Arianna Huffington, David Brookson and others debate American politics

"Basically, the two-party system is like a stale marriage. Democrats and Republicans need something to spice it up. They need to go on Craigslist and find a third party."
~ Arianna Huffington


16 Feb 2011 19:07 Africa/Lagos


'America's House Divided'

Intelligence Squared Debates Examines America's Two-Party System

Arianna Huffington & David Brooks Square Off Against P.J. O'Rourke & Zev Chafets to Debate: America's Two-Party System is Making America Ungovernable
Debate to broadcast on NPR stations nationwide and telecast on Bloomberg TV globally beginning February 21 at 9PM EST

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2011

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The latest round in America's premier debate series, Intelligence Squared Debates, pitted President and Editor-in-Chief of Huffington Post Media Group, Arianna Huffington and New York Times columnist David Brooks, against America's premier political satirist P.J. O'Rourke, and Zev Chafets, contributor to the New York Times Magazine and founding editor of the Jerusalem Report.

The controversial resolution at Intelligence Squared Debates' (IQ2US) latest intellectual matchup was the second in their themed season, "America's House Divided." The debate was moderated by ABC News Nightline's John Donvan.

Key excerpts from the debate include:

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

"Basically, the two-party system is like a stale marriage. Democrats and Republicans need something to spice it up. They need to go on Craigslist and find a third party."

DAVID BROOKS

"So they're weird social creatures [politicians]. Nonetheless, I would say in general, they are better people than one would anticipate. Most of them are in it for the right reason, but they're stuck in a rotten system. They're stuck in our current two-party system which forces them to behave in ways that are worse than they are. It's a mind suck."

P.J. O'ROURKE

"Now, I would argue in favor of America's two-party system not because of America's two political parties but because America doesn't really have political parties at all … Republicans and Democrats don't have ideologies. They just have these vague platform planks made of rotten wood of political expediency. If American party platforms were backyard tree forts, you would not let your children climb in them. Anyone can join an American political party, even a witch!"

ZEV CHAFETS

"In multi-party systems, there are many people who also don't feel that they're represented by any of the parties. And I, having lived in a country [Israel] that has 14 parties, I can tell you that I didn't find any that represented me -- that's sort of an inherent problem of democracy. If you have a party that fits the taste of every person or every group of people, you'll have hundreds or a multiplicity of parties that makes it impossible to govern."

For this specific debate, the audience not only voted on the resolution, but also identified their political party affiliation – Republican, Democrat, Independent – at the top of the evening. Before the debate, the IQ2US audience voted with the following:

* 46 % of audience agreeing with the resolution
* 24 % of audience against the resolution
* 30 % undecided


After carefully considering the points, P.J. O'Rourke and Zev Chafets won the debate -- the team that moves the most votes at the end of the evening is determined the winner.

* 50 % of audience agreeing with the resolution
* 40 % of audience against the resolution
* 10 % undecided


The showdown at NYU's Skirball Center in New York City (566 LaGuardia Place) put the leading public intellectuals in the limelight in front of a live sold-out audience of 800 for nearly two hours of heated debate.

To learn more about the debate and review a detailed breakdown of how Republicans, Democrats, and Independents in the audience voted pre- and post-debate, please visit our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/Think2Twice

ABOUT INTELLIGENCE SQUARED DEBATES (IQ2US)

Rethink your point of view with Intelligence Squared U.S. (IQ2US), Oxford-style debates live from New York City. Based on the highly successful debate program based in London, Intelligence Squared, Intelligence Squared U.S. has presented 46 debates on a wide range of provocative and timely topics. From global warming and the financial crisis, to Afghanistan/Pakistan and the death of mainstream media, Intelligence Squared brings together the world's leading authorities on the day's most important issues.

Since its inception in 2006, the goals have been to provide a new forum for intelligent discussion, grounded in facts and informed by reasoned analysis; to transcend the toxically emotional and the reflexively ideological; and to encourage recognition that the opposing side has intellectually respectable views.

The Rosenkranz Foundation initiated the Intelligence Squared U.S. Debate Series and continues to provide major support.

SOURCE Intelligence Squared Debates
NOTE TO EDITORS: To view transcripts and videos, download audio or video clips or learn more about Intelligence Squared U.S. please visit: http://intelligencesquaredus.org/index.php/debates/america-divided-us-politics/ --- Bloomberg TV will air the debate on February 21, 22, and 23 at 9:00pm EST with additional repeats ongoing throughout the weekend. To find Bloomberg TV in your area, please visit: www.bloomberg.com/intelligence-squared-debates --- NPR will air the debate on stations nationwide and provide podcast availability to download (need exact language from NPR). Please check with your local NPR stations for additional details or visit: www.npr.org/intelligencesquared --- John Donvan, correspondent for ABC News Nightline, is moderator of Intelligence Squared Debates. Dana Wolfe is the executive producer. --- 2011 marks Intelligence Squared Debates fifth series and is themed, "America's House Divided." IQ2US' first debate of the spring season featured health care reform. Upcoming debates this season will focus on: clean energy, America's global reach and immigration. IQ2US' 2010 fall season highlighted issues including: the treatment of captured terrorists, whether Islam is a religion of peace, big government, the war in Afghanistan and airport profiling.

CONTACT: Robert Pini, +1-212-918-2048, or +1-917-674-6575, Robert@high10media.com

Web Site: http://intelligencesquaredus.org

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Releases displayed in Africa/Lagos time 16 Feb 2011 15:18 Djibouti / Call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Jean-Paul Noel Abdi, President of the Ligue Djiboutienne des Droits Humains (LDDH) 10:28 IIUM Confers Honorary Doctorate on His Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al-Nuaimi 14 Feb 2011 18:26 African Union / Provisional Programme of Work of the PSC for February 2011 16:09 US $ 5 million from BADEA to Zimbabwe 12 Feb 2011 04:59 Uganda / Head of EU Delegation, EAC Deputy Secretary General meet 11 Feb 2011 16:19 Das erste Jahr des neuen ukrainischen Pr?sidenten ist ein Erfolg - Pr?sident des Projekts f?r den ?bergang zur Demokratie 14:50 The First Year of the New Ukrainian President is a Success - President of the Project for Transitional Democracies 05:10 Secretary-General's Panel on the Referenda in the Sudan / Statement to the Security Council 10 Feb 2011 14:51 US Ambassador Rice at U.N. Security Council Briefing on Sudan 05:04 South Sudan votes for independence 04:52 South Sudan votes for independence 04:46 South Sudan votes for independence
17 Feb 2011
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11:30	MarketsandMarkets: Worldwide Smartphones Market Worth US$258.9 Billion by 2015 and Mobile Phone Market Worth US$341.4 Billion by the Same Year
11:20	Love: It's Not Just for Valentine's Day!
11:00	New York Readies to Celebrate Scottish-American Heritage April 3rd - 10th, a Full Week of Events, Topped off With a Parade
09:00	Cutting the Green Tape
08:30	Does Online Flirting Predict Offline Revolution?

Facebook's secret Facephone is ready?

Believe it or not, but there is nothing new under the sun. If Google could break into the competitive cell phone industry like Apple and others, then do not be surprised if Facebook joins the competition to cash in on the endless demands for new gadgets in the world. That is why we should not dismiss Michael Arrington’s whistle that an insider revealed that Facebook is developing the software for a Facebook phone. The news circulated since last September.



“Two high level Facebook employees – Joe Hewitt and Matthew Papakipos – are said to be secretly working on the project, which is unknown even to most Facebook staff. Both have deep operating system experience,” said Michael Arrington, the Founder & Co-Edito of TechCrunch.

Now here is the latest scoop on the secret Facebook phone. But will the phone be attractive enough to compete with the best from Nokia, BlackBerry and others?


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

An endangered species of Nigerian men

Pastor Paul Adefarasin


An endangered species of Nigerian men in romance are the few good men who are;

1. Very faithful and they practice conjugal fidelity.
2. Very committed to the fulfillment of their sweethearts. They are proud partners in progress in both the academic and professional goals of their beloved. They do not treat women as sex objects, but as mutual HELP MATES and PLAYMATES
3. Very ambitious from the bedroom to the boardroom, that is to say, they are very good faithful lovers and very good faithful leaders.
4. Very bold and brave in the protection of the leadership of the family, community and society.
They are bridge builders and nation builders.

Nigerian Men like Pastor Paul Adefarasin.

How do French entrepreneurs see Africa?

15 Feb 2011 14:20 Africa/Lagos


How do French entrepreneurs see Africa? / Results of a survey commissioned by the organisers of the Africa France Business Meetings

BORDEAUX, February 15, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The results of the qualitative study of French entrepreneurs' perceptions of doing business with Africa have just been presented by the organizers of the AFRICA FRANCE BUSINESS MEETINGS. The purpose of the study was to check that the event corresponded to the expectations of French entrepreneurs. From 23 to 25 May 2011, on the occasion of the 3rd edition of the event, it will be the turn of African entrepreneurs to give their view of doing business with France.


The study of the perception of business relations with Africa, conducted among French entrepreneurs by the organisers of the Africa France Business Meetings, reveals that doing business in Africa is a question of human relations above all else: the spoken word comes before the contract. Having a local partner therefore seems essential to establish efficient relations.

Most of the entrepreneurs surveyed added that it is easier to work with North Africa (except Algeria) and with West Africa, thanks to their common history and language. They also say, however, that the language barrier is tending to disappear in the English-speaking countries.


The entrepreneurs are familiar with the growth rates (5% on average in Africa) of the countries they are working with. They consider that the level of training of Africans is excellent among management, but that qualified technicians are harder to find.

Among the prerequisites for doing business with Africa, in addition to having a trusted partner locally, they recommend that companies should be sufficiently well structured and should be familiar with exporting before they start. The only real obstacle is the insecurity of people and property.


On the subject of payment risks or instability, the entrepreneurs with the most extensive experience of business in Africa play these issues down considerably. For them, it is much easier to get paid in Africa because the goods are dispatched once payment has been made. Finally, they also emphasise the role of the media which often give certain events greater importance than they actually merit.


West Africa comes out top among the zones where French businesspeople want to work. Then come North Africa, Southern Africa, Eastern and finally Central Africa.


This survey has given the Bordeaux CCI a better understanding of the factors that prevent French entrepreneurs from doing business with Africa, and of their needs and expectations to develop their activities in this part of the world.


An edition focused on 5 sectors of activities and on target African countries

In the light of these results, the Africa France Business Meetings 2011 have been focused on 5 sectors of activity: ICT, Eco-Industry, Agriculture and Food, Health and Capital Goods.

Among the African countries, prospecting will be intensified in Algeria and Libya for the North-African countries, in the French-speaking countries of West Africa, in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa for the English-speaking nations and finally in Angola and Mozambique for Portuguese-speaking Africa. The business meetings that form the backbone of the event will be held over 3 half days, with each one-on-one appointment lasting 30 minutes.


A survey backed by collaboration between French CCI

The survey was commissioned by the organisers of the AFRICA FRANCE BUSINESS MEETINGS and carried out by Bordeaux firm Quota Sud (Stratégir Group). The survey was conducted in December 2010 on a sample of 20 companies selected in collaboration with several French CCIs.

The sample comprised establishments of different sizes - half of them SMEs - based in 8 cities in France and working in 9 different sectors of activity.


The only “multisector” French-African event of its kind held nationally, the Africa France Business Meetings will be held for the 3rd consecutive year in Bordeaux on 23, 24 and 25 May 2011. Over 200 entrepreneurs are expected, of whom half from Africa.


* AFRICA FRANCE BUSINESS MEETINGS partners: Bordeaux Africa Business Club, Bordeaux City Authority, Aquitaine Regional Council, DIRECCTE Aquitaine, CIAN, MEDEF international, Aquitaine Foreign Trade Advisors, Ubi France, Total, Fayat, Le Moci, Young Africa Group, African Press Organization.


Preliminary programme available on www.africa-france-business.com


Media contacts:

PRESS CONTACTS:

Philippe GARCIA / Florence RICO-FAYAD

pgarcia@bordeaux.cci.fr / +33 5 56 79 52 48

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Nigerians, Ivoriens and Koreans finish last on Valentine’s Day Calls

Nigerians, Ivoriens and Koreans finished in the bottom three when it came to increase in call volume during Valentine's Day. In fact, among each of these three countries, the average daily call volume actually decreased by 41 percent on Valentine's Day.

* Valentine's Day 5th on List of Most Popular Calling Holidays: Valentine's Day ranks 5th on the list of holidays for callers from across the world, with an average daily increase of 9 percent in call volume on that day compared to normal days. Christmas is the most popular calling holiday with an average daily call volume increase of 55 percent, followed by New Year's (37 percent), Mother's Day (33 percent) and Father's Day (14 percent).

* That's Amore!: The study finds that, when it comes to making phone calls on Valentine's Day, Italians are the most committed, with a 144 percent increase in call volume on that day compared to a normal day, more than any other country in the world.
* Europeans Love Valentine's Day : It's not just Italians that "love" Valentine's Day, but Europeans, in general. According to the report, the top expat communities that call home the most on Valentine's Day after Italians are France with a 127 percent increase in call volume on that day and Spain with a 116 percent increase in call volume.



* Korea, Ivory Coast and Nigeria "Heartbreakers" on Valentine's Day Calling List: The study finds that Korea, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria finished in the bottom three when it came to increase in call volume during Valentine's Day. In fact, among each of these three countries, the average daily call volume actually decreased by 41 percent on Valentine's Day.

* Mama's Boys and Girls: While two African countries ranked in the bottom three when it comes to calling home during Valentine's Day, African countries dominated the list of those who called home most frequently during Mother's Day. Expats from Ghana, South Africa and Cameroon finished in the top three communities to call home during Mother's Day, with an average 86.3 percent increase in call volume on that holiday.


Click here to see VIP Communications 2011 Expat Valentine's Day Holiday Calling Report.

Nigerian Teacher wins the 2010 International Student/Teacher Essay Contest

Anthony Itodo Samuel

Nigerian Teacher wins the 2010 International Student/Teacher Essay Contest

Nigerian mathematics teacher Anthony Itodo Samuel has won the first prize for teachers in 2010 International Student/Teacher Essay Competition, "Making a Difference."

The essay question was:

How would you improve your school so that it prepares future leaders to protect the planet?

Mr. Samuel is teaching at MaryMount College II, in Agbor, Nigeria for a year as part of the National Youth Service Corps.

His hobbies include reading detective novels, watching detective movies, and writing (poetry, essays and short stories). As a member of Junior Chamber International (JCI), he strongly believes that "service to humanity is the best work of life."


The following is the complete list of the winners.

HIGH SCHOOL

First Prize, Jacqueline Dufalla, the Ellis School, PA, USA
To read her essay, click here

POST SECONDARY SCHOOL
First Prize: Phaedra Jaggernauth, University of Trinidad and Tobago
To read her essay, click here

Second Prize: Lisa Blake, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
To read her essay, click here

TEACHERS
First Prize: Anthony Itodo Samuel, Marymount College, Agbor, Nigeria
To read his essay, click here

Second Prize: Teacher and student team - Jacob Park, associate professor of business strategy and sustainability, and Ashley Staron, class of 2011, Green Mountain College, Vermont, USA
To read their essay, click here

The winners will receive Amazon gift certificates and a copy of Ethics & International Affairs: A Reader.

We would like to thank everyone who submitted an essay. Our Carnegie Council judges found them all very inspiring! The majority of entries came from the United States, but in total we received 56 entries from 17 countries (plus some foreign nationals living in the U.S.). The youngest contestant was 14 years old.

Here is the country list in alphabetical order:
Bulgaria, Canada, Cote d'Ivoire, India, Jordan, Kenya, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, U.S.A., Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

This contest was part of the Council's second annual SEPTEMBER SUSTAINABILITY MONTH, which kicked off a year of events and resources on sustainability. Generous funding of the Carnegie Council's 2010-2011 sustainability programming has been provided by Hewlett-Packard and by Booz & Company.

Why we collect brown envelopes- Nigerian Journalist

Why we collect brown envelopes- Nigerian Journalist

We met one afternoon in the first week of February in a small restaurant on the third floor of the E- Centre in Yaba, a suburb of Lagos. He seemed like a happy go lucky young man as he sat over his plate of jollof rice and chicken whilst I regarded him amusingly. He was sitting beside a popular celebrity blogger and award winning style entrepreneur whom I have known since she was 17 when I was the Editor of an offbeat news magazine in the late 1990s.

“I will not collect anything less than N25, 000, to report and get a story published in our magazine, “he said matter-of-factly in-between mouthfuls of his food.
“I am against journalists collecting brown envelopes,” I said emphatically.
He shrugged at my uncompromising attitude whilst I smirked at his unethical decision.
“We collect brown envelopes, because we are not well paid,” he explained.
“Not all journalists in Nigeria collect brown envelopes,” I said.
He looked up at me and laughed.
“Look, even those who were not collecting brown envelopes before now do so,” he said.
He mentioned that one of the brown envelope rookies was a journalist from the new daily newspaper published by a seasoned Nigerian journalist who became famous after winning the highly coveted Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in America.
“Their reporters were acting holier than others before, but one of them later succumbed and collected a brown envelope through a proxy,” he revealed giving details how money exchanged hands. He said the reporter was financially constrained and had to collect the money to make ends meet.

To find a Nigerian journalist who has never collected a brown envelope would be like searching for a matchstick in a haystack. Collecting brown envelopes to report news stories is now an informal income to augment their salaries, from the green horns to the seasoned professionals in the newsroom.

Well known members of staff of the most popular private TV and fm radio stations are actively engaged in corrupt practices of asking artistes and other personalities lump sums of money before they interview or feature them on air.

The DJs and VJs in Nigeria extort and exploit Nigerian artistes and others to give them financial inducements to “promote” them. But they do not make returns of their so called “promotional fees” to the management of their employers.

One celebrated DJ at a Pidgin English fm radio station on Victoria Island demanded about N250000 from a Nigerian born hip-hop artiste from the US, but he was queried when his employer found out through a whistle blower in the entertainment industry. He was so scared that he called the artiste and begged for negotiation. His female colleague quickly played the song of the artiste without asking for any brown envelope. But others still collected over N125, 000. One of them boasted that a popular record label paid as much as N2 million for the constant rotation of their hip-hop artistes on radio and TV. And that is the secret of their success and not the noisy songs of their artistes who cannot even get a record deal in the US or the UK where the music recording companies have not collapsed.

These DJs and VJs do not care about the quality of the songs and will hype and play the songs constantly as long as the artistes give them fat brown envelopes. But once you fail to pamper them with cash and gifts they will drop your songs in the drawers until further notice. These corrupt Nigerians simply play whatever you give to them once you have bribed them generously.

In the US and most other places, radio stations do not pay performers for airplay, but they do not extort them in a mutual rapport. Presently, the administration of President Barack Obama is already supporting legislation to make radio stations pay royalties to performers when they play their music just like satellite radio, Internet radio and cable TV music channels pay fees to performers and songwriters.

Cash-for-news coverage is very common all over the world, but permitting the corrupt practice has compromised standards of professional journalism, because a reporter or news channel can be bribed to report even falsehood as I have noted in one of the largest circulating dailies in Nigeria where one of the entertainment editors is fond of cash-for-news coverage to report exaggerated stories or falsehood to promote artistes and their works.

There was a particular case of "cash-for-news coverage" that really shocked me.
Some news reporters asked for brown envelopes to report the 2010 World Malaria Day hosted by the Media Forum of the African Media & Malaria Research Network, AMMREN, in Lagos, Nigeria. An important event for the benefit of the public to save millions of lives was exploited by unscrupulous Nigerian journalists to extort money from the non-profit NGO. The coordinator gave each reporter more than N5,000. But they even failed to give a good report of the event.

"But everybody missed it because it's badly cobbled together. For example, names are badly mixed-up, etc. That's worse than no report, " the coordinator complained to me.

“Cash-for-news coverage is more common in regional and local media than in national media, particularly among district and local media correspondents in small towns. It goes by various street names depending on location, including: red envelope, brown envelope, soli, marmalade, tips, and sitting allowance, among others. Bribery acceptance is linked here to low pay for journalists. It is exemplified as a means of government control of media, undermining democratization. Media control includes the use of false accusation of taking bribes to suppress independent journalists,” said Bill Ristow in Cash for Coverage: Bribery of Journalists Around the World published on September 28, 2010.

You should also read "The Shame of Brown Envelope Journalism" by Peter G. Mwesige
published on Friday, 17 September 2010, by the African Centre for Media Excellence.

The following recommendations have been made to stop the corrupt practices of cash-for-news coverage by the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) - National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

1. "International journalism organizations should:
o Take the initiative to support a summit on the topic of cash for news coverage, to include representatives of the public-relations industry and experts on how corporations deal with bribery.
o Issue regular reports documenting... this 'dark side' of the profession.
o Take the lead in documenting - and publicizing - the pay levels of journalists around the world...

2. Media-development organizations should:
o Sharpen their focus on ethics training...
o Support the creation and nurture of media accountability systems such as ombudsmen and other mechanisms to heighten transparency in how journalists do their work.

3. News media owners, managers, and editors should:
o Adopt, publicize, and then stick to a firm policy of zero tolerance...
o Review pay policies...
o Take the initiative in creating accountability systems on their own, such as appointing an ombudsman...

4. Public relations professionals and their organizations should:
o Not wait for the journalists to suggest a summit. They can suggest it themselves...
o Encourage their members to practice zero tolerance...

5. NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and corporations should:
o Just say no.... adopt a firm rule against paying, put it in writing and make it public, and stick to it in all cases."


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Happy Valentine's Day and an e-mail from Prof. Wole Soyinka

Orikinla is at work.
No time to even join a sweetheart at Ozone in Yaba, Lagos.
The new Igbo girl next office who said I behave more like a Yoruba man received what she asked for to make her happier. Making someone smile is enough for Valentine's Day. But I am ignoring another one who has been calling obviously to argue and quarrel over the fact that she cannot eat her cake and have it back.
I should really have time this weekend for anyone I would love to be with.

Lest I forget, today is our landlady's birthday and she sent a plate of Jollof rice with chicken, two bottles of Coca Cola and chocolate sweets.
Being born on St. Valentine's Day is something worth celebrating and I wish her Happy Valentine's Day and many more happy returns of today with longer life and more riches for the common good.
I just stepped out to give her my best wishes shaking her hand whole heartedly.
She still looks appealing in her 60s. Beautiful African mother of a black and beautiful daughter who is studying law in the UK.

The icing on the cake for me today is the e-mail from Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Nobel laureate on one of my new books.

One thing about life is you can never please everybody and my love is double-edged sword.

Chinese, Nigerian Leaders Exchange Congratulatory Messages on the 40th Anniversary of Diplomatic Ties

14 Feb 2011 05:13 Africa/Lagos



Chinese, Nigerian Leaders Exchange Congratulatory Messages on the 40th Anniversary of Diplomatic Ties

BEIJING, February 11, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- On February 10, 2011, Chinese President Hu Jintao exchanged congratulatory messages with his Nigerian counterpart Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message, Hu said over the past 40 years, bilateral relations had witnessed smooth and healthy development. China-Nigeria relations have ushered in a new phase of fast development and yielded rich fruits since 2005, when the two countries established a strategic partnership based on mutual political trust, economic reciprocity and mutual support in international affairs, he said. As both countries are the world's major developing countries at their vital stages of progress, China is willing to work with Nigeria to keep enriching the content of China-Nigeria strategic partnership through closer high-level contacts, expanded pragmatic cooperation and more people-to-people exchanges, Hu said. He also called on the two countries to enhance their coordination both within multi-lateral frameworks such as the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and in other international affairs, with an aim to better benefit both sides and their peoples.

Jonathan said in his message that over the past 40 years the two countries have enjoyed mutual political trust; trade and economic cooperation has grown substantially; and bilateral relations have been clearly marked by increased personnel contacts which have continued to reinforce socio-economic development. With the joint efforts of leaders of the two countries and both peoples, Nigeria-China relations have evolved to a strategic level, despite the daunting challenges, he said. Jonathan expressed his hope that the strategic partnership would further enrich the content of bilateral friendship, and enhance cooperation in infrastructure construction, agriculture and other areas.

On the same day, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also exchanged congratulatory messages with his Nigerian counterpart Odein Ajumogobia.



Source: China - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Bye, Bye Mubarak

The Egyptian zealots of Tahrir Square have won!

I salute the brave zealots of Tahrir Square in Cairo who stood their ground against the draconian laws of President Hosni Mubarak.

The will of the people of Egypt has prevailed over the evil reign of President Hosni Mubarak as he surrendered and handed over power to military. This is the end of the kleptomaniac government of one of the most corrupt rulers in Africa.

The wind of change began blowing from Tunisia three weeks ago and sent President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali packing. Now the second autocratic government to fall is that of Hosni Mubarak. Who is next?



The wind of change blowing in North Africa will spread to the rest of Africa and will be welcomed in Zimbabwe where the life president Robert Mugabe will either resign in peace or be disgraced out of office.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima