NIGERIAN MEN & THEIR WIVES....USA

Dear All,

People who read the journalist's reports on these killings will discover that in some areas--the writer sounds as if though he is blaming the women; in some areas the writer sounds as if though he was blaming the men. In general the writer appears to be more explicit on the names he was calling the actors.

My position is that the phenomenon is despicable-- no human being will accept that killing someone can be condoned in any way except when someone is physically or obviously on his/her way to kill someone else---in that respect--the case of self-defense may apply.

But we all must agree that sometimes in life, people do things that indeed kill other people directly or indirectly. As such, some times human beings--men or women launch a first strike if they feel that someone else is already on his/her way to kill the person one way or the other. An example will be the killing of the Supper-Star, Malvin Gay by his father--and other examples like that. But let it be clear, I do not give prescriptions for how to kill people--I do not kill people and do not intend to kill anyone or suggest that anyone should kill anyone for any reason whatsoever.

What I was alluding to is that: as a community, Nigerians in America should no longer just be wondering, name-calling, when these killings occur: people must dig deeper than that to seek solutions. In the ancient times--when certain bad things began to happen, the ancients make special journeys to visit supper Oracles for solutions. In this modern time, as well, communities consult experts for solutions. The occurrence should be researched in order to get scientific data that will help our communities to device ways for solutions.

Even just publicizing those gruesome pictures can make people to think twice when they are embarking on criminal schemes--both the men and the women. For quite some time now--most people who came from Africa have the feeling and belief that people from Africa cannot be as deadly as some Americans: they want to use American laws the ways it fits them, but pretend that they do not also know that Americans also, when people do them things that defy morality/humanity/ and rationality- -they some times as well snap and do strange things. For example, a woman who shot the man who raped her very young boy and the courts seemed to be handling the man in a softer way; we have seen lovers shoot people who seemed to put their hands in the mouth of the person they violated.

Some Nigerian men who know clearly that our Nigerian laws forbid men going around (f----king/screwing ) peoples' wives, do it anyways simply because they factor that Nigerian people do not shoot. When you go to parties in this America--and in the party there are Americans and Nigerians in the party--the people Nigerian Coward men would openly be chasing are women with other Nigerians. It is not that they think that they are physically stronger than the Nigerian men who may be there with the women; it is simply because the bad Nigerian men are so cowardly that they just cannot dare mess with women with Americans openly.

They know that Americans of all types will waste no minute in executing them, if the felt insulted by the Nigerian or any man in that matter. I have observed this in many states and places I have been. The same is the case with some of our women--some (bullshits they feed Nigerian men--are sometimes because they felt that Nigerian men are not violent--that they do not kill. While I will like an immediate stoppage to these senseless killings--I also hope that people who are still alive can take some lessens from what have happened so far. Do not dare anyone so badly! If you are a woman--once you know that you are doing certain things you would not have been doing ordinarily in our cultures to a man--do not be too sure of his resolve to endure; if you are a man--and doing bad things with the belief that American laws are on your side or easy on those things--do not be too sure about that. The man you are messing with his wife or the woman you are messing with could also possibly act like American-borns.

One time in California, one woman whom people say was a pauper in Nigeria--but when one guy from her area went home, married and brought her here, trained her in nursing school; after she started making money she filed for divorce and took the houses, the children and so on. Although in a court of law--the system made the woman to be paying the guy back some money; but that woman had the habit of every place there is a party where she knows that the guy will be there--she goes there and be doing all sorts of things she could do to provoke the guy. We have not heard that anything happened, but I felt that the woman should have been more careful and take precaution than that. At least, try to avoid contacts with the guy to give the devil no chance. To prove that the woman may be the offender there--we have learned that she went home and remarried and brought a guy from Nigeria here--and the same thing that happened with her and the first guy happened again--and the newest guy fled off from her.

I have criticized bad Nigerian men: I supported none of them. I am simply saying that--sometimes our people overdrive this their understanding of American ways of living--and it have been showing.

There is one altruism, once there is a conflict--the parties to the conflict all have a share in the causes of that conflict one way or the other. The idea of blaming one party is absolutely wrong. For that reason, we need to research the phenomenon so that we can use the scientific finding to educate our people--both from home and those who are already here.

IF NIGERIAN WOMEN IN NIGERIAN AND OUR MEN ARE SEEING THOSE PICTURES--THEY MUST HAVE LEARNED FEW THINGS FROM THERE. WHEN SOMEONE STAYS HERE AND KEEPS TELLING A WOMEN WHO IS STILL AT HOME THAT AMERICAN LAWS FAVOR WOMEN OR A NIGERIAN MAN WHO IS BEING UNDER ILLUSIONS OF WHAT THIS COUNTRY IS ABOUT, OR IS NOT, THE FATE OF THE MEN IN THE PICTURES MUST HAVE TOLD THEM ONE THING OR ANOTHER. THAT SOMETIMES--A NIGERIAN COULD ALSO ACT LIKE AMERICANS. IF SOMETHING IS NOT DONE--SOON, THE WOMEN WILL ALSO BEGIN TO DO WHAT AMERICAN WOMEN DO AS WELL. SWINDLING A MAN OR WOMAN WITH THE HOPE THAT ONE WILL GET WAY WITH IT--MAY BE BECOMING A THING OF THE PAST. LET US LEAVE ALL CHEATING; DUPING; SWINDLING; AND BE GOOD LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS OF AMERICA AND NIGERIA.

As to Yoruba men--one of the men is a Yoruba man--this ugly event touched on all the major peoples of Nigeria--look at the names well. We may give the credit of not being among this evil by Hausa people to their women's culture. As you know that--the Hausas and Muslims maintain zero tolerance when it comes to a woman going "wild" if you like. Perhaps the answer to that question is that the people adhere to their culture even while here. If the Southerners and their Christian beliefs are too easy to transgress-- the Muslims and Hausas are not that way yet. I do not see Hausa men in this America their wives would prepare and head to parties alone as some Southerns wives do and many other things they know they could not do in Nigeria. The two most obvious bones of contention-- center on fidelity issues and money. We shall be saying more on this.

Jerry Stephens

(USA)

STUDY VACATION WITH AFRICAN CHILDREN

OUT OF OFFICE FROM 11TH TILL 26TH AUGUST

MOST WEB AND BLOG ACTIVITIES MAY BE SUSPENDED

Chukwubike Okey C.

A Deal Gone Sour

NEWSWATCH

By Chris Ajaero
Sunday, August 03, 2008

Sam Edem, former diplomat and chairman of the Niger DeltaDevelopment Commission, NDDC, trades accussations with Perekabowei Ogah, a sorcerer, he allegedly hired and paid N800 million to kill for him.

These are not the best of times for Sam Edem, chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. Edem is currently in the eye of the storm over his alleged attempt to use diabolical means to eliminate Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State and Timi Alaibe, managing director of NDDC.

Investigations by Newswatch revealed that the embattled NDDC chairman squandered one billion Naira on a juju priest who promised to perpetrate the act through fetish practices. Both Edem and Perekabowei Ogah alias Mathew Sonoma, the 34-year-old native doctor from Bomadi, Delta State whom he hired to execute the dastardly act have made confessional statements to the police. In their confessional statements obtained exclusively by Newswatch, both confirmed their involvement in the alleged murder plot.

Ogah in his statement dated June 11, 2008, said his relationship with Edem started in 2007 when the latter realised that he was to be relieved of his appointment as NDDC chairman and sought for spiritual powers that could stop it. Kakas Amgbari, who works with Edem had introduced Ogah to Edem as a native doctor who was capable of helping his case.

Ogah, however, told the NDDC chairman that it would cost him N15 million and he agreed to pay. "On that note, I listed the items required for the sacrifice to cost the sum of N15 million naira which he subsequently paid into my executive savings account which I have with the Oceanic Bank, Ughelli," Ogah said. The native doctor claimed that after he had performed the necessary rituals, Edem was retained as NDDC chairman and his client was happy with him.

Consequently, the NDDC chairman who was now convinced about the efficacy of Ogah's powers decided to give him three new assignments. The first one was that he should work on Governor Akpabio through his fetish powers so that he would always do his bidding, especially by awarding contracts to him. The second assignment was for him to either eliminate Alaibe or inflict him with stroke using diabolical means.

Edem's reason for seeking to eliminate or incapacitate Alaibe was because he saw him as a stumbling block to him in NDDC as Edem claimed he does not give him breathing space to operate as the commission's chairman. The third assignment Edem had for the native doctor was that he should "work on the Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan so that he can always obey him and always support him if there is any plan to remove him from office."

Based on the seriousness of the assignments, particularly the one that involved the elimination of Alaibe, the native doctor gave him a bill of N570 million which Edem also paid instalmentally. He initially paid N220 million and followed it up with N50 million and then N40million, which brought the total to N310 million, leaving a balance of N260million. The native doctor immediately went to work. Ogah claimed that before he was given the assignment, Edem's relationship with Governor Akpabio was not quite cordial. He, therefore, prepared a charm which he gave to Edem and instructed him to meet with Akpabio.

During the meeting, he should touch the charm on Akpabio's drink and, thereafter, touch it on the ground. Edem did as the native doctor directed and after the meeting, the governor allegedly awarded him a road contract worth seven billion Naira.

However, in the process of using the charm as Ogah instructed, Edem forgot to touch it on the ground. The native doctor claimed that as a result of this mistake by Edem, the charm affected the governor's health and he was flown abroad for medical attention. Edem who did not
want Akpabio to die in the process, because his contract would be at risk, went to the native doctor and confessed that he forgot to touch the charm on the ground as he directed. Ogah then told Edem that in order to save the governor's life, he should pay an additional sum of
N50 million. He complied and Ogah appeased the gods, hence Akpabio did not die from the effect of charm.

But the assignment that the native doctor should eliminate Alaibe through diabolical means proved difficult for him. The native doctor said after the expiration of the period he promised Edem that Alaibe would die and the NDDC managing director was still alive, he (Edem) came to him. "I told him that his spirit is too strong. On that note he (Edem) grew annoyed and asked me to refund the money, he paid for Timi's work," Ogah said. It was at this juncture that Edem requested Ogah to refund the money he had so far paid him but he refused, insisting that the NDDC chairman should rather pay him the remaining N260 million. This marked the beginning of the disagreement between Edem and Ogah. Edem, therefore, petitioned the police alleging that Ogah was a fraudster and had defrauded him of millions of Naira.

This was why Ogah was arrested and detained at the Zone 5 Police Headquarters, Benin City. It was after his arrest that he made startling revelations on his sordid affair with Edem.

But the native doctor claimed that before the burble burst, Edem had burnt the sum of N270 million while naked in a cemetery in Port Harcourt as part of the ritual. The ashes from the burnt Naira notes were rubbed on Edem's body by the native doctor in a bid to fortify him.

In his own statement to the police, dated June 18, 2008, Edem neither denied nor admitted his alleged plot to eliminate Alaibe and Akpabio. He, however, said that Ogah was introduced to him as a pastor by Amgbari in November, 2007. After some prayer sessions in his house, Ogah started extorting money from him with death threats to him, family members and staff. "I later discovered that this man is a hardened criminal with fetish practices and diabolical powers. The truth is that I was hypnotised by this man into believing anything he said. He employed dangerous threats as a weapon to continuously extort huge amounts of money from me while putting me under his spell," Edem stated.

The NDDC chairman said that the extortion of money from him by Ogah started in November, 2007 and lasted till April, this year when God rescued him from his spell. "By the time God rescued me from his spell, this criminal and his cohorts had drained me financially, emotionally, and psychologically, " Edem told the police. According to him, the total amount collected from him by the native doctor under alleged hypnotic spell is about N800 million. He said he usually paid the money with bank drafts into Ogah's Oceanic Bank International
Plc account number 0231701700330. The NDDC chairman alleged that the native doctor used part of the money collected from him to acquire a hotel complex in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the cost of more than N100 million and a fleet of new cars of different brands and models.

When the police monitoring team from Zone 5, Benin City searched Ogah's residence in Bomadi recently, many cars were recovered from him. But Ogah denied the allegation by Edem that the money he used to acquire cars and other properties were proceeds from his dealings with him. "The money I used in buying my cars and other properties were strictly mine as I do work for politicians who pay me handsomely," he said.

Other items recovered from Ogah's residence are Government House, Yenagoa staff identity card and a Bayelsa Government House plate number: BYGH 43. The native doctor claimed that the Government House identity card was issued to him by Diepreye Alamieyeseigha when he
was in office as the Bayelsa State governor. He further claimed that he still had free access to Government House, Yenagoa, when Goodluck Jonathan, vice-president, became the governor because he was the spiritual godfather to both leaders. "The Government House, Yenagoa staff identity card recovered from my house by the police was issued to me by Ex-Governor Alamieyeseigha when I was his spiritual godfather during his tenure and that of Ex-Governor Goodluck Jonathan," Ogah stated.

With regard to the Bayelsa Government House plate number, he claimed it was meant for a Peugeot 504 car assigned to one Bobo 2Pac, who he said is a younger brother to Alamieyeseigha. Ogah recalled that in 2000, he had an accident with the car along Mbiama road and, thereafter, the vehicle was taken to Government House, Yenagoa. He however, added that he mistakenly kept the plate number in his house.

Efforts by Newswatch to get the reaction of the vice-president through Ima Niboro, his senior special assistant, media, failed as he could not be reached on phone last week. But another official in the vice-president's office who craved anonymity said that Jonathan is a staunch Anglican and so would not be associated with anything fetish.

At press time last week, Alamieyeseigha could also not be reached on phone for his reaction to Ogah's allegation that he was his spiritual godfather when he was in office as governor.

But John Araka, media consultant to Edem while reacting to the alleged attempt by the NDDC chairman to use the native doctor to eliminate Alaibe and Akpabio denied Ogah's claims. "It is unthinkable that Edem would want to kill Alaibe. What for? So that he can succeed him as managing director? It's all blackmail," Araka told Newswatch.

On the allegation that Edem paid the native doctor to eliminate Governor Akpabio, Araka said the NDDC chairman was one of those instrumental to his emergence as Akwa Ibom State governor. "They had a good relationship. So, he would not want to destroy the house he
helped to build," Araka said.

Newswatch, however, learnt that the startling revelations by Ogah has strained the relationship between Edem and Alaibe. It was gathered that although the two NDDC top officials were handling the matter maturedly, a cold war is raging in the commission owing to this turn
of events.

There were also indications last week that Governor Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State was still dumbfounded that Edem, his kinsman, could be linked with a plot to eliminate him. Usoro Usoro, chief press secretary to the governor told Newswatch that a few days before the revelations became public knowledge, Edem had visited Akpabio at Akwa Ibom Governor's Lodge in Abuja. "Before these revelations, the governor had no problem with Edem. That was why the revelations are shocking to him," Usoro said. He said the governor has informed
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua officially about this development.

Usoro explained that his boss was confident that the police would get to the root of the matter. The governor's image maker also said he was not aware that his boss awarded a road contract to the tune of seven billion Naira as alleged by Ogah.

On the claim by Ogah that the charm he gave to Edem affected Governor Akpobio's health and made him to be flown abroad for medical treatment, Usoro said no such thing happened. He said the governor could have travelled for treatment abroad but it certainly has nothing to do with the alleged charm by the native doctor. "Governor Akpabio firmly believes in God. So, nobody can harm him," Usoro said.

Newswatch further gathered that Edem was deeply pained by the revelations of his sordid affair with the native doctor. In a bid to re-establish his ties with the governor, he recently approached Camillus Etukudo, the Catholic bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese, and pleaded with him to help him beg Akpabio for forgiveness, saying that he fell into the hands of satanic agents. He decided to seek the bishop's intervention because the governor is an ardent Catholic and is very close to the respected clergyman.

The greatest source of worry for Edem now is not the huge amount he lost in the business but how to defend the source of the money he squandered. This is because some Nigerians have already started calling on the federal government to investigate the source of the money Edem gave out to the native doctor and his collaborators. Consequently, Edem has taken certain steps to douse public criticisms of his action through some groups who have been defending him.

One of such groups is the Ibom Youth For Peace Movement, IYPM. In a statement signed by David Friday Ibanga, president of IYPM, the group frowned at what it termed organised blackmail and campaign of calumny against a respectable and patriotic son of Akwa Ibom State. It wondered why sycophants and charlatans were spreading rumour about assassination plot when the suspects who were arrested and released have already apologised to the NDDC chairman. "We have watched with dismay, the way and manner desperate political fortune seekers have capitalised on the ongoing false rumours to score a cheap political point without recourse to proper reasoning or making any effort to unravel the truth concerning the assassination bid story, thereby assassinating and battering another man's well earned character and image," IYPM stated.

The group also said that it was not possible for Edem to attempt to kill Akpabio or Alaibe. "What does Ambassador Sam Edem stand to gain by killing Governor Akpabio that he supported or does he want to become governor or the managing director of NDDC? Ambassador Sam Edem is a decent, patriotic son of the South-South, he has never been involved in any shady deal or anything inimical to the peace and development of the Niger Delta region," IYPM said.

Another group that has risen in defence of the NDDC chairman is the Niger Delta Law Students Association. Uko Ekpenyong, national coordinator of the association said his members were shocked that the Nigerian public have become so gullible to believe the alleged murder scandal. To him, the entire assassination story is "a hoax and some powerful politicians must be behind this devilish act."

When Newswatch contacted Udo Ekpoudom, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, in charge of Zone 5, Benin City, last week, he confirmed that both Edem and Ogah had made statements to the police investigative team. He said Ogah was initially detained but later released on bail. "We are still investigating the case and I am confident that we will get to the root of the matter," Ekpoudom told Newswatch.

Nigeria lagging behind in achieving MDGs

UNICEF says Nigeria lagging behind in achieving MDGs



LAGOS (Xinhua)-- The UN Children's Fund UNICEF has rated Nigeria low in its effort in attaining its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a report by the UNICEF office in Nigeria received here on Wednesday.


The report said Nigeria had not made sufficient progress in the attainment of most of the targets of the MDGs set by the UN to eradicate poverty, reduce child and maternal mortality, fight disease and achieve environmental sustainability by 2015.

The UNICEF report indicated that Nigeria had a 29 percent prevalence of underweight children in 2006 and an annual reduction rate of only 2.2 percent.

UNICEF said though Nigeria recorded 68 percent net school enrolment, there was still no progress towards the MDG target, on the achievement of the Universal Basic Education.

It said Nigeria had a 0.89 percent gender parity index, with 72 percent male net enrolment to 64 percent in female, on the elimination of gender disparity in primary education, according to Unicef.

GOWAN & BAKASSI

Published 8/14/2008 3:26:00 AM

Nigerians should not cry over transfer – Gowon....
Jude Owuamanam, Jos

As Nigeria gets set to hand over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun on Thursday (today), a former Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon, has said that the ceded territory never belonged to Nigeria. He also denied accusations that he handed Bakassi over to Cameroun because of its support for Nigeria during the Biafran war.Gowon, who spoke in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, said that the International Court of Justice at The Hague, which gave the ruling ceding the peninsula to Cameroun, was right. He added that Nigerians living in that part had the choice of living there under Camerounian laws or agreeing to be resettled in Nigeria.He said the misconception about the ownership of the peninsula arose when Nigeria was administering the western part of Cameroun as part of the United Nations mandate. Gowon explained that when a plebiscite was undertaken, the people of Western Cameroun decided to go to Cameroun whereas the northern part decided to be in Nigeria.He recalled that it took the ingenuity of the then Premier of Northern Nigeria, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, to convince the northern part of Cameroun to be in Nigeria while the Nnamdi Azikiwe-led National Council of Nigeria and the Camerouns (as it then was) did little to convince the western part of Cameroun to to remain part of Nigeria.The former head of state said that the ICJ in its ruling, took into cognisance, the Anglo/German Treaties of 1885 and 1914, adding that at the dawn of independence, all African countries agreed to abide by the international boundaries agreed by the occupying powers.Meanwhile, a professor of History of International Relations, University of Lagos, Yomi Akinyeye, said, "The handover is in order. The place called Bakassi never belonged to Nigeria in the first place. The issues and the ownership are so clear."We were only misled by so-called experts who were misguided and who deceived us into going to the International Court of Justice. We never stood a chance."The documents with which the ICJ reached the inevitable decision are in the public archives, we in Nigeria have them, others have them in their own archives."They are based mainly on Anglo-German Treaty of 1913 and at Independence in 1960. It was obvious that other agreements would have to be made but based on the original legal documents signed between the two colonial powers of Germany and Britain."

Sydney 4x400 relay gold gives Nigeria a little lift

Sydney 4x400 relay gold gives Nigeria a little lift

Written by Patrick Omorodion

Saturday, 16 August 2008

Eight years after the US 4x400 relay team inspired by  banned drugs to 'steal' the event's gold medal from the Nigerian quartet of Sunday Bada, Enefiok Udo-Obong, Jude Monye and Clement Chukwu, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finally awarded the medal to the country during the week.  sunday bada. The retrieval of the medal from the mouthy Americans, who kind of have always been favoured by doping regulations where only non-Americans are usually always caught in the dope web like Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson suffered in 1988 in Seoul, was slow in coming especially after the regulatory body of world's athletics, IAAF had recommended so long time ago. It is however better late than never and it is hoped the winners of that medal would be accorded the right reception accorded others before them, that is the 1996 football Olympic gold medallists and Chioma Ajunwa, Nigeria's first and only individual gold medallists also from the Atlanta Games. While Nigeria and Nigerians still celebrate that gold medal, it is pertinent to mention that its inclusion in the country's total medal haul amounts to little or nothing as it only takes the country seven steps on the overall world ranking from 67th to 60th position. Without the on-going Beijing Olympic Games taken into consideration, Nigeria has against her name 2 gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze medals, bringing her total haul to 19, but with the Sydney relay gold, her gold haul now stands at three with the total going to 20. Compared to the tiny Carribean country of Bahamas, it is a paltry dip in the ocean for a country of about 140 million citizens. Bahamas, before Nigeria got the IOC reprieve, were on the 65th position, two steps better than Nigeria, a country whose population is not near that of Ibadan or even Surulere in Lagos State. Bahamas, who are a very strong force in athletics, especially the relays is made up of about 330,000 people, have garnered 3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals, totaling 8. Before now, Nigeria led in the countries with two gold medals. Ironically, with her new status of three gold, she still leads the countries with three gold medals courtesy of her superior eight silver medals compared to the six, four, four, three, three, two and one respectively garnered by Portugal, Croatia, Australasia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Bahamas and Azerbaijan. The Sydney gold medal however failed to make any impact on Nigeria's overall medals standing among African countries in the Olympic family. Before and after the medal was added, Nigeria occupied the seventh position, behind South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria in that order. With 36th position in the world, South Africa is the continent's most successful in the history of the Olympics with 20 gold, 23 silver and 26 bronze medals, bringing her total haul to 69. Kenya, known for her prowess in the long distance races comes second in Africa with a total haul of 61 medals, 17 gold, 24 silver and 20 bronze to place 38 in the world. Ethiopia is 41 in the world and third in Africa with 14 gold, 5 silver and 12 bronze medals to aggregate at 31, Egypt follows with 7 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze, totaling 23 to place 52 in the world. Morocco is fifth in Africa and 54th in the world with 6 gold, 4 silver and 9 bronze with a total haul of 19 medals while Algeria immediately before Nigeria is sixth after garnering 4 gold, 1 silver and 7 bronze medals to place 59th with a total haul of 12. Expectedly, the United States leads the world with 895 gold, 692 silver, 602 bronze with a total haul of 2189. The dismembered Soviet Union is second with 395 gold, 319 silver and 296 bronze, totaling 1010, Great Britain is next with 188 gold, 242 silver and 238 bronze, total 668, France is fourth with 184 gold, 196 silver and 216 bronze with a total of 596 while Italy places fifth with 182 gold, 148 silver and 164 bronze to earn a total of 494 medals. http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14460&Itemid=0 http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Notizie/Olimpiadi/38405/La+4x400+Usa+restituir%C3%A0+l%27oro+di+Sydney

Nigeria Cedes Bakassi To Cameroun 2008/08/14 By Emma Una/ Calabar & Eromosele Ebhomele The controversial Bakassi Peninsula has been formally handed over to the Republic of Cameroun. The ceremony took place today, in Calabar, the Cross River State capital. Top government officials from Nigeria, Cameroun, representatives of the United Nations, the diplomatic community, etc. witnessed the ceremony. The Nigerian delegation was led by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa. In his speech at the historic occasion, Aondoakaa said the handing over was a painful exercise. "We are saddled with the painful task of completing the implementation of the ICJ judgement," he said. According to him, there are arrangements for the resettlement of those who have chosen to leave the peninsula, promising the Nigerian indigenes who would remain in the area that their fundamental human rights would be maintained. While the Acting-Governor of Cross River State, R. Hon. Francis Adah, tasked the international community to assist in resettling the displaced Nigerians, who, he said, were already traumatised, the Camerounian minister of State for Justice, Professor Maurice Kamto, confirmed that his country would honour the Green Tree Agreement between the two countries. The United Nations Secretary General, who was represented, promised that the world body will support the displaced people and the governments of the two countries. The hand over process started two years ago, at exactly noon on Monday, 14 August, 2006, when the Nigerian flag and that of the Nigerian Army were lowered at one of the islands, Archibong Town in Bakassi. They were handed over to the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo, and the former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai, while the Camerounian flag was hoisted. It was then the Bakassi people were first hit by the realisation of a possible hand over of their land to Caremoun. They had thought a miracle would happen to change the International Court of Justice's ruling in favour of Cameroun. This ceremony became the first phase of the final hand over of the Peninsula extension of the territory of Calabar into the Atlantic Ocean with a population of between 250,000 to 300,000 people. The Republic of Cameroun had continually emphasised that the land belongs to it, capitalising on two agreements reached between it and the Nigerian government in the 1970s. The Yaounde II Declaration of 4 April, 1971, and the Maroua Declaration of 1 June, 1975, were devised to outline maritime boundaries between the two countries following their independence. The line was reportedly drawn through the Cross River estuary to the West of the Peninsula, thereby implying Camerounian ownership over Bakassi which covers an area of 665sq kilometers. Nigeria never ratified the agreement and Cameroun regarded it as being in force and this prompted the ICJ ruling in the Hague on 10 October, 2002. Despite the Green Tree Agreement between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Camerounian President, Mr. Paul Biya and the subsequent handing over process, a Federal High court sitting in Abuja put a hold to today's ceremony. However, for the first time, citizens of the country think that President Musa Yar'Adua has gone against the rule of law. Even members of the House of Representatives think so. The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Information, Eziuche Ubani, said the National Assembly should have held on to the alibi of the Federal High Court, Abuja and remind the President of his beleif in the rule of laws. "We didn't do our job at the National Assembly. There were things we could have done to stop the President from handing over our territory, at least for now," he said. For the Senator representing Bakassi, Senator Bassey Ewah Henshaw, crying would not be enough to show the grief of the people. "Government has scathered my people all over the place. My people are all refugees everywhere with nowhere to call home," he said. Noting that nothing has come out of the resettlement effort of the Federal government, the Senator said, "the people are very bitter against those people that have done them in. In time, the people will be able to identify the real people who have put them in this terrible condition." According to him, the National Assembly was yet to ratify the ICJ judgement and the various agreements by the two countries. Meanwhile, Dr. Ambrose Akpnika, a one time Commissioner for Health in Cross River State and the Mkpisong Ukara of Calabar, has described the proposed relocation of the Bakassi people to Ikang in Akpabuyo Local Government of Cross River State as a farce which is bound to fail. Dr. Akpanika, who is a prominent indigene of Bakassi, said the people of Bakassi have lived in their present place of abode for over 200 years and have taken the Bakassi Island as their ancestral home, so it would be difficult to go where they don't know. Akpanika, who is one of the Kingmakers in Efik Kingdom, said that for a people who have never known any other place as their home, they will resist any attempt made to move them in the name of relocation. Speaking to P. M. NEWS in Calabar, Dr. Akpaniko said: "my stand on the issue is that there are Bakassi natives and there are also Bakassi people. People from all parts of Nigeria and from other countries who have lived in Bakassi for over 200 years, are called Bakassi people, they have no other home. Now you cannot ask these people to re-locate. But you cannot relocate Bakassi natives who are like the Aborigines Christopher Columbus saw when he went to America . "But I think there is a contraption trying to remove the Bakassi people from Bakassi. Cameroon was given sovereignty over the land of the people of Bakassi. "The question of moving them does not arise and the United Nations Charter did not stipulate that," he declared. He said the people of Bakassi had made presentation to the Senate Committee earlier in the year asking for a stay in the handover but this has been overruled "and I think that they must have made up their minds already about the people of Bakassi and had given one thing that had never been mentioned by anybody." Dr. Akpanika said the plan of those who are bent on relocating the people want to exploit the resources of the area. "That Bakassi is full of manganese not just oil that they are fighting for. Those people might be looking at the Manganese and Manganese is a special metal some of which is used in making planes and space ships. "So Manganese is more expensive than oil, so the people who are now trying to move the natives of Bakassi from their ancestral home to somewhere else are suspect. "So what we say is that we trace the history of the people to know those who have linkage with Bakassi for some 200 years, those who have gone to Bakassi to do business and those who don't have homes. "Above all, please, Bakassi natives cannot be relocated from their home land. We have islands that could be filled up for these people who have always done business in the river to resettle." He asserted that the Calabar channel should therefore not be handed over just like that. "The Agreement that divides the channel into two for Nigeria to occupy one corner while Cameroon occupies the other corner and after five years Cameroon will take over completely, is wrong," he said. http://thepmnews. com/2008/ 08/14/nigeria- cedes-bakassi- to-cameroun

NIGERIAN MEN WIFE-KILLERS IN AMERICA !

Have you ever seen the face of a wife killer? Have you ever met anyone who took the life of the mother of his children? Have you ever seen or met such a person who is a Nigerian? How spooky it is indeed that such a person has the blood of another human being and a Nigerian for that matter, drooling over his hands! Such a hallowing experience becomes much creepier, when that monster who took the life of a Nigerian is also a fellow Nigerian whom you may have interacted with somehow. somewhat! Now buckle up your belt as Icheoku takes you on a harried excursion through the faces, names and somewhat biographies of some of these denigrate of society! They are painting the average Joe-Nigerian man in American as a domestic violent person; a potential wife killer! A bad name indeed, really? They are the worst of the Nigerian male society in America : the dregs of the society! They are the fabled black-sheep who have defiled and violated the sanctity of the Nigerian family cohesiveness. These men killed their WIVES! They made their children motherless! It is abominable! Brace yourself! Now, meet denigrate person wife-killer number one, Mr. Kelechi Charles Emeruwa:- A Nigerian Mr. Kelechi Charles Emeruwa, (pictured here right) 41 of Old Umuahia, Abia State was charged and convicted with first degree murder of his estranged wife, 36 year old Registered Nurse, Chidiebere Omenihu Ochulo. Kelechi finally lost it and stabbed his wife, with her own kitchen knife, several times that the fountain left on Julius Ceaser fades in comparison, until she gave up the ghost. "According to the account, Chidiebere had just returned from Nigeria where she bolted away for three weeks to give her late father a lavish burial despite protestations of Mr. Kelechi of the bills that are accruing and payable here in America . She wouldn't hear any of it, after-all she makes the money; only to return to an angry frustrated maniacal husband who took her kitchen knife and carved her up. It was on New Year's Day, in her townhouse in the 4200 block of Dunwood Terrace, in the Washington DC suburb of Burtonsville in Montgomery County , Maryland . For a l ittle biography, Chidiebere was born on June 1, 1970 and attended schools in Umuahia and Yola before proceeding to University of Nigeria Nsukka where she bagged a degree in Microbiology. She then got married to Kelechi in 1996 and left for the US the same year, having won the American Visa lottery. In an effort to really settle down in the US and get a respectable job, she took a second degree in Nursing and began a career at Washington Hospital Centre. As a result of her hard work, she got to the peak of the administrative cadre as a Deputy Director, Clinical Services, at the Centre where she remained until her death in the cold hands of the man she once loved - the father of her three children. In Tennessee, a Nigerian man after taking it for so long, lost his cool and shot his Registered Nurse wife as well as his hitherto mother in-law to death with a shot gun. According to the account this RN wife was married from Nigeria a pauper and brought to the United States by this m an, who trained her in school as a registered nurse. Soon after her qualification, the demon in her was let loose and it became one torment after another, with one police call after another followed by sleep-over in police cells and it went on and on ad infinitum. After a protracted battle with the authorities at the wife's instigation, this man lost his almost nearly paid-off home to his wife, including the custody of his three kids by her. He sees these kids just periodically according to court's order and at the discretionary behest of the wife who sometimes comes to the appointed custody visitation ground at a time of her choosing; just to punish and suffer this man. He could not take it any longer and now the rest is history with two women shot dead and the killer in death row awaiting the electric chair. Another lunatic fringed monster, Mr. Theophilus Ojukwu has equally entered the annals of Nigerian men wife-killers in the United States of America ! This cancer of wife killing by Nigerian husbands is fast spreading that the Nigerian society is getting numb and used to it, as one of the social maladies of our times. A heinous act which hitherto would be very abominable that people are shocked to their bone marrows is today seen as a possibility. In Garland, Texas on Saturday, March 25, 2007 Mr.Theophilus Ojukwu, (pictured right in his orange prison jumpsuit) 46, of Enugwu-Agu, Ihe in Awgu LGA, Enugu State used a mattock (hammer) to bludgeon his deeply asleep RN wife, Melvina Ojukwu, 36, of Umuanebe, also of Ihe, Awgu LGA, Enugu State to a very painful agonizing death. Sources close to the family said that about two years ago, Melvina's mother and mother in-law of Theophilus, who was visiting from Nigeria tragically died in a mysterious circumstance, in a bathtub in their house at 5400 block of Barcelona Drive , Garland Texas ; this is where Melvina also met her untimely and heartbreaking death. Whether this is a chain of events is inconclusive but both situations were very tragic! Mr Theophilus Ojukwu has since been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; that one w ould ask, is the craze to control the RN's "legendary money- faucet" enough for this tragedy and the life imprisonment consequence thereof? In another family-related violent incident involving a Nigerian, it was reported in The Atlanta Journal-Constitutio n of March 8, 2006 that a Registered Nurse Roseline Unachukwu, 34, and her six children were taken to the family violence shelter, Northwest YWCA in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, as a result of physical violence. According to people with knowledge of the incident, the poor lady escaped with her life from her husband's maniacal rage with very severe cuts in her arms which she received while fending off her husband's killer-rage. Her husband, Benjamin Unachukwu from Nnewi, Anambra State , was taken to jail to face two criminal charges with the kitchen-knife weapon of choice as evidence exhibit! In Los Angeles California it was reported that a Nigerian RN wife was brutally murdered by her husband. The viciousness of the attack was such that the man eventually tied the dead body of his wife to his truck and dragged her dead body through the roads and streets of Southern California until=2 0her skull gave up its cranial contents. He was eventually arrested, charged, tried and convicted for first degree murder with special circumstance which carries the death penalty! He is presently awaiting a date with the lethal injection in a cold segregated death-row prison cell! Only recently, one Nigeria RN woman living in Dallas Texas had this to write on the Internet about her fellow estranged Nigerian husband:- "I have been married to Mr. X (real name excluded by Icheoku as we do not want to be a purveyor of this domestic madness) for 20years, and had five children for him. I was married to him at the age of 18years, and joined him in Dallas from Nigeria after my high school. For those 20years of marriage which can pass for 20years of bondage and slavery, I have had to endure constant physical abuse, verbal abuse, and emotional abuse and mental torture in the hands of Mr. X. I am asking whosoever that=2 0reads my story to please send it out to as many forums as they have access to. Silence they say is golden. But if you are dealing with a mad, sad, disgruntled man like Benjamin X, silence will no longer be golden". And what could have driven a Nigerian wife to write such an unflattering "oration" about her husband, one would ask? The answer depends on who you ask. Is this couple close to the finish line? Similarly, in Grand Prairie , Dallas , Texas , Mrs. Monireti Abeni Akeredolu, (pictured below in her wedding with her killer-husband) a 46-year old Registered Nurse from Ondo State Nigeria met her untimely death in the hands of her estranged husband, Mr. Ebenezer Akeredolu, Sr., 48. According to the story, Mr. Akeredolu drove several hundred miles from Georgia (where he had moved to nurse his pains at loosing everything he had worked so hard for since coming to the United States several decades ago) to Dallas and pumped several bullet s into his ex-wife in day light, with so many people watching the macabre spectacle. Mrs. Monireti died slumped in the wheels of her SUV enroute to a birthday party in her honor – she had just turned 46 a day before on September 7, 2005. Not too long ago, also, on August 10, 2005 in Euless, a suburb of Dallas, another frustrated Nigerian husband, 45-year old Johnny Omorogieva from Edo State, Nigeria murdered his RN wife, Mrs. Isatu Omorogieva, 35, also of Edo State by savagely striking her on the head numerous times with a hammer in the full view of their 7-year old screaming daughter. In Tulsa, Oklahoma a yet to be fully authenticated report has it that another Nigerian man recently bludgeoned his RN wife to death while she was fast asleep; following a traumatic life which she has subjected him to since turning into the majority bread winner of the family following her graduating from a nursing program. Another Nigerian nut-case, Mr. John Onwuka (pictured here right in his orange prison jumpsuit) 49, from Akwete community of Ohafia Bende Local Government Area of Abia State was charged with one count each of homicide and use of a knife in the commission of a felony. He stabbed his RN wife of twenty five years, Mrs Gloria Uchechi Anya Onwuka age 42, fourteen times in her bedroom while she was getting ready to go to work. She was a nurse manager. Mr. John Onwuka committed this crime on the night of Saturday August 19, 2006 at the home of his wife in Estate Drive , Farmington , Hampton , Virginia with her children watching him act out his gory insanity. "Yes I have killed the woman that messed my life up! A woman that had destroyed me. I am at Shalom West, my name is Michael and am all yours". With those words - a 911 call placed to the authorities, another Nigeria man has joined the infamous heinous club of Nigerian Men Wife Killers. Fifty year old Mr. Michael Collins Iheme (pictured here left) of Hennepin Minnesota placed the call above few minutes after shooting his twenty eight year old wife, Mrs. Anthonia Eberechi iheme, the mother of his 4 year old boy and 3 year old girl, to death. What is wrong with this crazed out Nigeria man was that he lacked the stomach to take all the bullshit he was forced to take by a typical Nigerian "Nurse" wife. However in as much as Icheoku does not condone such misbehaviour of taking the life of another, these Nigeria men who marry "fedexed" wives should better watch it as what they bargained for might not necessarily always come to fruition. There is no need travelling to Africa to find a wife - if it is akaata, filpino. latina mamacita, oke-bekee or even chinese that loves you, please settle down with such a person. Your love for foofoo and egusi soup is not enough to trade your happiness and possibly freedom when they make you do the unthinkable like our Mr. Micahel Collins Iheme and crew. For the records, it would appear that majority of these uxoricides occurred in Dallas , Texas ! Leading to the question, whuz up Dallas ? Is there any maniacal peculiarity with Nigerian men living in Dallas ? Further, most of the victims were Registered Nurses which forces one to ask is the "war over the purse" of who controls this their "legendary treasure trove" enough reason to commit the most heinous of all crimes? Also the number of such homicides is rather astronomical judging the sanctity of life-environment from which majority of these homicidal maniacs come from back in Nigeria . Admitted, that it is dreadfully wrong and also a sacrilege for anyone to take the life of another, especially if that other was a spouse; but what could be the driving factor of this senseless exhibition of ravenous rage by some frustrated Nigerian men in the United States of America ? This question is imperative because there are other more acceptable options available for getting out of a hellish marriage including just getting up and leaving; mutual separation; taking a second wife just like the Mormons of Texas, Utah and Nevada; becoming a bachelor once again; keeping a girl friend outside your so called matrimonial home or the penultimate divorce instead of committing the mother of all crimes - taking the life of another! Nothing is worth it! Does the underlying problem defy every solution imaginable? NO!=2 0Take a deep breath and consider other options including the almighty walking-out! Nothing is worth the trouble! Not all the diamonds in South Africa and/or gold in Fort Knox ! The "mansion" which you are fighting for, you did not bring it with you to America ? The SUV or Mercedes car that is making you to loose your head, the manufacturing plant in Stuttgart Germany has not yet closed shop! In your convoluted suspicion that your wife is sleeping around because she dresses well, ask yourself, where is the foundational trust of your relationship and at worst, were you the first man in her life? Did you break her virginity and why do you think it is either you with her or nobody at all, that you will rather have her dead than loose her to someone else? Have you also tried getting professional counseling or earnestly engaging your wife in an open discussion to find out what you may be doing wrong and make amends where necessary. Have you tried temporary separation for a cool-off period? At worst get an amicable divorce so that you guys can remain friends for the benefit of the children! Before you write that check which you cannot cash, please stop and ask yourself, before you met her did you not have any life? It is not worth it! Learn to move on; as around the next corner may be lurking your real wife of "Christian marriage" who will really cherish and love you for who you are! Your wife's leaving you is not the end of the world as we know it! As the popular aphorism goes, "when one door closes another one is open down the road". Nothing is worth the taking of life and not that of a spouse who also is a Nigerian! PLEASE GET A LIFE! Ezeamii, Hyacinth