₦airaland Forum

Pangea:
So what happens if these armies refused to give up their conquered land?

Can we push them out?

I dey laugh o

Na wetin me self dey think

Good morning! Here are 10 things you need
to know this morning
1. Report says Chad, Niger and Cameroon
have sent reasonable number of troops to
join the Multi-national Joint Task Force
battling the Boko Haram insurgents in
Northern Nigeria. It was further reported
that with the development, the campaign
against Boko Haram has been intensified as
both land and air bombardments are
currently ongoing.

2. The General Overseer of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch
Adeboye has cautioned some Pastor alleged
to have collected money from politicians to
influence their members in the coming
elections, asking them to return the money in
order to avoid the wrath of God. The
cleric gave this warning on his facebook page
on Wednesday while reacting to the
allegation raised by Rivers State Governor,
Rotimi Ameachi against some pastors.

3. The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission has declared Adamawa State
former governor, Murtala Nyako, and his
son, Abdulaziz Murtala, wanted for
offences bothering on economic crimes. This
was disclosed by the Head of Media and
Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson
Uwujaren.

4. Despite several calls for the postponement
of the February elections, the Independent
National Electoral Commission on Wednesday
said that the ballot papers for the elections
were ready. This was was disclosed by the
Spokesman for the INEC’s National
Chairman, Kayode idowu.

5. Former president, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, has said he will for now maintain
silence on the state of the nation pending
the outcome of the February elections. He
said this on Wednesday while addressing
traditional rulers from Egbaland at the
Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library,
Abeokuta.

6. The National Examinations Council,
NECO, has released its November/December
2014 results, disclosing that there is a
remarkable improvement compared to its
previous examinations. The results show 52.94
per cent credit pass in English Language and
55.37 per cent credit pass in Mathematics.

7. The Peoples Democratic Party said it did
not offer a bribe of N6bn to some
Christian leaders for them to support
President Goodluck Jonathan to win the
February 14 presidential election as alleged by
Rivers state governor, Rorimi Amaechi. The
party said dragging men of God into
disrepute was a serious sin against God.

8. The Oyo and Yobe state governments on
Wednesday declared Thursday, February 5
and Friday, February 6, 2015, as public
holiday in their states. The holiday is to
enable voters to collect their Permanent
Voter Cards before the February 8 deasline
given by the Independent National Electoral
Commission for the exercise.

9. Drama played out yesterday in Lagos state
when several supporters of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, joined the ampaign
train of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the
governorship candidate of the All
Progressives Congress, APC, alongside Mr
Babatunde Fashola, the governor of Lagos
at Alaka Bus Stop, Surulere and started
shouting change. Report said the PDP
supporters abandoned their umbrella as well
as their souvenirs.

10. The National Association of Itsekiri
Graduates, NAIG, has warned that
postponing the forthcoming elections would
be more disastrous than to go ahead with
same. The group called on the Independent
National Electoral Commission, INEC, to
ensure that everything is in place for the
coming election in order to avoid any shift.
http://dailypost.ng/2015/02/05/nigerian-newspapers-10-things-need-know-thursday-morning-51/

LAST week, the story broke that Chadian
forces were operating inside Nigeria against
the Boko Haram insurgency. And they seemed
to be making a lightning success of their
operation, because by last Thursday, they
had taken Malam Fatori, after two days of
fighting.
Last Sunday, these forces were in control
of Gamboru Ngala as well as Abadam; and
were fighting a major battle to take
Damasak. Cameroonian forces also joined the
fight and were reported to have taken the
border town of Banki and pushing towards
Kala-Balge. By Tuesday this week, reports
emerged that the French Airforce, which has
bases in Chad, was overflying Nigerian
territory and providing intelligence to their
Chadian and Cameroonian allies.
Agency pictures also appeared showing rows
of armoured vehicles and assault helicopters
of the Chadian Army being used in
operations in Cameroun and in Nigeria. It
took a while for officialdom to own up
that these forces were operating within
Nigeria, with Mike Omeri finally saying they
were here within the context of the
Multinational security project; and there
were no reports that the Chadian forces
were fleeing from Boko Haram or
abandoning weapons.
The second leg of these developments
originated from South Africa, when it
emerged there, that mercenaries numbering
about 100 (but described as private military
experts) were on their way to Nigeria to
help in the fight against Boko Haram. South
Africa’s Defense Minister warned these
alleged mercenaries of consequences, if they
travelled to fight in Nigeria without
government imprimatur or as part of a
government deployment:
“There are consequences when somebody
leaves the country and provides any form of
military assistance that is not part of the
government’s deployment.”
The story emanating from South Africa said
these men were former members of the old,
apartheid-era South African Defense Force.
These were ex-military men used to fight
ANC guerillas by the racist regime, in the
days of the struggle against apartheid. Even
the African Union last week also decide to
raise a 7, 500 man force to help tackle the
Boko Haram menace, which has rightly
become seen as a danger to the entire region
and Africa.
Chadian troops gather on February 1, 2015
near the Nigerian town of Gamboru, just
accros the border from Cameroon. In a
deserted Gamboru, Chadian forces carried
out clean-up operations after entering the
town and retaking it from Boko Haram,
which seized control months ago. AFP
PHOTO / MARLE
The resort to these foreign forces of
course flies in the face of territorial
integrity and national pride. But it merely
underlines the weakness of Nigeria’s forces
today and the deterioration of the Nigerian
armed forces. This is a great pity, given the
proud tradition of our forces, and their
heroic efforts around the world dating
back to the pre-independence period.
At 1400HRS GMT on Tuesday this week,
the BBC broadcast a special programme on
the state of Nigeria’s Armed forces, and
some of the participants in the programme
included the National Security Adviser
(NSA), Sambo Dasuki and human rights
lawyer, Femi Falana. The NSA agreed that
the Army’s capacity had deteriorated over
the years, as a result of a combination of
factors, some of which were directly
related to the years of military dictatorship.
The programme also had an expert who
reminded how our army used to be one of
the best-equipped and trained in Africa. In
the final analysis, according to the
programme, the army today suffers from
low morale; the high level of corruption with
an annual defense budget of about $6.5b,
but which doesn’t deliver on the needs of
the troops. There is also a problem of
training of the forces and armament. It was
a very instructive programme in every sense.
And my takeaway (apologies to Lagos
Governor BRF) is that there is the need
for the political will to confront the
enumerated weaknesses in order to re-build
Nigeria’s Armed Forces. I think one of the
problems of the past few years, was the
refusal of the government to accept that
Boko Haram was not a conspiratorial design
by its Northern enemies. It is therefore a
tragic irony that Nigeria, that used to
dominate its neighbourhood, is now having to
depend on Chadian and Cameroonian forces
and even South African mercenaries.
A security sector reform is an imperative;
not as designed by imperialist countries and
institutions, but home grown, and with the
strategic focus of rebuilding armed forces
that can effectively defend our country and
enhance our position as Africa’s largest
economy. Military power must be
commensurate with our economic and
geopolitical aspirations. The deployment of
foreign troops to fight Boko Haram is an
indication of how weak we are at the
moment. We must rebuild our armed forces
fast to face whatever challenge appears in
future!
Gen. TY Danjuma and the Niger Delta mob
LAST Wednesday, General TY Danjuma,
former Defence Minister and one of the
most respected leaders in Nigeria today,
called for the immediate arrest of Niger
Delta ex-militants who threatened to plunge
the country into war, if President Goodluck
Jonathan is not re-elected in this month’s
presidential election.
The trio of Boy Loaf, Tompolo and Asari
Dokubo had issued the threat of war, at
the Government House, Yenagoa, with Bayelsa
Governor, Seriake Dickson and Presidential
Adviser on the Amnesty Program, Kingsley
Kuku, in attendance. General Danjuma
reacted to their threat by calling for their
arrest and punishment, for ‘unguarded
utterances’, that ‘were provocative and
inflammatory’. Gen.TY Danjuma, who is never
known for ambiguity on any issue, added
that: “the statements were very reckless
coming from irresponsible individuals and they
should be condemned, in fact they should be
arrested”.
Gen. Danjuma spoke the mind of a lot of
Nigerians, who wondered why there was no
disclaimer from the presidency or any
proactive action from the security forces
that would have sprung to action, if the
statements had come from individuals not
located in the president’s corner of the
political space.
But expectedly, the Niger Delta mob
responded the following day led as usual by
Chief EK Clark. Clark was “disappointed” by
Gen. TY Danjuma, asking why the General
didn’t “condemn the attacks on Jonathan in
several states of the North instead of
calling for the arrest of the ex-militants”,
according to a Vanguard report. Tompolo
actually “accused Danjuma of sponsoring
terrorism in the Northern part of the
country”. For that allegation, he said TY
Danjuma should also be arrested and
prosecuted.
Sponsoring of terrorism
Not only that though, he said “the devilish
treaty that brought the Southern and
Northern Protectorates together in 1914,
expired last year…If not for President
Jonathan there would not be a Nigeria
anymore”. Asari Dokubo, in his own reaction,
said he “felt sorry for Danjuma for calling
for his (Asari’s) arrest and other Niger
Delta activists”. Even Kingsley Kuku, a
presidential adviser, said: “Danjuma misfired
by calling for the arrest of the Niger Delta
activists”. Boy Loaf asked Gen. TY Danjuma
to “apologise and hide his face in shame or
face humiliation”. Others who stuck out
their necks for the Niger Delta ex-militants
and against Gen. Danjuma’s call, included
retired Brig. General Idada Ikponmwen, a
certain Captain Beck Hitler, even Urhobo
Ovo and Ijaw Kene Patriots, amongst others.
While no rebuttal came from the presidency,
apropos of the threat to wage a war on
Nigeria, by the ex-militants, by the beginning
of this week, the PDP, through
spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, finally warned
Chief EK Clark and his ensemble of ex-
militants, to ‘be mindful of what they say at
this period of the nation’s political history’.
Olisa Metuh was “disturbed over provocative
statements of some people which could
provoke other parts of the country” adding
that “Jonathan was not an Ijaw President or
the South South zone of the country alone
but the president of all Nigerians”.
Olisa Metuh spoke the truth, but it might
just be too little too late! In truth, if
President Jonathan loses the coming election,
the provocative utterances as well as the
bellicosity and threats of Chief EK Clark
and the ex-militants, would be a major
contributory factor. There is nowhere in
the world where democracy can be achieved
by the sort of threats these characters
regularly issue against other Nigerians. They
have never won empathy for President
Jonathan with their threats and insults; and
because President Jonathan has never
denounced these threats, Nigerians in other
parts of the country believe they operate
with presidential support.
The attitude of the ex-militants is one of
the many factors responsible for the
noticeable alienation of the Jonathan
platform and campaign from other parts of
Nigeria. Nigerians will go to the polls on
February 14th, and it is not looking like they
will be afraid of the threats of war issued
by these ex-militants. We will never have
democracy by threats, insults and abuses!
When the mob surfaced last week against
Gen. TY Danjuma, they missed the point.
Danjuma’s statement reflected the feeling of
people around the country, with the exception
of those who share the sentiments of the
Niger Delta warlords.
Let us collectively save the Emir of Ilorin’s
palace
I WAS back in Ilorin last week, and I
gathered that Bukola Saraki’s government in
Kwara has finally sold the houses in the
Kwara State House of Assembly residential
complex, in Ilorin. I have an emotional
connection to that complex.
It was an estate built by the construction
company, Dumez, when constructing township
roads in Ilorin in the 1970s. We used to
attend parties there. But it was abandoned
thereafter to the African bush. When I was
appointed GM of KWTV in 1997, I got our
reporters to do a comprehensive report on
the complex, thus bringing it to the notice
of officialdom.
Then Military Administrator, Col. PAM
Ogar, visited the complex and decision was
made to reclaim and renovate it. The
governor commended KWTV for our
report. In 1999, it eventually became residence
for Members of the House of Assembly.
With its sale, Bukola Saraki has finally sold
ALL government houses in Ilorin. First to go
were all the government residences in the
GRA as well as the land in the Ministry of
Agriculture, which spread over a huge swathe
of the city.
They had allegedly perfected plan to sell the
Ilorin Eid praying ground and had also
parceled out plots within the old Ilorin
Teachers’ College. It was the collective
resistance of the Ilorin community, under the
aegis of the IEDPU that stopped them in
their track.
The Emir of Ilorin’s Palace and Central
Mosque are all that remains to sell. Allah
protects His place of worship; but no one
can take sale of the palace beyond Bukola
Saraki and his henchmen in government, if we
are not alert. This is an appeal to Ilorin’s
people to “shine our eyes”! If we lose focus,
even the Emir’s Palace can end up being sold!

www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/boko-haram-chadians-south-african-mercenaries/

Lol

A new born baby, wrapped in a black sack and covered with a plaster on the mouth, died after being abandoned by the roadside in the Abule Egba area of Lagos by his mother, who's suspected to be mentally unstable.

According to Punch, the baby was dumped in the area on Wednesday, January 28 and when people in the area saw the baby instead of helping the baby, they left him there for six hours until the baby died. Continue for the story
From Punch

Speaking with Punch, a trader, Mrs. Atanda Kuforiji, said they were taken aback by the sight of the abandoned baby. She added that a resident of the area drew the attention of other residents to the presence of the baby dumped by the roadside.
She explained that everybody went to the scene to see why the resident was shouting, only to be confronted by the sight of the new baby.
She said, “The baby was wrapped in a sack and placed by the roadside. I saw a crowd gather and decided to have a look; the child was still alive.
“People took pictures of the baby. His mouth was covered with a plaster to prevent him crying out. Everybody was saying what came into their heads, but nobody offered to help the baby.”
It was learnt that many of the dwellers in the area were too scared to pick the baby from where he was dumped.
A driver, Mr. Lasisi Gafar, said since the incident, nobody had seen the unstable woman in the area.
He said, “There used to be a female lunatic around the street who was pregnant, but since the child had been dumped I have not seen any trace of her. We suspect that she was the one that dumped the baby here, but nobody could find her to question her.”
It was gathered that the baby later died after struggling to live for over six hours.
A trader, who identified herself simply as Iya Monsura, said, “The child was alive as of 11am, but when government officials came around 5pm, he was dead. They took the dead body away.”
It was learnt that no efforts was made to report the case of dumped baby to the police. Some of the residents said such attempt could put them in trouble as the police might treat them as suspects.
Wow! Source: Punch

JayKayMaybachz:
Baba

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OK thanks

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Pls link

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JayKayMaybachz:
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And what sort of phone are you using?

I have a pc and the phone is tecno f5

JayKayMaybachz:
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Hope yhu backed up ya device?

Via CWM or TWRP?

No

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dammywapes:
Has he [emenike] now scored hat trick since he has done the ritual ?

He scored yesterday

Op u are the bastard
"fullstop"

Rubbish

Super Eagles forward, Emmanuel Emenike
underwent a Turkish spiritual cleansing ritual to
lift a curse that he believes has been placed on
him.
Emenike is reported to have complained that his
energy is out of sync after being cursed in
Nigeria and that it has had a detrimental effect
on his performances on the field.
“My energy is not right, something is wrong, I
just need a goal to get back to form,” Emenike
was quoted as saying by Milliyet.
The 27-year-old striker underwent a ritual called
‘Kur_un Dökme’ which is carried out when it is
believed that an evil eye is upon you. The evil
eye is the name for a curse or sickness
transmitted by someone who is envious, jealous
or wishes harm on someone.
The evil eye belief is that a person can harm you
and your property by a malevolent glare, usually
given to a person when they are unaware.
There are a number of precautions that can be
taken to prevent evil eye. The blue Nazar Boncuk
popular across Turkey is an amulet believed to
protect against the evil eye. The practice of
using a crystal blue eye dates back to Central
Asia, during the ages of the shamanic Tengrism
era.
If it believed that you have been cursed by evil
eye one method that can be used to rid oneself
on the effects of it is a ritual called ‘Kur_un
Dökme’.
The ritual involves a kur_uncu (the person taking
the nazar off you) who heats up the kur_un
(lead) over the stove. The kur_uncu then sits you
down, covers you up with a blanket, and pours
the lead in a bowl of water, causing the water to
splatter and the lead to take various shapes and
forms.
The process is believed to get rid of negative
energy and lift the curse.

Am more concerned about no. 7 even shekau mentioned it in his video

Good morning! Here are 10 things you need to
know this morning:
1. No fewer than 47 persons reportedly lost their
lives in fresh attacks in both Benue and Taraba
states. Report says while 27 were killed at
Nwonko village in Wukari Local Government Area
of Taraba state, 20 were killed in Benue State.
Both attacks were reportedly carried out by
Fulani herdsmen

2. Students of Tai Solarin University of
Education, Ijebu-ode on Thursday, 29th January
displayed their anger against the Ogun State
Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun while on a
campaign visit to the school as they attacked
him with sachet water, and disrupting his mission
to the institution.

3. The Nigeria Elections Debate Group, NEDG,
has appealed to the APC and its Presidential
candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari not to
boycott the 2015 election debates which it’s
organising, claiming that it’s non-partisan. They
said even though BON Chairman, Mr. Omale and
AIT owner, Chief Raymond Dokpesi were
members, they do not influence the group nor its
activities.

4. The All Progressives Congress, APC has
disclosed that there are plans by those agitating
for the postponement of next month’s general
elections to embark on a nationwide protest
against INEC in order to force it to shift the
elections, scheduled for February 14 and 28.

5. A former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, on Friday in Lagos disclosed that he gave
up his presidential ambition for the All
Progressives Congress candidate, Gen
Muhammadu Buhari, saying it is only the person
of Buhari that can turn around the present
situation in the country. Tinubu stated this while
addressing a crowd of APC supporters at the
party’s presidential rally..

6. Little Abraham Omonighoho who was attacked
by two dogs in Lagos state has returned from an
indian hospital after a successful treatment.
However, a report from India showed that his
scalp got infected while he was still being
treated at LASUTH.

7.Top military officers who were displaced from
Baga by the Boko Haram insurgents have been
arrested for questioning. According to the Army,
the officers had enough equipment at their
disposal not to have fallen to the insurgents
cheaply. The arrested officers include a Brig.
Gen, a Lt. Col. and five other officers of the
Nigerian Army deployed to the Baga
headquarters of Multinational Joint Task Force,
Maiduguri.

8. President Goodluck Jonathan has sent the list
of seven ministerial nominees to the National
Assembly for approval. Report however said one
of the nominees was former Minister of State
Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, who resigned his
position in October 2014 to pursue a
governorship ambition in Lagos State.

9. Report says more than 14,000 Permanent
Voter Cards have been snatched from officials of
the Independent National Electoral Commission in
Rivers State. According to report, they were
forcefully taken away by hoodlums while they
were being distributed during the collection
exercise in the state.


10. Three soldiers and 123 Boko Haram militants
were killed when the Islamist group attacked a
Chadian army contingent in northern Cameroon.
Report says twelve soldiers were wounded in the
attacks staged by the Islamists on Thursday and
Friday near the border town of Fotokol.

We should be concerned about things that
concerned us in every aspect. The
leadership and rule of law of this country is
everyone's business.
This is a new dawn where everyone who is
eligible to vote should go out in mass and
vote for a candidate of their choice.
As the title caption ''Why I should not sell
my vote'' first we must see reasons why we
should vote before we emphasise why we
should vote. Look at it this way; I am to
vote because its my fundamental right to
vote.
I should not talk about change if I have not
contributed towards the change I canvas
for! The good choice I make can help put
others into making a good choice too. Also
because everyone has a quarter to
contribute and because God hate's
hypocrisy.
Now, why I should not sell my vote; I will
not sell it because its my God given free
right, which will terminate my right not to
complain when things are not functioning
well. I am selling my integrity, conscience,
joy and happiness. It will give the leaders
the edge to talk to me anyhow, anywhere,
anytime.
I will turn to their slaves when they win,
after all their money can buy me. This is
simply the list why we should not sell our
vote and why we should vote.
One man, one vote! One vote, one voice for
all! Free and fair election will lift this
country to greater heights.

In a catastrophic event, most people fail to do
the one thing that would save their life, says
Michael Bond.
At seven o’clock in the evening of 27
September 1994, the cruise ferry MS Estonia
left Tallin with 989 people on board, heading for
Stockholm through the Baltic Sea. It never got
there. Six hours into the journey, pushing
through a force nine gale, the bow door broke
open and the ferry started taking on water.
Within an hour it had sunk, taking with it 852 of
its passengers and crew.
Even given the speed of tragedy, the stormy
sea and the length of time it took rescuers to
arrive (a full-scale emergency was only
declared half an hour after the sinking), survival
experts were astonished at the high death toll.
It appears that many people drowned because
they did nothing to save themselves. “A
number of people… seem to have been
incapable of rational thought or behaviour
because of their fear,” concluded the official
report into the accident. “Others appeared
petrified and could not be forced to move.
Some panicking, apathetic and shocked people
were beyond reach and did not react when
other passengers tried to guide them, not even
when they used force or shouted at them.”
What happened? One person who knows the
answer is John Leach , a military survival
instructor who researches behaviour in extreme
environments at the University of Portsmouth.
He has studied the actions of survivors and
victims from dozens of disasters around the
world over several decades (and as it happens
he was present at one of them, the fire at
King’s Cross underground station on 18
November 1987 which killed 31 people). He has
found that in life-threatening situations, around
75% of people are so bewildered by the
situation that they are unable to think clearly or
plot their escape. They become mentally
paralysed. Just 15% of people on average
manage to remain calm and rational enough to
make decisions that could save their lives.
(The remaining 10% are plain dangerous: they
freak out and hinder the survival chances of
everyone else.)
Stories about survival often focus on the 15%,
and what is so special about them that helps
them stay alive. But Leach thinks this is the
wrong question. Instead, we should be asking,
why do so many people die when they need
not, when they have the physical means to
save themselves? Why do so many give up, or
fail to adjust to the unfolding crisis? In most
disaster scenarios, he says, you don’t need
special skills to survive. You just need to know
what you should do. “My role as a combat
survival instructor is to teach people how to
survive. My role as a psychologist is to teach
people not to die.”
Emergency exit
We haven’t always had a clear picture of what
people really do in emergencies. Engineers
designing evacuation procedures used to
assume that people respond immediately when
they hear an alarm, smell smoke or feel their
building shake or their boat begins to list.
Yet as cases in recent decades began to show,
the real challenge is getting them to move
quickly enough. On 22 August 1985, 55 people
died in a Boeing 737 on the runway at
Manchester Airport in the UK after the plane,
which was bound for Corfu, suffered engine
failure during take-off. The government’s Air
Accident Investigations Branch reported :
“Perhaps the most striking feature of this
accident was the fact that although the aircraft
never became airborne and was brought to a
halt in a position which allowed an extremely
rapid fire-service attack on the external fire, it
resulted in 55 deaths. The major question is
why the passengers did not get off the aircraft
sufficiently quickly.”
Rather than madness, or an animalistic
stampede for the exits, it is often people’s
disinclination to panic that puts them at higher
risk.
One of the most graphic examples of crowd
passivity in recent times occurred in New
York’s Twin Towers after the hijacked planes
hit them on 9/11. You’d have thought those
who survived the initial impact would have
headed for the nearest exit pretty quickly. Most
did the opposite: they prevaricated. Those who
eventually got out waited six minutes on
average before moving to the stairs, and some
hung around for half an hour, according to a
study by the US National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) . Unprepared for what
was happening to them, they either carried on
as normal or hung around to see what would
happen, waiting for others to move first. One
study found that half of those who survived
delayed before trying to escape, making phone
calls, tidying things into drawers, locking their
office door, going to the toilet, completing
emails, shutting down their computer, changing
their shoes. One woman accustomed to
bicycling to work even returned to her office to
change into her tracksuit before trying to leave.
Survival mode
The prevailing psychological explanation for
these kinds of behaviours – passivity, mental
paralysis or simply carrying on as normal in the
face of a crisis – is that they are caused by a
failure to adapt to a sudden change in the
environment. Survival involves goal-directed
behaviour: you feel hungry, you look for food;
you feel isolated, you seek companionship.
Normally, this is straightforward (we know how
to find food or companions). But in a new,
unfamiliar environment, particularly a stressful
one such as a sinking ship or a burning aircraft,
establishing survival goals – where the exit is
and how to get to it – requires a lot more
conscious effort.
“In emergencies, quite often events are
happening faster than you can process them,”
explains Leach. The situation outruns our
capacity to think our way out of it. Jerome
Chertkoff , a social psychologist at Indiana
University, puts it another way: “Being in a
situation where your life is in danger increases
your emotional arousal, and high arousal
causes people to limit the number of
alternatives they consider. That can be bad
when trying to determine a course of action,
since you may never consider the option most
likely to result in escaping safely.”
This explains why in emergencies people often
fail to do things that under normal
circumstances would seem obvious. So the
only reliable way to shortcut this kind of
impaired thinking, most survival experts agree,
is by preparing for an emergency in advance.
“Practice makes actions automatic, without
[the need for] detailed thinking,” says Chertkoff.
This means making a mental note of the fire
exits when you go to the cinema (and
imagining yourself using them), reading the
evacuation guidance on the back of the door
when you stay in a hotel, and always listening
to aircraft safety briefings however frequent a
flyer you are. “Every time I go on a boat the
first thing I do is find out where my lifeboat
station is, because then if there is a problem I
just have to respond, I don’t have to start
thinking about it,” says Leach. Typically,
survivors survive not because they are braver
or more heroic than anyone else, but because
they are better prepared.
What about how you deal with other people? No
matter how well-primed you are, one aspect of
emergency situations will always be out of our
control: how those around us behave. Here,
too, the scientific understanding is at odds with
common wisdom or what we are likely to read
in the media.
Commentators often highlight the supposed
stupidity or madness of crowds during disasters
– a stampede of pilgrims, the crush of a
football crowd, the blind scramble for the exits
in a burning nightclub. In reality, this is rarely
what happens. Research shows that in most
scenarios, groups of people are more likely to
help each other than hinder. “In emergencies,
the norm is cooperation,” says Chris Cocking,
who studies crowd behaviour at the University
of Brighton. “Selfish behaviour is very mild and
tends to be policed by the crowd rather than
spreading.”
Take the suicide bombings on London’s
transport system on 7 July 2005, which killed
52 and injured more than 700. For several
hours, hundreds of passengers were trapped in
smoky underground tunnels with no way of
knowing if they would be rescued, nor if further
explosions were imminent. Amid this chaos,
most people were highly cooperative and
helpful, according to survivors interviewed by
Cocking, John Drury at the University of Sussex
and Steve Reicher at the University of St
Andrews. Psychologists call this response
“collective resilience”: an attitude of mutual
helping and unity in the middle of danger.
Stronger together
Drury, Cocking and Reicher have documented
many examples of collective resilience. In
2008, they talked to survivors of 11 mass
tragedies or incidents from the previous four
decades, including the 2001 Ghana football
stadium crush in which 126 people died while
trying to escape through locked exits, and the
sinking of the cruise ship Oceanos off South
Africa in 1991 (when remarkably all 500-odd
passengers survived). In each case, group
solidarity was more prevalent than selfishness.
Cocking thinks that people’s tendency to
cooperate during emergencies increases the
chances of survival for everyone. “Individually,
the best thing tactically is to go along with the
group interest. In situations where everyone
acts individually, which are very rare, that
actually decreases effective group evacuation.”
Still, some emergencies can be so
disorientating that cooperation may be beyond
some people. For a dramatic example of how
differently people behave when their life is on
the line, consider the story of the British-Irish
Atlantic Odyssey rowing team who in January
2012 attempted to cross the ocean east to
west in a record-breaking 30 days. After 28
days, a freak wave capsized their boat while
they were still 500 miles (800 kilometres) from
their destination in Barbados. According to
Mark Beaumont, an adventurer and broadcaster
who was part of the six-strong crew, they
would all have drowned had several of them
not dived repeatedly under the upturned hull to
free the life raft and retrieve the emergency
beacon, GPS tracker, satellite phone, fresh
water and food.
Deep shock
But not all of the crew reacted so rationally. “A
couple of the guys went into pretty deep
shock,” he recalls. “One of them could barely
get a word out. He just shut his eyes and shut
down.” Later, this colleague, who was a strong
rower, explained to Beaumont that he had
become overwhelmed by the situation. “I was
completely out of my league,” he told him. “I
thought the best thing to do was take up as
little room as possible in the life-raft, shut my
eyes and wait for it to pass, whether that was
to die or be rescued.”
The chances are you will never find yourself in
a disaster situation. But it’s a good idea to
imagine that you will: to be aware that there
are threats out there, and that you can prepare
for them, without sliding into paranoia. “All you
have to do is ask yourself one simple question,”
says Leach. “If something happens, what is my
first response? Once you can answer that,
everything else will fall into place. It’s that
simple.”
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150128-how-to-survive-a-disaster

Terrible

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has
accused the PDP and the Presidency of
orchestrating the ongoing campaign for election
postponement, despite their serial denial and the
phantom assurances that they are ready for the
polls.
”There is no clearer indication that the PDP and
the Presidency are the puppeteers behind the
election shift campaign than Wednesday’s
newspaper advertorial plainly campaigning for
the polls to be shifted,” the party said in a
statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its
National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed.
”This advert, which has the picture of President
Goodluck Jonathan and the logo of the PDP –
meaning they will be the sole beneficiaries of
the postponement they are seeking – leaves no
one in doubt that the ruling party and the
presidency are pathologically dishonest,
deliberately deceptive and chronically terrified
about the elections,” it said.
The APC said now that all pretences are off and
the sponsors of the election postponement
campaign have been unveiled, Nigerians must
reject them and their campaign.
”The campaign, which is hinged on the fact that
many Nigerians have not collected their
Permanent Voters Cards (PVC), is not sincere. If
it is, the PDP and the Presidency would have
instead been urging Nigerians to go all out and
collect their PVCs so the election can hold. Why
is this so impossible for them to do?
”Like we said earlier, what prevents the federal
government from declaring a three-day public
holidays to give Nigerians the opportunity to
collect their PVCs? Why is it that only the PDP
and its sponsored groups and individuals are the
ones leading the campaign for election
postponment, even as our party, the APC, has
been campaigning for Nigerians to go and collect
their PVCs?
”Is it not instructive that at least 26 political
parties have joined the no-postponement
campaign, while the PDP/Presidency, as well as
the lick-spittle individuals and groups who have
been compromised one way or another, continue
to beat the drums of election shift?” the party
said.
It wondered why the PDP/Presidency will be
second-guessing the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), which has said it is
ready to go ahead with the elections, and that it
will be distributing PVCs until the eve of the
election.
While urging its members and supporters in
particular, and all Nigerians in general to remain
vigilant and be firm in saying ‘no’ to election
postponement, the APC appealed to the Chief
Justice of the Federation (CJN) to ensure that
the courts are not used as a tool to sabotage
the elections and indeed the nation’s democracy.
”We know that the next frontier in the ongoing
battle by the PDP/Presidency to get our
candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, disqualified
and have the elections postponent, is the court.
We know they will seek to secure spurious
injunctions to scuttle the elections, following the
footsteps of the Association for Better Nigeria
(ABN) in 1993. This is why we are appealing to
the CJN,” APC said.
The party added: ”For the avoidance of doubt,
we are ready for the elections and we will not,
under any circumstance, support any shift in the
dates for the elections, which were fixed more
than a year ago.
”If the PDP and the Presidency are not afraid of
anything, we challenge them to come out today
to denounce the campaign for election
postponement, dissociate themselves from it and
announce unequivocally that they are ready for
the elections. Failure to do that, they stand
accused of working hard to sabotage the
elections and truncate the nation’s democracy.”

Some married people in Abuja on
Wednesday identified the need for material
possession as the major reason for infidelity
among married couples.
Respondents in separate interviews also
mentioned the desire to satisfy emotional needs
as another contributory factor.
Mr Johnson Eze, a civil servant, said he was
cheating on his wife not because he loved her
less but for the sole purpose of “catching some
fun’’.
He said: “My marriage is one of the best
because my wife, who is God-given, is an
understanding woman and she tolerates me a lot.
“Yet, I still find myself cheating on her just for
the fun of it. This does not in any way diminish
the love I have for her and my lovely kids.
“I recall an incident that happened some time
ago. I told my wife that I was travelling to
Calabar for an official assignment, but ended up
with my girlfriend in a hotel, and she found out.
“The incident almost destroyed my home but
thanks to God my wife was able to forgive and
forget put the ugly incident behind, ‘’ he said.
Eze, who described infidelity as `a careless act,’
advised men to desist from it.
A female boutique operator, who pleaded
anonymity, said the desire to keep up with the
latest fashion trend made her to cheat on her
husband.
According to her, the husband, a low income
earner, was financially incapable of meeting her
insatiable material needs.
“Besides, my hubby and I fight over things that
are not relevant and I lie to him most times to
raise extra cash to buy something, which he
considers unnecessary.
“I have not been faithful in my marriage because
of the temptation to stay on top of the fashion
trend which is way beyond the financial capacity
of my husband.
“Besides the extra cash my boyfriend gives me,
whenever I want to collect money from my
husband for food stuff and other basic
necessities I always double the cost.
“This has become a habit for me and whenever I
don’t get my share in any shopping I do on behalf
of the family, I get angry and pick on my
husband at any little provocation, ‘’ she added.
A legal practitioner who offered a coined name –
Mr Kosi Chiemela – blamed his adulterous
actions on lack of intimacy, emotional
disconnection and lack of friendship with his
wife.
Chiemela who described marriage as “one
difficult school you cannot graduate from till you
die,’’ stated that the only way to escape was to
stay single.
“I am a temperamental person and when I newly
got married, it was not easy for my wife whose
temper is also short.
“Both of us hardly agree on anything and the
only escape route for me is to seek love and
affection elsewhere.
“My girlfriend understands me and she tolerates
a lot, unlike my wife who blows up like a bomb
at the slightest provocation,’’ he said. (NAN)

ckc:
Who is holding u? A beg go park for one corner with cheat Buhari

How sure are u that Jonathan PhD degree is real

Even though buhari no do primary school.... I go vote for am

The truth is that Peter Obi and Sullivan chime are the same class of people.... But I think Obi is more focus on a different type of transformation agenda while chime is more infrastructurely inclined

Political leaders from the minority
regions of the South-South and Middle Belt, have
insisted that the only guarantee for the full
implementation of the recommendations of the
National Conference was the re-election of
President Goodluck Jonathan.
Rising from a summit of the Congress for
Equality and Change in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State,
the political leaders resolved to endorse
President Jonathan for re-election as President
in the February 14 poll.
Present at the summit were Ijaw leader, Chief
Edwin Clark, chairman board of trustees; former
Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka
Ezeife, representing the South East; Senator
Femi Okuronmu representing South West; former
Bayelsa governor, Chief Diepeye Alamieyeseigha;
former Taraba governor, Rev. Jolly Nyame; Gen.
Stanley Diriyai, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and Gen.
Lawrence Onoja, among over 350 delegates from
the Middle Belt and the South South.
Royal fathers in attendance include HRM King
Edmund Daukoru, Mingi XII, Amanyanabo of
Nembe and chairman of the South-South Council
of Traditional Rulers; HRM Orhue I, the Orodje of
Okpe; HRM King Alfred Diette-Spiff, Amanyanabo
of Twon Brass and Chairman of Bayelsa State
Council of Traditional Rulers; HRM, Alhaji Aliyu
Canes I, Aidonigie of South Ibie Kingdom and
Secretary, South South Council of Traditional
Rulers.
The political leaders resolved that President
Jonathan’s re-election should be seen as a task
beyond party affiliations because he symbolises
minority freedom, liberation and emancipation.
According to them, “All minorities are by this
formal endorsement enjoined to be vigilant,
ensure they collect their PVCs and go out to
cast their votes for President Jonathan.”
The political leaders, who deliberated on the
political situation in the country and the
imperatives for national integration and stability
before during and after the February 14 and 28
general elections, among others, reaffirmed their
faith in a united and egalitarian Nigeria.
The summit resolved that minorities must unite
to fight for their rights and refuse to be
intimidated by any ethnic group or individuals to
relinquish their support for President Jonathan,
saying that he symbolises freedom, liberty and
emancipation for minorities and all Nigerians

Former governor of Anambra state, Mr Peter Obi
has dismissed Soludo as a man hunted by his
past for stating that he (Obi) built no signature
project in Anambra State during his tenure.
Speaking through his Media Assistant, Mr.
Valentine Obienyem, Obi described the article by
Professor Charles Soludo as full of evidence of
one who is still nursing deep hatred against
those he wrongly assumed were responsible for
not renewing his appointment as the Governor of
the Central Bank and those that thwarted his
move towards becoming the Governor of
Anambra State last year.
Obienyem in his response agreed with some vital
points raised by Soludo but regretted that the
aim of the write-up was not to instruct or
contribute to positive national discourse, but to
hit back at those he is nursing secret grudges
against.
Obienyem recalled how Soludo in 2013, said he
was the foundation upon which the new
Anambra State was built, and went on to
commend him on how he changed the fortunes
of the state.
He wondered why Soludo would just turn around
so soon to declare that the tragedy of Obi’s
tenure was that he built no signature project by
which his regime would be remembered but
saved money in the midst of hunger thereby
impoverishing the people of the State.
Obienyem said it was surprising that a renowned
economist as Soludo, who in the same write up,
prided himself of saving $45billion in the nation’s
external reserves when he was the Central Bank
Governor in the same article should condemn Obi
for saving money for Anambra State, questioning
the wisdom of savings where there were things
that needed to be done.
“When he said he saved $45bn, does it mean
that at that time Nigeria’s problems were over?
Now oil price is falling and state’s allocation are
bound to fall, Soludo should be told that the
money Obi saved will be used to cushion the
effect, among others reasons for states to save
at all times. He also talked about clearing
Nigerian debts without acknowledging that the
architect of it is Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who is
still part of Jonathan’s Government”.
On Obi leaving no signature project, Obienyem
said that Soludo merely displayed his ignorance
of what true development is, insisting that
development is nothing if it does not involve the
totality of man.
“Talking about signature project, Obi has them in
abundance. He built over 30 bridges, built the
State Secretariat, built the teaching hospital,
built the permanent site of the Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu University, rebuilt Iyienu,
Borromeo hospitals, Holy Rosary and St Joseph
hospitals; and Our Lady of Lourdes among many
hospitals with signature structures dotting them.
“Beyond the foregoing”, Obienyem continued,
“Soludo should be told that Obi did much more in
areas that are far more important than mere
structures. He returned schools to the Church
and committed billions that could build any form
of signature project of Soludo’s imagination.
Because of this, Anambra State is today the
number one in external examinations in the
country.
Moreover, he changed the psyche of the people
of the State and removed Anambra State from
her pariah status to one of the exemplary States
in the country.”
Regretting how unstable Soludo has become in
his opinions, Obienyem said that the same
Soludo, on the Tuesday, the 23rd of July, 2013
described Mr. Peter Obi, during the memorial
thanksgiving mass at St Theresa’s Catholic
Church, Isuofia, in honour of Soludo’s mother-in-
law , as a man of destiny whose disciplined and
God-fearing life has insured his success in life.

Nigerian troops on Sunday engaged
Boko Haram fighters in a fierce battle in
Maiduguri, the military, vigilantes and residents
said.
"Troops are repelling a simultaneous attack on
Monguno and Maiduguri by terrorists," the
defence headquarters said on Twitter.
It said an air and land operation was going on
against the Islamists, adding that a curfew had
been imposed on the embattled city which has
been the epicentre of the six-year-old Boko
Haram insurgency.
Fears have been growing for months about a
possible strike on Maiduguri after the Islamist
militants began seizing towns and villages in
three northeast states about six months ago.
On January 3, they captured the fishing hub of
Baga, in the far north of Borno State, which
security analysts said put them in a better
position to strike south to hit Maiduguri, the
state capital.
Locals said fighting was on-going and that the
extremists first attacked Jintilo settlement on
the outskirts of the city around 5:00 am (0400
GMT).
But they met stiff resistance from troops
stationed in the village, just five kilometres
(three miles) from Maiduguri, where Boko Haram
was founded in 2002.
"Fighting is still going on since 5:00 am at Jintilo
between Boko Haram and soldiers. We have all
evacuated our homes," said Mustapha Zaraye, a
resident of a housing estate near the scene.
"More soldiers are deploying to Jintilo," he
added.
Residents on the southern outskirts of the city
moved out of their homes and poured into the
city as fighting raged.
"It is flying bullets everywhere. All we hear are
sounds of guns and explosions," said Buba Kyari,
a resident of Moronti neighbourhood, near Jintilo.
"A rocket-propelled grenade hit and killed a
person from my neighbourhood who was fleeing
into the city."
A military jet was seen overhead and began
aerial bombings of Boko Haram positions, a
member of a civilian vigilante group fighting
alongside the troops said.
"The attackers have been subdued and are in
disarray," the vigilante added, asking to remain
anonymous for security reasons.

They're not quite Neanderthals and not quite
modern humans. They're something else, but
no one is sure what.
Newly-examined fossils suggest that an
unknown species of human was roaming parts
of northern China between 60,000 and 120,000
years ago. Alternatively, the fossils could be
the result of interbreeding between two of the
known species.
We know there were as many as four other
early humans living on Earth when modern
humans were still confined to Africa. The
Neanderthals lived in Europe, the Denisovans in
Asia and the "hobbit" Homo floresiensis in
Indonesia: plus there was a mysterious fourth
group from Eurasia that interbred with the
Denisovans.
The new findings suggest the picture is even
more complicated.
The Chinese remnants were first discovered in
a cave in the Xujiayao site in 1976. They
consist of some skull fragments, and nine teeth
from four individuals. A comprehensive analysis
of the teeth has now been published in the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
Teeth are like 'landscapes in
miniature'. Each of those slopes, grooves,
valleys define a pattern or combination of
features that can be distinctive of a
population
María Martinón-Torres of the National Research
Centre on Human Evolution in Burgos, Spain
and her colleagues looked at the size and
shape of the crown and root system, the
grooves, cusps and crests, and their positions
relative to each other. These were then
compared to a pool of over 5,000 teeth
representing nearly all the known hominin
species.
"Teeth are like 'landscapes in miniature'," says
Martinón-Torres. "Each of those slopes,
grooves, valleys define a pattern or combination
of features that can be distinctive of a
population."
It was clear that the teeth did not resemble
those of modern humans, H. sapiens. Instead,
they have several primitive features, some of
which look like the older species H. erectus,
while some look more like Neanderthals.
Other skeletal parts found at the same
site, described last year , don't neatly fit the
known species either.
Nevertheless, Martinón-Torres is reluctant to
claim that the teeth represent a new species.
"What we have seen is an unknown group for
us," she says. "It's not H. sapiens and it's not
H. neanderthalensis . They have a mixture of
something very primitive, which is currently
unknown. We cannot go further to say it's a
new species because we need to compare it to
other things."
They might actually fit an existing species.
"They could even be Denisovans," adds
Martinón-Torres.
The Denisovans co-existed and even interbred
with us. But hardly anything is known about
them. The only fossils come from a cave in
Siberia and consist of two teeth and a tiny
finger bone. DNA analysis revealed that they
were distinct from both Neanderthals and
modern humans but had aspects of both.
The Xujiayao teeth show a similar pattern,
Martinón-Torres says.
Not everyone agrees. While the sample is
small, it "strongly suggests the presence of a
previously unrecognized species," says Darren
Curnoe of the University of New South Wales in
Sydney, Australia. "There's little doubt in my
mind that these teeth stand out as something
unique." The surface features on the teeth
alone should be enough to argue for a new
species, he says.
Conceivably the remains come from a
hybrid of modern humans and Denisovans,
but that is pure speculation
Curnoe previously described another set of
mysterious hominin fossils from China, the " Red
Deer Cave People ", though these lived more
recently than the Xujiayao hominins.
Others echo Martinón-Torres' caution. Matthew
Skinner of the University of Kent, UK says
fossil samples from Asia are so sparse that it
is hard to infer species status.
Fred Spoor of University College London in the
UK agrees with Skinner. He says the remains
show a mix of modern and primitive features.
"What it means is another matter." Conceivably
the remains come from a hybrid of modern
humans and Denisovans, "but that is pure
speculation".
Many of the supposedly separate Homo
species might just be variants of a single
species, says Erik Trinkaus of Washington
University in St Louis, Missouri. "As the fossil
record fills in, most of the purported gaps
between such 'species' are gradually
disappearing," he says. "Real species in the
real world, especially for large bodied animals
like us, are widespread and variable."
On that view, finding teeth that don't fit the
known "species" just isn't surprising.
More bones would help, and they might turn up
soon, as parts of Asia are turning out to be rich
in fossils.
But it may be that only DNA evidence will offer
definitive answers, says Matthias Meyer of the
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. "It would be
great to get more data from east Asia, but
obviously, this is difficult."
"There was probably more than one species of
early human in Asia, which wouldn't be
surprising considering the size of the continent
and how isolated it is," says Martinón-Torres.
Last year she helped describe some teeth from
the same time period in east China, which also
did not neatly fit the known species.
Some of these populations could even have
been ancestors of modern Europeans,
according to some researchers. Most think
Africa was the cradle of modern humans, so
this is controversial. But Martinón-Torres thinks
people will return to the idea, as more and
more Asian fossils are analysed.
Curnoe agrees. "We've neglected East Asia for
far too long," he says.
"Now we're starting to get a few surprises that
don't fit with conventional wisdom based on
fossils from Europe and Africa."

Earlier this month, a 32-year old male
gamer was found dead at a Taiwanese Internet
cafe following a non-stop three-day gaming
session. This followed the death of another
male gamer who died in Taipei at the start of
the year following a five-day gaming binge.
While these cases are extremely rare, it does
beg the question of why gaming can lead to
such excessive behavior. I have spent nearly
three decades studying videogame addiction
and there are many studies published in both
the medical and psychological literature
showing that very excessive gaming can lead to
a variety of health problems that range from
repetitive strain injuries and obesity, through to
auditory and visual hallucinations and addiction.
I have to stress that there is lots of scientific
research showing the many educational and
therapeutic benefits of playing but there is
definitely a small minority of gamers that
develop problems as a result of gaming overuse.
But what is it that makes gaming so compulsive
and addictive for the small minority?
For me, addiction boils down to constant
reinforcement, or put more simply, being
constantly rewarded while playing the game.
Gaming rewards can be physiological (such as
feeling "high" or getting a "buzz" while playing
or beating your personal high score),
psychological (such as feeling you have
complete control in a specific situation or
knowing that your strategic play helped you
win), social (such as being congratulated by
fellow gamers when doing something well in the
game) and, in some cases, financial (such as
winning a gaming tournament).
Most of these rewards are -- at least to some
extent -- unpredictable. Not knowing when the
next reward will come keeps some players in
the game. In short, they carry on gaming even
though they may not have received an
immediate reward. They simply hope that
another reward is "just around the corner" and
keep on playing.
Added to this is the shift over the last decade
from standalone console gaming to massively
multiplayer online games where games never
end and gamers have to compete and/or
collaborate with other gamers in real time
(instead of being able to pause the game and
come back and play from the point at which the
player left it). Many excessive gamers report
that they hate logging off and leaving such
games. They don't like it as they don't know
what is going on in the game when they are not
online.
The last five years has seen large increase in
the number of scientific studies on problematic
gaming. In May 2013, the American Psychiatric
Association published the fifth edition of the
"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders"(DSM-5) . For the first time, the DSM-5
included "internet gaming disorder" (IGD) as a
psychological condition that warrants future
research.
Throughout my research career I have argued
that although all addictions have particular and
idiosyncratic characteristics, they share more
commonalities than differences such as total
preoccupation, mood modification, cravings,
tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict with
work, education and other people, and loss of
control. These similarities likely reflect a
common etiology of addictive behavior.
So when does a healthy enthusiasm turn into an
addiction? At the simplest level, healthy
enthusiasms add to life and addictions take
away from it. But how much is too much? This
is difficult to answer as I know many gamers
who play many hours every day without any
detrimental effects.
The DSM-5 lists nine criteria for IGD. If any
gamer endorses five or more of the following
criteria they would likely be diagnosed as having
IGD: (1) preoccupation with internet games; (2)
withdrawal symptoms when internet gaming is
taken away; (3) the need to spend increasing
amounts of time engaged in internet gaming, (4)
unsuccessful attempts to control participation in
internet gaming; (5) loss of interest in hobbies
and entertainment as a result of, and with the
exception of, internet gaming; (6) continued
excessive use of internet games despite
knowledge of psychosocial problems; (7)
deception of family members, therapists, or
others regarding the amount of internet gaming;
( use of the internet gaming to escape or
relieve a negative mood; and (9) loss of a
significant relationship, job, or educational or
career opportunity because of participation in
internet games.
The good news is that only a small minority of
gamers suffer form IGD. Most online games are
fun and exciting to play. But like any activity
that is taken to excess, in a minority of cases
the activity can become addictive.
Any activity if done for days on end could lead
to severe health problems and even death -- and
gaming is no exception. Instead of demonizing
games, we need to educate gamers about the
potential dangers of very excessive use.

Oil prices were 2% higher immediately
following the death of Saudi Arabia's king.
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest exporter
of petroleum and a key leader in the
Middle East and OPEC.
The market reaction was muted by widespread
expectation of a smooth leadership transition. All
signals indicate Saudi Arabia will stay the course
on its oil production and policies.
Crude oil was still trading between $46 to $47 a
barrel on Friday.
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud's health had
been deteriorating in recent weeks, according to
the state-run Saudi Press Agency. He was king
of Saudi Arabia since 2005 and celebrated his
90th birthday in August.
The transfer of power should be smooth. His
half-brother Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud
will assume the throne, Saudi state television
reported.
"I don't anticipate the Kingdom to make any
dramatic changes in its oil policy in the short
term," said Fahad Nazer, a former political
analyst at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in
Washington, DC.
Saudi Arabia has 16% of the world's known oil
reserves, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration. The country is widely
seen as the leader of OPEC and has a large
influence on energy prices and political stability
in the Middle East.
But oil has fallen over 50% since the summer.
Crude traded over $100 as recently as July and
now trades below $50.
The plunge in prices accelerated after OPEC's
Thanksgiving Day decision, led by Saudi Arabia,
to not scale back production.
Saudi officials have repeatedly said the nation
will not cut oil production because they don't
want to lose market share. It's unlikely that the
new king will alter that stance.
"Everything from the Royal Family and the Saudi
Oil Minister in the last 75 days has pointed
toward a policy of sustained high exports, and a
high stakes game of international 'chicken' with
other higher cost oil producers," said Tom Kloza,
the global head of energy analysis for the Oil
Price Information Service.
Some experts believe the Saudis, at least to
some extent, have welcomed falling oil prices as
a way to slow the rise of America's shale oil
production boom.
Last week Saudi Prince Alwaleed said oil will
never return to $100 and that the price crash will
allow Saudi Arabia to see "how many shale oil
production companies run out of business."
U.S. shale oil companies and related industries
have already announced layoffs and cutbacks in
spending.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia depends heavily
on oil revenues to fund its government. Oxford
Economies estimates the country will have
negative economic output this year if oil
continues to stay at or below $50 a barrel.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/22/news/economy/saudi-king-dead-oil/index.html

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