THE MUMMY'S BOY : MARIO BALOTELLI

The image of the night in Warsaw on Thursday wasn’t Mario Balotelli ripping off his shirt and, despite his best efforts, failing to keep an ice-cool straight face after he scored the goal of the tournament to take Italy into the final of Euro 2012.

It was following the referee’s final whistle. And it involved Balotelli again — of course — as he buried himself deep into the hug of his adoptive mother, Silvia, her face creased in emotion as he whispered that the two goals to defeat Germany were dedicated to her.

Even then, there was a touch of the surreal about it as fans tried to get in on the act, inevitably wearing vivid wigs and hats with Balotelli-style Mohican haircuts.

Back in Rome, along the Piazza del Popolo a driver changed the destination on the front of his bus to simply read “Super Mario”. It’s certainly some ride. Peter Pan – Balotelli himself has mused whether he’s the boy who refused to grow up – was making a nation believe it can fly.

“Tonight was the most beautiful of my life,” Balotelli said afterwards, which is a big statement given the life he has led up to this point, the point when he now leads the line for Italy, still aged just 21, in the Euro 2012 final against the world and European champions Spain here on Sunday night.

There are so many stories, so many plot-lines, so much drama — human tragedy and surreal comedy — surrounding this most precious, and precocious, of young men. But there’s also Silvia, and Franco, his adoptive father who will now fly into Kiev, from his home outside Brescia, to attend the final.

To make sense of Balotelli, his background has to be understood. Everyone knows the stories around him: the fireworks, the silly hat, the struggle to put on a bib, the parking tickets and prison and school visits, car crashes, red cards and training ground fights, throwing darts at youth-team players and the “Why Always Me?” T-shirt.

Yet there is also the huge degree of philanthropy, the campaigning against the use of child soldiers, the work he has done in Brazil to help destitute children and the women of the favelas and the strong interest he has in the World Wildlife Fund.

Despite this Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini stated last season — in jest but with a point — that he should move Balotelli into his home and lock him in the cellar to keep him out of trouble.

After that petulant red card against Arsenal Mancini suggested he had washed his hands of the striker while Italy coach Cesare Prandelli had grave misgivings about including the player in his Euros squad. If Giuseppe Rossi had been fit, Balotelli may not have been out here.

Maybe it is the presence of the diminutive Silvia that is making the difference. Balotelli has been followed around this tournament by his younger brother, Enoch, who has turned up at Italy’s training camp, sometimes causing disruption, but now the one person who is said to be able to keep him fully in check has arrived.

Watching the pair embrace in Poland’s National Stadium brought to mind a story told by Cristina, one of the Balotellis’ three natural children and another big influence on Mario’s life.

She is a journalist and recalled how he was once stopped from going to football training because of his bad behaviour at home. He ran away, making the journey on foot — only for the coach to tell him when he finally arrived that his mother had called and he had to be sent straight back home.

They even joke at City that things might be a little easier with Balotelli if Silvia could be persuaded to move to Manchester. It is obvious to see why she is such an influence.

Balotelli was born one of four children, two boys, two girls, into a Ghanaian immigrant family in Palermo in 1990. He suffered serious health problems with his intestines, and his father, Thomas, worked away from home, with the family eventually moving to Brescia.

Inevitably the Barwuahs came to the attention of the social services, pleading to be moved from a cramped studio flat to nurse Mario.

It was eventually suggested he should be fostered and the Balotellis — whose own three children, Corrado, Giovanni and Cristina were growing up – were persuaded to take care of the child, who was only two and-a-half but had undergone a series of operations. The striker’s biological parents later complained about being frozen out of his life while he argued they showed little interest for years.

Franco Balotelli had already retired from his job as a warehouse supervisor, and Silvia, a nurse by profession, and a regular foster mother throughout their married life, agreed. The court decree under which Mario was fostered was renewed every two years until he was 18 which did not help the sense of permanency which the Balotellis created for him.

He also grew up the only black kid in a white neighbourhood, encountering racism early in his life. Inevitably — and tellingly — because of the disruption Balotelli grew up craving attention. He never wanted to be left alone, always wanted company.

For years he could only go to sleep if Silvia held his hand. “He does things his own way,” Cristina said and although that is undeniably true it doesn’t mean there is a hard shell to his life. It does not need a psychologist to explain much of Balotelli’s extrovert behaviour.

His talent was quickly obvious and his sporting life has been a whirl of headlines, scrapes, fall-outs and a threat to be one of Europe’s best strikers while Jose Mourinho publicly washed his hands of him and Mancini has veered between indulgence — to the annoyance of many City players — and despair.

But he has already won titles with Inter Milan and then that big-money move to City and a Premier League triumph, although his involvement was limited at the sharp end of the campaign.

Out here at the Euros, the Italians have had to deal with the daily Balotelli — otherwise known as their press briefings — with Prandelli and a succession of players quizzed on their thoughts on and relationship with him.

Last Saturday he effectively gatecrashed Italy’s pre-match press conference before the quarter-final against England. It was the first time he had spoken publicly during this tournament although he did so again on Thursday after his goals in Warsaw.

His words were modest, he talked of "how amazing” it would be to score in the final, how happy he was and what a “special year” he has been through.

It could end even more spectacularly than those fireworks let off in his home — possibly by Enoch and not Mario, by the way — but as he spoke beneath his shirt he wore a gold medallion that Silvia gave to him a few years ago. It bears the inscription: “Professionalism, Endeavour, Humility”.

They are words he may not have always lived up to at times, despite his astonishing achievements, but it is not for the want of Silvia trying. She will be there on Sunday night too.

(Culled from www.telegraph.co.uk)

In North Korea, learning to hate US starts early

 A framed poster on the wall of a kindergarten classroom shows bright-eyed children brandishing rifles and bayonets as they attack a hapless American soldier, his face bandaged and blood spurting from his mouth.


"We love playing military games knocking down the American bastards," reads the slogan printed across the top. Another poster depicts an American with a noose around his neck. "Let's wipe out the U.S. imperialists," it instructs.

For North Koreans, the systematic indoctrination of anti-Americanism starts as early as kindergarten and is as much a part of the curriculum as learning to count.

Toy pistols, rifles and tanks sit lined up in neat rows on shelves. The school principal pulls out a dummy of an American soldier with a beaked nose and straw-colored hair and explains that the students beat him with batons or pelt him with stones - a favorite schoolyard game, she says.

For a moment, she is sheepish as she takes three journalists from The Associated Press, including an American, past the anti-U.S. posters. But Yun Song Sil is not shy about the message.

"Our children learn from an early age about the American bastards," she says, tossing off a phrase so common here that it is considered an acceptable way to refer to Americans.

North Korean students learn that their country has had two main enemies: the Japanese, who colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945, and the U.S., which fought against North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.

They are told that North Korea's defense against outside forces - particularly the U.S., which has more than 28,000 soldiers stationed in South Korea - remains the backbone of the country's foreign policy.

And they are bred to seek revenge, even as their government professes to want peace with the United States.

"They tell their people there can be no reconciliation with the United States," says American scholar Brian Myers, who dissected North Korean propaganda in his 2010 book "The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters." "They make it very clear to the masses that this hate will last forever."

In recent years, state propaganda has shifted away from the virulent anti-American slogans of the past and has instead emphasized building up the economy. On the streets of Pyongyang, anti-American posters have largely given way to images of soldiers in helmets and workers in factories.

But the posters and curricula at kindergartens across North Korea remain unchanged. One glimpse inside a school, and it's clear that despite U.S.-North Korean diplomacy behind closed doors, 4-year-olds are still being taught that the "Yankee imperialists" are North Korea's worst enemy.

At the Kaeson Kindergarten in central Pyongyang, one of several schools visited by the AP, U.S. soldiers are depicted as cruel, ghoulish barbarians with big noses and fiendish eyes. Teeth bared, they brand prisoners with hot irons, set wild dogs on women and wrench out a girl's teeth with pliers. One drawing shows an American soldier crushing a girl with his boot, blood pouring from her mouth, her eyes wild with fear and pain.

"The American imperialists and Japanese militarism are the sworn enemies of the North Korean people," reads a quote from late leader Kim Jong Il affixed to the top of one wall in a large room devoted to anti-U.S. education.

"The main theme of anti-American propaganda is not `We must be ready for an attack' but `We must be ready for revenge,'" Myers says. "People are being whipped up to hate the United States on the basis of past actions."

The Americans also are portrayed with nuclear symbols on their helmets and uniforms, a reference to the North Korean insistence that the U.S. poses an atomic threat to the region. An undated poster in French is dotted with places in South Korea where missiles and fighter jets purportedly were kept.

The U.S. denies having nuclear weapons in Korea.

The North cites the presence of U.S. soldiers in South Korea, as well as the alleged nuclear threat, as key reasons behind its drive to build atomic weapons in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions designed to hobble its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

As disarmament discussions continue in fits and starts, the message in classrooms across the country remains the same: North Korea needs its rockets, bombs and missiles and is proud of its atomic arsenal.

Kaeson Kindergarten is a model school. In the mornings, the children line up for calisthenics and to sing patriotic songs, and at lunchtime they are fed rice, fish and tofu, according to the principal. They learn to sing, dance and ride unicycles, and at 4 p.m. they get a snack and soy milk.

History lessons include tales about Kim Jong Il's childhood, life under Japanese occupation and the Korean War.

"First, we start by teaching that the American imperialists started the war," said soft-spoken schoolteacher Jon Chun Yong, citing the North Korean version of how the war began.

"From that time on, the tragedy emerged by which our nation was divided in two," said Jon, who has taught at the kindergarten for 15 years. "Since then, our people had to endure the pain of living divided for a long half-century."

Outside North Korea, history books tell a different story. Western textbooks say that two years after North and South Korea declared themselves separate republics, North Korean troops marched into South Korean capital, Seoul, on the morning of June 25, 1950. U.S.-led United Nations and South Korean forces fought communist North Korean troops backed by Chinese soldiers in a three-year battle for control of the peninsula. The U.S. and North Korea finally called a truce in 1953, and Korea remains divided to this day.

At the Kaeson Kindergarten, children sit hunched over sheets of drawing paper clutching pastel crayons. One girl has drawn a school of bright blue fish; the boy next to her has covered his paper with tanks.

Another boy depicts a whole battlefield: a North Korean plane dropping bombs on dead, bloodied American soldiers, as well as grenades and tanks. In a final flourish, he adds the name of the South Korean president to the tableau, muttering the name under his breath as he labors over the letters.

The North Korean hate campaign generally does not include South Koreans, who are portrayed as puppets of the U.S. However, in recent months, it has come to encompass South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, whose tough policies toward the North have enraged its leaders as well as the South's conservative media.

The best of the children's work is pinned up on a board: One kindergartner used color pencils to draw a boy in a blue cap attacking a midget American soldier with a studded club. Another drawing depicts North Korean fighter jets dropping bombs on American soldiers trapped in flames. In a third, a man wearing a helmet marked "U.S." in English is on his knees begging for mercy as he is pummeled on the head with a stick.

The children run around beating up mock American soldiers and planes, Jon said. The worst schoolyard taunt is to call someone "miguk nom" - "American bastard."

The games culminate every year on International Children's Day on June 1. Across the nation, students convene en masse, dressed in military uniforms and armed with toy rifles and bayonets. At one such celebration in Pyongyang this month, students took turns charging dummies of U.S. soldiers with their weapons.

Still, like children everywhere, the littlest North Koreans show more fascination than fear when they encounter the rare American in Pyongyang, invariably waving and calling out "Hello!" in English.

And spotted among the mourners following Kim Jong Il's death in December was a boy who clearly had no problem with a Yankee of a different kind. Perched on his head was a blue knit cap with the New York Yankees logo from a distinctly American sport: baseball.

“The Poor Husband, The Rich Wife and Boko Haram” – Femi Fani-Kayode

 I have nothing against the Islamic faith. As a matter of fact some of my most loyal friends are practicing Muslims. There are many Muslims in my family and my maternal great grandmother was an illustrious Fulani woman from the Muslim core north. I do however believe that there is a world of difference between a true Muslim and an Islamist. The former is a humble worshiper of God who seeks to peacefully and piously live his life in accordance with the dictates of his faith and in true harmony with his neighbour. He is tolerant, reasonable, rational and God-fearing. The latter is the opposite. He is an Islamic fundamentalist and an extremist who seeks to impose his will and his own understanding and interpretation of Islam on others by compulsion, intimidation, violence and terror. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in Nigeria today fall into the former category but there is a small and growing minority that sadly fall into the latter. That group constitute those that we describe today as Boko Haram and they have been waging a relentless and brutal war of terror against the Nigerian state and people for the last few years. They are indeed the enemy within. The question is, what should our collective response be to these men of violence and blood? That, together with a cursory analysis of how we got into this mess and the way out of it is the topic of this essay.

Some are of the view that we ought to enter some form of dialogue with Boko Haram and that this would eventually solve the problem. My younger brother, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, enunciated that position rather well in an article titled ”How To Address The Boko Haram Problem In Nigeria” (25th June, 2011). He suggested that President Goodluck Jonathan should enter into negotiations with the islamist terrorist group as quickly as possible regardless of the fact that they themselves have made it clear that they are not interested in any form of dialogue with the government and that they have murdered thousands of innocent and defenceless Nigerian men, women and children in the last three years alone. I respectfully beg to differ with Dokubo on this issue and indeed with all those that share this view.

In my view the solution is simple to the Boko Haram problem is simple. They must be utterly crushed by the Nigerian state and certainly not negotiated with. This is because in any serious society there can never be dialogue, compromise or any form of negotiation with terrorists whilst they are still carrying arms and waging war against the state and the people. Worst still there can be no compromise with those that seek to forcefully establish a 17th century Islamic fundamentalist caliphate in our country and those that seek to impose their strange and outdated values on each and every one of us. Worst still there is no doubt in my mind that Boko Haram is part of the world-wide Al Qaeda-sponsored ”global jihad” and if we give them one inch they will definitely take a mile. We cannot afford to have peace with them on any terms or peace with them at the cost of our hard-earned civil liberties, liberal and cherished values, plural and multi-cultural society and modern way of life. There must come a time when we as a people can boldly say ”enough is enough” and when we draw the line in the sand. And if Boko Haram crosses that line they must be confronted by the full force of the Nigerian Armed Forces who must be ready, willing and able to unleash hell on them regardless of the collateral damage and immense infrastructural destruction that this will cause in various parts of our country. President Olusegun Obasanjo did this decisively and with ruthless efficiency in the town of Odi in the Niger Delta area a number of years ago with remarkable success. By the time the Nigerian Armed Forces finished shelling Odi from the land, the sea and the air there was not one building left standing there except for, interestingly, the local bank. The casualties in terms of human life were extremely high but the point was made and the objective achieved. From that point on the Niger Delta militants stopped killing policemen and soldiers right up until the time that Obasanjo left power. Why can the same solution not be applied to the Boko Haram problem by the Jonathan administration today? What is the fear? Why should the same treatment not be meted out to any city or community in our country that grants the foot soldiers of Boko Haram covert support, safe haven, sanctuary or shelter? This is all the more important because they are not true Muslims or believers in God. Rather they are a cancer that must be identified, isolated and cut out of our body politic before they spread their terrible disease of hate, extremism, violence and intolerance throughout the federation and the reprisals begin. That is what a strong, focused, resolute and purposeful government ought to do. Sadly we have not seen any such thing from our government. Instead what we have witnessed from them are a series of feeble and pathetic pleas for dialogue with the enemy and the shameful display of weakness, incompetence and insensitivity when faced with their terror. To make matters worse the National Chairman of the President’s own ruling PDP, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur, recently declared that Boko Haram was ”fighting for justice”. What a thing to say by an elder statesman who I not only have tremendous respect for but who I have always regarded as a father. I really do wonder what type of ”justice” he is referring to when churches are now being blown up virtually every Sunday morning all over the North and when thousands of defenceless Christians are being slaughtered on a daily basis. Is that what the Chairman calls ”fighting for justice’’? Are these the people that are denying Boko Haram their justice and that are denying them their rights? Are they the ones that killed their leader, Mohammed Yusuf, a few years ago? Boko Haram started by targeting government institutions and security agencies with extreme and deadly violence but now they have graduated to killing the followers of Christ and they have made known their intention to wipe out Christianity in northern Nigeria and to stop Christians from peacefully worshipping their God. Is that the ”just cause” that they are fighting for?

We must understand that Boko Haram, what they stand for and what they seek to establish is patently evil and that what they are doing represents the greatest threat to Nigerian unity since our civil war. They are not just a danger to Christians but to all true Muslims as well. Real Muslims like Dokubo, Tukur and all the others that believe that Boko Haram are fighting a ”just cause” would do better by trying to educate and enlighten their misguided Islamist brothers. They should advise them to stop the violence, to stop the slaughtering of Christians and true Muslims, to stop destabilising the Nigerian state, to stop trying to Islamise northern Nigeria, to stop trying to return our country to the dark ages of the 17th century and to stop trying to wage a global war of terror against the rest of humanity. We as a people must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by their evil agenda and we must vigorously and courageously resist them no matter what it takes. No responsible and strong government would compromise or enter into negotiations with such barbarous and evil men that have so much blood on their hands. To throw down the gauntlet and confront such evil is one of the major challenges of our time and it is a challenge that our government must not fail to rise up to in a fearless, vigorous and responsible manner.

A few home truths must now be told. We Christians take strong exception to the fact that literally hundreds of thousands of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters from all over the country have been brutally killed by Muslim fundamentalists in northern Nigeria over the last 50 years for no just cause.

The innocent blood of those people cries to God in heaven for vengeance and it gets louder and louder by the day. Boko Haram have said publicly that they want the adoption of full Sharia law and the establishment of an Islamic fundamentalist state in all the northern states of Nigeria before they stop killing and bombing innocent people and spreading terror. Yet the truth is that that will never happen as long as Nigeria remains as one nation and remains a secular state. And if Nigeria ever stops being a secular state then we will simply break it up and go our separate ways. It is as simple as that. No one wants a full blown religious war but neither will anyone run away from it if it is foisted on us. For how long can the people of the south and the Middle Belt sit by idly and watch silently as their own kith and kin that reside in the core north and their northern minority Christian brothers and sisters are subjected to nothing less than genocide and mass murder from the most ruthless and barbaric terrorist organisation that this country has ever known. I believe in restraint but is it humanly possible that we will be restrained forever?

Yet I believe that there is still hope and that a war can still be avoided. That hope lies in the speedy convocation of a Sovereign National Conference. That, in my view, is the only vehicle that can provide a lasting solution to the monumental challenges that we are facing in our country today, including the scourge of Boko Haram. I say this because whether we like to admit it or not, Nigeria is more divided today on ethnic and religious lines than it has ever been since our independence in 1960. We should iron out all these issues at such a conference once and for all. These religious clashes and killings feature in the northern part of Nigeria alone and hardly in the south. In the South-west where I come from the Christians, the Muslims and the traditional worshippers are one and we treat each other with love, respect, understanding and sensitivity. We do not kill ourselves on account of our religious differences. That is simply our way and clearly many from other parts of Nigeria and indeed the rest of the world have a lot to learn from us. My position is that if Nigeria cannot be built on a foundation of equality, equity and fairness for ALL her people, whether they be Christian, Muslim, northern, middle-belter or southern, then we should reject the concept of a united Nigeria and we should begin to renegotiate the terms of our union. I love this country and I would always be amongst those to defend and speak up for her unity but the truth is that there is absolutely nothing that is sacrosanct about the unity of the Nigerian state if we cannot live together in peace. As a matter of fact there has been a school of thought since 1914 when Nigeria was first created that it was an ”unworkable union” and a ”cruel joke”. Lord Frederick Lugard’s vision, and indeed his intention, when he recommended the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914 was ably described and enunciated by his own very words when he said that the northern protectorate of Nigeria could be described as the ”poor husband” whilst the southern protectorate could be described as the ”rich wife”. He then pronounced the ”permanency” of our forced union by saying- ”today we marry the two and our prayer is that this union lasts forever”. That is how the north and the south got ”married” and that is how the famous amalgamation of 1914 came about. The problem was that the two young spouses were never asked by their British masters whether they actually wanted to stay together, let alone get married. Worst still the ”poor husband” was never given the opportunity to court, woo or propose to the ”rich wife”. To make matters worse the two spouses came from different worlds, had different backgrounds, had a different religion, had a different history and had a different world-view. Today the ”rich wife” and the ”poor husband” have suffered immensely in each others ”loving” arms. The marriage has been strained and turbulent. We fought a brutal and avoidable 3 year civil war from 1967 in which we killed no less than 2 million of our own people. Since1960 the story has been more or less the same and the tales of tragedy and woe have just continued to pour in. If it is not genocide, mass killings or sectarian butchery by groups like Boko Haram then it is always something else. Yet today’s barbarism and mass killings are far more horrendous than ever and are far better planned, funded, orchestrated and executed by those that are behind them than ever before. The question is how much longer can the ”rich wife” and the ”poor husband” give and take this sort of thing from one another? For how long can the centre hold before the voices of reason and restraint are completely drowned by the irrational, compulsive outrage that is gradually building up and the uncontrollable outcry for reprisals and revenge? For how long can our hope and fervent prayers prevent the dogs of war from being unleashed? 

May God save Nigeria.

Of Lawan’s tragicomedy and Obasanjo’s vindication – by Uche Igwe

Obasanjo lambasted the National Assembly a few weeks ago, I was a bit worried. In fact, I wanted to respond to him and suggest that such a sweeping statement should be received as a hasty and inappropriate generalisation. At least, there are a few people who are currently in the federal legislature and whose pedigrees still remain impeccable. It is public knowledge that some current legislators actually made decent names and impressive fortunes before their foray into politics and one could make an exception for them in terms of integrity and commitment to service.
Views about the Obasanjo era remain very diverse and contentious. There are those who strongly see him as someone on whose shoulders history bestowed an important opportunity to change Nigeria but who squandered it due to an uncanny lust for power. Clearly, Obasanjo did implement a few laudable reforms in this country but along the line, analysts argue that he lost his vision and betrayed his mission. However, I must also say that the former president has three things that no one can wish away — age, courage and experience. Obasanjo is an old man. He is very courageous and has many years of experience at the highest levels of politics in Nigeria. When such a man makes a statement, the best approach is to watch events further with studied silence rather than take him on tactlessly as is often fashionable.
Today, we now know that Obasanjo might have known little more than many of us as he was allegedly privy to the shameful solicitation and collection of a bribe by someone who is ‘famous’ for anti- corruption posturing in the parliament. Even as we wait for the final pronouncements of investigating agencies, it is believed that the unfolding drama in the House of Representatives has exposed the selfish and unpatriotic character of the Nigeria political class and the decay in an institution constitutionally empowered to provide an anti-corruption check on democracy.
I have watched the fuel subsidy probe sessions repeatedly, followed up the reactionary ostrich games that trailed the leakage of the video footages to the media. I wish therefore to draw attention to four issues apparently dominating the arena of debate in order to situate a more nuanced conversation.
The first is that contrary to popular pretence, the evidence ostensibly gathered from the recordings purportedly painted Farouk Lawan as a politician many believe to be experienced in the business of extortion and bribery. Many of us who publicly expressed disappointment at his action were told clearly that the apparent evidence did not portray a man who has (or had) any leftover integrity. How could he have allegedly visited Otedola’s house at such an odd hour? How could he have allegedly packed part of the money, rather shamelessly, into his cap, if he was not a master of such games? Could such a stunt be pulled by an alleged first timer? There are already stories flying in the air. With hindsight, the question on the lips of every one is whether his leadership of the so-called Integrity Group might have been all about –to collect, share and clean mouth? But again if his supposedly putrid pedigree is known to the leadership of the House of Representatives, how come they still went ahead and gave him such a sensitive job to do? I will come back to this later.
My second point is in relation to the report itself. The decision to probe the subsidy payments was a very noble one. I have perused the report and I am prepared to argue that it contains mind-blowing revelations about the extent of corruption in the downstream sector and a glimpse at the perpetrators in government and their collaborators in the private sector. It remains a potent ammunition and background material for anyone who wants to lead knowledge-driven advocacy in the oil and gas industry. However, with the purported action of Lawan, my confidence in the report has been punctured as its credibility now appears severely tainted. We might have heard of Otedola and Zenon Oil, what of many other companies who we do not know and who might have made similar or even greater payments to get their names removed but were not smart enough (or may be not interested) to get him on tape? I agree that those who have been indicted should be made to face the law but how can anyone convince Nigerians that the list is a complete one? Do we ignore the blow that this scandal has landed on the report and go ahead to insist on the prosecution of the companies including (or excluding) Zenon Oil and Synopsis Enterprises Limited?
My third point is about the trend of the drama. Did Lawan act alone as being alleged? Or, better still, could he have possibly acted alone? We were told by those who watched the video that he (Lawan) boasted that he knew the right buttons to press to get the companies removed. What are those buttons? What was the role of the House Committee on Financial Crimes and Narcotics in a desperate attempt to save Lawan? Many observers who reviewed the debate on the day that the report was submitted on the floor of the House insist that the obvious body language of both the Deputy Speaker and other committee members spoke volumes. In fact, many commentators wonder why the presiding officer gave Lawan an unnecessary opportunity to repeat the possibly rehearsed motion of amendment while other committee members were in a visible haste to second the motion. Many have highlighted the fact that Emeka Ihedioha even sought further clarifications as to whether the amendment was the view of Lawan alone or that of the entire committee. Could all these be considered coincidental or can we envisage that a few more chapters of the drama may yet unfold in the near future?

My fourth and final point is on the growing legitimacy deficit of the House of Representatives as an institution. The parliament is (or ought to be) a very important institution in a democracy by providing the requisite oversight aimed at curtailing the excesses of the executive arm of government. At the core of this role is to lead the fight against corruption on behalf of the people they represent. With the scandals opening up in the last three months, there is a need to pause and rethink how the House has fared in discharging this essential role. Are they really fighting corruption or aiding, abetting and deepening it? Who will watch the watchdog? Now let me come back to the statement of Obasanjo in the context of all of these. Clearly as someone who superintended over civil rule in Nigeria for eight years, one cannot dismiss his comments with a wave of the hand. He might have had some first-hand experiences or at least seen a few more things from his vantage position as former President. If therefore the emerging verdict is that the House of Representatives is filled with thieving legislators and dull bribe takers as Lawan is being alleged, even with their fat salaries and allowances, what then is the hope of the common man in Nigeria? It is very sad to note that Obasanjo might have once again been vindicated.

NIGERIA WILL BREAK UP: GO TELL THAT TO THE MARINES

 - Written by Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba 

Truth be told. The Hausa/Fulani would like Nigeria to break up. The Igbo would like Nigeria to break up. They had tried it before but failed. The Yoruba would like Nigeria to break up. They could be possibly the most vocal for now in seeking such an outcome. The Deltans would pay any price to see that happen. The Middlebeltans would want this outcome also. But Nigeria will not break up. It cannot happen, not in 2015 or before or after. In fact Nigeria would be fussing together stronger and stronger with each passing year. Each tension, each crisis event would make it clear that the knot that the Lugards’ tied cannot come undone.

My statements above seem contradictory.

How can a nation that each segment wants torn apart be said to be growing stronger?

The answer lies in the state creation and in the Nigerian Biafran war.

If the Western Region can be resurrected with Midwest as part of it; if  the old Eastern Nigeria can be reconstituted; if the solid North can be made solid again; then Nigeria can be broken up. Each region is big enough to stand on its own. But if the Igbo were to break up, it is almost certain that they would be surrounded by hostile neighbors in south and north. If the SS were to severe from Nigeria, they too would be surrounded by hostile neighbors to the north and west. The same would be experience of West and North.

There is no way the Yoruba could convince the Midwest to join them in an act of rebellion. The Igbo would not have any better luck nor would  the Hausa/Fulani. Without such collaboration any effort at separation would be moribund. Going without the neighbors would not be attractive. So each group is stuck with Nigeria.

As I have written before it cannot be done militarily either. Each zone has now strong enough military divisions to force back any zone that wants to break up the nation. There is enough tribal integration in the divisions to make conspiracy impossible. There is also enough distrust between divisions to make cooperation possible.

The existence of militias also makes the separation impossible. BH, MASSAOB, MEND, ODUA, AREWA militias are not likely to work towards the same goals in any foreseeable future. Once one militia enters the fight on one side two or more would enter the fight at the opposite side. Once more bringing a balance of power or terror – your choice of words.

As strong as these points made are, the greatest force preventing the break up is lack of leadership. Who would lead the combined 6 states that currently make up Yoruba? How would such a leader get Kwara to join? Or will the Yoruba leave without Kwara? Who would lead the Igbo states? SS states? NC states? NW and NE? Nobody.

It used to be said that Igbo “enwe eze” (the Igbo had no kings) but you can make the same assertion on behalf of the Yoruba, the SS, NW, NE, NC etc. The Awolowo of the Yoruba land is dead as his counterparts in all zones. The last Ojukwu in Nigeria is dead. Those who harbor the thought of a minimized Nigeria should jettison such pipe dreams.

As much as we hate what Nigeria has become we are stuck together. We must morn and suffer within it.

Or we can do something else try to reform and clean it up it so that the stench does not kill us.

We can do this by:

Standing up for injustice wherever it takes place even when the perpetrator is from my tribe Cooperating when good ideas are put on the table even when Sanusi or Okonjo-Iweala is the author

Condemning massacres or people who actively seek to do in the only country we have by acts of brigandage. By seeking to settle disputes through our justice system and in insisting that justice be delivered by laws as opposed by the power of naira.

By putting in a day’s labor for a day’s pay whether we work for the state or for private enterprises Electing men and women of integrity and insisting that those in office appoint men and women of honor also.

Being attentive as citizens to what our servants are doing. It is not enough to send somebody to Abuja. We must ensure that he is doing what we sent him there to do. Nigeria’s problem could more with followership than with leadership. If the people are asleep, it makes it possible for the leaders to be asleep also.

etc

If we fail to do our job, Nigeria will not break up as we would wish. But the burden of living in it would kill us as individuals. As we make our beds so must we sleep on it.

And even if it mysteriously breaks up we would carry the lessons we learned to Odua, to Biafra, to Arewa Republic, to Delta, to Niger Central.

Old habits die hard.

UNUSUAL CAUSES OF HIGH BLOOD GLUCOSE

Many people assume that high blood glucose levels occur only in individuals with diabetes.  However, there are other more unusual causes of high glucose levels in the blood (also called hyperglycemia).
 Primary causes of hyperglycemia do include type I and type II diabetes mellitus.  Type I diabetes results solely from lack of insulin secretion due to pancreatic B-cell destruction.  Type II diabetes, in contrast, involves an element of insulin resistance. Secondary causes of hyperglycemia result from non-diabetic insulin resistance, toxins, pancreatic diseases and endocrine dysfunction.
Insulin resistance may occur due to obesity, lack of exercise, cirrhosis of the liver, and/or stress. Cirrhosis of the liver is often accompanied by jaundice (yellowing of the skin), ascites (fluid collection in the belly), splenomegaly (enlarged spleen), spider angiomata (small vessels become visible on chest and face), and other physical exam findings.
 Toxins that can cause elevated blood sugar include alcohol, prescription medications and the metal cadmium. Cigarettes are a significant source of cadmium.  Research shows that cigarette smokers have higher levels of cadmium.  An individual smoker will consume varying levels of cadmium depending on cigarette brand and filtered vs non-filtered cigarettes.
 Diseases of the exocrine pancreas that can cause high blood glucose include a hereditary condition called hemochromatosis as well as pancreatic cancer.   Hemochromatosis causes iron excess in the body.  This then causes hyperglycemia due to the toxicity of iron to insulin-producing pancreatic B-cells.  Hemochromatosis is often asymptomatic when detected on routine exams.  If the disease has progressed to the point of causing hyperglycemia other symptoms may be expected including fatigue, cirrhosis, skin pigmentation, cardiomyopathy, arthropathy (usually the hands) and/or hypogonadism.
 Pancreatic tumors may cause hyperglycemia.  Commonly presenting symptoms of pancreatic cancer include jaundice, mid-abdominal pain radiating to the back, steatorrhea (fatty diarrhea), and anorexia (loss of appetite) and weight loss.
 Several forms of endocrine dysfunction may cause hyperglycemia, including acromegaly, hyperthyroidism, hypercortisolism and pheochromocytomas.  Excess growth hormone can cause a condition called acromegaly.  Excess levels of growth hormone causes high blood sugar, enlargement of peripheral body parts, arthralgias and even gout.
 Hypercortisolism may be caused by corticosteroid medications or by endocrine gland tumors or dysfunction.  Hypercortisolism often presents with a Cushingoid picture.  A Cushingoid person may have purple striae (stretch marks on belly), moon-facies (round-shaped face) and/or buffalo’s hump (fatty hump between upper shoulders).
 Pheochromocytoma, an adrenal gland tumor, would present with paroxysmal attacks of hypertension, headache, hyperhidrosis (excess sweating), heart palpitations and anxiety.
Hyperthyroidism would share many of these same symptoms: palpitations, sweating, anxiety and may additionally have signs such as enlarged thyroid, exophthalmos (bulging eyes) and, rarely, pretibial myxedema (waxy, non-pitting edema of the anterior lower legs).
 Glucose toxicity is an interesting phenomenon which can contribute to high blood glucose in some individuals.  Glucose toxicity is the condition in which initial hyperglycemia, resulting from any cause, may itself cause further high glucose levels by decreasing insulin sensitivity and increasing glucose production in the liver.

 High blood glucose can be caused by many conditions other than Type 1 or 2 Diabetes mellitus.  However, Type 2 diabetes is the most common cause of hyperglycemia in adults in the United States.  The incidence of  Type 2 diabetes in children is also, unfortunately, on the rise.

WHO IS WHO IN BOKO HARAM

• Abubakar Shekau
He is the leader of  Boko Haram.

He is said to be a fearless loner, a complex, paradoxical man - part intellectual, part gangster.

Fondly called imam or leader by his followers, Abubakar Muhammad Shekau was born in Shekau village in Yobe State.

Some say he is 34 or 35, others that he may be 43 - the uncertainty adds to the myths surrounding Nigeria's most wanted man.

Shekau was once thought to have been killed by security forces in 2009 - only for him to reappear in videos posted on the internet less than a year later as Boko Haram's new leader. He has not been seen in public since. Instead, still images and video clips of him are released from time to time, mostly online, by the group's faceless "public enlightenment department".

He is said to have met his predecessor in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State through a mutual friend, Mamman Nur, who is said to have masterminded the August 2011 bombing of the UN office complex in Abuja.

Under  Shekau, Boko Haram has become more radical and carried out more killings. He is fluent in his native Kanuri, Hausa and Arabic languages - he does not speak English.

He is said to have married one of Mohammed Yusuf's  four wives and adopted their children.

Shekau does not communicate directly with the group's foot soldiers - he is said to wield his power through a few select cell leaders, but even then, contact is minimal.

He is nicknamed "Darul Tawheed", which translates as a specialist in Tawheed. This is an orthodox doctrine of the uniqueness and oneness of Allah, which is the very cornerstone of Islam.

Kabiru Sokoto was arrested in February by the State Security Service (SSS). He was earlier arrested by the police, and 'allowed' to escape. His escape led to the dismissal of Deputy Commissioner of Police Zakari Biu. He was declared wanted, with a N5million ransom on his head before the SSS re-arrested him at Mutum in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba  State. He has been with the SSS. He is believed to be giving vital information which has been helping understand how the Boko Haram sect works.

His real name is Kabiru Abubakar Dikko. The 29-year-old was born to the family of Umaru Jabbi of Gagi village in Sokoto South Local Government Area on May 9, 1983.

After the death of his father, his uncle, Abubakar Dikko, adopted him and gave him his name. He completed his secondary education in 2003 and was admitted to the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Sokoto, where he was said to have been  a truant with extremist tendencies.

• Abu Qaqa

The SSS is also holding a man it said was the spokesman of the sect, Abu Qaqa. But Boko Haram has insisted that the man in the SSS custody is Abu Darda, its head of public enlightenment. He was arrested in February and has been with the agency since then.

The sect said: "The person that was arrested was Abu Darda and not Abu-Qaqa. I am Abul Qaqa, the spokesman for the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnati Lidda'awati Wal Jihad.  Abu Darda is the head of the Lagina (Dept) of public enlightenment and not the spokesman.

"The arrest of Abu Darda is an outright deception and betrayal by the Nigerian government and security agents. They proclaimed dialogue and are doing the opposite. His arrest has proved to us that they were waiting for us to avail ourselves so that they can arrest us.

"We purposely sent Abu Darda to Kaduna to discuss with some key government functionaries on the issue of dialogue. Indeed, he had started talking to them but unknown to him, they (had) directed some security agents to trail him and arrest him.

"This is exactly what happened. He volunteered to present himself for the dialogue but was betrayed. Everybody knows our capability and tactics of operation. It is evidently clear that none of our members could be caught on a platter of gold and without confrontation."

In May, his father was reported killed by the sect in Maiduguri because of his alleged revelations on the group to the SSS.

• Suleiman Mohammed

He was arrested in May along with his wife and five children in the Farawa, Kano.

His arrest came hours after blasts and gunfire rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Mohammed has been described as Boko Haram's head of operations in Kano under the group's suspected leader, Abubakar Shekau.

Three pistols, a rifle, 1,000 rounds of ammunition and 10 Improvised Explosive Devices (IDEs) were recovered from his house.

• Ayuba Usman

He was arrested in May at his shop in a market in Kano following information from suspected Boko Haram members arrested in raids.

High profile suspects allegedly said Usman was providing combustible chemicals used in the manufacture of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) for attacks on innocent people in the city.

Thirty-five  drums of chemicals of 240 litres each and a dozen bags of combustible items were recovered during the raid on his shop in one of the markets in Dala Local Government Area of the state.

• Ibrahim Mohammed Ali

A prime suspect in the coordinated attacks on Christian worshippers at the old campus of Bayero University, Kano in which 20 persons, including 2 professor, were killed. He was arrested in May.

Ali, a diploma holder from Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, Borno State, was nabbed by security operatives who had been on his trail.

The JTF arrested him after surrounding a house located at Bubugaje, Sharada Phase III Industrial Layout in Kumbotso Local Government Area, where he was hiding.

There was a three-hour shoot-out between the JTF and suspected members of the sect before he was arrested.

[via thenationonline.net]

IS IT WRONG TO PAY FOR SEX?

  The act of paying money in exchange for sex is a common practice in every civilized society. I always like to assess any issue from different perspective.

  This question came to my mind after one particular incident. One of my friends who is also a doctor was in town recently and as his reputation precedes him,me and my close friend Dr pellz knew we were going to be elevated to a 'delirious' state that night. Let me call this my special friend Dr Baller (not his real name), yeah he balls and he's well known for that.

  When he got to my place, we discussed about life, work, women(of course) and other issues. Later that fateful day, me and Dr pellz followed him to his hotel and from there to a popular spot in town called 'la vida'. We were joined by other friends and we drank,dine and gisted all through our stay in 'la vida'. Later that night Dr Baller told us he can't go back to his hotel room alone (or empty-handed) and so we have to look for a babe to keep his company till the next morning. And so we had to call Bella,one weirdo chic with big ambitions, to help us arrange a 'fine lady' that befits Dr Baller, within an hour, a lady came to meet us, she was tall,had straight legs, fair-skinned, spotless,very pretty and slim. She speaks well and I can say she could have been a perfect girlfriend.

  To cut a long story short, Dr Baller paid her and he told us how she took him to cloud 7 with different styles. So that got me thinking, if Dr Baller feels like having sex with a gorgeous lady but goes through the rigours of toasting, pretends to be a gentleman, take her out, promised her heaven on heart and maybe, just maybe after some days or weeks or months (depending on how he knows the game) he got her laid, which method do you think would have been better? And come to think of it, paying for sex save guys the troubles of emotional attachment,commitment and all those headaches. Infact if you have a fiancee or a serious girlfriend, its better to pay for sex than dating other girls and adding to your troubles...lol

  Please don't quote me, am not saying it is right to pay for sex, am just weighing the advantages therein, infact I ve never tried it before but I can't blame anybody that does it or what do you think?...

"Oil and IQ don't mix well" by Abimbola Adelakun

 I love this piece "Oil and IQ don't mix well" by Abimbola Adelakun and I think it would be nice to share it here.
  she wrote:
There is a group of people out there who are optimistic about the future of Nigeria. They believe Nigeria will develop in spite of her present challenges. They even believe she will rise to be a world power. I am a shameless card carrying member of this association. We are termed the dreamers.

There is also another group that believes Nigeria is going nowhere. This second group is made up of those whose feet are firmly planted on the soil of reality. They know Nigeria is gravely burdened by her contradictions and until this is unbundled and addressed, we can pray till we are blue in the face; set up endless committees, the country is still going nowhere. Well, an embarrassing but true confession: I am, also, a card carrying member of this group.

I am in the fold of the latter group. One of the things that have triggered despair in me about the future of Nigeria is a recent report of a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development that shows the correlation between educational performance of students in a country and total earnings the same country derives from natural resources.

The results, as indicated in a table in which 65 countries were surveyed, evidence a connect that the more money a country makes from natural resources, the less intelligent its students appear to be. The study was based on Mathematics scores of say, in Nigerian parlance, secondary school pupils.

It is an interesting study even though I have a few questions about it; the countries with nil or minimal resources ranked high in intelligence while those who have natural resources like Saudi Arabia led from behind. A few African countries made the list. Egypt was below average even though it doesn’t have much resources; Ghana was one country without much natural and intellectual resources. Thankfully, Nigeria was not sampled.

Unsurprisingly, China/Asia led the pack. Anybody who has studied the racial chart performance in the US will find that Asians are the ones who dominate in the sciences. Even Americans stand by and watch the back of their heads. The saying of the 1980s was “finish your food, Africans are starving”. The 90s heralded a new saying: “finish your assignments, the Chinese are coming”.

The study gives an insight into an extant issue: countries that are blessed with natural resources are jinxed with what has been termed, “The natural resource curse” or “Dutch Disease”. Countries caught in the lamentable vortex of burgeoning natural resources, almost, never go into manufacturing or innovative technology; the resource-laden countries in Africa live in poverty and, exist to serve as a paradox and an international spit bowl. The latest Forbes list shows that the entire Africa has only five billionaires and none of them is into innovative technology.

Nigeria is a classic case study of this natural resource jinx. Oil is Nigeria’s nanny, gifted by nature and since we discovered it, we stopped progressing. From an enviable height in the years preceding independence, our education has been in a blue funk for the longest time. Nothing works and Nigeria is left behind. Given the dismal results from secondary school pupils who take part in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations in recent years, it is unlikely Nigeria would soon be contributing to the innovative skills the rest of the world is embracing right now.

In the past few weeks, there has been a robust debate in the media on Nigeria’s federal allocations. Ever since some northern governors made the noise about the insufficiency of their monthly allocations, they have been given some hard and well-deserved knocks.

It is embarrassing to hear them ask for more money; disgusting as the sight of full-grown adults whining to be breastfed. I am of the opinion that any Nigerian state that cannot survive would do well to merge with other states that can guarantee its existence. It’s really that simple.

The shame of their begging is that their human resources investment appears very low. The world is moving from a resource-based economy to intellectual-property economy and education is what works now. The past failures of Nigeria to invest in education and the present neglect of it, make for a rich recipe of doom.

There is no way that we will continue this way that Nigeria will move up from her ground minus-zero. It is no news that world corporations are funding research for alternatives to oil. Very soon Nigeria’s oil nanny will no longer be in demand. When that day comes, Nigeria will learn to see itself without the aid of a mirror.

Nigeria happily neglects her future; she ignores her educational sector because she gets oil patronage from countries such as China, Japan, the US and the UK which rank high on top of OECD chart. In the future we are about to enter, the currency the world would be spending will not be oil.

It is hard to read any interview in the papers these days without someone saying, “It is our oil”, as if they did a single thing to drop it in the ground; as if they were even aware of its existence before the white man came to drill it. We are the kind of people who hurry to drink the water in the coconut without asking how it got there in the first place. Resource or no resource, Nigeria is a poor country; it should be rightly said so.

When the never-ending debate about resource control for the Niger Delta starts all over again, I will root for each state to control its resources. I will be a registered-dues-paying member of this Resource Control Association too. I am sick of a situation where we will have to tolerate inept leaders because of ‘our son, our oil’ argument some people are peddling all over the place. It is blackmail and it holds down everybody from true progress.

The richest corporations in the world can buy Nigeria out a dozen times and they are not merely drilling the earth and polluting everywhere. Companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are products of the intersection of education and imagination. They make more money than Nigeria is currently dreaming to ever make and so who still thinks oil is not last century’s treasure?

Turtle Divorce: Giant Turtles Divorce After 115 Years Together

You can't say they didn't try.
After an impressive 115 years together, two "giant turtles" at an Austrian zoo are refusing to share their cage anymore, the Austrian Times reported Friday. (The paper provided no further information about the species of turtle or tortoise in question.)
"We get the feeling they can't stand the sight of each other anymore," said Helga Happ, director of the Klagenfurt-based zoo, where the turtles -- Bibi, the female and Poldi, the male -- have lived for the last 36 years. Before that, they called Basel Zoo in Switzerland home.
According to the paper, zoo staff realized something was amiss when Bibi bit off a chunk of her partner's shell. When the attacks continued, Poldi was moved to another cage.
Animal experts even attempted couples' counseling -- feeding the turtles aphrodisiacs and encouraging them to play games together. But so far, efforts have failed to bring the shelled lovers back together.

Turtles aren't the only members of the animal kingdom known to "divorce" their partners. Studies have shown that some birds who mated successfully with a partner one year have "divorced" and moved on with another partner in successive years.

Indian believers swallow live fish as asthma cure

Tens of thousands of asthma-sufferers mobbed a southern Indian stadium Friday to swallow live sardines smeared with a yellow herbal paste they believe will cure their breathing problems.

Despite doctors' criticism, the Goud family has drawnthrongs of people for yearswith a secret fish and herbal formula it says it received from a Hindu saint about 170 years ago.They give it away for free annually and refuse to reveal the mix, saying the saint warned it would lose its potency if commercialized.

One man died of a heart attack and several others sought medical attention for breathing difficulty after waiting hours for the treatment, Hyderabad police said. They said the stadium was unprepared to deal with the 70,000 people who rushed the gates when they opened.

The family offers the treatment annually on a day chosen by astrologers.

After swallowing the live fish, believers are told to abstain from fried foods and keep to a strict 45-daydiet of 25 different foods, including lamb, rice, white sugar, dried mango, spinach and clarified butter.

Anti-Cancer Nano Particles Built By A 17 Years Old Girl Makes Her Win $100,000

A seventeen years old girl has invented some nano particles which have proven to be useful for cancer treatment! Angela Zhang is the the girl who came up with this treatment to help humanity and work for science. It was a mere interest in medicine that took her to that great level where only a few teenagers have gone in the world. Upon interviewing her, She told that she has been working for two years on these nano-particles, which made us more shocked that this girl has been working on this project since she was fifteen!

Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology was the platform where she exposed her discovery and won a prize of $100,000. The name of her project was “Design of Image-guided, Photo-thermal Controlled Drug Releasing Multifunctional Nanosystem for the Treatment of Cancer Stem Cells” in which the nanoparticle is delivered to tumors via a drug called salinomycin where it tends to kills cancer cells and then deposits gold and iron-oxide materials to help with MRI imaging.

She told that she will be continuing research in future to help solve humanity’s greatest issues. She plans to continue her education side by side and at the same time, keep innovating!

SHOCKING FACT..!!! If you drink SNAKE VENOM , YOU WILL BE UNHARMED!!

If you drink SNAKE VENOM ,

YOU WILL BE UNHARMED!!

Yes

UNHARMED (Unless you have

some cut in your mouth). SNAKE

VENOM only affects your blood

stream and tissue. The snake

venom will be digested and will

be released from your excretory

system !! 

Why Aviation Minister Stella Odua has to Resign

Looking back at the string of events it is quite obvious that DANA air is not to beblamed for this air mishap.. We are quick to nail the foreigners who operate this flying coffins called airlines, but have weever bothered asking ourselves who gave them the go ahead to send Nigerian citizens to their early graves... Fair enough, PDP CPC ADC NPD CAN are quick to trade blames, but nevertheless will thetrue criminals ever face trial for this gross negligence...if the government is not willing to unmask the culprits who sold their souls all in the name of corruption, allowing unsafe planes to be flown in our country,then its time we unmask them ourselves... It is quite clear that stella odua has no shame or self respect, or let's say Respect for the dead... How dare heropen her mouth to defend the first lady,She should be answering the critical questions on how DANA airline got their operating lincense in the first place...I'm convincedshe collected bribes from these criminals called investors, to allow the ill fated plane into the country... Our aviation sector should be grounded as well as everyone else who is affiliated with this incident... Sadly enough, I keepasking myself if the culprits will ever be brought to book... How many more flying caskets do we have left... Maybe 15more... You'll never know....its good to see that Jimoh Ibrahim has been exposed by a member of his airline...are we goingto end up flying in planes that are destined to crashhh?

US Government Dismisses Nigeria’s War Against Corruption As Hot Air

The United States has again dismissed Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts as mere talk, describing the Goodluck Jonathan era as one in which the government is not implementing the law, and officials engage in corrupt practices with impunity.

CAUSES OF RINGING IN THE EAR

Ringing in the ears is also known as tinnitus. Individuals suffering from tinnitus may hear ringing, buzzing, hissing, chirping, or whistling sounds in one or both ears.  The sounds heard by people with tinnitus can be intermittent, continuous, or even pulsating. Unfortunately, this condition affects over 35 million people in the United States alone.  There are many causes of ringing in the ears.  Common causes of tinnitus include trauma to the external or internal ear from chronic loud noises, physical injury or toxic exposure. Prescription medicines and over-the-counter medications are also a very common cause of ear ringing. In addition, there are many different medical disease and disorders that can cause or worsen tinnitus symptoms. Some of the most common medications that cause ringing in the ears include: salicylates (especially aspirin), SSRIs (especially Zoloft and Celexa), Lipitor (also called Atorvastatin), Zyrtec (also called Cetirizine), Nexium (also called Esomeprazole), Prilosec (Omeprazole), Gentamycin (an aminoglycoside antibiotic), any of the antimalarial drugs that contain quinine, caffeine (common in otc headache medicines), and barbituates (anxiolytics). Some of the common medical diseases and disorders than can cause ringing ears include: hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, fibromyalgia, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, nasal congestion, ear infection, upper respiratory viral infection, anemia, Meniere’s disease, traumatic head and/or neck injury, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, otosclerosis, tumors of the brain, nerves or glands, exposure to loud sounds, perforated ear drum, deterioration of the cochlea or other parts of the ear due to the natural aging process There are many potential causes of ringing in the ears.  Many individuals will unnecessarily tolerate ear ringing for years before discussing their symptoms with their physician. However, there are many treatable cause of tinnitus, so any person who is experiencing persistent ringing or buzzing sounds in the ears should contact their health care provider.  Some cases of tinnitus will resolve with time, whereas cases of tinnitus that are more chronic may respond well to adjusting medications, adding a therapeutic medication for tinnitus, manipulating the sound environment, or specific neurological procedures that can be done for tinnitus. Often the cause of tinnitus is multi-factorial. This can make the treatment of tinnitus extremely difficult. For example, an older person may begin taking Lipitor for high cholesterol and Prilosec for acid reflux. These two medications can cause tinnitus as an adverse effect. This individual also is has seasonal allergies causing frequent nasal congestion, another cause of tinnitus. In addition, the natural aging process can cause deterioration of the cochlea in the inner ear which can cause or contribute to the development of ringing ears. In order to successfully treat tinnitus, a physician will attempt to identify those causes of tinnitus in an individual that are reversible or treatable

Daydreamers Might Be Geniuses (Or Close)

At high school, it’s invariably the kids that day dream who get told off. But a new study suggests that it’s those of us whose minds wander that have the best working memory—and working memory is itself directly associated to intelligence.

A new study, conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science, suggests that a person’s working memory capacity relates to the tendency of their mind to wander during routine tasks. Working memory is the capacity to remember information for short periods of time—say, remembering a number while you dig out your phone.

To reach their findings, which are published in Psychological Science, the team had participants undertake a simple routine task, asking them to press a button when they saw a letter appear on a computer screen. Throughout the tests, they also periodically asked them if they were actively focusing on the task or thinking about something else. They also measured each participant’s working memory by asking them to remember strings of letter while performing math problems.

The result? People with higher working memory capacity reported more mind wandering during simple tasks. Jonathan Smallwood, one of the researchers, explains to Science Daily:

“What this study seems to suggest is that, when circumstances for the task aren’t very difficult, people who have additional working memory resources deploy them to think about things other than what they’re doing.”

 Working memory is predictor of intelligence, and correlates strongly with measures like reading comprehension and IQ score, which suggests that the more your mind wanders, the smarter you are. The researchers suggest that where your mind wanders to is probably an indication of your subconscious priorities, but the less said about that, I think, the better. So, anyway, if you weren’t paying attention to a single word I just wrote, congratulations; you’re a smartass. [Psychological Science via Science Daily]