₦airaland Forum

Decontee made it known that it was the yearning of his late husband to receive adequate health care which he could not get in Liberia that made him opted to travel down to Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria.

Mrs Sawyer also took to her Facebook account to explain more about it. In her words: “I’ve read other reports in other papers (not the New York Times) about Patrick’s “recklessness.” I get where they’re coming from, and they certainly have the right to feel the way they do. However, as Patrick’s widow, I would like to shed some light on this from another perspective. One that only I, his wife, would know,” she wrote.

“I knew Patrick better than anybody else (including himself). He had told me many times in the past how much he didn’t trust the Liberian healthcare system. He would tell me about how a person would get checked in for one thing, and get misdiagnosed and get the wrong treatment as a result. On top of that, Patrick was a clean freak, and told me how filthy a lot of the hospitals were.

“He didn’t tell me this, but I know in my heart of hearts that Patrick was determined to get to Nigeria by all means because he felt that Nigeria would be a place of refuge. He has expressed to me many times in the past that he felt passionately about helping to be a part of strengthening Liberia’s healthcare system, but he knew it wasn’t there yet, and he wouldn’t want to take a chance with his life because a lot of people depended on him… Patrick had a passion for life, and he wouldn’t have wanted his to end. So, I bet anything that he was thinking, if I could only get to Nigeria, a way more developed country than Liberia, I would be able to get some help. How ironic.”

The late Liberian-American’s decision to travel down to Nigeria has caused so many uproar and panic in the country as many Nigerians have booed the late Sawyer as an inconsiderate fellow who just wanted to deliberately spread the deadly disease. Even the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, few days ago lambasted the late Sawyer calling him a mad man for the irrational decision he took by travelling to Nigeria.

Mrs. Sawyer however combated words of many people saying her husband deliberately brought the disease to the country by saying: “It has been reported that Patrick avoided physical contact with everyone he came across during his trip from Liberia to Nigeria. The CCTV in the airport revealed it. When he got to Nigeria, he turned himself in letting them know that he had just flown in from Liberia.

“Patrick went to Nigeria for help so that he can get properly diagnosed, and not misdiagnosed in Liberia. And if it came back that he did have Ebola, he trusted the Nigerian healthcare system a lot more than he trusted the Liberian’s. His action, as off as it was, was a desperate plea for help. Patrick didn’t want to die, and he thought his life would be saved in Nigeria.”

Mrs. Sawyer further took a swipe at the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who said Mr Sawyer was indisciplined and disrespectful for failing to heed medical advice not to travel. Mrs Sawyer said if President Johnson-Sirleaf had fixed the healthcare system in Liberia, her husband would not have left in search of treatment elsewhere.

“I write today, not simply because of Patrick, but because of the broken healthcare system in the Liberia, and the government’s inability under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (and other past Presidents) to fix it. Good doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers aren’t given the support they need to save lives.

“President Sirleaf went on CNN News throwing stones at Patrick, a man who can no longer defend himself, a man who worked tirelessly for Liberia. She should be ashamed of herself. I used to admire this woman, and was excited and proud of her accomplishment as the first woman President in the entire continent of Africa. She will always own that. We will always own that. It can’t be taken away from her. It’s something to be proud of. But this woman has failed her country,” she wrote.

It would be recalled that Nigeria had a clean slate of the record of the disease not until the late Patrick Sawyer walked right into the country’s biggest city, Lagos.
Source - http://www.naij.com/276765-ebola-patrick-sawyer-deliberately-travelled-nigeria-wife.html

The Chelsea striker has decided to focus on his club career after scoring 65 goals in 104 appearances for the Elephants
Cote d'Ivoire icon Didier Drogba has announced his retirement from international football at the age of 36.

The Chelsea striker represented the Elephants at this summer's World Cup in Brazil but has now decided to focus on his club career after scoring 65 times in 104 appearances for his country.

"It is with much sadness that I have decided to retire from international football," Drogba wrote in a statement released on Friday.

"These past 12 years in the national team have been full of emotions. From my first call-up to my last match, I have always tried to give my best for my country.

"I am very proud to have been captain of this team for eight years and to have contributed to placing my country on the world stage of football, taking part in three World Cups and two African Cup of Nations finals.

"I cannot convey enough thanks to the fans for all the love and support during these years. All my goals, all my caps, all our victories are for you - I love you."

Drogba made his Cote d'Ivoire debut in September 2002, against South Africa, and broke his international duck the following February, in a 3-0 win over Cameroon.

The attacker captained his country in their first ever appearance at the World Cup, in 2006, netting in the Elephants' opening game, a 2-1 loss to Argentina.

Drogba struck again at South Africa 2010, against Brazil, but he failed to find the net in his three appearances at this summer's tournament as Cote d'Ivoire failed to make it out of the group stage for the third time in a row.

Having since completed a free transfer to Chelsea following the expiration of his contract with Galatasaray, Drogba has now called time on his long and illustrious international career.

This morning as I waited for my bus, I overheard people talking about her they bathed with salt water to prevent being infected with the Ebola virus. Just how reliable is this information and where is it emanating from?

The former policeman has been a Premier League official since 1998 and has taken charge of Champions League and World Cup finals in a long and established career
Howard Webb has retired from refereeing to become techincal director at Professional Game Match Officials Limited.

Webb, 43, started his refereeing career in 1989 and oversaw his first Premier League match in October 2003, before being added to Fifa's international referees' list two years later.

In 2010, he took charge of the Champions League final between Inter and Bayern Munich and then the World Cup final in South Africa as Spain beat Netherlands, where midfielder Nigel de Jong escaped punishment for a lunging high challenge on Xabi Alonso before Johnny Heitinga was sent off.

Webb also took part in the finals in Brazil this summer, where he took charge of the hosts' last-16 clash with Chile in Belo Horizonte.

Webb's new role will include "overseeing the technical direction and standards that govern the on-field performance of PGMOL's match officials", according to an official statement.

He will also be responsible for the training and coaching of referees, as well as "informing and educating" the public on refereeing issues.

"I am very excited to start this new chapter in my career after a wonderfully rewarding 25 years on the pitch," Webb said.

"I have spent over a decade with the best seat in the house for Barclays Premier League matches, been lucky enough to be involved in nine major international tournaments, and taken charge of the Uefa Champions League and Fifa World Cup Finals.
"Refereeing has given me so much and I think it's important that match officials who have had the rewards remain in the game to pass on their knowledge.

"I also have much more to learn about the business of refereeing and I believe the best place for me to do that is with PGMOL. It's an incredibly positive working environment and we all have a common goal of improving refereeing.

"Over the last five years in particular we have made huge strides in terms of our accuracy, fitness and professionalism. The current Select Group are the best referees this country has ever produced and I am thrilled that I not only get the chance to continue working with them but also the opportunity to help develop the next generation of Select Group officials."

Mike Riley, former Premier League referee and general manager at PGMOL, added: "Howard has been the foremost referee of his generation and an inspiration for match officials in this country and around the world."

The Ghanaian fans seeking asylum in Brazil after the 2014 World Cup have been granted an initial one-year stay in the country.

The over 200 Ghanaian supporters applied for asylum in Brazil under the reported pretext of a religious conflict in the West African state after Ghana’s first round exit from the World Cup.

Ghana’s Sports Ministry is yet to get a response from the findings expected to be made through investigations to be carried out by the Ghanaian embassy in Brazil.

The asylum seekers have however been granted an initial one-year permit by Brazilian authorities to stay and work in their country.

Some of the supporters have even filtered into neighboring countries; Argentina and Ecuador with others making their way north to the USA.

“We didn’t tell Brazilian authorities that there was conflict in Ghana and for that they should grant us asylum,” one of the granted asylum seekers Hamidu Ahmed told Asempa FM.

“Each and every one of us came here with his own reason which is definitely not a conflict situation.

“We have received our papers and some of us have already started working. Some of us work in industries and others work in the construction sector.

“Some have however left into neighboring Argentina, Ecuador and the likes. Others are also traveling by road to the USA”
Source:ghanasoccernet.com

A remarkable video shows a group of indigenous people seen for the first time by the outside world as they emerged from a Brazilian jungle while fleeing illegal loggers and drug traffickers, according a Brazilian group that tracks such jungle tribes.

The group of men are believed to be natives of Peru but they were filmed in northern Brazil on the banks of the Envira River which runs near the Peruvian border. The encounter took place within the last two weeks, but the video was released Thursday by the Brazilian indigenous authority FUNAI.

The tribal men are naked except for belts and loincloths and carry different weapons, including bows and arrows and spears in the 8-minute video.
A video or other embedded content has been hidden. Click here to view it.

A few of the tribal men are seen with markings on their faces and they all have styled their dark black hair in a similar bowl-cut fashion.

At one point one of the men blatantly steals a machete-type knife while another takes an ax from a settlement, despite shouts of protest by the villagers. Another member of their group grabs a blue material that looks like either a towel or a piece of clothing.

Brazilian authorities have not identified the group, but were able to determine that the dialect of the language that they're speaking is a form of the Panoan linguistic group.

The people they are interacting with are part of the Ashaninka ethnic group who reside in the area where the video was shot.

One Ashaninkan man, seen shirtless with a pair of baggy athletic shorts, wades into the river to hand the tribe members some bananas.

The group is one of about 15 "uncontacted tribal peoples" in Peru and has been forced from their homes in Peru "as a result of the illegal logging and drug trafficking which is rampant in the area," Rebecca Spooner of Survival International told ABC News.

"They weren't an unknown group. People have known about them for years," Spooner said. She said the Brazilian government has been monitoring the movements of the group, which she described as nomadic hunter gatherers.

The group's language barrier made it difficult to communicate, but Spooner said they indicated that their tribal elders had been killed in a confrontation.

"We don't know whether they were shot or how they were killed, but we do know that they were killed by the illegal settlers," Spooner said. "Their houses were set on fire, their elders were killed and they were shot at themselves."

They do not know when exactly this confrontation took place, but believe it was within the last year.

The tribe members seen in the video were part of a group that could be as large as 80 members, she said. They had melted back deep into the Brazilian jungle, but not before several contracted the flu, which Spooner said "could be deadly for the tribe."

She said the tribe members eat fish, hunt jungle game, fruit and plantains.

Spooner said that there is no way of knowing when or if they will reappear again.

An 11-year-old's wish to give the gift of life to others came true on the last day of his life. The photograph below shows doctors bowing to Liang Yaoyi, a gifted student from Shenzhen, China, who died from a brain tumor in June. His mother can be seen crying in the background.
Liang was diagnosed with the tumor at the age of 9, just after he moved to Shenzhen to join his brother and sister, and to attend primary school, Shanghai Daily reports. One day, Liang felt dizzy and the next day had trouble walking, so his sister took him to a hospital where he learned he had a brain tumor.
Before passing away on June 6, Liang told his mother, Li Qun, that he wanted to donate his organs.
"There are many people doing great things in the world," he said according to China Daily. "They are great, and I want to be a great kid too."
CCTV News reported that Liang also said it was also a chance for him to be "alive in another way."
Liang's teacher said he may have learned of organ donation by reading stories in a school textbook. Liang's mother honored his wishes and doctors were able to save his kidneys and liver for donation, according to China Daily.
The picture has created a firestorm within Chinese media outlets and on Reddit, where users commented on the beauty of the photo, the strength of Liang and the importance of organ donation.

It may not be a common practice in this part of the world to see consumers read the nutritional guides and product contents of consumables. Some consumers, perhaps, due to health related reasons like allergy or just responsibility, still make out time to check just what they are taking in before consuming their beverages or drinks. In a country like ours, where the regulatory authorities are not alive to their responsibilities and manufacturers take advantage of their negligence, to what extent can we rely on the nutritional facts and content information we see?
I remember drinking a popular soft drink, renowned for its high sugar content, that had a sugar free label on it. I had seen the product's advert some days ago, where they vehemently assured that the product had a zero level There was absolutely no difference between the so called sugar free brand and the other. Its also common to see juice makers claim, that only natural fruits were used in the production of such juices and that they are free from artificial flavours, colours, preservatives and sweeteners. A taste of these drinks will cast doubts over such claims.
Another disturbing trend is the deceptive net weight of these products. Many producers have made their packages heavier,cunningly reduced their quantity and tag misleading net weight on their products.
Whose responsibility is it to safeguard the health of the consuming public that usually takes serious things for granted? NAFDAC or SON? So How Reliable Are The Nutritional Facts and Content Guides of Consumables? Kindly Share your observation(s) and experience(s).

It's very common to hear authorities say they can't say and would not want to speculate on the possible cause/causes of a plane crash, until the wreckage of the flight is discovered and the black-box retrieved. So many times in the past there's been this sigh of relief that accompanies news that the black-box has been found. More often than not that is usually the last we hear of the incident and the world just gets over the tragedy and life goes on. So is the 'ultimate search' for the black box really worth the trouble? Or are the findings not meant for public consumption? Just were in the aircraft is it located and is it immune to destruction during a crash?
My heart goes out to the victims of all air accidents, particularly those that occurred just recently. I pray the dear ones they left behind find the strength to bear their demise.

At an executive committee meeting in Abuja on Thursday, Maigari was accused of "uncalled-for secrecy surrounding all financial dealings of the Federation and failure to call meeting of the Executive Committee for the past eight ( months, during which so many weighty decisions on Nigeria football had been taken by a small cabal within the Board".

Consequently, in a motion for impeachment moved by Shehu Adamu and seconded by Deji Tinubu, the Executive Committee passed a vote of no confidence on the NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari.

A communique at the end of the meeting stated that "the Committee approved the immediate dismissal of Alhaji Aminu Maigari, from the NFF Executive Committee on grounds of financial misappropriation, misapplication and maladministration."

First Vice President Mike Okeke Umeh was appointed Acting President, to preside over the affairs of the Federation, pending the composition of the new NFF Executive Committee after the elections of Tuesday, 26th August, 2014.

The decision brings to a head weeks of crisis during which the NFF had a court order restraining it from acting, leading to Nigeria being suspended by FIFA

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Source-kickoff.com

CROSSROADS-Legend has it that many years ago during the stone age, when the only means of transportation was by foot and men made fire by striking stones, there existed a people who had all they could have as a village-a friendly weather, fertile land and the natural gifts of mother earth that made life worth living back then. They shared boundary with the wild like most human settlements did and for many years enjoyed a cordial relationship with their non-human neighbours. Both respected their respective boundaries and never strayed into the other's territory. For many decades they enjoyed a peaceful relationship with the wild. The only constant thing in life they say is change and things were never going to remain the same. Like a plague a deadly epidemic swept through and ravaged the grazing herds of the wild that served as food to the lions on top of the food chain. Their population declined drastically and the few survivors were aggressively scrambled for by competing prides of lions. Soon the herds were completely gone and driven by hunger the lions encroached into human territory. They say you never know what you have been missing until you have it. Their first taste of human blood would change things forever.
With their newly acquired lust for the flesh and blood of man not a single day passed by without news of an attack by these beasts on the village. The primitive measures taken by the villagers to curb this menace all proved abortive. The fences made of tree stems were never going to put off a hungry pride of lions and lionesses,who were willing to go any length to satisfy their desires. Day after day, night after night, the number of attacks increased and so did the death toll. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and as such a village meeting was called, attendance was compulsory for all-male and female, young and old. A solution had to be found quickly as the village laid on the brink of extinction. With the spate at which the lions were attacking, it seemed only a matter of months before the village would be confined to the annals of history unless something was done.
By midday the village square was filled up, there was not a single villager absent. Suggestions and counter suggestions were made. The meeting dragged to the early hours of the night without a breakthrough, but not a single person complained of tiredness, showed a loss of interest or dared to walk away. They all seemed committed towards addressing this problem before going to bed. Their resolve paid off or so they thought, when a suggestion that they search for and migrate to a safe and unoccupied land was made. It was a hard decision to make and even a harder one to accept. They would have to leave the only home they have ever known to unknown territory. As reluctant as they were, they realized that this perhaps was the only way to save their race from extinction. A search party was immediately constituted and mandated to find a new home for them. The day had barely broken before they were long gone.
The anticipation level was high as they waited eagerly for the return of the scouts. As the waiting game continued there was no let off from the lions, as their unwanted daily visits left scores dead. Thirty four days after they left, the search party returned and cheers that were hitherto only heard during the inauguration of a new king were heard. It took just minutes for the entire village to converge. Their feedback was positive. North of their village just about 3 days walk they had discovered an island. Enquiries from a sorcerer revealed that the land had better features than their current home and had no inhabitants to resist any acquisition by anyone. It was just want they craved for since with their depleted size they could not afford to go to war. As far as they were concerned they had found paradise, discovered El Dorado, it was their heaven on earth. With the news, the women broke into singing and dancing, the naked children ran wild and poked one another as the men drowned themselves in palm wine. They were briefly irritated by the attitude of a man who refused to join the party. He had sought to know why such a juicy island remained unoccupied. He was fiercely rebuked and told to keep his pessimism and reservations to himself. When the celebration had died down a bit, they all agreed to leave for their new home in 3 days.
Staying awake had become part of their lives at night in recent times, but the last 3 sleepless nights were not for fear of attacks but as a result of excitement. The day of exodus had come, they rose even before the sun and had everything packed. After a four day journey they arrived the bank of the river-the seemingly only thing that stood between them and paradise. It was so close they could see it. If only they had known what laid beneath the still and murky waters. Things are not always what they seem to be. For the first set of villagers that lounged in with excitement and indeed the entire village, it was a rude awakening. A deadly pack of crocodiles feasted hungrily on all of them. It is amazing how singing can turn to weeping so quickly. As the crocodiles took some time to savour their lunch, a deceptive calm returned to the waters again, but this time it was mixed with blood and had belongings of their country men floating on them. It was a terrible fate that denied them the luxury of mourning or burying their brothers. They stood by the shore in a fix. Ahead of them was a beautiful island, separated by a crocodile infested water. Behind was home sweet home with monstrous beasts on rampage. They had to make a choice as staying on the river bank without the ability to farm was a death sentence.
Somewhere in the tropics, just east of the Greenwich and a little bit north of the equator,the situation in which the people find themselves is as dire as that of the villagers of old. On one hand they have to choose between a ruling class of "democrathieves" who have presided over their affairs with nothing to show for it. On the other hand is an equally incompetent clique of "progretheives" , most of whom were once members of the former,who are staking a claim to power as the periodic transition season looms. The gladiators are positioning themselves strategically, trying to take advantage of the people's desperation,ignorance and frustration. They spend so much time and resources trying to distinguish themselves from the other as they clamour for the people to entrust them with responsibilities. Truth be told, differences exist between them such as their names and venue for meetings, but where it matters most they are the same. They are both morally bankrupt, devoid of values and ideals and have the same mission -kill,steal and destroy. With decision time in sight, it breaks my heart that once again people would have to choose between two evils.