In this chapter from Royal Mail, his twelve-part epistle to Queen Elizabeth II of England, the renowned Nigerian poet, King Nengi Josef Ilagha, Mingi XII, Amanyanabo of Nembe, suggests that the name of the Naira be changed to Turinchi, the Hausa-Fulani word for English, to reflect the national heritage of Nigeria as it marks 50 years of political independence from Britain.
II
The Flat Face Of The Naira
No one can make you a slave without your consent.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
YOUR MAJESTY, I am a living witness to just how round the pound is, even as a coin, and how prestigious it is in hand. There’s no dirt on the face of the Queen in the fifty pound note. It is the strongest currency in the world, and has been so for so long. The dollar bows to it, and so does the yen. The euro does not compare with the sterling by a yardstick, which is why the average British citizen would rather not have any kind of political merger that might spell a drop in value for the sterling.
By the way, how does it feel to have your face on your own national currency, to know that wherever the pound is, there you are as well? Today when I tell my children that, once upon a time, this same pound was the national currency in Nigeria, they find it hard to believe. It has become the stuff of legend that every pound and every shilling was mopped up by the Central Bank of Nigeria only in 1973, three years after the civil war. It is hard to believe that the naira, the Nigerian currency, was swapping on a cozy ratio of two naira to one pound at that time; that the naira indeed was on a comfortable one to one exchange footing with the American dollar.
Things have since fallen apart for the Nigerian naira, Your Majesty. The central government cannot hold it in place, not along the roadside market, not on the stock exchange. Recently, I had cause to change a huge pile of naira notes, all two hundred thousand pieces of them, and was suitably embarrassed to receive a sum under one thousand pounds in exchange. In the batting of an eyelid, I had finished counting. Before the imperial pound, the naira simply falls flat on its face, a willing slave on the fiscal calculus. I am still at a loss as to how this happened, Your Majesty, and why we haven’t been able to rise to our full height for so long.
At the recent Isaac Boro day celebrations in London, the special representative of the President at the occasion, Braeyi Ekiye, was telling the packed audience about the progress being made at the home front with regard to the proposed electoral reforms. Even though I was familiar with the figure that had been approved for the electoral commission towards the 2011 elections, the explosive sound of eighty-seven billion naira still reverberates in my ears -- and it has nothing to do with the burp of the microphone before Ekiye’s lips.
In times past, I thought, that figure would amount to the overall budget of a number of states for one year. Now, it is one of many approvals that the President is obliged to endorse within a space of four months. As the days unfold, my fellow country men and women seem to lose sight of a geographical verity, that the higher you go the cooler it becomes. With regard to the naira, in this particular case, the higher the figures the lower the value of our currency in the international money market.
Once upon a time, the naira was the leading and most liquid currency in all of West Africa, so much so that it was proposed as the legal tender of the sub-region. That’s because the Ghanaian cedi as well as the West African CFA franc were underlings, so many thousand units exchanging for a handful of naira. Not so anymore. We now count our funds in mouthfuls as well, and the more high-sounding the amounts, the more gratifying in the ears of the average contractor and his political collaborator. Every day, so much money is voted for, and so little gets done. Chinua Achebe testifies that “we have become so used to talking in millions and billions that we have ceased to have proper respect for the sheer size of such numbers.” He was writing in 1983, mark you. Today, twenty-seven years later, the tendency to proclaim billion naira figures is far more manifest, in the private calculations of individuals as in the official pronouncements of government.
Let me bring you up to date on this, Your Majesty. One of the most hopeful road projects in the fifty-year history of Nigeria is the Nembe-Brass road. It was first proposed by the Niger Delta Development Board in 1962. Then it came on the Federal Government's drawing board in 1971, and was first awarded by the General Yakubu Gowon regime, evidently in millions. The same project was re-awarded in 1983 by the Shehu Shagari government but was botched by the coup that was to follow. It was awarded a third time in 1990 by the Babangida regime only to be conveniently abandoned. In the wake of the presidential amnesty granted Niger Delta militants, the contract was awarded for a record fourth time in November 2009, just before the late President Yar’Adua took ill.
Today, the entire forty-two kilometer stretch of the road commencing from Yenagoa and cutting through Oloibiri and Nembe right down to Brass on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean, is estimated to cost one billion naira per kilometer. That would be forty-two billion naira, only. Professor E.J. Alagoa, chairman of the Nembe-Ibe Group Road Project, laments that forty-eight years after the idea for the road was first mooted and the commitment of the Federal Government was spelt out on paper, the road is still a future prospect. Given the penchant for cost variations in Nigeria’s construction industry, to say nothing of kick-backs and side kicks, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to Your Majesty if the road swallows all of eighty-four billion naira, if not more, by the time it gets to destination point.
Nigeria is an odd country, Your Majesty, at cross purposes with itself. Even in the development of literature and the arts, Nigeria is deficient. The writers weep for lack of patronage. Values are turned upside down and inside out. Nigeria is the only country on the face of the earth where an enlightened panel of judges decides the best nine books of poetry out of 163 published in four years, and yet cannot declare the winner. And then -- surprise, surprise! -- the prize money goes to the panel. It happened on the night of October 10, 2009, at the Nicon Noga in Abuja.
Former Heads of States were there, business tycoons were there, politicians came in all their pageantry. Only conscience was in flight. None of the eggheads on parade could ease the microphone from the Master of Ceremonies, and tell the panel of professors and their sponsors on the spot that it was wrong to advertise a prize for one full year, and demure when it mattered most. The prize money in question was not in naira. It carried greater value. It was fifty thousand United States dollars.
As Dan Agbese, one of Nigeria’s most perceptive journalists, would put it: “What distinguishes Nigeria from other countries is not our wealth but the way we use it. Other countries spend money to solve their problems. We turn money into missiles and shoot them at our problems.” He couldn’t have put it better. The poets in question are still reeling with shock in the aftermath of that unnecessary coup.
Even so, Your Majesty, you were no less unconscionable in your bid to exploit the resources of Nigeria. I dare say the British Crown built a good part of modern Britain on the wealth you colonized from our groundnut pyramids, our cocoa pods, our palm produce and our oil wells, in much the same way that Babangida built Abuja with the wealth derived from the Niger Delta. You will do well to wipe your conscience clean of this imperial misdemeanour.
It is time to own up to what you took by force and guile, time to return every artifact in your National Museum at Bloomsbury, every artistic piece that bears the signature of Nigeria, beginning with the sixteenth century Ivory Mask from Benin which was the mascot for the Second African Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC ‘77. And that is just in the cultural sector. It is time for restoration on a pervasive scale, time for conscience to have the right of way in your dealings with our nation and its long-suffering people.
***
If you were to throw a question over the heads of the Nigerian multitude, and ask all those who do not think that Jesus Christ can conduct free and fair elections in the country to raise their hands, only one man is bound to do so. That man is Olusegun Okikiola Obasanjo, OOO for short, a farmer from Ota who has since lost his hoe. It is like an obsession with him to utter offensive statements. Obasanjo is prone to blasphemy, Your Majesty. Like Prince Phillip, he has a risqué sense of humour. As Professor Charles Nnolim would say, “every time he opens his mouth, a big fat toad jumps out.” You want to hazard a bet? No need for that. OOO is my fellow country man. I know him better than you do. Never mind the show he put up for you when you visited Abuja seven years ago.
On the eve of the 2003 elections, Sam Aluko, one of the foremost economists in the country, had cause to compare the Abacha and Obasanjo administrations side by side. He scored Abacha far higher than OOO. At the very next press conference the farmer attended, the question came up for air. What’s your reaction to what Professor Aluko said about your government and its mismanagement of the naira? Obasanjo’s retort went right off the mark.
“That one whose son is a thief in the Senate?”
Talk about effrontery, Your Majesty. The man left the substance of the matter altogether and stalked the shadow instead. How fallacious can he get? Ask me another question. When approached for comments, Aluko chose not to join issues with the farmer. If he were to oblige him, he would have probably underscored the fact that, under Abacha, the naira exchanged for twenty-two to one dollar. But by the time Obasanjo left office on May 29, 2007, following his failed bid to make a third term, the naira had fallen to a sprawling low of one hundred and fifty to one dollar.
Mark you, I am not holding brief for General Sani Abacha. He was the most mindless, the most rabid, of all the dictators that ever governed Nigeria these past fifty years. His personal record of corruption and graft ranks as the most brazen in the annals of our history. The Swiss Bank is my witness. In fact, the government of OOO took it upon itself to investigate Abacha’s wholesale looting of Nigeria's coffers, and declared that $4 billion or £3 billion worth of foreign assets were traced to Abacha, all acquired at the expense of the tax payer. In 2002, out of $2.1 billion demanded by the government, Abacha's family agreed to return $1.2 billion that was annexed from the Central Bank. In many ways, Abacha was the last Nigerian military dictator. It is now twelve years since he passed on. We don’t need another.
It so happens that Bayelsa, one of the five states created by Abacha on October 1, 1996, remains something of a baby in diapers, practically exploited to retardation by its politicians and contractors, suffering under the malignant shadow cast by Abacha’s corrupt antecedents. Only recently, the current governor of the state earnestly promised on national television that he would build the first hanging bridge in Nigeria, so that the rest of humanity could come from far and near to see this construction engineering wonder.
Your Majesty, he spoke as one who has seen the drawbridge across the River Thames, and therefore that may not cut ice with you. I merely mention this as an indication of how imaginative our politicians can get. For fifty years of our sovereign nationhood, we have been coping with grand dreams conceived to hoodwink the hopeful voter and to buy time, while the treasury is systematically plundered for the selfsame prospect of the proverbial hanging bridge that never would be. And for ingenuity, for sheer creative bravado, a special prize must go to the chairman of the environmental sanitation authority in the state who stuffed four hundred million naira of tax payers’ money into an empty water tank, and left the criminal sum hanging high above his roof in what may well qualify as the modern-day equivalent of the Akassa Raid. That is how bad the scramble for the naira has become in the country you once ruled, God save the Queen.
What is even more ludicrous is that, on the eve of our country’s Golden Jubilee anniversary, a retired military dictator you may have heard about, a veteran coup maker with pretensions to decent civilian conduct, has declared his intentions to run for the presidency in the forthcoming elections. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, of course, gives him sufficient leave to contest for any office of his choice, as well he might. He believes he can lay the flat face of the naira on the negotiation table, and buy up every Nigerian conscience that may be up for sale ahead of the elections. By and by, we shall know just how far his bidding goes.
In the meantime, I suggest we change the face value of the naira, and opt for a more acceptable currency that would reflect our national heritage. Let us change the name of the Naira to Turinchi, the Hausa-Fulani word for English. After all, the English language has been our lingua franca in the last fifty years, and is likely to remain so for another half a century.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
IBB Did Not Annul The Historic June 12 Presidential Election Alone
M.K.O. Abiola, the Martyr of June 12Mr. Olatunji Dare,
I read "The Spirit of June 12"; published in The Nation on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, and the numerous responses you received.
The June 12 Crisis has not been critically addressed to actually know the truth, the annulment and how The National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and the other brave defenders of justice and democracy challenged the tyranny of the despotic military dictators until the martyrdom of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
Most of our youths have not even read the Saturday June 11, 1994 Epetedo Proclamation of M.K.O. Abiola, and are just reacting from hearsay and not conviction.
General Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda (IBB) (retd) did not annul the historic June 12 presidential election ALONE.
The late despot General Sani Abacha and their accomplices including Igbo leaders and some Yoruba leaders were partners in crime in the annulment.
I was an insider in the presidential campaign of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and I left when the primaries were cancelled. I knew that the presidential election was being stage-managed and would end in futility.
How can military dictators form two political parties for the electorate?
Is that true democracy?
How can you trust them to follow the rule of law in military dictatorship?
They formed the two political parties of National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and could as well cancel the primaries and annul the presidential election.
Let us not be overly sentimental about June 12 and get swayed by the hypocrisy of those who want to crucify IBB for the annulment of presidential election of June 12, 1993. He is not the only culprit.
What role did former President Olusegun Obasanjo play?
I am raising these critical salient issues, because of the appalling ignorance of the majority of Nigerians who are always being fooled by the political schemes and scams of the ruling class of the Nigerian kleptocracy of which the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) is the archetypal of a government of kleptomaniacs.
May I advise you to read the historical play "The Mandate of M.K.O Abiola" by Adeleke O. Adeyemi, which I published in 2007.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. – George Santayana.
CODENAME JUNE 12: MANDATE AND MAYHEM A Tragedy on the Greatest Threat Ever to Nigeria’s Ruling Mafia. And How it was Checked.
God save Nigeria from the anomie of corruption and hypocrisy.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Odega Shawa Exposes the Pastors of the Apocalypse
Nigeria is world famous for thousands pentecostal churches.Odega Shawa Exposes the Pastors of the Apocalypse
When Odega Shawa gave me an autographed copy of his critical analytical book “Pastors of the Apocalypse”, I was anxious and curious to find out the identities of the pastors and read the 105 pages in five hours without stepping out of my office.
Odega’s major focus is on the Nigerian pastors of the new generation churches who have their own interpretations of the Word of God for their own selfish motives. These pastors he nicknamed “Top Cat pastors” and he actually mentioned their names and their denominations. He must have done a thorough research on them to be able to separate the sheep from the goats among them. He mentioned altercations between Pastor Tunde Bakare and Bishop David Oyedepo, the controversial confrontation between Rev. Chris Okotie and Pastor T.B. Joshua and the issues raised over the glamourous personality of the late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya of the The Fountain of Life Church and the refuted comments made by Prophet T.O. Obadare, founder of the World Soul-Winning Evangelistic Ministries (WOSEM)..
Odega challenged the mercantilism of the worldly prosperity theology of some of the pastors and found them wanting in the Gospel truth of Jesus Christ. He made relevant references to the teachings of the Holy Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament to prove his points.
Odega’s reference to Dimethyltryptamine on the question of the origins of God and the existential facts of life affecting the human species and their destiny is also as controversial as his polemic analysis of the crisis of faith being exploited by these so called “Pastors of the Apocalypse”.
The gullibility and hypocrisy of most of the millions of church goers in Nigeria have made them easy preys of the false prophets or the wolves in sheep clothing who are giving Christianity a bad name.
“Pastors of the Apocalypse” is a must read for everyone who needs more knowledge on the history of religion, the challenges of the Christian fate and how to identify the true ministers and their congregations in contrast to the confused and fake multitudes.
Odega Shawa, a graduate of the University of Lagos has written a well researched book and his English is flawless.
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Eritrea / Journalists still hunted down nine years after September 2001 purges
17 Sep 2010 19:44 Africa/Lagos
Eritrea / Journalists still hunted down nine years after September 2001 purges
ASMARA, Eritrea September 17, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Eritrean authorities continue to gag all forms of free expression and recently arrested another journalist as he was trying to flee the country, Reporters Without Borders said today, on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the start of a brutal political purge in Asmara on 18 September 2001. The organisation wrote to the British authorities yesterday urging them to prosecute one of the purge's organisers, who now lives in Britain.
Journalist Eyob Kessete of state-owned radio Dimtsi Hafash's Amharic-language service was arrested at some point during the past summer as he was trying to cross the border into Ethiopia. It is not known where he is now being held. After his first arrest for trying to defect at the start of the summer of 2007, he was held in several prisons until relatives obtained his release in late 2008 or early 2009 by acting as guarantors.
The fate of around 20 other imprisoned journalists is still cloaked in the same oppressive official silence. There is still no news, for example, about Said Abdulhai, a journalist who was arrested during the last week of March. It is still not clear where Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaac of the now-closed daily Setit, who was arrested on 23 September 2001 in Asmara, is being held. A new collection of his writings, entitled “Hope – The Tale of Moses' and Manna's Love and other texts” is to be unveiled next week at Sweden's Göteborg book fair.
The September 2001 round-ups, the closure of all the privately-owned media and the arrests of the main newspaper publishers began a period of terror from which Eritrea still has not emerged because of the intolerance and paranoia of its leaders. Nowadays, there are no independent media, foreign reporters are unwelcome and journalists working for the state media must enthusiastically peddle government propaganda and, if they cannot follow orders, they have no choice but to flee the country.
Reporters Without Borders wrote yesterday to Scotland Yard's War Crimes Department to ask about the state of its investigation into Naizghi Kiflu, an Eritrean citizen resident in Britain. As information minister and presidential adviser at the time of the 2001 crackdown, he could be arrested and prosecuted under article 134 of the 1988 Criminal Justice Act, which punishes torture.
In May 2008, Reporters Without Borders issued a report entitled “Naizghi Kiflu, the dictatorship's eminence grise” that detailed the role he played in Eritrea's repressive apparatus. Read the report: http://en.rsf.org/eritrea-naizghi-kiflu-the-dictatorship-s-21-05-2008,27109.html.
Eritrea has come last in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for the past three years. It is ranked 175th out of 175 countries. The onetime hero of Eritrea's liberation struggle, President Issaias Afeworki now oppresses his people and has become Africa's most ruthless dictator. He is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Predators of Press Freedom.” More information: http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=predateur&id_article=37194.
Sign the petition for the release of journalists imprisoned in Eritrea: http://en.rsf.org/petition-for-release-of-imprisoned-journalists,37549.html.
Source: Reporters without Borders (RSF)
Eritrea / Journalists still hunted down nine years after September 2001 purges
ASMARA, Eritrea September 17, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Eritrean authorities continue to gag all forms of free expression and recently arrested another journalist as he was trying to flee the country, Reporters Without Borders said today, on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the start of a brutal political purge in Asmara on 18 September 2001. The organisation wrote to the British authorities yesterday urging them to prosecute one of the purge's organisers, who now lives in Britain.
Journalist Eyob Kessete of state-owned radio Dimtsi Hafash's Amharic-language service was arrested at some point during the past summer as he was trying to cross the border into Ethiopia. It is not known where he is now being held. After his first arrest for trying to defect at the start of the summer of 2007, he was held in several prisons until relatives obtained his release in late 2008 or early 2009 by acting as guarantors.
The fate of around 20 other imprisoned journalists is still cloaked in the same oppressive official silence. There is still no news, for example, about Said Abdulhai, a journalist who was arrested during the last week of March. It is still not clear where Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaac of the now-closed daily Setit, who was arrested on 23 September 2001 in Asmara, is being held. A new collection of his writings, entitled “Hope – The Tale of Moses' and Manna's Love and other texts” is to be unveiled next week at Sweden's Göteborg book fair.
The September 2001 round-ups, the closure of all the privately-owned media and the arrests of the main newspaper publishers began a period of terror from which Eritrea still has not emerged because of the intolerance and paranoia of its leaders. Nowadays, there are no independent media, foreign reporters are unwelcome and journalists working for the state media must enthusiastically peddle government propaganda and, if they cannot follow orders, they have no choice but to flee the country.
Reporters Without Borders wrote yesterday to Scotland Yard's War Crimes Department to ask about the state of its investigation into Naizghi Kiflu, an Eritrean citizen resident in Britain. As information minister and presidential adviser at the time of the 2001 crackdown, he could be arrested and prosecuted under article 134 of the 1988 Criminal Justice Act, which punishes torture.
In May 2008, Reporters Without Borders issued a report entitled “Naizghi Kiflu, the dictatorship's eminence grise” that detailed the role he played in Eritrea's repressive apparatus. Read the report: http://en.rsf.org/eritrea-naizghi-kiflu-the-dictatorship-s-21-05-2008,27109.html.
Eritrea has come last in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for the past three years. It is ranked 175th out of 175 countries. The onetime hero of Eritrea's liberation struggle, President Issaias Afeworki now oppresses his people and has become Africa's most ruthless dictator. He is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Predators of Press Freedom.” More information: http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=predateur&id_article=37194.
Sign the petition for the release of journalists imprisoned in Eritrea: http://en.rsf.org/petition-for-release-of-imprisoned-journalists,37549.html.
Source: Reporters without Borders (RSF)
Saturday, September 18, 2010
President Goodluck Jonathan is the Trump Card of the PDP
Goodluck Jonathan Declaration of Intent For The 2011 Presidential Race
Dear compatriots, four months ago, providence placed me at the leadership of our dear country, following the untimely death of our dear former President, my brother and leader, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. It was a very solemn and trying moment for me personally and for the country as a whole. …
~ President Goodluck Jonathan
Over 40, 000 people from all the 36 states of Nigeria are presently at the Eagle Square in Nigeria to witness the declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2011 Presidential Election.
Governors, legislators and other party stalwarts of the notorious rulingPeople’s Democratic Party (PDP) have endorsed Mr. Jonathan who upon the death of the former President Yar’Adua on 5 May 2010 succeeded him to the Presidency, taking the oath of office on 6 May 2010.
The centrist ruling party has been in power since May 29, 1999. But the party has failed to deliver on its promises to improve the living conditions of the most populous country in Africa plagued by rampant corrupt practices and ethno-religious conflicts. The top leaders of the notorious party have been implicated in the Halliburton Bribery Scandal, Siemens Bribery Scandal and other financial crimes and indicted by Amnesty International.
The PDP has exploited the gullibility and hypocrisy the populace to perpetuate its misadministration of the nation. Therefore, most of the citizens will not be surprised if Mr. Jonathan wins the next presidential election in January 2011, because of his power of incumbency and the billion naira budget of his presidential campaign sponsored by Machiavellian political machinery of his sponsors.
The whole scenario reminds me of the exclamation of “It is ‘déjà vu’ all over again!” by Mobolaji Aluko, Ph.D. on April 3, 2002 in his “How A Self-Succession Bid has Turned Nigeria into “Animal Farm” published by Dawodu.Com.
The mammoth crowd at the Eagle Square is reminiscent of the infamous pro-Sani Abacha ‘Two Million Man March’ and seeing the popular Nigerian singer Onyeka Owenu performing her campaign song “Goodluck Jonathan Run” completes the nostalgia, because she did the same for General Sani Abacha at the ill-fated pro-Sani Abacha ‘Two Million Man March’ in the company of many popular musicians and other entertainers from March 2-3, 1998.
The status quo of the corrupt ruling class has not changed and they are desperate to use all means possible to retain power at all costs. And President Goodluck Jonathan is the trump card of the PDP to win the January 22 presidential election in Nigeria.
The only opposition party that can stop the notoriety of the PDP is Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), but it is yet to present any formidable presidential candidate. None of the other political parties can beat the ruling party no matter the credibility of their notable presidential aspirants like former military head of state Gen. Muhammad Buhari (retd) whose strict Islamic ideology makes him unpopular among millions of Christians and liberals in Nigeria.
Nigeria is a country ruled by political gangsters, their proxies and stooges and supported by their legions of beneficiaries and sycophants whose culture of corruption and hypocrisy will continue to plague them until we have a revolution like the one led by Jerry Rawlings of Ghana from 7 January 1993 – 7 January 2001. Only a transformational revolutionary leader can liberate our beloved Nigeria from these kleptomaniacs and their dogs.
God save Nigeria.
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Posted in DANGEROUS MEN: The Next Big Nigerian Film After IJÉ the Journey
Dangerous Men: The Next Big Nigerian Film After Chineze Anyaene's IJÉ the Journey
« on: Today at 03:23:36 PM »
SYNOPSIS
Emmanuel (Nigerian action star George Davidson), is an assassin who goes against the order of his contractor X (GuGu E. Michaels) and refuses to carry out a hit placed on Senator Kingston (New comer M.J. Mathias).
Emmanuel in danger, is forced to take a homeless man (Nigeria’s 5 times Kung Fu champion Leo U” Che) and turn him into the perfect killer. The deadly duo forms an alliance with Kingston and go after X the very man that hired Emmanuel for the Kingston hit. This action flick leads to an ultimate fighting showdown between the new generation assassin Samuel and the veteran head of the organization of Assassins X. Get ready for non-stop action, masterful fight sequences and out of the world visual effects that will leave the audience with their mouths open and in shock. Shot in High Definition (HD), with 35mm film look, shot with the backdrop of Lagos, Nigeria.
Dangerous Men is a sure thing for all action fans across the globe.
Dangerous Men has attracted the interest of the major North American distributor TMG WARNER SYSTEM,
The production company GU International Pictures (GIP) is an American Nigerian multimedia entertainment company making films, music videos and other productions of world class standard.
DANGEROUS MEN is a thriller by GuGu E. Michaels, an accomplished filmmaker who has worked as a director and producer on a number of commercial and independent projects including the feature films "Thugz", "Repentance" and "Dangerous County". He has also helmed a number of campaigns for retailers like Cadillac, Lamborghini and Porche. Prior to co-founding New Era Pictures, Michaels served as president of Dallas based Redrumm Records and worked with such artists as hip hop giants UGK.
DANGEROUS MEN will start showing at Silverbird Cinemas from October 15, 2010.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Will and Jada Smith Team Up With charity: water to Provide Clean Water to People in Developing Nations
Will and Jada's Birthday Celebration from charity: water on Vimeo.
Our Mission:
We view contribution and service as a celebration of one’s gifts. We celebrate the grace that has been bestowed upon us as we honor our gifts though sharing them. There are men, women and children who, right now, do not have clean water to drink – we celebrate the fact that we are able to help quench their thirst.
We believe every person on the planet should have access to clean drinking water.
This year we celebrate our birthdays by giving the gift of clean drinking water through charity:water. Join us. 100% of the money raised goes to digging wells and to clean water projects in developing nations. 100% of our gifts will change the world, one person at a time. And make your next birthday a celebration of your gifts by raising money for clean drinking water too. We’ll take the top three fundraisers with us to Africa to see the wells when they’re built.
-Will and Jada Smith
Will and Jada Smith Team Up With charity: water to Provide Clean Water to People in Developing Nations
Three fundraising fans to join Smith family on trip to Africa
NEW YORK, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- charity: water and Will and Jada Smith are joining forces to help make an impact on the water crisis. The Smiths announced today that they are celebrating their September birthdays by asking their fans to make donations to help build water projects in developing nations. See the Smiths' personal video at: www.charitywater.org/willandjada
In a once in a lifetime opportunity, Will and Jada Smith are hosting a contest where the top three fundraisers to start their own birthday campaigns will join the Smith family on a trip to visit the completed water projects in Africa.
Will and Jada Smith said:
"We view contribution and service as a celebration of one's gifts. We celebrate the grace that has been bestowed upon us as we honor our gifts though sharing them. There are men, women and children who, right now, do not have clean water to drink -- we celebrate the fact that we are able to help quench their thirst.
"We believe every person on the planet should have access to clean drinking water.
"This year we celebrate our birthday by giving the gift of clean drinking water through charity: water. Join us. 100% of the money raised goes to digging wells and to clean water projects in developing nations. 100% of our gifts will change the world, one person at a time. And make your next birthday a celebration of your gifts by raising money for clean drinking water too. We'll take the top three fundraisers with us to Africa to see the wells when they're built."
Jada Smith is celebrating her 39th birthday on September 18th and Will Smith is celebrating his 42nd birthday on September 25th. 100 percent of funds raised from the Smiths' birthday campaign will go directly to water projects.
Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water said, "charity: water is extremely honored to have the support of Will and Jada Smith. Their enthusiasm for the cause is inspirational and we're excited to work together to help make a real dent in the water crisis. Our goal is to motivate others to join the birthday movement. Together, we can bring clean and safe drinking water to those in need."
Four years ago, charity: water was born in September with a birthday party. Since then, thousands of people from around the world are celebrating their birthdays using the online platform, mycharitywater.org to raise money to make an impact on the water crisis.
About charity: water
charity: water (www.charitywater.org) is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100 percent of the money raised goes directly to project costs, funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need. Just $20 can give one person in a developing nation clean water for 20 years. In four years, with the help of more than 100,000 donors worldwide, charity: water has funded more than 2,900 water projects in 17 countries. Those projects will provide over 1,277,000 people with clean, safe drinking water.
Why water?
Almost a billion people don't have access to clean, safe drinking water. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80 percent of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, and women and children bear the burden of water collection.
SOURCE charity: water
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Nigeria's 2011 election: Opportunity to boost Democracy and Commonwealth Values
14 Sep 2010 06:11 Africa/Lagos
Nigeria's 2011 election / A momentous opportunity to deepen democratic practice and uphold Commonwealth values
LONDON, September 13, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, has called on the leaders and people of Nigeria to work together towards a peaceful and credible election which will enjoy the full confidence of all Nigerians and the wider Commonwealth community.
Mr Sharma made this call following the formal release of election dates in January 2011 by the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC). According to INEC's timetable, National Assembly Elections are due on 15 January, Presidential Elections on 22 January and Gubernatorial Elections on 29 January.
“Nigeria is a valued member of the Commonwealth. It is the Commonwealth's largest member state in Africa and plays a leading role in a variety of ways in West Africa and beyond. It is therefore in the interest not only of the Nigerian people themselves but also of Africa, the Commonwealth and the international community as a whole that democracy thrives in Nigeria,” Mr Sharma added. political parties, civil society, the media and the electorate -- had a role to play in entrenching democratic culture and practice in order to achieve this goal.
“The Commonwealth,” Mr Sharma reiterated, “is committed to assisting Nigeria towards achieving the best ever election in its political history.” To this end, he urged all political parties to work together to ensure that the upcoming elections live up to the Commonwealth's stated democratic values and principles, to which Nigeria strongly subscribes.
Mr Sharma wished INEC, political parties and all other stakeholders all success in their preparations for the elections.
Source: Commonwealth Secretariat
Releases displayed in Africa/Lagos time
14 Sep 2010
06:11
Nigeria's 2011 election / A momentous opportunity to deepen democratic practice and uphold Commonwealth values
13 Sep 2010
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Nigeria's 2011 election / A momentous opportunity to deepen democratic practice and uphold Commonwealth values
LONDON, September 13, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, has called on the leaders and people of Nigeria to work together towards a peaceful and credible election which will enjoy the full confidence of all Nigerians and the wider Commonwealth community.
Mr Sharma made this call following the formal release of election dates in January 2011 by the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC). According to INEC's timetable, National Assembly Elections are due on 15 January, Presidential Elections on 22 January and Gubernatorial Elections on 29 January.
“Nigeria is a valued member of the Commonwealth. It is the Commonwealth's largest member state in Africa and plays a leading role in a variety of ways in West Africa and beyond. It is therefore in the interest not only of the Nigerian people themselves but also of Africa, the Commonwealth and the international community as a whole that democracy thrives in Nigeria,” Mr Sharma added. political parties, civil society, the media and the electorate -- had a role to play in entrenching democratic culture and practice in order to achieve this goal.
“The Commonwealth,” Mr Sharma reiterated, “is committed to assisting Nigeria towards achieving the best ever election in its political history.” To this end, he urged all political parties to work together to ensure that the upcoming elections live up to the Commonwealth's stated democratic values and principles, to which Nigeria strongly subscribes.
Mr Sharma wished INEC, political parties and all other stakeholders all success in their preparations for the elections.
Source: Commonwealth Secretariat
Releases displayed in Africa/Lagos time
14 Sep 2010
06:11
Nigeria's 2011 election / A momentous opportunity to deepen democratic practice and uphold Commonwealth values
13 Sep 2010
22:00
Comcast and One Economy Launch Digital Connectors Program at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Blue Ridge
21:30
Bristow Group Announces Appointment of Jonathan E. Baliff to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
15:50
Are the Prescription Drugs You Are Taking Real, or Counterfeit? HDNet's Dan Rather Reports Investigates
14:47
EODT to Share Expertise at IPOA 2010 Legal Conference
12:00
Ritchie Bros. conducts CA$44 million unreserved auction in Edmonton
Hot Topics
Two Years After Financial Collapse, Nearly Seven in 10 Americans Say They Are Optimistic About the Future of Their Household Finances
Hotels.com Hotel Price Index Finds Hotel Prices Still Low but on the Rise
AARP Survey Looks at Recession's Impact on Lower-Income Adults 45+
Legacy Recordings & Experience Hendrix LLC Announce the Release of West Coast Seattle Boy - The Jimi Hendrix Anthology Available Tuesday, November 16
Lady Gaga Dominates the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards With Eight Moonman Awards Including Coveted 'Video Of The Year'
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
San Bruno, CA Fire
New Football Season
Monday, September 13, 2010
Obama's Proposed Oil and Gas Tax Hikes to Cost U.S. Economy 154,000 Jobs in 2011
13 Sep 2010 05:01 Africa/Lagos
Obama's Proposed Oil and Gas Tax Hikes to Cost U.S. Economy 154,000 Jobs in 2011
White House's new 'stimulus' plans would trigger loss of $341 billion in economic activity
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Louisiana State University Endowed Chair of Banking and nationally-renowned economist Dr. Joseph R. Mason estimates that President Obama's proposed energy tax changes would trigger grave economic consequences. In the newly released "Regional and National Economic Impact of Repealing the Section 199 Tax Deduction and Dual-capacity Tax Credit for Oil and Gas Producers," Dr. Mason finds the resulting fallout over the next ten years would include:
-- Initial losses of over 154,000 jobs by the end of 2011, not only in
the energy sector but across the whole economy;
-- More than $341 billion in lost U.S. economic output; and
-- In excess of $68 billion in lost wages nationwide.
"As we've seen in its 2011 budget and newly unveiled 'stimulus' plans, the Obama administration aims to single out U.S. oil and gas firms and raise the cost of energy for consumers by eliminating crucial tax credits to which all taxpayers are entitled," Dr. Mason said.
"Though politicians think they are selectively targeting 'Big Oil' with these energy tax proposals, they would actually devastate thousands of small American businesses nationwide as well as the workers who depend on them. With at least 150,000 U.S. jobs at stake - in fields ranging from healthcare to real estate - it's clear that the costs of repealing Section 199 and dual capacity far outweigh the potential benefit of increased government revenues that may be derived from the proposal."
"The discriminatory energy tax increases proposed by the administration will destroy American jobs and raise the price of energy for consumers," president and CEO of the American Energy Alliance Tom Pyle said. "President Obama's proposed changes -- which would apply solely to oil and gas companies -- have little to do with the debate over offshore drilling safety or even energy policy in general. This tax grab merely represents punitive policies that are now finding a place in the sun in the post-BP oil spill crisis political environment."
Using the government's own economic model - the U.S. Commerce Department's RIMS II system - Dr. Mason provides incredibly conservative economic impacts. In fact, these already staggering estimates do not even include the effects of the proposed tax increases on individual investors. That means if Congress implements these proposed changes, the economic fallout could be even more substantial.
Dr. Mason's report was sponsored by Save U.S. Energy Jobs - a project of the AEA - established to help promote the nation's energy sector. To learn more and get exclusive information on upcoming projects, follow Save U.S. Energy Jobs on Twitter and Facebook.
Founded in May, 2008, The American Energy Alliance ("AEA") is a not-for-profit organization that engages in grassroots public policy advocacy and debate concerning energy and environmental policies. AEA is the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a not-for-profit organization - founded in 1989 - that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets.
Source: American Energy Alliance
CONTACT: Laura Henderson of American Energy Alliance, +1-202-380-5758
Obama's Proposed Oil and Gas Tax Hikes to Cost U.S. Economy 154,000 Jobs in 2011
White House's new 'stimulus' plans would trigger loss of $341 billion in economic activity
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Louisiana State University Endowed Chair of Banking and nationally-renowned economist Dr. Joseph R. Mason estimates that President Obama's proposed energy tax changes would trigger grave economic consequences. In the newly released "Regional and National Economic Impact of Repealing the Section 199 Tax Deduction and Dual-capacity Tax Credit for Oil and Gas Producers," Dr. Mason finds the resulting fallout over the next ten years would include:
-- Initial losses of over 154,000 jobs by the end of 2011, not only in
the energy sector but across the whole economy;
-- More than $341 billion in lost U.S. economic output; and
-- In excess of $68 billion in lost wages nationwide.
"As we've seen in its 2011 budget and newly unveiled 'stimulus' plans, the Obama administration aims to single out U.S. oil and gas firms and raise the cost of energy for consumers by eliminating crucial tax credits to which all taxpayers are entitled," Dr. Mason said.
"Though politicians think they are selectively targeting 'Big Oil' with these energy tax proposals, they would actually devastate thousands of small American businesses nationwide as well as the workers who depend on them. With at least 150,000 U.S. jobs at stake - in fields ranging from healthcare to real estate - it's clear that the costs of repealing Section 199 and dual capacity far outweigh the potential benefit of increased government revenues that may be derived from the proposal."
"The discriminatory energy tax increases proposed by the administration will destroy American jobs and raise the price of energy for consumers," president and CEO of the American Energy Alliance Tom Pyle said. "President Obama's proposed changes -- which would apply solely to oil and gas companies -- have little to do with the debate over offshore drilling safety or even energy policy in general. This tax grab merely represents punitive policies that are now finding a place in the sun in the post-BP oil spill crisis political environment."
Using the government's own economic model - the U.S. Commerce Department's RIMS II system - Dr. Mason provides incredibly conservative economic impacts. In fact, these already staggering estimates do not even include the effects of the proposed tax increases on individual investors. That means if Congress implements these proposed changes, the economic fallout could be even more substantial.
Dr. Mason's report was sponsored by Save U.S. Energy Jobs - a project of the AEA - established to help promote the nation's energy sector. To learn more and get exclusive information on upcoming projects, follow Save U.S. Energy Jobs on Twitter and Facebook.
Founded in May, 2008, The American Energy Alliance ("AEA") is a not-for-profit organization that engages in grassroots public policy advocacy and debate concerning energy and environmental policies. AEA is the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a not-for-profit organization - founded in 1989 - that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets.
Source: American Energy Alliance
CONTACT: Laura Henderson of American Energy Alliance, +1-202-380-5758
A Note of thanks to the Presidency for the Shock and Awe move on Public Officials
President Goodluck Jonathan and a top leader of the ruling party.Mr. Jonathan, Mr. Oghiadomhe, a note of thanks to the Presidency for the Shock and Awe move on Public officials
Authority in form of indirect dictatorship is the executive code of a president, and you Sir as well as the brain trust of your
administration have shown this act of primacy in the recent days.
It’s a way of life at people will read different meanings into you recent steadfast actions as they relate to the swift removal of a number of senior public officials.
It is assumed that you took these exceptional actions for political,
security, psychological and calculating reasons. To an extent the move appears Machiavellian in style and in strategy. But who cares?
For a society that is almost a failed State, long before your time,
your actions no matter how despotic they appear to look are within your executive power and the confines of the law.
Sir, it is a fact that you or no other person cannot suddenly or
fundamentally change the Nigerian society within the next few months.
As no one knows what may happen in the coming 2010 election, given the absolute lack of adequate time that surrounds its smooth execution.
Nevertheless, Sir use the next few days, few weeks and few months to show a clear commitment to the pursuit of high standards, ethics and fair play across all public institutions.
It has been so distressing to watch the society shrinking into the
grounds of no-return. Sir, in spite of the mixed feelings you may have
about the Diasporan and some Nigerian-based internet Newspapers they continue to bring to spotlight unbelievable acts of some public
officials and the agonizing state of the society.
If there are any roadblocks the President needs to clear they should
include the daunting problems in the area of public leadership.
Sir is one thing to change one official head for another as in the
case of the now ex-security chiefs. If the country is to be clearly
equipped with new leadership as with your recent appointments, let each of them undergo African-oriented Psychological assessment to somewhat ensure that their respective personality style or makeup have a direct correlation to public and institutional ethics.
Sir, as an academic you know that irrespective of the ethnic
considerations for appointments in a Tribal/Presidential Democracy like Nigeria, there are still other factors to consider in a public
official, senior officials especially.
These factors include indexes of genuineness, competency, empathy and honesty as they are what should characterize public leaders.
Sir, it is time for the nation to start looking at how competent and
loyal is various policy officials, institution Directors and other
Heads are to the people.
It is by cleaning the internal control structure of agencies that
actual gain or outputs can be seen at all levels of public governance.
Sir, when will we see more acts of shock and awe in public entities
like the universities, court administration, postal service, schools
management, procurement management, ammunition management, labor management, traffic management, and other security related agencies? Let’s hope it is soon.
Mr. President, time is critical and it is an inescapable fact that no
one knows how the 2011 Presidential contest will unfold across the
North and South, as such help the ordinary people by ‘stepping on more toes’, by ‘throwing more dirt’ or frighten the sensibilities of
officials who continue to show total disregard to commonsense
practices and governance.
Again, with more shock and awe changes, the acts of accountability and transparency will be forever tied to your Presidential name, to your executive staff and other brain trusts in the administration.
~ By John Oshodi
John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D, DABPS, FACFE is a practicing
Forensic/Clinical Psychologist and the Interim Associate Dean of
Academic Affairs-Behavioral Science, North Campus, Broward College, Coconut Creek, Florida. joshodi@broward.edu
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