President Goodluck Jonathan in Israel - Pictures

Kidnapper Caught Smuggling Baby In Traveller’s Bag

 
Pandemonium rent the air in in the early hours of Saturday morning at Bwari Park, Abuja, when a suspected kidnapper was apprehended trying to board a commercial bus with a stolen baby.

 The incident which stunned passengers of the bus soon attracted a large gathering of people comprising mostly drivers, park traders, motorists and commuters.

 City Pulse gathered that the little boy was reportedly abducted from a remote community in Abuja this moning by his abductor who made arrangement to travel with him neatly tucked into a black traveller’s bag.

The bubble however burst when the young man vehemently refused to let go of the bag when asked by the conductor. But as the noise of their argument began to attract other passengers, he eventually agreed.
As the bus conductor struggled to arrange the bag with others, he enquired from the man what the content of the was. According to him, the bag was unusually cold. That appeared strange to him since the suspect claimed that it didn’t contain frozen food.

The commotion also pricked the conscience of fellow passengers and a soldier who insisted on knowing the content of the bag.

When the suspected abductor realised his game was up, he tried to flee the park. He was however caught and overpowered by the mob who later forced the bus open.

Lo and behold, it contained the motionless body of a baby boy.
He was later handed over to the Police for further investigation

Abia: When evidence marks the end of argument

THERE is a passage very common among the Ibeku people in the present-day Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State. It is a passage used to draw home a conviction over an issue in dispute.

It is put thus: “Lekwa onye ohii, lekwa ihe ozuru’’, grammatically interpreted as: “Behold the thief as well as his loot”, while in the literary term it connotes that evidence will surely mark the end of an argument or doubt over any issue. For some inexplicable reasons, many unscrupulous characters have sprouted within the past few years and assumed commentators on a catalogue of issues comprising both the serious and mundane with Abia in focus.

There has been a contraption of intellectually bankrupt pessimists who have wished that the stagnation that was Abia remained the lot of the state. Fortunately, Governor Theodore Orji, being conscious of history, has already chosen his part, while posterity will be his judge. Then their usual mantra was the swan-song of non-performance.

Notwithstanding all, Governor Orji left no one in doubt of his determination to turn around a state which administration he inherited when the state in all ramifications and rating was lying prostrate. His attempt at the inception of his government left no one in doubt that the man was in a hurry to transform his state. But little did he know that what he thought was a patriotic agenda would earn him umbrage and calculated sabotage from those who ran with the hare in the day, and at the same hunted with the hound.
However, with hindsight, the Governor had to take his political destiny into his own hands since “he that wears the shoe knows where it pinches”. Since then, Governor Orji has known no political peace as every arsenal at the disposal of his traducers have been deployed to tarnish and rubbish his efforts.
One thing though is that the Governor himself was not oblivious of the onslaught expected from these reactionary agents who would have given anything to remain as devourers of the people’s commonwealth.
It is then no surprise that for daring to leave a once prostrate state better than the comatose condition he met it, he has become the target of politically-instigated campaign of calumny. Nothing would placate the gladiators unless the treasury of the state is handed over to them. They engage the services of their Internet rats to publicly masturbate about morals and service delivery in their own understanding.

The Orji administration, within the period of its liberation from the stranglehold of now expired political buccaneers, has shown determination to turn around the fortunes of an ordinarily promising state which suffered initial still-birth owing to the incompetent political midwives. But thank God as Ochendo has been able to restore the years eaten by the locust. From education to agriculture and power. From security to health, commerce and industry, judiciary and infrastructure, the government has left its marks as depicted by the legacy projects to its credit.
Did it not take the withdrawal of the accreditation of the law programme of a neighboring state university headed by the immediate past president of ASUU for the people of Abia to appreciate that the commitment of their governor to elevate the standard of education in his state was beyond the rhetorics of a political campaign rally. If it was Abia State University that lost that accreditation,  hell would have known less fury than the government of Ochendo.

The taste of the pudding, they say, is in the eating. While others revel in dancing to the gallery, Abia operates with the Latin legal maxim: “res ipso loquitur”, meaning that the facts will always speak for themselves. And as we say in our local parlance, the self-glorifying story of “Dee John’s exploits in the war will only be believed when we see his military boots”. Apart from the tertiary institutions, there has been silent upgrade of facilities and infrastructure in the public schools in Abia courtesy of the present administration. The feats are only made known through the awards given to the state by policy makers and regulators in the sector.

Also, power has greatly improved in the entire state that residents in the state now enjoy steady electricity supply. In Abia today, people can predict the period and time of supply from energy source. The ripple effect is economically felt as small and medium scale enterprises rekindled the economy, ending crime.

Governor Orji came into office when no single industry in the state was operating. While  the privately-owned ones like International Equitable Association, Nigerian Breweries and Dubic Breweries had closed shop, government-owned industries, especially in the hospitality sector, were sold to the cronies of the then Lords of the Manor. That was how Abia Hotel Aba and Umuahia went on economic sabbatical.

That was also the case of Golden Guinea Breweries, Modern Ceramics, Ogwe Golden Chicken and Abia Rubber. Even state-owned corporations like Abia Marketing Company, Abia Newspaper Publishing Company became ghost corporations. Ochendo got some of the industries back to their tracks.

Today Dubic Breweries is back to the shelf with its products, Nigerian Breweries has returned to Abia while the reactivation of the both the Golden Chicken and Abia Rubber has long commenced.

Mr.  KINGSLEY EMEREUWA, a commentator  on national issues, wrote from Umuahia, Abia State.

VANGUARD

NIGERIA: 14 Years Imprisonment Approved For Same-Sex Marriage

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved 14 years imprisonment for persons who contracted same sex marriage in the country.

This was sequel to a clause-by-clause consideration of a Bill for an Act to prohibit marriage or union entered between persons of same sex, at the Committee of the Whole.

“Marriage or civil union entered between persons of same gender shall not be solemnised in any place of worship, either church or mosque or any place in Nigeria,” it said.

Introducing the bill, Rep. Albert Sam-Tsokwa ( PDP-Taraba) said that it sought to achieve a far reaching objective by outlawing same sex marriage and provide punishment for offenders.

It also set out a 10-year sentence for “any person who directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationships’’.

“Any persons or group of persons that administers, witnesses, screen and shields the solemnisation of same sex marriage in Nigeria on conviction, will be liable to 10 years imprisonment.’’

It would be recalled also that the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, had warned that his country would consider withholding aid from countries that did not recognise gay rights.

In Nov. 2011, the senate approved the bill that would make same-sex marriages punishable by up to 14 years for the couple and 10 for anyone abetting such unions.

The bill is expected to be sent to the Senate for concurrence. (NAN)http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/reps-approve-14-years-imprisonment-for-same-sex-marriage/

B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G News! NASARAWA Police Massacre. 25 Missing Policemen Found Buried In Mass Grave.

**Death toll rise to 72.

The death toll of policemen killed by members of the Ombatse cult in Nasarawa State has risen to 72 following the discovery of the bodies of 25 policemen that had been hitherto declared missing in a mass grave in an unnamed village in the state.Earlier, in a joint briefing, security authorities had confirmed 57 operatives, comprising 47 policemen and 10 agents of the State Security Service (SSS), killed in the ambush that took place on May 7 when they were on a mission to a village in Nasarawa State.

Following the bloody attack, the 25 policemen were declared missing because their bodies could not be found to confirm if they were dead or alive coupled with the fact that their whereabouts was unknown.

The manhunt for the killers however yielded fruit yesterday as seven of them were said to have been arrested in Borno State while attempting to escape to Niger Republic.

A top police source who confirmed the discovery of the remains of the 25 policemen in a mass grave in an unnamed village said:
“By the time we found the missing policemen, their bodies were already decomposing in a mass grave in the village. It was a gory sight.”

He, however, promised that no efforts and resources would be spared by the police in ensuring that the perpetrators are fished out and prosecuted.

OUK Sermon in The House of Commons an Insult to Ndi Igbo

IGBO INFORMATION NETWORK ENUGU

THE ORJI UZOR KALU SERMON IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IS AN INSULT TO THE IGBO NATION. HE MUST BE CALLED TO ORDER TO STOP DISGRACING NDI IGBO.

The recent sermon of the former Governor of Abia
state Chief Orjl Uzor Kalu in the British House of
Commons may in the surface appear ennobling to
undiscerning and naive minds. It may have given him a
tinge of an Igbo fighter and defender.
But the truth however is that the unsolicited sermon
was a minus to Ndigbo. ln the first place, nobody told
Orji Kalu to go to the British House of Commons to go
and reduce Ndigbo to a beggarly and complaining
race. Ndigbo have not told anybody that they are not
capable of fighting their own course. His self-imposed
mission is therefore a very big insult to the Igbo nation.
Ndigbo have not asked and do not solicit pity from
anybody much less Britain.

If Orji Kalu has a deep sense of history, he would have
Known that if there is any quarter to complain about
Igbo position in Nigeria, it is not Britain for obvious
reasons. How can Orji Kalu expect Britain to
empathize with him over his embarrassing
vituperations? Did they do so in the past? Established
self interest is the mantra of colonial hegemonists and
Britain with all due respect was never comfortable with
groups that challenged its colonial policies of which the
Igbos and their nationalists were in the forefront.
Britain did not hate the Igbos or any other of its colonial
subjects, but it saw them (the Igbos) as a big challenge
to their colonial hegemony in Nigeria, thus their
uncharitable position against them during the Biafran
war.

Be that as it may and even as it is not yet Uhuru for
Ndigbo in Nigeria we should not oversimplify or
trivialize this marginalization mantra, Yes, we have the
least number of states and local Governments, the
least federal presence etc but that should not be used
as an alibi by self-appointed Igbo champions to create
siege mentality and self-pitying syndrome for great
and proud race as the Igbos race. We do not deserve
or need any pity from any quarters but insist without servility
justice and equity for all Nigerians. Such level playing
ground will check the activities of ethnic jingoist that
are even worse marginalisers of their own people.

People that had the opportunity to make a positive
difference in the lives of their own people but could not
do anything out of their own excessive greed, have no
moral justification to attack external marginalizers…

People that never respected the lives and dignity of
their own kins should not question external
adversaries. How did Orji Kalu re-position his own
Abia people for the eight good years he ruled them?
How did he affect their lives positively? While his private
business empire grew geometrically, the fortunes and
conditions of his own people diminished horribly. How
can Britain give him what he did not give his own
people for eight years? When the national confab of
2005 resolved to give Ndigbo an extra state to at least
give them a sense of fairness in Nigeria's geo-political
structure, was it not Orji Kalu and his ilks that joined
hands with adversaries of Ndigbo under the guise of
fighting third term to rob Ndigbo of that state? Are those
people he joined hands with at that time to rob Ndigbo of
that state ready to make Ndigbo get that state today.
Are they not demanding even more states from their
areas thereby making mockery of Igbo genuine
demand?

Yes, he may have contested for the Nigerian
Presidency sometime ago, but was he not among
those that betrayed Dr Alex Ekwueme in 1999 and
2003? What are we talking about? While Ndigbo will
continue to agitate for their fair share in Nigeria we
cannot tolerate anybody trivialising issues concerning
us. We are a proud and great race. Our forebears
fought for and got independence for Nigeria. We have
paid our dues for this country. Nigeria belongs to us
and others and we cannot leave it for anybody.
Britain, with all due respect to them, should work
towards ensuring justice and peace in Nigeria. They
should invest In Igboland and that is what we expect
Orji Kalu to tell them and not to make mockery of us in
London.

If Orji Kalu thinks he has scored a cheap goal with his
unsolicited crusade in the House of Commons, then he
is out of tune with the past, present and future. He has
not scored any goal, Nigeria must however give
Ndigbo their due and fair share of our national
patrimony.

Imo Civil Servants Strike Over Govt's Insensitivity To Their Welfare

Workers in Imo state have defied threats by the state government and shut down the secretariats to protest government insensitivity to their welfare.
Their grouses among other things are:

1. The government's refusal to pay workers in more than twenty parastatals, thereby rendering thousands of breadwinners insolvent.
2. Withholding promotion of workers and reversing promotions done by his predecessor
3. Refusing to pay some allowances- leave, overtime, etc.

A lot of confusion has enveloped the state workforce as some labour leaders are singing the same song as the state government.

Recall that a few days ago, the organized labour gave this same governor a controversial award of excellence. Talk of a state sitting on a keg of chaos.