Dear Ray Ekpu, It's No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk

Ray Ekpu.

Dear Uncle Ray Ekpu,

THE Newswatch Magazine has announced the sacking of Messrs Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade from the Board of Directors of Newswatch Communications Ltd.

Even the spirit of Dele Giwa must be shocked to read the above announcement.

Why are you crying over spilled milk, and sour milk too, when you, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and stakeholders sold Newswatch to the billionaire Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim for N1 billion on Thursday May 5th, 2011 and signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)of the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA). So, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim has the right to fire you. If you truly appreciated and valued the 27 years legacy you co-founded with the late Dele Giwa in 1984, you would not have made the mistake of giving it away without thinking twice.

Of course TALK OF THE TOWN agrees with the Executive Chairman and Publisher of Newswatch, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim that: “since Ekpu and the other gentlemen signed the SPA, they are knowledgeable and old enough to know the implication of the documents they signed and as such cannot eat their cake and have it.”

Billionaire Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim posing behind the cover of Newswatch magazine.

May I advise you to stop crying and start all over again by launching a new news magazine if you still have the brains and balls to do so.

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The Facebook Murder of A Nigerian General’s Daughter

Cynthia Ozokogu, 24, whose body was traced to a morgue in the metropolis at the weekend after declared missing since July 22, 2012. She was the last child and only daughter of Major Gen. Ozokogu (rtd). She was lured from Abuja to Lagos where she raped and murdered in a hotel by "Friends" she met on Facebook.


The Facebook Murder of A Nigerian General’s Daughter

The talk of the town since last week to date has been the horrifying gruesome rape and murder of Cynthia Osokogu, the beautiful 24 year old daughter of a retired Nigerian Army general in Lagos, Nigeria. A leading newspaper, the Daily Sun has called it the Facebook Murder, because the unfortunate victim Cynthia met her killers on the most popular social network site which has been turned into a sort of romance site by millions of Nigerian users and a hunting ground for countless Nigerian fraudsters and scam artists who are among the most dangerous predators on the internet. Cynthia is not the only victim of this lunatic fringe on the prowl; she was just the latest to make the headlines. Many GULLIBLE, IMPRESSIONABLE and VULNERABLE young girls and women have been targeted and lured by criminal minded men on Facebook and other social networks like 2GO and have been harassed and assaulted as they fell into the traps of their predators as aptly analyzed by The Guardian as being lured like moths to flames until they get burnt and killed. See the front page and page 2 and The Metro Section of The Guardian of Thursday August 23, 2012, for the special report on Beauty and the Online Beast: How Cynthia Osokugo was killed by “friends” she met on the internet. I will rephrase it as Beauty and the Internet Predator.

Only a FOOL will accept a stranger on the street and internet as a FRIEND and Facebook must be held accountable for the misapplication of the term “Friend” to lure millions of people to join the social network and this is where Google+ is better and safer than Facebook and other social network sites, because unlike Facebook, every John Doe or Jane Moe cannot be accepted and admitted into your Circle of Friends on Google+.

My advice to everyone is TO BEWARE OF FACEBOOK and other FREE FOR ALL social network sites and forums on the internet. DON’T EVER TRUST ANYBODY TO COMMIT YOUR PRIVATE LIFE INTO THEIR HANDS, because the whole world is no longer safe, because of the prevalent dog eat dog desperation for the acquisition of easy cash and the status symbols of good life in the rat race of the conscienceless materialistic society everywhere on earth.

Young girls and women are the first targets of these evil, heartless and wicked human predators on the street and on the internet posing and posturing as good looking and “God fearing” gentlemen, but they are actually devil incarnates among us; wolves in sheep clothing.
PLEASE, BEWARE OF THEM, LEST YOU BECOME THEIR NEXT VICTIM AND YOU MAY NOT LIVE TO READ THIS WARNING AGAIN.

DON’T BE THE NEXT VICTIM.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, author of In the House of Dogs, Scarlet Tears of London and other books available on Amazon and other bookstores online and offline.

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Jeta Amata’s Black November Blames Niger Delta People for Their Predicament

Don King, Vivica Fox, Jeta Amata.

Jeta Amata’s Black November Blames Niger Delta People for Their Predicament



"I looked at it and said, 'If I'm going to tell the story, I'd better tell it irrespective of what some groups or government or companies think. I had been too conservative, trying not to make them look so bad. In [the first version], I'd blamed my own people, the Niger delta people, for part of the crisis. I put a lot of the blame on us."
~ Jeta Amata speaking on his film Black November.

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Exclusive Photos of the UK Premiere of Tango With Me

Tango with Me trailer.

Mahmood Ali-Balogun & Pastor (Mrs) Ogochi Agbasimelo.

It is our pleasure to present the exclusive photographs of the successful August 16 UK premiere of Mahmood Ali-Balogun’s Tango with Me at the Odeon IMAX Greenwich Cinema in London. In fact the Odeon calls it a great film and gives it the maximum five stars! And it has also been well reviewed by the Film Blog of The Guardian of UK. Tango With Me's budget is high by African standards (80-100m naira – about £326,000).
DJ Abass, the entertainment consultant" for African events in London was the compere.

Akin Salami, Mahmood Ali-Balogun & Joseph Benjamin

Alfred Executive Director Nollywood TV & Guest.

Pastor (Mrs) Ogochi Agbasimelo.

Charles Thompson MBE being interviewed.

DJ Abass & Friends.

Moji & Ken Smart.

Joseph Benjamin

Joseph Benjamin & Friend.

Mike Abiola & Golda John.

Segilola Scott & Friend

Mahmood Ali-Balogun being interviewed.


Genre: Drama
Film running length: 103 min
(excl trailers and advertisements)
UK Release Date: 24/8/2012
Directed by: Mahmood Ali-Balogun
Country: Nigeria
Language: English
Distributor: Evrit Films

Starring the new poster boy of Nollywood Joseph Benjamin and Nollywood diva Genevieve Nnaji in the leading roles

One of the beautiful ladies at the event.

Tango with Me tells the story of Lola (Genevieve Nnaji) and Uzo (Joseph Benjamin), a Nigerian couple looking forward to a life of married bliss together. But when the happiest day of their lives becomes one of their saddest, the couple set off on a journey of self discovery where they experience the true power of forgiveness.

"What we are going through what  Hollywood went through and Bollywood went through," said Ali-Balogun, the director of Tango With Me, from the Film Blog of The Guardian of UK.

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The Dictator: Banned & Unrated. Own it TODAY

BANNED & UNRATED -What You Couldn't See In Theaters!



The creators and star of Borat bring you the jaw-dropping comedy about what happens when the worldʼs worst dictator comes to America. Stuck in New York and stripped of his power, Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) is finally forced to live his ultimate nightmare…the American dream. Get ready to laugh ʻtil it hurts with the uncensored cut, featuring never-before-seen footage, thatʼs “outrageous and shamefully funny!”*

* Rafer Guzman, NEWSDAY

The Dictator is a 2012 comedy film co-written by and starring Sacha Baron Cohen as his fourth feature film in a leading role. The film is directed by Larry Charles, who previously directed Baron Cohen's mockumentaries Borat and Brüno. Cohen, in the role of Admiral General Aladeen, the dictator of the fictional Republic of Wadiya visiting the United States, stars alongside Anna Faris and Ben Kingsley.

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Nigeria, Ghana and others Compete in Airtel African Youth Soccer Championships

The draw for the Airtel rising stars Africa soccer championship is out with Kenya entering four teams. The tourney which will start on Monday at St Mary's high aims at providing opportunity and a platform for potential stars to showcase their talent among the best in the continent. The competition will have some of the soccer powerhouses such as Ghana who are the under 17 champions, Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi.

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Airtel Kicks Off Largest Youth Soccer Initiative in Africa

Arsenal’s Marketing Director Angus Kinnear hands over a replica shirt to Kenya’s Prime Minister, Right Hon. Raila Odinga (left) During the launch of Airtel Rising Stars Africa Championships in Nairobi. The tournament which brings together Africa’s best talent in the boys and girls under 17 categories will take place from the 21st to the 25th of August.

21 Aug 2012 04:51 Africa/Lagos

Airtel Pan-African Youth Tourney Kicks off

The largest youth Soccer initiative in Africa

NAIROBI, August 21, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ --


• Program touted as largest youth Soccer initiative in Africa

Manchester United’s Marketing Director Jonathan Rigby (Right) hands over a replica shirt to Kenya’s Prime Minister, Right Hon. Raila Odinga (left) During the launch of Airtel Rising Stars Africa Championships in Nairobi. He was accompanied by Manoj Kohli CEO (International) & Joint MD, Bharti Airtel and Airtel Africa, Chief Marketing Officer, Andre Beyers (extreme right).


• Championship is a culmination of regional & national preliminaries in 15 African Nations, involving 18,000 schools & 324,000 girls & boys


• Winners to receive wild card invitation to Manchester United & Arsenal clinics in Nairobi & Accra


The Airtel Africa Championships (http://www.airtel.com) officially kicked off today in Nairobi, Kenya. The tournament which brings together Africa's best talent in the boys and girls under 17 categories will take place from the 21st to the 25th of August.


Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/airtel.jpg


The championship is the culmination of regional and national tournaments in 15 countries in the African continent. The Championship is part of the Airtel Rising Stars program, a soccer talent initiative that is focused on identifying and nurturing soccer talent from the grassroots onto a national stage. Touted as the biggest tournament in the continent the championships attracted approximately 18,000 youth teams and 324,000 youth players in the 15 countries. In addition to galvanising the biggest turnout during the qualification stage, the program has also broken new ground by introducing girls to a pan African tournament.


The Airtel Africa Championship was officially opened by Kenya's Prime Minister, The Rt.Hon. Raila Odinga accompanied by the tourney sponsors – Airtel Africa – led by Manoj Kohli the CEO (International) & Joint MD, Bharti Airtel.


The Soccer Championships will herald the unveiling of two specialised Airtel Rising Soccer Clinics run by soccer coaches from the Manchester United and Arsenal Soccer Schools. Present at the Championships launch were officials from both clubs namely; Mr. Jonathan Rigby, Marketing Director, Manchester United and Angus Kinnear, Marketing Director, Arsenal Football Club. The two clinics will be attended by two of the club's legends Peter Schmeichel and Ray Parlour.

In the opening fixtures, the hosts Kenyan whitewashed Malawi in the Girls tournament opener 11-0 with Vivian Adhiambo scoring 5 goals in the rout. In the Boy's opener, Malawi beat Kenya 5-1 to lead Group B. The other teams in the group are Madagascar and Ghana.


Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Bharti Airtel Limited.



Notes to the editor


• The Countries that have rolled out the Airtel Rising Stars include Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Nigeria, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia

• Airtel has two territorial partnership agreements with Arsenal and Manchester United Football Clubs. The two agreements bestow several rights to Airtel as the telecommunication partner in the selected markets. Key amongst the rights is the technical expertise provided by the two clubs at the Airtel Rising Stars soccer clinics. The clinics are run by respective club's soccer schools program.


Photo 1: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=266


Photo 2: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=267


Download the Video Footage: http://yousend.it/POG7sB



About Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel Limited (http://www.airtel.com) is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 5 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G services, fixed line, high speed broadband through DSL, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G mobile services. Bharti Airtel had over 257 million customers across its operations at the end of June 2012. To know more please visit, http://www.airtel.com


For more information please contact:

Michael Okwiri

Vice President, Corporate Communications

Airtel Africa

Michael.Okwiri@africa.airtel.com

Source: Bharti Airtel Limited

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Sundays Are No Longer Safe in Lagos

Bode Thomas Street in Surulere, Lagos.


Sundays Are No Longer Safe in Lagos

Sundays as work free days are always peaceful for most people and in particular the Christians who throng their churches for fellowship and worship in their Sunday best and also visiting themselves and others to exchange greetings and gifts of mutual kindness. Sundays are free of the usual hustle and bustle of business days with traffic wardens and law enforcement agents having little or nothing much to do. But not anymore in Lagos as chilling reports of the victims of daring armed robbers and hired killers have left residents of the commercial hub of Nigeria in fear and trembling. Only last Sunday morning unknown gunmen attacked and shot a young couple Mr. Duke and Mrs. Tina Adigwe in their jeep in Surulere, and left them with gunshot wounds with their two little children wailing helplessly before the police arrived. Mrs. Tina Adigwe died of gunshot wounds before she even got to the nearest hospital whilst her husband Duke was bleeding from his own gunshot wound as doctors and nurses at the Randle General Hospital responded quickly to save his life in the emergency ward. It was also on a Sunday that a young man was attacked and killed in front of his church by armed robbers using the popular “Okada” motorbike taxi which is now what highway robbers and other criminals use for their operations in Nigerian towns and cities, including the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists on rampage in the northern states. The grief-stricken bereaved families, relations, friends, associates and others in Lagos are now sacred of going out on Sundays. If it is no longer safe to go to church or visit on Sundays, then things have really fallen apart in Nigeria as Nigerians are no longer at ease if I may use the titles of the popular novels of the famous writer Chinua Achebe who is also the author of The Trouble With Nigeria. And indeed Nigerians are facing many troubles in every region and the future looks bleak in the present terrifying circumstances of flagrant acts of corruption and lawlessness threatening the existence of the most populous country in Africa.

Police patrol checking "Okada" motorbike taxi riders in Lagos.

The police must no longer be caught napping on Sundays and other days since the evil armed robbers, hired killers, kidnappers and terrorists can attack their targets anytime anywhere. And law abiding people should help the police to keep all nooks and crannies of our streets under constant surveillance and report suspicious looking characters and suspicious movements to neighbourhood vigilante groups first to alert others and then report to only trusted security intelligence agencies and the armed forces within the vicinity. But vigilantes should not fall into the wrong hands who have abused and misused some vigilantes to witch-hunt and destroy rivals and innocent people by mobbing and lynching them after false accusations without handing the suspects over to the police.

Moreover, the Lagos State government and other state governments must stop paying lip service to the provision of modern medical facilities, because if the emergency rooms or wards of the public clinics and general hospitals are well equipped with modern life saving medical facilities as provided in other civilized modern states, many unfortunate deaths would have been prevented as the victims would not have died from their wounds or trauma.

A modern ER should have the following:

Defibrillator
Laparascopy System
12 channel ECG
Surigal Liposuction Unit
Humidifier
Portable Ventilator
Incubator
Neonatal and Infant Ventilator
Transport Incubator
Film Viewing Light Box
Halogen Lamp
Electrocautery Machine
Mobile Examination Lamp
Surgical Table
Phototherapy Lamp
IV Pump
Surgical Light
Autoclave
Laryngoscope

Electric Surgical Table
IMAGING
Examination Micrscope
Mammogram X-Ray
Multiparameter Monitor
X-Ray
Blood Pressure Monitor
CR Reader
Neonatal Monitor
Whole body bone densitometer
Prism Exophthalmometer
Ankle Densitometer
Ophthalmoscope
3-D Ultrasound
Indirect Ophthalmoscope
Real Time Color Dopler Ultrasound
Electronic Scale
Arch in C

Portable X-Ray
Electronic Thermometer
Ultrasound
Anesthesia System
Wolf X-Ray equipment

The life of every law abiding citizen is a priceless asset to the survival and welfare of everyone else in every community and everyone must be committed to the survival and welfare of the next person in our common ecosystem for our mutual existence.

Nobody has the right to attack or take the life of another person when you can never give or restore the precious life the maker and owner God has given each of us and made the greatest sacrifices from Adam to Jesus Christ and continues to make more sacrifices through others till date to preserve and save you and I.

Everybody deserves a good life, whether rich or poor and no matter your race, class or creed.

We must get rid of anyone who does not want another person to live in peace and unity, because such an evil person is an enemy of our collective survival and welfare on earth.

Saving the life of every law abiding citizen is not only the duty of the police and other law enforcement agencies, but also the responsibility of everyone in every community 24/7.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, Tuesday August 21, 2012, Lagos, Nigeria.

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Who is Dishonoring Whom in Nigeria?

President Goodluck Jonathan

Who is Dishonoring Whom?

The Punch newspaper of Nigeria reported Tuesday that President Goodluck Jonathan may withdraw the national honours of eminent Nigerians who have been convicted or arraigned for various crimes.

The Punch reported the names of some awardees listed to lose their national honours; including the disgraced former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, ex-MD of Intercontinental Bank, Mr. Erastus Akingbola, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George; and a former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tarfa Balogun.

But TALK OF THE TOWN finds this really funny, because those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Those in the cabinet of the president cannot escape from being found guilty directly or indirectly. Lest we forget, the former boss of President Jonathan, Chief Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha ("DSP"), a former governor of Bayelsa State jumped bail in December 2005 from the United Kingdom by allegedly disguising himself as a woman and later pleaded guilty before a Nigerian court to six charges and was sentenced to two years in prison on each charge on July 26, 2007. And if the president has balls and probes all the retired generals in his ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), many of them would be found guilty of corrupt practices. In fact, how many of these ex-civil servants can tell the public how they made the billions of dollars they have spent on building their private secondary schools and universities and investing in banks and telecom companies in Nigeria and other investments abroad and how were they able to acquire their million dollar properties in the US, UK, Dubai, South Africa and other countries?

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Shylock Landlords and Greedy Realtors Are Fueling Corruption in Nigeria

Corruption in Nigeria. Photo Credit: Leadership Newspapers.

Shylock Landlords and Greedy Realtors Are Fueling Corruption in Nigeria

Corruption has become embedded in the culture of Nigerian life and most of the accusing fingers point at the kleptomaniac politicians in public office, civil servants and their accomplices in the corridors of power. But what pushes majority of Nigerians into corrupt practices?

Why is corruption endemic in the Nigerian society?

Majority of Nigerians are desperate to compete for the most idolized status symbols of the elites and acquire them by all means and at all costs regardless of the defamation of their character in the society, because the rich elites use these status symbols to impress their peers and oppress the lower classes of Nigerians. Almost every Nigerian is suffering from the Morality Deficiency Syndrome (MDS) in their dog eat dog rat race. But many of them still live in denial of their complicity in the crimes and evils of corruption. Among these accomplices of the kleptomaniacs are the greedy shylock landlords and realtors who inflate the house rents and prices of real estate so preposterously that you are sure they must be insane. Because they ask for rents that can only be afforded by only high income earners or robbers. So, the low income earners who make up the largest population are frustrated and frustration leads to their desperation to get rich quick to catch up with the Joneses who control the reins of power in the society. This high cost of living in the Nigerian society caused by the greedy shylock landlords and realtors, producers and suppliers of goods who are also members of the ruling class or their partners in crime is what pushes Nigerians into corruption.


~ Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima 

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