Monday, December 31, 2012

Is Governor Fashola Becoming A Bad Governor? - By Uzoma Ahamefule


Babatunde Fashola
By Uzoma Ahamefule
How can Nigerians be governed with this high level of cruelty by means of obnoxious laws here and there? Why is it that laws are executed with the speed like that of an angry hunting lion when it has to do with the poor in this country but when it concerns the bigger criminals in the name of political leaders and elites every government begins to form committees that never find them guilty? Why this impunity of recklessness?
Why is it that Nigerian leaders at various levels are very insensitive to the cry of the people, but yet expect to win the war against crime and social vices? Objectively speaking, how can Nigeria’s “vision 2020” policy of being one of the world’s leading political and economical powers in 2020 be realized when average Nigerian citizens still live under $1 per day and their leaders do not see them as partners but rather treat issues concerning them like masters and slaves?
What have we Nigerians done wrong to our leaders?
Who is advising Governor Fashola with this heinous law to ban commercial motorcyclists popularly known as ’okadas’ in Lagos State without first of all honestly providing an alternative? This law is nasty and has got no human face. I was shocked and felt sick when I saw thousands destroyed motorcycles proudly displayed to news men/women as an achievement by the agents of Governor Fashola as ’okadas’ of those that failed the traffic laws. Oh, my heart bleeds! I do not know if Governor Fashola is aware that as his agents destroyed those thousands of ‘okadas’ that they also destroyed many homes, shattered many dreams, jeopardized the future of many children and created more hooligans and criminals.
By Nigerian standards of governance and development, Governor Fashola is one of the very few governors in Nigeria that I still respect and that is why I am making my stand known. Can somebody please tell Governor Fashola that he has at this juncture woefully failed the people because the reason of banning ‘okadas’ is shallow and laughable? If part of the reasons of banning commercial ‘okada’ operators was because many of the riders were engaged in nefarious activities with their ‘okadas’, can we now say because of some people that may be thieving politicians in Lagos State that we should stop having a government in the state?
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said that there are rogues and thieves at the National Assemblies. Can we now ban law making in Nigeria because of many of these merciless Nigerian law makers in the National Assemblies whose primary interests as evidence has shown have always been to increase their salaries without recourse to its effect on the nation and without plans to make laws that could rehabilitate the shameful health system in Nigeria or to build railways or undergrounds in order to make the everyday agony of life for poor Nigerians easier that ignited the ‘okada’ business? Can we say because there are too many air crashes in Nigeria due to the fact that a few individuals assigned with the responsibility to certify that planes are in very good conditions before they are put in use have collected bribes in order to allow coffins to airlift Nigerians ban the use of aircrafts? Or can we because of numerous motor accidents in Nigeria as a result of the failures of government at various levels ban the use of motors?
Governor Fashola said that it was because of many ‘okada’ accidents that made him ban commercial motorcyclists. What did he do to reduce the number of accidents before this unfounded action? Is it not the responsibility of every government to find out the causes of problems? Did Governor Fashola’s government try to find out why there were many ‘okada’ accident cases? Do the agents of the governor, ‘LASMA’ who is the body of the executioners of this unfriendly law have the ordinary alcohol testing instruments in order to examine and know who is driving under the influence of alcohol on Lagos roads especially when an accident occurs? Did the government of Governor Fashola provide standard traffic signs and speed limits on all the roads where he has banned ‘okadas’? Can Governor Fashola scientifically prove how many of these ’okada’ riders are qualified riders or that are mentally stable to use motorcycles?
Take sentiments and emotions away from the fact that there have been ‘okada’ accidents and ’okada’ related robberies and look at the issue critically. If Governor Fashola did not carry out all these vital elementary assignments, how sound would it be for him to stand up one morning and ban ‘okada’ operators? If Governor Fashola cannot comfortably provide answers to the aforementioned questions; can he now see that the people did not fail but rather the inability of the Lagos State government not to have thoroughly viewed the issue and come up with an impeccable solution that failed the masses? The social implication of this decision is devastating on the people and can never address the issue of accidents he raised until his government takes a very reasonable measure to control and discipline many Lagosians whom out of ignorance or stupidity have formed the habits of navigating bicycles, tricycles, motorcycles or motors under the heavy influence of alcohol, hard drugs or without licences.
What Lagos State government or other states where they have banned ’okadas’ should have done in this situation should have been to research first and then look for a fair and logical method of arriving at a resolution that should not be more harmful to the society than the problem/s they were trying to avoid after also due consideration that it was unemployment that led to the ’okada’ business in the first place. Because even up to the late 80s we did not have commercial ’okadas’, therefore, government agents should have figured out carefully on how a few miscreants in their midst should have been identified and dealt with accordingly without raising tension instead of this indiscriminate ban.
If Governor Fashola continues to refuse to reverse this anti-masses law, the governor may have indirectly advocated that Nigerian banks should be closed because there are some bank managers who cooperate with fraudsters to steal millions or some workers of some banks who work with criminals by informing them when, where and how to break their banks and steal monies. If this obnoxious law is allowed to stand, Governor Fashola has equally advocated that the Nigeria police should be closed because there are many criminals and bribe takers in their midst whose work also has been to gather false evidences against helpless poor Nigerians. Some Nigerian military men/women have been dismissed from service, charged to court and found guilty as criminals. Consequently, the military should also be scraped in Nigeria because they are equally a failure since some of them supply sophisticated arms to armed robbers to kill and wreak havoc on Nigerians in the night in return for money while some of them have been accused to be sponsors, informants and trainers of Boko Haram.
I feel pained to see that Governor Fashola has quickly started to play over our collective intelligence with a massive campaign that since the ban of commercial ‘okadas’ that the number of accidents has reduced in Lagos State, but decided to remain silent whether crime reduced or increased.
Governor Fashola, do not forget that directly or indirectly you used the same ’okada’ people during your election campaign for votes. Why did you not ban ‘okadas’ before the 2011 election? Contrarily you made a law for all ‘okada’ riders and their passengers to be within certain safety standards before they could operate in Lagos State? Could that law have been a mistake on the side of your government or a calculated attempt to deceptively win the confidence and the vote of the ‘okada’ riders? Most of the ‘okada’ riders who bought their motorcycles under credit or ‘higher purchase’ borrowed money to comply to your order and now that you are comfortably sitting as the executive governor of Lagos State not only that you have stopped their source of daily bread but have also destroyed their production companies (‘okadas’) leaving them to gnash their teeth in pains and agony without anybody to turn to.
Because in Nigeria everything is possible, therefore, dear Governor Fashola, could it be that the idea of safety gadgets was not well thought of when you came up with the policy or that some people in your cabinet could have imported helmets without your knowledge and had mounted pressure for the implementation of the helmet law through advice so that their business could flourish? And now, perhaps the business of helmets seems no longer lucrative they have again channeled their deceptive policy somewhere and ‘okada’ operators and their families can go to hell.
Dear Governor Fashola, this is a message from your fellow governor who also happens to be in the same party “ACN” like you, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State , “I think it’s, for me, a class issue and I belong to the working class, so I cannot ban ‘okada’. First, I believe that ‘okada’ is a response to certain deficit in our intra-urban transportation system. From the 60s to the 70s to the 80s, we never had ‘okada’. If you ask a lady to take a ride on a motorbike it was like a taboo. Now it has became fashionable to have a woman and two children on top of a bike. It is not a culture choice. It is as a result of deficit in our intra-city transportation system.”
Dear Governor Fashola, I appeal to you like many others to please reverse this policy because a good leader must have good listening ears. Do not allow us to begin to compare you with the worst governor in Nigeria , Dr. T. A. Orji of Abia State who has unnecessarily channeled all his energy in social attacks against Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu instead of working for Abians.
A governor that one of his best achievements so far was the sacking of all non indigene workers from other eastern states because of bad advisers should not be the kind of governor we should compare Governor Fashola with. One hopes that Governor Fashola is not taking this direction and is listening to the voice of reason.
The ban of ‘okadas’ from Delta State to Lagos State or anywhere in Nigeria under any guise is an economic murder on the part of the poor masses. However, if Governor Fashola insists not to heed to the plea of the people, well, we will grudgingly and helplessly succumb to his wish, but he should understand that he has only used his position and might against us but has not won our respect and that a day shall come when Lagosians will remind him this issue like the way Nigerians have kept on reminding IBB the annulment of June 12 that has irredeemably murdered his political return to ‘Aso Rock’.
May God bless Governor Fashola, bless Lagos State and bless Nigeria!
Uzoma Ahamefule
A patriotic concerned citizen writes from Vienna, Austria
uzomaah@yahoo.com

Photos From Actress, Uche Jombo's Birthday Party


Uche's 33rd birthday party held on the 29th December, at Aura Club in VI. Ramsey Noah, Rita Dominic, Rukky Sanda, Nse Ikpe Etim and several others were there to celebrate with her.
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More photos below
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2 killed, 1500 displaced in Abuja clash


AbujaLess than 48 hours to the New Year, a communal clash has erupted in Gwako, in the Gwagwalada Area Council of Abujabetween the Fulani and the Gwari in the area.
The cause of the clash, which affected 27 communities, is not immediately known but two persons have been killed and 1500 others displaced from their homes, the National Emergency Management Agency said in a statement on Sunday night.
The displaced people are currently housed in a temporary camp on the permanent campus of the University of Abuja in Gwagwalada.
The agency did not provide details of the number of residents injured in the clash. It however said NEMA and the Ministry of Capital Territory had immediately jointly activated their Search and Rescue teams.
“The prompt intervention of the two agencies including security personnel from the police, civil defence corp and military had helped to curtail the escalation of the crisis which started Saturday as a result of encroachment of herd of cattle into farmlands in the area,” NEMA spokesperson, Yushau Shuaibu, said in a statement.
Mr. Shuaibu quoted NEMA Director General, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, as commending the FCT Minister, Bala Muhammad, for the promptness of his agencies and his physical presence at scenes of the clash.
He also reportedly appealed to the warring parties to live peacefully with one another and eschew any form of violent as they enter the New Year.
The FCT minister, Mr. Muhammad, who led other government agencies to assess the impact of the incidence, reportedly appealed to the communities to remain calm, saying the government would address the causes of the crisis so they could return to their homes.
The minister also requested NEMA to provide more amenities to the victims in camp even as he constituted an emergency team for conflict resolution and relief distribution to the affected communities.
NAN

74-Year-Old Landlord Shoots And Kills Two Tenants During Argument Over Parking Space


A young couple was shot dead by their landlord after arguing with him over parking their cars in his driveway, police say.
Derrick Thompson, 19, and Alivia Welch, 18, were killed in their apartment on Saturday just three minutes after police left the property in Biddeford, Maine.
Officers believed they had quelled an argument between the tenants and James Pak, who owned the duxplex, authorities say.
Pak, a 74-year-old Korean War orphan and local business owner, lived in one half of the duplex and rented out the other half. Neighbors described him as a 'horrible landlord,' with an short temper who spied on the people who rented from him.
Pak also shot and wounded Mr Thompson's mother, Susan Johnson, 44, who was also living in the apartment with her six-year-old son, police say.
The young boy was found hiding in a back bedroom. He and Ms Johnson, as well as Pak's wife, were rescued by officers shortly after the shooting, the Portland Press Herald reports.

Hillary Clinton admitted to hospital with blood clot following concussion

Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines says her doctors discovered the clot during a follow-up exam Sunday. Reines says Clinton is being treated with anti-coagulants.


	Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton listens to a question during a joint news conference with Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the government building in Dublin, Ireland, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. Clinton was in Ireland to attend the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference.

KEVIN LAMARQUE/AP

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been admitted to a New York hospital after the discovery of a blood clot stemming from the concussion she sustained earlier this month.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was undergoing emergency treatment for a blood clot Sunday night at a Manhattan hospital.
Doctors said the clot stems from a concussion she suffered this month when she fainted while battling a stomach bug and hit her head. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines said doctors discovered the clot while conducting a followup exam Sunday.
 
She was admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia, where she was being treated with anti-coagulants.
 
Clinton has a history of blood clots. In 1998, a clot was found behind her right knee and she was put on a blood thinner, but stopped when her health improved.
“That was the most significant health scare I've ever had,” Clinton told the Daily News in 2007.
New York Presbyterian

PETER FOLEY/EPA

Clinton will be staying at the New York Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center for at least the next 48 hours.  


Reines said Clinton, 65, will stay in the hospital for at least 48 hours so her medication can be monitored closely. He said physicians are worried about “other issues associated with her concussion” but declined to elaborate.
Clinton is in the same hospital where former President Bill Clinton underwent heart-bypass surgery in 2004.
 
Idalina Feliz, 39, whose mom is recovering from a stroke on the hospital’s eighth floor, said she saw a lot of activity there.“We saw Secret Service everywhere,” she said.
 

 
Clinton had been recovering at her Chappaqua, Westchester County, home. She planned to return to the State Department this week to finish up her tenure. President Obama has nominated Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry to succeed her.
 
Clinton’s concussion forced her skip testifying Dec. 20 before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Sept. 11 deadly U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya. Her setback prompted some conservative Republicans to suggest she was faking it.
 
“When you don’t want to go to a meeting or conference, or an event, you have a ‘diplomatic illness,’” John Bolton, the former U.N. Ambassador under President George W. Bush, said on Fox News last week.

61-Year-Old Grandmother Rises From The Dead For The Third Time


A grandmother has been brought back from the dead twice - and has even survived spending three days in a morgue.
photoThe 61-year-old Russian woman has been declared dead twice by doctors, but each time has come back to life - and once was minutes away from being cut open for her autopsy. Hardy Lyudmila Steblitskaya spent 3 days laying in a freezing cold morgue, while her family mourned the retired cook.

Lyudmila Steblitskaya, her daughter Anastasia, and granddaughter Nelli, all had a horrific shock. The mother's eery habit of returning to life has not only left her family torn between grief and hope that she may come back to life, but perplexed doctors too, The Siberian Times reported.

She has scared both doctors, friends and family once in November last year and in October this year. The initial confusion began last year, when Lyudmila was taken to Tomsk Regional Clinical Hospital and spent days in hospital because she felt unwell.

When her 29-year-old daughter Anastasia, who has a daughter Nelli, nine, called on a Friday evening to ask about her mother's condition, she was informed by doctors that her mother had died. The devastated woman began planning her mother's funeral and breaking the bad news to friends and family.

She spent 60,000 roubles (£1,223) buying flowers, a casket, arranging for a grave to be dug, and buying food for the mourners who planned to attend the funeral on the Monday morning, according to the newspaper.

On the Monday, she went to the hospital to collect her mother's body - only to be told to wait as doctors had not performed an autopsy. She told the newspaper that a startled doctor then approached her and said that her mother was not dead, but was in her bed breathing and alive. Anastasia started arranging the funeral of her mother after being told by doctors that she was dead Anastasia could not believe it when doctors halted an autopsy and discovered her mother was alive.

A disbelieving Anastasia went in to the room to find her mother calling her name, and screamed and dropped her bag.

"My head was so fuzzy that I didn't even think about getting back into the room, and hugging mum. Or asking her about what happened. Instead I started calling everyone, saying things like 'Er, sorry. Can you please stop digging the grave. Ah, is it done? OK… well, there won't be a funeral, my mother is alive'," she said.

Her mother cannot remember what happened, only that she was in hospital on the Friday and then woke up in a morgue on Monday to discover that her skin was peeling off from the cold. Mostly, she is just grateful to be alive and be able to see her friends and family.

In October 2012, Lyudmila - who has a history of heart problems - had another 'apparent death' during a hospital stay but this time doctors brought her back to life after several hours.

On the morgue incident, chief doctor of Tomsk Regional Clinical Hospital Maksim Zayukov, said: "As of now I cannot explain why this mistake happened. This sad procedure has always worked in our hospital like clockwork: the moment of death is always registered by the intensive care doctor. Proper checks are always conducted. This all happens before the family are informed about the death."

A hospital spokeswoman said: "The checks were carried out and she was dead - or so it seemed. The papers could not have been signed unless this is what the doctors establish. We are still trying to understand what went wrong in Lyudmila's case".

Ms Steblitskaya is not the only person to be given a second chance at life.

Earlier this year, mourners in Egypt cheered when the 'dead' body they were burying woke up. Hamdi Hafez al-Nubi, a 28-year-old waiter, had been declared dead after suffering a heart attack at work.

His body was being prepared for burial when another doctor, sent to sign his death certificate, discovered he was still warm and managed to revive him. And in April a 95-year-old Chinese woman climbed out of her own coffin six days after she was declared dead following a fall.

Under Chinese tradition, Li Xiufeng was placed in a coffin kept in her house so friends and relatives could pay their respects. But the day before the funeral, neighbours found an empty coffin and later discovered her in the kitchen cooking.

Aww Damn! Soulja Boy And Lil Scrappy Get Personal On Twitter “You Aint Gonna Put Your Paws On Nobody”


Before we found out that Kim Kardashian is pregnant and before you went to load up on New Years Eve liquor. There was a tweef going on between two rappers. Of course this took place way earlier but to be honest I just wanted to see what else they had to say before I posted this. Soulja Boy has been a lil busy on the beef side of things. Well lets not call it beef lets call it speaking his mind. a little while back he exchanged not so friendly words with Bow Wow. Now Soulja and Lil Scrappy got into a back and forth via Twitter. Where does this stem from, some are saying it’s over rapper Diamond but Scrappy says it’s not, only they really know what’s what. Click below to get a little of the play by play
Soulja Boy Tweets

Soulja Boy Tweets


Lil Scrappy Tweet

Lil Scrappy Tweet


Soulja Boy Tweet

Soulja Boy Tweet


Lil Scrappy Tweet

Lil Scrappy Tweet

Lil Scrappy Tweets

Lil Scrappy Tweets



MUSIC MEETS RUNWAY 2012 FEATURING ELEGANTE BY TIANNAHSTYLING & MR MAY D


TOYIN LAWANI TAKING HER BOW

Incredibly, most of those that attended this year's edition of the Music Meets Runway showcase have had great things to talk about. Nearly everyone says it was well organized, well attended, well packaged and the fashion showcase was a feast for the eyes.

MORE AFTER THE BREAK. PLEASE CLICK ON READ MORE 



We are expecting that some designer's career would have gotten the right push after the showcase. One of those that showcased at this year's edition was Toyin Lawani, whose brand Elegante by TiannahStyling shown like a million star. Those her polka dotted wonder were a sight to behold. No wonder, she's become the most sought after stylist in the game. Now we know, you all check out her full collection. Her showcase had May D, on stage. 
MAY D



























Rihanna Accompanies Chris Brown To Abidjan For Kora Awards (VIDEO)


One of American's most divisive couple are currently in Africa!
Rihanna & Chris Brown touched down at Ivory Coast  some couple of hours ago, where Chris Brown is soon scheduled to perform alongside P-Square at the Kora Awards.
This their love Sha... I pray no one gets hurt oh.
Check out the contentious couple exiting their plane after the cut...

Davido And Chidinma Wins Kora Awards



The Dami Duro crooner, Davido emerged the 2012 BEST MALE NEWCOMER while Chidinma, Kedike crooner won 2012 Best Female West African Act (West Afric).
Congrats to you two!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Man Caught Having Sex With Female Corpse


A 29-year old man, going by the name Nura Mustapha, is currently explaining to homicide detectives at the State Criminal Investigative Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos State, why he was allegedly caught having sex with the corpse of a lady identified as Faith Akin.




Mustapha was arrested early in March after an attendant at the Green Star Hotel, Alaba-Rago, raised an alarm that he would not allow the corpse to be retrieved.

Police officers identified the corpse of the lady as Faith Akin, a resident of Ondo State, who visited her mother in Lagos.



"We have a lot of customers coming with different girls to the hotel. But on that fateful day, Mustapha came in about 5.00 pm and booked the room; after about 9.00pm, he brought in this lady and they stayed the night," said the hotel attendant. "Early the next day, before I would hand over to the morning staff, I went round to check the rooms; that was how I saw the lady lying down. I went to touch her but there was no response; I called out to Nura, but he did not answer. It was when I came back the second time after I had informed the manager that I saw the customer having sex with the corpse again; I tried to call his attention but he did not respond, so I went to call the police."

When officers from the Ojo Police Station arrived the scene, it was gathered that the suspect was seen having sex with the unconscious lady.

"As soon as we got the complaint from the hotel management, we rushed to the scene of the incident; unfortunately, we experienced the shock of our lives when we saw Nura on top of the lifeless lady still having sex with her," said a police officer. "We had to drag him from the lady's corpse before he realised that people had been watching him. It was a terrible thing for such a young man to sleep with a corpse; maybe for ritual purpose, but we do not know."

During questioning, Mustapha allegedly told the police officers that he had taken a sex-enhancement drugbefore inviting the deceased to his hotel room.

"He said he used a local Hausa herb, called 'burutashe' to enhance his sexual performance before he had sex with the lady," said the police source. "The corpse had foam coming out from her mouth; and despite that he kept [penetrating] her because the drug made him to have delayed ejaculation. So to satisfy himself, he kept [penetrating] the lady even when he discovered that she was dead, so as to relieve himself."

The Tiv Yam market in Alaba-Rango is predominantly populated by Hausas and it was gathered that commercial sex workers often congregate there at night to solicit for customers

Big Sean Brings His Mother to Koko Concert


So the much anticipated Koko concert is over and we are just reminiscing on the event. It was a controversial and eventful one. Anyway, one of the star American rappers Sean Michael Anderson popularly known by his stage name Big Sean flew down to Nigeria to perform at the event and he brought his mother along. Thats what you call a mama's buy

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