Sunday, June 22, 2014

#10 DELTA STATE: The 36 States of Nigeria and their Meanings





10. DELTA STATE
Obviously, it was named for the delta of the River Niger formed as it enters the Atlantic Ocean. The geographical feature formed when a river is about to enter a larger body of water like the sea or ocean is called a delta and there are various shapes.

WEBSITE: http://www.deltastate.gov.ng/
  

#9 CROSS RIVER: The 36 States of Nigeria and their Meanings





9. CROSS RIVER
First, it is Cross River State and NOT Cross Rivers State. And yes, it is Rivers State, not River State. Don’t get it twisted. The state took its name from the Cross River (known to natives as the Oyono, and the Manyu River in Cameroon). Flowing through swamps, creeks and inland delta, it joins the Calabar River to end up in the Atlantic Ocean.

WEBSITE: http://www.crossriverstate.gov.ng/
  

#8. BORNO (BORNU) STATE: The 36 States of Nigeria and their Meanings.




8. BORNO (BORNU) STATE
It has been nicknamed the Home of Peace but you will agree with me that that has to be changed asap! The name was derived from ‘Borno’, an alternative name of the Kanuris who form the predominant ethnic group in the state. Kanuris are also known as Yerwa, Sirata or Beri Beri (known in places like Ilorin as Baruba or Bariba). However, another rendition has it that it means ‘Barr Nuh’, which is Arabic for ‘The Land of Noah’ as it was believed that the Ark of Noah landed there after the Flood. Some historians do not subscribe to this because they believe it is a fancy of some Arabists. You decide.
  


#7 BENUE STATE: The 36 States of Nigeria and their Meanings




7. BENUE STATE

It is a word from the Batta language ‘Binuwe’ which means ‘Mother of Waters’. Streams forming watershed from the Adamawa Plateau drain into this mighty river and it has its roots in northern Cameroon. Interestingly, the Benue (La Benoue in French, and it was also formerly called Chadda (Tchadda) River) has many tributaries in the Adamawa Emirate. These include the Beti, Kunini and the Lamorde. During the months of August and September, the river becomes very navigable as it reaches its widest and can stretch up to a mile from bank to bank bringing with it flood plain deposits of fertile soils that has made the state one of the best locations for farming in Nigeria. It reaches its lowest level in March and April and stretching for 1,400 kilometers, it is the longest tributary of the River Niger.
  



Snowden receives German award for civic courage



US whistleblower Edward Snowden, former contractor for the US National Security Agency now residing in Russia, received a symbolic award for civic courage from the Humanist Union non-governmental organization, Germany's Suedwestrundfunk (SWR) reported citing Werner Koep-Kerstin, the head of the organization.

Ex-NSA and CIA serviceman Edward Snowden has been awarded a Fritz Bauer Prize in Germany. Fritz Bauer was a German prosecutor and judge who played an important role in the so-called "Oswiecim trials" of former SS officers.

Dutch emergency workers battle to save sinking cruise ship



Dutch emergency workers were battling to save a sinking river cruise ship early Sunday morning after it sprung a major leak, forcing the evacuation of almost 200 pensioners and crew. The 110-metre (360-feet) vessel "Britannia" was on a cruise near the eastern Dutch city of Zutphen, on the Ijssel River when it started taking on water around 22:00 GMT, emergency services spokesman Robert Spijkerman said.

"All 154 passengers and 40 crew members have been evacuated from the ship and we're trying to pump out water to prevent her from sinking," Spijkerman told AFP.

Taliban attack NATO base in eastern Afghanistan



The Taliban attacked a NATO base located on an airfield in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, the Al Arabiya satellite TV channel reports today. According to the Al Arabiya, the militants launched eight missiles against the base. There is no information about the casualties.

On 9 June, the Taliban militants attacked a rear base of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Jalalabad killing four people. On that day, a suicide bomber exploded a car bomb at the gate to a group of buildings, after which two gunmen broke through onto a guarded area and opened fire, reports ITAT-TASS.

Storms hit southern China: 26 dead, 337,000 evacuated



At least 26 people died, three were missing and some 337,000 were evacuated as summer storms brought torrential rain and flashfloods to much of southern China, the government said Sunday.

High winds, floods and landslides destroyed about 8,700 homes and damaged 66,000 others, affecting some 4.9 million people in nine southern provinces since June 18, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported.
The National Meteorological Centre forecast more heavy rain in large areas of southern China Sunday and Monday.

Brazil's first-ever female President Dilma Rousseff stands for re-election in October



Brazil's first-ever female President, Dilma Rousseff, has been selected by the Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, or PT) to run for a second term in the October election, Argentinian Infobae reported Saturday. "The time has come to move forward, a time of great change, my dear fellows. Brazil wants those, who have proved their ability to deeply change the country, improve the life of our people, to stand behind the changes," Rousseff said.

Mass immigrant graves discovered in South Texas cemetery



Volunteer researchers recently have uncovered mass graves in a South Texas cemetery that they believe contain the bodies of immigrants who died crossing into the US illegally.

Two university anthropologists say the remains in Sacred Heart Burial Park in Falfurrias were found in trash bags, shopping bags, body bags or without a container.

Dozens protest in Sydney against Ukrainian military action



Several dozen people took part in a protest in downtown Sydney Sunday against action by the Ukrainian military in the country's east. The action was organized by Russian and Ukrainian descendants now living in Australia.

"People are tired of hatred," said one of the organizers, "We issued an appeal to Russians and Ukrainians living in Sydney with a proposal, namely, let's forget the things that divide us, let's get together on a platform that unites us because we all speak against war".

Ayodele Fayose Displaces Fayemi From Office In Ekiti



Ayo Fayose of PDP scored 203, 090 number of votes to beat the candidate of the APC Kayode Fayemi, who scored 120, 433 while the candidate of the Labour Party, Bamidele Opeyemi scored 18,135 votes to come third in yesterday's gubernatorial election in Ekiti state, Yorubaland.
Let's Know Your Thoughts.
‪#‎EkitiDecides‬

Obama could be impeached in case of using US army in Iraq - author of War Powers Act



American President Barack Obama would commit an impeachable offense if he used military force in Iraq prior congressional approval but he could circumvent the law, Paul Findley, former US congressman and one of the original authors of The War Powers Resolution, told RIA Novosti.

"The word emergency is very elastic. If [Obama] declared new intelligence required him to renew combat operations he might argue it demanded emergency action," he said.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

FFK Congratulates Ayo Fayose as he wins Ekiti Govenorship election.




 According to a tweet by former minister Femi Fani Kayode, Ayo Fayose beat incumbent governor Kayode Fayemi in the 2014 Ekiti Governorship election which held today June 21st in the state.

After the break, you will discover a listing by Sahara Reporters of votes collated at various polling centers but awaits final certification by INEC....
Continue.

Evil: Boy Stabs 17-Year-Old Friend To Death For Rapìng His Sister




A friendship in Lagos has ended in the death of one party at the hands of the other after a teenager killed his friend for allegedly rapìng his sister.

Isaac Usim, whose age wasn’t specified is said to have taken the life of one Kehinde by stabbing him in the neck with a screwdriver after the latter molested his sister.

The incident occurred in the Apapa area of the state and Isaac is currently said to be on the run.

CONFIRMED! 87 Out of 486 Suspects nabbed In Abia are Identified as Boko Haram



A security source disclosed that out of 486 suspected insurgents arrested on Sunday in Abia State, 87, including a kingpin, were Boko Haram members.

Hundreds of travellers, who were passing along Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway in several buses, were detained in Aba town on suspicion of being linked with the dreaded sect. 

#EKITIDECIDES: Fayose Appears set for a landslide.




A PMNews Report
Mr. Ayo Fayose, choice of the PDP in the Ekiti governorship election, seems set for a landslide triumph, going by preliminary effects in the election held Saturday, 21 June.

P.M.NEWS learnt that Fayose has won in many of the key areas in the state, including Ado-Ekiti, trouncing incumbent, Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress. Early reports said Fayemi and many APC stalwarts lost in their polling units to the PDP candidate.
Bamidele Opeyemi of the Labour Party reportedly did well in his home town of Iyin-Ekiti.
Here are some of the early results:
Ara Ekiti

Ekiti: Preventing APC governors from campaign was ‘act of war’ – Soyinka




Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has condemned the stopping of some governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from attending a campaign rally in Ekiti State describing it as an act of war.
At a press conference in Lagos, Saturday, Mr. Soyinka urged the affected governors to seek redress in court, noting that it was a violation of their human rights.
Some APC governors who were attending Governor Kayode Fayemi’s final electioneering campaign in Ado-Ekiti, last Thursday, were prevented from getting to their destination by army soldiers.
The APC leadership accused the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP-led federal government of orchestrating the plot.

“I think it is important that we don’t lose sight of preparations before an election simply because we want the event to be over and done with.  “When Vice President Sambo said in Ekiti that this election was going to be war, I actually rebuked some of the opposition who said that the Vice President had come to announce the outbreak of a war. I said come on; this is what is known as a figure of speech. Even his predecessor within the party used a similar expression, ‘do or die,’ I took the same position, that we must allow what is known as poetic licence in which people use metaphors that should not be taken literarily. So I have never really bothered about the expressions like fight to finish, do or die, it’s war to the end,” Mr. Soyinka said.

“The prevention of some governors and their supporters from going for their own campaign was nothing short of an act of war. So maybe I should learn to be less metaphoric in my approach to language and learn to take politicians’ word a bit more serious,” he added.  Mr. Soyinka said that practices such as waving of party flags and sweeping the stage after your opponent had finished a rally are part of the language of democracy.

“But to prevent governors from attending a campaign for the success of their own party is for me not just unconstitutional, it’s criminal, and such people should be charged to court. It’s not different from rigging during the election, from women suddenly becoming pregnant with ballot papers, with stealing and even daylight robbery of ballot boxes. What is the difference? Electioneering is part and parcel of the democratic process,” Mr. Soyinka said.

The Nobel laureate also condemned the Nigerian military for allowing the army to be used as “election thugs.”  “Let me ask you a question: Suppose Governors Amaechi, Oshiomhole, Nyako, and the other APC governors are being in a motorcade that had been waylaid by thugs with guns, machetes, cudgels, or even acid.

Supposing it was hired thugs who had stopped the electoral candidates from proceeding to the polling booth, will this be considered constitutionally acceptable?
“So when the army begin to act like thugs on account of election, I see no difference between the waylaying of those governors by paid thugs on a lonely road if they were going by road, I see no difference between that and the military waylaying governors, preventing their helicopters from landing. I see no difference whatsoever between that kind of conduct and just ordinary paid thugs. So I’m asking the military, when did you take on the job of electioneering thugs?”
‘Punish the culprits’

Mr. Soyinka called for an immediate end to the violation of citizens’ rights by law enforcement agents, adding that those involved in the Ekiti incident be punished to serve as deterrent to others.
“This is the kind of conduct which this police commissioner Mbu considered a proper conduct for a law officer in Rivers State. When we spoke, in this very hall that day, people were saying what business does Wole Soyinka, Falana have in Rivers state?

“What we were saying is that if we allow this kind of conduct to be accepted once, there will be escalation. It happened, and in a more dangerous dimension in the same Rivers State,” Mr. Soyinka continued.
“We have a responsibility in any part of Nigeria when the right of a citizen is violated. It doesn’t matter whether the person is a motor mechanic, market woman, or a governor, a legislator, we have a responsibility to cry out, and to tell Nigerians that if you don’t speak now it’s going to come to your door, and it’s going to be far worse with fatal consequences.


“It’s about time we abandon the language of orders from the top. We want specifics. Who gave orders like that? Is it the Chief of Army Staff? Is it a general somewhere? Is it the military police? Enough is enough. Amaechi has a name, Oshiomhole has a name, Nyako has a name, Fayemi has a name, why is it that those who prevent them exercising their citizen’s rights do not appear to have a name.
“The military is being paid from the public purse. The military has no business taking sides in a political election,” said Mr. Soyinka.

Mr. Soyinka demanded the National Assembly to institute a commission of enquiry to unravel what happened in Ekiti State.
“We want to know who gave orders, we want these people to be called to give evidence,” said Mr. Soyinka.

“I think that all these governors should sue for the violation of their human rights. Let us make an example once and for all. We cannot continue this spiral of misconduct which makes us a laughing stock all over the world.
“We will not be satisfied with a face saving commission of enquiry. If that is what happens, then we will set up citizens’ court. We did it during the fight against Abacha. We’ve done it for Bashir of the Sudan, which we got witnesses, victims, journalists to come and testify about the violation of human rights there. We asked for international help.


“If such a trial is broken up here, then we will hold it next door. We will hold it anywhere, all the worse for the Nigerian government. They created the shame if we are forced to hold such court outside, with United Nations help if necessary, with international bodies, we’ll place the government of this county on trial.

“This must be the very last time that such an incident happens, it bodes ill for future elections. It makes a sham of all we had fought for. It’s a wastage of our very existence. I still cannot believe that this thing happened.”  Mr. Soyinka reiterated his call to Nigerians to support the efforts of the military in their fight against the Boko Haram insurgency.

“But if the military conduct themselves in this way, then we have to consider them allies of Boko Haram. Because Boko Haram could have attacked to stop the governors going to campaign. Boko Haram does not believe in democracy. Boko Haram despises democracy.
“What happened in Ekiti was a violation of the constitution and those who are responsible should be exposed and where necessary punished,”
Mr. Soyinka added.
Source: Premium Times

Ogun 2015: The Betrayed, The Deceived And The Third Force




By Adekoya Boladale

Since the past few months, pages of tabloids and media have been dominated with reports of decamping, intra party maneuvering, party structure reshuffling and tales of backbiting between godfather and godson in Ogun State. Even though the electoral commission is yet to lift the ban on major political activities for 2015 election, the gateway state seems to have kicked started political engagement much before any other state in the country.
From the clash between the former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba and his now former godson and Governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun both of the All Progressive Congress(APC) which resulted into a death race where tens of party faithful were either hacked or shot at on various occasions, down to the inauguration of a new executive for the Labour Party in the state and the unending faction and counter faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), it is crystal clear that the race to 2015 has begun.  

Ekiti Decides: Fayose and PDP lead as early results trickle in





Ode ekiti- ward 1 unit 1

Apc 74 pdp 18 Egbe ekiti apc 52 pdp 33

Ayedun ward 10 unit 13Apc 50 pdp 89

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