₦airaland Forum

edoyad:
I used to be an advocate of the "break Nigeria up" theory, but having being enlightened i know it is in the best interest of all to remain one for the time being. Apart from economic reasons, which is of course the strongest point, security wise it would be a risk considering our neighbours.
The shear size of the Nigerian market and the proximity of the people to each other makes Nigeria potentially the next country to experience a China like economic growth(if our sh�tty leaders can get their acts right).

Good to know that a 'non northerner' like you is now seeing the light - welcome home.  For us to experience the China-like economic growth you mentioned, we need to wipe MEND and its sympathisers out. This terrorist group enjoyed pity from most Nigerians until they started killing innocent people. We need to seek the urgent assistance of our allies including trhe USA, UK, China, to help us in executing an immediate millitary solution to the MEND problem.

We need drones and heat seeking missiles to smoke the terrorists out of their camps.

FACE:
Ok, I am trying to figure out where I showed any form of hatred for northerners. 

Last time I checked Buhari was not in PDP so I did not limit my response to PDP aspirants.

I want PDP out as well, but who has mounted a serious campaign to oust them ? And why must the next president come from the north ? Is it your birth right ? OK lets throw our weight behind Pat Utomi or Donald Duke; if not show me who is better from the north.

FACE, I never accused you of showing any form of hatred for northerners, in fact I know enough about you not to expect the portrayal of such hatred.

According to the agreement that gave rise to Jonathan as VP, the next PDP presidential candidate should come from the North -  that’s all I am pointing out. I agree with you that we all should be supporting the best candidate for the country based on their leadership abilities and vision. Most people, including you, would agree with me that Jonathan does not possess these qualities.

Pat Utomi has been stained by his loan scandal as far as I am concerned and Duke’s Tinapa theft is not a quality I admire.  You by the way have refused to mention Ribadu or Gusau– I wonder why.

Beaf:
Even agbero's know that Ango Abdullahi speaks for the no good Northern Elders who have been threatening secession and civil war. And lets get one thing clear; they speak for the core North , not the whole of the North. Don't spoil the name of the region.

What da heck is core North?

Onlytruth:
I have never fooled myself about the intents of characters like Edwin Clarke of Ijawland. They have only one aim in mind, and that is to be THE dominant force in the south south and even the whole south. However, that does not mean that all Ijaws, or Jonathan himself, share the same rationale and philosophy. Even if they all do, the south is too big and too restless for a tribe of 5 million to dominate.

Like I told Ndu_chucks, if Jonathan is a wise and strong leader, he will lead Nigeria for ever and the north can't do anything about it. All it takes if for him to realize his base, and I think he did that in his choices of army chief and SSS boss. You will also notice that I don't care about fairness in Nigeria because the north is not capable of delivering fairness. That Igboland lacks an international airport 40 years after the civil war, is enough proof of that.
Jonathan is from a minority, but if he plays it well, he can deliver our punch for us.

Enough said.

Onlytruth, please elaborate on the bolded part of your post. What exactly do you mean by this punch – I’m sure you are bold enough to speak clearly. I promise not to come and beat you.

Dede1:
I have never entertained animosity against northern region of Nigeria except during the pogrom and Nigeria/Biafra war. Since after the Nigeria-Biafra war, the assumed animosity I had about the entire civil war shifted to southerners who either cheered or joined the fight on the side of Nigeria/northern region.

The ndu_chuks post which made the revelation about clandestine meeting in Abuja between the northern politicians and so-called south-south where Edwin Clarke insisted that Ijo person should be the VP is enough evidence for Ndigbo and the so-called south-south ethnic groups besides Ijo to take strong inward look among them selves.

My grandfather told me not worry much about an opponent who had a stranglehold on me but never to forgive the onlookers who kept encouraging the opponent to apply deadly pressure. I shall never support any political candidature that emerges from the group of people I would unequivocally call betrayers.

If Ndigbo ride with GEJ candidature, I must conclude that Ndigbo are worse than bunch of educated fools.


Are you insinuating it is all dandy if the Hausa or Fulani or Kanuri or even Tiv rule south-south and taboo if Igbo rule? This is unfortunate and misguided yet parochial stream of thought.

Dede1, I appreciate your objectivity and the honesty of the above post. You seem to be one of the few who are bright enough to grasp the issues being raised. I am tempted to call you a detribalized Nigerian.

By the way, my comment on the “south-south rule” was designed to cause pain to the poster called Ono and nothing else.

FACE:
Pathetic desperation. If you do not believe that Ango abdulahi's stance represents northern position, why are you going about quoting him ? And here I was, thinking that you had some integrity.

Double speak will not take you anywhere. You guys had no intention of letting the SS or SE produce the president in 2015. Karma was just hanging around the corner with his paycheck and he paid up.

Fate dealt you the wrong cards in the end , so you must now play with those cards. You guys keep talking about your right to 8 years uninterrupted rule but you cannot point to what you did with the other 37 years of misrule. Step aside and support prosperity. The everyday northerners should stone people like you for misleading them all these while and maintaining an elitist status , using them as a tool for mayhem and setting up yourselves as people to be revered. dan Iska.

O.k, let's assume that you should produce the next president in 2011; who do you want us to support ? Babangida, Atiku or Buhari ? You gotta be kidding me !

I expected you, of all people, to have a nationalist take on these issues as opposed to a tribalistic one.  Your hatred for Northerners will do nothing but continue to eat you up.

The issue being discussed is really a PDP affair and I’m afraid you cannot discuss it rationally with a tribalist mind set.  You have already defeated yourself by insinuating that the next President must come from the PDP party. Shame on you. You educated ones should be working on a viable opposition to PDP rather than taking this losing stance. IBB, Atiku, and Buhari are not the only Northerners running for the Presidency, you have other options, if you really want to vote for a Northerner. Remember that no one believed that Obama could win in the last US presidential election – we now know better.

Beaf:
Na wa o! What has this got to do with groundnuts feeding Nigeria?
This is too funny!
Dude, unnecessary anger and jealousy will cause you to explode o!

Can you read at all? I told you that I will post excerps from Abdullahi's interview for your enjoyment and discussion. The Groundnut issues for the first excerp and Edwin Clark's exposure was the second. olodo.

Onlytruth:
Thank you for exposing your northern schemes! I have a question for you though. How will your northern presidential candidates keep the promise they are making to the Igbo about supporting them for 2015 presidency?

That you quoted a character like Ango Abdullahi on this issue really shows that you northerners have lost your damn minds!
Desperation is a terrible thing.
Let me tell you, if Jonathan will demonstrate some measure of tough skin and skull, the north will NEVER smell the presidency of that country until it either disintegrates or you northerners are excised from Nigeria.

You think that only you can play vile politics; well, get ready for the rough ride. The most unfortunate thing for you is that Jonathan is still a young man, and as a result, he can become a life president if he really wants and there is NOTHING you and your brothers can do about that.

Oh, how I wish that Jonathan has balls!

What makes you think that I or Ango Abdullahi speaks for the North? Please stop allowing tribalism becloud your better judgement. You are not even a card carrying member of the PDP so I don't understand why you are crying more than the bereaved.

If you are capable, comment on the excerp and leave your tribalism and myopic views behind. Rakumin dajij.

Beaf:
[b]
This 2015 is a very important year for the Fulani! That is the year they zoned to the SE and SS for a dual presidency![/b]

You can laugh all you want, the laughter is expected from you and the likes of Edwin Clark and GEJ. You have no idea what agreements mean, lets hope you'll have the last laugh. The same agreement that made GEJ VP and President is what he has chosen to dishonour. That says a lot about the man.

You, olodo, are a well known tribalist and your reaction is expected. Rakumin dajij; sleepless c.ockroach.

ono:
I think you're a bit harsh on the Brits.

Unbelievable!! This is the kind of misdirected understanding that continues to make you people subservient to your Igbo lords, you will ultimately be ruled by them. Mark my word.

I hereby continue with excerps from a recent interview of Professor Ango Abdullahi, former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria:

What is your opinion on Edwin Clark and others who have been clamouring for Jonathan to vie in 2011?

[b]This is why I wrote him a letter to remind him. I wrote him a letter personally on why he should tread with caution. We visited Warri a number of times. We had several meetings with the South-South people–mainly Ijaws–in Abuja, and that is how we agreed that they will support a northern presidential aspiration. But they will also want a South-southerner to be the vice-president, specifically, in the words of Edwin Clark, an ‘Ijaw man’. There are several tribes in South-South but he insisted on an Ijaw man. It worked out in the end. I Hope Clark will remember all these. He is not guiding Jonathan along the path of this agreement or understanding that it would get to them, after the North would have run its eight years. And if things work out the way we plan, the South-South will take its turn in 2015. And by that time it is the vice-president from that zone that will perhaps, depending on how he performs, emerge as the president. That was our agreement. But now, they want to disown that agreement and still want the North to support Jonathan to continue as president. Something must be wrong with the way they think.[/b]


Integrity is not a word that comes to mind whenever the name Edwin Clark is mentioned !!

You guys need to read more about the founding fathers of your nation. Tafawa Balewa was known throughout the world as the "Golden Voice Of Africa" because of his eloquence and command of the English language . Its a shame that many posters are oblivious to this fact.

Beaf:
The truth always sears the souls of liers. What has happened to your false story of "golden groundnuts fed Nigeria?" And next time, write in English, batu is becomerichs exclusive preserve.

You're one of the funniest peoiple to ever walk NL. We will sing and dance with Igbo's (with whom we have a lot in common) and rather die than listen to a parasite from a far off desolate core North coming in to tell us who or what to teach each other.

Try a new trick.

Don't be silly, not using the spellchecker does not make his posted remarks unreadable. You can dance with the Abriaba people for all I care, the truth in my statement remains.

Ono, even you sef dey enjoy cheap shot, ko?

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=519780.msg6829245#msg6829245 date=1285583947]

---

---

Beaf,I have told you not to lie again,your conjectures are becoming so irritating to bear.oil palm have contributed nothing to nigeria economy and I have shown you more sources to prove that Cocoa and groundnut sustained nigeria and contributed to the economy than a worthless commodity called oil palm.[/quote]Beaf cannot get away with streatching the truth here because knowkeadgeable people will call him out. His statements are becoming too much to bear.

@Ibime, no one can accuse you of being a forward thinking nationalist. I'd recommend that you consider thinking along nationalistic lines.

ono:
Time will tell. But for the present, please live with it.


What I'm trying to bring out here is that because a place is ruled by an ''Igwe/Obi'' does not automatically translate to they having Igbo lineage or origins. The Igwe told me they're more of Bini than Igbo - and everyone knows that. The Obi of Owa in Delta State has his roots deeply steeped in Bini. So also are most of the Ovies and other Kings in a lot of the parts of the Niger Delta. The Igbo should stop thinking that because they're closer to these people and they bear their names and kingshp titles, they are their people.

Please educate these people. Onlytruth should change his name to Onlylie or OnlyIgnorance. olodo.

solvakia:
your people only belive in slave trade! same as your religion! dat prof of urs knows notin! same as u!!!!

o boy, you sound like a bonafide intellectual midget.

ono:
Hmnn. . . . Until we break up, please know that the term (geopolitical entity actually) ''South South'' will remain and have a place in Nigeria's geopolitics and will continue to play a major role in the country's politics.


And when we break up, rest assured that we will remain one indivisible ''country'' - that cannot be influenced in any way by the whims of her neighbours.

I'm sure you know that the likes of MaziUche0 believe that you are occupying their land and that all the resources found in your area belong to them.

Ibime:
If the OP is insinuating that groundnut money was used to build up the South-South, please ask him which city or town in the then South-East region was built with groundnut money?


If they want 1960 arrangement, we would be very happy to do so. We give them 50% to develop themselves and keep 50% for ourselves.

Since 1960 is a fair parameter which they use to construct their argument, lets return to 1960 arrangement.

Ibime, stop pretending to be stupid, I have made no such insinuation. As to your question, I refer you to my response to another  brain-dead poster:

I feel sorry for you people who continue to believe that we must continue to base our economy on the sharing of oil revenue under the guise of some resource control balony. Wake up!  Only 20% of Nigerians are benefiting from the said oil resources, even if you people get 70%, the best of you, like Ibori and co, will pocket most of the money as they've always done, and you'll keepo worshiping them.

The focus should be on how to escape the debilitating Dutch disease and resource curse syndromes ravaging the country as whole. The question of how we move from the paradox stagnation and poverty traps in the midst of resource abundance to growth and prosperity wisely harnessing our God-given human and natural resources for the common good is what our presidential candidates should be answering.

Clueless GEJ has never offered any ideas on this important issue.  

Beaf:
Why don't you read up? Are you a foreigner?
You really seem to be all over the place. First, was groundnuts, then GEJ looks ugly like Obj, now stuff everybody knows!
Dude, you just seem to be clutching at straws here, looking in wild eyed desperation for anything, to hang Jonathan with. Bad bele! Its also known as sour grapes.

Abeg, keep to your weird "groundnuts fed Nigeria" topic.

I expected this kind of a response from you. Its your usual way of escaping, I'll let you off the hook this time arround.  

Eh, does your candidate or you, know what the Dutch disease is?  You don't have to answer the question or provide us with how your candidate has addressed the issue or plans to do so. Rakumin dajij.  

I shall continue with my excerps in due course.

Beaf:
By the way, even kids have heard of Jonathans plans to diversify the economy.

Kindly itemize the plans for those of us who are not aware of them. Please remember to mention the plans he has implemented to the said end, since he has been the President.

Nsiman:
@ ndu_chucks, so should we go back and adopt that system of 1914, 45, 60, Or should we adopt a resource control approach? About gratefulness, If u have ever been to the south-south is that how the north is, or calabar that is the former FCT can u identify it as it was an FCT? Where or what (industry etc) in the south-south was groundnut money used to develop. Crude oil has been pipe lined to kaduna from south-south by the federal govt., which agro-based industry was built in the south-south as at then by the federal govt to process agric products to finished goods?

Resource control ko, female genetalia control ni. I feel sorry for you people who continue to believe that we must continue to base our economy on the sharing of oil revenue under the guise of some resource control balony. Wake up!  Only 20% of Nigerians are benefiting from the said oil resources, even if you people get 70%, the best of you, like Ibori and co, will pocket most of the money as they've always done, and you'll keepo worshiping them.

The focus should be on how to escape the debilitating Dutch disease and resource curse syndromes ravaging the country as whole. The question of how we move from the paradox stagnation and poverty traps in the midst of resource abundance to growth and prosperity wisely harnessing our God-given human and natural resources for the common good is what our presidential candidates should be answering.

Clueless GEJ has never offered any ideas on this important issue.

Beaf:
^
I used to think you were smart. But unfortunately, it seems like a typical tribalist Fulani, you are jealous and enraged that your people aren't in power. Is that not the reason for opening a useless thread and talking about GEJ's looks (as if that will improve the education of Northern kids that your people have mismanaged ).

Papas posted a World Bank document that says the North was always in deficit and needed to be baled out by the South, so whats your point?
If enough of you are set free to be educated by your elite, you wouldn't make such barely literate arguments here. Added to that, jealousy always results in irrationality, so double whammy!

As expected, you missed the point completely. Your assumption that I was making fun of GEJ's look shows that you are a dummy who is incapable of processing complex statements expressed in simple English.

The similarity between GEJ and OBJ' lies in the fact that OBJ did not do much to cure the country of the so-called Dutch disease and Jonathan has done nothing about it either. As a presidential candidate, GEJ has not offered any solution to the problem either. (I'm assuming here that you are well-read enough to know what the Dutch disease is)

Oil and gas discovery and the mismanagement of the huge export revenue inflows from these resources destroyed Nigeria’s agricultural mainstay and economic backbone. As a consequence, more than 70% of Nigerians hardly survive on less than US$2 a day.  

The revenues  from the export of Nigeria’s petroleum resources are consumed by less than 20% of the populace while more than 100 million Nigerians do not enjoy any appreciable benefit.

What is GEJ's proposed solution to these issues? Why do you keep supporting  this clueless man simply because he hails from an oil producing region? What are GEJ's plans to address the issues I've raised?

I will posts additional excerps from the interview referenced in the first post of this thread right after you address the questions I've asked. olodo.

Beaf:
His quote was apt, afterall we are only talking about a period of about 15 or so years that groundnut was of any importance; even then, the North was always broke as papas pointed out.

You don't get to choose which period to base the discussion on, while the thread's title clearly mentions 1914, 1945, 1960. As I stated earlier, in the 1960s, the Nigerian economy was driven largely by the non-oil sector, especially agriculture. The heart of the economy was located in the North. Note also that Nigeria was the largest exporter of Cocoa during that period.

You people in the so-called South South contributed insignificantly to the economy (zilch is probably the best description for your contributions) - you have been parasites all along, yet you are the first to quickly call others parasites (how ungrateful) because probably 28% of oil deposits in Nigeria are found in your region - let me add here that the oil is actually located in government owned land.

Suddenly you want a clueless man and underachiever in the person of GEJ to become president! You people and your oil have been a curse to Nigerians. I'll be back later to give you details. Mgbo piafuka gi isi, all of you pirates and terrorists.

@~Bluetooth , please continue to educate these coneheads including our in-house jomo gbomo. Beaf does not know hopw to lose any arguement gracefully. He will resort to name calling and even use some of Becomerich's mapping tools to attempt to make himself look good. He fails to realize that no matter how many make-up artists Jonathan has, he'll still be as handsome as OBJ.

papas:
Here's a quote from a fairly comprehensive article (and a rather authoritative source - world bank).

Here's the link to the whole article http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/5783/State_and_Governance_Nigeria.htm

papas,

You quote does not do justice to the issue being discussed. The quoted article is titled "STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA". You need to examine and read more about economic activities in the periods in question to begin to grasp the points being made.

What you have done is tantamount to quoting one verse in the Bible or Qur'an and then justifying male chauvinism with the said verse.

Beaf:
You will find that I provided actual documentary evidence, while you have provided mere wishes and dreams. Ode buruku!
Your folk have been foolishly threatening to secede, so I guess you are here to parley and find out if anybody will be willing to hear one last sob story for some drops of oil before you head into the desert. Make una secede na, and live on groundnuts!

. . .Unfortunately for una, all the agriculture you talk about takes place in the Middle Belt, only sand de grow for una area. So secede, let us see.

If your documentary evidence was from accounts given by Sir George Goldie, then you should go and hide your head in the sand, in shame! Please quote reliable authors if you want to be taken seriously.


I will return shortly to show you the fallacy of your claims in several posts, of northern parasitism. If anybody be parasite, na all of una. I dey come.

Dede1:
@OP

Granted the fact I disliked the voices from the so-called south-south about crude oil for everything in today’s Nigeria, it was the combination of crude oil, treacherous southern Nigerians and northern region that foisted war against Biafra and created the so-called south-south.

Stop your relentless attempt at rewriting Nigerian history. First of all, Biafra did not exist prior to the war, and has never existed as a nation, recognized by UN or any other credible foreign body.

I am disappointed that you can publicly and boldly insinuate that Chukwuma Kaduna was a treacherous southern Nigerian and also that Ojukwu, was a treacherous southern Nigeria. Most would agree that these 2 names cannot be omitted when naming some southerners whose actions significantly contributed, to say the least, to the civil war.

FACE:
By the way Ndu-Chuks, before you start dragging oil rights, better go and helep your brothers wey flood wan kill, jus because una no sabi open ordinary gate for dam.

Anyways, my commiserations to them and I hope that the owners of the dams (state or federal) provide adequate aid and compensation to the affected people.

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1105ap_af_nigeria_floods.html

I share your concern for the flood victims. The culprit of the disasater is the Chief Engineer incharge of overseeing the activities that lead to the disaster. Guess what his first name is - Engr. Okechukwu. I have to believe that there was no conspiracy involved in the tragedy.

Beaf:
Only fools believe the tribalistic story that Ango Abdulahi and his ilk wish to spread. It is so funny that they attempt to twist history out of the bitterness that loss of power (which they think is their birthright) has brought.

Groundnut and other crap werent half as important as rubber and oil palm in colonial times. Indeed, the Royal Niger company which formed the basis of Nigeria traded in only palm oil and slaves. It is important to note that the areas where Oil Palm grew and oil business was done were the Niger Delta and South Eastern Nigeria. There was no trade that was more important or more sustaining to the piece of land called Nigeria than palm oil, after palm oil there was no break to the discovery of crude oil in the 1950's.

Groundnuts never even fed camels, talkless of Nigeria.

Beaf, you are beginning to sound like a broken record and your write-up above is filled with elements of gross intellectual dishonesty. Those who are not lazy and would do the appropriate research will confirm that prior to the discovery of oil, Nigeria enjoyed the luxury of God blessing it with vast agricultural and solid mineral resources. Infact by 1960, Nigerian economy was driven largely by the non-oil sector, especially agriculture:

[list]
[li]Agriculture contributed 70 per cent of non oil GDP.[/li]
[li] Employed about 65 per cent of the total labour force [/li]
[li] The country enjoyed moderate standard of living; food self-sufficiency and was a net exporterof agricultural commodities. [/li]
[/list]

Let me add that most of the said Agric based economic activities took place in Northern Nigeria. Olodo.

Here is an interesting take by a great academician, according to several sources - an excerp from a recent interview of Professor Ango Abdullahi, former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria:

South-South, the oil-rich region is popularly described as the goose that lays the golden egg but deprived of the benefits therefrom. Some opponents of zoning want Jonathan who is from that zone to run for president in 2011 just to make those long suffering people happy?


I say, where was the South-South in 1914? And where was the South-South in 1945, 1960? Where were the eggs being laid and hatched? It is in the record that, it was the farmers in the North that produced the groundnuts and resources that supplemented the various budgets of the West and East up till 1970. Recently, Adamu Fika put down the figures, year by year in terms of federal budgets and regional budgets and how much resources had to be wired from the northern area to other parts of the country to run their governments. Simply because some new ducks are laying eggs now, the chickens of previous years are no more important. The notion that the area of the country that produces the most resources each time should produce the leadership of the country is very nonsensical.

I'd also add that the vast majority of our oil deposits which are located hundreds of miles from the coast is not in the South South, East, West, or any other region.  Most of the oil is in Nigeria's sovereign region, so you people cannot singularly claim this oil.

If una like make una secceed along with Eziachi, FACE, Beaf and their cohorts, we go still keep most of de oil for out off-shore terrritory. We fed you people with groundnuts from the North back in the days and with Cocoa proceeds, una no complain then, so make una take chill pill.

Please how much would you Lagos clear a 2008 ML350 and 2004 Honda Pilot?

marvix:
@Ndu chucks, yes Dokpesi is free to support anyone and is entitled to vote but as an owner of a broadcast station he can not take the job of campaign manger for any candidate because that would affect his reportage

The bolded statement above is very prejudicial and narrow minded. You probably do not know the man enough to make such a statement. Do you have any concrete evidence that being a campaign manager will make his reporting less objective than they've always been?

One can see very clearly that the so-called informed Nigerians are also not quite ready for democracy. I'm referring to the posters on this thread who do not understand that in a democracy, Dokpesi is free to support whomever he wishes.

This same contributors will claim that they do not believe in dictatorship. olodo

When did Ribadu become a member of the ACN party? How many ACN governors do we have in the country?

Given the realities on ground, it is impossible for ACN to win the presidential elections of 2011 as its obvious to educated observers. Why then will Ribadu decide to contest under the umbrella of ACN? This story would have been more believable if we are told that Ribadu has joined PDP and plans to run for the office of President. Ribadu is no fool, ACN and Tinubu should look within for their candidate - Ribadu will not join their party.

Very Sad. May their souls rest in peace

Long before she was shot dead by her husband in a murder-suicide in Reading, Cheryl V. Okafor was a victim of domestic violence.

Okafor's first husband, Alfred S. Philmore, battered her for years, according to court records. And after they separated, he fatally shot her boyfriend in Reading.

Philmore of Reading was convicted of third-degree murder for shooting Osmond D. Walker on Sept. 29, 1998.

Philmore, who was 37 at the time, shot Walker, 39, from behind in his right temple and neck as Walker left Okafor's apartment in the 500 block of South 171/2 Street.

Philmore was sentenced to 20-40 years in state prison for the murder.

Earlier, he was convicted and jailed four times for harassing, stalking and beating Okafor, according to court records. He once beat her with a baseball bat, and violated several protection from abuse orders she had obtained, records show.

After the guilty verdict in the murder trial was read, Okafor told a reporter she was relieved.

"I thought if he was found not guilty, I would have to live in a safe house or something," she said. "I feel like I can breathe again."

On Sunday, Okafor was shot by her husband, Chukwudubem A. Okafor, inside a relative's house in the 300 block of Pear Street, authorities said. He then killed himself with the same gun, investigators said.

Okafor was born Cheryl Moncrieffe in Jamaica and came to the United States when she was 9.

She grew up in Reading and graduated from Reading High School in 1991. She later attended Reading Area Community College and Kutztown University, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in art education.

In addition to being a watercolor painter and working on other art projects related to domestic violence, she was a mentor to domestic violence victims.

Among those she helped was Yvonne Miller of West Reading, who on Monday remembered her as a caring, selfless and supportive friend.

"She was a very positive person in the community," said Miller, who was stunned by Okafor's death. "She motivated me and others to believe in ourselves and to keep going. She will be greatly missed."

Lisa Kneer met Okafor four years ago when she launched Berks Unity Solutions, a community coalition that works to build a strong, safe community.

"Cheryl was freely giving of information to help someone else," Kneer said. "She did stuff because it was the right thing to do without getting paid for it. She was just a good person; there's not a whole lot of them around here."

Okafor would tell her story of abuse to encourage other victims to seek the help available locally, said Christine Gilfillan, prevention education director of Berks County Women in Crisis.

While it's extraordinary that Okafor was connected to two incidents of deadly domestic violence, that reflects on the magnitude of the problem, not on her, Gilfillan said.

Okafor was the 36th domestic violence victim killed in Berks in the last decade, she said.

"Instead of asking what Cheryl could have done differently to prevent this, we should be asking, 'What more could all of us be doing?' " Gilfillan said.

Source:http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=242091

Dede1:
Baring draconian economic strangulation of eastern regional states, there are not too many states that can match eastern states in growing economy through individual entrepreneurship.

Please explain what you mean by draconian economic strangulation of eastern regional states and how the same has negatively affected individual entrepreneurship in the said region. Why is it that entrepreneurs from the said region thrive in places as far away as Sokoto, Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri e.t.c. but somehow their successes, according to you, are limited in the east? Is this your usual victim card or were you attempting to be funny?

Beaf:
That map looks quite right to me, I would make Jigawa light green though. Governor Lamido has very quietly moved the state from a vast wilderness into something to be proud of, in my books, he is one of the top performers in the country. What is most impressive is the drive for local technological know how in Jigawa, I believe it is the foremost state in the country in that regard.

For once, I'm tempted to agree with you.

Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan Goodluck!! How many times I call ya name??

This PDP rotation agreement gave us OBJ from the south, then Yar'Adua (RIP) from the North. Now Jonathan wants to complete the remaining 5 year term alloteds to the North, ko??

When the power shifts to the South in 2015 (assuming that other parties do not get their acts together), with a southerner as President and a Northerner as his vice, let's hope you people will exhibit the kind of understanding you are giving to Jonathan, when the President from the South suddenly dies (mysteriously or otherwise) and the Northern vice president claims the right to finish the terms of that presidency (all 8 years).

Jonathan should do the honourable thing. olodo

It seems to me as if most of the commentators so far, are not card carrying members of the PDP. I say this because some of their suggestions would simply destroy PDP.  I venture to say that PDP members are not suicidal and plan to continue to rule Nigeria for some time. If jettisoning Mallam Goodluck will facilitate this objective, then that will indeed happen.

You people that are not PDP members should go and form your own parties and challenge PDP, lame excuses are getting old.