Wednesday, 3 July 2013

UNILAG 2013 Trans-Faculty Debate Won by Adegunloye Mary of Department of Political Sci.,representing Faculty of Social Sci.

Representing the Faculty of Social Sciences, Adegunloye Mary Olubukola of the Department of Political Sciences has emerged winner of the trans-faculty debate tournament.
Supporting the motion “Sovereign National Conference, is it desirable at this stage of Nigeria’s Development?”, Mary emphasized that the Nigeria is a forced union as it served the interest of the British Colonialists. She stressed that the regions forced together by the caprices of the colonialists must immediately sit to discuss whether they actually want to be together.
Opponents of the motion at the debate say Nigeria has long been together, fearing that attempts to renegotiate the union may be hijacked by selfish interests











Monday, 24 June 2013

Nigerians to start paying £3, 000 to enter the UK from November

Naija people, una dey hear this one? According to a report by UK Daily Mail, visitors from 'high risk' countries in Africa and Asia will have to put up a £3,000 cash bond to enter Britain.

The money will be kept by the Government if visitors do not return home by the time their visas expire.

A pilot scheme, introduced by Home Secretary Theresa May, will target hundreds of people coming to Britain on six-month visit visas from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The countries have been picked for their high number of visa applications and what the Government sees as relatively high levels of immigration abuse and fraud, reports the Sunday Times.


The bonds, to be introduced from November, will only apply to non-EU migrants, otherwise they would fall foul of European rights to free movement. 

'This is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain,' Mrs May told the Sunday Times.

'In the long run we’re interested in a system of bonds that deters overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public services.'

A second scheme will cover countries such as Kenya, the newspaper reports, which are considered to be lower-risk because immigration officials have fewer doubts about migrants' plans to return home.

About 2.2million people are granted visas to enter Britain every year. Last year 296,000 people from India were granted six-month visas, as were 101,000 from Nigeria, 53,000 from Pakistan and 14,000 apiece from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Home Secretary plans to reduce annual net migration to under 100,000 by 2015.

Sunday, 26 May 2013

Second Nigerian hired by the World Economic Forum in Switzerland

Along with Yemi Babington-Ashaye (the first Nigerian hired - pictured left), Daniel Akinmade Emejulu (pictured right) is now the second Nigerian at the World Economic Forum. Both men are based in the organization's head-office in Switzerland. 

Yemi is a graduate of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. A chartered accountant, a short list of his previous experiences include working for GE (General Electric) in London, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan and as a Technical Adviser on Economic Growth to then Minster of Finance, Olusegun Aganga.

 
Daniel is a graduate of The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London and holds a masters degree from Duke University. A qualified lawyer, some of his prior experiences include working for Simmons & Simmons in London, the Red Cross in Nigeria (northern), Professor Jonathan B. Wiener and the United Nations Office in Vienna. 

The World Economic Forum have over 500 members of staff, representing more than 55 nationalities. Candidates short-listed there can go through weeks of up to ten interviews for just one position! It is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. 

Saturday, 18 May 2013

14yr old girl killed & set on fire by boyfriend because he thought she was pregnant

Shaniesha Forbes, 14, (pictured above) was killed by her 20 year old boyfriend who then burnt her body and dumped her remains on a beach just because he thought she was pregnant.
Below is how New York Post is reporting it:
The family of the 14-year-old Brooklyn girl who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend and dumped on a beach blasted him this morning for cowardly slaying her after he thought she was pregnant.
Police had arrested Christian Ferdinand, 20, in Maine on Tuesday, where he had fled after he allegedly suffocated Shaniesha Forbes, 14, and burnt her body before dumping the remains at Gerritsen Beach.
Shaneisha's grandmother (left) and mother (right)
"On the record, she wasn’t pregnant at all. As a 20-year-old man, that is something you could easily find out,” said her devastated cousin Kerry-Anne Thomas. “You had the courage and the balls to kill her and bring her body, and lay her on the beach. But you couldn’t go to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test to find out if it was actually true.”

Detectives yesterday drove Ferdinand back to the 63rd Precinct station house in Brooklyn, where he allegedly admitted to killing Forbes in January after coming to believe she was pregnant.

He was charged with second-degree murder, and has not been arraigned yet.

The victim’s weeping mother Sandra Price thanked the police for catching the killer, as did her grandmother Daisy Smith.

"I’m very grateful for the job that the two main detectives have done,” she said. “They did a wonderful job catching the killer and getting him for the street, and hopefully putting him away for life. That’s what I think he deserves.”

Smith said the family hadn’t been eating or sleeping since the girl’s death. “I’m so happy they caught this guy who killed my granddaughter,” she said. “There was nothing we could do, only wait…Bring him justice.”

Sources said Ferdinand suffocated the aspiring nurse — who was, in fact, not pregnant — in his apartment. He then kept her body in his home for a couple of days, sources said.

Finally, he allegedly put the corpse into a suitcase and brought it onto the beach, where he tried to get rid of it by setting it on fire.

Cops recovered the suitcase the killer used to transport Forbes’ body from his Maine hideout and also took floorboards from his former Brooklyn apartment, the sources said.

Relatives said never met Ferdinand, and was not sure how he met Forbes. Thomas speculated that they may have met through social media.

Honestly there shouldn’t have been a relationship. He was a 20-year-old man and she was a 14-year-old child,” she said. “As an adult, which he is, he should have known it was inappropriate to have any type of a relationship with a 14-year-old.”

Forbes was a student at the Academy of Young Writers in East New York.

Borno State: Troops capture Boko Haram’s camp

Culled from Punch
Early reports of military operations in the three North-East states under emergency rule, on Thursday, indicated that Nigerian soldiers had recaptured three of the local government areas where insurgents had been in control in northern Borno.
The names of the recaptured councils could not be confirmed out of the lot in possession of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram. The areas where the insurgents were said to have been in total control before the military operation launched on Thursday were Marte, Magumeri, Mobbar, Gubio, Guzamala, Abadamin, Kukawa, Kaga, Nganzai and Monguno.
Also, the troops reportedly invaded and took over a training camp of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, known as Sambisa on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in the early hours of Thursday.
Borno as well as Adamawa and Yobe states fell under emergency rule by presidential proclamation on Tuesday.
President Goodluck Jonathan said all efforts to bring the violence in the area under control had failed hence the need to use force to force insurgents out of the states, especially Borno where the President said insurgents had taken control of the northern part.
A soldier who spoke to one of our  correspondents from Maiduguri, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We have succeeded in taking over Sambisa Games Reserve, which the sect had been using as its camp. Scores of people found in the camp were arrested.
“We will interrogate them and those who are not members of the sect will be set free. The operation is being carried out in such a way that there is no harassment. The innocent should not be afraid.”
The source however declined to comment on the number of casualties already recorded and the number of persons arrested.
The PUNCH learnt that troops on Thursday shut down almost half of the state as they attacked suspected Boko Haram enclaves.
A man who spoke to one of our correspondents on the telephone from Maiduguri narrated that the military operation in the city had disrupted normal life.
He said the number of roadblocks had increased and that “farmers are no longer going to the farm, only a few traders are venturing out to the market.
“Shop owners who sell provisions are finding it difficult to replenish their stock.”
The source further explained that even residents of Maiduguri, considered safe were living in fear.
This, he explained, was because they feared that the insurgents could sneak into town. The Boko Haram insurgency began in Maiduguri in 2009 and Borno State is seen as the operational base of the sect that has killed at least 2,500 persons in attacks on military and police facilities, drinking joints, worship houses and markets.
Director of Defence Information, Brig.- Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents that more troops had been deployed in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
He declined to comment on the number of troops that were billed to participate in the major military operations planned to flush out the insurgents from the area.
Olukolade said that it was not strategic to disclose the number of soldiers or security personnel that would be used for the operation.
“All I can say is that more soldiers have been deployed today; that I can confirm to you. On the issue of the numbers that are being quoted, they are not from the DHQ. We are not quoting any number.
“The operation is continuing satisfactorily. Details will be made available to the public at the appropriate time.”
Another source in the besieged area said, “We now have more soldiers and weapons than I have ever seen in my life. Although some of them are moving towards the north, some are remaining here in Maiduguri.
“I have no idea what is going on in places like Bama, Marte, Magumeri, and Monguno where the Boko Haram people have taken control of some towns and villages. But movement in-and-out of these areas has been restricted.”

Graphic photos: Trailer kills Okada man and his female passenger

A terrible accident occurred today around 5pm at Ijoju, Sango Ota, that left two people dead. A trailer used in conveying sharp sand crushed an Okada man and his female passenger while they were trying to cross the road. The bodies were left there for a bit before it was removed. There's no point looking at the photos but if you insist...then be warned, they are quite graphic.




Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Angelina Jolie reveals she had double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer

The 37 year old actress and mother of six wrote an article in the New York Times today May 14th revealing she underwent a double mastectomy earlier this year after a blood test showed she was genetically susceptible to cancer. Doctors told her she had an 87% risk of getting breast cancer. Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died at the age of 56 after battling with cancer for almost a decade.

Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely.

Angelina Jolie said she went through a series of medical procedures from February till April 2013 to have her breasts removed and then reconstructed. And she says Brad Pitt stood by her side every step of the way. Read Angelina's article NY Times article after the cut...


My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was. 
We often speak of “Mommy’s mommy,” and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a “faulty” gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer
My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman. 
Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average. 
Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.
On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work. 
But I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action. 
My own process began on Feb. 2 with a procedure known as a “nipple delay,” which rules out disease in the breast ducts behind the nipple and draws extra blood flow to the area. This causes some pain and a lot of bruising, but it increases the chance of saving the nipple. 
Two weeks later I had the major surgery, where the breast tissue is removed and temporary fillers are put in place. The operation can take eight hours. You wake up with drain tubes and expanders in your breasts. It does feel like a scene out of a science-fiction film. But days after surgery you can be back to a normal life. 
Nine weeks later, the final surgery is completed with the reconstruction of the breasts with an implant. There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years, and the results can be beautiful. 
I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer. 
It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that’s it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can. On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity. 
I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has. 
For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices. 
I acknowledge that there are many wonderful holistic doctors working on alternatives to surgery. My own regimen will be posted in due course on the Web site of the Pink Lotus Breast Center. I hope that this will be helpful to other women. 
Breast cancer alone kills some 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live. The cost of testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than $3,000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women. 
I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options. 
Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.