Wednesday, July 6, 2016

12 Year-Old Togolese Houseboy Blinded By His Madam in Lagos

A 12 year old houseboy, identified simply as Peter, has been blinded by his ‘madam’ at the Ikeja area of Lagos State. It was gathered that residents, who could no longer stand the violence meted out on the boy by his ‘madam,’ decided to raise the alarm. The latest cruelty meted out on Peter, leading to injuring in his eyes, was said to be over improper washing of kettle.

The yet to be identified woman resides at No. 14 b, Olu Akerele Street, Balogun Bus Stop off Awolowo Way, Ikeja. According to neighbours, how Peter, a Togolese, was employed by the woman was not clear.

What is clear, however, is that Peter was always being subjected to constant beating. A resident, who gave her name simply as Tayo, said: “We feared the unexpected with the manner the woman used to beat the boy. He has a deep sore on his leg. When I asked him about it, he said it was from burnt from fire. He said the swollen eye was caused by beating from his madam for not washing a kettle properly.“ He has been subjected to violence for a long time. You know everybody used to mind his or her business in the compound.

When I saw the boy last, he was looking sickly. Hence I decided to seek help from the appropriate agency.” Another resident, who pleaded anonymity, said the woman was well known for being violent. He said everyone on the street used to keep the woman at arm’s length . He added: “If the boy comes to watch television with them in the parlor, he would be beaten.

On school days, you will see the boy leaving home around 9.30a.m . This is an ideal case of child abuse and child labour. We need the intervention of child protection network in his case.”

When our correspondent visited the compound to seek the woman’s response, the gate was not opened after repeated knocking. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Dolapo Badmos, was yet to respond to a text message sent to her mobile line on the issue at press time.
https://newtelegraphonline.com/woman-beats-blinds-12-year-old-houseboy/

Monday, July 4, 2016

Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan Without Makeup


Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan Without Makeup

Former President Goodluck Jonathan likes living in denial of his failures from when he was deputy Governor to Governor of Bayelsa and achieved nothing to when he was stage managed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to be Vice President to the late Umaru Yar' Adua, whom Jonathan succeeded and became President of Nigeria from 2010 to May 29, 2015. And left Nigeria in chaos of his maladministration caused by his corrupt and incompetent cabinet.
He spent millions of dollars on making up himself to deceive the ignorant followers who were beneficiaries of the multimillion dollars government contracts he shared among them whilst he was the Head of State.

Frida Umuhoza, Rwandan Genocide Survivor Opens Up About Her Anger and Forgiveness


FEATURE: After two decades, genocide survivor opens up about her anger and forgiveness 


NEW YORK, 01 July 2016 / PRN Africa / -- “Being a hero is being able to give a smile to the person who sold you death,” said Frida Umuhoza, who was barely a teenager when her entire family – including her grandparents, parents and five siblings – were killed in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

4th July Expenses To Reach $6.8 Billion in 2016 - Statista



This year, an estimated 214 million Americans are going to celebrate Independence Day, according to figures compiled by the National Retail Federation (NRF). The vast majority of them, 65 percent, are going to make a barbecue, cookout or picnic the focus of their Fourth of July celebrations. The amount of money Americans splurge on food every year is evidence of how seriously they take their traditional Independence Day cook out. The NRF report that each American adult will spend approximately $71.34 on food items this year. Overall expenditure on food across the nation is going to reach around $6.8 billion.

42.6 percent of people are also going to attend a fireworks display or community celebration. Independence Day fireworks displays are always spectacular and so are the numbers behind them. According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, just over 285 million pounds of fireworks are used during the holiday with revenue amounting to about $1.09 billion.

SOURCE: https://www.statista.com/chart/5160/some-of-the-numbers-behind-independence-day/

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Lagos is Not Catching Up With Us. Rather, We May Be Catching Up With Lagos


Lagos Wide & Close

Synopsis 

Because filming has long been restricted in Nigeria, few images of Lagos exist. Based on research by The Harvard Project on the City under the direction of Rem Koolhaas, this DVD represents a unique engagement with a hardly documented city, capturing multiple perspectives of a volatile moment in its evolution. In 2002, Bregtje van der Haak, in cooperation with architect Rem Koolhaas and The Harvard Project on the City made Lagos/Koolhaas, a documentary on self-organization and urbanization in Nigeria. As a sequel to the documentary, Bregtje van der Haak together with designer Silke Wawro, developed the DVD: Lagos Wide & Close, an Interactive Journey into an Exploding City. The DVD contains an interactive video documentary (60′), edited from 55 hours of unused material that brings the viewer closer to the explosively growing megalopolis Lagos. With bus driver Olawole Busayo, the viewer moves through the city and has a choice of a distant (‘wide’) or an involved (‘close’) perspective, at any random moment in the documentary.
Details  
Director: Bregtje van der Haak  
Designer: Silke Wawro  
Camera: Alexander Oey  
Sound: Rik Meier

See the complete documentary film on http://lagos.submarinechannel.com.
Thus, for Koolhaas and his team, Lagos is a case study of a city at the forefront of a globalizing modernity: "Lagos is not catching up with us. Rather, we may be catching up with Lagos . . ."
"Highly Recommended! Excellent production values... easy to view and understand. Rem Koolhaas has done it again." —Educational Media Reviews Online

“The juxtaposition of empirical descriptions of the city life with theoretical insights is ideally suited for classroom screenings in urban studies, qualitative research methods, geography, anthropology, global studies, Africa studies and virtually any other branch of the social sciences that is devoted to in-depth qualitative empirical research. It is one of the best documentaries I know that can demonstrate in a compelling and sophisticated yet accessible way how to embark on research projects. Highly recommended!” —Anthropology Review Database (January, 2010)

COMING SOON 

Friday, July 1, 2016

The Legend of Tarzan Teams Up with Nonprofit Stop Ivory to End Poaching


In this new PSA launched by Stop Ivory, in partnership with Warner Bros., Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie, are raising awareness about the harsh truths of ivory poaching, revealing that, without immediate action, the remaining forest ...  

The Legend of Tarzan Teams Up with Nonprofit Stop Ivory to End Poaching
New PSA featuring Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie Elevates the Plight of Endangered Elephants; Introduces the Pristine Landscape of Gabon, Africa 


 NEW YORK, July 1, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Since the Victorian era in which The Legend of Tarzan unfolds, the overall population of elephant species in Africa dropped from 19 million to just 500,000, stresses a new PSA by nonprofit group Stop Ivory featuring the film's stars, Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie. The organization is raising the volume on the plight of endangered African elephants, a magnificent species hunted for their ivory.

Inside Nigeria Today in Pictures


Four children showing the different characters of the four regions of Nigeria.
Credit: Nairaland.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Electricity To Be Next Major Prepaid Market After Mobile Phones and Cards


Electricity To Be Next Major Prepaid Market After Mobile Phones and Cards
Global utilities to invest $11.4 billion in prepaid electricity metering   

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Three Quarters of People Now 'Talk' to Businesses with a Mobile Message



Three Quarters of People Now 'Talk' to Businesses with a Mobile Message 
 
LONDON, June 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
  • 65 per cent of consumers communicate with businesses on chat apps; increasing to 76 per cent globally via SMS
  • 1 in 3 users have interacted with a financial services company via mobile
  • Authentication is a key driver - 30 per cent of consumers worldwide have confirmed passwords via text
  • Facebook (56 per cent), WhatsApp (50 per cent) and SMS (42 per cent) the top three messaging channels for person to person (P2P) messaging
Businesses are embracing mobile as a communications channel, regularly engaging with their customers via text and chat apps.