₦airaland Forum

Happy new year in advance

“Are you better off this year than four
years ago?” US President
Reagan,1981-1989.
When Reagan was contesting against
Jimmy Carter, US President, 1976-1980,
he asked Americans the same question
over and over again, “Are you better off
this year than four years ago?” Much as I
hardly supported Reagan’s approach to
governance because it represented
“government of the rich by the rich for
the rich” – a bastardisation of
democracy, he left us with a metric for
judging whether or not we had been
well-served by governments, at Federal,
States and Local government levels in
2012.
With only two days left in the year, that is
a question which each of us can
reasonably answer for ourselves without
waiting for governments’ spin doctors to
tell us what to think.
However, please permit me to provide a
guide for our decision making by
pointing to certain areas of our collective
lives about which we can obtain some
consensus.
File Photo: Tambuwal, Mark, Jonathan
On security, the former Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court of Nigeria, CJN, Justice
Dahiru Musdapher, had this to say on the
rising insecurity in the country. “Boko
Haram insurgency, political violence,
corruption, nepotism, tribalism,
indiscipline, abduction and kidnappings,
armed robbery, murder and extortion,
bombings of places of worship and
innocent Nigerians are all indicators of a
failing state”.
The year, which started with an
economic crisis, ended with an
explosion of kidnappings. Somebody
estimated the price Nigerians paid as
ransom at close to N750 million in 2012.
Yet, since October 1, 2010, when the first
major bombing took place in Abuja, till
now, nobody had been successfully
prosecuted – despite repeated
assurances by the President that the
culprits will not go unpunished.
The mother of the Finance Minister was
kidnapped a few days after President
Jonathan had assured foreign visitors
that Nigeria “is safe”. Obviously a
President, so far removed from reality
about security, might also be self-
deceptive about other matters and
should not be believed. Do you feel more
secure today than this time in 2011?
On power generation and distribution,
the Vanguard reporter, Clara
Nwachukwu, provided us with this
depressing revelation on December 24,
2012 on page 1. “No fewer than 38
electricity generating turbines are
grounded in various power plants in the
country”.
Perhaps that is all we need to know
about power. Still, we remember that
there was once a Minister of Power
called Professor Bart Nnaji, who, shortly
after his appointment as Minister
promised to deliver 5,000MW of power
by December 2011. The year ended and
the nation was still stuck with about
4,000MW – approximately the same as in
1999.
Instead of an apology in 2012, the
former Minister issued another promise;
an empty one it has now turned out to
be. This time it was to increase power
supply to 6,000MW by December 2012.
As you are reading this column, Nigeria
is again generating less power than the
single largest power plant in South
Africa. The 5,000MW target is proving to
be a mission impossible.
Meanwhile, between January 1, 2012
and today, this country has added
another 4 million people needing power
supply. Are we better off today than on
the first day of January this year?
The score card on corruption is easy to
place on the table for all to see. The year
started with an anti-masses fuel price
increase from N65 per litre to N141 per
litre or 170 per cent increase authorized
by a President who went to school
shoeless.
The nation was thrown into a political
crisis which lasted for weeks. Later, it
was discovered that the nation had been
defrauded by fuel marketers with close
links to the corridors of power. Still,
Nigerians have been forced to live with a
49 per cent increase in fuel prices. So if
you spent N20,000 in 2011; you would
have spent N29,800 this year.
Since Jonathan became President in May
2010, no major case, involving multi-
billion naira embezzlement of private or
public funds, has been concluded; and
no one had gone to jail. In fact, this has
been the safest period for safe-crackers
in the history of Nigeria. Money
laundering, pension funds scam, crude
oil theft, fuel subsidy swindle, MDAs
larceny have all yielded “dividends of PDP
democracy” to criminals with strong
links to the corridors of power; they
have also ensured that “Fellow
Nigerians” and “Fellow widows”
continue to be impoverished. Foreigners
tell us that an estimated $750 billion had
vanished from our shores; while
government is begging for a mere $9
billion loan. Are you better off?
The expanded Presidential Airline fleet,
and the nation’s largest, was depleted by
one military helicopter which was
deployed to ferry people whose tummies
were full of choice food and drinks; not
to protect the pipe lines or fight
kidnappers. Only God knows how many
times bombers have been flown to bring
amala and okro soup until a tragedy
exposed the impunity.
Anyone who fell for the crocodile tears
flowing at the funerals must step up for
MUGU OF THE YEAR AWARD. Why?
Nollywood actresses drop phony tears
every hour on our television sets for the
fun of it. It is possible that as you are
reading this piece another one is on the
way to an island to carry crayfish. God
help us. But, are you better off this year
than last year? That is the issue.
Meanwhile, we started the year with
DANA Airlines, AIR NIGERIA, AERO
CONTRACTORS, and four or five others,
easily forgotten. Now the Federal
government has taken control of AERO
without telling us. That means that the
airline, now down on its knees, will soon
be flat on its back.
Governments have never managed
anything successfully and this one is not
different from the rest. Increasingly,
Nigeria is becoming a four airline nation
– Arik, IRS, Overland and Presidential. I
can assure you, as a regular traveler by
air, that Molue drivers and conductors,
ruffians as we call them, treat their
passengers with more courtesy than any
Nigerian airline – without exception.
No nation among the top twenty would
have allowed the atrocities committed by
our airlines to go unchecked. Meanwhile,
take another look, a close look, at the
new airports in Lagos and Abuja and
you would wonder if the Ministry of
Aviation has any competent civil
engineer. Am I better off this year, with
respect to air services? The answer is
definitely NO. But, are you?http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/was-it-a-good-year-2012/

By Ishola Balogun
*Students beg, Parents react…* School
declines comment
*I’m not aware — Prof Okojie, NUC boss
About 200 students may have been
expelled by the authorities of Covenant
University, Cannanland, Ota, Ogun State,
recently for what was described as
“disregard of paramount core values.”
Frustrated and angered by the
development, some of the affected
students who gave account of what
happened battled emotions while
narrating their situations to Saturday
Vanguard recently. They however
pleaded with the school authorities to
tamper justice with mercy in order to
save their future.
Saturday Vanguard investigation
revealed that out of the figure, about
126 were expelled for not attending the
‘departure service’, meant to sign off
from the school after the end of the
Semester and Matriculation of students
on November 30. Five other students
were thrown out for smoking while
unconfirmed source said additional 60
got the same fate for violating other
rules bordering on the University’s core
values. A few others were given four
weeks suspension for failure to sign the
head count that was conducted a couple
of weeks earlier.
A letter of expulsion signed by the
Registrar, Ntia Ubong, a copy which was
made available to Saturday Vanguard
stated that the affected students
contravened Chapter 1, section 30, page
40 of the 2010-2014 Student Handbook.
We gathered that the massive expulsion
was predicated on the anger of the
Chancellor, Bishop David Oyedepo who
was said to have been infuriated after
seeing students loitering around when
they were supposed to be at the Chapel
for the Departure Service.
He was said to have personally chased
students to the Chapel and ordered for a
search into all the halls and colleges to
fish out those who did not attend the
service.
Several attempts to get the school
authorities comment on the issue
proved abortive. The Instituion’s
Corporate Affairs Head, Mr Igban
Emmaunel also refused to comment as
calls pulled through to him were
unanswered and text messages not
replied.
How it happened
A few of the affected students gave
account of what happened to Saturday
Vanguard at different points. The similar
accounts go thus: “On November 30, the
last day of the semester, preceding our
December break, there was also a
Matriculation for the 100 level students;
in fact some students had their last
semester exams on that day, some of
them finished around 3:00pm while the
matriculation started around 8am. Some
students retired to their rooms to relax
while some engaged in some other
activities jubilating the end of the
semester.
“Some also got drinks from the
matriculating students. Even as these
were going on, some students who
finished around 3pm retired to their
halls. By 5pm, they announced that we
should get prepared for the ‘Departure
service’ which was to start by 8pm. Some
students were already seeing their
parents off while some of us were just
trying to relax to get off the stress of the
exams.
“Most of us hadn’t gotten through the
tiredness of the sleepless nights of the
exams; so, some us stayed back in our
rooms. The departure service is usually a
day before we go home and it is usually
presided over by the Chancellor. Before
the commencement of the service, they
used to lock up the main doors of the
halls so as to prevent cases of theft. I
was not bothered since there were a lot
of us in the hall. Some minutes past 8pm,
they switched off the light and all of us
in the hall went into our rooms. Because
of the darkness and the cold, I slept off
immediately.”
He continued: “The persistent knocks on
the door woke me up and I realised that
they had come to search for people who
had not come to service. Before I
realised what was going on, I found
myself with other students numbering
about 30. They took down our names
and counted us to make sure that no
one was omitted. They said the
Chancellor was at the service and we
refused to come. I heard them talking
about other halls and they asked us to
wait. I didn’t take it seriously because I
never believed in my widest imagination
that we would be expelled. We were
later asked to go to our various halls.
“Some of those who went into hiding
were lucky as they were not found.
Shortly, those who went for the service
returned and told us there was poor
attendance at the Chapel and how
students were diving in through the
windows, scampering for seats. In fact,
one narrated to us how the Chancellor
jumped through the window to vent his
anger on some students who had
jumped in,” he stated.
Another expelled student also gave
similar account of the incident. “I
couldn’t go to the service because, I was
not feeling well which was as a result of
the stress of the exams we had just
finished. After a while, I managed to go
but I heard that they started driving
people back around 7:30pm while the
service was to start around 8pm. I was
surprised because the rule was that
you’ve got to be seated 15minutes to the
service. Again, it was never made
compulsory, but they tried to get
students out of the halls to prevent cases
of theft. So, because I was not feeling
well, I went back to my room because I
needed to rest for a while.
“I thought it was a joke when they said
we are in for expulsion because we
failed to come for departure service. I
have never done anything contrary to
the school laws. I have never faced any
panel before and neither did I have any
unpleasant case in my file. I never
thought it was real until letters were
handed to me the following morning.”
Giving account of how letters were
handed out to them, the visibly troubled
student said: “By 6am, they announced
the names of those who were caught in
halls and colleges. Usually after the
departure service, one can sign out from
there and go but because it ended late
and no one could travel, students had to
wait till the following morning. But the
hall officer told those of us whose names
were written down that if we leave, we
should be considered gone from the
university forever. That gave us an
insight into what was likely to come as
punishment. By 7:45am, we were called
once again to go downstairs for our
letters. Those who collected theirs before
mine were crying and I wondered what
the punishment could be until I read the
letter stating I was expelled from the
university.”
Bishop Oyedepo
At the Chapel
Another student who found his way to
the Chapel also told Saturday Vanguard
that while the Chancellor was being
driven past, he noticed that students
were loitering at about the time they
were supposed to be seated at the
chapel. He said that this apparently
infuriated him and he alighted from his
car and chased students to the chapel
with knocks. “I saw him, alighted from
his car and chased students to the
chapel; I quickly found my way to the
hall. Not quite long after, I saw students
jumping in through the windows. It was
a big commotion. Even the chancellor
was going after those who jumped into
the chapel. Later, he addressed the
students saying he was very
disappointed by the behaviour that the
students were not seated 15 minutes
before the service.”
Another account had it that while the
Education Secretary, Prof. Aize Obayan
was addressing the students, the
students were murmuring, then the
Chancellor immediately took to the
microphone and said: “if I hear the voice
of any student, the curse of the Lord
shall fall upon that one.” The chapel
immediately went dead silent.
Our source who was also late to the
service stated that the Chancellor later
directed that those students who did not
come to the service would be purged
out saying they did not belong to the
school. Our source stated that at the end
of the service, he prayed for the students
in the hall.
Another source in the school hinted that
at that point, the Vice-chancellor pleaded
on behalf of those who were absent but
the Chancellor insisted they must be
purged from the school.
Our source told Saturday Vanguard that
the Vice-Chancellor while addressing
the students announced that a search
would be carried out in all the halls and
colleges to find out those who failed to
attend the departure service, advising
them to wait behind.
Saturday Vanguard investigation
revealed that out of the figure, about
126 were expelled for not attending
the ‘departure service’, five were thrown
out for smoking marijuana, twenty-five
final year students and undisclosed
number of lower level students were
caught violating rules bothering on the
University’s core values. We also
gathered that a few others were given
four weeks suspension for failure to
sign the head count that was conducted
a couple of weeks earlier. Some of the
students opined that failure to sign the
head count was even a greater offence
which implied that the student was not
in the school at the time of the exercise
but yet got a four-week suspension.
The private university is known for its
strict rules and discipline such as not
allowing the students to use mobile
phones within the school’s premises,
while it is mandatory for students to
always bring their bible to the chapel.
Parents react
A few parents who volunteered
information spoke to us on condition of
anonymity fearing that their children
might be victimised in case the issue
was resolved amicably. One of them
said with bitterness that it is
unacceptable, adding that the expulsion
was not commensurate with the offence
deemed to have been committed. He
urged the school authorities to rescind
its decision adding that the future of the
students is at stake.
“For me, it is not acceptable. These
students were not given fair hearing.
Expulsion should not be a punishment
for failure to attend service. We all agree,
it is a Christian school but failure to
attend church service could be due to a
lot of reasons. I gathered that some of
the students even finished their exams
about 5pm that day. So, those people
that finished at that time had barely
three hours to prepare for the service.
But stampeding them to congregate for
service and then expelling those who did
not come is a decision taken too far. For
me, if there was poor attendance, I think
the authorities have a responsibility.
They have not been fair in putting the
service so close to the examination. Even
God will not do that.”
He however commended the Chancellor,
Dr. Oyedepo on his vision towards the
education of Nigeria children especially
when the government institutions are
failing, but urging him to tamper justice
with mercy.
Another parent who was afraid of the
press noted that he was still studying
the situation and would not want to
comment but noted that he was reliably
informed that some group of parents
made frantic efforts to meet with the
Chancellor on the issue but without
success. It was not clear the level of the
efforts made. He further hinted that
some students have not told their
parents about their expulsion, still
hoping that the issue would be resolved.
He lamented that his child had been
having sleepless nights, going through
mental torture unjustifiably. “I agree
that discipline must be instilled in the
students but it should not be aimed at
destroying the life of the students.
Expulsion is too great a punishment for
non attendance of a departure service,
without even a warning especially when
the students hitherto, had not been
found wanting,” he stated.
What the Student Handbook says
The Covenant University Core values
border on Spirituality, Possibility
Mentality, Capacity Building, Integrity,
Responsibility, Diligence and Sacrifice. On
the spirituality aspect, it states: “The
Christian ethos underguard our activities
and conducts at all time and every
student of Covenant University is
expected to exhibit character traits and
dispositions of a Jesus-centered
heritage. The Jesus – factor centered
approach to all issues is non-negotiable
and central in the pursuit of our
mandate in raising a new generation of
leaders and in the realization of the
objectives of our purpose.
To this extent therefore, students will be
committed to maintaining a high level of
spirituality and shall act in such manner
as to facilitate their spiritual growth as
well as work out ways to evolve and
implement a spiritual development plan.
Attendance at Chapel Services is a
compulsory part of students’ spiritual
development where a bible and
notebook are essential kits for the
service. Students are expected to
demonstrate a deep reverence for God at
all times.”
The school declines comment
Several attempts were made to get the
school authorities comment on the issue.
The institution’s Corporate/Public Affairs
Officer, Mr Igban Emmanuel Kalu declined
comment. At first, several calls were
pulled through to him but he refused to
pick his calls. When the reporter
persisted, he later picked but said he
was driving and could not answer any
question. But few hours later, other calls
pulled to him were unanswered. A text
message was sent to his phone and up
to the time of writing this report, he did
not reply.
I’m not aware —Prof Julius Okojie, NUC
Executive Secretary
The Executive Secretary of the National
Universities Commission, NUC, Prof Julius
Okojie said he has not been briefed on
the matter.
Prof Okojie stated this during a
telephone conversation Saturday
Vanguard had with him a few days ago.
“I am not aware of any expulsion by
Covenant University; I will ask the school
authorities. Right now, I am not in
Abuja, I left Abuja few days ago and until
I return to Abuja and find out details
about the matter, I cannot comment on
it,” he said.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/covenant-university-expels-200-students-for-not-attending-church-service/

Yola – No fewer than 20 persons were
feared killed and inmates set free as
unknown gunmen, Friday, struck in
Maiha, Adamawa state.
The Maiha attack, in the Local
Government that shares a common
border with Cameroun Republic
recorded many casualties.
Eyewitness account in Maiha told
journalists in a telephone interview that
the Divisional Police station, the prison,
the district head
office, custom area office, the
presidential lodge, all located in the Local
government headquarters were
completely razed.
According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen
stormed the town at about 3 o’clock in
the morning with heavy artillery. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/breaking-news-20-feared-dead-as-gunmen-sacks-police-station-prison-in-adamawa/

IT was a shocking story to the parents
and neighbours of an 11 year old girl
and pupil of Ikorenim Primary School in
Calabar, Cross River State, Ekamen
Asuquo, when a pregnancy test that was
conducted on her at the General Hospital,
Calabar revealed that she was carrying a
four-month pregnancy.
The mother of the primary five pupil,
who resides at 2, Pipeline Road,
Ikorenim had suspected pregnancy,
going by the symptoms exhibited by the
teenage girl, who was sick for a while as
she decided to take her to the hospital
after she failed to get well, despite long
period of self medication.
The mother was rattled when it was
discovered that the girl was pregnant
after some tests.
A neighbour, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said “She has been at home
for the past two months always
complaining of one ailment or the other
and the mother had to take her to the
General Hospital after home medication
could not heal her in the hope that she
could be treated there.”
The neighbour, said when the teenage
girl was confronted by her mother, who
allegedly sells hot drinks and illicit drugs
over who was responsible for the
pregnancy, she mentioned one Tony,
one of the boys that patronises her
mother’s hot drinking joint.
However, the source hinted that when
Tony was confronted, he said “He was
the one who dated the teenage girl first
but another customer, Jones snatched
her from him and when Jones was
confronted, he said he had since
stopped dating the girl and mentioned
another person, who when also
confronted, mentioned another boy and
at the last count, the number was five.”
It was gathered that the mother was
infuriated when her daughter confirmed
that she slept with all the boys
mentioned and could not actually tell
who was responsible. It was also
gathered that two of the boys
mentioned were tenants living in the
woman’s house.
Out of annoyance, “She has since asked
the two young men living in her house
to quit but they are asking for time to
secure another accommodation before
they can vacate the house.”
When the distraught mother was asked
what she was going to do with the
daughter’s predicament, tears rolled
down her cheek, as she said “I leave
everything to God.”
When the state Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr John Umoh, was contacted, he
said the incident had not been reported
to the police.http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/11-yr-old-girl-gets-pregnant-for-five-boys/

Break ups suck! But you really have no
choice, do you? Use these 10 steps on how
to move on and deal with a break up, and
make yourself stronger too.
How to deal with a break up and smile!
Your will power and your determination is
the only thing that matters when it comes to
moving on after a break up. Nothing else
will help you, not your friends and not a
string of flings. Hold your ground, convince
yourself that you’re ready to move on and
get away from the pain. And use these steps
to move on and deal with a break up.
#1 Don’t write letters. There’s always a
constant itch to get in touch with an ex.
When you feel down, when you listen to a
romantic song, or even when you’re drunk.
But hold that thought. Never try to get in
touch with an ex unless you’re just bumping
into them accidentally. It’ll weaken your
resolve to get over your ex.
If you find yourself writing a long email to
your ex, write it if you must but don’t send
it. Hold on to that draft copy overnight.
When you wake up in the morning, you’d
realize that it was just a weak moment and
you don’t really want to send the email
anymore. By waiting a while, you’d be able
to feel stronger about your own resolve. The
same rule can be applied to phone calls and
texts too.
If an uncontrollable urge to call or text your
ex overwhelms you, don’t stop yourself.
Instead, just convince yourself that you’ll call
the next morning if you still feel like it. Each
time you put away a phone call or an email,
you’d feel more confident about getting
over your ex and moving on.
#2 Deal with the addiction. Exes are an
addiction, just like any other serious life
threatening addiction in the world. And the
worst part here, is that you can’t really cut
down a little bit at a time. You have no
choice but to go cold turkey and avoid all
contact. It will hurt and you will feel terrible,
but you’ll feel better a week later, and even
better another week later.
Treat your ex like a bad addiction, and learn
to deal with the break up. It’ll help you when
you start to see your ex as something that’s
bad for your life.
#3 The evil selfish ex. Let’s face it, if your
boyfriend or girlfriend dumps you, they’re
evil *at least in your head*. If your ex gets
rude or yells at you when you try to talk to
them, or if they ignore you, or if they look at
you with spite and disgust each time you
walk up to them, you have every right to
believe that they’re evil, selfish little devils.
But you know what, you can’t blame them
for it.
Your ex doesn’t like you anymore, they
despise you. Of course, they could be nicer
and try to be more understanding. But you
can’t expect every ex to hold you by the
hand and help you find the way out. A few
exes prefer tripping you and kicking you
where it hurts. Hate them for it. But deal
with it. And get over it.
#4 Replay your relationship. While you
sitting alone and staring at a wall or an
empty glass of wine, replay the relationship
in your head. Pick the mistakes and the
flaws in the relationship, and try to see
where things started falling apart.
But remember to pick the mistakes, not the
pieces of the relationship. The love affair is
over. What you need here is to try and figure
out where you went wrong, and where
your partner hurt you. Were you trying too
hard to please, insecure, clingy, or were you
just too busy with your own life? And about
your ex, try to pick their flaws too, so you
don’t fall for another person with the same
flaws again.
#5 Don’t force yourself. For the first week or
so, don’t bother trying to convince yourself
that you’re over your ex. Just let life take its
course. Do your best to get over your ex by
keeping yourself occupied, but don’t force
your mind to forget your ex. You may be
successful in bottling the thoughts, but
they’ll always come back now and then in
surges that will hurt you more.
#6 Stay miserable. Allow yourself to feel
miserable and hurt. But time yourself and
keep an eye on the calendar. Give yourself
about three weeks to get over your ex. Mark
the date on your calendar with a big red
marker.
Think about your ex for those three weeks,
but constantly remind yourself that at the
end of these three weeks, you’ll wake up the
next morning and completely overcome the
sadness you’re feeling. Keeping a date
marked on the calendar can psychologically
prepare you to get over your ex. And at
times, your wound may heal even before
those three weeks!
#7 Fantasize the high road revenge. There
are two types of fantasies you can think
about after a break up, the I-wish-we-could-
get-back fantasy, and the I’ll-get-even-with-
you fantasy. Don’t try anything below the
belt like spreading naked photos or cheap
comebacks like that, it’s not fair and you’ll
never forgive yourself for years if you even
have the slightest semblance of a
conscience.
Take the higher road. Convince yourself that
you’ll put your focus and energy into other
positive things, so that one fine day, many
years from now, you’d do something
spectacular with your life. And fantasize
scenarios where you’d run into your ex. It’s
not fair, but it helps for the moment. And
odds are you may forget all about this a few
years later. Don’t know what I mean? Go
watch Cee Lo’s F*ck you on youtube.
Fantasizing about success and exes makes
the dreams of success so much sweeter!
#8 Laugh like a crazy person. For the first
few weeks, don’t convince yourself you’re
happier. Just wallow in your self pity and
depression. But once you wake up one day
and feel better, a few weeks later, laugh!
Feel the happiness well within you. Realize
how good you feel. It takes a while, but
you’ll feel it when you’re ready. Listen to
happy songs, watch funny movies, and
laugh out loud. When you’re ready to move
on from your sad state, your mind will be
more than happy to help you have a nice
time.
#9 Curiosity and the no contact rule. The no
contact rule is really important. You can use
all the other steps and follow it to the tee,
but if you screw up here, you’ll be back on
square one in no time. Have you ever looked
for your ex’s facebook page sometime *just
to see what they’re doing*?
The first time you take a peek at your ex’s
page, you won’t think too much about it. But
as time goes by, you’d end up visiting their
page more and more often, until you realize
you’re addicted to the idea of wanting to
know more about you ex. There’s no
escaping your ex once you get wrapped up
in the curiosity of knowing more. Avoid it.
Don’t stay in contact, and don’t go looking
for information either.
#10 Get better and sexier. Have a life, go on
out there and enjoy yourself. Sitting by
yourself in the corner of the room will never
make you feel better. Date others or at least
meet a few interesting dating potentials that
catch your fancy. Remember, you’ll have a
very difficult time moving on if you find out
that your ex is dating someone new,
especially if you aren’t getting flirty with
someone else already.
Work out and get fit. You’ll look better, and
the endorphins released in your body will
make you feel more upbeat and look sexier.
A heartbreak isn’t the end of the world.
Sometimes, as hard as you try to prevent it,
break ups are inevitable. What you do next
and how you pull yourself together to deal
with the break up makes all the difference
between a person who experiences a break
up, and a broken lover who gives up on a
chance to have a happy life again.
Use these 10 steps on how to move on and
deal with a break up. Following these steps.http://uganda24.net/how-to-move-on-and-deal-with-a-break-up-with-a-smile/

Laura Moon, 18, from
Whinmoor in Leeds,
has four kidneys. All of
them are functional
and growing naturally.
She is willing to donate
the surplus to patients
who are in need of a
transplant.
Laura became aware of her 'unusual
anatomy' six months ago when she went to
have an ultrasound scan at the Seacroft
Hospital in her hometown of Leeds. The
ultrasound scan was to investigate stomach
pains following a road accident.
'I realized that the doctor scanning me
hadn't said anything for a long time. I
thought he was going to give me bad
news,' said Ms Moon. 'But then he said:
'You've got four kidneys.'
Two of Ms. Moon’s kidneys measure 14cm
and the other two are 9cm. The doctors
who treated her, asked for her permission
to take photos to show them to University
students.
Three-year-old Luke Heppenstall, a Leeds
resident, urgently needs a new kidney after
both of his were removed because of
cancer. Laura Moon who heard about Luke
is ready to step in to help the kid.
'I'm not exactly sure how [organ] donations
work, but I do know that I have four
kidneys and that I would like to help
someone like Luke if possible,' she said.
Consultant urological surgeon Dr Robyn
Webber, of Fife Acute Hospitals said, 'It is a
relatively rare condition. Ordinarily they are
left alone unless the patient is suffering any
problems. But Laura will be able to manage
perfectly well with two, so assuming they
are working correctly there is no reason
why she shouldn't donate them.'
Laura Moon who is about to start work as a
customer services adviser, is now
undergoing tests to see if all her four
kidneys are functioning well and if she will
be able to donate one, to begin with.
The reason why people develop multiple, or
duplex organs is not yet known, but one in
125 people have one extra kidney, normally
a partial organ. Only a handful of people in
the UK have four kidneys, although having
three is relatively common. But Laura's case
is the rarest of the rare because all of her
four kidneys are fully formed and functional.http://www.medindia.net/news/breakingnews/Four-In-One-Teenager-from-UK-Wants-To-Be-Kidney-Donor-33136-1.htm

The first text message was sent from a
computer to a mobile phone 20 years ago
today. We take a look back at two decades
of the text.
On December 3 1992, engineer Neil
Papworth sent the first SMS message to
Richard Jarvis of Vodafone. It simply read
"Merry Christmas," and Jarvis had no way of
replying.
The idea of sending short messages via
mobile phone only became a focus for
telecoms companies in the UK years later,
though the first commercial SMS service was
launched in Sweden in 1993 by Telia.
Most companies in 1994 were investing
heavily in pagers, but consumers'
enthusiasm for texts, which did not require
the intermediary of an operator, meant a
change of tack from from the mid-1990s
onwards.
Vodafone in the UK launched text
messaging in 1994. At that time texts were
completely free but could be sent only to
people on the same network. The medium
gained instant popularity among students,
who soon began shortening words into
"text speak."
Mobile phones already had numberpads
with letters on them as part of digital GSM
product specifications so that people could
enter names in their phonebooks.
In the early days of texting, users had to
stick to a 160 character limit (there was no
way of running texts together as there is
today) and T9 and other predictive text
systems did not exist before 1995, meaning
texting speeds were much slower.
Full cross-network compatability for SMS
(between Vodafone, Cellnet, One-2-One and
Orange) was not finalised until 1999, when
charging started across networks.
By January 2001, texts sent in a month hit a
billion in the UK. The Telegraph reported
that "Text messages sent on mobile phones
have spawned their own truncated
language, using allusion and codes to
squeeze whole sentences into a maximum
of 160 characters."
Our technology correspondent Robert Uhlig
got slightly carried away, informing readers
of a hugely complicated system
unrecognisable to most using texts at the
time.
He reported: "SMS-speak uses a combination
of symbols, abbreviations and phonetics for
speed and brevity, and capitals for
emphasis. The number 8, for example,
substitutes for the "ate" sound, used in
words such as gr8, h8 or st8. Capital letters
are pronounced as written, so that 'accurate
and balanced article' becomes 'aQr8 &
balNsd RTcL'.
"Emoticons can become quite sophisticated.
Typing :'-( means "I am crying", while @:-) is
"I am wearing a turban", and (:-I8()>
indicates a pregnant woman or conception.
To denote a man or father, :- is used to
denote the male Instruments, while >- or O+
signifies a woman."
In 2004, then Prime Minister Tony Blair took
part in a live text chat, but struggled with
the technology. "My texting talents are poor,
let's say underdeveloped," he told Capital FM.
At the Leveson Inquiry, Rebekah Brooks, the
former News International chief executive,
told how she had to inform the Prime
Minister that LOL means 'Laugh Out Loud'
not 'Lots Of Love'.
In the eight years since, texting has become
the norm for staying in touch, and texts
have saved lives, caused heartbreak and
speeded up daily life for millions.
It's now routine for parents to receive
information about their children at school
via text message and the NHS uses texts to
confirm test results and appointments. Text
messages have been harnessed for
charitable giving and even divorce. In 2008,
British surgeon David Nott received text
message instructions on how to amputate a
boy's arm in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, saving his life. But texts can just as
easily be used thoughtlessly or spitefully.
Text cyberbullying has become a new
problem for teenagers and their parents
and there have been reports of employees
being made redundant via SMS.
Nine in ten 16-24 year olds now say they
communicate with friends and family on a
daily basis via text messages, compared to
15 per cent of over-65s, according to Ofcom.
People in the UK sent an average of 200 SMS
and MMS messages per month in 2011. The
average number of text and picture
messages sent per UK inhabitant continued
to increase in 2011, growing by 17 per cent
to 200 messages per month.
But today text messages look under threat
from apps such as WhatsApp and Vibr that
provide the same service but over the
internet, and email and video calling over 3G
and 4G networks.
James Thickett, Ofcom’s Director of
Research, said: “When texting was first
conceived many saw it as nothing more
than a niche service.
"But texts have now surpassed traditional
phone calls and meeting face to face as the
most frequent way of keeping in touch for
UK adults, revolutionising the way we
socialise, work and network.
“For the first time in the history of mobile
phones, SMS volumes are showing signs of
decline. However the availability of a wider
range of communications tools like instant
messaging and social networking sites,
mean that people might be sending fewer
SMS messages, but they are ‘texting’ more
than ever before.”http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/9718336/Text-messaging-at-20-how-SMS-changed-the-world.html

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI
will join Twitter from December 12, with
regular tweets in eight languages from
the account @pontifex just in time for
Christmas, the Vatican said on Monday.
“The first tweets will be answers to
questions sent to the pope on matters of
faith. The public can start sending them
starting now,” the Vatican said.
The account already has 2,435 followers,
with numbers rising quickly immediately
after the announcement. An introductory
message read: “Welcome to the official
Twitter page of His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI.”
The tweets will be in Arabic, English,
French, German, Italian, Polish,
Portuguese and Spanish and more
languages could be added in future.
“The pope’s presence on Twitter is a
concrete expression of his conviction
that the Church must be present in the
digital arena,” the Vatican said in a
statement.
It added that Benedict wanted “to
ensure that the good news of Jesus
Christ and the teaching of his Church is
permeating the forum of exchange and
dialogue that is being created by social
media”.
Several leading Vatican prelates are
already regular tweeters including
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the
Pontifical Council for Culture, as the
tradition-bound institution tries to reach
a younger global audience.http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/pope-to-open-twitter-account/

It is now no longer news that many partners in a relationship can go to any lenght to prove and keep thier relationship including taking oath. What is your take on that?

The introduction of information technology has no doubt transform our world into a global village via the use of computers and other gadgets. However, this trend has lead to the establishment of various companies manufacturing computers and allied devices with the aim of enhance durability, accuracy, affordability, portability and of course high processing speed; hence competition among manufacturers of theses devices. Who is your favorite device manufacturer but as for me HP and APPLE have no equals.

December being the last month of the year is most often loaded with series of events that ranges from marriages, birthdays, parties for whatever reasons, and a host of other ceremonies. Why are such events reserved for december?

ABUJA—Few weeks after they were flown to Germany to meet their principal and continue proper medical attention, two of the three aids to Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State returned, Thursday.

The two aides, Chief Detail, Joel Danladi, and Chief Security Officer, CSO, Tino Dangana, touched down at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Aiport, Abuja, at 4.40pm aboard a Lufthansa aircraft.

They were driven off at 5.10pm in a convoy of four cars.

The aide de camp, ADC, Dasat Iliya, the third of the governor’s aides injured when the aircraft being flown by the governor crashed on a flight from Jalingo to Yola, will return next week.

The CSO, who returned using crutches, stopped photo-journalists from taking shots and asked one, who had taken a shot, to delete it.

Director of Medical Services in the Government House, Jalingo, Dr. Ahmed Kara, told newsmen Governor Suntai and the ADC were doing very well at the hospital.

https://vml1.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Tino-Dangara.jpg?9d7bd4

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/plane-crash-suntais-aides-return/

yea. I wil coz it is d most honourable n noble thing to do. I don't knw mayb dt blud may b used g my folks, siblings, or anybody. What grta joy it is g a man a knw tat u safe sombody. Safe life 2day by donatin bld. U neva who it wil safe!!!

medical practice of Saudi doctors. A year-old
girl turned out to be pregnant. Doctors said
that it was the first incident in the history of
modern medicine. Arab media outlets
discuss whether the removal of the fetus
from the baby girl is going to be considered
a murder.
It turned out that the mother of the
pregnant baby originally had two embryos
during her pregnancy. One of the embryos
began to develop in the uterus of the other
child. In spite of the fact that doctors
describe the incident as unique, there can
be other similar examples found in history.
A 36-year-old farmer had the embryo of his
twin brother removed in the town of
Nagpur, India, in 2006. The man asked for
medical help only after his swollen belly
hampered his breathing.
Doctors were certain that the man had a
gigantic tumor in his belly. However, they
found fragments of human Instruments, hairs,
limbs and jaws in the patient and finally
removed a weird underdeveloped creature
having legs and arms with long nails.
In 2002, Indian doctors found a fetus in the
body of a six-month-old boy. The dead fetus,
which surgeons removed from the boy,
weighed one kilo, whereas the boy himself
weighed 6.5 kilos.
The anomalous phenomenon is known as
fetus in fetu. Such incidents are extremely
rare: an embryo inside an embryo may
appear once in 500,000 pregnancies. The
phenomenon always occurs at an early
stage of pregnancy. As a rule, the fetuses die
in mother’s womb.
It may also happen that a child with a fetus
inside survives the entire pregnancy. In this
case the embryo continues to live inside its
owner’s body like a trapped parasite.
A fetus in fetu can be considered alive, but
only in the sense that its component tissues
have not yet died or been eliminated. Thus,
the life of a fetus in fetu is inherently limited
to that of an invasive tumor. In principle, its
cells must have some degree of normal
metabolic activity to have remained viable.
However, without the gestational conditions
attainable (so far) only in utero with the
amnion and placenta, a fetus in fetu can
develop into, at best, an especially well-
differentiated teratoma; or, at worst, a high-
grade metastatic teratocarcinoma. In terms
of physical maturation, its organs have a
working blood supply from the host, but all
cases of fetus in fetu present critical defects,
such as no functional brain, heart, lungs,
gastrointestinal tract, or urinary tract.
Accordingly, while a fetus in fetu can share
select morphological features with a normal
fetus, it has no prospect of any life outside
of the host twin. Moreover, it poses clear
threats to the life of the host twin on whom
its own life depends.
http://uganda24.net/shocking-a-one-year-old-girl-was-born-pregnant/

End of AIDS in sight,’ says UN report, as new
HIV infection rate continues to fall
With the number of people being diagnosed
with HIV falling, AIDS could one day be
eradicated, experts claim.
A report from the United Nations said this
was thanks to better access to drugs that
can both treat and prevent the incurable
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that
causes AIDS.
This meant the aim of ending the AIDS
epidemic was not ‘merely visionary’ but
‘entirely feasible.’
A researcher in Barcelona working on a
project for a HIV Vaccine: Some eight million
people were being treated with AIDS drugs
by the end of 2011.
Some 34 million people had HIV at the end
of 2011. Worldwide, the number of people
newly infected with the disease, which can
be transmitted via blood and by semen
during sex, is falling.
At 2.5 million, the number of new infections
in 2011 was 20 per cent lower than in
2001.
Deaths from AIDS also fell to 1.7 million in
2011, down from a peak of 2.3 million in
2005 and from 1.8 million in 2010.
The report said this allowed the ‘foundation
to be laid for the eventual end of AIDS.’
In 2012, over 100,000 people are living with
HIV in the UK. Of these, a quarter do not
know they are carrying the virus.
However, sub-Saharan Africa is the most
severely affected region with almost one in
every 20 adults infected, nearly 25 times the
rate in Asia. There are also almost five
million people with HIV in South, South-East
and East Asia combined.
What is illuminati? Can you answer the
question??
‘Although AIDS remains one of the world’s
most serious health challenges, global
solidarity in the AIDS response during the
past decade continues to generate
extraordinary health gains,’ the report said.
It said this was due to ‘historic success’ in
bringing HIV programmes to scale,
combined with the emergence of new
combination drugs to prevent people from
becoming HIV infected and from dying from
AIDS.
Since 1995, AIDS drug treatment – known as
antiretroviral therapy – has saved 14 million
life-years in poorer countries, including 9
million in sub-Saharan Africa, the report
said.
Some eight million people were being
treated with AIDS drugs by the end of 2011,
a 20-fold increase since 2003. The U.N. has
set a target to raise that to 15 million people
by 2015.
Scientific studies published in recent years
have shown that getting timely treatment to
those with HIV can also cut the number of
people who become newly infected with the
virus.
UNAIDS said the sharpest declines in new
HIV infections since 2001 were in the
Caribbean and in sub-Saharan Africa –
where new infections were down 25 per
cent in a decade.
Despite this, sub-Saharan Africa still
accounted for 71 per cent of people newly
infected in 2011, underscoring the need to
boost HIV prevention efforts in the region,
UNAIDS said.
HIV trends are also a concern in other
regions.
Since 2001, the number of new HIV
infections in the Middle East and North
Africa was up more than 35 percent from
27,000 to 37,000, it said, and evidence
suggests HIV infections in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia began increasing in the late
2000s after being relatively stable for several
years.http://ireporterstv.co/end-of-aids-in-sight-says-un-report-as-new-hiv-infection-rate-continues-to-fall/
- Daily Mail

Nicki Minaj Denied Entry To Own Album
Release Party
Published by Masaba Jerry on November 23,
2012 | 0 Comment
Facebook
Nicki Minaj was turned away from
her own album release launch
party Tuesday night in New York.
A source familiar with the incident
told The Huffington Post that the
29-year-old “Starships” singer
was scheduled to attend the event
but was denied entry from
Greenhouse club when she rolled up with
her boyfriend and a hefty entourage of 25
people at 3:30 a.m. Incidentally, the
downtown hot spot is also owned by the
same folks who run WIP, the club of choice
for Drake-Chris Brown brawls.
“The cops denied [Minaj] access saying the
venue was capacity,” the insider said. “She
tried to celebrate with fans but was turned
away at the door.”
Minaj released “The Re-Up,” a rerelease of
her second album “Pink Friday: Roman
Reloaded,” on Nov. 19. “It’s a little of a
http://uganda24.net/nicki-minaj-denied-entry-to-own-album-release-party/

DKB Apologizes To Zainab On Live TV And
Kisses Her Feet – Photos
Yesterday on The One Show, DKB apologized
to Zainab for the slap he landed her during
the Big Brother StarGame show. What more?
He went ahead to scrub and kiss her feet,
and this was all on live TV!
The One Show is talk-show in Ghana that
touches on social, topical, health, beauty and
celebrities on the Viasat channel. Check out
the photos above.
- bigbrotherinafrica

Murder suspect pours water on his lawyer’s
head in court (Photo)
On Monday, as members of the Cedar
Rapids, Iowa jury filed out to deliberate over
the murder case against Jerome Power, the
50-year-old suspect dumped a glass of
water on his lawyer’s head, according to the
Gazette.
“It should have been a mistrial,” Power said
after dumping the water on attorney Steve
Addington. “You sold me out!”
Power is charged with first-degree murder
for allegedly strangling to death his
neighbor, Doris Bevins, 68, in her home on
Sept. 19, 2010. Police said they found Power
hiding behind the front door when they
responded to the 911 call from Bevin’s
friend who was on the phone with her
when she was attacked.
The ABA Journal reports that Power’s lawyer
argued there was no DNA linking the
defendant to the crime and questioned why
Power would try to rob and attack a woman
that, everyone in the neighborhood knew
had no money.
Flickr: The easiest way to upload your
photos to the web. Get your FREE account
now!
This isn’t the only strange behavior
exhibited by Power during the trial,
according to KWWL.
Last week, Power held up a hand-written
sign, claiming someone else killed his
neighbor.
- Huffington Post

buyn petro or any petroleum product is not a crime in naija not until the day dat nigerian govt provides a steady n constant supply of electricity coupled with availability n afordable petroleum products.