The Rwandan Report

« on: Today at 03:33:13 PM »


I was in Rwanda from September 2002 to July 2003 for the primary mission of music evangelism. However I was able to work in a church as a Music Director, Youth Leader, Prayer Coordinator and Minister.

I was also given the opportunity to teach at the Adventist University of Central Africa (AUCA) Rwanda as a music teacher. I taught in English through an interpreter, because the school’s language of study is French.

At the Rwanda Music Academy, I led a team of Youth and members of the choir to Gisozi Genocide Memorial Centre, Kigali: where the remains of 800,000 Rwanda's Tutsis and Hutu who were slaughtered in the terrible genocide of 1994 were buried with their bones displayed as well. It was a shocking moment for me such that I could not eat well as I was emotionally disturbed for over five days.
The scars of the Rwanda genocide cannot be easily wiped out of a loving heart.

Every April, during the memorial of the genocide, the documentary of the killings is relayed on television and I saw many people who were traumatically affected and would end up in hospitals, because they could not imagine the cruel ways their children, husbands, wives and relations were “macheted”.


~ By Sam Olu, Middlesex University

N.B: The complete Report from Rwanda is going to be published before the end of 2009 on Nigerians Report.

E-mail : publisher@americantimesonline.com


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CNN Invites Online Users to Test Their Knowledge with the CNN Challenge

CNN Invites Online Users to Test Their Knowledge with the CNN Challenge

Ford Sync Sponsors Interactive Quiz on CNN.com

NEW YORK, November 5, 2009 /PRNewswire/ — In conjunction with the launch of the new CNN.com, the No. 1 news and information site has debuted the CNN Challenge, an interactive online news trivia quiz. Found at www.CNNChallenge.com, the quiz – focused on both historical news events and the top stories of the week – is guided by various CNN, HLN and CNN International anchors, including Larry King, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Robin Meade and Christiane Amanpour.

CNN Challenge users are encouraged to return frequently as new quizzes are published weekly. New quizzes about historical events are available each Tuesday and Wednesday, and a new current news quiz is available every Thursday.

"The CNN Challenge offers CNN.com's users the ability to expand their knowledge of the news and current events in a fun and engaging way," said KC Estenson, senior vice president and general manager of CNN.com. "At its core, the CNN Challenge is another example of how we are leveraging interactivity and the social nature of the web to create a unique online experience for news enthusiasts across the globe."

The CNN Challenge consists of three rounds of five questions, specific to the who, what, when, where and why of certain news events. In the final stage of the quiz – the Lightning Round – the player's skills are pushed further, allowing only 90 seconds to answer five questions interactively. A player accumulates points based on their response time and the value of the question, which varies by the stage of the quiz.

After playing the quiz, users can check the 'Newsbin' for answers to and additional context on each of the questions, as well as links to more information related to the questions available through reporting on CNN.com.

The quiz can be shared with friends via email or to the social web by clicking on the Facebook, Twitter and Mixx icons. Users can also see where they rank on the 'Leaderboard' of the quiz or challenge other members of the CNN Challenge community.

Joining the CNN Challenge later this month as its inaugural launch sponsor will be Ford Sync, the in-car communications and connectivity system available in Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models. Sync plans to run :15- second interactive video ads between some game rounds and will have logo presence throughout. With co-branded promotion including banners and billboards across the new CNN.com, Ford Sync will have a consistent presence as the first presenting sponsor of the CNN Challenge.

"We're so pleased to have Ford Sync on board as our first sponsor for The CNN Challenge. It is a unique and incredibly effective platform for advertisers to interact with an engaged audience in a premium, branded environment," said Greg D'Alba, EVP and COO, CNN Advertising Sales and Marketing. "We're attracting new advertisers to CNN across all of our platforms because we've proven we're a leader in innovation, while remaining true to our trusted brand."

CNN.com is the No. 1 destination for online and wireless news according to Nielsen, garnering the greatest audience share in total minutes and page views and the most mobile usage among current events and global news sites. Launched in 1995, CNN.com draws from the resources of CNN Worldwide and its many partners to provide consumers with the most enriching, immediate interaction with news anywhere, seamlessly combining articles, videos, images, interactive features and user-generated content. CNN.com's news video offering – both live and on-demand – is unparalleled on the Web. CNN.com's recent awards include a Peabody Award, two EPpy awards, four CableFAX Best of the Web awards, a National Headliner award, and the 2009 Edward R. Murrow award for best website.

Press Contacts:
April Andrews
CNN.com

404.878.5017
april.andrews@cnn.com

Deborah McBride
Turner Ad Sales
212.275.6752
deborah.mcbride@turner.com



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Nigeria / FIFTH CAADP Partnership Platform Meeting to take place in Abuja

7 Nov 2009 03:11 Africa/Lagos


Nigeria / FIFTH CAADP Partnership Platform Meeting to take place in Abuja


ABUJA, November 6, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The African Union Commission (AUC), in collaboration with the NEPAD Secretariat and ECOWAS Secretariat, will organize the 5th Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme Partnership Platform (CAADP-PP) meeting scheduled for 09-10 November 2009 at the Transcorp Nicon (Hilton) Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria.

The 5th CAADP-PP meeting, which will be hosted by ECOWAS Secretariat, will provide an inclusive platform for peer interaction, review and experience sharing among the core institutions and partners involved in CAADP implementation.

The 5th CAADP-PP is coming at the marking point that a number of countries have shown their commitment of CAADP program implementation by putting the compact agreement. In this regard it is expected to deliberate a key elements and strategies on the joint engagement and coordination so as to ensure the desired, coordinated and timely support appropriate to the country-specific circumstances.

The meeting will also discuss and take important decisions on various components towards CAADP implementation including, amongst others: CAADP Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) Governance arrangement; CAADP Monitoring and Evaluation Framework; Roadmap for the follow-up and implementation of the July 2009 Heads of State and Government Summit decisions; Framework for Regional CAADP implementation and regional compacts, as well as the issue of food security and climate change, which are affecting agricultural performance.

Meanwhile, experts have met for a two-days planning meeting, 5-6 November 2009, ahead of the CADDP-PP meeting, which is scheduled for 9-10 November 2009.

According to the AUC-NEPAD statement at the opening ceremony of CAADP PP Planning Meeting, progress has been made in a number of areas in respect to CAADP process implementation, most importantly a number of countries have signed CAADP compact while many others are lined up. Also progress has been made in rallying the international community including development partners to understand and support CAADP.

The statement also highlighted another significant development in engaging the international community concerning to Global Food Security and supporting Africa's Agriculture through CAADP.

Participants shall include AUC, NEPAD, RECs, Pillar Lead Institutions, development partners, private sector organisations, farmers' organisations, and CSOs.

The establishment of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Partnership Platform (CAADP-PP) was a key recommendation of the 2005 consultative process involving Regional Economic Communities (RECs), national governments, private sector and farmer organisations.

Journalists are invited to cover the event on Monday 09 November 2009 staring from 8:30am, at Hilton Hotel, in Abuja, Nigeria.

Herewith attached please find the provisional programme of the meeting

For further information please contact KeizireB@africa-union.org and Bwalyam@nepad.org

Source: African Union Commission (AUC)

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Chams Celebrates "The Fabulous Adventures of the Sugarcane Man"

Nigerians Report went to the National Theatre in Iganmu on Saturday November 7, 2009, to see The Fabulous Adventures of the Sugarcane Man, Prof. Femi Osofisan's English adaptation of Daniel O. Fagunwa's Yrouba classic Ireke Onibudo. The performance was great in music, choreography and dialogue. The narrators were impressive. The play was sponsored by the management of Chams Plc in their Chams Theatre Series started to revive the appreciation of the perfromance of Nigerian plays.

Mr. Demola Aladekomo, the MD of Chams is a noble man. He said the Chams Theatre Series "is also a means of promoting our culture and re-orienting Nigerians to the values that we hold dear”.The hall was full and the audience really appreciated the performance.

Watch out for more on this report.




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Re: Do Nigerians Read?

Re: Do Nigerians Read?
« #103 on: Today at 10:25:49 AM »

Yes. Nigerians read.They read headlines of newspapers at the bustops.They read gossip tabloids more than their church magazines.They read how-to-get-rich quick pirated books and most of them read text messages more than their text books.




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Justice Jon Kamanda Elected President of the Special Court

5 Nov 2009 11:58 Africa/Lagos

Justice Jon Kamanda Elected President of the Special Court


FREETOWN, November 2, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Justice Jon Kamanda of Sierra Leone has been elected to a one-year term, effective 1 November, as Presiding Judge of the Appeals Chamber, a post which makes him President of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.


Justice Emmanuel Ayoola of Nigeria was elected Vice President. Justice Ayoola previously served as President of the Special Court from 2004-2005.


Justice Kamanda was educated in Sierra Leone and in the U.K. He trained as a Barrister at the Inns of Court School of Law in London, and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1975. From 1976-80 he worked as State Prosecutor in the Government Law Office, rising to the rank of Senior State Counsel. In 1980 he entered private practice in criminal law.


He has served as an Appeals Court Justice in the Sierra Leone judiciary since 2004, where he was the Presiding Judge in criminal appeals. He has also served as a High Court Judge in the Civil Division.


In 1982 he was elected to Parliament, and he has served as Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Minister of Health.


He was sworn in as a Special Court Appeals Judge in November 2007.





The Special Court is an independent tribunal established jointly by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone. It is mandated to bring to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996.


Source: Choisissez un élément.




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International Civil Rights Center & Museum Appoints Curator

4 Nov 2009 16:30 Africa/Lagos

International Civil Rights Center & Museum Appoints Curator

Bamidele Demerson looks forward to mining historical gems in Greensboro's backyard

GREENSBORO, N.C., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Civil Rights Center & Museum (Museum) announced today that it has named Bamidele Demerson as curator and program director. Demerson will be responsible for overseeing the Museum's exhibits, artifacts and educational programming. The Museum, located in downtown Greensboro, N.C., will open Feb. 1, 2010, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins.


"Bamidele has an extensive leadership background in African-American museums," said Melvin "Skip" Alston, chairman of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. "We received interest from candidates across the country, and Bamidele's proven record for creating relevant and thought-provoking experiences for museum visitors stood out in our selection process. We are delighted to have him on board."


Demerson comes to Greensboro after serving as the executive director of the Harrison Museum of African American Culture in Roanoke, Va., where he planned exhibits and educational programs focused particularly on the history and creative experiences of people in that city. Prior to that, Demerson was curator of education and director of exhibitions and research during a 10-year tenure with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Mich.


As an anthropologist, Demerson believes he has something unique to offer the Museum and Greensboro. "The international aspect of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum caught my attention in a special way, because African Americans have had a profound impact on the quest for freedom, which has benefited everyone," said Demerson. "On many levels, Greensboro has always been a part of my consciousness whether reviewing a period photograph or document, creating a new exhibit or examining an historical object. I'm intrigued by the cultural dynamics behind social change, and my anthropological lens is always on."


Demerson brings more than 35 years of administration, instruction, research, collections' management and exhibition development to the Museum. In his visits to museums across the globe, Demerson has observed the practices of other acclaimed institutions and honed his knowledge of exhibit installation, as well as artifact collection and preservation.


"Museums are houses of memory and should help us not only to understand social change, but also make it," said Demerson. "From a curator and educational programming perspective, we have to be careful that visitors appreciate that we are not telling an exclusively African-American story. The narrative here in Greensboro, for example, is about a quest for freedom, and that is a human story."


Demerson believes one of the fundamental purposes of a museum is to provide service to the community through educational programming, exhibits and archival workshops. He actively worked with principals, superintendents and teachers in Virginia and Michigan to provide meaningful educational experiences for youth.


"One of my favorite things to do is create treasure hunts for kids," said Demerson. "I purposely don't call them scavenger hunts because we don't scavenge for history; history is filled with treasures. This Museum should be an active resource for teachers, youth and the community. It may take a whole village to raise a child, but it takes an entire community to support a museum."


Demerson's undergraduate and graduate studies at his alma mater, The University of Michigan, included a concentration in cultural anthropology, as well as a focus on African-American and African studies. While the Louvre in Paris, the Vatican in Rome, and the Ghana National Museum in Accra, Africa, are some of Demerson's favorite museums, it's the smaller museums and historic houses he frequents that resonate with him as an anthropologist. His extensive fieldwork also includes expeditions in Nigeria, Ghana, Brazil and the Southern United States.


"A museum should mine its own backyard," said Demerson. "We have a responsibility to both teach and work in the community; there are gems here in Greensboro that must be recognized as part of a national narrative."


The International Civil Rights Center & Museum will open Feb. 1, 2010, and function as an archival center, collecting museum and teaching facility devoted to the international struggle for civil and human rights. For more information about the International Civil Rights Center & Museum's grand opening schedule of events, visit www.sitinmovement.org/savethedate.


About the International Civil Rights Center & Museum


The International Civil Rights Center & Museum will function as an archival center, collecting museum and teaching facility devoted to the international struggle for civil and human rights focusing on the nonviolent protests of the Greensboro sit-ins. The 43,000 square-foot museum is located in the former F.W. Woolworth retail store where four courageous students from North Carolina A&T University began their protest at the whites-only lunch counter.


The Museum complex features educational exhibits, a gallery, auditorium, archival center, and a proposed Joint Center for the Study of Civil and Human Rights.


The International Civil Rights Center & Museum was founded by Melvin "Skip" Alston and Earl Jones in 1993 under the auspices of the Sit-in Movement Inc.


Editor's Note: Photo of Bamidele Demerson available upon request. Email mwallace@rlfcommunications.com


Source: International Civil Rights Center & Museum

CONTACT: Mary Leigh Wallace, +1-336-553-1802 (office), +1-336-307-9340
(mobile), mwallace@rlfcommunications.com


Web Site: http://www.sitinmovement.org/savethedate

SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI IS “NIGERIANS REPORT” MAN OF THE YEAR 2009

“NIGERIANS REPORT” MAN OF THE YEAR 2009

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi: A ‘sanitary officer’ to bank on for cleansing the stench in our banking stables

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, 48, has a strong mind. And he’s not afraid to open it up, especially to the clamourous clan of conspiracy theorists who rose up at the mention of his name, wielding prickly pens. But he has the last word on their tango: “Journalists and writers must respect the intelligence of their readers and understand that we read columns to be educated and not misled.” Fair enough. The naysayers have since realized they have a match in him.

At his inquisition-style confirmation hearing before the Senate for his suitability for the post of head of the Central Bank of Nigeria., CBN, SLS (it’s a close homonym of ‘excellence’), as he’s fondly called by friends and foes alike, took a swipe at the president’s hackneyed mantra of state of “7-point Agenda”; it is as effective, he surmised, as chasing after many rabbits. It was June 3, 2009; the apex legislative house would clear him to take up his presidential appointment.

And it was all in a day’s work for the lugubrious Big Man’s spokesperson who came out, nostrils flaring, with a retort to SLS. SLS would show he cared even less whose wrists were bloodied in the wake of the ‘bank-quake’ he set off on a very historic 14th day of August, 2009, which saw hitherto sacred cow topnotch bank executives booked for gross misconduct. That first wave swept away CEOs of one-fifth the Augean banking stables. He has sacked the president’s personal banker in the second wave of his decisive action taken to safeguard the financial sector from systemic collapse.

With a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, SLS first took up university teaching before going on to become Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of First Bank Plc, Nigeria's oldest bank and one of the biggest financial institutions in Africa. He was first Executive Director, Risk & Management Control, part of what commended for his latest assignment.

In Greek mythology, King Augeas’s stables had not been cleaned in 3 decades. Heracles got the unenviable task of cleaning them all in one day. He achieved the Herculean task by diverting two rivers through them. (Hercules is the Roman equivalent of the same sanitiser fellow.)

‘Augean’ is now an adjective for filthy fair, a dirty situation extremely difficult and unpleasant to handle--unless you possess know-how and are willing to use it to the best of your judgment. A second requirement is a tough skin.
Underneath the perfumed stench in the sector was a funny odour carried over from predecessor governor Charles Soludo’s consolidation drive; it had long been suspected that rot was rife in the sector.

More change would come to define things and the pace of things in the crucial sector. His call on the rarefied chambers of banking dons has now left many mantel place showpieces toppled, swept off their high horses. As the Yoruba of the Nigeria’s South-West say: The wind has ruffled feathers, now we can see the rump of the fowl.

Although Sanusi’s forebears are Fulani aristocrats from the North of the country, he’s never been far from Nigeria’s erstwhile federal and continuous financial capital. It was where he had his secondary education, at the elite yet egalitarian King's College, Lagos.

In a country where cleavages of religious and ethnic derivation always set pulses racing, his announcement that the Islamic banking model already ratified by his predecessor was ready for takeoff set off alarms. A highly conscientious Muslim, SLS uncharacteristically didn’t panic into a retreat on account of the seeming ‘conflict of interests’. He maintains his austere profile courageously as a ramrod posture under the fiery flurry of accusations of a ‘Northern agenda’ to take over banking in the country.

He’s made crystal clear the “need to strengthen” the regime of “consolidated supervision.” “It’s a learning point for regulators”; there’s “obviously…the need for risk-based supervision. If we have a risk-based supervision framework in place, anybody looking at the discount window would have been put on alert that there was the need to check certain things relating to certain banks, especially given the fact that the liquidity stresses came at the time of the global [economic] meltdown.
“And we know that [this] has affected Nigeria through two key channels—the oil price channel and the Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, outflow channel—which led to the crash in the stock market. Now, it would have been very clear that the problems of the banks were related to their exposure to the capital market and the oil market.”

We get the point now. Now the system is being set right side up. SLS burst onto the scene quietly not to rattle ‘the system’; he came to bell the very big cats in it. Married with children, SLS is widely published in many academic journals, books and newspapers in many lands.


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Press Preview and Tour of 'Yinka Shonibare MBE' Exhibit at the National Museum of African Art

IMimage 6.jpg

Yinka Shonibare, MBE

Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) (still) 2004

High definition digital video

32:00 minutes loop

Edition 1 of 6

Image courtesy of the artist, James Cohan Gallery, New York.

And Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.

Copyright the artist.


SOR - Africa large. Jpg

Yinka Shonibare, MBE

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (Africa) 2008

Type c photograph mounted on aluminum

Image size: 182.9 cm x 125.7 cm, framed size: 207 x 147.3 x 6.4 cm

Edition of 5

Image courtesy of the artist, James Cohan Gallery, New York

And Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Copyright the artist.

2 Nov 2009 19:00 Africa/Lagos

Press Preview and Tour of 'Yinka Shonibare MBE' Exhibit at the National Museum of African Art

WHAT: Press preview and tour of "Yinka Shonibare MBE" exhibit at the National Museum of African Art


WHEN: Monday, Nov. 9
10 a.m. to noon

WHERE: Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art
Lecture hall, sub-level two

WHO: Johnnetta Cole, director, National Museum of African Art
Karen Milbourne, on-site curator, National Museum of African Art
Rachel Kent, senior curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia


Yinka Shonibare, one of the most celebrated Nigerian artists of this generation, is the focus of an exhibition at the National Museum of African Art. Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia, the exhibit features dramatic paintings, photographs, film and sculptural tableaux that inspire reconsideration of class, race, nationality and history through their sensual beauty and use of irony.


The exhibit occupies two levels of the museum, assembling works of art never before seen together. The exhibit opens the National Museum of African Art's multiyear celebration "Nigeria: Then, Now and Forever," a series of exhibitions, public programs and special events showcasing the arts, culture and people of Nigeria. "Yinka Shonibare MBE" opens to the public Nov. 10 and continues through March 7, 2010.


About Yinka Shonibare


Born in England in 1962 and raised in Nigeria, Shonibare currently lives and works in London, where he has gained international attention by exploring issues of race and class through a range of media that includes sculpture, painting, photography and installation art. Shonibare is well known for his headless mannequins dressed in colorful batik fabrics.


CONTACT: Media only: Keith Blackman, +1-202-530-4585; keith.blackman@bm.com; or Kimberly Mayfield, +1-202-633-4649, +1-202-431-5954 (cell)


Media Web site: http://newsdesk.si.edu/


/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Nov. 2/


Source: Smithsonian National Museum of African Art

Nigerians May Welcome Military Coup

A popular American online news channel Huliq has reported Saturday that a military coup might be what most people need now in Nigeria since they have lost faith in the corrupt ruling party.

Nigerians have lost faith in their political leaders and may even welcome a military coup if that can salvage the nation from the evils of corrupt political contractors in power.

With over 20 million unemployed in the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria is on the brink of the worst fears of disintegrating before 2015 as predicted by the CIA. But majority of Nigerians blame their political leaders for misplacing priorities and scuttling the great prospects of the innovations developed by the Nigerian intelligentsia of gifted artists, scientists and scholars who have proposed practical solutions to the problems plaguing the nation. The greedy political contractors in power seem to be more confused than the electorate. They are still abusing their positions in government as revealed by the scandalous reports of misappropriations of public funds when last Thursday, Mr. Olabode George, a former chieftain of the corrupt and notorious ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and former Chairman of Board of Directors of the Nigeria Ports Authourity (NPA) was convicted for corruption. And he was not alone. Most of the former governors are still facing charges for corrupt practices. But many of them are still dining and wining and living large in their private estates in Lagos and Abuja.

Many banks have crashed and the manufacturing industry cannot function without regular power supply as daily outages have made many industries to collapse or relocate to Ghana where electric power supply is constant and cost of production is affordable.

There are public rallies against the government’s decision to deregulate the downstream sector and remove subsidies, and kidnappings are still common in the eastern states and Niger Delta region.

Millions of Nigerians say that Nigeria was better under military rule and have recalled that even though the country was bad under military tyrants, the corrupt shareholders of the PDP have made things worse.