₦airaland Forum

Last Saturday, Januray 2nd, 2016, Gbagyi cultural dancers thrilled Abuja residents as their fascinating costumes, rich artifacts and throbbing drums made the Gbagyi annual festival colourful.

Natives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), comprising elders, youths, women, traditional rulers, under the auspices of the Karu Gbagyi Development Association (KGDA), in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), converged in front of the chief’s palace of Karu to showcase their culture and tradition.

The Gbagyi cultural festival attracted some ethnic groups such as Gwandara, Gade, Bassa, Gbari, Amwamwa and Tiv, who all came out with their different kinds of cultural dances and paraded masquerades in colourful attires.

MPX @metropolexpress correspondent, who covered the event, observed that the cultural festival was heralded by a sacrifice, where a fowl was slaughtered, which was meant to appease the “gods” of the land to seek their permission to carry out the cultural festival.

In his keynote address, the Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, Nasarawa State University, Professor Andrew Zamani, described Karu as the cradle of education in the FCT, adding that it is a designated tourist village, which he said was captured in the original masterplan of the territory.

He noted that Karu owed the rest of the FCT the responsibility to retain her pride of place as the cradle of western civilisation in the territory, adding that the Land Use Act and the law establishing the FCT have been grossly manipulated by successive governments.

He, however, expressed concern over the lack of seriousness on the part of natives to sustain and imbibe the culture and tradition left behind by their forefathers, which he said was almost going into extinction.

“One needs to worry about our culture, especially with the mass influx of people, which has led to socio-cultural relations. This has affected us significantly, such that our people have lost some significant part of our culture,’’ he said.

He further noted that a significant part of the Gbagyi culture had virtually gone into extinction because dominant ethnic groups have almost eclipsed Gbagyi since Abuja became the capital city of the country.

He suggested that culture and tradition of the people be included in the curricula of various schools.

Zamani, who is a professor of Psychology, further stated that the indigenes of the FCT had suffered a lot of socio-political marginalisation by successive administrations since the establishment of Abuja in 1976.

He said it was quite worrisome that the nation was not grateful to natives of the territory for providing a peaceful atmosphere for national growth and development to take place.

He said there was the need for the present administration to diversify the country’s economy in order to touch the lives of every citizen.

“I believe you are all eyewitnesses to the fact that many people, especially from the majority ethnic groups, begin to threaten fire and brimstone as soon as they feel a sense of alienation. Right now, we are seeing an increase in kidnappings by people who feel politically and socially marginalised, just to make a point that they need to be carried along,” he said.

He expressed confidence that the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari would address some of the issues concerning Gbagyi people.

He therefore appealed to President Buhari to carry the natives of the territory along so that they can also contribute to the development of the FCT and the country in general.

Also speaking, the Sakaruyi Karu, Mr. Emmanuel Kyauta Yepwi, said the Gbagyi cultural festival was organised to promote the people’s culture, which he said had gone into extinction due to the influence of western civilisation.

He said the cultural festival was also an avenue to bring people together from various ethnic groups to also showcase their culture, adding that it was aimed at sustaining peaceful co-existence among the Gbagyi and other ethnic groups.

He noted that most of the indigenes, especially the youth, hardly speak in their local dialect.

He said the cultural festival would enhance unity, peace, progress and development of the Gbagyi people in the FCT.

“I am calling on my people, especially our youth, to follow the proper channel when seeking the attention of government. The Gbagyi are peace-loving people,” he said.

On his part, the youth leader of the Karu Gbagyi Development Association (KGDA), Mr. Dangana Jimiko, said the people cherished their culture and would work hard to preserve it.

“We are trying to preserve the norms and values of the Gbagyi culture so that the whole world will know that we have been in existence for many years,” he said.

The youth leader, however, stated that the greatest threat to the survival of the natives of the FCT was land administration, adding that the land swap policy initiated by the immediate past administration has not brought any respite to the original inhabitants of the territory; rather, it has brought hardship.

The festival was heralded by sporadic gunshots from local hunters while incantations were made during the slaughtering of fowl.
http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/festivals/item/5761-gbagyi-tribe-celebrates-new-year-festival-in-abuja-with-fanfare

The women’s wing of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) were yesterday at the Kaduna State secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to demand the release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, his wife and other members of the movement presently in detention.

They also appealed to the federal government to pay compensation to the families and relations of victims of the recent clash with security forces in Zaria.

Chairperson of the association, Aisha Hassan, said:

“Despite this display of inhumanity and gross violation of fundamental human rights, which no remorse was shown by the state authorities for what was undoubtedly a war crime against fellow Nigerians, the homes, Islamic centres and graves of the victims have been demolished with graves dug up and desecrated. Also, 13 other members of the movement were killed by the police during a peaceful procession in Kaduna on Tuesday December 15.

“The authorities have remained insensitive about our plight as they unjustly continue to keep our members in custody without allowing them any access, this is not talking about those who have been given mass burial by the army amongst who are women and children raped before they were killed by the soldiers as confirmed by some of the survivors who were also tortured after their arrest.

“We call for the immediate and unconditional release of our leader, his wife, our husbands, brothers, sisters and children that are being illegally detained in facilities across the northern states, release the corpses of our members so that they can be buried according to Islamic rights and also call on the government to pay compensation to the affected families,” she said.

She assured that members of the IMN are peace-loving people and would continue to remain undaunted, calm and resolute, adding, “these to us are only milestones in the true part of Allah our creator.”
http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/lifestyle/item/5759-shi-ite-women-demand-immediate-release-of-group-s-leader-el-zakzaky

A 29-old-youth corper, Mr Excellent Okpako Akevwighome, recently slummed and died while leading a choir ministration in his church, Christ Gospel Church, in Edjeketa community, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State.

The graduate of Accountancy from Anwai campus of the Delta State University was said to have browsed with his handset for about an hour on the eve of his death before heading to the church for a night vigil where he was said to be a choir master.

He was said to have slummed and died almost immediately midway into the vigil while leading the choristers in a song.

An eye witness told MPX @metropolexpress that when he fell, he was thought to be under the influence of Holy Spirit, but after waiting for about 20 minutes and he was not getting up, some of the choristers tried to help him up only to find out that he was already dead, at exactly 11.30pm of that day.

The Pastor of the church, Pastor Peter Akpovwera, expressed shock at the incident, saying “the brother was a faithful worshipper but lost his life to the cold hand of death even in the church.”

His younger brother, Mr Godday Akevwighome, said the victim was serving in Anambra state as at the time of his untimely death.

http://metropolexpress.com/metro/item/5753-youth-corper-slumps-dies-while-leading-choir-service-in-church

Despite the relative peace people of Shaare in Ifelodun Local government of Kwara state now enjoy with the presence of military force in the town, the resident still live in fear, pains and anguish as many have lost their beloved ones and properties to some Nupe terrorist of Tsaraji community who are their neighbour as they launched attack on them recently. The President of Shaare Patriotic Movement, Professor Abdul-Fatah Jimoh did speak his mind on what he perceived as a terrorist attack on Shaare and her people. Excerpt:

Could you give us an insight to how the whole thing started?

On 24th October, 2015, the Headmaster of Community LGEA Primary School, Shaare informed the Management of the School, the members of Shaare Descendants Union (SDU) and Shaare Traditional Council (STC) on the need to clear the school premises of bush constituting security threat to pupils and teachers. Approval was given to start the clearing of the said bush by volunteers from the community.

On 25th October, 2015, the volunteers started clearing the bush and in the process, some Nupe youths from Tsaragi - a neighbouring community – appeared and tried to stop the clearing work claiming the area belongs to them. The workers and the Headmaster of the school were chased by the Tsaragi youths who armed themselves with different dangerous weapons like sticks, stones, cutlasses, swords and guns. This was an act of civil disobedience and a clear breach of law and order. The Headmaster rushed to Olupako of Shaare palace to report the ordeal. This prompted the STC to direct the Headmaster to notify the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Shaare Division in writing.

On 26th October, 2015, the Headmaster sent a formal report to the DPO, Shaare Division. He complained about the security threat the bush pose to the staff and in particular the pupils of the school. He also emphasized possible use of the bush and shrub for nefarious activities such as kidnapping by miscreants and kidnappers.

Was there any move by government on the complaint lodged?

They did their best. Upon receipt of the complaint letter and its subsequent treatment, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, DPOs of Shaare and Tsaragi Divisions jointly visited the site and took a survey. It was concluded that the area being cleared falls within the land of the Community LGEA Primary School, Shaare which was established in 1927. The security personnel therefore resolved that the workers can continue the clearing without further interference or confrontation by the miscreants. However, the clearing work could not be completed on the 26th October, 2015 and was thus postponed.

The mayhem that ensued, how did it happen?

On Saturday, 19th December, 2015, the workers resumed the clearing work for its completion. At about 10.00 am, a group of Tsaragi youths led by one Ndanna, a serving Councilor and Youth leader and one Alhaji Ahmed, APC Tsaragi youth Leader suddenly appeared and started throwing stones at the workers and hitting them with sticks. Some of the workers escaped to the palace and reported the incident. The Divisional Police Station was also alerted but there was no quick response. Members of STC went to the site in order to make peace and rescue some of the workers who were held hostage by the Tsaragi assailants.

On getting to the site, the Tsaragi miscreants wielding guns and other dangerous weapons had injured the workers.

When all this was going on, was there any intervention from security operatives?

At about 1.30 pm of the same day, some Mobile Police (MOPOL) arrived Shaare and advised the Shaare youths and elders to vacate the area and go back home. As they were retreating back to Shaare, the Tsaragi youths were advancing towards Shaare throwing sticks and stones. The reason why the security personnel could not prevail on the Tsaragi youths leave much to be desired.

At this juncture, Tsaragi people led by one Mohammed Buhari (aka Siroko) on the instruction of their Emir, Etsu Tsaragi started carrying out a major onslaught against Shaare people and callous invasion of the community. They terrorized the people without restrictions. They started shooting sporadically at long ranges and in the process, hit a fifteen years old boy with bullets in the head. The boy was rushed to University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin and has since been referred to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife for surgery.

At about 5.30 pm, another set of combined MOPOL and SARS were deployed to the scene to maintain law and order. The groups from the two communities were asked to retreat and allow peace to reign. While Shaare group obliged and went to their various houses, the terrorist group from Tsaragi refused.

Minutes later, the terrorist group started vandalizing properties in Shaare. A block of 2-classrooms at UMCA Junior Secondary School, Shaare was totally destroyed. The sporadic shootings continued into the night and none of the law enforcement officers earlier deployed was able to curtail the breakdown of law. The Shaare people were forced to standby in defense of their lives and properties that were being threatened all through the night.

The Shaare people maintained the defense until about 4.30 am of Sunday, 20th December 2015 when some heavy and highly coordinated gun shots started again from the Tsaragi terrorists. At about 10.00 am, Sunday morning, another team of MOPOL arrived and ordered everybody to retreat. Shaare people again obliged and withdrew but the Tsaragi terrorists refused the order. The terrorists resumed their acts of terror and started vandalizing, looting and burning properties as well as shooting people. A youth from Shaare was killed and many others sustained various degrees of injuries.

Was there any back up or military intervention while all this was going on?

The Tsaragi terrorists were well determined and prepared for the onslaught. Three members of the MOPOL team were also shot. The more Shaare people tried to run for their lives, the more the Tsaragi terrorists continued to shoot, loot and burn properties. This left many domestic animals, houses, shops, cars, motorcycles, Mosques, Churches, banks and telecommunication mast vandalized and burnt down. This is nothing but an act of terrorism on lives and properties of Shaare Community. This sad development continued unabated until about 3.45 pm, when a team of Military Personnel arrived. They were able to stop and forced the Tsaragi terrorists.

Did the community have any premonition of this attack or were their previous attacks on the town before this time?

It is worthy of note that since ascension of the throne of his forefathers, the Etsu Tsaragi, Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu Kpotuawa, has coordinated and sponsored four different attacks on Shaare community in 2000 (twice), 2008 and 2015. This last invasion of Shaare by the Tsaragi terrorists as sponsored by the Etsu Tsaragi can best be described as another act of terrorism in its entirety.

The invasion is hereby totally condemned. The sponsor - Abdullahi Aliyu (Etsu Tsaragi), coordinator – Mohammed Buhari (Siroko) and other culprits must be investigated and punished accordingly as nobody must be seen to be above the law. The act must not be swept under the carpet or taken with a pinch of salt. Recall that other acts of terrorism of national dimensions equally started this way. Furthermore, allegations of complacency and inefficiency on the part of the police must also be probed.


http://metropolexpress.com/news/item/5748-the-nupe-king-of-tsaraji-used-boko-haram-to-invade-our-town-professor-fatai-jimoh

IMF is formed officially in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, it came into formal existence in 1945 with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international payment system, usually headed by European.

Countries contribute funds to a pool through a quota system from which countries experiencing balance of payments difficulties can borrow money. As of 2010, the fund had XDR476.8 billion, about US$755.7 billion at then-current exchange rates.

To set records straight, The World Bank-IMF is owned and controlled by Nathan Mayer Rothschild and 30 to 40 of the wealthiest people in the world. For over 150 years they have planned to take the world over through money.

The former chief economist of the World Bank, Joe Stiglitz, who was fired pointed out to top executives that every country the IMF/World Bank got involved in ended up with:-

-a crashed economy

-a destroyed government

-sometimes in flames with riots.

Jim Wolfensen, the former president of the World Bank till today would not comment on his dismissal. Before Joe Stiglitz was fired he took a large stack of secret documents out of the World Bank.

These secret documents from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund reveal the 4 steps that the IMF required from nations:

to sign secret agreements of 111 items

-in which they agreed to sell off their key assets - water, electric, gas, etc.

-in which they agreed to take economic steps which are really devastating to the nations involved

-in which they pay off the politicians billions of dollars to Swiss bank accounts to do this transfer of a countries fixed assets

If they do not agree to these steps they are cut-off from all international borrowing.

Today if you can't borrow money in the international marketplace, no one can survive, whether you are people or corporations or countries. If that does not work they overthrow the government and plant lies about the former government and/or even rewrite history.

To the Nigerian Government Officials, Aides, Media, Organizations celebrating the visit of IMF President, Ms. Christine Lagarde, Ms. ‪Lagarde‬ is facing corruption charges in her home country ‪France‬ over unauthorized payment of €403M to a business man Bernard Tapie. (MPX @metropolexpress reported on 18th December 2015).

‪‎IMF‬ who does not have a history of completely support a developing nation out of poverty since its inception, had last year, advised the Buhari administration to remove the fuel subsidy.

MPX is strongly of the opinion that a country like Nigeria struggling to redeem its image nationally and internationally should not identify with individuals or organizations whose integrity is being questioned until exonerated by a competent court of law.

To simplify the hypothesis; if they can't support ‪Greece‬ out economic crisis in what way would they support Nigeria ?

MPX @metropolexpress

5thJanuary 2015

http://metropolexpress.com/more/opinion/item/5747-if-imf-can-t-support-greece-how-would-they-nigeria

http://metropolexpress.com/politics/item/5733-may-your-way-be-rough-tai-solarin

1st January 1964.

I am not cursing you; I am wishing you what I wish myself every year. I therefore repeat, may you have a hard time this year, may there be plenty of troubles for you this year! If you are not so sure what you should say back, why not just say, ‘Same to you’? I ask for no more.

Our successes are conditioned by the amount of risk we are ready to take. Earlier on today I visited a local farmer about three miles from where I live. He could not have been more than fifty-five, but he said he was already too old to farm vigorously. He still suffered, he said, from the physical energy he displayed as a farmer in his younger days. Around his hut were two pepper bushes.

There were kokoyams growing round him. There were snail shells which had given him meat. There must have been more around the banana trees I saw. He hardly ever went to town to buy things. He was self-sufficient. The car or the bus, the television or the telephone, the newspaper, Vietnam or Red China were nothing to him. He had no ambitions whatsoever, he told me. I am not sure if you are already envious of him, but were we all to revert to such a life, we would be practically driven back to cave dwelling. On the other hand, try to put yourself into the position of the Russian or the America astronaut.

Any moment now the count, 3, 2, 1, is going to go, and you are going to be shot into the atmosphere and soon you will be whirling round our earth at the speed of six miles per second. If you get so fired into the atmosphere and you forget what to do to ensure return to earth, one of the things that might happen to you is that you could become forever satellite, going round the earth until you die of starvation and even then your body would continue the gyration!

When, therefore, you are being dressed up and padded to be shot into the sky, you know only too well that you are going on the roughest road man had ever trodden. The Americans and Russians who have gone were armed with the great belief that they would come back. But I cannot believe that they did not have some slight foreboding on the contingency of their non-return. It is their courage for going in spite of these apprehensions that makes the world hail them so loudly today.

The big fish is never caught in shallow waters. You have to go into the open sea for it. The biggest businessmen make decisions with lighting speed and carry them out with equal celerity. They do not dare delay or dally. Time would pass them by if they did. The biggest successes are preceded by the greatest of heart-burnings. You should read the stories of the bomber pilots of World War II. The Russian pilot, the German pilot, the American or the British pilot suffered exactly the same physical and mental tension the night before a raid on enemy territory. There were no alternative routes for those who most genuinely believed in victory for their side.

You cannot make omelettes without breaking eggs, throughout the world, there is no paean without pain. Jawaharlal Nehru has put it so well. I am paraphrasing him. He wants to meet his troubles in a frontal attack. He wants to see himself tossed into the aperture between the two horns of the bull. Being there, he determines he is going to win and, therefore, such a fight requires all his faculties.

When my sisters and I were young and we slept on our small mats round our mother, she always woke up at 6a.m. for morning prayers. She always said prayers on our behalf but always ended with something like this: ‘May we not enter into any dangers or get into any difficulties this day.’ It took me almost thirty years to dislodge the canker-worm in our mother’s sentiments. I found, by hard experience, that all that is noble and laudable was to be achieved only through difficulties and trials and tears and dangers. There are no other roads.

If I was born into a royal family and should one day become a constitutional king, I am inclined to think I should go crazy. How could I, from day to day, go on smiling and nodding approval at somebody else’s successes for an entire lifetime? When Edward the Eighth (now Duke of Windsor) was a young, sprightly Prince of Wales, he went to Canada and shook so many hands that his right arm nearly got pulled out of its socket. It went into a sling and he shook hands thenceforth with his left hand. It would appear he was trying his utmost to make a serious job out of downright sinecurism.

Life, if it is going to be abundant, must have plenty of hills and vales. It must have plenty of sunshine and rough weather. It must be rich in obfuscation and perspicacity. It must be packed with days of danger and of apprehension.

When I walk into the dry but certainly cool morning air of every January 1st, I wish myself plenty of tears and of laughter, plenty of happiness and unhappiness, plenty of failures and successes. Plenty of abuse and praise. It is impossible to win ultimately without a rich measure of intermixture in such a menu. Life would be worthless without the lot. We do not achieve much in this country because we are all so scared of taking risks. We all want the smooth and well-paved roads. While the reason the Americans and others succeeded so well is that they took such great risks.

If, therefore, you are out in this New Year 1964, to win any target you have set for yourself, please accept my prayers and your elixir. May your road be rough!

Credit: Tai Solarin Organisation

www.TaiSolarinBlog.com

MPX @metropolexpress

4th January 2016

The mayor of a city south of Mexico's capital was shot to death on Saturday, less than a day after taking office, officials said.
Gunmen burst into the house of Mayor Gisela Mota in the city of Temixco and killed her, said the government of Morelos state, where Temixco is located.
Two presumed assailants were killed and two others detained, said Morelos Gov. Graco Ramirez in the government statement. Officials attributed her killing to organized crime.
Mota's leftist Democratic Revolution Party released a statement describing her as "a strong and brave woman who on taking office as mayor, declared that her fight against crime would be frontal and direct."
Temixco, which has seen kidnappings and extortion linked to organized crime groups, is the seat of several state institutions including the Public Security Commission, which coordinates state and local police forces. Mota, who had been a federal congresswoman, was sworn into office on New Year's Day.
She was killed the following day. Ramirez vowed there "would be no impunity" in her killing and promised that state officials would confront organized crime. Officials said that when the suspects were detained, authorities found a 9-millimeter gun, an Uzi, ski masks, and an SUV with Mexico State license plates.
Morelos Attorney General Javier Perez Duron said the detained suspects have been tied to other crimes, but declined to provide more details.

http://metropolexpress.com/news/item/5730-mexico-mayor-assassinated-a-day-after-sworn-in

"Religion has killed rational thinking in this country. I say this all the time, our country is still in a pre-scientific era. That is why things are like this. We don’t think logically; that is why any ruler, any fool would seize the reins and rule us, because we would always find an excuse for being ruled or being led by the nose.

Not long ago a pastor said he was between two cities and he discovered that the fuel in his car had run out. He actually checked and saw the fuel in the car was completely gone. But because of his act of faith and on the strength of his prayers, he was able to do two hundred miles on an empty tank!

When he declared this testimony, people clapped and shouted “ Hallelujah!” I never heard anybody say how can?"

"Nigerians don’t ask questions; that is why the imams and the pastors lead them by the nose, and the politicians also complete their humiliation and disempowerment. And between the clerics and the political functionaries, there is a very close liaison.

It’s a kind of power structure; one controls the political, social realm, the other controls the spiritual, metaphysical realm and they are together. Many Nigerians are not rational, interrogative people.

In fact, in this country today, if you are the interrogative type you are easily labelled, branded, and condemned. People even wonder: why are you always asking questions?"


"Another problem: well, our people are docile and the reason why they take all kinds of cheating is that many of them envisage themselves in the position of power someday, too.

If I am X and the oppressor is Y, and the oppressor is oppressing me, stealing all the money, and making life difficult for me and my children, I am not likely to attack him. I’ll pray to God to let my own “miracle” happen so that someday, he will go and I will be in his place. No; I am praying for him to go but for the structure to remain."

Professor rNiyi Osundare (born in 1947 in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria) is a prolific poet, dramatist and literary critic. He gained degrees at the University of Ibadan (BA), the University of Leeds (MA) and York University, Canada (PhD, 1979). Previously professor (from 1989) and Head of English (1993–97) at the University of Ibadan, he became professor of English at the University of New Orleans in 1997. Niyi has a wife, Kemi, and three children, two girls and a son who still lives in Nigeria. His deaf daughter is the real reason Niyi settled in the United States. She could not go to school in Nigeria so they found a school in the U.S. for her. They moved with her so Niyi and Kemi could be closer to her.

He has always been a vehement champion of the right to free speech and is a strong believer in the power of words, saying, "to utter is to alter". Osundare is renowned for his commitment to socially relevant art and artistic activism.

MPX @metropolexpress

3rd January, 2016

http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/lifestyle/item/5728-religion-has-killed-rational-thinking-of-this-country-prof-niyi-osundare

Christians are supposed to be disciples of Jesus. We call him Lord and Saviour; “the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus gives us this charge: “Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you.” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Nevertheless, many of us who call Jesus “Lord, Lord” do not do the things he says. (Luke 6:46). Worse still, many Christians are unfamiliar with the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus never told anyone to celebrate his birthday. If he wanted us to do so, he would have told us when and how. He did not. Moreover, we know from the scriptures that the early church never celebrated Jesus’ birthday. There is no such record in the Acts of the Apostles. We are told to remember the Lord’s death (Luke 22:19), and not to celebrate his birth.



Ungodly birthday parties

Every birthday celebration recorded in the bible is ungodly; and results in either mischief or disaster. As one of the special features of his birthday, Pharaoh had one of his servants, the chief baker, hung. (Gen 40:20-22). In similar fashion, one of the highlights of Herod’s birthday party was the beheading of John the Baptist. (Matthew 14:6-11).

Job fears the birthday parties of his children are prone to ungodliness: “When these birthday parties ended – and sometimes they lasted several days – Job would summon his children to him and sanctify them, getting up early in the morning and offering a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said, ‘Perhaps my sons have sinned and turned away from God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular practice.” (Job 1:4-5).

True enough, God wiped out all of Job’s children in one disaster that came while they were celebrating the birthday of his oldest son. (Job 1:13-19). Thereby, Job came to realise the vanity of life. He cursed his birthday, saying: “Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’” (Job 3:3). So does Jeremiah who exclaims: “Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!” (Jeremiah 20:14).

Birthday parties are carnal and worldly; therefore believers are never seen holding them in the scriptures. Jesus says: “Whoever loves his life loses it.” (John 12:25). True believers do not celebrate every extra year spent on earth away from God.



Unscriptural Christmas

Jesus says: “Salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22). However, Christmas is not Jewish: it is Roman. You will not find in the scriptures any of the things normally associated with Christmas, such as the exchanging of gifts; the Christmas tree; the singing of carols; Santa Claus; the hanging of the mistletoe and the burning of the yule log. These are all of pagan origin.

Charles Spurgeon, the famous English preacher of the nineteenth century, said: “Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas… we find no scriptural word whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, because (it is) not of divine authority.”

Christmas was not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church. The general Jewish pattern was to celebrate the death of a remarkable person rather than his birth. Thus, Solomon says: “A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.” (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4).

The word “Christmas” itself comes from the combination of two words; “Christ” and “mass.” The mass, according to Roman Catholicism, is a prayer read for the soul of a dead person. The contradiction of celebrating the death of Christ on a date alleged to be his birthday came about because Christmas originally had nothing whatsoever to do with the birth of Jesus.

However, the Church of Rome absorbed the customs, traditions and general paganism of different tribes, cultures and nations, in the bid to make it easy for pagans to become Christians. Accordingly, a feast was established in memorial of Jesus in the fourth century. In the fifth century, the Roman Catholic Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the same day as the pagan feast of the birth of the sun.



Pagan Christmas

December 25 celebrations actually started with sun-worshipers during the time of Nimrod; the man who supervised the building of the tower of Babel. His widow, Semiramis, said to be the queen of heaven, had a son called Tammuz; venerated by many as the god of the sun. It was believed that Tammuz died on December 22 and rose from the dead three days later.

Emperor Aurelian of Rome proclaimed the sun god Tammuz to be the principal patron of the Roman Empire on December 25, 274 AD. The date corresponds with the winter solstice when pagans celebrate the renewed power of the sun. It was also the day of the Roman Saturnalia; a festival dedicated to Saturn, the God of Agriculture, after whom Saturday is named.

The Romans also observed “the Kalends of January;” representing the triumph of life over death. The entire season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis; the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.”

After Constantine, the Roman emperor, won the battle of the Milvian Bridge, he forced all the pagans of his empire to be baptised into the Christian church. So doing, Christianity became paganised, especially because pagans far outnumbered Christians. December 25, the date of Tammuz’s alleged rebirth, was then designated as also the birthday of Jesus.



Christmas tree

Thenceforth, pagan traditions of feasts, partying, giving and receiving of gifts and drunken orgies became grafted into the Christianity. This means whenever Christians say “Merry Christmas,” we are actually mixing the name of Christ with paganism.

It is written in Jeremiah: “Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the heathen; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple.” (Jeremiah 10:2-4).

What we have here in the scriptures is a perfect description of the decorated Christmas tree. God castigates this as “the way of the heathen.” He expressly commands we should not subscribe to such idolatry. The green tree is mentioned 14 times in the bible and, in every instance, it is linked with idolatry. And yet, it is this same green tree that Christians use as our Christmas tree.

The tradition of bringing an evergreen tree into homes and decorating it began with heathen Greeks who used it to worship their god Adonia. They claimed Adonia was killed and brought back to life by the serpent Aessulapius. Therefore, when Christians decorate green Christmas trees with lights, glitter and tinsel, little do they know they are following the God-forbidden protocols of a pagan festival in honour of an idol god!

http://metropolexpress.com/more/opinion/item/5727-christians-should-not-celebrate-christmas-it-s-pagan-s-celebration-1-femi-aribiasala

Nollywood super star, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde was at the Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos as guest of the market operators who invited her to close the market for the year 2015.

http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/item/5723-omotola-takes-nollywood-to-the-nigerian-stock-exchange

Speaking after she sounded the last closing bell of the year at the Lagos Bourse, the actress and producer described the Nigerian stock market as a potential capital raising channel for the entertainment industry in Nigeria.

She noted that with what she experienced on Thursday, she is ready to spread the good news about equities and its potentials within the entertainment industry.

“My impression of the Stock Exchange right now is that this is the market that entertainment industry needs to get to know about. We are obviously not aware of the fact that entertainment outfit could actually be listed. It was also surprising to me initially but I hope that in the year 2016, we would be able to do something about that,” she said.

The actress said while speaking with the exchange executives that they actually made her promise to bring her company to the exchange.

“And it’s not going to be my own company alone as there are many other respectable entertainment outfits out there that could also benefit from the experience and opportunities. Since I am fortunate to be here,

I will surely spread the news,” Omotola noted.

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday recorded low movement of passengers as the world prepares to celebrate the New Year on Friday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
NAN observed that both the departure and the arrival sections of both domestic and international wings of the airport were deserted unlike Dec. 24, when there was heavy traffic.
Mr Tony Ameh, Manager, Aero Contractors, told NAN that the rush associated with festive period was minimal, adding that the airline had recorded less number of passengers as against the previous years.
Ameh disclosed that the airline had more passengers during the Christmas period, adding that the airline had only five flights yesterday compared to the 11 flights it operated during Christmas.
He added that there was no fare hike during the season, explaining that the difference in ticket price was as a result of online booking and on the counter booking.
According to him, aside the fact that the economy is not too good at the moment, a lot of people that travelled to different parts of the country for Christmas are yet to return.
“We have lesser number of passengers this year compared to last year’s and the previous years, and I believe it is due to the present economic situation in the country.
“During the Christmas period we have more passengers than today because we have only five flights out of Abuja today while during Christmas we operated 11 flights,” he said.
A traveller, Alhaji Ahmed Yusuf, told NAN that he expected that government would do better things to the country in 2016, especially in the area of air transportation.
Yusuf said the nation’s aviation sector had a long way to go in the area of service delivery by the airlines, adding that infringement on the right of passengers was rampant among airlines.
“We have been experiencing problems with the airlines because they disappoint people without apology,’’ said Yusuf.
He however called on the government to improve on its enforcement functions to ensure that air travellers enjoy the services they pay for.

http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/travel/item/5721-abuja-airport-deserted-on-new-year-s-eve

The communal clash that occurred on 20th December, 2015, between the people of Saare and Tsaragi towns in Kwara State, North Central, Nigeria has left a great scar in the minds and lives of the people of the two communities. You will recall that residents of the two communities fled the warring towns to the neighbouring communities just as the state government yesterday imposed of a 24-hour curfew in the affected communities.

Investigations by MPX metropolexpress revealed that the two communities had been at loggerheads over land that had spanned years. During the melee, about 20 people were reportedly said to have sustained serious injuries while some schools were said to have been vandalized. No fewer than 50 houses were reportedly burnt while another 30 people sustained serious injuries. Also, churches, mission houses, schools with ICT facilities were reportedly burnt during the incident.

However, MPX metropolexpress recently had a chat with some of the victims of the crisis to recall their experience. Alhaji Aliyu Jimoh was in far away Sokoto for many years. He returned home after many years to live happily with his people in his home town, Shaare in Ifelodun Local government of Kwara state, but during the invasion of the Tapas on the town recently, he lost all he has worked for and the old man was left with nothing coupled with three major ailments he’s battling with. Excerpt:

http://metropolexpress.com/metro/item/5711-how-the-tapas-rendered-kwara-governor-s-home-town-desolate-over-land-matter

Nigeria's leading hip-hop artist singer Davido has been accused of child abduction.

According to a petition exclusively made available to metropolexpress and addressed to the director general National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in Nigeria, the pop singer is accused of “attempted child trafficking and abduction of miss aurora Imade Adeleke”.

The petitioner, Miss. Sophia Ajibola Momodu (Davido’s baby mama) claimed she was tricked to visit the house of Mr. David Adedeji Adeleke’s half sister – Miss Ashley Coco Adeleke’s with her baby, Imade Aurora Adeleke on July 11, 2015.

After getting to the house on Baderinwa Alabi Street, Lekki Phase I, Lagos, our client’s baby was forcefully taken from her and she was thrown out of the premises with the threat that she would be decisively dealt with if she ever bothered to return there. There were armed policemen in the premises and our client’s survival instinct prevailed on her to make her leave her breast suckling baby behind, with so much pain in her heart,” the petition reads in part.

Yesterday, Tuesday, 29 December, Ashley Coco Adeleke and her father, Mr Deji Adeleke reportedly tried to travel to Dubai with the baby but was stopped by Mrs. Modupe Mofikoya, an immigration officer who attended to the Adeleke travelling party.

Ms Sophia said with the help of her family members, including Mr Dele Momodu, she was determinedly resisted the attempt by Miss Ashley Coco Adeleke and her father, Mr Deji Adeleke, from taking her baby Aurora Imade Adeleke from Lagos yesterday.

“Our client believes that the pair are trying to take the child to America and thus put her out of the reach of the biological mother. At the moment, Miss Ashley Coco Adeleke and our client’s daughter, Aurora Imade Adeleke are still in Lagos and two of their respective international passports are in the custody of the airport immigration services.

“Our client’s fear now, is that Ashley Coco may use her Nigerian passport and Aurora Imade’s American passport to travel through other Nigerian or West African airports,” the petition added.

Kamal Ajiboye, Davido’s manager however denies the allegations raised in the petition.

“The baby was taken away from her due induced drugs found in her (baby) system which she obivioly got through the mother’s breast. David’s family is only helping her and the baby,” he told our reporter over the phone.

“David’s family prevented him (David) from reporting her to the NDLEA and as we speak, the baby was recently treated in Dubai. The baby cannot even breathe properly.

“The family has done everything to take care of the mother and child. We rented an apartment for her and she gets three hundred thousand Naira monthly as upkeep. What else will the family do? To be honest, not sane family will take a child away from the mother for no reason,” Kamal explained.

Read the full petition from below.



December 30, 2016

The Director General

National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons

No. 2028 Delaba Street

Wuse Zone 5

FCT, Abuja

Dear Madam,



PETITION AGAINST MISS ASHLEY COCO ADELEKE & MR ADEDEJI ADELEKE FOR ATTEMPTED CHILD TRAFFICKING AND ABDUCTION OF MISS AURORA IMADE ADELEKE

We act as Solicitors for Miss. Sophia Ajibola Momodu, (hereinafter referred to as our client) whose instructions we have to forward this petition to your esteemed Agency.

Our client, a 27 year old, is the biological mother of a baby girl with name, Aurora Imade Adeleke, who was born on the 14th day of May 2015. The baby’s father is Mr. David Adedeji Adeleke (aka Davido). The father and mother are unmarried.

On the 11th July, 2015, our client was tricked to visit the house of Mr. David Adedeji Adeleke’s half sister – Miss Ashley Coco Adeleke’s with her baby, Imade Aurora Adeleke. After getting to the house on Baderinwa Alabi Street, Lekki Phase I, Lagos, our client’s baby was forcefully taken from her and she was thrown out of the premises with the threat that she would be decisively dealt with if she ever bothered to return there. There were armed policemen in the premises and our client’s survival instinct prevailed on her to make her leave her breast suckling baby behind, with so much pain in her heart.

By daybreak on the next day, our client was again at Ashley Coco Adeleke’s house to take her baby, but she was prevented by armed policemen from gaining access into the house. She was again threatened and warned never to return for the child.

Since July 2015, our client, who has now become so disorientated, saddened and confused has been going to family members, including her cousin, Mr Dele Momodu, and other well meaning Nigerians to intervene and allow her get her baby back or at least allow her to be able to have access to and care for her daughter. This was frustrated by Coco Adeleke, David Adeleke and their father, Mr. Adedeji Adeleke. These people boasted to our client and all her family and friends that our client is a nonentity and of little substance in Nigeria.

They also claim that they have the financial wherewithal and political and security clout to deal with her and her family anyhow and without any consequence with the aid of their brother and uncle, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, and other friends Mr Deji Adeleke purportedly has in government. In a bid to justify their actions, Mr Deji Adeleke and his daughter, Ashley Coco Adeleke, have been spreading several malicious and unfounded allegations about our client.

While the attempts at finding a peaceful and lasting solution were still ongoing, on Tuesday the 29th December 2015, Ashley Coco Adeleke and her father, Mr Deji Adeleke, tried to travel to Dubai with our client’s baby. The baby was meant to be flown out of the country with Nigerian and American passports. Prior to that date, our client and her cousin, Mr Dele Momodu, had gone to alert the immigration services at the Murtala Mohammed, Ikeja International airport of the likelihood of Ashley Coco Adeleke travelling with our client’s baby by pretending to be the Mother. Our client believes that her baby’s American passport was hidden and is now likely to be in possession of Mr Deji Adeleke or Ashley Coco Adeleke. It appears that the assistance of Emirates Airline was sought as the baby’s American passport was not produced in breach of aviation regulations. Neither was a letter of authority from the mother to confirm her consent to the trip produced despite the airline being alerted.

When Mrs. Modupe Mofikoya, the immigration officer who attended to the Adeleke travelling party accosted Ashley Coco Adeleke and asked for the mother of the baby, Ashley Adeleke claimed that she was the mother. Immediately, the immigration officer on duty collected her Nigerian international passport, she quickly absconded from the scene with the baby and her father, Mr Deji Adeleke, showed up shortly afterwards to try to clear his daughter’s mess.

Our client with the help of her family members, including Mr Dele Momodu, determinedly resisted the attempt by Miss Ashley Coco Adeleke and her father, Mr Deji Adeleke, from taking Aurora Imade Adeleke from Lagos yesterday. Our client believes that the pair are trying to take the child to America and thus put her out of the reach of the biological mother.

At the moment, Miss Ashley Coco Adeleke and our client’s daughter, Aurora Imade Adeleke

are still in Lagos and two of their respective international passports are in the custody of the airport immigration services. Our client’s fear now, is that Ashley Coco may use her Nigerian passport and Aurora Imade’s American passport to travel through other Nigerian or West African airports.

We know that the actions of Mr Deji Adeleke and Miss Ashley Coco Adeleke contravene many provisions of the law. One is Section 13 of the Childs Right Law 2007 of Lagos State (as adapted from the Federal Act), which guarantees Aurora Imade Adeleke’s right to parental care and protection. That law also forbids separation of a child from her parents. Another is Section 24 of the same law, which also prohibits abduction of a child from the lawful custody of her parents. Neither Mr Deji Adeleke or Ms Ashley Coco Adeleke has any lawful right to the custody of Aurora Imade Adeleke. Even the unmarried father, Mr David Adedeji Adeleke, only has limited rights to the child and certainly not to the exclusion of our client, the natural mother as the Adeleke’s are trying to do.

We are of the sound view that your Agency is the most viable organisation that can intervene in the plight of our client and save her from the untold trauma that she is going through in the hands of Mr Deji Adeleke and Ashley Coco Adeleke, who has her own child that she keeps with her. We have advised our client about the statutory powers of your Agency to potently investigate and enforce all the provisions of the law that deal with abduction and trafficking in persons.

We urge you to use your good offices to intervene in the case of our client and protect a baby who should still be under her mother’s care from being abducted and smuggled abroad.



We thank you.

Yours faithfully,

O. AJAYI & CO./Gbolaga Ajayi Esq.

http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/item/5710-davido-faces-child-traffic-petition-by-naptip-on-abduction-attempt-in-mma

John Mikel Obi has admitted the atmosphere in the Chelsea dressing room has improved, just three games after the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

Blues interim manager Guus Hiddink claimed after his side’s 0-0 draw against Manchester United that he had already lifted spirits at Stamford Bridge since succeeding Mourinho, who was often publicly critical of his players towards the end of his reign.

And Chelsea midfielder Mikel believes the departure of the Portuguese has resulted in an end to what technical director Michael

Emenalo described as a ‘palpable discord’ between the former manager and his players.

“We’ve moved on from that and the atmosphere has improved since the change of manager,” he said. “It’s fine now, we’ve just not been getting results.

“Jose is a fantastic manager and will always be a fantastic guy. But sometimes football is a cruel game and you have to move on.

“Is it the right decision? Who knows? We’ll only see in the future.”

Chelsea have moved to 14th position in the league after remaining unbeaten over the festive period thus far, but clambering up to the Champions League places remains a pipe dream with the Blues still 15 points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.

Despite the long road ahead, Nigerian international Mikel is refusing to throw in the towel just yet.

“Top four? I don’t think it’s gone,’ added the 28-year-old, who made his 350th appearance for the Blues in the 2-2 draw against Watford on Boxing Day.

“We’ve got lots of games to catch up and if we keep going in this direction and keeping clean sheets, we will definitely score goals.

“We’ve had three games now without losing so are making the right steps.”

http://metropolexpress.com/more/opinion/item/5708-no-tension-in-our-dressing-room-again-since-mouriho-s-exit-obi-mikel

A Turkish court on Tuesday ordered the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to pay thousands of dollars in compensation after it revoked the refereeing licence of a local referee on the grounds that he was gay.

The Istanbul court ordered the TFF to pay 23,000 Turkish Lira ($7,900) in material and moral compensation over its treatment of Halil Ibrahim Dincdag, the Dogan news agency reported.

However the sum was lower than the 110,000 Turkish Lira ($38,000) demanded by Dincdag’s lawyers, in a case that had become a symbol of discrimination against gays and lesbians in largely conservative and overwhelmingly Muslim Turkish society.

The TFF had said that since he was exempt from military service due to his homosexuality, Dincdag fell into the army’s classification of “unfit” and thus unable to do the job of refereeing.

Dincdag had been a referee in the Trabzon region on the Black Sea region but had his licence revoked in 2009 after publicly coming out as gay.
More on:
http://metropolexpress.com/sports/item/5706-turkish-football-federation-fined-for-sacking-gay-referee

A robbery suspect and ex-convict, Wasami Dennis, 32, has made a confessional statement to the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), that it was easier for him to operate in Ghana than Nigeria because Ghanaians are not as security conscious as Nigerians.

He made the confession when the police arrested him in Lagos in his hideout in Agbole Orile in Lagos.

The trans-border robbery suspect, who hails from Abraka town, Delta State, was released almost a year ago from Kirikiri prison after he was convicted for a break-in robbery incident in Festac, Lagos, Nigeria.

“I was released from prison about a year ago. I was caught in possession of a stolen laptop from Ghana along with three machetes hidden inside the walls of the hideout,” he narrated.

He added that he operated more in Ghana than Nigeria, stressing that Ghanaians never challenged him in any of his operations.

http://metropolexpress.com/metro/item/5707-it-s-easier-to-rob-in-ghana-than-nigeria-robbery-suspect

Gambian lawmakers have passed a bill criminalising female circumcision and introducing prison terms of up to three years for anyone flouting the ban. The National Assembly voted by a large majority to write the ban into the criminal code late Monday, a month after President Yahya Jammeh branded the practice outdated and ordered its immediate cessation.
Vice-President Isatou Njie Saidy told legislators the new law would “enforce the constitutional rights of women and girls not to be subjected to practices that are harmful to their health and well-being”. Female genital mutilation, or FGM, remains highly common in the Gambia, along with a number of other African countries and parts of the Middle East.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 125 million women worldwide have undergone the practice, which involves cutting off the labia and clitoris, often when girls are young. It can lead to serious health problems, including infections, bleeding, infertility and complications in childbirth, and impairs sexual pleasure.
Jammeh declared in November that the practice was not required by Islam the religion of around 95 percent of the country’s 1.8 million population and that it should be banished to the past, according to a government spokesman. Jammeh earlier this month declared the Gambia an Islamic state.
Before Monday’s vote there was no specific legislation and prosecutions would have had to rely on existing aspects of the penal code, such as previsions dealing with grievous bodily harm.
The Women Amendment Act 2015 mandates a jail term of up to three years, a fine of $1,300 or both for anyone caught practising or involved in the organisation of FGM.
Samba Bah, the assembly’s minority leader, voted against the bill, voicing concerns that the government had not sufficiently consulted with the public over what had previously been considered a rite of passage in the Gambia.
But deputy speaker Fatou Mbye hailed one of the “most progressive” pieces of legislation the parliament had ever passed. According to UN children’s fund Unicef retrieved by metropolexpress, around three quarters of Gambian women are living with the effects of genital mutilation.
A former British colony nestled within Senegal, the country is one of the poorest in the world and has been ruled with an iron fist by Jammeh since he seized power in a coup in 1994.
http://metropolexpress.com/health/item/5703-gambia-pass-law-criminalize-to-female-genital-mutilation

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Maxwell Obumneme Ikeh at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, with substances that tested positive for cocaine inserted in his anus.

The suspect was coming from Brazil with drugs packed in six wraps weighing 120 grammes inserted into his anus.

Another suspect, Tochukwu Akumma Nwakpo, was also arrested while trying to export a consignment containing 1.860kg of methamphetamine sealed in tin tomato paste to South Africa

NDLEA Lagos Airport Commander Ahmadu Garba feeding questions from metropolexpress said Ikeh, 40, and Nwakpo, 27, had targeted the festive period to smuggle drugs.

He said: “Intelligence report received by the agency indicated that the suspects specifically targeted the festive season to smuggle their drugs. Ikeh was caught on arrival while Nwakpo that hid methamphetamine in tomato paste meant for export to South Africa was equally arrested.

Ikeh said this was his first time of dealing in drugs, adding: “I am married with a child and live in Lagos. I sell children diapers and clothes but travelled to Brazil two months ago expecting to buy my goods at a cheaper price. In the process, I decided to smuggle 120 grammes of cocaine for monetary gains.

I inserted six wraps of the drugs into my anus yet it was detected and that was how I was arrested. This is my first time.” Nwakpo, 27, an automobile parts dealer at Ladipo Market in Mushin, Lagos, said he was only assisting a friend to send a consignment of foodstuff to South Africa.

“I sell motor parts at Ladipo market. My friend in South Africa asked me to send a luggage to him. He called somebody in Lagos who brought the bag to me and I took it to the airport for shipment. During search, the drug was detected and I was arrested,” he said.
http://metropolexpress.com/business/item/5701-man-inserted-cocaine-in-anus-from-brazil-arrested-in-lagos-airport

Less is more, if the findings of a new study are to be believed. The research, published Nov. 18 in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, discovered that the happiest couples have sex once a week instead of more frequently.

The study from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, based on surveys covering over 30,000 Americans over a span of four decades, claimed to be the first to go against the prevailing belief that more sex equals more happiness.

Lead researcher Amy Muise said that the link between greater happiness and more frequent sex was “no longer significant at a frequency of more than once a week.”

“It's important to maintain an intimate connection with your partner, but you don't need to have sex everyday as long as you're maintaining that connection,” added Muise, a University of Toronto-Mississauga social psychologist and postdoctoral fellow.

The findings centered on romantically involved individuals – particularly married heterosexual couples and those in established relationships.

The team also found no link between sexual frequency and well-being for single people. Muise explained that for single individuals, the sex-happiness connection may be dependent on factors including the level of comfort with sex outside of relationship.

Following the results that established couples tend to make love once a week on average, there was no difference in gender, age, or maturity of relationship. This is despite stereotypes of men wanting more and the elderly having less sex.

Sex, in fact, may have a greater link with happiness than money does.

In the researchers’ online survey of 335 participants, researchers found a more massive gap in happiness between people who had sex less than once monthly versus those who had sex once weekly (the former being less happy than the latter), than between people who earned $15,000-25,000 versus those with an income of $50,000 to $75,000 annually.

What does this show? "People often think that more money and more sex equal more happiness, but this is only true up to a point," explained Muise, who also stressed the need to continue being intimately connected but without exerting excess pressure on lovemaking as frequently as possible.

Carnegie Mellon University professor George Loewenstein raised concerns over the research being correlational rather than causal. “They didn’t control the independent variable, which is frequency of sex,” he argued.

Loewenstein’s team earlier this year led a study where 32 out of 64 married couples were told to double their rate of sexual intercourse and answer short daily surveys delving on happiness.

The team discovered that with 40 percent more sex, the respondents emerged as not happier, less energetic, and having worse sex.

The takeaway: quality over frequency. “Sex can mean so many different things: there’s good sex, bad sex and we found that the quality of the sex affected happiness more than frequency,” he said, citing the recent research didn’t account for quality.


http://metropolexpress.com/component/k2/item/5569-happiest-couples-have-sex-only-once-a-week-research

Mrs Beatrice Oyesunle, the 75-year-old mother of the twin brothers who were shot to death by a drunk Mobile Police Sergeant, weekend, alongside their friend, in Ketu area of Lagos, yesterday said the death of her only surviving children had crumbled her world.

This is just as one of the children, Taiwo Oyesunle, was discovered to be a Naval personnel attached to the Nigerian Navy Ship Wey, Satelite.

Taiwo, with his identical twin brother, Kehinde (34) and their friend, identified simply as Jeje were said to have gone to Paulson hotel, on Anibaba Street to book for a room for the latter’s girlfriend who would be returning to the country Saturday night.

On reaching the hotel, they joined others who were smoking weed, the wielding Mobile pliceman, Sergeant Stephen James, attached to MOPOL 22, Ikeja, demanded that they stop smoking weed in the environment.

metropolexpress gathered that the guests and some other persuaded the policeman to allow the continue with their smoke, a plea policeman who had already taken three bottles of beer and a local drink popularly called Alomo bitters refused.

But James with Force number 217884 was said to have threatened to shoot them if they refused to stop and he became aggressive.

More on the storyhttp:
//metropolexpress.com/metro/item/5691-one-of-ketu-killer-police-s-victims-died-on-birthday-mother-of-twin-goes-insane

Rev. Fr Raymond Tyohemba, the Assistant Parish Priest of St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Akwanga, Nassarawa State, has condemned the practice of lesbianism and homosexuality .

Tyohemba, while delivering a sermon on Sunday, also warned people against destroying the marriage institution.

According to him, “God has instituted the institution of marriage so that a man and a woman would come together as husband and wife, but not the other way round.

“It is unfortunate that today, some groups of persons have chosen to violate what God has ordained and go about having sex with persons of the same sex with them.

“To the extent that some powerful nations in the world today have legalised same-sex marriage and other immoral behaviours just in the name of granting freedom to their citizens,” he said.

The Cleric described the granting of permission to citizens to practice same-sex marriage and individuals who on their own practiced it, as an ungodly act.

He advised people who indulged in these ungodly acts to desist from them and accept God in order to avoid His wrath.

He also attributed the alarming rate of social vices in the society to broken homes, saying that the family was the foundation of every society.

“ So, the devil introduced lesbianism and homosexual to destroy the institutions of marriage,’’ he said.

Tyohemba, therefore, called on parents, teachers and all stakeholders to rise up and ensure that the practice of same-sex relationship was completely eradicated.

http://metropolexpress.com/more/opinion/item/5688-devil-introduced-sodomy-lesbianism-homosexuality-to-marrige-cleric

Afrobeat prince, Seun Kuti will today lead the Egypt 80 Band to the New African Shrine for a Boxing Day live gig.
The show, which will see the multi-instrumentalist treat guests to some of his latest recordings, as well his old hits, will also feature some great tracks from the music legend himself, Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
For sure, expect Seun to deliver some of his mind blowing political commentaries that set him aside from his peers.
For the artiste, who spends more time playing abroad, today’s show is very significant.
“The truth is that we play more abroad than we play in Nigeria; it’s funny, but that’s the reality. So, for me, this is an opportunity to perform for my fans back home,” he said.
Seun, who just returned to the country after a long music tour that took him to different parts of Europe, was part of the just concluded Lagos Jazz series, where he had the opportunity to play for Afrobeat fans, who are not regulars to the Shrine.

http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/item/5683-fans-to-see-seun-kuti-live-today-boxing-day-at-the-shrine

here was palpable tension at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, on Friday when some hoodlums invaded the premises, causing fun seekers to run for safety.
The incident, which happened around 5pm, also caused some of the fun seekers to lose their valuables while trying to escape from the hoodlums.
Some of the affected fun seekers who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria described their experience as traumatic, noting that there were many pickpockets who moved around the premises, stealing items from unsuspecting visitors.
A 19-year-old student, Philip Patrick, who said he came with his siblings to spend the Christmas Day, lamented the way pickpockets were harassing visitors.

More on the story:
http://metropolexpress.com/metro/item/5681-area-boys-attacked-fun-seekers-on-xmas-stole-valuables

Nigerians in the Diaspora returning to Nigeria for the Yuletide and the New Year Festivities have advised the Federal Government to improve infrastructural facilities across the country.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Badagry on Thursday while returning to the country for the celebrations.

Mr Adeyinka Yusuf who was returning from Ghana advised the Federal Government to improve the roads linking the country with other West African countries as well as those within the country.

"I work and live in Ghana but my family stays in Ibadan; so I'm returning to my country to celebrate the Yuletide with them. I do this yearly so I'm here again.

"Nigeria is a wonderful place and there is no place like home but the government should improve on our road networks across the country.

"The roads are really in bad shape and nothing has been done about it

between the last time I came home to this very moment, and that shouldn't be the case.

"The roads should be fixed so that more Nigerians living and working in other parts of the world will be encouraged to visit home regularly," he said.

Mrs Chika Nweze who was coming from Togo revealed that she was coming to Nigeria for vacation.

"I heard that Calabar is a very good and interesting place, so I'm going there to spend Christmas so I can see how interesting things are there.

"I love Nigeria because it is my fatherland but things must improve a bit because I can relocate back here because I can't come back if the economy doesn't get better.

"I'm well settled in Togo so it will take a lot of guts for me to leave Togo and come back to Nigeria with the way things are right now," she said.

Mr Andrew Thomas, who was coming from the Republic of Benin, noted that he usually visits home during festive periods.

"I usually come to

Nigeria during the festive period because it is more entertaining and there are loads of activities during festive seasons.

"As soon as the break is over, I'm heading back to my base and I will not return till another festive period.

"The government must improve on many sectors especially the power sector in order to encourage many people in the Diaspora to come back to the country.

"If this and many other things are not rectified, it will discourage a lot of people from coming back," he said.

At the Lagos International Airport, metropolexpress correspondent spoke to Prince Wale Adebola who just returned from his base in Switzerland, he lamented the bad states of roads; epileptic power supply and the current fuel shortages in the country, in his remarks, "most of Nigerian leaders visits abroad with tax payers' money and see how government values the lives of its citizens, it's shameful that same cannot be replicated at home by the leaders".

Adebola urges the FG to improve the living conditions of Nigerians by providing basic necessities that will enhance human development, infrastructural development as well economic development, as witnessed in advance climes.
http://metropolexpress.com/component/k2/item/5671-returning-nigerians-in-diaspora-wants-fg-to-improve-on-infrastructure

Guus Hiddink has warned his Chelsea players that anyone who doesn’t have the hunger to play for the club can leave.

“Yesterday I talked fully to the squad. I told them, things happen in football and I want them to look in the mirror, not just two seconds but longer, and see how they can contribute on the way up.

“I told them as professionals to look in the mirror and be ultra-critical.

There must be desire to play.

If you don’t have it, knock on my door and we’ll talk…briefly.

We have to show to ourselves, to the club and to the fans that the team has a big desire to wash away the last half year and go up to the next coming games.

If we do that, the results will follow. I know the fans will support the team as they did briefly during some executions of the last game.

They have the right to express themselves about what happened in the recent past.’’

http://metropolexpress.com/sports/item/5667-hiddink-warns-mikel-against-team-sabotage

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, yesterday imposed what it called an applicable sanction on Aero Contractors Airlines in line with Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations, NCARs, Though, the specific sanction was not revealed but the agency said that it runs into millions of Naira.

According to Mr Sam Adurogboye, Ag General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA ,“The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has imposed an applicable sanction on Aero Contractors Airlines in line with Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs).”

“In a letter conveying the sanction, the Director General of the Regulatory Authority, Capt. Muhtar Usman, said the action of Aero Contractors Airline in allowing the use of a ladder to disembark passengers from a Boeing 737 – 500 aircraft in a non-emergency situation is contrary to its approved aircraft handling manual.”

“Therefore this is a violation of Part 9.2.4.2(b) of Nig.CARs which part attracts a civil penalty. All relevant agencies made useful submissions during the course of the investigation.”

http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/travel/item/5659-ncaa-sanctions-aero-over-shameful-bauchi-airport-ladder-act

The DG continued in the letter that, ‘’in view of the safety implications of your action you are hereby sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of Part 20.2.3(15) of the Nig.CARs.’’

“Although the incident did not result in any mishap, the aircraft is airworthy and the Crew well qualified to operate the flight. However, it is viewed as a breach and resultantly a fine running into millions of naira have been clamped on the airline to serve as deterrence and to forestall any similar infraction by any other airline operator.”

“In addition, the Captain of the flight was similarly fined for failing to comply with the provisions contained in the aircraft manual.”

“The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ,NCAA, therefore wishes to reiterate its earlier warning that all airlines should endeavour to adhere strictly to Civil Aviation Regulations.

A 29-year-old man, Yahya Saifullahi , was recently arrested by Immigration officers at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport with 870 ATM cards and two bank internet tokens.

The suspect arrested aboard Ethiopia Airways’ Flight No ET 940 with Passport No. A06694052 was said to be on his way to Dubai.

A member of the presidential task force on money laundering and illegal movement of foreign currency, Tukur Ibrahim, informed metropolexpress that Immigration operatives at the airport arrested the young man in his late 20s when he was singled out for scrutiny.

Tukur Ibrahim disclosed that “the suspect lost his composure and psychological make up at that moment and on frisking a total of 870 ATM cards were found on him.”

While noting that the suspect concealed the ATM cards under his groin, Tukur gave the breakdown of seized ATM cards as Ecobank, 24; GT Bank, 118; Access Bank, 170; Diamond Bank, 71; Sterling Bank, three; Keystone Bank, nine; Skye Bank 34 and UBA Plc, eight.

According to the Immigration official, other confiscated ATM cards also include Wema Bank, three; Zenith Bank, 20; Heritage Bank, 21; Standard Chartered Bank, 10; First Bank, 42; Union Bank, 26; Stanbic IBTC, 30; Unity Bank, 45; Fidelity Bank, 40 and FCMB, 196.

Tukur Ibrahim revealed that the suspect had since been handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.

http://metropolexpress.com/metro/item/5660-man-29-arrested-with-870-atm-cards-in-kano-airport-on-way-to-dubai

It was another moment of glory for ace filmmaker and actor, Kunle Afolayan, who yesterday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), as the brand’s new ambassador.

The ceremony commemorates the company’s exclusive unveiling of the new Peugot 508 model at the NAF Conference Center and Suites, Ahmadu Bello Way, Kado, Abuja.

Spotting a six piece Agbada, Afolayan looked every inch a Hausa man, as he signed the agreement with the company’s MD/CEO, Mr. Ibrahim Dutsinma Boyi, at the event attended by select friends and clients of the company.

Afolayan attended the event with his partner, Seun Soyinka uploaded photos from the event on his Facebook page, saying; “The unveiling of the new Peugeot 508, and I was also officially unveiled as Brand Ambassador for Peugeot. I was presented with a brand new car. What a way to end the year… Lord, I thank you.”

According to Boyi, the partnership became important to showcase outstanding and complete alignment of the two brands; Afolayan and the new Peugeot, which are of international standard.

“I am happy to announce that in Mr. Afolayan’s next movie, The CEO, Peugeot 508 will be prominently featured as one of the vehicles. Already Afolayan is an Ambassador of Air France so the choice is not accidental, but a well thought of decision,” said Boyi who added that, “Afolayan became an internationally accepted brand, thus the organization was excited to sign the partnership to promote both brands.

“The car is fully assembled in Kaduna, Nigeria. After completion of the 508 brand, the quality standard recorded complied 100 per cent with the quality standard of Peugeot factory, France. It is based on global quality standard of the Peugeot brand,” Boyi added.

http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/item/5661-kunle-afolayan-emerged-peugeot-s-brand-ambassador-in-nigeria.

The Federal Government has declared December 24, Dec.25 and Dec. 28 public holidays to mark Maulud Nabiy, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, respectively.

The Minister of the Interior, Retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, made the declaration on Thursday in Abuja in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Bassey Akpanyung.

“The Federal Government has declared Thursday, 24th December, 2015 as public holiday to mark Eid-El-Maulud celebration.

“Friday, 25th and Monday 28th December, 2015 have also been declared as public holidays to mark Christmas and Boxing Day celebration,” the statement said.

The minister enjoined Muslim and Christian faithful to use the unique occasion to‎ pray for the peace and unity of Nigeria.

He also advised Nigerians to cooperate and join hands with President Muhammadu Buhari in his efforts to build a peaceful, united and virile nation.

Dambazau wished Nigerians, home and abroad, happy celebrations.

Eid-Maulud is the celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammed in Islam, while Christmas is celebrated by Christians to mark the birth of Jesus Christ.

http://metropolexpress.com/news/item/5657-fg-declares-24-25-26-and-28-december-public-holidays

Zimbabwe has announced that it will make the Chinese yuan legal tender after Beijing confirmed it would cancel $40m in debts.

“They (China) said they are cancelling our debts that are maturing this year and we are in the process of finalising the debt instruments and calculating the debts,” minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a statement.

Chinamasa also announced that Zimbabwe will officially make the Chinese yuan legal tender as it seeks to increase trade with Beijing.

Zimbabwe abandoned its own dollar in 2009 after hyperinflation, which had peaked at around 500bn%, rendered it unusable.

It then started using a slew of foreign currencies, including the US dollar and the South African rand.

The yuan was later added to the basket of the foreign currencies, but its use had not been approved yet for public transactions in the market dominated by the greenback.
http://metropolexpress.com/business/item/5656-zimbabwe-adopts-chinese-yuan-as-official-currency-in-exchange-for-40m-debt-relief

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN has sent petition to UN Special Rapporteurs requesting them to use their “positions and mandates to thoroughly investigate reports of the unnecessary deaths of at least 60 girls and young women in Swaziland killed in bus crash on their way to dance festival where King of Swaziland, King Mswati III picks one of thousands of topless virgins as his new wife.”

The petition dated 2 October 2015 was sent to Mr Juan Ernesto MENDEZ Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Ms. Dubravka Simonovic Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and Mr Christof HEYNS Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

The petition reads in part: “According to reports, a car or a van hit the back of one truck which resulted in a pileup. The dead were reportedly thrown from the back of the truck which was usually used for transporting building materials and some were said to have been hit by on-coming cars. The festival still went ahead despite reports on the deaths.”

“I urge you to investigate allegations of cover-up and blatant failure of the authorities to prevent the violations of the rights to life, to human dignity, and violence against girls and women, forced marriage as well as to provide effective remedies for the victims and their families.”

“I am seriously concerned that King Mswati III’s regime rather than addressing the serious violations of human rights has continued to prevent and prohibit the publication of these abuses against innocent girls and young women while also compromising the law enforcement agencies in the discharge of their lawful functions.”

“The girls were forced to stand up in the back of an open truck cheek-by-jowl. There was no space to sit down or even to turn around. By forcing the girls and women to travel on the back of open trucks in a convoy, the government of Swaziland has violated also their rights to freedom from cruel, inhuman, degrading or ill-treatment.”

“I argue that the annual Umhlanga Reed Dance itself is unlawful as it has continued to perpetuate forced marriages, entirely inconsistent with international human rights standards.”

“The right to life is enunciated in article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Swaziland has ratified. It is the supreme right from which no derogation is permitted even in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation. It is a right which should not be interpreted narrowly.”

“Article 2 of the Covenant in fact makes clear that the government of Swaziland has affirmative duties to protect the right to life from abuses within its territory or jurisdiction, and General Comment 31 reveals that this duty requires of the government the due diligence to prevent foreseeable violations.”

“I argue that the government of Swaziland has the supreme duty to prevent acts such as those highlighted above that can cause arbitrary loss of life such as the unnecessary deaths of these girls.”

“The expression “inherent right to life” cannot properly be understood in a restrictive manner, and the protection of this right requires that Swaziland adopt positive measures to prevent violation of the right to life, something the government has failed to do in this instance.”

“I also argue that religion, culture and tradition cannot be used to justify human rights violations, including violence against women, which is what the annual Umhlanga Reed Dance constitutes. The continuation of the Umhlanga Reed Dance also gives rise to other human rights abuses, including forced marriages.”

“Under international human rights law, states like Swaziland are to be held accountable if they fail to act with due diligence to prevent violations of rights such as those highlighted above or to investigate and punish acts of violence against women and provide effective remedies and access to justice for victims and their families.”

“By packing the girls on the back of open trucks, the government of Swaziland should have reasonably foreseen that this would lead to violation of their rights to life and human dignity. In fact, due diligence places a strict standard of conduct upon the government of Swaziland to protect all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, including the girls and women.”

“I look forward to your urgent intervention in this case so that the government of Swaziland can be held accountable for these serious violations of human rights and victims and their families can receive justice and effective remedies.”

http://metropolexpress.com/news/item/5413-falana-drags-swaziland-king-before-un-over-death-of-60-girls-on-way-to-virgin-dance

The Ogun Government on Saturday sealed off six different shops selling alcoholic drinks in Kuto Park, Abeokuta, the state capital.

Alhaji Ola-ayo Ogunsolu, the General Manager, Parks and Garages Development Board (PAGADEB), said the board had inaugurated: “Operation Flush-out Alcoholic Drinks,’’ in all parks and garages in the state.

The manager, who led a team to the park, said the sealing of the shops was to rid all parks and garages in Ogun of hard drugs and sales of liquor.

Ogunsolu said the step became imperative in order to reduce road accidents and instil discipline among transport workers, especially the drivers.

According to him, there is need to protect lives and property of passengers boarding vehicles in all parts of the state.

Ogunsolu added that drinking alcohol while driving remained illegal, criminal and a breach of traffic rules and regulations.

“We decided to embark on this exercise in order to stem the growing rate of carnage on our roads,’’ he said.

Also speaking, the General Secretary of the State National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Mr Kayode Olaolu, commended the state government for the enlightenment.

Olaolu promised that the union would set up a task force team in order to ensure strict compliance with the directive.

http://metropolexpress.com/entertainment/travel/item/5384-ogun-government-seals-6-alcohol-shops-in-motor-park