have spent billions of Naira of my own money and I've never taken a kobo from the party or anything from the government, you have seen all the empowerment that we have been doing.
So, how can somebody now tell me that all these our leaders who are now old and no longer agile like the young ones should be on the field? It would be difficult for anybody to tell me that in spite of all these programmes we have embarked upon, we cannot win in the South West. I do not agree with that. It is totally wrong. You know in the South West they call me a man of authority. I'm a man that will say something today and people will believe because it will happen. I'm a courageous man. I'm contented and also devoted. So, what are they talking about? I want to say that with me, Kashamu, the ruling parties in the South West are in trouble.*
Punch
Court: White House visitor logs for Obama and most of his staff are confidential
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that White House visitor logs for the president and most of his staff are not public information subject to disclosure requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.
The 3-0 decision would keep the visitor records confidential for up to 12 years after President Barack Obama leaves office.
The appeals court ruling dealt a defeat to a private group that asked the Secret Service for all White House visitor logs from Obama’s first seven months in office.
“Congress made clear that it did not want documents like the appointment calendars of the president and his close advisers to be subject to disclosure” under the Freedom of Information Act, wrote Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Judicial Watch, a conservative-oriented watchdog group that sued in an effort to get the records, said it is considering an appeal.
“Decisions like this turn the Freedom of Information Act from a transparency law to a secrecy law,” said the group’s president, Tom Fitton.
Disclosure battles over White House visitor logs have been a staple of both Democratic and Republican administrations.
In May 2006, the White House and the Secret Service asserted that the visitor records were presidential records, as opposed to agency records belonging to the Secret Service. Under federal law, presidential records can remain confidential for up to 12 years. As an executive branch agency, the Secret Service is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, which requires public release of material unless one of nine exemptions applies.
In Friday’s ruling, the chief judge said that construing the term “agency records” to extend to White House visitor logs could substantially affect the president’s ability to meet confidentially with foreign leaders, agency officials, or members of the public, which could make FOIA a potentially serious congressional intrusion into the conduct of the president’s daily operations.
Garland is an appointee of President Bill Clinton. The other two appeals judges on the case were David Sentelle and Stephen Williams, both appointees of President Ronald Reagan.*
The 3-0 decision would keep the visitor records confidential for up to 12 years after President Barack Obama leaves office.
The appeals court ruling dealt a defeat to a private group that asked the Secret Service for all White House visitor logs from Obama’s first seven months in office.
“Congress made clear that it did not want documents like the appointment calendars of the president and his close advisers to be subject to disclosure” under the Freedom of Information Act, wrote Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Judicial Watch, a conservative-oriented watchdog group that sued in an effort to get the records, said it is considering an appeal.
“Decisions like this turn the Freedom of Information Act from a transparency law to a secrecy law,” said the group’s president, Tom Fitton.
Disclosure battles over White House visitor logs have been a staple of both Democratic and Republican administrations.
In May 2006, the White House and the Secret Service asserted that the visitor records were presidential records, as opposed to agency records belonging to the Secret Service. Under federal law, presidential records can remain confidential for up to 12 years. As an executive branch agency, the Secret Service is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, which requires public release of material unless one of nine exemptions applies.
In Friday’s ruling, the chief judge said that construing the term “agency records” to extend to White House visitor logs could substantially affect the president’s ability to meet confidentially with foreign leaders, agency officials, or members of the public, which could make FOIA a potentially serious congressional intrusion into the conduct of the president’s daily operations.
Garland is an appointee of President Bill Clinton. The other two appeals judges on the case were David Sentelle and Stephen Williams, both appointees of President Ronald Reagan.*
Drama as newborn baby dies after stepmother’s visit
In Tarauni local government area of Kano State, two women married to the same husband are trading blames after a newborn baby died few minutes after a visit by her stepmother. Weekly Trust reports
The joy experienced by Sadiya Hassan of Darmanawa in Tarauni local government area of Kano state after successfully giving birth to a baby girl was shattered when the baby died minutes after her estranged co-wife, Binta allegedly visited her.
Weekly Trust reports that the women are married to one Salisu Haruna, a tanker driver with a popular filling station in Kano state. The two housewives were living together with their husband until a brawl broke out between them, weeks before Sadiya gave birth.
Neighbours said the husband returned the two women to their parents but that week, he allowed the youngest wife, Binta to return to his house.
“While the senior wife Sadiya was living with her parents, her children were staying with their father and step mother. The situation of the family was like that until when Sadiya gave birth to her baby penultimate Wednesday. Their husband did not divorce them, he only returned them to their parents,” a woman said.
Our correspondent gathered that 24 hours after Sadiya gave birth, her co-wife Binta went to visit her and less than 20 minutes after carrying the baby, the infant gave up the ghost in a mysterious circumstances.
Binta, a 21-year-old mother of one, is now in custody at the Tarauni Divisional Police Station in Kano State for allegedly killing the baby.
Speaking to our correspondent, Sadiya alleged that her co-wife used a sharp object to stab the baby on her stomach during her visit.
“We were no longer together because of the scuffle we had and that was why I was surprised when she came to visit me a day after I gave birth to my baby. When she came she was restless, she carried the baby and was going up and down. Later she told me that her money was missing that I should get her torchlight to illuminate the compound. We gave her the torchlight but no money was found.
“My co-wife left with my younger sister and my baby. Few minutes later, my baby was returned by my son and she was breathing abnormally. When I examined her, I discovered cuts on her tummy and other parts of her body. She died few minutes after,” she said.
In an interview with Weekly Trust, Amina, Sadiya’s younger sister, said Binta collected the baby from her and put her under the hijab she wore.
“When my boyfriend came he insisted that I should bring my sister’s new baby for him to see. I went inside to bring her. While I was with my boyfriend, Binta, my sisters’ co-wife, came and collected the baby from me. She put the baby under her hijab, I did not say anything because I taught she put her there because of the cold weather.
“About 10 minutes later, she came back and started limping and rushing. She told me that the baby gave her problem. When I asked her how, she told me that she fell down while trying to climb the pavement. She then gave the baby to my nephew and she asked him to return her back to their mother,” she said.
She said shortly after Binta left, her sister called and informed her that the baby was no longer breathing.
“She killed the baby because when she put the baby under her hijab I saw her pressing something. I suspect it was at that time she used a sharp object to cut her,” Amina alleged.
However, while speaking to our correspondent, Binta denied killing the baby, saying her co-wife and her relations were only trying to set her up.
“Yes I went to greet her after seeking our husband’s consent. Even if we were fighting that does not mean I should not rejoice with her when she puts to bed. When I collected the baby from her sister and I was returning her to my co-wife I fell down on my way. The baby was crying and I gave her to her elder brother. He was the one that took her to their mother. I don’t know whether the baby sustained any injury when we fell down,” she said.
Spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, Assistant Superintendent Magaji Musa Majia, confirmed the incident and said that preliminary investigation into the matter has commenced.
“The suspect is claiming that she fell down with the baby but careful examination proves contrary. The late baby had five injuries on her but the suspect had none on her body. We are waiting for the medical report in order to advance our investigation,” he said in a telephone chat.
After preliminary investigation, he said, they will transfer the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further action.
weekly trust
The joy experienced by Sadiya Hassan of Darmanawa in Tarauni local government area of Kano state after successfully giving birth to a baby girl was shattered when the baby died minutes after her estranged co-wife, Binta allegedly visited her.
Weekly Trust reports that the women are married to one Salisu Haruna, a tanker driver with a popular filling station in Kano state. The two housewives were living together with their husband until a brawl broke out between them, weeks before Sadiya gave birth.
Neighbours said the husband returned the two women to their parents but that week, he allowed the youngest wife, Binta to return to his house.
“While the senior wife Sadiya was living with her parents, her children were staying with their father and step mother. The situation of the family was like that until when Sadiya gave birth to her baby penultimate Wednesday. Their husband did not divorce them, he only returned them to their parents,” a woman said.
Our correspondent gathered that 24 hours after Sadiya gave birth, her co-wife Binta went to visit her and less than 20 minutes after carrying the baby, the infant gave up the ghost in a mysterious circumstances.
Binta, a 21-year-old mother of one, is now in custody at the Tarauni Divisional Police Station in Kano State for allegedly killing the baby.
Speaking to our correspondent, Sadiya alleged that her co-wife used a sharp object to stab the baby on her stomach during her visit.
“We were no longer together because of the scuffle we had and that was why I was surprised when she came to visit me a day after I gave birth to my baby. When she came she was restless, she carried the baby and was going up and down. Later she told me that her money was missing that I should get her torchlight to illuminate the compound. We gave her the torchlight but no money was found.
“My co-wife left with my younger sister and my baby. Few minutes later, my baby was returned by my son and she was breathing abnormally. When I examined her, I discovered cuts on her tummy and other parts of her body. She died few minutes after,” she said.
In an interview with Weekly Trust, Amina, Sadiya’s younger sister, said Binta collected the baby from her and put her under the hijab she wore.
“When my boyfriend came he insisted that I should bring my sister’s new baby for him to see. I went inside to bring her. While I was with my boyfriend, Binta, my sisters’ co-wife, came and collected the baby from me. She put the baby under her hijab, I did not say anything because I taught she put her there because of the cold weather.
“About 10 minutes later, she came back and started limping and rushing. She told me that the baby gave her problem. When I asked her how, she told me that she fell down while trying to climb the pavement. She then gave the baby to my nephew and she asked him to return her back to their mother,” she said.
She said shortly after Binta left, her sister called and informed her that the baby was no longer breathing.
“She killed the baby because when she put the baby under her hijab I saw her pressing something. I suspect it was at that time she used a sharp object to cut her,” Amina alleged.
However, while speaking to our correspondent, Binta denied killing the baby, saying her co-wife and her relations were only trying to set her up.
“Yes I went to greet her after seeking our husband’s consent. Even if we were fighting that does not mean I should not rejoice with her when she puts to bed. When I collected the baby from her sister and I was returning her to my co-wife I fell down on my way. The baby was crying and I gave her to her elder brother. He was the one that took her to their mother. I don’t know whether the baby sustained any injury when we fell down,” she said.
Spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, Assistant Superintendent Magaji Musa Majia, confirmed the incident and said that preliminary investigation into the matter has commenced.
“The suspect is claiming that she fell down with the baby but careful examination proves contrary. The late baby had five injuries on her but the suspect had none on her body. We are waiting for the medical report in order to advance our investigation,” he said in a telephone chat.
After preliminary investigation, he said, they will transfer the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further action.
weekly trust
Jega demands retraction of ‘libelous’ story
Following the publication of a story in one of the national dailies (not Weekly Trust) which mentioned the name of Professor Attahiru Jega, his legal counsel has asked the newspaper to retract the said story.
This was contained in a letter addressed to the publisher of the paper by Dikko & Mahmoud Solicitors & Advocates and signed by A. B Mahmoud, on behalf of Professor Jega, who is also the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The letter, dated 29th August, and which was e-mailed to Weekly Trust by the Commission yesterday, described the story attributed to the INEC chairman as “totally false and baseless.”
“We are by this letter demanding that you publish an unequivocal retraction and apology in wordings acceptable to us, within 7 days of receipt of this letter,” the letter added.
weekly trust
This was contained in a letter addressed to the publisher of the paper by Dikko & Mahmoud Solicitors & Advocates and signed by A. B Mahmoud, on behalf of Professor Jega, who is also the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The letter, dated 29th August, and which was e-mailed to Weekly Trust by the Commission yesterday, described the story attributed to the INEC chairman as “totally false and baseless.”
“We are by this letter demanding that you publish an unequivocal retraction and apology in wordings acceptable to us, within 7 days of receipt of this letter,” the letter added.
weekly trust
Daniel Levy leads Tottenham to a transfer market triumph as Arsenal scrabble to sign Madrid stars
Spurs chairman's handling of Gareth Bale transfer means Arsenal face a race against time to land Madrid targets Angel Di Maria and Mesut Ozil
Daniel Levy has claimed a transfer-market triumph for Spurs by leaving Arsenal with a race against time to sign Real Madrid’s cast-offs.
Tottenham’s chairman added extra spice to tomorrow's North London derby by delaying confirmation of Gareth Bale’s £86million move, despite the Welshman agreeing personal terms with Madrid yesterday. It means, far from landing the likes of Angel Di Maria or Mesut Ozil from Madrid, Arsenal are set to welcome misfit Nicklas Bendtner back to the squad.
Boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed he is trying to tie up some late deals. He said: “I am confident of bringing players in. We have financial potential but we will still pay the right price.”
The Gunners’ potential frustrations are in contrast to a hugely successful window for Spurs who have spent the Bale money on seven players.
Real accused Levy of “dragging his feet” with the deal agreed 10 days ago – ruling out any chance of Arsenal capturing Di Maria before yesterday’s deadline to register new players for this weekend’s games.
It also means the Gunners face a fight to sign either the Argentinian, striker Karim Benzema or his Madrid team-mate Ozil who, despite his claims he wants to stay, is also out of favour.
Last night Tottenham took their spending past the £100million mark with the signings of £8.5m Vlad Chiriches, £11.5m Christian Eriksen and £26m Erik Lamela.
Arsenal beat Spurs to a Champions League spot last season. But Spurs know that the Gunners are severely weakened with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukasz Podolski both out injured.
If they hold off on Bale until Deadline Day, Arsenal would have to complete negotiations swiftly, and ensure the deal is entered into FIFA’s Transfer Matching System by 11pm on Monday night.
The cut-off in England is 11pm because other countries are an hour ahead.
The Transfer Matching System demands that both parties enter the details of the deal before international clearance can be granted.
Clubs running late on transfers are also able to complete a ‘Deal Sheet’ to state a deal has been reached over a player. It must be signed by all parties but it is understood to cover lateness of only a few hours, no longer.
UEFA president Michel Platini last night branded Bale’s world record fee a “robbery”. He says the deal shows the market is now just a way for agents, clubs and owners to make money.
“In terms of the morality, this question was being asked when Maradona was transferred,” he said. “People said ‘wow, five million for a player.’ Then it was Mr Zidane and then Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I think transfers are a robbery – when I was playing every time I had finished a contract I was free to go wherever I went. I think it’s an opportunity for a lot of people to make a lot of money.
“Today a player is more a product than a footballer with a whole pile of people trying to get commissions. I think we and FIFA should think about that.”
Mirror
Daniel Levy has claimed a transfer-market triumph for Spurs by leaving Arsenal with a race against time to sign Real Madrid’s cast-offs.
Tottenham’s chairman added extra spice to tomorrow's North London derby by delaying confirmation of Gareth Bale’s £86million move, despite the Welshman agreeing personal terms with Madrid yesterday. It means, far from landing the likes of Angel Di Maria or Mesut Ozil from Madrid, Arsenal are set to welcome misfit Nicklas Bendtner back to the squad.
Boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed he is trying to tie up some late deals. He said: “I am confident of bringing players in. We have financial potential but we will still pay the right price.”
The Gunners’ potential frustrations are in contrast to a hugely successful window for Spurs who have spent the Bale money on seven players.
Real accused Levy of “dragging his feet” with the deal agreed 10 days ago – ruling out any chance of Arsenal capturing Di Maria before yesterday’s deadline to register new players for this weekend’s games.
It also means the Gunners face a fight to sign either the Argentinian, striker Karim Benzema or his Madrid team-mate Ozil who, despite his claims he wants to stay, is also out of favour.
Last night Tottenham took their spending past the £100million mark with the signings of £8.5m Vlad Chiriches, £11.5m Christian Eriksen and £26m Erik Lamela.
Arsenal beat Spurs to a Champions League spot last season. But Spurs know that the Gunners are severely weakened with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukasz Podolski both out injured.
If they hold off on Bale until Deadline Day, Arsenal would have to complete negotiations swiftly, and ensure the deal is entered into FIFA’s Transfer Matching System by 11pm on Monday night.
The cut-off in England is 11pm because other countries are an hour ahead.
The Transfer Matching System demands that both parties enter the details of the deal before international clearance can be granted.
Clubs running late on transfers are also able to complete a ‘Deal Sheet’ to state a deal has been reached over a player. It must be signed by all parties but it is understood to cover lateness of only a few hours, no longer.
UEFA president Michel Platini last night branded Bale’s world record fee a “robbery”. He says the deal shows the market is now just a way for agents, clubs and owners to make money.
“In terms of the morality, this question was being asked when Maradona was transferred,” he said. “People said ‘wow, five million for a player.’ Then it was Mr Zidane and then Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I think transfers are a robbery – when I was playing every time I had finished a contract I was free to go wherever I went. I think it’s an opportunity for a lot of people to make a lot of money.
“Today a player is more a product than a footballer with a whole pile of people trying to get commissions. I think we and FIFA should think about that.”
Mirror
Gov Okorocha denies legalising abortion in Imo
Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo has said that the bill currently in the House of Assembly is not for the legalisation of abortion.
Okorocha said this when he reacted to reports that the state government had legalised abortion in Owerri on Friday
He explained that the bill would eliminate violence in private and public life, prohibit all forms of violence, including sexual, psychological, domestic and harmful traditional practices.
The governor said the bill was also expected to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishments of offenders.
Okorocha added that the bill would equally enable every woman to enjoy reproductive rights as well as the right to medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest.
He also said the bill made provision for right to medical abortion where the pregnancy endangers the life of or the physical, mental, psychological or emotional health of the mother.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Speaker of assembly, Mr Benjamin Uwajumogu, had also denied passing any law legalising abortion in the state.
Uwajumogu decried the misunderstanding of the bill, explaining that it was for prevention of violence and protection of women’s rights.
He said the bill, which made provision for the termination of a foetus in cases of incest or rape, did not legalise abortion.
The speaker said the house was set to make amendments to the bill to avoid further misunderstandings. (NAN)*
Okorocha said this when he reacted to reports that the state government had legalised abortion in Owerri on Friday
He explained that the bill would eliminate violence in private and public life, prohibit all forms of violence, including sexual, psychological, domestic and harmful traditional practices.
The governor said the bill was also expected to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishments of offenders.
Okorocha added that the bill would equally enable every woman to enjoy reproductive rights as well as the right to medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest.
He also said the bill made provision for right to medical abortion where the pregnancy endangers the life of or the physical, mental, psychological or emotional health of the mother.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Speaker of assembly, Mr Benjamin Uwajumogu, had also denied passing any law legalising abortion in the state.
Uwajumogu decried the misunderstanding of the bill, explaining that it was for prevention of violence and protection of women’s rights.
He said the bill, which made provision for the termination of a foetus in cases of incest or rape, did not legalise abortion.
The speaker said the house was set to make amendments to the bill to avoid further misunderstandings. (NAN)*
Woman Kills Husband And Cooks Body
A woman in eastern China murdered her husband and boiled the corpse to cover her tracks after he abused her and her daughter, a report said Saturday.
The woman drugged the man, her second husband, and tortured him for three days in June by withholding food and water and beating him, causing his death, said a report on government-backed news portal Anhui News.
She then dismembered the corpse with a saw and boiled the parts in a pressure cooker to hide the evidence, the report said. It did not detail how she disposed of the cooked flesh afterwards.
The psychological burden of the crime proved too much for her to bear, causing her to lose 14 pounds (6.3 kilograms) and turn herself into police, according to the report.
A police officer in Anhui province's Lu'an City, where the incident occurred, confirmed the case to AFP but declined to give further details.
AFP
The woman drugged the man, her second husband, and tortured him for three days in June by withholding food and water and beating him, causing his death, said a report on government-backed news portal Anhui News.
She then dismembered the corpse with a saw and boiled the parts in a pressure cooker to hide the evidence, the report said. It did not detail how she disposed of the cooked flesh afterwards.
The psychological burden of the crime proved too much for her to bear, causing her to lose 14 pounds (6.3 kilograms) and turn herself into police, according to the report.
A police officer in Anhui province's Lu'an City, where the incident occurred, confirmed the case to AFP but declined to give further details.
AFP
Pastor J Of God's House, Abuja Accuses Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of Adultery
For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed." Isaiah 9:16 . Let them alone: they be leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matt 15:14
I was going to be silent on this sad, pathetic but true (in many shades) allegation against Pastor B and his popular and trendy ministry. My silence was borne out of respect for the kingdom of God and things that pertain to God. But all this changed when I heard the horrific tales of people who had been through the mess of this blind man, and the fact that he had no moral motivation to deny or accept the allegation; all he showed on Sunday was a demented swagger and perverse talk.
My sole purpose in writing this piece is to open the eyes of the world and believers to the hypocrisy and nonsense behind the pulpit, and to plea that these wolves and blind men stop deflating the faith of people who Christ died for. I am a Pastor, a full time minister at that, and I shall not sit back while the name of my God, the ministry, and the works of other shepherds is brought to disrepute by the activities, action and inaction of a few blind men behind the pulpit.
I am tired of the nonsense of religion crying out, "touch not my anointed"; does this mean we cannot rebuke ourselves when we err, this much Paul did to Peter when he erred in Galatians 2:11 "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed". It is therefore pertinent that I rebuke the wolves in shepherd's clothing's. It is time to set the record straight, and please don't sell me the bullocks of judge not, I haven't said anyone is going to hell, but of course if they don't change, they have only one path.
It is high time we told the truth, which is plain, simple and without coloration. The stories of Franca and Ese is not only true but they are just a few tales of the tantalizing sex escapades of this clergy. This has been a recurring decimal in the ministry of the clergyman. This wasn't the first time these stories will come forth, for those old COZA members, for those who were there when he was in Ilorin, when the church moved to Pipeline Road, Ilorin, having left Kwara Hotel, they will remember there was a time when the Pastor was suspended from ministering by his Father in the Lord, Rev Oset of Canaan Ministries.
Rev. Oset sent guest ministers to the church every Sunday after that, but still Pastor B in his deceit will still minister in the pretence of introducing the guest minister, while he exhorts for minutes. I therefore laugh in mockery when He says his wife loves him, the woman has no choice. His core circle of Pastor Wole (Ilorin Chapter, the only man who maybe clean), and Pastor Flo (COZA, Lagos) knows of this fact, little wonder Ese said Pastor Flo said he knows about their adventures in that hotel room in London.
This is not the story of a hater; I don't want or envy anything he has. He cannot ever have what I have and carry; neither do I crave for what he has. I am sure no one in the city of Ilorin, where this man started is bemused by these stories, no one who finished from the University of Ilorin during the period of 2003-2008, and was not a blinded COZA member can be mightily shocked at these revelations.
I have heard tales of many more victims, I even heard from a woman who knows five friends who were victims, I saw it online the other day of a guy who said he formally works for him and he knows up to 130 people, outrageous as it may sound that too is true. Rev Oset in true conscience cannot deny the knowledge of these negatives. But we are a nation of hypocrites and religious folks; we ask no questions of leaders, so they can hide under the canopy of religion, even when they are filthy. Anyone who asks is rebuked by those who say, the bible says pray.
It is sad that those who say pray themselves have not prayed. But Pastor B is just a decimal in an ever mounting number of wolves in the Church of Christ
Someone told me yesterday that this can't be the end of him and his tyranny, because even in Ilorin in those days, the allegation was rolled under the rug. On Sunday, August 25, 2013, the man leading certain blind men under the veil of religion and 'spiritism' said God told him not to say anything, he then said they are preparing a robust response. Who is fooling who? We must not keep quiet and watch the bride of Christ, the church, rubbed and undignified in mud and slime by a filthily rich pastor who thinks he can do anything and get away with it.
It is a pity that we run sensational press and media outfit in this country, and that our press is blinded by religion. If this were to be 'saner' climes the press would by now be researching, there would by now be investigative journalism. The truth would be dogged up and resurrected to life. For this is not about a mistake that a Pastor made, it is about a filthy man's way of life.
And then about, "teaching a new level of grace'; please be reminded that Grace is not a license to sin, rather it empowers us to live above sin. Romans 6:1-2 says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" In my years of being a Christian, studying God's word, preaching the gospel, listening to sound teachers, I have not heard of a grace that gives permission to sin.
Stop being deceived, grace is the new dispensation, according to Hebrew 8:6-12, and under grace we do not follow any written code, law or traditions. That is done away with. The tablet of Moses is over with. But we are not reckless sinners; we are under a new covenant based on better promises. God's law is written in our minds and hearts. We live according to His dictates. The Holy Spirit and our conscience convicts and judges us respectively. This is the only way we live a holy life. God's strength and empowerment is the grace to do according to that written by God in our hearts and minds.
I write this with a heavy heart, though I wish I never had to write this, but I pray this madness stops. I know many who have stopped going to church, many whose faith has been derailed by the act of madness of this man, and many blind men like him. If they are not going to heaven, let them stop taking men out of the straight and narrow. No one understands the pain in meeting a man, whose faith has been derailed by a man who was supposed to help establish him. For such a man, words can't bring him back, the best we can do is to pray and hope. I indulge the clergy to be of a higher moral standard.
My candid advice to the church at this end time is that the church must grow in knowledge; it's high time we stopped bamboozling you. You must stop making idols of men. You must stop making men such as I, substitute for the Holy Ghost. Honour us; revere us… but that is where it ends. Without the Call, the Oil, and the Holy Spirit; we are mere mortal. But know for sure that this too shall pass; only the truth of the Gospel of the Kingdom abides forever.
For Pastor B and his sense making COZA people, remember the word of Christ in Matthew 15:14. How many of you even live life bearing the fruit of righteousness. Stop being blind, the ditch is close by. Look into this case, ask your pastor questions, seek genuine answers and not emotional rhetorics, hold him responsible, and do not forget the word of God, "then shall they know if they follow to know…" I am sure evidence abound. Seek to know from some key PCU members (who may need to be deposited in Gods ICU). Its time you hear not only about grace, but HOLINESS without which no one will see the Lord.
Finally don't bother praying against me, I can say like Paul, "For me to die is gain, to live is Christ", but I cannot even go now, because I am yet to fully finish the task set before me. Don't waste your time using misguided scriptural interpretation. This I write is true, and I am sorry if you don't like it. Your Pastor, and every other wolf whose conscience is not seared knows it is the complete true.
God bless you.
God bless His Church.
God bless Nigeria
From Pastor J
God's House
Ladun liadi's blog
I was going to be silent on this sad, pathetic but true (in many shades) allegation against Pastor B and his popular and trendy ministry. My silence was borne out of respect for the kingdom of God and things that pertain to God. But all this changed when I heard the horrific tales of people who had been through the mess of this blind man, and the fact that he had no moral motivation to deny or accept the allegation; all he showed on Sunday was a demented swagger and perverse talk.
My sole purpose in writing this piece is to open the eyes of the world and believers to the hypocrisy and nonsense behind the pulpit, and to plea that these wolves and blind men stop deflating the faith of people who Christ died for. I am a Pastor, a full time minister at that, and I shall not sit back while the name of my God, the ministry, and the works of other shepherds is brought to disrepute by the activities, action and inaction of a few blind men behind the pulpit.
I am tired of the nonsense of religion crying out, "touch not my anointed"; does this mean we cannot rebuke ourselves when we err, this much Paul did to Peter when he erred in Galatians 2:11 "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed". It is therefore pertinent that I rebuke the wolves in shepherd's clothing's. It is time to set the record straight, and please don't sell me the bullocks of judge not, I haven't said anyone is going to hell, but of course if they don't change, they have only one path.
It is high time we told the truth, which is plain, simple and without coloration. The stories of Franca and Ese is not only true but they are just a few tales of the tantalizing sex escapades of this clergy. This has been a recurring decimal in the ministry of the clergyman. This wasn't the first time these stories will come forth, for those old COZA members, for those who were there when he was in Ilorin, when the church moved to Pipeline Road, Ilorin, having left Kwara Hotel, they will remember there was a time when the Pastor was suspended from ministering by his Father in the Lord, Rev Oset of Canaan Ministries.
Rev. Oset sent guest ministers to the church every Sunday after that, but still Pastor B in his deceit will still minister in the pretence of introducing the guest minister, while he exhorts for minutes. I therefore laugh in mockery when He says his wife loves him, the woman has no choice. His core circle of Pastor Wole (Ilorin Chapter, the only man who maybe clean), and Pastor Flo (COZA, Lagos) knows of this fact, little wonder Ese said Pastor Flo said he knows about their adventures in that hotel room in London.
This is not the story of a hater; I don't want or envy anything he has. He cannot ever have what I have and carry; neither do I crave for what he has. I am sure no one in the city of Ilorin, where this man started is bemused by these stories, no one who finished from the University of Ilorin during the period of 2003-2008, and was not a blinded COZA member can be mightily shocked at these revelations.
I have heard tales of many more victims, I even heard from a woman who knows five friends who were victims, I saw it online the other day of a guy who said he formally works for him and he knows up to 130 people, outrageous as it may sound that too is true. Rev Oset in true conscience cannot deny the knowledge of these negatives. But we are a nation of hypocrites and religious folks; we ask no questions of leaders, so they can hide under the canopy of religion, even when they are filthy. Anyone who asks is rebuked by those who say, the bible says pray.
It is sad that those who say pray themselves have not prayed. But Pastor B is just a decimal in an ever mounting number of wolves in the Church of Christ
Someone told me yesterday that this can't be the end of him and his tyranny, because even in Ilorin in those days, the allegation was rolled under the rug. On Sunday, August 25, 2013, the man leading certain blind men under the veil of religion and 'spiritism' said God told him not to say anything, he then said they are preparing a robust response. Who is fooling who? We must not keep quiet and watch the bride of Christ, the church, rubbed and undignified in mud and slime by a filthily rich pastor who thinks he can do anything and get away with it.
It is a pity that we run sensational press and media outfit in this country, and that our press is blinded by religion. If this were to be 'saner' climes the press would by now be researching, there would by now be investigative journalism. The truth would be dogged up and resurrected to life. For this is not about a mistake that a Pastor made, it is about a filthy man's way of life.
And then about, "teaching a new level of grace'; please be reminded that Grace is not a license to sin, rather it empowers us to live above sin. Romans 6:1-2 says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" In my years of being a Christian, studying God's word, preaching the gospel, listening to sound teachers, I have not heard of a grace that gives permission to sin.
Stop being deceived, grace is the new dispensation, according to Hebrew 8:6-12, and under grace we do not follow any written code, law or traditions. That is done away with. The tablet of Moses is over with. But we are not reckless sinners; we are under a new covenant based on better promises. God's law is written in our minds and hearts. We live according to His dictates. The Holy Spirit and our conscience convicts and judges us respectively. This is the only way we live a holy life. God's strength and empowerment is the grace to do according to that written by God in our hearts and minds.
I write this with a heavy heart, though I wish I never had to write this, but I pray this madness stops. I know many who have stopped going to church, many whose faith has been derailed by the act of madness of this man, and many blind men like him. If they are not going to heaven, let them stop taking men out of the straight and narrow. No one understands the pain in meeting a man, whose faith has been derailed by a man who was supposed to help establish him. For such a man, words can't bring him back, the best we can do is to pray and hope. I indulge the clergy to be of a higher moral standard.
My candid advice to the church at this end time is that the church must grow in knowledge; it's high time we stopped bamboozling you. You must stop making idols of men. You must stop making men such as I, substitute for the Holy Ghost. Honour us; revere us… but that is where it ends. Without the Call, the Oil, and the Holy Spirit; we are mere mortal. But know for sure that this too shall pass; only the truth of the Gospel of the Kingdom abides forever.
For Pastor B and his sense making COZA people, remember the word of Christ in Matthew 15:14. How many of you even live life bearing the fruit of righteousness. Stop being blind, the ditch is close by. Look into this case, ask your pastor questions, seek genuine answers and not emotional rhetorics, hold him responsible, and do not forget the word of God, "then shall they know if they follow to know…" I am sure evidence abound. Seek to know from some key PCU members (who may need to be deposited in Gods ICU). Its time you hear not only about grace, but HOLINESS without which no one will see the Lord.
Finally don't bother praying against me, I can say like Paul, "For me to die is gain, to live is Christ", but I cannot even go now, because I am yet to fully finish the task set before me. Don't waste your time using misguided scriptural interpretation. This I write is true, and I am sorry if you don't like it. Your Pastor, and every other wolf whose conscience is not seared knows it is the complete true.
God bless you.
God bless His Church.
God bless Nigeria
From Pastor J
God's House
Ladun liadi's blog
Ese Walter Replies Critics: The Past Week Has 'Killed' Me
The past week has 'killed' me. It has stripped me of whatever 'self-importance' I nursed in the corners of my mind. It has broken me and opened me up to my real self. It has brought me to a deeper level of self-awareness, one I am most grateful for.
When I sat with my MacBook to type my last blog, I never imagined it would generate the kind of attention it did and continues to. I have one last thing to say on this issue before I lay it to rest and move on. (I also hope others can move on too, we have too much going on in this Country to continue to peddle one for longer than necessary.)
A very big thank you to everyone that has felt it necessary to talk about this issue and spread it throughout Nigeria and the foreign scene. I read every email sent to me with awe that people would take the time out to reach a total stranger like me. Some were cursing, calling me a witch from the pit of hell sent to destroy the church as though one individual/church is bigger than the body of Christ. As though God is mere man and would cringe in heaven saying, "Ese don did it this time." Or as if the good Book didn't state clearly that ALL things work out for good for those that love God.
Do you love God? If yes, trust that it will ALL turn around for good.
Some people say, 'I support you, you are brave and courageous' and I wonder if those terms really define me. I do not think I am brave or courageous. I do know, however that after decades of sleepwalking through life, I am now becoming aware not just of myself but also of my environment, my world, and the universe.
Some say, put out the evidence and we will believe you. Hmmm, the morning I sat to write that post, I really didn't expect anyone to believe me. Well, apart from those involved. And my motive was simple, let one more woman be spared. Let one more minister of the gospel be mindful and let the church rise up to its responsibilities as God's legal representatives here in the earth realm.
A copy of the 'evidence' is with a respected minister of the gospel should the christian body decide to deal with this issue now and that becomes needful. I am not looking to have a 'me against them' case where I need to prove I'm right and someone is wrong. I am far from right, but I have used the only means available to me to free myself of the bondage I put myself in.
Lastly, to all the media people seeking interviews and whatever else mailing me, I have nothing more to say on this issue. I cannot reply every email as reading them is beginning to seem like a new job.
I remember asking a friend once while reading the book of Acts, "Why do we no longer operate in the power the disciples did in Jesus day?" What has changed? How do we 'unchange' it?
God is not mocked, if we serve Him, let's serve Him. We cannot continue to grow as a Nation by oppressing, delaying justice, hating, having the ME ME ME mentality. As Martin Luther King Jr said, 'no one is free until we are all free.'
Things have got to change and it begins with us. It begins with each and every one of us borrowing courage to stand for what we believe in. Fela Durotoye once said, 'that thing that annoys you most in society is a sign that you carry its solution.' (I'm paraphrasing)
Nothing has called out to me more than people, especially women, suffering in some way and hiding the pain. Whatever we cover doesn't go away. It grows and it finds different outlets to rear its ugly head until we deal with it.
I am not perfect, I will never be, but I am enough to try what I feel might work. I don't know what the entire bible says but I am learning and applying the little I find out daily. And I think everyone owes it to himself or herself to figure it out for themselves.
At the end of the day, we agree that 'men of God' are firstly men, right? This means it's needless expecting them to help you in your growth with God. I fell into that trap of thinking a 'man of God' is equated to God and it is not new to find people fall in that hole.
How do you begin to learn to serve a God you have never seen? It takes another level of faith to do that but we live in a generation/Country where people don't want to study for themselves. They don't want to read the Scriptures. Well, they don't want to read, period. They want to pursue things instead and have somebody do the praying and studying for them. If you fall in that category, you need to repent.
I learnt that when the veil was torn, we all were given equal access to the Father. No matter how long you may have been in church, if you don't know what that means you better ask somebody. And seek a real relationship with the God you claim to serve.
That is what I am spending most of my time doing these days. Praying, studying, seeking, knocking. The peace I have felt despite all the hate mails and tantrums shows that God is not angry with me and I did what I needed to do to the best of my understanding.
My apologies to everyone this has affected in one way or another.
Firstly, my family: I don't know how you guys aren't sick of me yet ;)
Secondly, 'the body of Christ,' my intention was never to cause trouble but to stop a rot I felt might spread and become worse if nobody spoke up about it.
Lastly, to those who said I shouldn't blog again, I respect and understand your concerns but the truth is, writing is not just my gift, it is also my 'curse'. I cannot 'NOT' write but I PROMISE, this is the last I will say on this issue except the christian body needs to see me.
God is building His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. No sin is too big to wreck anyone's faith. If it does, then it means it's working out a greater good for you. You will definitely come out stronger and better in the end. Like my best friend says "in the end, it will be all right and if it ain't alright, it's not the end."
"…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Paul.
ladun Liadi's blog
When I sat with my MacBook to type my last blog, I never imagined it would generate the kind of attention it did and continues to. I have one last thing to say on this issue before I lay it to rest and move on. (I also hope others can move on too, we have too much going on in this Country to continue to peddle one for longer than necessary.)
A very big thank you to everyone that has felt it necessary to talk about this issue and spread it throughout Nigeria and the foreign scene. I read every email sent to me with awe that people would take the time out to reach a total stranger like me. Some were cursing, calling me a witch from the pit of hell sent to destroy the church as though one individual/church is bigger than the body of Christ. As though God is mere man and would cringe in heaven saying, "Ese don did it this time." Or as if the good Book didn't state clearly that ALL things work out for good for those that love God.
Do you love God? If yes, trust that it will ALL turn around for good.
Some people say, 'I support you, you are brave and courageous' and I wonder if those terms really define me. I do not think I am brave or courageous. I do know, however that after decades of sleepwalking through life, I am now becoming aware not just of myself but also of my environment, my world, and the universe.
Some say, put out the evidence and we will believe you. Hmmm, the morning I sat to write that post, I really didn't expect anyone to believe me. Well, apart from those involved. And my motive was simple, let one more woman be spared. Let one more minister of the gospel be mindful and let the church rise up to its responsibilities as God's legal representatives here in the earth realm.
A copy of the 'evidence' is with a respected minister of the gospel should the christian body decide to deal with this issue now and that becomes needful. I am not looking to have a 'me against them' case where I need to prove I'm right and someone is wrong. I am far from right, but I have used the only means available to me to free myself of the bondage I put myself in.
Lastly, to all the media people seeking interviews and whatever else mailing me, I have nothing more to say on this issue. I cannot reply every email as reading them is beginning to seem like a new job.
I remember asking a friend once while reading the book of Acts, "Why do we no longer operate in the power the disciples did in Jesus day?" What has changed? How do we 'unchange' it?
God is not mocked, if we serve Him, let's serve Him. We cannot continue to grow as a Nation by oppressing, delaying justice, hating, having the ME ME ME mentality. As Martin Luther King Jr said, 'no one is free until we are all free.'
Things have got to change and it begins with us. It begins with each and every one of us borrowing courage to stand for what we believe in. Fela Durotoye once said, 'that thing that annoys you most in society is a sign that you carry its solution.' (I'm paraphrasing)
Nothing has called out to me more than people, especially women, suffering in some way and hiding the pain. Whatever we cover doesn't go away. It grows and it finds different outlets to rear its ugly head until we deal with it.
I am not perfect, I will never be, but I am enough to try what I feel might work. I don't know what the entire bible says but I am learning and applying the little I find out daily. And I think everyone owes it to himself or herself to figure it out for themselves.
At the end of the day, we agree that 'men of God' are firstly men, right? This means it's needless expecting them to help you in your growth with God. I fell into that trap of thinking a 'man of God' is equated to God and it is not new to find people fall in that hole.
How do you begin to learn to serve a God you have never seen? It takes another level of faith to do that but we live in a generation/Country where people don't want to study for themselves. They don't want to read the Scriptures. Well, they don't want to read, period. They want to pursue things instead and have somebody do the praying and studying for them. If you fall in that category, you need to repent.
I learnt that when the veil was torn, we all were given equal access to the Father. No matter how long you may have been in church, if you don't know what that means you better ask somebody. And seek a real relationship with the God you claim to serve.
That is what I am spending most of my time doing these days. Praying, studying, seeking, knocking. The peace I have felt despite all the hate mails and tantrums shows that God is not angry with me and I did what I needed to do to the best of my understanding.
My apologies to everyone this has affected in one way or another.
Firstly, my family: I don't know how you guys aren't sick of me yet ;)
Secondly, 'the body of Christ,' my intention was never to cause trouble but to stop a rot I felt might spread and become worse if nobody spoke up about it.
Lastly, to those who said I shouldn't blog again, I respect and understand your concerns but the truth is, writing is not just my gift, it is also my 'curse'. I cannot 'NOT' write but I PROMISE, this is the last I will say on this issue except the christian body needs to see me.
God is building His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. No sin is too big to wreck anyone's faith. If it does, then it means it's working out a greater good for you. You will definitely come out stronger and better in the end. Like my best friend says "in the end, it will be all right and if it ain't alright, it's not the end."
"…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Paul.
ladun Liadi's blog
Civil defence arrests woman who dumped baby in cemetery
The woman reportedly confessed to the act.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Jigawa has arrested a 25-year-old woman for allegedly dumping her new born baby girl in a graveyard in Kazaure Local Government.
The NSCDC commandant in the state, Muhammad Gidado, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Dutse that the suspect was arrested on Friday at Ilallah quarters in Kazaure Town.
Mr. Gidado said the woman, who was a housemaid in the area, was arrested after the corps conducted a thorough investigation among divorcees, widows, housemaids and prostitutes living in the area.
“We were able to identify and arrest the mother of the baby girl that was abandoned at grave yard after conducting thorough investigation among divorcees, widows, house maids and prostitutes living in the area,” Mr. Gidado said.
He said a medical examination at the General Hospital at Hadejia revealed that the suspect was the biological mother of the baby.
“She also confessed to being the mother, as well as dumping the baby,” he said.
The commandant said the suspect alleged that she was impregnated by one Alhaji Haruna of Makara-Huta quarters in the same town.
The baby was discovered and rescued by men of the NSCDC while on patrol in the area on August 27 when they were attracted to the scene by the cry of the baby.
(NAN)
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Jigawa has arrested a 25-year-old woman for allegedly dumping her new born baby girl in a graveyard in Kazaure Local Government.
The NSCDC commandant in the state, Muhammad Gidado, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Dutse that the suspect was arrested on Friday at Ilallah quarters in Kazaure Town.
Mr. Gidado said the woman, who was a housemaid in the area, was arrested after the corps conducted a thorough investigation among divorcees, widows, housemaids and prostitutes living in the area.
“We were able to identify and arrest the mother of the baby girl that was abandoned at grave yard after conducting thorough investigation among divorcees, widows, house maids and prostitutes living in the area,” Mr. Gidado said.
He said a medical examination at the General Hospital at Hadejia revealed that the suspect was the biological mother of the baby.
“She also confessed to being the mother, as well as dumping the baby,” he said.
The commandant said the suspect alleged that she was impregnated by one Alhaji Haruna of Makara-Huta quarters in the same town.
The baby was discovered and rescued by men of the NSCDC while on patrol in the area on August 27 when they were attracted to the scene by the cry of the baby.
(NAN)
Demand for padded bras, artificial bums rises
Clare has a shape that could sweep many men off their feet. She also dresses well. With her beautiful face and attention-grabbing figure, it's obvious she can get any man she wants. But in spite of all these good things going for her Clare, almost 40 years old, is not in any serious relationship. Though she parties with her girlfriends and hangs out with men who are always eager to be with her, she lives in agony.
Years ago, when she was still in the university, she had carried a 'load' that she can't drop without turning herself into a laughing stock among her friends. She had always admired ladies with big boobs but she was not so endowed. One day, she went into a lingerie shop and got herself a well-padded bra. She was so happy with her new shape that years after, she got herself a bum enhancer and was transformed into a 'well-endowed lady.'
However, she is in a dilemma now. Men who want to have serious relationship with her are always disappointed when they discover her boobs and bum are not real afterall. To make matter worse, she can't cope without her shape enhancers. They have become part of her life.
Push-up bras have long found their way into women's fashion while bum enhancers are getting popular more and more everyday. But the danger is that both are moving beyond the wardrobes into the hearts of women.
Investigation by Saturday PUNCH shows that many women in Lagos have become addicted to using push-up bras and bum enhancers. Meanwhile, the downside of the trend, as explained by many of the women, is that they lack confidence when they don't have the body gears to rely on.
Basically, the push-up bra -as the name suggests - is padded in such a way that it thrusts the breasts forward and make them appear rounder and fuller. Similarly, bum enhancers are padded gears worn like panties or 'bum shorts'. They give a woman noticeable curves in the hip and bum areas. And like the push-up bra, a bum enhancer will most times ensure the wearer gets the attention of men, even if she is not that naturally endowed.
For instance, a female banker, who identified herself as Kemi, said she is the "number one fan of push-up bras", saying she never steps out of her home without having them on. However, Kemi feared that she had gotten addicted to the use of the fashion gear.
She said, "The truth is that I don't like how I (my breasts) look without the push-up bras. I'm addicted to them to the extent that I don't feel okay wearing the normal ones again. Even when I'm wearing a camisole under a jacket, I don't feel alright without a push-up bra.
"It makes me feel more confident and when I feel confident, I tend to work better. I actually tried a few times to stop and go back to using normal bras, but it's been difficult because I don't like the way I look in them. It's like I always get positive attention when I wear push-up bras."
Popularly called bum-bum or yodi at Lagos open markets, bum enhancer is relatively new in the market when compared to the push-up bra.
Ms. Titi Babatunde, who sells women's underwear at Oshodi Market, Lagos, said she sold at least 24 bum enhancers a week.
Babatunde explained that the N1,200 price tag on the Chinese-made bum enhancers on display at her stall, was as a result of a drastic reduction in its price a few years ago. It used to go for N3,000. Investigation, however, shows that the more expensive European or North-American designed bum enhancers cost N4,000 and above in stores across Lagos.
She said, "Even when it was N3,000 women used to rush it. There is no day I don't sell yodi and push-up bra. I sell up to two dozens of yodi and 10 dozens of push-up bras in a week. Both students and workers, young and old patronise us."
A buyer, who identified herself as Janet, said that she loved wearing bum enhancers because they helped in making her more attractive.
Like Kemi, Janet's confidence level seems to be tied to her use of bum enhancers.
She said, "The bum enhancers give me what I lack naturally. Honestly, I used to feel bad that my friends were getting more attention from guys. But now, I have a boyfriend too. But it's not something women like to announce to everyone. Most women like to keep it as a secret."
Asked if her boyfriend is pleased with her real shape, she said, "I wear jeans (jean trousers) most times and he hasn't seen me in anything else. I don't know yet if he will notice later or not, but when we get to that bridge, we will cross it."
At Oke-Arin Market on the Lagos Island, Mr. Laide Adedeji, who also sells women underwear, including push-up bras and bum enhancers, said his female customers included women of 60 years and above. He blamed the society, particularly men, for putting pressure on women to have specific figures.
He said, "That is why you find women of 18 years and above coming to buy all these push-up bras and bum enhancers to live up to the expectations of the society. Some women have small breasts, but they feel bad because you hear men joking that there will be nothing to play with.
"The same thing applies to bums too; those that don't have hips or bums that men like don't feel good about it. I get customers as old as 60 years asking for push-up bras and bum enhancers. They say the enhancers push their tummies inside and make Iro and buba (native attire) fit them better."
But it is not only fashion gears that are trendy among women aiming at head-turning figures; the popularity of buttocks injection and other cosmetic procedures to modify breasts and bums is also fast increasing in Lagos.
An Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Dr. Idowu Fadeyibi, confirms that the hospital sees many patients who require cosmetic procedures to modify their body parts. He explained that Nigeria's conservative culture was largely responsible for patients wanting to keep such procedures secret.
He said breast surgery is becoming more common among Nigerian women who come more to reduce the size and modify the shape of their breasts.
"We do reconstructive and aesthetic surgeries and people come for both, although the ratio is about ten to one, because more people come for reconstructive surgery. Sometimes, we remove from one part of the body and add to another to make the other part more prominent or the addition could be synthetic (artificial)," he said.
For instance, Fadeyibi said a procedure could involve removing fat from the tummy and adding this to the breasts and buttocks as enhancement. Alternatively, he said the use of implants and expanders are also employed, depending on the case.
Investigation shows that a significant number of men are suckers for firm breasts and round bums, but whether they like the use of fashion gears by women to enhance body features is another issue entirely.
A cross section of men, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on the issue, questioned the social and moral justification of women wearing body gears that create an illusion of a supposed finer figure.
They said they were tired of seeing women who appeared well endowed and beautiful only for them to be disappointed at the end of the day after finding out that the breasts and the bums weren't as big as they had thought.
Mr. Femi Mohammed, a geo-scientist, described the use of fashion gears like bum enhancer and the push-up bra by women as 'unfair'.
"It is cheating because it is plain deception. Men don't use fake body parts to attract women, so women have no reason to resort to deception to look beautiful. It may be true that men like women that have good shapes, but what's the use if the beautiful women are just artificial?" he asked.
Mohammed added that he could never marry a woman addicted to such fashion gears.
Also, Mr. Muyiwa Babafemi recalled trying to get the attention of a beautiful busty lady for three months before he finally succeeded.
Babafemi, however, said he felt disappointed when he saw a 'completely different person' during his first intimate moment with the woman.
He said, "She went to the bathroom and when she came out, she did not have the features I thought she had. Initially, I thought she had big boobs, but when she came out, everything had become flat. I was really disappointed.
"I had to advise her to stop the deception; even if she would enhance her looks, it doesn't have to be so much that it will be so obvious. Any man would be disappointed, especially, if he was attracted to the lady in the first place because of her breasts."
But Babatunde, who claimed to be defending the rights of women to "continue to look good," said there was nothing wrong with women's over-reliance on bum enhancers and push-up bras. She said that since women give birth, it then gives them a tenable excuse to improve their appearance, artificially or not.
Babatunde, who also wears bum enhancers and push-up bras said, "Once a woman gives birth, her body can never be the same. So women need secret things like that to continue to look good, even when they are out of shape. It's called 'packaging'."
Also, Mrs. Mosunmola Awolola of Damscare Ventures, Ikeja, Lagos, who sells female underwear, advised women to be cautious in their use of fashion gears that create wrong impressions.
Awolola said she always warned her customers of the danger of getting addicted to these shape enhancers.
She said, "Although, they have advantages since they don't have side effects like drugs, there are disadvantages too. The major disadvantage is that many women get addicted to using them.
"But still, I warn my customers that such things are not for everyday use or one will soon lack confidence in her real self."
Awolola recalled a recent incident where a customer 'tried' a push-up bra for the first time in her store and immediately fell in love with it.
She said, "The first thing the lady said was that she would never wear a normal bra again. This was a lady we spent so much time convincing to, at least, try the push-up bra because we didn't have what she wanted. The lady eventually dumped her bra and wore the push-up bra she bought home. She also promised to come back for more."
A man may not easily know when a woman is wearing a push-up bra or a bum enhancer but Awolola said getting to know this is not as difficult as it seems. She said the fashion gears make the breasts, bum and hips to appear 'too perfect'.
"Those of us selling them know when someone is using them. The trick is that when the shape of a lady's bum or breasts appears too good to be true,it has probably been enhanced," she said.
Speaking on the risk involved in aesthetic surgical procedures, Fadeyibi described such surgeries as safe, if done properly.
In addition, Fadeyibi described the recent quest for aesthetic surgery to enhance body parts such as breasts and buttocks as justifiable. Saturday PUNCH learnt that an average buttocks enhancement job costs at least N3m. Implants for buttocks cost about N600,000, excluding hospital charges and drugs.
A fitness instructor, Mr. Kola Lijoka, however, has different ideas on how to achieve self confidence and body enhancement. According to him, the application and use of surgical procedures and injections to get bigger bums is "totally unnecessary."
He said, "At the gym, your instructor will tell you what to do to enhance your body shape through exercising. This is healthy and can be achieved in three months, depending on what needs to be achieved."
He added that 'simple squatting' can do a lot of good to the hips and bum, and that other specific exercises are available to help the chest area of both men and women.
A Consultant Psychiatrist with the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Oshodi, Dr. Mashudat Bello-Mojeed, said the problem confronting ladies that find it hard to do without body gears could be described as "low self esteem".
She said, "It has to do with the self fulfillment aspect of a human being. For example, for somebody with a deformity or sagging breasts, it can be like a mark of shame. So, such things like push-up bras offer a palliative solution. Of course, this is a false relief because the problem persists and once the thing is not there, the person will not have that self esteem she normally has when using it."
Bello-Mojeed, however, advised those addicted to these body enhancers to "identify the problem and seek the help of a psychologist."
She said, "Some exercises will also help, although, they may not give the same result as the artificial things, but they will help the person's confidence. But if the problem is severe, the person can also go for surgery; it is allowed."
Punch
Years ago, when she was still in the university, she had carried a 'load' that she can't drop without turning herself into a laughing stock among her friends. She had always admired ladies with big boobs but she was not so endowed. One day, she went into a lingerie shop and got herself a well-padded bra. She was so happy with her new shape that years after, she got herself a bum enhancer and was transformed into a 'well-endowed lady.'
However, she is in a dilemma now. Men who want to have serious relationship with her are always disappointed when they discover her boobs and bum are not real afterall. To make matter worse, she can't cope without her shape enhancers. They have become part of her life.
Push-up bras have long found their way into women's fashion while bum enhancers are getting popular more and more everyday. But the danger is that both are moving beyond the wardrobes into the hearts of women.
Investigation by Saturday PUNCH shows that many women in Lagos have become addicted to using push-up bras and bum enhancers. Meanwhile, the downside of the trend, as explained by many of the women, is that they lack confidence when they don't have the body gears to rely on.
Basically, the push-up bra -as the name suggests - is padded in such a way that it thrusts the breasts forward and make them appear rounder and fuller. Similarly, bum enhancers are padded gears worn like panties or 'bum shorts'. They give a woman noticeable curves in the hip and bum areas. And like the push-up bra, a bum enhancer will most times ensure the wearer gets the attention of men, even if she is not that naturally endowed.
For instance, a female banker, who identified herself as Kemi, said she is the "number one fan of push-up bras", saying she never steps out of her home without having them on. However, Kemi feared that she had gotten addicted to the use of the fashion gear.
She said, "The truth is that I don't like how I (my breasts) look without the push-up bras. I'm addicted to them to the extent that I don't feel okay wearing the normal ones again. Even when I'm wearing a camisole under a jacket, I don't feel alright without a push-up bra.
"It makes me feel more confident and when I feel confident, I tend to work better. I actually tried a few times to stop and go back to using normal bras, but it's been difficult because I don't like the way I look in them. It's like I always get positive attention when I wear push-up bras."
Popularly called bum-bum or yodi at Lagos open markets, bum enhancer is relatively new in the market when compared to the push-up bra.
Ms. Titi Babatunde, who sells women's underwear at Oshodi Market, Lagos, said she sold at least 24 bum enhancers a week.
Babatunde explained that the N1,200 price tag on the Chinese-made bum enhancers on display at her stall, was as a result of a drastic reduction in its price a few years ago. It used to go for N3,000. Investigation, however, shows that the more expensive European or North-American designed bum enhancers cost N4,000 and above in stores across Lagos.
She said, "Even when it was N3,000 women used to rush it. There is no day I don't sell yodi and push-up bra. I sell up to two dozens of yodi and 10 dozens of push-up bras in a week. Both students and workers, young and old patronise us."
A buyer, who identified herself as Janet, said that she loved wearing bum enhancers because they helped in making her more attractive.
Like Kemi, Janet's confidence level seems to be tied to her use of bum enhancers.
She said, "The bum enhancers give me what I lack naturally. Honestly, I used to feel bad that my friends were getting more attention from guys. But now, I have a boyfriend too. But it's not something women like to announce to everyone. Most women like to keep it as a secret."
Asked if her boyfriend is pleased with her real shape, she said, "I wear jeans (jean trousers) most times and he hasn't seen me in anything else. I don't know yet if he will notice later or not, but when we get to that bridge, we will cross it."
At Oke-Arin Market on the Lagos Island, Mr. Laide Adedeji, who also sells women underwear, including push-up bras and bum enhancers, said his female customers included women of 60 years and above. He blamed the society, particularly men, for putting pressure on women to have specific figures.
He said, "That is why you find women of 18 years and above coming to buy all these push-up bras and bum enhancers to live up to the expectations of the society. Some women have small breasts, but they feel bad because you hear men joking that there will be nothing to play with.
"The same thing applies to bums too; those that don't have hips or bums that men like don't feel good about it. I get customers as old as 60 years asking for push-up bras and bum enhancers. They say the enhancers push their tummies inside and make Iro and buba (native attire) fit them better."
But it is not only fashion gears that are trendy among women aiming at head-turning figures; the popularity of buttocks injection and other cosmetic procedures to modify breasts and bums is also fast increasing in Lagos.
An Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Dr. Idowu Fadeyibi, confirms that the hospital sees many patients who require cosmetic procedures to modify their body parts. He explained that Nigeria's conservative culture was largely responsible for patients wanting to keep such procedures secret.
He said breast surgery is becoming more common among Nigerian women who come more to reduce the size and modify the shape of their breasts.
"We do reconstructive and aesthetic surgeries and people come for both, although the ratio is about ten to one, because more people come for reconstructive surgery. Sometimes, we remove from one part of the body and add to another to make the other part more prominent or the addition could be synthetic (artificial)," he said.
For instance, Fadeyibi said a procedure could involve removing fat from the tummy and adding this to the breasts and buttocks as enhancement. Alternatively, he said the use of implants and expanders are also employed, depending on the case.
Investigation shows that a significant number of men are suckers for firm breasts and round bums, but whether they like the use of fashion gears by women to enhance body features is another issue entirely.
A cross section of men, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on the issue, questioned the social and moral justification of women wearing body gears that create an illusion of a supposed finer figure.
They said they were tired of seeing women who appeared well endowed and beautiful only for them to be disappointed at the end of the day after finding out that the breasts and the bums weren't as big as they had thought.
Mr. Femi Mohammed, a geo-scientist, described the use of fashion gears like bum enhancer and the push-up bra by women as 'unfair'.
"It is cheating because it is plain deception. Men don't use fake body parts to attract women, so women have no reason to resort to deception to look beautiful. It may be true that men like women that have good shapes, but what's the use if the beautiful women are just artificial?" he asked.
Mohammed added that he could never marry a woman addicted to such fashion gears.
Also, Mr. Muyiwa Babafemi recalled trying to get the attention of a beautiful busty lady for three months before he finally succeeded.
Babafemi, however, said he felt disappointed when he saw a 'completely different person' during his first intimate moment with the woman.
He said, "She went to the bathroom and when she came out, she did not have the features I thought she had. Initially, I thought she had big boobs, but when she came out, everything had become flat. I was really disappointed.
"I had to advise her to stop the deception; even if she would enhance her looks, it doesn't have to be so much that it will be so obvious. Any man would be disappointed, especially, if he was attracted to the lady in the first place because of her breasts."
But Babatunde, who claimed to be defending the rights of women to "continue to look good," said there was nothing wrong with women's over-reliance on bum enhancers and push-up bras. She said that since women give birth, it then gives them a tenable excuse to improve their appearance, artificially or not.
Babatunde, who also wears bum enhancers and push-up bras said, "Once a woman gives birth, her body can never be the same. So women need secret things like that to continue to look good, even when they are out of shape. It's called 'packaging'."
Also, Mrs. Mosunmola Awolola of Damscare Ventures, Ikeja, Lagos, who sells female underwear, advised women to be cautious in their use of fashion gears that create wrong impressions.
Awolola said she always warned her customers of the danger of getting addicted to these shape enhancers.
She said, "Although, they have advantages since they don't have side effects like drugs, there are disadvantages too. The major disadvantage is that many women get addicted to using them.
"But still, I warn my customers that such things are not for everyday use or one will soon lack confidence in her real self."
Awolola recalled a recent incident where a customer 'tried' a push-up bra for the first time in her store and immediately fell in love with it.
She said, "The first thing the lady said was that she would never wear a normal bra again. This was a lady we spent so much time convincing to, at least, try the push-up bra because we didn't have what she wanted. The lady eventually dumped her bra and wore the push-up bra she bought home. She also promised to come back for more."
A man may not easily know when a woman is wearing a push-up bra or a bum enhancer but Awolola said getting to know this is not as difficult as it seems. She said the fashion gears make the breasts, bum and hips to appear 'too perfect'.
"Those of us selling them know when someone is using them. The trick is that when the shape of a lady's bum or breasts appears too good to be true,it has probably been enhanced," she said.
Speaking on the risk involved in aesthetic surgical procedures, Fadeyibi described such surgeries as safe, if done properly.
In addition, Fadeyibi described the recent quest for aesthetic surgery to enhance body parts such as breasts and buttocks as justifiable. Saturday PUNCH learnt that an average buttocks enhancement job costs at least N3m. Implants for buttocks cost about N600,000, excluding hospital charges and drugs.
A fitness instructor, Mr. Kola Lijoka, however, has different ideas on how to achieve self confidence and body enhancement. According to him, the application and use of surgical procedures and injections to get bigger bums is "totally unnecessary."
He said, "At the gym, your instructor will tell you what to do to enhance your body shape through exercising. This is healthy and can be achieved in three months, depending on what needs to be achieved."
He added that 'simple squatting' can do a lot of good to the hips and bum, and that other specific exercises are available to help the chest area of both men and women.
A Consultant Psychiatrist with the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Oshodi, Dr. Mashudat Bello-Mojeed, said the problem confronting ladies that find it hard to do without body gears could be described as "low self esteem".
She said, "It has to do with the self fulfillment aspect of a human being. For example, for somebody with a deformity or sagging breasts, it can be like a mark of shame. So, such things like push-up bras offer a palliative solution. Of course, this is a false relief because the problem persists and once the thing is not there, the person will not have that self esteem she normally has when using it."
Bello-Mojeed, however, advised those addicted to these body enhancers to "identify the problem and seek the help of a psychologist."
She said, "Some exercises will also help, although, they may not give the same result as the artificial things, but they will help the person's confidence. But if the problem is severe, the person can also go for surgery; it is allowed."
Punch
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