₦airaland Forum

Does the proposed estate have C of O? If yes, is it global?
If you want people to take you seriously, post very detailed information and leave little
room for doubts.

@ Spyder

Keep blazing the trails!
Any updates on cost so far?

Nigeria does not need USA or other countries to generate enough power for the over 160 million people.
What we need as a country is proper organization and accountability of the power contracts. Let the private sectors
compete for power generation, transmission and distribution. No government interference and corruption.
Just like the telecommunications subsector, true competition will weed out incompetent and corrupt operations.

Good to see another great thread in the making. I salute your courage in breaking new grounds.
This will be another "building laboratory" to extend our home building knowledge and experience.

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

updated 6:31 PM EDT, Fri June 28, 2013

London (CNN) -- The United Kingdom took a step Friday toward being the first country in the world to allow a pioneering in vitro fertilization technique using DNA from three people that could prevent mitochondrial diseases but that also raises significant ethical issues.

One in 6,500 babies in the United Kingdom is born with mitochondrial disorder, which can lead to serious health issues such as heart and liver disease, respiratory problems and muscular dystrophy.

Problems with mitochondria, the "powerhouse" cells of the body, are inherited from the mother, so the proposed IVF treatment would mean an affected woman could have a baby without passing on mitochondrial disease.

But the cutting-edge IVF technique, which involves transferring nuclear genetic material from a mother's egg or embryo into a donor egg or embryo that's had its nuclear DNA removed, raises ethical questions.
The new embryo will contain nuclear DNA from the intended father and mother, as well as healthy mitochondrial DNA from the donor embryo -- effectively creating a "three-parent" baby.

The amount of donor DNA in the mitochondria will, however, be much less than the parental DNA in the nucleus, which determines the baby's characteristics.

IVF-related birth defects may originate with moms, not treatment

The UK government plans to consult on draft regulations on the fertility treatment later this year, with the intention of putting the measure before parliament next year. At the moment, only unaltered eggs and embryos can be used for in vitro fertilization.

"Mitochondrial disease, including heart disease, liver disease, loss of muscle coordination and other serious conditions like muscular dystrophy, can have a devastating impact on the people who inherit it," said the UK's chief medical officer, professor Dame Sally Davies.

Since scientists have developed "ground-breaking new procedures" that could prevent these diseases being passed on, Davies said, "it's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can."

The government says public consultation shows there is "overall support" for the treatment.

But Dr. David King, director of Human Genetic Alert, a London-based watchdog group, opposed use of the technique Friday -- saying it opened the door to the creation of "designer babies" -- and disputed the results of the public consultation, saying not enough weight has been given to online polling.

"These techniques are unnecessary and unsafe and were in fact rejected by the majority of consultation responses," he said in a statement.

"It is a disaster that the decision to cross the line that will eventually lead to a eugenic designer baby market should be taken on the basis of an utterly biased and inadequate consultation."

King told CNN that conventional egg donation already allows a mother to bear a child without passing on a mitochondrial disorder, so the benefit of the new technique would only be to allow the baby to be genetically related to her.

"While I can understand that, that's not a medical benefit to anybody -- and you have to weigh it against the risks of invasive techniques that will clearly carry a risk to the child," he said.

Could 'personhood' bills outlaw IVF?

There's also a "risk to society at large," he said, because once the ethical line over modification of human DNA has been crossed, the door will be opened to "the next step and the next step after that."

"That's why governments around the world over the last 20 years have said 'we won't allow you to genetically engineer human beings,' " he said.

Even if approved by lawmakers, more research is needed to ensure that the procedure actually works in humans and can be carried out safely, King said.

The government's announcement Friday prompted a slew of UK media headlines -- and will probably continue to divide the scientific community.

The UK-based Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which carried out a six-month inquiry into the ethical issues around the technique, concluded that the health and social benefits of living free from mitochondrial disorders meant that "on balance ... if these novel techniques are adequately proven to be acceptably safe and effective as treatments, it would be ethical for families to use them."

Its working group also concluded that "mitochondrial donation does not indicate, either biologically or legally, any notion of the child having either a 'third parent,' or 'second mother.' "

But University of Notre Dame law professor O. Carter Snead, a bioethicist who specializes in the governance of science, medicine and biotechnology, urged the United Kingdom to "proceed slowly and cautiously" given the "unresolved safety and ethical questions" around the new technique.

"Little is known about the short- and long-term genetic effects of this procedure on children born with its aid," he said. "It would be an ironic tragedy if this procedure were rushed from bench to bedside, only to harm the very children it was meant to help.

"Moreover, there remain serious questions about the ethics of conceiving children with three genetic progenitors or 'parents.' "

spyder880: We can start and complete this house for those whole love the looks for N5M, everything is involved, till painting is done, 4 bedrooms all en suit, large sitting room and good spaces, give us a call and the house will be ready in 60 days flat!

This is really interesting!

I found this article @ Thisdayonline.com, and decided to share.

By Patrick Ugeh



The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Thursday disclosed how foreign hospitals rip off wealthy Nigerians seeking medical attention in India and other parts of the world by giving them unnecessary treatments just to make them part with more money. One of such devices he identified is pace-maker which he said was given to rich people

According to him, there were at least seven federal hospitals, including the latest, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, that could perform kidney transplant, while University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, has resumed open heart surgery, two of the ailments for which patients go overseas for treatment.

Supporting his principal, Minister of State, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, revealed that arrangements were in top gear to build a health mall in Abuja that would provide most of the services for which Nigerians go outside the country’s shores.

Both ministers spoke Thursday in Abuja at the 2013 Ministerial Platform.

Pate explained that the health mall, which would be driven by private partners, would be steered by the likes of Aliko Dangote and other top business executives, pointing out that the foreign hospitals attended by Nigerians were owned by the private sector.

According to him, the project would take off as soon as the Federal Capital Territory Administration completes its part of the arrangement.

“Medical tourism is here,” he admitted, saying: “When our people go to India, they go to private health facilities. We are trying to get Nigerians in the Diaspora to come with their talent to develop this place.”

Chukwu on his part said as it is, the only time when Nigerians could go for medical care abroad was when the facilities and equipment were not available here, noting that there was no country that is self-sufficient in providing health care for its people.

“As far as health care is concerned, there is no country in the world that has everything,” he declared, adding that: “Less than one per cent of Nigerians actually have the need to go abroad for treatment. For the majority, what they need is available in Nigeria... You don’t have to go abroad, but if you like to be swindled, it is up to you.”

The minister also announced that there was a strong law against smoking in the offing, saying those who did not like it should go out of Nigeria.

It is not clear who this is aimed at but one of Nigeria’s leading tobacco manufacturers, British American Tobacco, (BAT), has been complaining that the law might force the affected companies to close shop in Nigeria.

BAT said the effect would be that the country would lose the revenue got in taxes as people would resort to smuggling the product to satisfy the craving of smokers.

But Chukwu said: “One of the best ways of tackling health issues, especially as they relate to human health, is prevention, and one of the steps is by curtailing smoking.
There is a strong law against smoking that is coming. If you don’t like it, leave Nigeria.”

Supported by Pate, Chukwu said there were enough public and private hospitals in Nigeria to take care of over 99 per cent of the health care needs of the citizens, and that the one per cent that go abroad were mainly those who did so out of choice but not out of necessity.

He also acknowledged that there were unscrupulous elements within the health system who aided the foreign hospitals by unnecessary referrals.

The minister reiterated that the lasting solutions to the country’s health problems are the passage of the National Health Bill and making health insurance compulsory.

He stated that now that opposition to the bill had simmered down, he was optimistic that the draft legislation would soon see the light of day.

On the need to make health insurance compulsory, Chukwu said he did not see why it should not be when insuring inanimate objects like motor vehicles was. According to him, with the insurance in place, there would be no need to pay for the treatment of common ailments like malaria.

He also told Nigerians that paramedics would soon be formally trained and that accreditation would be given to a school for their formal education presently.

Similarly, the minister restated that herbal medicine practitioners must go to school to be formally integrated into the health care delivery system.

He also announced that illegal drug markets in Onitsha and other parts of the country would soon be shut and replaced with alternative sources of drug distribution.

Happy Fathers Day to all the Nairaland fathers!

Back to the thread, according to Othman Dan Fodio, “Conscience is an open wound; only Truth can heal it.”
We can preach "trust and love" from now to the end of the ages, the underlying problems will still remain and
will bubble to the surface from time to time.
Our problems in Nigeria are not unique, most parts of the developing world have similar problems.

What we need is not "trust and love" but justice for all. "Peace is not absence of war,
but presence of justice" - MLK, Jr.

Let us have a true federal system like the good old USA. Here in the USA, everyone is equal before the law.
The rule of law, freedom to pursue happiness and holding politicians accountable make it a great nation.

Development and opportunities should spread across the nation evenly backed by just laws. Anyone can aspire to the
highest office of the land without being held back by bigotry, tribalism, and the almighty corruption.
Corruption is a bigger threat to Nigeria than any other problems you can imagine.

Nigerians want infrastructural development and other modern conveniences of life without taxation.
In the USA, the taxes are:

Sales Tax
Hotel Tax
School Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Excise Taxes
Property Tax
Cigarette Tax
Medicare Tax
Inventory Tax
Car Rental Tax
Real Estate Tax
Well Permit Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Inheritance Tax
Road Usage Tax
CDL license Tax
Dog License Tax
State Income Tax
Food License Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Social Security Tax
Service Charge Tax
Fishing License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Building Permit Tax
IRS Interest Charges
Hunting License Tax
Marriage License Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Personal Property Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Capital Gains Tax
Ticket Tax, you know the one you go to court for not using turn signals, etc.


If you think development is cheap or free, think again!

Hey Rossikk,
Keep up the good work. Let's see all the wonderful possibilities in Nigeria.
Some people in Nairaland only want to read bad news about Nigeria. They don't appreciate their own
and most importantly they will never be objective or constructive.

God bless Nigeria!

The gay and anti-gay issues have generated extreme positions across the globe.
What do you guys think of the recent news from the Nigeria House of Representatives: banning gay marriage
and related support groups?

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's House of Representatives voted Thursday to ban gay marriage and outlaw any groups actively supporting gay rights, endorsing a measure that also calls for 10-year prison sentences for any "public show" of affection by a same-sex couple.

Representatives appeared to unanimously approve the proposal in a voice vote, sending it immediately to President Goodluck Jonathan for him to potentially sign into law in Africa's most populous nation. It wasn't immediately clear if Jonathan would sign the measure, though gays and lesbians already face public ridicule and possible prison sentences in Nigeria.

While Western diplomats declined to immediately comment, the United Kingdom already has threatened to stop aid to nations that discriminate against gays. But those threats appear unlikely to assuage the desire of Nigerian authorities to further criminalize homosexuality, part of a wave of such laws in African nations eager to legislate against what they believe is a challenge of their traditional values by the West.
Nigeria's Senate previously passed the bill in November 2011 and the measure quietly disappeared for some time before coming up in Thursday's session of the House. A copy of the House bill, obtained by The Associated Press, mirrored what the Senate previously passed.

Under the proposed law, Nigeria would ban any same-sex marriage from being conducted in either a church or a mosque. Gay or lesbian couples who marry could face up to 14 years each in prison. Witnesses or anyone who helps couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years behind bars. Anyone taking part in a group advocating for gay rights or anyone caught in a "public show" of affection also would face 10 years in prison if convicted by a criminal court.

In its voice vote, the House simply adopted all the clauses previously passed by the Senate without any discussion. The bill now sits before Jonathan for his approval or veto. Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati did not respond to a request for comment Thursday night regarding the president's position on the measure.

Chidi Odinkalu, the chairman of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission, said he only learned about the House's vote late Thursday night. He said the bill, if passed into law, likely would be challenged in court.

"If that's the scope, there will be serious issues," Odinkalu said.
Gay sex has been banned in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people, since colonial rule by the British. Gays face open discrimination and abuse in a country divided by Christians and Muslims who almost uniformly oppose homosexuality.

Across the African continent, many countries already have made homosexuality punishable by jail sentences. Ugandan legislators introduced a bill that would impose the death penalty for some gays and lesbians, though it was amended in November to remove the threat of execution. Even in South Africa, the one country where gays can marry, lesbians have been brutally attacked and murdered in so-called "corrective rapes."

Nigeria's proposed law has drawn the interest of European Union countries, some of which already offer Nigeria's sexual minorities asylum based on gender identity. The British government recently threatened to cut aid to African countries that violate the rights of gay and lesbian citizens. However, British aid remains quite small in oil-rich Nigeria, one of the top crude suppliers to the U.S.

Hooman Nouruzi, a spokesman for the British High Commission in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, said diplomats were examining the measure and declined to immediately comment.
In 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a similar directive asking officials to "ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of" gays, lesbians and the transgendered. That included having diplomats "combat the criminalization" of being gay by foreign governments.

Melissa Ford, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, did not respond to a request for comment.

Beyond that, the proposed law could have an immediate direct effect on some groups sponsored by USAID, an arm of the U.S. government. Some funding it gives to groups to combat HIV and AIDS in Nigeria includes work with gays and lesbians — something that likely would be criminalized under the proposed law.

Nigeria has one of the world's largest populations of people living with HIV and AIDS.

By SaharaReporters, New York

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State stated earlier today that Nigeria’s governors came close to a physical fight during yesterday’s meeting of Nigeria Governors' Forum at which Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was reelected as chairman. Mr. Amaechi defeated Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau who was backed by President Goodluck Jonathan in the highly anticipated election that held in Abuja on Friday evening.

Mr. Mimiko, who stepped down as a candidate for the post of deputy chairman, revealed that he and his faction of governors would not recognize the validity of the election of Governor Amaechi. Governor Mimiko made the statement while speaking with reporters in Abuja after the meeting on Saturday of the faction that supported Mr. Jang.

Mr. Jang’s camp claimed that the endorsement given to him by the PDP governors as well as by Northern governors was enough to make him the chairman of the Forum.

Curiously, Mr. Jang did not read the communiqué issued by the faction he leads. Reportedly sick, Mr. Jang asked Governor Mimiko to read his group’s statement.

Asked whether there was no difference between endorsement and election and whether they were sure that those who endorsed Mr. Jang eventually voted for him, Governor Mimiko said: “Go and ask those who claimed to have conducted [the] election.” According to him, “The option open to us would have been to be physical but as responsible people, we couldn’t. But we made it clear to them that what they did was inappropriate. Probably that was in line with their decision to divide the Governors Forum.”

Mr. Mimiko said it was wrong for Governor Amaechi to be in office and still conduct the election. “All through that meeting we continued to make a point that Amaechi had to step down, that his tenure has ended,” said Mr. Mimiko. He added: “Even in ordinary village meeting, when tenure ends, the next thing to do is to call for a resolution of the house to elect a temporary leadership who would preside over the election agreed by all. Amaechi insisted he was going to be chairman of that election which he was candidate. He produced some papers that he called ballot papers. There was no way we could trace the source. We don’t know whether they were pre-marked or whatever.”

Asked whether President Goodluck Jonathan and governors stepped down from office before the conduct of election, Mr. Mimiko kept quiet.

Meanwhile, Governor Godswill Akpabio continued with his merry-go-round yesterday by taking Mr. Jang round the homes of PDP chieftains in Abuja. Our sources disclosed that Governor Akpabio took his faction’s chairman to the homes of Tony Anenih, current chairman of the PDP’s board of trustees, as well as Vice President Namadi Sambo.

SaharaReporters learned that the two governors were also planning a visit to the home of the PDP’s national chairman, Bamanga Tukur.

An Abuja-based political observer described the split in the Governors Forum as proof that the Jang faction was hostile to democracy. “Is Governor Jonah Jang leading the PDP governors, or is he leading the NGF?” asked the observer.

successcertain: You cannot destroy slavery by becoming a part of your Master’s cultural incubator." - John Henrik Clarke

Racism denies people's access to life, liberty, to the pursue of happiness, to proper education, to control over their own resources etc.

Today is African Liberation Day, but why are we celebrating? We are not free yet, we are still slaves and we don't even know it. We are economically, politically and mentally colonized. We export raw materials and agriculture, then we import finished goods just like colonialism. We import most of our products, many big industries are controlled by foreigners. We accept all these foreign aid and loans to make us debt slaves. We rely on foreign contractors to build everything for us. We value everything foreign. We cannot unite, there is tribalism. Global Africans are continually demonized and marginalized everywhere in the world. We don't control our media, so we are represented poorly in the media. We have the worst Human Development Index in the world. Many of us are illiterate and don't live too long. We only speak our colonizers languages such as English, French and Arabic. African nations are now trying to introduce Chinese in classes even though our languages are dying out. We have high maternity deaths, high infancy deaths. Our best doctors and minds move to foreign countries to develop them while our continent deteriorates. This is just like slavery. Most of us don't know our great history, we only know that we were slaves and colonized. African culture, languages, religions, clothes and names are dying. We still have self hatred and inferiority complex. We cannot work together. We still fight in proxy wars funded by foreign forces that allow other countries to benefit from our resources. Our resources are still coming from the ground to fund other countries while ours are poor. We are pawns for other country's foreign policy. There are more foreign troops in Africa than during colonialism. AFRICOM is coming to Africa to kick out the Chinese and and secure investments, mines and African resources. But we won't discuss real issues we only discuss things that don't matter like celebrity gossip and European/American sports leagues. And when we discuss real issues people label it as conspiracy theories. We are still neo-colonized and our government is controlled by foreigners. They serve to keep the entire country as permanent cheap labor source, cheap resources and a consumer market. We still have the ICC only putting Africans in jail. These bad International Monetary Fund, World Bank Loans and the World Trade Organization are not serving our interests. The United Nations peace keeping troops do nothing for Africa and actually causing more damage. The colonial Pact makes Francophone African countries slaves to France. So, I am NOT celebrating African Liberation Day. I will not celebrate this until we are free from mental, political, and economic slavery/colonization. We must control our own economies and produce what we consume. Love our own products, services and businesses. Go to tourism in our own countries. Build our own institutions instead of going to other ones. Work together worldwide in Pan Africanism. Working together for the uplift of ourselves.

Most black African women wanna date white men.....they still have the mentality that whites are superior,mostly economically,who will save mother Africa?

Most of your piece was spot on. I hope African leaders and the citizens of Africa will "open" their eyes to the realities of global domination by the Western countries and their allies.
We need African economic, political, and technological Renaissance.

The OP question should be what Nigerians in the diaspora can do to effect positive changes
in the economy, power generation and supply, education, healthcare, security, technology, etc.
The federal, state and local governments should be coordinating the modernization of Nigeria
with the experts living in abroad and in Nigeria.

The biggest barriers to development in Nigeria are: 1) Lack of visionary leaders, 2) Disorganized private sector,
3) Docile and self- centered citizens.

LifeNews.com

Doctors at the University of Michigan have saved a baby’s life using the marvels of modern technology to “print” the child a new airway using a goundbreaking 3-D printer to restore his breathing.

From the University of Michigan:

Every day, their baby stopped breathing, his collapsed bronchus blocking the crucial flow of air to his lungs. April and Bryan Gionfriddo watched helplessly, just praying that somehow the dire predictions weren’t true.
Quite a few doctors said he had a good chance of not leaving the hospital alive,” says April Gionfriddo, about her now 20-month-old son, Kaiba. “At that point, we were desperate. Anything that would work, we would take it and run with it.”

They found hope at the University of Michigan, where a new, bioresorbable device that could help Kaiba was under development. Kaiba’s doctors contacted Glenn Green, M.D., associate professor of pediatric otolaryngology at the University of Michigan.

Green and his colleague, Scott Hollister, Ph.D., professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering and associate professor of surgery at U-M, went right into action, obtaining emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to create and implant a tracheal splint for Kaiba made from a biopolymer called polycaprolactone.

On February 9, 2012, the specially-designed splint was placed in Kaiba at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. The splint was sewn around Kaiba’s airway to expand the bronchus and give it a skeleton to aid proper growth. Over about three years, the splint will be reabsorbed by the body. The case is featured today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“It was amazing. As soon as the splint was put in, the lungs started going up and down for the first time and we knew he was going to be OK,” says Green.

Green and Hollister were able to make the custom-designed, custom-fabricated device using high-resolution imaging and computer-aided design. The device was created directly from a CT scan of Kaiba’s trachea/bronchus, integrating an image-based computer model with laser-based 3D printing to produce the splint.

“Our vision at the University of Michigan Health System is to create the future of health care through discovery. This collaboration between faculty in our Medical School and College of Engineering is an incredible demonstration of how we achieve that vision, translating research into treatments for our patients,” says Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, M.D., U-M executive vice president for medical affairs and CEO of the U-M Health System.

“Groundbreaking discoveries that save lives of individuals across the nation and world are happening right here in Ann Arbor. I continue to be inspired and proud of the extraordinary people and the amazing work happening across the Health System.”

Kaiba was off ventilator support 21 days after the procedure, and has not had breathing trouble since then.

“The material we used is a nice choice for this. It takes about two to three years for the trachea to remodel and grow into a healthy state, and that’s about how long this material will take to dissolve into the body,” says Hollister.

“Kaiba’s case is definitely the highlight of my career so far. To actually build something that a surgeon can use to save a person’s life? It’s a tremendous feeling.”

The image-based design and 3D biomaterial printing process can be adapted to build and reconstruct a number of tissue structures. Green and Hollister have already utilized the process to build and test patient specific ear and nose structures in pre-clinical models. In addition, the method has been used by Hollister with collaborators to rebuild bone structures (spine, craniofacial and long bone) in pre-clinical models.

Severe tracheobronchomalacia is rare. About 1 in 2,200 babies are born with tracheomalacia and most children grow out of it by age 2 or 3, although it often is misdiagnosed as asthma that doesn’t respond to treatment.

Severe cases, like Kaiba’s, are about 10 percent of that number. And they are frightening, says Green. A normal cold can cause a baby to stop breathing. In Kaiba’s case, the family was out at a restaurant when he was six weeks old and he turned blue.

“Severe tracheobronchomalacia has been a condition that has bothered me for years,” says Green. “I’ve seen children die from it. To see this device work, it’s a major accomplishment and offers hope for these children.”

Reports say the suspects in yesterday's butchering of a British soldier have Nigerian ancestry. However, they appeared to be driven by UK involvement in other Muslim nations.

Anti-terrorist police are preparing to interview two hospitalized suspects arrested after a brutal attack on an off-duty soldier in southeast London who was butchered in the street with knives and a meat cleaver.

Sources quoted in the British media claim the two unnamed men were British but of Nigerian background who officers suspect have converted to a radical form of Islam.

While Nigeria is home to an Islamist insurgency called Boko Haram, early indications do not point to the conflict there as a genesis for their rage. Instead, the target of a soldier and the statements from his alleged killers suggest they were reacting to the long British military engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

RECOMMENDED: Quiz: How much do you know about terrorism?

“The emphasis from Boko Haram is more internal inside Nigeria and less international. They understand the British Army is not involved in suppression within Nigeria which is being carried out by the Nigerian Army," says Paul Rogers, a professor of peace studies at the University of Bradford. The group is fighting to set up an Islamic state in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria.

Instead, says the professor, the attackers appear at this point to have launched the attack on their own after being radicalized. "This is the type of thing that the British authorities are most worried about," he says. "Counter-terrorism has almost doubled in size over the last 10 years with over 10,000 people now working in it whether it’s MI5, MI6 or police. But their problem is, how do you stop random attacks?"

How the suspects came to be radicalized is not known yet, but Professor Rogers points out: “We know extreme Islamic groups have used our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan to radicalize Muslims."

In scenes widely replayed on social media and television, one of the bloodied men spoke to a camera saying: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.

"We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I apologize that women have had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don't care about you."

Eyewitnesses said the two men were shouting "Allahu Akbar" – God is great – as they attacked the unnamed soldier near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich yesterday. It is thought the victim was hit by a car before he was attacked.

In a remarkable act of courage, a passer-by tried to calm one of the alleged killers by talking to him about the violence, earning widespread commendations.

Cub Scout leader Ingrid Loyau-Kennett told the ITV television network she first thought the victim had been in a car accident but after spotting the blood-spattered meat cleaver she tried to engage one of the men. She described him as a "regular guy" who was not on drugs or drunk, but seemed "upset."

As she knelt by the body she spoke to the man. "He said 'don't touch, I killed him'. I said 'Why?' He said 'He's a British soldier. He killed people. He killed Muslim people in Muslim countries.'"

“And I said, okay. So what would you like? I tried to make him talk about how he felt. He said all the bombs dropping and blindly killing women, children.”

Both men were shot by police and taken to separate hospitals. Relatives of the victim have been informed of the death, but he has not been named. It is thought the soldier was wearing a "Help for Heroes" sweat shirt – a military charity which helps wounded soldiers – at the time of the killing and a camouflaged rucksack.

In the immediate aftermath, soldiers were told not to wear uniforms in public for security reasons but today Prime Minister overruled the Ministry of Defence saying the best way to beat terrorism was to "continue with normal life." Today he held talks with the government’s emergency response Cobra committee as anti-terrorist police prepared to interview the two suspects and officers raided a house in Lincolnshire.

Overnight, police reported isolated attacks on mosques while officers in Woolwich battled with nearly 250 members of the English Defence League, an anti-Islamic group, protesting against the attack and Muslim immigration.

Today various Muslim groups condemned the killing. In a statement issued on its website, the Muslim Council of Britain said: “This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this unreservedly. Our thoughts are with the victim and his family.

“We understand the victim is a serving member of the Armed Forces. Muslims have long served in this country’s Armed Forces, proudly and with honour. This attack on a member of the Armed Forces is dishonourable, and no cause justifies this murder.”

Around 600 Muslims serve in the British Armed Forces.

The Stop the War Coalition condemned the killing but said the roots of the problem was Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Convenor Lindsey German said in a statement: “Any rational balance sheet of the last decade and more would demonstrate that the war on terror has been a failure in its own terms. It has not prevented terrorism but caused it to spread.

“The failure of politicians and military to face up to this has further damaging consequences: If the government refuses to change its own policy it has one simple solution - 'blame the Muslims'. Muslims are expected to condemn any such attack whereas no such demand is put upon people of other faiths when a killing is carried out by Christians. Muslim is also equated with black or Asian, as when one television reporter described the men as of 'Muslim appearance'.”

NCC

By Emma Okonji

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said it is poised to harmonise pockets of emergency numbers that currently exist among government agencies and telecommunication operators across the country. Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, dropped the hint at the eWorld Technology Forum in Lagos at the weekend.

According to Juwah the move became necessary in order to further strengthen the drive for road safety, using technology tools.

“One critical effort of the commission in the direction of improving road safety is the current deployment of Emergency Communication Centres (ECC) in all the state capitals and Abuja. This is a nationwide system that will utilise the universal 112 code for telephone users to reach all emergency service like the Police, Fire Service Commission, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Ambulance Services, among others,” Juwah said.

Ojobo, who was represented by the Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, however explained that the plan would be focused on harmonising all existing emergency centres in all state capitals, as well as all existing emergency numbers from various agencies, such that Nigerians would be familiar with only one emergency number that would link all emergency centres in the country.
According to him, Nigerians may not remember the different emergency numbers of different agencies like the Police, FRSC, Fire Service Commission, among others when they find themselves in a distress situation, like road accidents, fire outbreak, collapsed building, among others and they needed to make instant distress call.

For instance, Fire Service Commission has its emergency number different from FRSC and the Police. When people are under tensed situation, and have need to make distress calls, they tend to forget the number that will address the situation. But NCC has planned it in such a way that it would harmonise all existing emergency numbers with different agencies, such that Nigerians could dial only 112 for any kinds of distress calls, be it road accident, fire outbreak, armed robbery, collapsed building, among others.
According to Ojobo, NCC, in collaboration with the federal government, has built two emergency centres in Minna in Niger State, and Awka in Anambra State. The two centres, which are ready for commissioning, will serve as pilot centres to receive all emergency calls from a single code of 112, and staff at the centres will immediately re-direct the distress call to the appropriate channel and to the nearest location to the scene of the incident, for prompt rescue action. While the Awka Centre will handle calls from West, Eastern and Southern parts of the country, the Mina Centre will handle calls from the Middle Belt, North Central and other Northern parts of the country.

Ojobo said the idea would help improve road safety and save lives and property that are exposed to unexpected dangers.

He however said the challenge would be on the management of the harmonised centres. According to him, in developed countries where it is currently practised, telecoms regulators and operators are not directly involved in the management, but explained that NCC would continue to manage the centres in Nigeria, until government is able to create an agency that has the capacity to manage the centres.

According to one of the great minds of all time "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind." --Albert Einstein.

Whatever happens to forming lines with church workers supervising attendees? So much disorderliness. Only in Africa!

Who is Bamilassa? Boko Haram sympathizer. Keep writing your fraudulent and propaganda piece
and justice will catch up with you soon.

God bless our troops in this fight against the evil BH and their unrepentant sponsors.

Without a major sponsor or sponsors they will not be able to mount this level of insurgency.

Go boys in uniform! Go!!

I hope the ongoing military campaign against the Islamists/ terrorists in the three
NE states will render them impotent.
What is the federal govt., security and intelligence agencies doing to corner the BH sponsors
both local and foreign- based. Without the sponsors, Boko Haram will be dead.
BH is likely sponsored by a group of individuals, organizations or foreign governments. The weapons they are
using and their training will likely run into hundreds of millions or billions of naira.
The federal govt., and its agencies should double down heavily on these sponsors and expose them.

Long live Nigeria!

By Associated Press

The latest weapon in the U.N.'s fight against hunger, global warming and pollution might be flying by you right now.

Edible insects are being promoted as a low-fat, high-protein food for people, pets and livestock. According to the U.N., they come with appetizing side benefits: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and livestock pollution, creating jobs in developing countries and feeding the millions of hungry people in the world, reports The Associated Press.

Some edible insect information in bite-sized form:



Two billion people do, largely in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Monday as it issued a report exploring edible insect potential.

Some insects may already be in your food (and this is no fly-in-my-soup joke). Demand for natural food colouring as opposed to artificial dyes is increasing, the agency's experts say. A red colouring produced from the cochineal, a scaled insect often exported from Peru, already puts the hue in a trendy Italian aperitif and an internationally popular brand of strawberry yogurt. Many pharmaceutical companies also use colourings from insects in their pills.

Scientists who have studied the nutritional value of edible insects have found that red ants, small grasshoppers and some water beetles pack (gram-per-gram or ounce-per-ounce) enough protein to rank with lean ground beef while having less fat per gram.

Bored with bran as a source of fibre in your diet? Edible insects can oblige, and they also contain useful minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorous, selenium and zinc.

Beetles and caterpillars are the most common meals among the more than 1,900 edible insect species that people eat. Other popular insect foods are bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, locusts and crickets. Less popular are termites and flies, according to U.N. data.

Insects on average can convert 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of feed into 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of edible meat. In comparison, cattle require 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) of feed to produce a kilogram of meat. Most insects raised for food are likely to produce fewer environmentally harmful greenhouse gases than livestock, the U.N. agency says.

Edible insects are a money-maker. In Africa, four big water bottles filled with grasshoppers can fetch a gatherer 15 euros ($20). Some caterpillars in southern Africa and weaver ant eggs in Southeast Asia are considered delicacies and command high prices.
Insect-farms tend to be small, serving niche markets like fish bait businesses. But since insects thrive across a wide range of locations — from deserts to mountains — and are highly adaptable, experts see big potential for the insect farming industry, especially those farming insects for animal feed. Most edible insects are now gathered in forests.

A 3 million euro ($4 million) European Union-funded research project is studying the common housefly to see if a lot of flies can help recycle animal waste by essentially eating it while helping to produce feed for animals such as chickens. Right now farmers can only use so much manure as fertilizer and many often pay handsome sums for someone to cart away animal waste and burn it.

A South African fly factory that rears the insects en masse to transform blood, guts, manure and discarded food into animal feed has won a $100,000 U.N.-backed innovation prize.



I don't know what Nairalanders think of this article. I believe the UN and its agencies should bury their heads in the sand.

By Muhammad Bello (Thisdayonline.com)

New set of regulations that will replace those subsisting in the current Land Use Act of 1978 have been drafted by the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform, which submitted its 2012 report to President Goodluck Jonathan Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Prof. Adeniyi, who submitted the report to President Jonathan told State House correspondents that the committee has also mounted some CORS station (Continuously Operating Reference Station) for cadastral mapping and introduced systematic land titling and registration in the country.

In February, the Chairman of the committee Prof. Peter Olufemi Adeniyi, had revealed that since formal land registration began in Nigeria in 1863, not more than 2.5 per cent of the land in the whole country has been registered.

He explained Monday that the new Land Use Act in the pipeline will cover designation of urban areas, issue of consent, contents of Certificates of Occupancy, revocation, interest, mortgage and sectional title.

*details to come later

Not inspiring! Check out ihebrooke's designs and take a clue.

More details.

Inspirational! Imagination gone pretty wild and wonderful!!

Can you install solar power for 100% power supply without depending on PHCN (NEPA)?
I mean just solar power and no other power source.

Can you install solar power for 100% power supply without depending on PHCN (NEPA)?
I mean just solar power and no other power source.

The bottom line: buy stocks at the IPO or before they go too high. Once they peak, the law of gravity takes over.