₦airaland Forum

abortion is not the key. You can still prevent conception from taking place by rushing her to the hospital.

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May 8, 2008

Senator Barack Obama

Obama for America
P.O. Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680

Dear Senator Obama,

This has been an historic and exciting campaign. Millions of new voters have been brought into the process and their enthusiasm for the Democratic Party and the principles for which you and I have fought and continue to fight is unprecedented.

One of the foremost principles of our party is that citizens be allowed to vote and that those votes be counted. That principle is not currently being applied to the nearly 2.5 million people who voted in primaries in Florida and Michigan. Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will be hamstrung in the general election if a fair and quick resolution is not reached that ensures that the voices of these voters are heard. Our commitment now to this goal could be the difference between winning and losing in November.

I have consistently said that the votes cast in Florida and Michigan in January should be counted. We cannot ignore the fact that the people in those states took the time to be a part of this process and to make their preferences known. When efforts were untaken by leaders in those states to hold revotes to ensure that they had a voice in selecting our nominee, I supported those efforts. In Michigan, I supported a legislative effort to hold a revote that the Democratic National Committee said was in complete compliance with the party's rules. You did not support those efforts and your supporters in Michigan publically opposed them. In Florida a number of revote options were proposed. I am not aware of any that you supported. In 2000, the Republicans won an election by successfully opposing a fair counting of votes in Florida. As Democrats, we must reject any proposals that would do the same.

Your commitment to the voters of these states must be clearly stated and your support for a fair and quick resolution must be clearly demonstrated.

I am asking you to join me in working with representatives from Florida and Michigan and the Democratic National Committee to arrive at a solution that honors the votes of the millions of people who went to the polls in Florida and Michigan. It is not enough to simply seat their representatives at the convention in Denver. The people of these great states, like the people who have voted and are to vote in other states, must have a voice in selecting our party's nominee.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/08/clinton-makes-personal-appeal-to-obama-on-delegates/#more-7009

Of course not!

(The guy on the right)




These were taken at the NSBE event, very close to where I live. It was fun. We had some Nigerians at the event.

My friendship cuts all economic strata. I dont care if you are rich, or poor, as far as you have a pleasant character, we can be friends. If you choose your friends because of their wallet, well, it shows how shallow minded you are.

Enwerem: Dishonouring the Dead

Comfort Obi   
The funeral of His Excellency, Senator (Chief) Evan Enwerem,former governor of Imo State, former President, Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, goes down as one of the most scandalous events in Nigeria in the year of our Lord, 2007. It goes down as one of the most humiliating treatment ever given to a dead man. And the ultimate scandal is that it was his family, led by two women, both of whom he married with his money, and maintained, his children, whose school fees he paid and invested in, that humiliated him in death.

Everybody treated Enwerem like a hero in death. Everybody tried to send him off to the world beyond with his honour intact. The government of Imo State, led by his former commissioner, now Imo State Governor, His Excellency, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, rolled out the red carpet to give Enwerem a befitting funeral. He set up a burial committee, with a national outlook, befitting the status of the late Senate President. The respected Senator Ike Nwachukwu, himself a former military governor of Imo State, and former Foreign Affairs Minister, was the chairman. On the day of the “Night of Tributes” for Enwerem in Abuja, Ohakim was there. When it was his time to pay a tribute, he was so overwhelmed with grief that he couldn’t say much. But he made that up in his very touching tribute in Enwerem’s funeral programme (brochure). At the Night of Tributes, many prominent Nigerians, including the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, the Senate President, David Mark, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh, Senators, Honourable members, Ex-Senate Presidents, governors, and many more were there.

The Senate over which he presided as President, and the National Assembly which chairman he was, treated him like a hero in death. They honoured him to high heavens. Enwerem was an impeached President of the Senate. Meaning: At death, his body ought not have been taken to the National Assembly to lie in state. But a couple of days before his body was due to leave Abuja, since he died at the National Hospital, Abuja, the Senate vacated his impeachment, and paved the way for the honour given him at the National Assembly. It also bought a beautiful casket, befitting a former Senate President, for him. The House of Representatives adjourned for a day in Enwerem’s honour.

In Owerri, Enwerem’s body was received at the Airport by almost every who-is-who in the state on Thursday, September 27, and taken to the multi-purpose hall for a lying-in-state ceremony. Thereafter, it was taken to the Dan Anyiam Stadium for a church service. Imo people and their friends were there in their hundreds. The next day, it was taken to the Imo State House of Assembly for more tributes and, thereafter to the Imo State High Court. A renowned lawyer, his colleagues too honoured him in death.

On Friday, the day of his burial, Ohakim declared a public holiday in Imo State. That was the day his body proceeded to his home town, Atta, Ikeduru. His casket, of course, was draped in the Nigerian flag – the highest honour any country can give its own in death. In his home town Atta, his people trooped out in their hundreds, lined up the roads and streets to bid farewell to their own, and to set eyes on the hundreds of dignitaries who had descended on their town to honour Enwerem. And boy, there were many people. The Vice President, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, ex-Senate Presidents, Senators, Governors, ex-Governors, Honourable members of the House, Traditional rulers, Industrialists, Academics, just everybody. And as the icing on the cake, the Bishop of Owerri, Anglican Communion, His Lordship, Dr. Cyril Okorocha, decided to preside at the funeral service. More on this later.

But it was on this day that Enwerem’s family chose to disgrace him, dishonour him, embarrass him, and in the process, embarrassed the hundreds of people, including the Vice President and the Senate President who couldn’t believe what was going on. How did Enwerem’s day of honour turn to a day of dishonour? Simple.
Enwerem had two wives, Cristina, his Portuguese first wife, and Vivienne, his second wife, who was the First Lady in Imo State when he was the governor. Given the benefit of hindsight, trouble started as soon as Enwerem died on July 1, 2007. The first official statement, in the form of an obituary, as put by his first son, Miguel, pointed to the discord. He identified everybody by their "title" – first wife, second wife, first son, and so on. That was the day yours truly knew Enwerem had a first wife.

But let's fast forward this story. On the eve of Enwerem’s burial, the body was carried, straight from the stadium, to be deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. That was where the sign that there could be a public disgrace showed. On getting to the mortuary, scores of angry young men had invaded the place with an intent to hijack the body. It took the intervention of soldiers who threatened to shoot anybody who dared to scare them away. On Friday, the burial date, as soon as the body touched his house, it was seized by the children of, allegedly, his first wife. Enwerem’s body was locked up in a room, and so all the dignitaries who had gone to his house to pay him the traditional last respect were not allowed to do so. A good number of them left for their various destinations from there, in shock. But that was just scene two. Scene one was the mortuary bit above. You know, the disgrace came in scenes.

Scene three was at the Church. All the dignitaries including the Vice President, Senate President, ex-Senate Presidents, Senators, governors, ex-Governors, traditional rulers, the high and mighty, the not so-high and mighty from all over Nigeria were all seated. Bishop Okorocha was presiding. There were tens of priests. And the choir. But the shock: Enwerem’s body was not in church. For three hours, the congregation waited. Na lie. His body was not brought. So, led by the choir, the congregation began to sing from the funeral programme. The Bishop started the church service. Still, no Enwerem’s body. The church service kept progressing. Nothing. The Bishop mounted the pulpit, and began the sermon. Still nothing. Embarrassed and nervous, Senator Chris Anyanwu, along with a few Igbo sons, left the church service for Enwerem’s house to find out why everybody was being held hostage in the church. Former Imo State Governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, was already there pleading. The first inkling that perhaps the emissaries had succeeded was when Vivienne walked in, straight-faced, alone, into the church. She did not accompany the body. Unconfirmed sources alleged that she was pushed out when she stood directly behind the casket, and asked to line up behind the first wife if she wanted to accompany the body. Twenty minutes later, 3.30 p.m, the body arrived. By that time many people had left, and the Bishop was almost done with the sermon. But he brilliantly managed, while preaching forgiveness, to condemn polygamy and the men who sow wild oats all over the place. He called them hooligans! He made the point that he should not have come to preside at that funeral, given the polygamous status of the dead, but he had to do it after praying to God, in order to preach forgiveness, and to tell some Nigerian bigmen that they will continue to reap what they sow. I don’t want to interpret this as regards Enwerem’s case. Let me proceed to scene four.

After the church service, there was nobody to carry the casket out of the church, inspite of the Bishop’s intermittent announcements “Come and carry the body, let’s go and bury our brother. The service is ended.” Every, body stood up for the body and the dignitaries to file out. But nobody came for the casket. At a point, since there was nobody to do that, it was announced that because of the condition of the Imo Airport (no facilities for night flights), some of the dignitaries, including Vice President Jonathan would have to leave so as to be able to travel. But Jonathan and others felt it was disrespectful to leave the church before the body. So, they said they would stay until the body leaves. But after over 10 more minutes of “no-show,” they were forced to leave, followed by the governors and all other dignitaries. Enwerem’s body was abandoned in the church for the Bishop, the priests, the choir, his disrespectful family members, and a few other people. A staff of Ebony funeral home was to say later that security men stopped the pall bearers from entering the church!

Question: Why did Enwerem’s family drag him in the mud the way they did?
Answer: They were fighting for the spoils of war. They were fighting for the toils of the man. They were fighting for the things the man left behind . They were fighting for houses, cars, shares, bank account balances. And yes, I remember: Death certificate. They alleged that Vivienne, who was by his side when he died, took the death certificate and refused to release it to the family. They alleged that she had documents to other things, including choice properties. So, the condition: All that must be thoroughly discussed, or no burial. In deed, the state government and the burial committee had been mediating in all that to no avail. At the end, they thought that the family would allow reason to prevail, and so respect their father and husband. But the family members didn’t care. They didn’t care about the disgrace they were giving to their head of family. All they wanted were the spoils of war. But you know my answer to all that: Stupid. And you know why?

They disgraced themselves, nobody else. Was Enwerem the only known polygamist? Two wives only? How many children? The late MKO Abiola had over 50 women who claimed to be his wives. He had over 100 children clinging to his name. Yet, at death, they hononoured him. They didn’t start fighting over his will and properties until much later.

The actions of Enwerem’s family members are, to put it mildly, irresponsible. So what if Vivienne had the death certificate and other documents? Were those of any priority at that point in time? Why didn’t they play along, and give their father the honour others had bestowed on him, and then kill themselves after the burial ceremonies? Why didn’t they wait and hold whoever was holding the cursed documents hostage after the burial? Why didn’t they wait and exhume the body after everybody had left? Why did they choose to disgrace, and dishonour their own? What do they think Nigerians are thinking of them now? It is a shame. But it is a good lesson for the Nigerian “big man.” They must learn to put their houses in order at any point in time. It is important.

But back to the Enwerem family. There is an irony here. In her tribute to her husband, Cristine, the first wife, had written: “My best tribute (to you) is our pledge that we will honour your name….” Question: Was that pledge kept? It was broken even before the man was buried. His name was dishonoured by petty family wranglings.
Vivienne, the second wife, had in her own tribute written: “You made me the First Lady of Imo State, and the Third Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I could not ask for more.” My response: Such frivolities. First Lady! Third Lady!! Such egocentric pronouncements!!!
As the governor of Imo State, a very mischievous opposition had dubbed Enwerem, for whatever reasons, “Ozu Urban,” literally meaning “Urban Corpse.” That was long before a more postive title, Mature, was given to him. In death, he was not even treated like an Urban Corpse. He was treated like a local corpse. And his family members were so immature in their behaviour. So sad. For such a national figure, it is a shame.

http://www.thesourceng.com/meridianoct15.htm

The Holy Bible is not contradictory. All these visible appearances of God were the manifestations of Jesus Christ who is also God! Remember, God the Father cannot be seen. We can only come to Him through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nna, you gotta know how to cook, or no marriage. Forget the American lingo here.

And what happens when that trust is broken?

Another proof of the Trinity.

http://www.geoffrobinson.net/jewishtopics/angel.html

Exodus 23:20-22 (English Standard Version)
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.



Conquest of Canaan Promised

20(A) "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice;(B) do not rebel against him,(C) for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.
22"But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then(D) I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2023:20-22;&version=47;

This is another proof that the Angel of the Lord is Jesus Christ

http://www.geoffrobinson.net/jewishtopics/angel.html

Conquest of Canaan Promised

20(A) "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice;(B) do not rebel against him,(C) for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. 22"But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then(D) I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

http://www.geoffrobinson.net/jewishtopics/angel.html

Have you been in touch with any of your mates? Three of my classmates at Staff school are on facebook. You know say facebook also get FGC, IK group?

I repeat, Not all step moms are bad!. In some rare instances, there are some who have the future of their step child on the same basis as their own child.

My2cents, you are welcome. Still around. Nna, it is really fun reuniting with those people. Now, I have to question why I hold so much attachment to Unical staff school, despite the passage of decades. Now, when I think about it, it's like the memories of those days has overshadowed those of secondary school (it was fun no doubt) and college (still fun). Chei, I remembered kids riding their bikes at the neatly manicured lawns of the staff quarters at Unical Staff school. I remember crossing over the mini highway to the canteen to buy snacks. Those places were posh. Abeg, afo ake dung ke uke ke Calabar?

Shey, I tell you say my cousins been live for housing estate. Times have changed, people have moved on, but sometimes the memories lingers.

Here is the link

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2795181350

Mine, Unical staff school is also there, and I tell you, it's so fun reminiscing with some of my former mates on the board. Honestly, it brings back floods of memories living in Nigeria.

Jesus Christ once declared in the Holy Bible that "Before Abraham was, I AM". At the burning bush when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses, God told him, "I Am Who I AM. He, Jesus Christ has always been with the Father, so that being said, Jesus Christ is GOD!

Thanks@my2cents. Hey, do you know your alma mater, Aunty Margaret is on facebook?

Granted, this man fought for civil rights, and paid dearly for it. Forty years later, the same message, "I have a dream", gets replayed over and over again on Television. Just recently, CNN aired a documentary of his 40th anniversary. And I have to question the motives of this outpouring of praises heaped on this man. I mean, it's like every Tom, Dick and Harry claim to espouse the idealogy of MLK, perhaps to be 'politically correct'. (read this arguement)
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-108785.0.html

I would have to think so, because, Clinton, who was invited to one of the MLK's events was caught sleeping. One guy defended him, and admitted that he would also doze off, if he had to listen to the same rehashed speech. That's when I questioned the motives of Clinton because, to perhaps appear politically correct, he ended up embarrasing himself by sleeping
While his ideas are admirable and led to a transformation in the society to offer equal opportunity to minorities, perhaps, we could take a step back, and ask ourselves if the society's veneration and adulation of MLK is an overkill, an idolatry?

I think it is an overkill, but if I were a white man who uttered the statement, you bet, I would be labelled a 'racist'.

Ete, and you wonder how our female ancestors went through when C-section was unheard of

Only Jesus Christ is the Way to God, Amen.

Debosky, I totally agree with the points you raised on the board, and somehow, I am kind of caught in the middle between the motives of Procter and Gamble on if their decision is purely humanitarian or driven by corporate profits. The same tactics are adopted by some companies too in the USA. Like during the Breast cancer awareness period, you would hear of companies like Avon (I think) and at least several others getting involved and promising to donate some proceeds from the sales of their product into breast cancer research. (Read the criticism here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_ribbon#Critical_movements). One of the corporate executives of Estee Lauder, Evelyn Lauder is a breast cancer survivor.

Other companies have delved into worthy causes, like raising awareness of domestic violence in the community, and sometimes, an appeal is made, usually by patronizing their products because, it will be used to fund such programs. Now, what are the motives? A move characterized by genuine PR or a false move motivated to drum up profits for the companies. Well, as the adage says, "Half a loaf is better than none". And the girls lacking sanitary pads in African will most likely agree with me.

Thought provoking question though@debosky.

Jesus Christ is my ROLE MODEL.

May God's Name be Glorified and Sanctified for His Great Love and Gift, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who died to offer us eternal Salvation. Praises be unto His Holy Name in the Highest!!!, Amen!


@Image, God bless you for your lucid and insightful explanation of the Greatest story in History.

HOUSTON — A Texas oilman who's accused of defrauding the Nigerian government by illegally pumping and exporting 10 million barrels of oil is a major fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Kase Lawal of Houston is at least the fourth person accused or convicted of criminal wrongdoing to help finance Clinton's political ambitions since 2000 and the second in her quest for the White House. The list also includes Chinese and Pakistani fugitives and a former Miami lawyer who was convicted of defrauding Cuba.

There's no indication that Clinton's campaign was aware of Lawal's legal problems when it accepted his help in raising more than $100,000, but a McClatchy investigation in the US. and Nigeria suggests that her campaign did little to scrutinize the background of one of its top fundraisers.

Jay Carson, a campaign spokesman, brushed off such criticism.

"While no vetting process is perfect, our vetting department does extensive vetting in order to catch any issues with donors," he said. "And to our knowledge, Mr. Lawal is an upstanding member of his community in Houston."

However, a simple Google search by McClatchy produced reports of serious allegations about some of Lawal's business dealings in Nigeria and South Africa.

Clinton's campaign lists Lawal among about 250 "Hillraisers" who pledged to collect at least $100,000 in donations. Clinton attended a fundraising luncheon at Lawal's home in Houston last Aug. 11 that generated more than $100,000, and she spoke to about 250 guests gathered around Lawal's indoor swimming pool, including two former Houston mayors and Shell Oil President John Hofmeister.

Lawal, 53, who holds dual US.-Nigerian citizenship and whose energy company has become one of the nation's largest black-owned businesses, said in interviews that he "unequivocally and vigorously" denies the Nigerian charges. The African case was initiated by the top financial crime-fighter in Nigeria, a country that's rich in oil but also rampant with corruption.

Lawal, a commissioner of the Houston Port Authority since 1999, a community leader and a philanthropist, said he didn't know of the charges against him until McClatchy contacted him last week. Saying he was "stunned," Lawal said he's traveled at least 70 times to Nigeria since 1999, is often greeted by police and has never been served with legal papers.

Lawal said he suspects that a now-deceased partner in a Niger Delta drilling venture "trumped up" the accusations as part of a scheme to blackmail subsidiaries of his company, CAMAC International Corp.

The criminal complaint in Nigeria against Lawal, two of his affiliated companies, five other individuals and the Irish firm Tuskar Resources Ltd. was filed in a legal system that's fraught with allegations of graft and phony, politically driven prosecutions.

But the case against Lawal was brought by Nuhu Ribadu, an assistant police commissioner who later rose to become the country's top anti-corruption crusader.

During Ribadu's four years as head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the agency recovered $5 billion in stolen government funds and prosecuted 250 individuals, including a top police officer, eight former governors and a former vice president who allegedly was bribed by Democratic Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana.

Jefferson has been charged with bribing an unidentified Nigerian official, and his case is ongoing in a federal court in Virginia.

The case against Lawal has received little attention in Nigeria and none in the US. media until now.

The separate South Africa controversy unfolded after the Commerce Department named Lawal to a business development committee of the US.-South African Binational Commission, and President Bill Clinton appointed him to a Trade Advisory Committee on Africa in 1999.

From 2003 to 2005, the Mail & Guardian in Johannesburg, South Africa, reported in several stories that Lawal had engineered a deal between the South African government and Nigeria that ultimately promised to bring South Africa 120,000 barrels of oil a day at wholesale prices.

Neither of two companies that CAMAC set up ever provided any oil to South Africa, however. Instead, the oil went to one of them in the Cayman Islands that was 75 percent owned by CAMAC, the newspaper said. Its minority owners remain secret.

The other firm, which apparently got no oil, was the South Africa Oil Co., established in Pretoria. CAMAC owned 49 percent of its shares. The remaining shareholders were a "who's who" of relatives of leaders of the country's ruling African National Congress, the newspaper said.

No one has been charged with a crime in connection with the incident.

The case against Lawal stalled for five years due to a legal challenge after CAMAC's Nigerian affiliates and employees challenged the federal police's authority to prosecute cases that normally are handled by Nigeria's attorney general. The Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled in favor of the police in 2006.

Lawal said he was told last week that three national police chiefs have looked at the case since the court ruling, and each concluded that it "has no merit." Others blamed the inaction on Ribadu's departure from the federal police.

Ribadu, who's now studying at a rural institute, was replaced as crime commission chairman in February. He declined comment.

But in Nigeria's capital city of Abuja, Columbus Okaro, the commissioner of the federation police's legal section, said the criminal complaint is pending. He also expressed irritation at hearing that Lawal had visited Nigeria without being served legal papers. While he couldn't explain the inaction since 2006, Okaro said: "I'm the man who should be charging him. I want to go ahead with the case."

Lawal didn't respond to requests for comment about the South Africa deal, but in an extensive interview on the Nigerian charges, he said he's neither a fugitive nor a convict.

Sitting in his 22nd-floor office overlooking Houston's upscale Galleria neighborhood, he said: "My company, my actions and everything that we have done has always been aboveboard."

He urged a reporter to check with Nigeria's attorney general to see whether the charges remain valid and said he'd ask Nigerian police "to make a decision one way or the other" on the criminal charge "to close the chapter or to go forward with it, so that we can have a logical conclusion."

In an interview in Nigeria, Taye Akiyemi, a spokesman for Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa, said: "There are many rich and powerful Nigerians out there. If he's innocent, he should come here and defend himself. The Nigerian courts are waiting for him. Nigeria is practicing the rule of law now."

Lawal said he supports Clinton because she and her husband are "just an intelligent couple, and we are fascinated by what they have done for America."

Lawal, who attended US. colleges, founded CAMAC in 1986 and built it into a $1.6 billion enterprise that ranked No. 296 on Forbes Magazine's 2007 list of the top 400 privately held companies.

He's also the vice chairman of the Houston Airport System Development Corp. and a co-owner of Texas' first black-owned bank, the Unity Bank.

(Connors, a McClatchy special correspondent, reported from Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria. Tish Wells contributed.)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008/story/32648.html

God is Faithful and deserves our praises. Thank God for His wonderful blessings to you, Amen.

Love custard, love it, and miss it.

Lady, it depends on your specialty. If you are a nurse, and are fired today, chances of landing a job soon (like under a month) is feasible). As for getting a job a day after being fired, nna, that's a tall order. Have you factored in the interview process and all that?

Another one validating our earlier stance that lack of sanitary products can interfere with a girl's day to day activities.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4816558.stm