₦airaland Forum

As you go about your daily life, it's easy to forget all of the weird and wonderful things that are tucked away around the world. A Redditor cobbled together 19 of the strangest places on earth, reminding us all of the creepy things that could be hidden in our very towns. Dark forests, abandoned cities, strange museums and other oddities are everywhere. You just need to know how to find them.

1.) Hoia Baciu Forest (Romania): This forest is known as the “Bermuda Triangle” of Romania. Multiple people have gone missing in it, people have sighted UFOs, there has been unexplained electrical phenomena and more.

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2.) The Catacombs (Paris): The Parisian catacombs are a giant ossuary and cemetary that are located beneath that city’s streets. There are approximately 6 million bodies put to rest in the catacombs. There is a city of the dead waiting to be explored beneath the city of lights.

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3.) The Mütter Museum (Pennsylvania): The Mütter Museum is an institution dedicated to medical anomalies. It houses organs, bones, fetuses and statues that’ll leave you with chills. Its medical oddities, anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment are world-famous.

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4.) Varosha (Cyprus): Varosha is a completely uninhabited resort city on Cyprus’ coast. After the Turkish invasion, Varosha was quickly evacuated. Today, Varosha stands frozen displaying exactly how life was in 1974. From a distance it looks like a bustling resort town, but it is completely dead.

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5.) Oradour-sur-Glane (France): This is a small French village that was decimated by the Nazis in WWII. The entire city was burned and almost every inhabitant was executed. The remnants of the village still stand today.

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6.) The Door to Hell (Turkmenistan): This was once a gas field, but the Soviets set it on fire. Now, it has been burning for over 40 years. It seems that the dangerous pit of fire will never stop burning.

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7.) Maunsell Sea Forts (North Sea, England): These were designed to protect England from a potential Nazi invasion during WWII. Today, they stand empty, ghosts guarding the coast (except for the occasional sea bird or vandals).

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8.) Leap Castle (Ireland): The Leap Castle is reportedly one of the most haunted castles in the world. Its rumored that the hallways are patrolled by “the Elemental,” an unseen force. The castle is allegedly haunted because it hosted historic slaughters and was even built on top of a torture pit.

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9.) San Zhi Resort (Taiwan): This resort was built to be a tranquil place, but because of the strange amount of deaths during the construction, it was abandoned. Now, the “pod” resort stands empty and supposedly haunted.

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10.) Wonderland (China): Wonderland was supposed to be China’s version of Disneyland, but much bigger. There were construction problems with the project, leading it to be abandoned. The remains of the theme park are still in the middle of an empty field, open to adventurers.

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11.) Jacob’s Well (Texas): This natural spring is over 100 feet deep. Many locals jump into the well for recreation, even though there are sharp rocks jutting out from all sides. Scuba divers explore the depths of this well, but with caution. Over the years, novice divers have perished in the well.

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12.) Kryziu Kalnas “Hill Of Crosses” (Lithuania): Kryziu Kalnas was originally a ceremonial site where Lithuanians would mourn the dead lost at war. The Soviet Union bulldozed the area twice, but locals rebuilt it to be even bigger. Today, over 100,000 crosses stand on the hill.

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13.) Kabayan Mummy Caves (Philippines): The Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves are manmade caves full of preserved mummies, isolated from most of the world. These mummies are some of the best preserved in the world.

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14.) Muynak (Uzbekistan): Muynak was once a busy port city on the Aral Sea. The Soviet Union drained the Aral Sea for irrigation purposes, destroying Muynak and leaving the remants of a busy port sit in a desert wasteland.

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15.) Centralia (Pennsylvania): This was one a busy mining town, until the coal veins under the city caught fire. This dangerous fire has been burning since 1962. The town was bandoned, except for approximately 10 people who still live there. The creepy town was the visual inspiration for the horror movie Silent Hill.

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16.) Island of the Dolls (Mexico): This place is an uninhabited island in Xochimilco, Mexico. According to legend, a girl died in the canals surrounding the island, after which dolls began to wash ashore constantly. The island’s only inhabitant and caretaker then began to hang the dolls that would wash ashore in memory of the little girl.

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17.) Cincinnati’s Abandoned Subway (Ohio): There were plans to build a subway system in Cincinnati in the early 1900s. The city ran out of funding, but the tunnels that were constructed are still open beneath the city, a maze that is left to be explored.

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18.) Jatinga (India): Jatinga is a relatively normal town, but it’s plagued by massive bird “suicides” that happen every September - October. The en masse bird deaths occur at the end of the monsoon months, when on dark, foggy nights the bird populations are attracted to the lights of villages and are then killed by the villagers. In modern times, conservation groups have made an effort to decrease the amount of bird deaths during this season.

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19.) Akodessewa Fetish Market (Togo): Over half of the population of Togo practices indigenous beliefs, requiring religious paraphernalia you would not find in any normal market. Shrunken heads, skulls, flesh and more can be found in a fetish market like this.

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Some of the strangest places on earth aren't legitimately haunted, instead they are haunted by the memories of the horrors that were once committed there. The absence of life and positivity in a place that is just an archaic link to the past can be more chilling than any ghost story. Source: Reddit Share these strange places with others... spread the chills that go down your spine.

Er, Sorry 20. I forgot to add Sambisa forest!

The closest to God's own heart is a heart of love. Anon.

The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has assured Nigerians that all corrupt politicians will end up in jail once he is elected into power.

Buhari, who gave the assurance on Tuesday during the APC rally and the presentation of the party’s governorship flag to Umana Umana as its candidate in Akwa Ibom State in Uyo, said he would close all loopholes through which money was being siphoned out of the country.

“When we come into power, anyone who steals Nigerian money will end up in Kirikiri Maximum Prisons. We are going to make sure that Nigeria’s wealth belongs only to Nigerians,” he said.

He decried the overdependence of Nigeria on oil, saying that the country would not have faced the economic downturn if the country had invested in agriculture.

According to Buhari, Nigeria used to export tin and columbite but all of a sudden, it stopped producing and exporting these minerals with the belief that the country has oil.

On the power sector, Buhari stated that many industries had shut down operation because of epileptic power supply. He noted that Nigerian producers were not able to compete in the international market because of huge cost of generating alternative power.

Buhari, who was a former military Head of State, assured Nigerians that his government would create over three million jobs yearly to take care of the jobless youths.

The Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Director General, Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, said he was ashamed to read on the pages of newspapers a story credited to the Peoples Democratic Party that things had improved in Nigeria from 2011 onward.

He added that governors decided that the excess crude money be shared because of the missing cash that was involved.

Amaechi said, “I was ashamed to read on the pages of newspapers, where the PDP said things had improved from 2011 till now.

“Oil price used to be between $120 and $145 before now. Our savings used to be between $45 and $46bn. We had over $10bn to $20bn in excess crude. The reason why the governors asked that excess crude be shared was that after each meeting we had, if the money was $10bn, before we come back for another meeting, it would be $8bn. Who has taken the $2bn? We did not know.

“When we discovered that our money was being taken away with reckless abandon without accounting, it was then we asked, ‘Oga, please share this money. You are not a bank. And if it were a bank, it would add more to the money.”

Amaechi urged members of the party in the state to go to their units and educate the people. He asked the people to make sure that their votes count after voting, so that the PDP government would be voted out of power.
The Punch

When the idea of a new driving licence was conceived, Nigerians had reasons to fear as with any such process in the country.

Though the era of when any Tomiwa, Dike and Haruna whether qualified or not could acquire a driving licence just sitting in the comfort of their homes can be said to be over, the process of acquiring it still leaves much to be desired.

Almost a year since I got my temporary driving licence, I am still to be issued with the permanent one by the Federal Road Safety Corps. Yet, a few who applied months after me have got theirs. As things are going, I fear that my yet-to-be-issued driving licence would expire without me even seeing it!

Curiously, one of the employees of FRSC feels that considering when my data was captured, he was “sure” that my permanent driving licence should be ready. That those at the Vehicle Inspection Office may not take their time to check “very well”. And true, there are many driving licences there that their “owners” have not “come” to collect!

Every two months, I am required to go to the licensing office to renew it. I see the same crowd forced every two months to do the same process. One man with a smile on his face said for almost two years he had been renewing his own. Some who were tired of complaining just shrug it off. Some don’t even bother anymore to check whether their permanent one is ready, but just thrust their paper in front of the person who stamps it for renewal. Equally, the person who stamps it hardly looks up to see the person they are stamping their papers. It is all part of a boring routine.

The idea of a temporary driving licence to expire in “60 days” was conceived because it was thought that by that time the permanent one will be ready.

Perhaps, they can learn something from the voter card. I suggest that subsequent issuance of temporary driving licence should carry an expiry date that the permanent one would normally carry. After all, what really makes them “temporary” or “permanent” is not actually their dates, but the material they are made of!

In addition, I feel three years validity for a well-”scrutinised” driving licence is too short. Four years would have been good, but five years would have been better.

I see the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, as a dynamic man, with the right zeal as his predecessor to push for innovations. I hope though that my permanent driving licence would see the light of day before it expires. Over to you, Mr. Oyeyemi and your men.

Dr. Cosmas Odoemena
The Punch

God has decided the outcome of this year’s general elections long ago and nobody can change that, a cleric from President Goodluck Jonathan’s hometown of Otuoke in Bayelsa State has said.
Bishop of Ogbia Diocese Rev. James Aye Oruwori stated this yesterday at St. Stephens Anglican Church, Otuoke where the president participated in the first Sunday service of the year.
This was barely 72 hours after a Catholic Priest Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka has urged Jonathan to drop his re-election bid so that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate retired General Muhammadu Buhari could emerge the winner of the presidential election.
But in his sermon yesterday, Oruwori told the congregation comprising Jonathan’s aides, Governor Seriake Dickson, Deputy Governor John Jonah and the Chaplain of Presidential Villa Chapel Rev. Obiona Owuzurumba that God had decided on the 2015 polls long ago.
The cleric also said that rather than exhibit fears about the forthcoming general elections, Nigerians should be calm and abide by God’s decision which, according to him, no one could change.
He said: “God has written his decision on the next elections. No one can change it. He wrote the decision long ago. Election is the biggest thing we are expecting this year. We must stop exhibiting fear. We should be calm and abide by God’s decision.”  
Oruwori admonished the congregation to shun sins and have a strong relationship with God for them to win all battles.
Jonathan described the country’s future as bright, expressing optimism that with its vast potentials, Nigeria would get to the promised land in spite of the challenges it faced.
The president assured Nigerians that his government would continue to explore Nigeria’s potentials to move the nation forward.

Daily Trust

In the face of deepening world economic crisis, the ability of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, to manage the Nigerian economy and fight corruption, if elected president, has been called to question.

THISDAY over the weekend, exclusively took hold of the original copy of a report by the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF) Interim Management Committee, instituted on July 7, 1999 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Based on this report, the PTF under Buhari's supervision was mismanaged. The report was however neither made public nor was it acted upon by the former president.

In its summary, the Committee had advised Obasanjo to "set up a high powered judicial panel to recover the huge public fund and to take necessary action against any officer, consultant or contractor whose negligence resulted in this colossal loss of public funds."

According to the report, the sum of N25,758,532,448 was mismanaged by the Afri-Project Consortium (APC), a company contracted by the PTF as management and project consultant. Buhari as PTF chairman was said to have also "delegated to them the power of Engineer in all appropriate project requiring such power," which made them assume absolute powers to initiate, approve and execute all projects by the PTF.

The mismanagement that took place in the PTF under Buhari's watch was said to have been carried out by the APC (the company) in their capacity as management and project consultants. Both their management services fee and budget for several projects carried out during the existence of the PTF were greatly overpriced.

While carrying out its obligations, the Committee made up of Dr. Haroun Adam as Chairman, and Alhaji Abdu Abdurrahim, Mr Achana Gaius Yaro, Edward Eguavoen, Mr. T. Andrew Adegboro and Mr. Baba Goni Machina as members, engaged three management consulting firms to verify all payments made to PTF from inception to September 30, 1999.

On verification, according to the Committee, "it was found that they (the consulting firms) had overcharged PTF for their services to the tune of N2,057,550,062". Also, while intervening on behalf of the PTF in the road and waterways, education, food, health, and other sectors, the APC, according to the report, inflated all the prices.

For instance, intervention in the health sector, was said to have totalled N9 billion. Projects in this sector were said to have been executed by the APC and PTF in-house staff, and loss of billions of naira were recorded due to price inflation of products and services.

To purchase spectacle frames, which could have been done locally at a price between N80 to N880, the APC, under the watch of the PTF chairman, bought them at an inflated price of N1,900 each. Ambulances were said to have been purchased at N13 million per unit, instead of N3 million. And then price inflation of drugs were done to the tune of N1.5 billion.

The report also said that the PTF lost money to the tune of N3.5 billion from its bank account operations. The PTF operated its bank accounts under three different categories: Administration, Project and Treasury accounts, and the loss of money to these accounts were said to have been due to "overcharge on Cost of Turnover (CoT), non-payment of interest on current account balances as stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), short payment of interest on deposited funds, and other various discrepancies."

While discharging their duties, the Committee discovered that an average income of N182 billion accrued to the PTF from its inception to the date of filing their report. According to the Committee’s report, the PTF used about 70 per cent of that income on highways and urban road projects.

The report stated further that, "In this project sector there was total variation of contract sums of N68 billion. These variations were not done with properly priced bills of quantities and approved civil contracts procedure as stipulated by government regulations.

"Taking the experience of what has been discovered after verification of various contracts awarded by PTF the minimum potential recovery will be about 15%. This estimated percentage will be about N10 billion. The verification of this project sector was about to take off when the committee members were replaced."
This Day

We won’t support Jonathan because Buhari is most likely to win the election – APGA

By TODAY on January 5, 2015 @ 1:24 am

@todayngr

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The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has said it will not support President Goodluck Jonathan in the forthcoming elections as it is very likely that the candidate of the All progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, will emerge winner of the February presidential election.

The Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of APGA, Mr. Campbell Umeh-Nzekwe, made this known on Sunday.

According to Umeh-Nzekwe, Jonathan’s problems were further compounded when the Ohanaeze Ndigbo failed to adopt him as the consensus candidate of the Igbo for the election at its Ime-Obi (inner caucus) meeting on Saturday, in Enugu.

He said the sermon by renowned Enugu-based Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, calling on Jonathan to drop his presidential ambition has “sent shockwaves across the South-East region,” adding that APGA is certain he (Jonathan) won’t win votes in the North.

“The game has changed. As it is, Jonathan has no chance of winning. Buhari seems to have taken over. The PDP has collapsed in the North if you care to know. All those who are running to Aso Rock and making promises to the President are just deceiving him,” Umeh-Nzekwe said.

He, however, said he wasn’t certain if APGA would be supporting Buhari at the polls.
He said, “Jonathan is a sitting President with incumbency factor in his favour but Buhari has the masses and a cult following in the North. In 2011, Buhari won 12 million votes in the North with his rag-tag party, the Congress for Progressive Change, without a single governor or senator to campaign for him.

“Today, his party, the APC, has 14 governors, 43 senators and 176 Reps as well as 625 House of Assembly members. Also, the APC has dominant control of the North-West with a total number of 18.4 million voters and North-East with 10.2 million while South-West has 13.4 million voters

“ The PDP has dominant control of the North-Central and Abuja with 10.4 million voters while the South-South has 8.5 million and South-East has 7.2 million votes.

“However, no zone has achieved 50 per cent of votes cast but northern voters are more committed and trustworthy than those in the South.

“Also, look at Jonathan’s campaign team. He has Col. Ahmadu Ali (retd.) as his Director General and Peter Obi as the deputy while Buhari has Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora as director general and deputy respectively. It is time for Ndi Igbo to review their strategy.”

Man who relishes having two joysticks.
Go to link for full story and image.

http://terafema..com/?m=1

The cold hands of nurses

In the thinking of many stakeholders, a hospital is a place where patients should meet with professionals who have empathy and sympathy. This fellow-feeling spirit, they, however, say is lacking in many Nigerian hospitals.

A nursing mother, who had her baby last February, likened what she went through in the hands of the midwives at the Ifako-Ijaiye General Hospital, to sheer “humiliation”.

She had nothing positive to say for the obstetric care she got on her day of delivery.

She said, “I got to the hospital around 7pm. I was taken upstairs and told to wait while I was in labour. I was there for an hour, crying and shivering because of the pain. The midwife that was supposed to attend to me abandoned me and was engaged in endless conversation with another nurse.

“I overheard her telling the other nurse in Yoruba, ‘See her shaking, she is catching cold. She barked at me again, ‘you had better not push until you have contractions. Otherwise, you will just injure yourself.’

“Even when I felt the baby coming, she still did not show much concern. It was the other nurse in an Islamic garb that told her that the baby was showing before she came to meet me. She kept lamenting that she had never had a delivery this messy. She said, ‘Both mother and baby are just a mess.’

“While I was praying aloud, saying, ‘God, don’t let me die here, she shouted back, ‘Eh! Look at this woman saying she is going to die. Whatever you say will happen. If you knew you could not handle labour pains, why didn’t you do a Caesarean Section?”

However, she applauded the health workers in charge of antenatal services at the hospital, even while vowing never to undergo delivery at the hospital again.

She said, “Apart from the usual bribe given to some nurses to get you to see a doctor earlier than others, the ante-natal was quite smooth because I didn’t expect much. They had a few doctors and nurses who are overworked and often exhausted.

“We had to wait for several hours just to see the doctor or have the nurses checked our vital signs. God knows I will never go there to deliver again!”

Another nursing mother told our correspondent that she still had scars to show for the bitter experience she had during her baby’s delivery at the maternal and child centre of the hospital.

She said that on getting to the hospital on the day of delivery, it took the health records’ personnel more than an hour to find her records.

“It was not until my husband bribed them that they brought out my records. It took another two hours before I saw a doctor. They said they were busy with other women in the theatre. I was just lying there in pain.

“All the while, the midwives were shouting on me to keep quiet. While she was stitching me up after the delivery, she was in a hurry. Even the doctor complained that she did a shoddy job some days later when I was still seeing blood. I had to be re-stitched. It was a very painful experience for me.”

Overhaul the training of nurses

While patients receive treatment as kings in civilised climes, many of their counterparts in Nigeria are paupers begging for medical attention.

The negative attitude of nurses who are to show compassion and care to patients is a problem that can no longer be ignored.

Observers have expressed worries that the actions and inactions of health workers, especially nurses in some public hospitals, have endangered patients’ lives.

They noted that nursing care in the country was deteriorating, warning that if there was no stop to this, more people would be dying daily.

According to consultant neurologist, Dr. Biodun Ogungbo, the attitude of nurses, who are usually the first set of professionals that patients meet, could either make or mar the hospital.

He said, “The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has a huge task in hand to restore dignity to the nursing profession. They have to overhaul the training of nurses and make it a serious business.

“The schools of nursing need to be upgraded and restructured to deliver quality training. Some doctors should be involved in the training of nurses, both in the practical and theoretical aspects, for relevance in the work place.

“Nurses seem to have lost pride and passion for the job. The council should take a clue from other professional bodies and give the profession a facelift. Career upgrade should be encouraged among nurses, even to the PhD level (postgraduate nursing school with varying specialisation); for there is something that continuing education does to an individual. It refines you and brings about a positive change in perception and behaviour. Nurses need to be proactive and confident in their ability.”
Excerpt from The Punch

Cosmas Odoemena

Some months back, I was invited to a dinner by an Imo professional body in Lagos, and to interact with the Honourable Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha. The programme was meant to start at about 6pm, but he was delayed. Apparently, President Goodluck Jonathan was visiting Imo State that same day, and the Honourable himself as expected was part of those hosting him. He eventually came in at about 8pm.

When he entered the gathering, his interpersonal skills were on display, as he acquainted freely and easily with almost everyone in the gathering. He apologized for the delay and explained why. Then, he asked if we even knew that the President was visiting Imo and if we watched it live on television. The audience was speechless. One or two people mumbled something about watching their favourite English football club play as it was a Saturday.

But he quipped that he too had his own favourite football club. That even when he travelled abroad, he would always find a pub to view his team play. But, that nothing comes between himself and the affairs of his state. He harped on the need for us to stop showing apathy towards governance. That it is when we show interest, and are part of the conversation on governance, can we have the moral rights to question our leaders.

According to Ihedioha, he does not have any other profession, but politics. He does not chase contracts. His is about consensus and bridge building. He showed devotion to his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and truly understands its dynamics. In this season of cross-carpeting, it is hard to picture him in another party. Well, I guess unless PDP loses its ideals.

Questions were asked, and he took his time to answer them.  The meeting did not end until the early hours of the following day. Still, he was ready to go on and on. He showed no fatigue. But one thing he said that very day that struck a cord was his message and mission to “spread the wealth.”

Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, yet there is widespread poverty and inequality. Its wealth does not trickle down to the people who desperately need it. It is like a country the Nobel Economics laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz described as “of the 1 percent, by the 1 percent, and for the 1 percent.”

Poverty and inequality lead to health and social problems. They are at the root of the insurgency and insecurity in the land. It is only when politicians make poverty reduction their top priority, among their many competing priorities, that it can be dealt with. The nation’s wealth should not be for a select few. It is refreshing to see a politician espouse this. It is fitting that he chaired the Constitution Review Committee where it made a significant proposal to make certain socio-economic rights fundamental and enforceable and incorporating them into Chapter IV, the justiciable part of the Constitution, “the rights to education, right to favourable environment, right to free primary and maternal health care services, and the right to basic housing.” But only good governance can ensure all this.

Noel Keough calls good governance “the gift that keeps on giving.” The Economist called it “the secret weapon of Nordic success in the global economy.” But the greatest threats to good governance according to the United Nations come from “corruption, violence and poverty, all of which undermine transparency, security, participation and fundamental freedoms.” Electoral promises are broken and secret pacts are made. The people become cynical about their leaders.

Imo people and the Nigerian people in general yearn for good governance. They want equity, participation, transparency, and accountability. They want a land where no one shall be too poor, where no one shall have no work to do. A land filled with opportunities, not for the favoured few, a land where all may live in sufficiency and convenience.

Ihedioha won the Peoples Democratic Party ticket for the governorship election in Imo State. I believe Ihedioha, like any leader who has a mission must have questioned himself first. You cannot deliver the goods to the people if there is no inner conviction. Effective leadership comes from an inner core of integrity, and yet it is not rigid. It is this that makes the leader open to the thoughtful influence of those who he or she leads. There should be made room for responsible criticism. Partnerships can be built as basic units to accomplish work that will impact on the people.

Countries that promote good governance are always trying more meaningful ways to deliver public service, from schools to health care. The openness to change and experimentation stems from high level of trust.

A people will buy into a leader when they see him championing policies that will touch their lives. Again, leaders we trust are aware that they cannot possess all the answers, they are eager to hear responsible critique and to work with it. Differences of opinion, perspective, and world view are essential part of life and learning. Leaders who can be trusted value differences, not only as a critical imperative and a way of respecting others, but also as an alternate source for direction. In any system, the ideas from outside often hold the encased wisdom which enrich our mind and keep us away from self-delusion.

When we buy into our leaders’ philosophy it is easy to trust them. And when trust comes in we create communities which function as sustaining circles of trust and closeness. It is these communities that make leadership a collective effort.

Ihedioha shows an exceptional ability to win fervent support even from those who disagree with him! Am not surprised he won the PDP ticket. Ihedioha used his position and person to facilitate more than 140 projects in his constituency. Among the ones I can mention here are reactivation and rehabilitation of Uvuru Amawo Water Project, and the Aronta Mbutu Water project, provision of 100pcs classmate computer and V-Sat based internet access with generator in Mbaise Secondary School and Okpala School, construction of Nigerian Immigration Service Center in Aboh Mbaise, completion of Mbutu electricity project. Others are 132 KVA/33 Substation in Aboh Mbaise, 15 MVA Substation 1 x 15 MVA-33/11 KV, erection of 70 poles solar powered street lights in Enyiogugu Airport junction, and at Nwko Mbutu market square, as well as at Okpala junction. He also rehabilitated road projects in Chokoneze-Mbutu-Logara road, Umuopara-Ibeku-Umuhu-Uvuru road, Ogbor-Uvuru-Amuzu-Lorji-Ife road, and many more roads construction and equipping of Primary Healthcare Centres. The Nigerian Television Authority Owerri felt his touch, and so did Heartland FM Owerri.

Imo State can do with a governor who is politically savvy, a critical thinker who brims with confidence, an interface of the people, someone who can function effectively and efficiently for the benefit of the people.

Dr Odoemena, medical practioner Lagos
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=96835

Cosmas Odoemena

Some months back, I was invited to a dinner by an Imo professional body in Lagos, and to interact with the Honourable Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha. The programme was meant to start at about 6pm, but he was delayed. Apparently, President Goodluck Jonathan was visiting Imo State that same day, and the Honourable himself as expected was part of those hosting him. He eventually came in at about 8pm.

When he entered the gathering, his interpersonal skills were on display, as he acquainted freely and easily with almost everyone in the gathering. He apologized for the delay and explained why. Then, he asked if we even knew that the President was visiting Imo and if we watched it live on television. The audience was speechless. One or two people mumbled something about watching their favourite English football club play as it was a Saturday.

But he quipped that he too had his own favourite football club. That even when he travelled abroad, he would always find a pub to view his team play. But, that nothing comes between himself and the affairs of his state. He harped on the need for us to stop showing apathy towards governance. That it is when we show interest, and are part of the conversation on governance, can we have the moral rights to question our leaders.

According to Ihedioha, he does not have any other profession, but politics. He does not chase contracts. His is about consensus and bridge building. He showed devotion to his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and truly understands its dynamics. In this season of cross-carpeting, it is hard to picture him in another party. Well, I guess unless PDP loses its ideals.

Questions were asked, and he took his time to answer them.  The meeting did not end until the early hours of the following day. Still, he was ready to go on and on. He showed no fatigue. But one thing he said that very day that struck a cord was his message and mission to “spread the wealth.”

Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, yet there is widespread poverty and inequality. Its wealth does not trickle down to the people who desperately need it. It is like a country the Nobel Economics laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz described as “of the 1 percent, by the 1 percent, and for the 1 percent.”

Poverty and inequality lead to health and social problems. They are at the root of the insurgency and insecurity in the land. It is only when politicians make poverty reduction their top priority, among their many competing priorities, that it can be dealt with. The nation’s wealth should not be for a select few. It is refreshing to see a politician espouse this. It is fitting that he chaired the Constitution Review Committee where it made a significant proposal to make certain socio-economic rights fundamental and enforceable and incorporating them into Chapter IV, the justiciable part of the Constitution, “the rights to education, right to favourable environment, right to free primary and maternal health care services, and the right to basic housing.” But only good governance can ensure all this.

Noel Keough calls good governance “the gift that keeps on giving.” The Economist called it “the secret weapon of Nordic success in the global economy.” But the greatest threats to good governance according to the United Nations come from “corruption, violence and poverty, all of which undermine transparency, security, participation and fundamental freedoms.” Electoral promises are broken and secret pacts are made. The people become cynical about their leaders.

Imo people and the Nigerian people in general yearn for good governance. They want equity, participation, transparency, and accountability. They want a land where no one shall be too poor, where no one shall have no work to do. A land filled with opportunities, not for the favoured few, a land where all may live in sufficiency and convenience.

Ihedioha won the Peoples Democratic Party ticket for the governorship election in Imo State. I believe Ihedioha, like any leader who has a mission must have questioned himself first. You cannot deliver the goods to the people if there is no inner conviction. Effective leadership comes from an inner core of integrity, and yet it is not rigid. It is this that makes the leader open to the thoughtful influence of those who he or she leads. There should be made room for responsible criticism. Partnerships can be built as basic units to accomplish work that will impact on the people.

Countries that promote good governance are always trying more meaningful ways to deliver public service, from schools to health care. The openness to change and experimentation stems from high level of trust.

A people will buy into a leader when they see him championing policies that will touch their lives. Again, leaders we trust are aware that they cannot possess all the answers, they are eager to hear responsible critique and to work with it. Differences of opinion, perspective, and world view are essential part of life and learning. Leaders who can be trusted value differences, not only as a critical imperative and a way of respecting others, but also as an alternate source for direction. In any system, the ideas from outside often hold the encased wisdom which enrich our mind and keep us away from self-delusion.

When we buy into our leaders’ philosophy it is easy to trust them. And when trust comes in we create communities which function as sustaining circles of trust and closeness. It is these communities that make leadership a collective effort.

Ihedioha shows an exceptional ability to win fervent support even from those who disagree with him! Am not surprised he won the PDP ticket. Ihedioha used his position and person to facilitate more than 140 projects in his constituency. Among the ones I can mention here are reactivation and rehabilitation of Uvuru Amawo Water Project, and the Aronta Mbutu Water project, provision of 100pcs classmate computer and V-Sat based internet access with generator in Mbaise Secondary School and Okpala School, construction of Nigerian Immigration Service Center in Aboh Mbaise, completion of Mbutu electricity project. Others are 132 KVA/33 Substation in Aboh Mbaise, 15 MVA Substation 1 x 15 MVA-33/11 KV, erection of 70 poles solar powered street lights in Enyiogugu Airport junction, and at Nwko Mbutu market square, as well as at Okpala junction. He also rehabilitated road projects in Chokoneze-Mbutu-Logara road, Umuopara-Ibeku-Umuhu-Uvuru road, Ogbor-Uvuru-Amuzu-Lorji-Ife road, and many more roads construction and equipping of Primary Healthcare Centres. The Nigerian Television Authority Owerri felt his touch, and so did Heartland FM Owerri.

Imo State can do with a governor who is politically savvy, a critical thinker who brims with confidence, an interface of the people, someone who can function effectively and efficiently for the benefit of the people.

Dr Odoemena, medical practioner Lagos

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=96835

Cosmas Odoemena

Since Steven Keshi "failed" to qualify the Super Eagles for the AFCON 2015 in Equatorial Guinea to defend their title, it has been "Keshi is a failure," "Keshi is a bad coach," "Keshi is arrogant," "Keshi takes bribe from players," "Keshi is the worst thing that ever happened to our football," and so on.

Keshi is now the villain. How short indeed is our collective memory of success! When he won the 2013 AFCON his players carried him shoulder high. Nigerians celebrated him. Africa celebrated him. CAF named him the Coach of the Year. Mahmoud El-Gohary of Egypt and Nigeria's Steven Keshi are the only people that have won the Nations Cup as a player and as a coach. Nigerians were proud to be associated with Keshi. All that is now bygone.

In case some of us have also forgotten, or have chosen to forget, Keshi is the longest serving Super Eagles captain. He is the best coach Nigeria has produced, and one of the best coaches in Africa. Mali know this. Togo know this. Other African countries know it. But Nigerans don't know it!

Before Nigerian footballers "opened eye" Keshi had gone to Europe to establish himself, and helped many Nigerian players to move to Europe. Perhaps if not for Keshi our footballers would not have moved to the bests leagues in the world then, and become internationally known. They have even said Keshi's AFCON success was by "luck". Well, luck follows great coaches.

After we could not qualify for the AFCON 2012 the NFF or whatever they call themselves now had their tail between their legs. They told themselves the truth. That there was no them without a vibrant Super Eagles team. They decided to go for Steven Keshi. He was to build a new team. Keshi was given a contract in black and white, not a verbal contract. Keshi went for youth, people who were not known because he understands the psyche of the Nigerian, nay African player. He understands they cannot handle fame. Nigerian players when they are in the youth stage they know their lives depend on doing well in tournaments, especially World Cup or they risk poverty for life. That is why any chance they have to showcase themselves they give it their all. Even their parents do everything to encourage them. They are ready to listen to, and ready to obey their coach. But their white counterparts who know their future is assured by their governments only go through those competitions as not a "do or die" thing but a game that builds them up. When they now go professional they give it their all. While Nigerian foreign based players are obsessed about their pounds and dollars in Naira their white counterparts are obsessed about breaking new records. So he is busy developing himself. Keshi knows this. That was why he went for those who will play for him, as he likes to put it, "those who will work for the team." People keep saying Keshi keeps experimenting. That "new" players will not allow for "stability" or "blending." Again, Nigerian players are not primed to "play for long", at least not yet. Nigerian players give their country the best of themselves for a period they seek recognition, after that the "been there, seen it, done it" mentality takes over. Use them while they can last. Remember they lie about their ages. Not everyone is an Okocha or a kanu.

Football is a team game. Perhaps you might get one or two people who want to always raise their game in a match, but as long as you have those who are not willing to raise their game, even just one of them who is not raising his game, that one becomes the weak link. They are the ones who will lose concentration in a match easily. They are the ones who will not take any risk in a match, they are the ones who will complain about playing on artificial turf, they are the ones when they are supposed to play for the national team they will excuse themselves for "pressing family matters," they are the ones who blackmail their country over match bonus. Keshi knows all this. And that is why he does not build his team on any player. That is why he is regularly looking for "unknown" names who will make a name for themselves. Even if it they are only primed to last for a competition. It does not matter. Keshi goes for raw talent, and what his team lacks in talent it has as a team. Keshi understands that "big names" will not win us laurels. It is easier for Nigeria to win the Nations Cup again with Keshi's "unknown" players than with our under-talented players with over-inflated ego from abroad who choose the match they play. We can never win the World Cup with them. Never! Only "Keshi's type of Eagles" can win it. Any Nigerian coach who wants to succeed must apply that formula.

The Pharaohs of Egypt won the Nations Cup in 2010 but could not qualify to defend it in 2012 because there was war in Egypt. When our football managers who are supposed to be a family decide to fight among themselves like children whose father died intestate, how do you expect our football to move forward? Even the world of football was not happy with Nigeria. FIFA President Sepp Blatter and CAF President Issa Hayatou made it clear to Nigerian football administrators.
Cameroon went through the same infighting process and their football dipped. They came to their senses and now they are back. The French football players had problems in their camp in the 2010 World Cup, which caused their early exit. In 2014 they beat the Super Eagles to reach the Quarter Finals. And their football has remained on the ascendency.

How many foreign trainings for coaches has NFF sent Keshi and other Nigerian coaches for? None! Keshi is not the problem of our football. No coach is the problem of our football. Even an Alex Ferguson will not succeed in the kind of football environment we have today.

Besides, no coach keeps winning forever. There will be a time failure will come in. It happens to the best coaches in the world. After all, other teams are not there to watch spectators. But good coaches learn from it, to get even better! In addition, Nigerians are not patient. Before Sir Alex Ferguson became what he is with Manchester United his early years had no success. No one sacked him. He was given time. And the results are there to see. Arsene Wenger has been floundering with Arsenal for some years now. Still, management has kept faith with him. They know he has done it before, that he can do it again. Even Louis Van Gaal with Manchester United was not winning matches when he was initially appointed, but today they are third in position in the English Premier League.
The Spanish team, as defending Champions were disgraced at the last World Cup prompting their coach Vicente del Bosque to tender his resignation. The football board did not accept his resignation. They told him that they believe in him. Now, the Spanish team is back to their winning ways.

Those at the Glass House clamouring for a foreign coach are doing so for their own selfish reason, because they know that they will make "more" money from the deal.

Keshi loves Nigeria. But it is his patriotism that is coming back at him. How many of us will be willing to coach the Super Eagles without a contract, not sure you will be paid? No foreign coach will do it.

How can you concentrate when you are distracted by one court ruling or the other because those who run our football have refused to grow up? How can players concentrate in such a circumstance? If Nigeria had qualified for the 2015 AFCON it would have gone contrary to natural laws. Without peace, there can be no progress. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Let Keshi be! We should seek first peace in our football house and every other thing shall be added unto our football.

Dr Odoemena, medical practitioner,
Lagos

http://dailyindependentnig.com/2014/12/defence-stephen-keshi/

Since Steven Keshi "failed" to qualify the Super Eagles for the AFCON 2015 in Equatorial Guinea to defend their title, it has been "Keshi is a failure," "Keshi is a bad coach," "Keshi is arrogant," "Keshi takes bribe from players," "Keshi is the worst thing that ever happened to our football," and so on.

Keshi is now the villain. How short indeed is our collective memory of success! When he won the 2013 AFCON his players carried him shoulder high. Nigerians celebrated him. Africa celebrated him. CAF named him the Coach of the Year. Mahmoud El-Gohary of Egypt and Nigeria's Steven Keshi are the only people that have won the Nations Cup as a player and as a coach. Nigerians were proud to be associated with Keshi. All that is now bygone.

In case some of us have also forgotten, or have chosen to forget, Keshi is the longest serving Super Eagles captain. He is the best coach Nigeria has produced, and one of the best coaches in Africa. Mali know this. Togo know this. Other African countries know it. But Nigerans don't know it!

Before Nigerian footballers "opened eye" Keshi had gone to Europe to establish himself, and helped many Nigerian players to move to Europe. Perhaps if not for Keshi our footballers would not have moved to the bests leagues in the world then, and become internationally known. They have even said Keshi's AFCON success was by "luck". Well, luck follows great coaches.

After we could not qualify for the AFCON 2012 the NFF or whatever they call themselves now had their tail between their legs. They told themselves the truth. That there was no them without a vibrant Super Eagles team. They decided to go for Steven Keshi. He was to build a new team. Keshi was given a contract in black and white, not a verbal contract. Keshi went for youth, people who were not known because he understands the psyche of the Nigerian, nay African player. He understands they cannot handle fame. Nigerian players when they are in the youth stage they know their lives depend on doing well in tournaments, especially World Cup or they risk poverty for life. That is why any chance they have to showcase themselves they give it their all. Even their parents do everything to encourage them. They are ready to listen to, and ready to obey their coach. But their white counterparts who know their future is assured by their governments only go through those competitions as not a "do or die" thing but a game that builds them up. When they now go professional they give it their all. While Nigerian foreign based players are obsessed about their pounds and dollars in Naira their white counterparts are obsessed about breaking new records. So he is busy developing himself. Keshi knows this. That was why he went for those who will play for him, as he likes to put it, "those who will work for the team." People keep saying Keshi keeps experimenting. That "new" players will not allow for "stability" or "blending." Again, Nigerian players are not primed to "play for long", at least not yet. Nigerian players give their country the best of themselves for a period they seek recognition, after that the "been there, seen it, done it" mentality takes over. Use them while they can last. Remember they lie about their ages. Not everyone is an Okocha or a kanu.

Football is a team game. Perhaps you might get one or two people who want to always raise their game in a match, but as long as you have those who are not willing to raise their game, even just one of them who is not raising his game, that one becomes the weak link. They are the ones who will lose concentration in a match easily. They are the ones who will not take any risk in a match, they are the ones who will complain about playing on artificial turf, they are the ones when they are supposed to play for the national team they will excuse themselves for "pressing family matters," they are the ones who blackmail their country over match bonus. Keshi knows all this. And that is why he does not build his team on any player. That is why he is regularly looking for "unknown" names who will make a name for themselves. Even if it they are only primed to last for a competition. It does not matter. Keshi goes for raw talent, and what his team lacks in talent it has as a team. Keshi understands that "big names" will not win us laurels. It is easier for Nigeria to win the Nations Cup again with Keshi's "unknown" players than with our under-talented players with over-inflated ego from abroad who choose the match they play. We can never win the World Cup with them. Never! Only "Keshi's type of Eagles" can win it. Any Nigerian coach who wants to succeed must apply that formula.

The Pharaohs of Egypt won the Nations Cup in 2010 but could not qualify to defend it in 2012 because there was war in Egypt. When our football managers who are supposed to be a family decide to fight among themselves like children whose father died intestate, how do you expect our football to move forward? Even the world of football was not happy with Nigeria. FIFA President Sepp Blatter and CAF President Issa Hayatou made it clear to Nigerian football administrators.
Cameroon went through the same infighting process and their football dipped. They came to their senses and now they are back. The French football players had problems in their camp in the 2010 World Cup, which caused their early exit. In 2014 they beat the Super Eagles to reach the Quarter Finals. And their football has remained on the ascendency.

How many foreign trainings for coaches has NFF sent Keshi and other Nigerian coaches for? None! Keshi is not the problem of our football. No coach is the problem of our football. Even an Alex Ferguson will not succeed in the kind of football environment we have today.

Besides, no coach keeps winning forever. There will be a time failure will come in. It happens to the best coaches in the world. After all, other teams are not there to watch spectators. But good coaches learn from it, to get even better! In addition, Nigerians are not patient. Before Sir Alex Ferguson became what he is with Manchester United his early years had no success. No one sacked him. He was given time. And the results are there to see. Arsene Wenger has been floundering with Arsenal for some years now. Still, management has kept faith with him. They know he has done it before, that he can do it again. Even Louis Van Gaal with Manchester United was not winning matches when he was initially appointed, but today they are third in position in the English Premier League.
The Spanish team, as defending Champions were disgraced at the last World Cup prompting their coach Vicente del Bosque to tender his resignation. The football board did not accept his resignation. They told him that they believe in him. Now, the Spanish team is back to their winning ways.

Those at the Glass House clamouring for a foreign coach are doing so for their own selfish reason, because they know that they will make "more" money from the deal.

Keshi loves Nigeria. But it is his patriotism that is coming back at him. How many of us will be willing to coach the Super Eagles without a contract, not sure you will be paid? No foreign coach will do it.

How can you concentrate when you are distracted by one court ruling or the other because those who run our football have refused to grow up? How can players concentrate in such a circumstance? If Nigeria had qualified for the 2015 AFCON it would have gone contrary to natural laws. Without peace, there can be no progress. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Let Keshi be! We should seek first peace in our football house and every other thing shall be added unto our football.

Dr Odoemena, medical practitioner, Lagos

By Femi Aribisala
The armed robber takes your money from you with a gun in his hand: the pastor takes your money by brandishing a bible.
Jesus berated the mercenary religious leaders of biblical days. He told them: “‘It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” (Matthew 21:13).
This word remains pertinent to pastors in the churches of today. They come up with all kinds of schemes designed to squeeze money out of their church-members. They search the scriptures, looking for quotable quotes that can be used to make merchandise of men. Some of their favourites are those scriptures dealing with giving first-fruits to priests.
Fleecing the flock
Those months with names ending with “ember” in English are sometimes referred to as the “ember” months. These include September, October, November and December. Strictly-speaking, October does not fit this bill; otherwise it would have been called “Octoember.” Nevertheless, it is conventional also to include it as one of the “ember” months.
In these months, there is a definite change of emphasis in the messages preached by pastors in many of today’s new generation churches. If you have been paying attention, you would have noticed this already. In the “ember” months, pastors start to talk repeatedly about the need to give “first-fruits;” laying down the foundation for a major robbery routinely planned for January.
In the Old Testament, first-fruits were required to be given to priests. Ezekiel says: “The best of all the first-fruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests.” (Ezekiel 44:30). This scripture is seized on by today’s money-grubbing pastors who now insist that the “first-fruits” of all the members of their congregation must be handed over to them.
This is disingenuous because, in the New Testament, there is actually no longer an exclusive priesthood. Instead, Jesus has made all believers: “kings and priests to our God.” (Revelation 5:10). But this fact is conveniently ignored by today’s first-fruits collectors.
First-fruits were given to priests because they were not allowed to own landed-property in Israel. God said: “I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession.” (Ezekiel 44:28-29).
However, the pastors of today are men of means and property owners. In no way whatsoever do they fit the bill of a people without inheritance who only have God as their possession. Indeed, some of today’s mega-pastors are multi-millionaires who drive around with bodyguards in a cortege of Jeeps and even fly around in private jets.
Fruits of money
As the word indicates, first-fruits were strictly-speaking agricultural produce. Moses says: “The first of the first-fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.” (Exodus 23:19). This shows first-fruits were crops. Indeed, money was never regarded as first-fruit in the bible; neither was it ever paid as such.
However, today’s pastors would not find it funny if you were to bring your first-fruits to them in bananas or pineapples. First-fruits are now only acceptable in cash or cheque. If you ask why, don’t be surprised if you are told that: “Money is the answer to everything.” (Ecclesiastes 10:19).
Scripturally, first-fruits were only required from Jews living in Israel because God gave them their land. First-fruits were inapplicable to Israelites living in foreign lands. This also means first-fruits are inapplicable to today’s Christians who are mostly non-Israelis and do not live in Israel. Nevertheless, pastors hoodwink Christians by claiming there are special blessings attendant upon giving first-fruits to pastors anywhere.
In biblical days, first-fruits were not required from those in non-agrarian trades, such as carpenters or fishermen because these professions were not tied to the land. However, today’s opportunist pastors collect first-fruits from anybody and everybody.
It should be clear from the foregoing therefore that pastors who insist on collecting first-fruits in the churches of today are nothing but thieves and robbers. The armed robber takes your money from you with a gun in his hand: the pastor takes your money by brandishing a bible.
Bonanza
It used to be the case that first-fruits were defined as a Christian’s first salary after leaving school and securing gainful employment. But some pastors quickly realised that this only gives them the right to a Christian’s salary once in a lifetime. Therefore, this soon became inadequate, leading to more ingenious and more financially lucrative biblical “revelations” about first-fruits.
Many pastors now insist that since the January salary is the first in the year, it legally falls under the definition of first-fruits. Therefore, they now require that all church-goers hand over to them their entire January salaries in the name of first-fruits. This makes the first-fruits boon far more profitable than the tithe; which is just a tenth of the Christian’s salary. Moreover, the tithe is nominally given to “the church.” The “first-fruits” is a far more rewarding scam because the money is specifically addressed to the pastor.
If this “godliness” is taught effectively, a pastor can make a bundle of money at the beginning of every year. Just do the maths. Imagine a situation where the pastor gets the January salary of every single member of his congregation. Depending on the size of his church, he can get in one bonanza enough money to last him a lifetime. Is it any wonder, therefore, that pastors are very zealous in preaching about first-fruits in the “ember” months?
Many even refuse to be limited to their churches. Turn onto Christian television such as the Trinity Broadcasting Network in the “ember” months, and you are likely to find Paula White or Steve Munsey extolling the blessings of giving first-fruits. Of course, the first-fruits must be sent to them and to no one else.
Comeuppance
In one of Nigeria’s big churches with a large branch-network, the pastors were making a killing collecting first-fruits. But one of them used the money to put up a church building. This went a long way to endear him to his congregants. Other pastors who had nothing to show for the first-fruits they collected became concerned that the pastor would soon bring them into disrepute. So they decided to take “appropriate” action.
They reported him to the General Overseer of the church. His transgression was that he put up an entire church building single-handedly. So doing, they claimed, he prevented others from getting blessed by not taking contributions from them. The General Overseer wondered where he got the money to erect the entire building by himself. So they told him the money came from the first-fruits he collected from his church-members.
The General Overseer became even more curious. Just how much first-fruit were these pastors collecting? He was astonished to discover the sums involved. It was unacceptable that such lucrative business was taking place in his churches without due recognition for his position. Therefore, he fired a memo to all his parishes: henceforth, all first-fruits must be forwarded intact to headquarters.
However, his memo backfired. Thereafter, his subordinate pastors noticeably lost all interest in collecting first-fruits. “Let everybody shout hallelujah.”
“They are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are pastors who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory.” (Isaiah 56:11).

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/pastors-planning-major-robbery-churches-january/

LaCotti:
Nope! It is not the same voting system. Big Brother changed the voting system after 3 Nigerians won.

Ah, I get it! How convenient for Tayo to "hide" under the "shabby" banner that no Nigerian can "ever" win it again!

@ LaCotti we understand how votings go. But it is the same voting system that brought Uti Nwachukwu and other Nigerian winners. Though the house chose Idris, Nigeria is 160million strong. For anyone to win, a Nigerian vote is almost certainly going to be there. Big Brother is full of last minute "twists" and "intrigues". I give it to Biggie, he certainly knows who to hand over his "hard earned" $300000!

On the grand finale of BBA Hotshots an otherwise flamboyant dress savvy Tayo decided to dress like an "area boy." There was no way even his new born child and family would have voted Tayo over Tanzania's Idris who looked debonair in his fine suit and pants.
When they came out of the limo I thought Tayo came out from the car boot! While Idris looked good on the car.

I am dead sure Tayo's Nigerian voters ditched him at the last minute after seeing the way he looked. Neutrals would have taken notice too!

Hubris, arrogance and unseriousness cost Tayo the ultimate prize.

Too many ID cards


On one of those mornings my regular newspaper vendor could not deliver the morning papers at my home, I went to an alternate newsstand. But the vendor had not shown up. So, I decided to wait a bit. While waiting, I noticed a canopy with a banner not far away, and decided to see what went on. As I got closer, l could see written on the banner: “Do your National ID card. Pre-registration here.”

Unlike the crowd around venues for collection of permanent voter cards, the place was desolate. Nigerians must be wearied, I figured. The young man who sat there had a forlorn look. I asked him what the process was. He said I needed to pay N300 to fill a form, and after that I would go to a local government to collect the card.

I had a sneak peek at the many forms he had on his table. This National Identification Card promises other features, including that I could use it as an ATM card. I paused for a while. Then, he asked me if I was ready. I gave him a wry smile. My hands were now in my pockets. The feel of my ATM card in my left pocket gave me a canny feeling. I also caressed my work ID card on my right pocket, and the naira bills co-habiting with it. I thought of my voter card, my driving licence, my travelling passport, my Lagos State Residents Registration Agency ID, my old rejected national ID card, my bank verification number, other ID cards of one association or the other, and with SIM registration, maybe, soon my phone will also be added to the mix.

And just then, the vendor showed up. As I made to meet the vendor, the young man asked, “Oga, are you not doing again?” Know what I told him? “Not now, Sunny, I have got an ‘idgraine’ headache!”

Dr. Cosmas Odoemena,

Ikeja, Lagos State

http://www.punchng.com/opinion/letters/too-many-id-cards/

@mmsen if you do not have the patience to read do not discourage others. And if you have not certified someone dead please keep your peace! This is exactly what we have been talking about!

Religion, ignorance and public health

A couple of weeks ago a close friend and brother had invited me to participate in a free health service organised by their church, a popular Pentecostal church that has the mission of almost a branch on every street. This is the second time I have been part of this exercise. I honoured a similar invitation last year. And it was quite an experience.

When I arrived at the place there was a "multitude" waiting to be attended to. After exchanging pleasantries with my brother friend and his pastor, I used Jesus' words: "Indeed, the harvest is plenty, but the labourers are few." They laughed.

In our society, people hardly go for medical check-up, or even to hospitals. And when they have need of medical attention, they go instead to "chemists", roadside and motor park herbal sellers, and quacks. Well, until things get bad. Only free medical service and free drugs could have brought that crowd to that church that day.

Perhaps you don't know it, but there is an epidemic of diabetes and hypertension. Yet, many people don't know their health status. One "lucky" man only knew he was hypertensive when he came for a police report after he got a stab injury on his hand at a bus stop from a bus conductor he never knew, and whom he never provoked! For one 70-year old woman what brought her was a loose punch that her son meant for her daughter in-law which found her abdomen. What of the landlady and her "stubborn" tenant that assaulted her? Or the man a policeman slapped. I can go on and on. God works in mysterious ways!

But on that day, many were told they had diabetes and hypertension for the first time. Many took the advice seriously, while some were in denial. I heard this statement often: "But doctor I don't think", on why they could have developed hypertension, to which I always reply, "only the dead stop thinking."

Primary or essential hypertension, which is the commonest type of hypertension, has no known cause but there are risk factors, like family history, age, race, male sex, obesity, excessive sodium salt intake, little potassium intake, low vitamin D, excessive alcohol, tobacco, stress, and not being physically active. Hypertension and diabetes can cause the kidneys to fail, apart from the risk of stroke and other complications.

There is always the query on when they should stop using their drugs. My answer is usually "You must never stop your drugs! They must never finish!" Their face fall.

It is amazing that patients find it convenient to swallow all sorts of "multivites" often sent from family members "abroad", but find it difficult to take their antidiabetics and antihypertensives. But these medications should not be seen as a burden, but as a life-saver. They prolong lives.

I let my hypertensive patients realise that they are extremely lucky to have the consultation, and that they must not misuse it by being non-compliant. Many never had that chance!


Now, as we were rounding off there was this particular woman who was in a white garment church apparel with a cap. What she wore was peculiar. Everything about her said she must be a high ranking member of that church. I sensed her hesitation. But she sat down all the same. Then, I took her blood pressure. Even as a doctor, what I saw startled me. She had severe hypertension, and on a very dangerous level. It was a surprise she had not had a stroke. I told her my finding and she said "but I feel okay, nothing is wrong with me". But I told her that hypertension gave no symptoms, that when it does it means complications had already set in. She still continued to remonstrate as if that would change her circumstance, or even make me change my diagnosis. I explained to her the need for compliance with her drugs and that she was to do some investigations, and that she must go for follow up, at preferably a government hospital. For a moment my message seemed to sink. Her eyes seemed to spark. Then her lips curled. Suddenly she stood up. I must have touched a raw nerve I thought to myself. But I had done my part. My friend who invited me saw what transpired and had to lend his own voice. But by then I was already with another patient. It was after that my pal told me that the white garment woman was a "prophetess" in her church. But that what bothered her most was how she was going to relate this experience to her church members, who she had preached to that they don't need to go to hospitals that they would get "divine healing" in the church.

Ignorance is a scourge. It helps propagate and perpetuate diseases. It is ignorance that has helped spread the ravaging Ebola virus in some west African countries in some traditional practices. Ignorance helped spread HIV in South Africa.

We have had patients who we told they could only deliver through caesarian section retorting "I reject it!" or "It's not my portion!" When you stand your ground they go for advice from their pastor. It is the pastor who will decide the mode of delivery! A few who have good pastors will tell them the truth, that is that they should follow their doctors' advice. But unfortunately, in a good number of cases the pastors will tell them that "the doctors are lying." When they realise she can't deliver after the woman must have gone through a prolonged labour, they bring themselves back to the hospital, often with life threatening complications. Some don't make it back to the hospital alive!

A pastor once confessed to me that he told his church members to stop using their medication, but that prayer will lead to a "lasting cure". He had also developed diabetes, and also followed his own advice to his church members. But his blood sugar was getting very high, and he was becoming very sick. It was then that he accepted medical care. I told him that his church members may get away with it, but that for him God will judge him differently, because apart from being a pastor, he was also educated. For it was with what you are and know that you will be judged.

Many pastors out of ignorance, or foolishness or both, put the lives of their church members in danger. They make reference to the bible, but taking it out of context. Jesus himself said it is only those who are sick that need a physician, he did not say those who are sick needed a pastor. Jesus spit on the ground and mixed the spit with clay and used the mixture as a "medication" on a blind man's eyes. After Jesus healed He told them to show themselves to the priests.

The early priests in the old testament doubled as physicians. In those days they wore hoods, and the hood was for those they healed to put the priests reward inside them.

It is thought that Leviticus is the first documented health code in the world. The book talked about personal and community responsibilities. It also touched on cleanliness of the body, sexual health and attitudes, that we should protect against contagious diseases and that lepers should be isolated.

Hippocrates (460 BC-380 BC) founded Western medicine. In his On Airs, Waters, and Places published in the fifth century he said "Whoever wishes to investigate medicine properly, should proceed thus: in the first place to consider the seasons of the year, and what effects each of them produces. We must also consider the qualities of the waters and the mode in which the inhabitants live, and what are their pursuits, whether they are fond of drinking and eating to excess, and given to indolence, or are fond of exercise and labour, and not given to excess in eating and drinking."

Around this period Greeks practised community sanitation. Romans added improvements on Greek engineering in building aqueducts to protect water supplies. They were the ones who created the first hospital.

The Middle Ages also known as "The Dark Ages there was an ending of Roman ideology. Health problems were believed to have spiritual causes and solutions. Illness was thought to be as a result of sin which made the victim to be stigmatised. As the environment was not seen as playing a part in diseases it led to epidemics.

With the Renaissance it was realized that saints also became sick as sinners. People started rethinking nature and humans.


Blind faith in religion take people's minds away from conventional medical treatment. People refuse medical treatment both for themselves and their family members on this ground.

Some deny medical treatment because their religion prohibits the form of treatment. While for some others they deny medical treatment because it will seem to them as if they do not have faith in God.

It has also been shown that those who are religious fundamentalists are the ones most likely to decline medical treatment even if the health condition is life threatening.

A psychologist Richard P. Sloan in the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine said "Religion may encourage magical thinking as people pray for and expect physical healing as if God were a giant genie at the beck and call of every human whim. Then, if physical healing does not come immediately, the person may be disappointed and disheartened, claiming that the prayer was not answered and that God does not care, or, worse, that the illness was sent by an angry, vengeful God as a punishment."


According to Sloan there have been resistance to childhood immunisation because of a faulty belief in religion resulting in outbreaks of polio, rubella, whooping cough, and other infectious diseases.

Diabetics and hypertensives stop their drugs in the name of religion. One woman developed a stroke in the church where she slept for days in search of a "permanent cure" for hypertension, after she stopped her antihypertensives. She spent weeks in the medical ward.

Asser and Swan reported in 1998 in the medical journal Paediatrics that 172 children died between 1975 and 1995 when their parents withheld medical care on religious grounds.

In one church some people who were told that they had been healed of HIV died after they stopped their medications.

After a Kathryn Kuhlman 1967 fellowship in Philadelphia, Dr. William A. Nolen conducted a case study involving 23 people who claimed to have been cured during her services.

Nolen followed the 23 on long-term follow-ups and concluded there were no cures in those cases. The report said "one woman who was said to have been cured of spinal cancer threw away her brace and ran across the stage at Kuhlman's command; her spine collapsed the next day, according to Nolen, and she died four months later."


Miracles we ask for are extremely rare. And the kind of faith that will do that many of us and our pastors don't have it. Jesus knew that such a faith was hard to have, that was why he talked about a faith the size of a mustard seed, considered the smallest seed.

The American Medical Association says "that prayer as therapy should not be a medically reimburse or deductible expense." ASA stated that "prayer as therapy should not delay access to traditional medical care." Not doing so is attempting suicide.

We pray and search earnestly for miracles but don't realise God's countless unmerited favours - which we never even asked for.

That you are responding to medical treatment in itself is a miracle. Not all patients respond to treatment. That you are not a victim of fake or counterfeit drug in your treatment is another miracle.

Sometimes God allows your disease to serve as a constant reminder of your mortality - and of Him! Without problems many will not serve God.

For religious zealots, there is reason not to despair. God himself said "Then give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him: let him not go from thee, for thou hast need of him." Eccl:38.12. God has made the physician to carry your burden. After all you say, "after God na doctor."

The logo for medicine derives from Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius. According to Wikipedia it is a "serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicine. The symbol has continued to be used in modern times, where it is associated with medicine and health care."

The original Hippocratic Oath began with the invocation "I swear by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods ..." But others link the symbol to the Nehushtan, a sacred object that has a brass serpent wrapped around a pole that God told Moses to make, so that anyone who had been bitten by a snake who looked at it would be healed.

The Great Physician Jesus endorsed the symbol of medicine, and indeed the healing and miracle in the medical profession when he said he would be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, to give life to those who believe in Him.

Religion can be good for the health. It helps healing, it gives hope. But we should not allow it to be a threat to our health. Even the scripture warned: "Don't put thy Lord thy God to the test!"

Dr Cosmas Odoemena, medical practitioner, Lagos. Terafema..com


http://terafema..de/2014/08/religion-ignorance-and-public-health.html?m=1

With the Ebola virus in Nigeria, people expect doctors to confront it. Even those who are struggling for leadership role with the doctor now want the doctor to be in front! The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, says the doctors’ strike puts Nigeria at a “disadvantage.”

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 900 people across four countries and it includes many health workers who contract the disease. In Sierra Leone, where the disease has killed at least 572 people, 50 of those were hospital workers.

Thirty two have died in Liberia alone. The Voice of America reported that, “Many of that country’s health clinics and hospitals have shut down as nurses and doctors refuse to risk being exposed.”

It said, “Dr. Melvin Korkor said he has a pretty good idea how he got Ebola, though it’s impossible to know for sure.”

A woman came into his facility, Phebe Hospital in Bong County in central Liberia. The patient didn’t have fever, but she was vomiting.

“She said she was from Bangha instead of Lofa, but the next day, I was a little bit suspicious. I said, ‘Well, I hope you are not from Lofa because there is every indication that you are suspect.’”

They later found out the woman lied. She had come from Lofa, an area at the Sierra Leone and Guinea borders that is at the centre of this regional Ebola outbreak.

Five nurses from Korkor’s hospital have since died of Ebola. When he tested positive, he was taken to Monrovia and then to Lofa to an isolation ward.

“One of the patients had just died. They prepared the bed and I went in… my heart became hardened, and I said to myself, I was going to make it and I said to my wife, ‘Bring me my Bible’ and that is that, I’m going to go by,” said Korkor.

The VOA further narrated, “Korkor forced himself to eat even though he did not want food. It was lonely. He tried to stay calm. He saw other patients growing despondent, hopeless and passing away.”

But he survived. “It was like being reborn,” he said. His is one of those rare survival cases of Ebola.

In Liberia, health workers who continue to work say they are terrified and that even people outside the clinic are afraid of them.

It is also reported that many of the health care workers who were killed during this Ebola outbreak include those who had had access to protective gear. Though it could also be because they were undertrained and overworked which could make them let their guard down.

Doctors through the Nigerian Medical Association and nurses through the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives have come out to voice their concern of government’s ability to put things in place to protect them while they are working.

In Nigeria, hardly any health care worker has been given personal protective equipment (PPE). In one hospital, there are three PPEs to go round, but not being used. The PPEs may not be quality ones as I gather they are already shredding. They are the ones given during the Bird Flu scare. The PPEs are better discarded than reused. Trying to reuse them even if they will be disinfected carries a potential risk.

In addition to the absence of PPE, there are also inadequate infrastructure and no proper training of all health care workers.

In West Africa, Ebola victims are packed in one space. But the Centre for Disease Control recommends that they must be isolated in a proper facility, which is a single patient room (containing a private bathroom) with the door closed. The CDC says all persons entering the patient room should wear at least: gloves, gown (fluid resistant or impermeable), eye protection (goggles or face shield), and facemask

It also adds that additional PPEs might be required in certain situations (e.g., copious amounts of blood, other body fluids, vomit, or faeces present in the environment), including but not limited to: Double gloving, disposable shoe covers, and leg coverings

If doctors call off their ongoing strike, there may not be adequate facilities to work with even in normal times, how much more now that there is Ebola.

In a typical public hospital, the facilities are stretched; the Outpatient Department is jam packed. The casualty wards are full, some patients may be admitted at the corridor, some lie on the floor, with blood, stool and vomitus on the floor. One woman who came for a minor procedure ran away when she could not stomach what she saw.

The public hospitals where patients and their relatives move from one paying point to another are a potential way of spreading the virus. No one knows who had contact with those at the airport who handled Mr. Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian who brought the first case of Ebola into Nigeria.

Perhaps, the doctors strike may be a blessing in disguise, what The New York Times called “a strange twist” that may “have saved lives” as Sawyer was initially planned to be brought to a major public hospital like the teaching hospitals, a crowded place, before they realised that doctors were on strike. The nation was not prepared. By now doctors, medical students, nurses, student nurses and laboratory staff, patients and their relatives would have contracted the virus and spread it to their family members, and beyond, as the Liberian had initially lied about his health status.

We feel bad that a doctor already has the virus. No one can imagine the trauma she and others who now have the virus could be going through, with a nurse already dead, while taking care of a sick person. N5,000 is doctors’ hazard allowance. We pray God heals all of them like the Liberian doctor.

Meanwhile, since the strike, people have been more proactive about their health avoiding behaviours that could lead to hospital visitation. If nothing has been achieved during this strike, it is that at least the saying that prevention is better than cure has had a better meaning among Nigerians.

As a start, every emergency room medical personnel, including doctors, nurses, and cleaners must wear PPEs. All medical staff should wear scrubs that are long sleeves with boots, not ward coats. After work, they are dropped for laundry staff to properly disinfect and wash. It is not proper for medical staff, especially nurses to go back home in the white dress to meet their families.

Even doctors and nurses working in private hospitals must also observe this. Government must provide all private hospitals with the PPEs, they have proved their mettle in this case.

The PPEs should not only be for isolated cases of Ebola. They should be from point of first contact, which is the primary health care level, private hospitals and emergency and casualty wards. In an epidemic, every patient that walks in to see the doctor should be seen to have Ebola till proven otherwise, until the situation changes.

Let us thank God schoolchildren are on holidays, further reducing movements. I suggest school resumption may be extended until we think it safe to reopen them.

It is hoped that the doctors’ strike makes government do the needful. You might be wondering. I am one of a few doctors who have offered to give emergency services during the strike.

Dr Cosmas Odoemena

http://terafema..de/2014/08/ebola-doctors-strike-blessing-in_12.html?m=1

Ebola: Breakthrough in America a possible treatment has been discovered for Ebola 'ZMAPP Serum' this serum has already been tested on Dr. Brantly Who was infected in Liberia and he is miraculously responding to the treatment and he has even taken a bath without help. The following information was announced on CNN about 2hours ago. All thanks to God Almighty. ZMAPP Serum was being tested on monkeys before now. Dr Brantly is the first human to be treated with the serum. He showed recovery in a matter of minutes after receiving the treatment. It is still making headlines on CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/04/health/experimental-ebola-serum/index.html

For years, a healthy relationship existed between the doctor and all other health care workers. The nurse remained a nurse, the pharmacist remained a pharmacist, the laboratory scientist remained just that. It was the same for all other health care workers. There was no conflict in roles. No one crossed the other’s path. No one envied the other’s pay package. Everyone was satisfied with what they were.

In those days, there was no acrimony. There was instead harmony that allowed the hospital to work for the greater benefit of who it was really meant for: The patient. Everyone understood that health care service was a team work and everyone knew who the team leader was. Those days are gone. And gone, sadly.

All through the military regime, this breakdown in relationship did not exist. But with the levity that comes with democracy, it has come to be.

In the beginning, the doctor worked alone in his practice. You see this often when you watch foreign movies concerning doctors, who practise in a rural setting. He tends wounds, dispenses drugs, has a microscope, a few laboratory equipment and reagents. This is in fact how it was with medical practice from the beginning. The doctor was an all-rounder in the real sense of it. But with time, he began to have assistants. That was the birth of allied health workers. But as it is, those who the doctor helped exist have become Frankenstein monsters unto him.

But even in a hospital setting, while the doctor can still do the job of a pharmacist, nurse, and that of a laboratory scientist, they cannot do his job.

Perhaps, all those who used to agree that health care work is team work, but the doctor is the head of the medical team have now eaten from the “tree of life.” As we say it here, “their eyes don open.”

Now, paramedics and even ward attendants want to become Chief Medical Directors! The catechist can now become the parish priest, or even the bishop. Indeed, the dog has eaten the bone hung on its neck!

Can the court clerk or bailiff because of his years of experience become a judge? Can the Clerk of the National Assembly, who is the highest administrative officer in the National Assembly now aspire to be the President of the Senate?

When we were in medical school, we had those who could not cope with the rigours of medicine, who were withdrawn. Some of those who were withdrawn went for other disciplines not even near science. But some opted for allied courses, so that they could work in a hospital. There were also others who wanted to read medicine, but who could not meet up with the requirements, or the cut-off marks, then they opted for related courses. There are many of them. Brilliant chaps, but just that perhaps, as medicine is a calling, they were not called. But they have now come with a vengeance. They want to become doctors through the backdoor!

Care of patients is multidisciplinary, does not mean a nurse will perform a doctor’s role, or that a pharmacist should assume the role of a doctor. It does not also mean leadership role can be rotated. It only means that all the disciplines play their own unique roles to achieve a desired end.

There are many hospitals that have been set up by businessmen who are not even educated. But those hospitals are still headed by a medical director who is a medical doctor. Who heads the hospital is not in dispute. Even if a pharmacist, or a nurse, or a laboratory scientist decides to open a hospital, they will still put a doctor as the medical director. They know anything short of that will cast doubt on the integrity of the hospital. If these people will accord the doctor this respect in a private setting, why do they begrudge him a public setting? The grudge against doctors strikes at the concept called public hospital. Only in a public hospital will there be argument about who is in charge, only in a public hospital do you have conflicts of roles or who should be paid more.

Every profession is unique, but certain things make some professions premium. The Good Book called the doctor a wise man. “Honour the physician for the need thou hast of him: for the most High hath created him…he shall receive gifts of the king.

The skill of the physician shall lift up his head, and in the sight of great men he shall be praised.

Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour, and make a fat offering, and then give place to the physician.”

It cannot be controverted that the doctor plays a special role in the health care system. In complex and risky situations where there is uncertainty as the health of humans can often be, the doctor is expected to manage the complexity. This is because of his training which is rigorous and broad. We are told the syllabus for medicine is the human being.

Doctors are expected to have good judgment in every situation, even beyond the scope of guidelines and protocols. They know when to use protocols and apply them to problems and are quick to recognise changes.

In a multidisciplinary, team-based system as medical care has increasingly become, the doctor has the ultimate responsibility for a patient’s care. The team looks to the doctor for direction concerning the patient’s overall health care plan.

When something goes wrong with a patient, it is the doctor that is expected to provide answers. Leadership falls automatically on the doctor.

The special training of doctors places them in a position of authority on clinical standards and practice, especially with the intricate nature of diagnosis and treatment.

The medical degree cannot be substituted by on-the-job exposure by other health practitioners. There can never be a substitute for the extensive knowledge of clinical science and the full range of clinical skills that are the foundations of medical practice.

Doctors are now the enemies that other health care workers must join forces to defeat. But the same people who are after the doctor’s job, when they have patients who are their dear ones, they run straight to the doctor. They don’t assume to know anything anymore.

The usual excuse those who begrudge the doctor give is, “It is what happens in the US and the UK.” Just because the white man does something does it make it right? Abortion and homosexuality are the norm in many developed countries, why are we not following them? If you are doing the right thing, you can stand alone. We must stop copying the West, or making references to them. They are not smarter, or greater than us. They can learn from us.

But you might be tempted to think that those who begrudge the doctor are actually after his role, or position. But it is far from it. The truth is that money is what they seek. They think that by doing those work the doctor does, it will equate them with the doctor and a justification for greater pay package. If a nurse or a pharmacist, or a laboratory scientist or a physiotherapist earns more than a doctor, that ends the grudge against doctors. The doctor can keep his title with all his work!

Dr Cosmas Odoemena


http://terafema..nl/2014/07/why-begrudge-doctor.html?m=1

The blood wasted in the land has come to haunt Nigeria even in the field of play

Nigeria 0 France 2
Ok, Oboabona was injured. But he was fit for the match. His understanding with Omeruo can never be compared...

But deep in Keshi's heart would he have taken Yobo to the World Cup? But somehow Yobo found his way and got into the team, all in the selfish aim to get his 100 caps. But it turns out Providence ensured his record was shamed on that very day with an own goal. A damning verdict that even the heavens were not in support of the idea. And NFF also wanted to have an input to ensure quota system. Are we to leave out the shedding of blood in the land even at a football viewing center? The killings are ongoing. And the god of soccer was to be on our side? Or the Almighty God Himself?
Not everyone is lamenting though. I just got a call telling me that after the match my dad popped up a bottle of wine. What he was celebrating? He said "I'm celebrating Nigeria, a country born out of prostitution."

A leading national daily in its editorial recently voiced: “Mr. President, go to Chibok,” lamenting that President Goodluck Jonathan had yet to visit Chibok two months after the abduction of the over 200 girls from the Government Day Secondary School in that town, in Borno State, and that his earlier plan to go there was cancelled abruptly. There is no shortage of commentators who have castigated the President for his decision not to undertake the trip as earlier announced. I am not a security expert, and neither are many of us who have been bashing the President, but one can’t be naïve to the fact that these are not “normal” times!

True, it is only proper for the President to go to Chibok to see things for himself and empathise with the families of the missing girls. But pardon me when I say I don’t believe that this should be at the risk of a nation’s leader. Remember, there are a lot of unsavoury things going on that are better not talked about.

The mistake was in announcing the trip in the first place. Surely, with that kind of arrangement, there could be more than those who have good thoughts for Nigeria waiting to welcome the President!

We can learn from the United States we claim to copy their democracy in this similar circumstance. During his tenure, to mark America’s Thanksgiving holiday, former United States President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad, Iraq.

Bush spent time having dinner with about 600 stunned US troops at Baghdad airport before he left Iraq. He told the excited troop, “I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere,” and added: “Thanks for inviting me to dinner … I can’t think of a finer group of folk to have Thanksgiving dinner with than you all.”

Bush had left his home in Texas a night before, and stopped for a short while in Washington to change airplanes before leaving for Iraq.

As a decoy, it was earlier announced that Bush would spend Thanksgiving with his family at his Texas ranch. A menu for the said dinner was made known to the public, the Associated Press had reported.

Secret service agents at his Texas ranch weren’t told, even his family only knew about it a few hours before his departure.

President Bush’s trip to Iraq remained a secret affair until the President left Iraq. If there had been a wind of it, the trip would have been cancelled.

We should cut President Jonathan some slack. With this never ending insurgency, everyone is a fifth columnist and a terrorist until otherwise proven. Perhaps, the families of those missing young girls, and many Nigerians will agree with me when I say, it is not so much the President going to Chibok as he answering the lingering call: “Bring back our girls”!

Dr. Cosmas Odoemena

http://terafema..com/2014/06/still-on-presidents-bungled-chibok-trip.html?m=1

ON OMOTOLA JALADE-EKEINDE…TIME INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
The 100 Most influential People [April 29/ May 6]
Conversation (May 27)

TIME spit on charm, class, grace, poise and intelligence when it picked Nigerian movie actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde over Genevieve Nnaji as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. It was sickening to read Richard Corliss gush over Jalade-Ekeinde, daring to call her the Queen of Nollywood. Even the village women know that the title belongs to Nnaji, whom CNN referred to as the Julia Roberts of Africa. Nnaji is equally the Aishwarya Rai of Africa.

Cosmas Uzoma Odoemena,
LAGOS, NIGERIA
Culled from TIME MAY 27, 2013, PG 4