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Politics › Re: How To Defeat Boko Haram: A Message To Nigerian Security Services by urnaijadotcom(op): 10:28am On Sep 23, 2015
Politics › Re: How To Defeat Boko Haram: A Message To Nigerian Security Services by urnaijadotcom(op): 10:27am On Sep 23, 2015
Sappyman:
Nice one.
Thank you, sir!
Politics › How To Defeat Boko Haram: A Message To Nigerian Security Services by urnaijadotcom(op): 10:21am On Sep 23, 2015
There has been a series of bomb blasts in Maiduguri, killing over 117 people as of the last time a count was conducted, less than a week after President Buhari returned from yet another international trip to discuss how to defeat Boko Haram with foreign leaders.

There is no questions about President Buhari’s determination to defeat Boko Haram. A group he has condemned several times and believed to be behind an attempt on his life before he became president.

The effort of the various security services in the country is, however, questionable. It doesn’t appear like there is any effort on the part of the security services to put a stop to Boko Haram’s activities.

There is a reason why we don’t hear reports of weekly bomb blasts with multiple causalities from the US and the UK. It is because of the efficiency of their security services.

This is how an efficient security service would have dealt with the Boko Haram menace that has plagued the country for over half a decade:

Security services in civilised countries work on a tried and tested theory that human beings are creatures of habits. As human beings, we cannot afford to be arbitrary or random all the time as this will create chaos and anarchy.

Criminals especially have to be more careful, more meticulous and more disciplined than non-criminally minded people to avoid being caught so they adopt a strict code of conduct, a “modus operandi”, from which they mustn’t depart and this becomes a pattern for their operations.

A person without a criminal motive who is simply going about his business can afford to make a mistake, for example, you may take the wrong turn on your way to visit a friend for the first time. The moment you discover you have taken the wrong turn you simply turn around but a criminal fleeing from a crime scene cannot afford to make that kind of mistake. He carefully maps out his escape route before he commits the crime.

Therefore, criminals have to play by a certain rule book from which they mustn’t depart or else their criminal activities will be jeopardized.

This is what security services in civilized countries call a “pattern”. A pattern may provide a criminal with a sophisticated method to commit a crime but it also leaves clues for an efficient security service to work on.

There are certain factors which must always be present (or absent) before terrorists decide to attack a particular place.

For example, most attacks have been confined to a particular section of the country: this is an easily identifiable pattern.

An efficient security service would also observe the following: what time of the day the attacks occur; what day of the week the attacks occur; the interval between attacks; the distance between two different bomb blast sites and so on.

Even the victims of the bomb blast should be closely examined, the number of victims; the average age; the gender; the sort of gatherings they attack and every other thing they can think of.

These factors would not be studied in isolation but in conjunction with one another. For example, they may discover that they only attack a particular type of gathering on a particular day of the week at a particular time of the day.

After studying all these factors they will identify a pattern because human beings are creatures of habits and these terrorists are human beings, not spirits!

Once the pattern or “Modus Operandi” has been identified then the time and place of the next attack becomes more easily predictable and security services would be better prepared to prevent it.

There is a pattern to Boko Haram bombings, to put a stop to this national embarrassment, security agents need to study bomb blast sites and discover what that pattern is!

American Law enforcement agents say, “a criminal has to be lucky always but the Police only need to be lucky once”. Another way of putting it is, “It’s everyday for the thief but only one day for the owner”.

Let us consider another analogy: Hunters study animals and identify a pattern before laying their traps. A hunter who simply lays a trap without studying the animal he intends to catch will make no catch. Human beings are far more sophisticated and intelligent than animals so it is easier for a human being to study an animal than it is for an animal to study a human being.

Likewise, Boko Haram is a rag-tag terrorist organisation adopting crude guerrilla methods to attack innocent civilians surely they cannot be more sophisticated than an entire country that has the backing of some of the most powerful and richest nations on earth.

Apart from identifying a pattern, which is a strategy employed by civilised security services for every crime, security experts also say every bomb maker, like artists, has a signature – a unique characteristic that can be identified from the bomb blast. The type of bombs detonated by Boko Haram are crudely assembled and not bought from the market as a whole device therefore no two bomb makers assemble bombs the same way. Each would have a particular style of assembling his bomb, hence the signature. This signature can be identified from the fragments security services gather and reassemble after the blast. By now, Nigerian security agents should have a near accurate idea of how many bomb makers are in Boko Haram’s employ based on the number of identifiable signatures.

Also, bombs are made from certain common household material that are readily available for sale in the market. An efficient security service should have a comprehensive list of every single item that can be used to build a bomb and carefully monitor the supply and purchase of these items. Anybody buying any of these items in large quantities or a combination of the items must immediately be put under surveillance.

Armed with this sort of information, an efficient security service would be able to build what is called a profile on the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.

A profile would give them an idea of who they are looking for.

It’s obvious, however, that given the regularity of attacks by Boko Haram, Nigerian security services are not operating at the level of intelligence gathering needed to successfully fight the terrorist organisation despite the billions of dollars supposedly invested in it.
http://www.urnaija.com/defeat-boko-haram-message-nigerian-security-services

Foreign Affairs › David Cameron Allegedly Put His Joystick Inside Pig's Mouth While In Oxford! by urnaijadotcom(op): 3:32pm On Sep 21, 2015
A soon-to-be-published biography claims British Prime Minister David Cameron of placing a “private part of his anatomy” into the mouth of a dead pig as part of an initiation ritual when he was a student at Oxford.

The incredible allegation was made in the unauthorized biography “Call me Dave,” co-written by Tory donor, Michael Ashcroft and journalist Isabel Oakeshott, excerpted by London’s Daily Mail.

The book claims the pig’s head was resting in the lap of a Piers Gaveston society member when Cameron placed his own member into its maw during a party.

Cameron got blazed at recurring pot parties and entertained a slew of beautiful woman in his dorm room, the book claims.

While no precise information is available as to the origin of the pigs head, the book mentions that a contemporary of Cameron’s often threw dinner parties featuring pig heads.

The authors do leave some room for error.

“Perhaps it is a case of mistaken identity,” they write. “Yet it is an elaborate story for an otherwise credible figure to invent.

“Call me Dave” is due to publish October 12th.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/david-cameron-allegedly-private-part-pigs-mouth-part-initiation-ritual/

Sports › Re: Today Could Be Mourinho’s Last Day At Stamford Bridge by urnaijadotcom(op): 3:03pm On Sep 19, 2015
kelvyn7:
AssANal fan spotted grin

let's wait and see, it's by 12:45



................ ♡☆♡ ...................
Chairman sir, I love the way you spelt AssANal! lol. Writer of the article is actually a Chelsea fan but had Chelsea lost Baba Olowo would have sacked Mourinho nah!

Thank God sha.
Sports › Mourinho Lives To Fight Another Day As Chelsea Beat Arsenal 2-0 by urnaijadotcom(op): 3:01pm On Sep 19, 2015
Kurt Zouma and Eden Hazard scored a goal each for Chelsea to secure a 2-0 victory over Arsenal, who ended the game with nine men.

Zouma headed in the opener in the 53rd minute before Hazard fired in late with a shot that went in off Calum Chambers.

Arsenal's Gabriel was sent off in the first half for flicking his heel at Diego Costa, who was lucky not to see red for a swipe at Laurent Koscielny.

With 11 minutes left Gunners midfielder Santi Cazorla was shown a second yellow for a late tackle on Fabregas.

Sports › Today Could Be Mourinho’s Last Day At Stamford Bridge by urnaijadotcom(op): 6:58am On Sep 19, 2015
Chelsea face Arsenal this afternoon at Stamford Bridge in a match that could determine Mourinho’s future at the London based club.

Chelsea have had their worst season opening in thirty years and losing at home to Arsenal today would not only be the second time they will be losing at home in a Premier league match under Mourinho’s watch but would also land them in relegation zone for the first time ever since the Premier League started in 1992.

Chelsea owner, Romano Abramovich’s impatience is legendary. Chelsea in relegation zone would be unacceptable to him. Managers have been sacked in the past for less.

A win, no matter how they get it, would give the defending champions a shot in the arm and deflect the pressure from Mourinho on to Gunners boss Arsene Wenger.

It was always a big deal anytime the two London clubs clashed and that’s not only because they are rivalling neighbours but because of the tension between Arsene Wenger, Arsenal manager, and the cantankerous Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho.

Arsenal too would want to win today’s game as it would be a way to show their fans that they are authentic Premier League contenders this season.

A couple of seasons ago, Arsenal really suffered in these Saturday lunchtime kick-offs against the other top teams, according to BBC Match of the Day pundit, former England international and Arsenal legend, Martin Keown.

Keown analysed further that, “they lost their away games against that year's top three, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, with an aggregate score of 17-4, conceding eight of those goals in the first 17 minutes of the games”.

“This time, they cannot afford a slow start or any sort of a hangover fromtheir Champions League group defeat in Croatia on Wednesday.

The Gunners will need to have steel in their game from the off because Chelsea are like a wounded animal at the moment, and I think they might react by going on the attack.

After the week that Arsenal have had, they do not want to be conceding early at Stamford Bridge”.

Chelsea fans will hope that Mourinho would not “park the bus” against Arsenal – as that could have disastrous consequences – but would go for an outright win against their Premiership rivals.

Politics › Boko Haram Violence Has Displaced 1.4m Children According To A UN Report by urnaijadotcom(op): 10:28am On Sep 18, 2015
Half a million children have fled attacks in northeast Nigeria from the Islamic militant group Boko Haram over the past five months, UNICEF said in a report released Friday.

According to a Time magazine report, the recent surge brings the total number of displaced children in northern Nigeria to 1.2 million — more than half of them are under the age of 5. A further 265,000 children have fled their homes in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Boko Haram has orchestrated a campaign of bombings, assassinations and abductions in Nigeria over the past few years. The group gained worldwide notoriety in April 2014 when it kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in northern Nigeria’s Borno state.

“It’s truly alarming to see that children and women continue to be killed, abducted and used to carry bombs,” said Manuel Fontaine, the UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa, in the report.
Since the beginning of the year, children and woman are increasingly used in bombings, said Anne Boher, the UNICEF Niger chief of communications, in an email to TIME.

“Women and girls are involved in approximately three-quarters of the attacks,” she said. And children are “used, often without knowing, to carry bombs that were strapped to their bodies and detonated remotely in public places.”

Funding shortfalls have hampered work on the ground, says UNICEF. The organization says it has only received 32% of the $50.3 million it requires this year. And in a sign of worsening conditions, victims of the insurgency also face growing food insecurity and a cholera outbreak in displacement camps in Borno state.

Politics › Corbyn’s Victory May Be Bad News For Nigerians Who Want To Travel To The UK by urnaijadotcom(op): 4:24pm On Sep 17, 2015
Nigerians who intend to apply for visas to travel to the United Kingdom need to keep a close eye on political developments in the UK as the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the opposition Labour party may affect their chances of making that trip to her majesty’s domain.

Saying Corbyn was the outsider and the underdog at the beginning of the leadership race is an understatement. Minutes to the end of the nomination process he still had only 34 nominations from his colleagues in Parliament, one short of the minimum number required to put his name on the ballot paper. He received his last nomination ten seconds to the end of the nomination process.

In fact, some of the MPs who nominated him made it clear that they have no intention of voting for him - and they didn’t - but only nominated him so that people would hear his crazy ideas and consign them to the dustbin of history.

Interestingly, two of the three Nigerian-British Labour MPs, Chi Onwurah and Kate Osamor also nominated him.

Jeremy Corbyn is considered un-electable as Prime Minister by virtually every prominent member of the Labour party. Former Prime Minister

Tony Blair, warned before the election, that the Labour Party faces annihilation should Jeremy Corbyn win the leadership election.

One of Blair’s former advisers, John McTernan, branded the 35 MPs who nominated Corbyn as “Moronic”.

Former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was wheeled out to give a speech and without mentioning names warned Labour party members about the impossibility of winning a general election in the UK with Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader.

What are the implications if Jeremy Corbyn remains Labour leader till the 2020 elections and Labour fails to win as predicted? Well, five more years of a Conservative government!

The Labour party is more popular with African immigrants due to more favourable immigration polices introduced during the last Labour government.
The Tories do not attempt to hide their contempt for immigrants with the Prime Minister, David Cameron, vowing to cut net immigration figures from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands. So far he has failed to achieve this.

In less than six years of Tory rule (five of which were in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats) a lot of policies favourable to immigration have been reversed:

1. The Overstayers Amnesty rule for immigrants who have overstayed their visas but have been resident in the UK for a continuous period of fourteen years has been abolished and replaced with a new rule. Instead, people who have remained unlawfully (or initially lawfully and then - unlawfully) in the UK for 20 years may legalize their immigration status in the UK and, if approved, may be granted further leaves to remain in the UK (4 periods of 2 and a half years each) totaling 10 years before such migrants may be able to apply for Settlement (ILR) in the UK. In simple language, overstayers who are lucky to be considered after 20 years now have to wait for 30 years to obtain an permanent settlement (ILR)

2. The much popular Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), which was very popular with Nigerians and ensured a secured route to obtain permanent residence in the UK has been scrapped and replaced with a much more complicated programme with more conditions.

3. In 2012, the Tories introduced changes to requirements for British citizens to bring a non-EU spouse into the UK. The two most significant changes are: first, the British has to have an income of £18,600 before the visa can even be applied for; second, the probationary period before permanent residency is granted (Indefinite Leave to Remain) increased from two years to five. So, in otherwords, if a British citizen marries a Nigerian who is not resident in the UK, to bring the spouse into the country, the British citizen needs to prove an income of £18,600 per annum and after the non-British spouse comes to the UK, he or she would have to wait for five years to obtain permanent residence instead of two years as it was previously.

4. Before the Tories came to power, students from outside the EU could work for up to 20 hours a week while studying but that right has been withdrawn for a vast majority of foreign students now. A new set of amendments came into force as recently as August 2015, which further restricted the rights of foreign students from taking employments; study a new course or switch from one category of visa to another while in the country. The new amendments have also made it unlawful for dependants of Tier 4 visa students taking unskilled jobs.

Nigerian students have been particularly affected by changes in Immigration rules in the last four years and with 4.1% of the foreign students population in the UK, Nigeria has the third largest foreign student population in the UK behind China and India.

The result of the government’s restriction on students visas is already being felt by Nigerians as there has been a 1% decrease in the number of Nigerian students in the UK from 2012 to 2013 and the decline will continue because of the Tories’ target to reduce immigration.

If the Tories could have changed the face of Immigration Laws this much in less than six years imagine what they would be able to achieve in the next four years and months left in this parliament and the next five years after that if Labour fails to win the next general election because of “unelectable” Jeremy Corbyn?

Sports › Okagbare Competes In London Sainsbury's Anniversary Games Today, Sat 25 July by urnaijadotcom(op): 9:03am On Jul 25, 2015
Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare’s talents will once again be on display in London on Saturday as she lines up with other female sprinters to compete in the 100m women’s event.

The Nigerian sprint queen will be running in heat 2 along with four Americans, two Brits and a Dutch and she has the fastest Seasonal and Personal Best time in her group.

The fastest qualifiers from Okagbare’s group will meet in the final with the fastest qualifiers from Heat 1, which includes another African, Ivorien Murielle Ahoure.

The Ivorien will be running in the same group as American English Gardner, whose personal and seasonal best of 10.79 is the same as Okagbare’s Personal Best.

Blessing Okagbare’s Seasonal Best of 10.80s is a hundredth of a second slower than Gardner’s.

Statistically, the first place should go to one of the two ladies with the fastest times, American English Gardner and Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare as the Jamaican ladies are absent from this year’s London meet.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/okagbare-competes-london-sainsbury-anniversary-games-today/#sthash.GSb6C8np.dpuf

Politics › Is Jonathan On Exile? by urnaijadotcom(op): 12:31pm On Jun 26, 2015
Thanks to Sahara Reporters, the last that was heard of Nigeria’s immediate former president, Goodluck Jonathan, was that he was in Los Angeles, USA relaxing. Before then he was photographed in London with his wife.

Shortly after he was reportedly sighted in Los Angeles, there were speculations about his son’s health but no official confirmation about his whereabouts or his itenary and his favourite bloggers haven’t sighted him in Nigeria since then.

For a president who reportedly left the country in a mess, quoting the Chairman of the Transition Committee, Dr. Ahmed Joda, Jonathan’s movements are very suspicious. As a former Head-of-State and Commander-in-Chief, he still represents Nigeria wherever he goes so his movement has to be cleared by security agencies and the appropriate government departments. If Jonathan has nothing to hide, there has to be an official statement as to his whereabouts; is he on holiday and if he is on holiday why should he be on holiday abroad? On whose expense is he on holiday?

I know his sycophants are soon going to start saying he can do whatever he wants. The same clueless people who argued that he could have annulled the elections if he wanted to. Honestly, some Nigerians are just unbelievable!

For your information, an ex-president who has nothing to hide cannot just take off from the country without clearing his movements with the appropriate agencies first. If that protocol is not in place in Nigeria then it has to be.

There were so many things wrong Jonathan did wrong when he was in power that the word, “clueless”, commonly used to summarise his presidency doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Since he left office, it has been discovered that one, over $23 billion was wasted on security; there is a deficit of over N7 Trillion; the treasury is “virtually empty” and recently, president Buhari has sought the assistance of the US and the UK to recover funds stolen from Nigeria during the last administration.

With all the revelations emerging since he left office, Jonathan should make himself more accessible to answer questions about his stewardship unless he has already returned to the country unannounced and if that is the case, I say, “welcome back Mr. Jonathan, you have nothing to fear, we know it’s not you, it’s the people you surrounded yourself with”.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/jonathan-exile/#sthash.foRYqP7K.dpuf
Politics › British Press Report Kashamu's Arrest But Shun Buhari's Visit To Cameron by urnaijadotcom(op): 6:23pm On May 25, 2015
About the same time, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was hosting Nigeria’s president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, at his official residence in London, a Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu, was being arrested by officers from the National Law Drug Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in faraway Lagos.

One would expect the British press to be more interested in the meeting between their leader and the in-coming leader of the largest oil exporting country in Africa but they were apparently more interested in the arrest of a suspected drug kingpin and the fact that his nefarious activities inspired a TV series.

British Tabloid, The Sundaymail, carried what it would call a juicy piece about the arrest and the fact that Buruji Kashamu’s criminal enterprise inspired a Netflix TV series, “Orange Is The New Black”, which is based on the true story of a white sub-urban American lady who was sent to jail for trafficking cocaine across international borders. The news story was complete with pictures of Buruji Kashamu and scenes from the TV series to properly establish the connection between two seemingly unrelated issues in readers’ minds.

The Sundaymail and its sister publication, the Dailymail, have never shied away from publishing stories that disparage Nigerians. One can even be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that they actively look for such stories.

They do not only stop at publishing such stories they sometimes spin the stories to the detriment of the Nigerians involved.

Take for example an incident reported recently about Muslim immigrants who drowned some Christian fellow immigrants by throwing them overboard while crossing the Mediterranean: Most media agencies reported that the Christians who were thrown overboard were Nigerians and Ghanaians without identifying the nationality or nationalities of the Muslims. The Dailymail was the only media company that identified the Muslims as Nigerians but failed to mention the nationalities of the Christian victims.

When Obama visited London in 2008 before he even became elected as president of the United States, then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown did not take pictures with him at the entrance of 10 Downing Street because he would have had to do the same for Obama’s Republican opponent, Senator McCain. Regardless of the de-escalation of Obama’s visit, it was still one of the most important news items of that day, which incidentally was on a Saturday as well, across the entire British media platform.

Not one single British publication deemed it fit to mention Buhari’s visit to 10 Downing Street, despite the fact that David Cameron shook hands and took pictures with the president-elect outside the door. Not even the more responsible publications like the Independent, Times or Guardian.

It should no longer surprise anybody that the only news stories that excite British journalists about Africa are news about tragic deaths, diseases and destruction.


http://www.urnaija.com/typical-british-press-report-kashamus-arrest-ignore-buharis-visit-prime-minister/

Politics › Nigerian Restaurant Selling Human Meat Story: Shame On BBC!!! by urnaijadotcom(op): 3:16pm On May 22, 2015
The British Broadcasting Corporation, one of the last relics of British colonial rule, has just sunken to a new low after the humiliating retraction of a false story about a Nigerian restaurant serving human flesh in Anambra state.

The most shameful aspect of the whole saga was not the fact that the BBC had to retract the story but after the story turned out to be a figment of someone’s imagination, some decision makers at the headquarters in England distanced themselves from the story and blamed it on BBC Swahili, which is partly funded by United Kingdom’s television licence fee. BBC Swahili is part and parcel of the BBC!

As if further evidence was needed to prove that the BBC is a racist organisation feeding itself on license fees paid by hundreds of thousands of Africans living in the UK.

The BBC earns over three billion Pounds (£3b) every year most of which comes from compulsory TV license fees paid by every household in the United Kingdom with a TV set. You would have thought some of this amount would be set aside to investigate stories. On the other hand, it’s probably not part of BBC’s policy to investigate bizarre stories from Africa.

One of the only policies of the newly elected Tory government worth looking forward to is a review of the Royal Charter under which the BBC was established. The new Conservative government is thinking of decriminalizing failure to obtain a TV license not out of concern for the people but out of spite for the BBC, which is considered too left wing for their comfort. How interesting that the BBC and the Tories are at loggerheads, two of the UK’s most unpopular brands – lolz.

Back to the Nigerian restaurant story, even the Dailymail – a right wing newspaper that publishes any story demeaning to Africans with relish – published a retraction (but not an apology) on their website. The most the BBC could do was blame it on BBC Swahili.

Someone should tell BBC executives at their Salford, Manchester office about Vicarious Liability. Their lawyers are obviously too busy working out how to fend off the Tory assault on their finances – lolz.

The decriminalization of failure to obtain a TV license cannot come soon enough. If the BBC were working hard to attract adverts like responsible media organisations do they’ll know better than insult the largest black community in the world with a fabricated story and then blame it on another African branch of their bigoted organisation.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/nigerian-restaurant-selling-human-meat-story-big-shame-on-the-racist-bbc/

Foreign Affairs › Nigerian-british MP Umunna Withdraws From Labour Leadership Race by urnaijadotcom(op): 11:03am On May 15, 2015
Nigerian-British MP, Chuka Umunna, has withdrawn from the Labour party leadership contest, he has announced, according to a BBC report.

Mr. Umunna, The 36-year-old MP for Streatham had been the second candidate to declare his intention to stand, via a post on his Facebook page.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/chuka-umunna-withdraws-labour-leadership-contest

Foreign Affairs › Re: Burundi: Troops Loyal To President Detain Leader Of Failed Coup And 2 Ors by urnaijadotcom(op): 8:26am On May 15, 2015
SirBrightoc:
Those soldiers who fought for the president deserve honour for true patriotism.
Totally agree with you bros, the president's unconstitutional antics aside. The coup leaders should not have taken the laws into their hands.
Foreign Affairs › Burundi: Troops Loyal To President Detain Leader Of Failed Coup And 2 Ors by urnaijadotcom(op): 7:37am On May 15, 2015
Soldiers Loyal to president Nkurunziza of Burundi early on Friday detained at least three leaders of a failed coup against the President an AFP reporter who was on the telephone with one of the coup leaders during his arrest has said.

The coup leaders’ spokesman, Venon Ndabaneze, was speaking to AFP confirming that the coup plotters had decided to surrender when loyalist troops arrested him, deputy coup leader Cyrille Ndayirukiye and another senior figure among the mutineers.

The AFP reporter remained on the line as the leaders were detained.

The leader of the coup attempt, former intelligence chief General Godefroid Niyombare, also said he was surrendering.

“We have decided to surrender,” coup leader General Godefroid Niyombare also said by telephone, adding that troops loyal to the president were approaching him.

“I hope they won’t kill us,” he added.

- See more at: http://www.urnaija.com/burundi-troops-loyal-president-nkurunziza-detain-coup-leaders

Sports › Champions League S/F: Juventus V Real Madrid/ Barcelona V Bayern Munich by urnaijadotcom(op): 11:32am On Apr 24, 2015
Draws for the UEFA Champions Cup Semi-finals have been held in Nyon, Switzerland opponents have been revealed and Juventus will be meeting Real Madrid while Baracelona will be facing Bayern Munich in the Semi-finals of the 2015 UEFA Champions league.

The first leg will be held on 5/6 May and the return leg will take place a week later on 12/13 May.

The first draws held were for the slightly less prestigious UEFA Europa League Cup, which will played on the 7th and 14th of May 2015 respectively.

The final will be played on the 27th of May in Warsaw.

Napoli of Italy will be playing Ukraine team Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk while Spanish team Sevilla will be playing Italians, Fiorentina.

In the final and much anticipated draw for the day,
Sports › Ten Reasons Why Chelsea Are Currently The Best Team In English Premiership by urnaijadotcom(op): 8:30am On Apr 23, 2015
Chelsea are at ten points clear at the top of the English Premiership with a match to play.

Here are ten reasons that justify their position:

1. They have the most wins in the Premier League this season (23)
2. They are the current league leaders by ten points
3. Fewest defeats (2)
4. Most Away Wins (10)
5. Best Goal difference (+39)
6. Only Unbeaten team at home (P16; W13; D3)
7. Fewest goals conceded at home (7)
8. Joint-highest goals scored away (34)
9. If they win their remaining six games, Chelsea will finish on 94 points, one point less than the record they set in 2004-2005; and finally,
10. Diego Costa

Politics › Earth Day Quiz: Which Animal Are You? Go To Google.com And Take The Test by urnaijadotcom(op): 9:16pm On Apr 22, 2015
Crime › Nigerian PA Who Swindled £17,000 To Pay For Her Luxury Wedding Spared Jail by urnaijadotcom(op): 8:25pm On Apr 22, 2015
A Nigerian personal assistant who siphoned £17,000 from a London City investment firm to pay for her luxury wedding in a Georgian mansion and a honeymoon in the Seychelles was spared jail on Tuesday.

32-year-old Gabrielle Yinka Saunders came to the UK from Nigeria and graduated from Southampton University with a 2:1 in law in 2004 before starting training as a tax accountant with PWC.

The judge, Stephen Gullick, decided not to send her to prison after hearing she had paid the money back and will start a teacher training course in September but sentenced her to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work.

She was accused of using her colleagues’ company credit cards to splash out on the £10,000 ceremony at the prestigious venue Belair House in Dulwich, south London.

She also paid £600 for flowers, £270 on a new watch, £210 on a new outfit and £400 for the mobile phone she used to make all the wedding arrangements.

Saunders was arrested by police at Heathrow Airport when she returned from the honeymoon.

The police investigation revealed she began the fraud just one day after getting the £40,000-a-year job with Insight Investments – despite having a conviction for a £34,000 fraud on her previous employers PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

In that case Saunders forged a colleague’s signature on scores of fake expenses claims so she could pay off her debt, which she blamed on having an “expensive boyfriend.”

Judge Gullick said: “You have a singularly unimpressive record and you have already served a prison sentence some time ago.
“You did not disclose your previous dishonesty to your employers who were prepared to take you on as an administrative assistant on a good salary.
“The fact is within days you were prepared to take advantage. You effectively defrauded others to the tune of £17,000, all of which has been paid back.
“That money was used to finance your wedding which took place in October last year and the subsequent honeymoon.
“You have now started working in a completely different environment. I hope they will never place you in a position of trust with anything to do with money.
“These were serious offences but it appears you are turning your life around.
“If you continue to commit offences of dishonest of this nature you will eventually receive a very long sentence if imprisonment indeed.”

Saunders forged taxi receipts to destinations across the country including Cardiff, Basingstoke and Milton Keynes at up to £250 a time, then signed them off by faking a colleague’s signature.

She was jailed for six months in November 2007 for defrauding her employers of £34,916 between 15 December 2005 and 24 October 2006.

At the time of her sentence she was working at Grant Thornton chartered accountants in Moorgate as a £23,000-a-year secretary.

Then in 2011 she was spared jail for nine counts of credit card fraud on her neighbour.

Saunders got her job with Insight Investments in central London in June last year and a day later charged a £5,272 bill to a colleague’s credit card for the honeymoon with Trailfinders.

In September she used another colleague’s card to pay £10,254 to Belair House, £268.20 to the jeweller Andrew Charles, £597 to PESH flowers, £208.44 to fashion store ASOS and £390 to EE T-mobile.

Prosecutor Roger Daniells-Smith explained: “She paid for a prestige wedding venue, she paid for the flowers, she paid for her honeymoon outfit and clothing.
“She paid for phone calls to make these arrangements and she paid for the gift of a watch.
“She paid for the honeymoon which was a first-class trip to Dubai and then on to the Seychelles.
“They were arrested at Heathrow when they returned to the UK and she made no comment in interview but it was clear from the evidence that she was solely responsible for these frauds.”

Saunders, of 146 Ruskin Park House, Champion Hill, Camberwell, south London, admitted seven counts of fraud totalling £16,990.

Foreign Affairs › Cameron's Party Pick Nigerian, Festus Akinbusoye, As Parliamentary Candidate by urnaijadotcom(op): 12:53pm On Apr 20, 2015
The Conservative party have picked Nigerian born Festus Akinbusoye, as their candidate for the West Ham parliamentary constituency in London.

Mr. Akinbusoye has an uphill task before him, to win the election and represent his constituency at Westminster he has to beat other candidates and the incumbent MP, Labour’s Lyn Brown, who has a majority of 22,534.

Created in 1997, West Ham constituency is one of the safest Labour seats in the whole of the UK, where over 70% of the electorates support Labour.

Festus Akinboye migrated from Nigeria and has been living in the constituency for over 20 years according to his profile on the Conservative Party website.

Mr. Akinboye has served as an LEA School Governor, mentored young offenders and set up business as an employer in the area.

Foreign Affairs › Cameron Worships At Sikh Temple Hours After Attending Festival Of Life by urnaijadotcom(op): 8:53am On Apr 19, 2015
David Cameron worshiped at a Gurdwara (a Sikh temple) in Gravesend Kent, where he was at the centre of a mild dispute, only hours after receiving a blessing from the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Adeboye, at the Festival of Light.

The Prime Minister took along his wife, Samantha, who was celebrating her 44th birthday, for the visit to the temple in Gravesend, where they joined around 3,000 worshipers on a parade to celebrate Vaisakhi, a spring festival.

According to the Telegraph, a dispute broke out among the worshipers when a priest objected to speeches being made while prayers were taking place.

Politics › David Cameron Doesn’t “do God”, Here Is The Real Reason He Went To Redeemed: by urnaijadotcom(op):
Worshipers at the quarterly Redeemed Christian Church of God’s Festival of Live were surprised to see David Cameron invited to the stage by the highly respected General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Adeboye, on Friday night for prayers.

The British Prime Minister seems to be following in the footsteps of none other than Nigeria’s President Jonathan who holds the unenviable record of being the first incumbent Nigerian president to lose a presidential election.

David Cameron once said his Christianity was like the Magic FM reception in the Chilterns, “it comes and goes”.

It’s not as if his Christianity has been switched back on, find out below why he went to church.

The Tories are tied with the Labour party at the polls and it is believed that neither party will win enough seats to form a majority after the next election if voting patterns on the day of elections reflect party support registered in the latest polls in the UK.

The United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP), Britain’s anti-immigration party, have haemorrhaged enough support from the Conservative party to do them damage while the Scottish National Party (SNP) are being predicted to win all but seven of Labour’s 41 seats in Scotland.

The prediction, based on recent polling, is that the conservative party will win 268 seats in Parliament and the Labour Party 296 seats.

According to these predictions, none of the two parties will have enough seats to form a majority in the British Parliament, which is 326 at least (there are 650 seats in the British Parliament)

The Labour Party will, however, become the largest party and in a better position than the Conservatives to form a government.

The Liberal Democrats too are facing a white-wash at the polls. The 57 seats they currently hold could be whittled down to only 17, which won’t be enough to take Cameron’s party past the magic number of 326.

Labour on the other hand, with the predicted 296 seats could team up with SNP, The Green Party and Welsh Party, Plaid Cymru, who could win a total of 53 seats between them to form an “alliance of the progressives”.

If party support registered in the latest polls are replicated in voting patterns on May 7, it is highly unlikely that Cameron would hold on to his job for much longer.

So he goes to seek Divine Intervention? Nein!!!!

Cameron doesn’t believe in prayers and British Prime Ministers don’t “do God” like American Presidents.

National Polls are one thing but polls within the 650 different constituencies are another thing.

Immigrants from Commonwealth countries like Nigeria are eligible to vote in the United Kingdom and most, not all, vote for the Labour party.

As far back as last year, the conservatives have discovered that there are a handful of constituencies where there are enough immigrants to swing the votes, meaning whichever party a majority of the immigrants in that constituency vote for is almost certain to win in that constituency.

That had always been the case but in this particular general election the difference between the two largest parties is about twenty to thirty seats those constituencies suddenly become very important to the Conservatives.

It is an established fact that most, not all, immigrants vote for the Labour party.

The Conservatives have identified about twenty or so constituencies where immigrants could swing the result of the election.

As stated above, the Labour Party is expected to win about 296 seats as against the Conservatives’ 268 seats. If the Conservatives can snatch up to 20 of those seats then Labour would be left with 276 seats and the Conservatives 288, making them the largest party and within shouting distance of forming a majority. That’s why Cameron went to church on Friday!

He went to church to identify with the immigrants with a view to winning their votes.

Immigrants constitute less than 10% of the British population but with the largest parties tied at the polls immigrants suddenly become a strategic part of the Conservatives’ election machinery because if the immigrant voters in those identified constituencies could swing the votes in favour of the Conservative Party, Dave is back in Downing Street.

Politics › Re: Buhari Writes For The New York Times: "We Will Stop Boko Haram" by urnaijadotcom(op): 6:23pm On Apr 15, 2015
blackjack21:
source



Sorry bros, oversight! I have included a link to the source.






17:38:12

Wed, Apr 15, 2015
Politics › Buhari Writes For The New York Times: "We Will Stop Boko Haram" by urnaijadotcom(op):
Nigeria’s president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari has been a guest writer for the prestigious New York Times, outlining how his incoming administration will deal with the Boko Haram Menace.

Here is the full write-up, courtesy of the New York Times:

When Boko Haram attacked a school in the town of Chibok, in northeastern Nigeria, kidnapping more than 200 girls, on the night of April 14, 2014, the people of my country were aghast. Across the world, millions of people joined them in asking: How was it possible for this terrorist group to act with such impunity? It took nearly two weeks before the government even commented on the crime.
This lack of reaction was symptomatic of why the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was swept aside last month — the first time an incumbent president has been successfully voted out of office in the history of our nation. For too long they ruled, not governed, and in doing so had become so focused on their own self-interest and embroiled in corruption that the duty to react to the anguish suffered by their citizens had become alien to them.

My administration, which will take office on May 29, will act differently — indeed it is the very reason we have been elected. This must begin with honesty as to whether the Chibok girls can be rescued. Currently their whereabouts remain unknown. We do not know the state of their health or welfare, or whether they are even still together or alive. As much as I wish to, I cannot promise that we can find them: to do so would be to offer unfounded hope, only to compound the grief if, later, we find we cannot match such expectation. But I say to every parent, family member and friend of the children that my government will do everything in its power to bring them home.

What I can pledge, with absolute certainty, is that from the first day of my administration, Boko Haram will know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror, and bring back peace and normalcy to all the affected areas. Until now, Nigeria has been wanting in its response to their threat: With our neighbors fighting hard to push the terrorists south and out of their countries, our military was not sufficiently supported or equipped to push north. As a consequence, the outgoing government’s lack of determination was an accidental enabler of the group, allowing them to operate with impunity in Nigerian territory.

That is why the answer to defeating Boko Haram begins and ends with Nigeria. That is not to say that allies cannot help us. My administration would welcome the resumption of a military training agreement with the United States, which was halted during the previous administration. We must, of course, have better coordination with the military campaigns our African allies, like Chad and Niger, are waging in the struggle against Boko Haram. But, in the end, the answer to this threat must come from within Nigeria.

We must start by deploying more troops to the front and away from civilian areas in central and southern Nigeria where for too long they have been used by successive governments to quell dissent. We must work closer with our neighbors in coordinating our military efforts so an offensive by one army does not see their country’s lands rid of Boko Haram only to push it across the border onto their neighbors’ territory.
But as our military pushes Boko Haram back, as it will, we must be ready to focus on what else must be done to counter the terrorists. We must address why it is that young people join Boko Haram.

There are many reasons why vulnerable young people join militant groups, but among them are poverty and ignorance. Indeed Boko Haram — which translates in English, roughly, as “Western Education Is Sinful” — preys on the perverted belief that the opportunities that education brings are sinful. If you are starving and young, and in search of answers as to why your life is so difficult, fundamentalism can be alluring. We know this for a fact because former members of Boko Haram have admitted it: They offer impressionable young people money and the promise of food, while the group’s mentors twist their minds with fanaticism.

So we must be ready to offer the parts of our country affected by this group an alternative. Boosting education will be a direct counterbalance to Boko Haram’s appeal. In particular we must educate more young girls, ensuring they will grow up to be empowered through learning to play their full part as citizens of Nigeria and pull themselves up and out of poverty. Indeed, we owe it to the schoolgirls of Chibok to provide as best an education as possible for their fellow young citizens.

Boko Haram feeds off despair. It feeds off a lack of hope that things can improve. By attacking a site of learning, and kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls, it sought to strike at the very place where hope for the future is nurtured, and the promise of a better Nigeria. It is our intention to show Boko Haram that it will not succeed.

My government will first act to defeat it militarily and then ensure that we provide the very education it despises to help our people help themselves. Boko Haram will soon learn that, as Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/opinion/muhammadu-buhari-we-will-stop-boko-haram.html?_r=1
Politics › Babajide, Son Of Musiliu Obanikore Challenged At Polling Station By Angry Woman by urnaijadotcom(op): 10:41pm On Apr 11, 2015
Politics › Re: PDP Politicians Take Note: Buhari Didn’t Join PDP When He Couldn’t Beat Them by urnaijadotcom(op): 8:24am On Apr 10, 2015
jazzydee:
History of buhari political ship jumping:
1).2003 and 2007 presidential candidate under the platform of ANPP.
2).2011 left ANPP and joined CPC and became presidential candidate for 2011 under the platform of CPC
3).2015 left/merged CPC to form APC and became presidential candidate for 2015 election.

Buhari is not an example of a committed party member he has jumped ship three times in his 13 yrs political history. He is not a yard stick nor a model of loyalty to any political party.

I will not be surprised if he joins a different party or forms a new alliance for the 2019 presidential election once the nascent union of strange bedfellows called APC disintegrate over the looming unchecked party chieftain egos that is already haunting the flickering union.
You don't get it do you, jazzydee or whatever you call yourself? You obviously didn't read the post, very typical. The point being made is that he didn't join the ruling party. PDP remained his constant opponent.
Yes, he changed parties in order to position himself better to fight the the party that he believed was Nigeria's problem.

His sole ambition was to become president not make quick money by bagging a ministerial or other political appointment.
Politics › Re: PDP Politicians Take Note: Buhari Didn’t Join PDP When He Couldn’t Beat Them by urnaijadotcom(op): 8:17am On Apr 10, 2015
braine:
whats with the insult? Well, your opinion is not important anyway.
Thank you very much! Like you rightly said, his opinion doesn't count.
Politics › PDP Politicians Take Note: Buhari Didn’t Join PDP When He Couldn’t Beat Them by urnaijadotcom(op): 10:00pm On Apr 09, 2015
We are all familiar with the statement, “If you can’t beat them join them”. A statement that a coward must have come up with during one of those dark periods in human history.

Three times the president-elect, General Buhari, contested against the People’s Democratic Party, three times he failed and each time he contested again until he eventually won.

In 2003 under the banner of the defunct ANPC, he contested against Obasanjo representing the PDP and lost; in 2007 still under the banner of the defunct ANPC, he contested against the late Shehu Musa Yar’adua representing the PDP and lost.

In 2011, he ran the contest as the presidential candidate representing the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and lost again. This time around, to president Goodluck Jonathan whom he eventually defeated in the 2015 presidential contest as the candidate for the APC.

When the president-elect lost the election against Obasanjo in 2003, he challenged the result of the election in Court throughout the duration of Obasanjo’s presidency or as lawyers would put it, until “the matter was overtaken by events”.

Say whatever you like about the man from Daura, he has qualities that only a handful of Nigerian politicians have: patience, endurance, honour and discipline.

Buhari was the only constant opposition candidate in Nigeria for twelve years and some senior PDP politicians are decamping to APC fewer than two weeks after losing the presidential elections.

In his effort to shore up support for APC gubernatorial aspirants, the president-elect may be welcoming PDP defectors but here’s a message to them:

How can you ever gain the respect of a man who was the face of opposition for more than twelve years when you can’t stand by your party two week after you lost an election?

Fleeing PDP politicians have shown Nigerians by their actions that PDP is a party with no ideology full of greedy politicians with no scruples of principles.

Crime › White Cop Charged For Murder Of Black Man In South Carolina, US (video) by urnaijadotcom(op): 10:43am On Apr 08, 2015
A white South Carolina police officer, Michael Slager, has been charged with murder after video emerged of him shooting a black man running away from him, according to a BBC report.

If found guilty, the police officer faces the death penalty.

State investigators arrested the officer on Tuesday after viewing the mobile phone video of the shooting.

Authorities say victim Walter Lamer Scott was shot after the officer had already targeted him with a stun gun.

The US Department of Justice is set to launch an investigation.

“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said, announcing the arrest. “When you make a bad decision, I don’t care if you’re behind the shield or a citizen on the street, you have to live with that decision.”

The incident on Saturday began after Scott’s car was stopped for having a broken rear light, local media reported.

A video of the incident published by the New York Times shows a brief scuffle before Scott begins running away. The video then shows the officer firing several shots at Scott, who falls to the ground.

Mr Scott’s brother, Anthony, told the Post and Courier that he believed his brother fled from Mr Slager because he owed child support.

Anthony Scott said that because of the video, “we have received the truth” and “through the process, justice has been served”.
Chris Stewart, a lawyer for Scott’s family, called the passer-by who recorded the video a “hero”.

The shooting occurred as heightened scrutiny is being placed on police officer shootings, particularly those that involve white officers and unarmed black suspects.

Warning: The video footage below contains a graphic fatal shooting incident.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21T2F5WFPAw

Sports › Scorer Of Argentina's Winning Goal Against Nigeria, Named In S*x Scandal Case by urnaijadotcom(op): 8:23am On Apr 07, 2015
Manchester United defender, Marcos Rojo, has been identified as the Premiership footballer involved in a recently uncovered s*x scandal after losing a court battle to stop a woman he cheated on his wife with from revealing his name, according to an Independent report.

Marcos Rojo scored Argentina’s winning goal against Nigeria in their final group game at the 2014 World Cup. It was his first goal for his country.

Urnaija had earlier reported the story when the identities of the parties could not be made public.

A judge initially granted the footballer anonymity after his lawyers accused Sarah Watson of “blackmailing” him by saying she would sell her story to a newspaper unless they paid her £100,000.

Mr Justice Warby, who overturned the gagging order at the High Court, called Mr Rojo’s case against Ms Watson “weak” and his team tried to silence her when she had already signed a contract with The Sun.

In his ruling, the judge said evidence “strongly supports the view that what took place was entirely initiated by (Mr Rojo’s) representatives, with a view to buying off the defendant”.

Mr Justice Warby said the25-year-old footballer “has not shown any great concern about privacy for his sexual conduct” after openly engaging in s*xual activity with Ms Watson at a friend’s party.

“There are strong grounds for inferring as I do that commercial motives play a considerable role,” he added.
He threw out the injunction granting anonymity and ordered Mr Rojo to pay Ms Watson’s estimated £35,000 legal costs in the judgement issued on 25 March.

Ms Watson, a 34-year-old fitness instructor, told the Mail on Sunday the case had been a “total nightmare” that had stopped her sleeping.
“They’re just so powerful. They probably thought ‘She’s a cheeky b****, she’s trying it on,” she added.
“These guys are like spoiled rich kids. They are overpaid, oversexed and have a sense of entitlement.”

The pair met during a Christmas party at a Manchester club on 15 December last year, when Ms Watson claims Mr Rojo complimented her before taking her number.

She said the Argentinian, who has a wife and two-year-old daughter, did not tell her he was married and later invited her to a party at friend Kristian Bereit’s flat.

There, court documents say, Ms Watson “performed oral s*x on him” while four other Premiership players present repeatedly walked into the room and attempted to watch.

The pair never met again but a month later they exchanged s*xual messages containing explicit images and a video of Mr Rojo "self-servicing".

In February, she signed a contract to tell her story in The Sun for £17,500 after being approached by reporters and the newspaper rang Manchester United for a comment.

Ms Watson agreed to meet with Mr Rojo’s representatives the following day after Mr Bereit contacted her “to try and sort (it) out”, WhatsApp messages presented to the High Court show.

Those messages were not presented in the evidence initially given by Mr Rojo’s team – an omission Mr Justice Warby said was crucial.

While Ms Watson claims the footballer’s representatives offered her money to stop the publication of the “kiss and tell” story, they alleged that she demanded it in exchange for her silence.

She denies asking for £100,000, saying Mr Bereit himself suggested the figure at a meeting with her and her mother on 16 February and she said “okay”.

“The main purpose of the meeting was to make sure the defendant’s story did not get out, and to that end to find out how much evidence she had and what it would take to buy her silence,” Mr Justice Warby said in his ruling.

Ms Watson indicated that she wanted to cancel her deal with The Sun but following a recorded phone call on 17 February where Mr Bereit said the payment was not possible, negotiations broke down and Mr Rojo’s team filed for an injunction.

She asked Mr Bereit not to contact her again in a text message sent on 18 February that was shown to the High Court, saying she was “not interested” in any more offers of money.

The footballer’s legal team filed the injunction application the next day to prevent the identification of Mr Rojo and the release of any images or videos sent to Ms Watson and it was swiftly granted.

The Sun on Sunday intially published the story on its front page three days later, without naming any of the parties involved.

Sports › Super Falcons Striker, Asisat Oshoala, Scores First Goal For Liverpool by urnaijadotcom(op): 9:13am On Apr 03, 2015
Super Falcons striker, Asisat Oshoala, scored her first goal in English football to help defending Women’s Super League One champions Liverpool overcome Birmingham City.

Oshoala was lively before meeting a Gemma Bonner cross to volley home just before the break.

Oshoala cut the ball back for Fara Williams to make it 2-0 before Aoife Mannion gave Birmingham late hope.

Liverpool’s first win of 2015 was overshadowed as Kate Longhurst went off on a stretcher with concussion.

The forward received lengthy treatment on the pitch following a clash of heads with Remi Allen.

Defeat for Birmingham leaves them winless in the league, although they have already ended Liverpool’s FA Cup hopes with a 3-1 fifth-round win at Damson Park.

“I feel very happy and excited about the goal and the victory for the team.
“It’s very nice for me hearing them singing my name. It’s a crazy atmosphere. I have never seen supporters like this and I have been playing football for quite a long time now. The supporters here are awesome, they are great people.
“It’s been a difficult start to the season but I believed we would bounce back. We showed the spirit here is very high, and we are really giving everything.”

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