Sunday, November 28, 2010

Video Of the day

Rise Up Call

We say that this world heads for moments of violent crisis, clashes between cultures, between nations, between friends, between families and even within the families. This is not just an idea, but something we see growing each day.
We also say it is necessary to change the course of what is happening in the world of today, otherwise this generalized violence won`t stop but will keep on growing.
What is the result of such unstable and changing situation? We go more untable and more violent. When things and situations around us are calm, its not that difficult to take them as a reference for our own life, just like lighthouses safely lead the boats to destination.
But there are no references left in the world of today. We see how everything falls down into pieces and changes up to reaching situations we wouldnt have thought possible.
On the other side, how can we build a new world if we still have "elements" of the old one deep inside us? How can we live in a non-violent way, how can we not discriminate the "other", how can we dream a new Nigeria, how can we valuate the humane part of other people, how can we treat the others the way we would like to be treated, if inside of us, there is still a little voice saying that the system is how it is, that we are the way we are, and that nothing will ever change, no matter how??
We talk about changes, evolution, overcoming the suffering, about building and branding a universaly proud nation, and this wont`t be possible if we dont change, develop, start to surmount our own suffering and violence, and if at the same time we dont implicate in social labour and changing our polluted mentality.
We need to provide references to other people, to become their life`s reference. We need to understand and end with this anti-humanistic way of thinking, feeling and living, and bring this seed of critical attitude to others. And accept the fact that no tribe in Nigeria is supreme or superior.
This work of changes, this revolution inside us, this learning process to see things differently, bring it to others, sharing your wakening with them and invite them to their own internal revolution...this is the PERSONAL WORK. The very work that will drive us to attain that DREAM OF A "PROUDLY NIGERIA".
We say that the human being looks for happiness, that he wants to overcome pain and suffering, that he wants to learn without barriers, that he`s able to build the reality he wants to live in, that he has the right to search the meaning of his own existence, and that he must have the freedom to decide the way he wants to live and be ruled inbetween the available options. We are the achitects of the future of this great Nation, your vote can make a great impact...so VOTE without TRIBAL or RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS, and VOTE RIGHT. May God/Allah bless you and bless the federal Republic of Nigeria.

Man Fathers 10 children with Daughter

A man in Argentina has been arrested for raping his daughter and fathering 10 children with her over 30 years.

Juana Elvira Gomez, 43, did not report the alleged abuse to police until recently, when her father Armando Gomez, 62, was arrested for robbery.

She claimed her father started beating and raping her from the age of 13, some 11 years after her mother died.
"I felt that I was worse than a prisoner for 30 years because I couldn't even talk with anybody," Ms Gomez told the Clarin newspaper.

"He raped me, beat me for any reason, didn't let me approach other people and always had a loaded gun.
"He told me: 'I'm going to go to prison, but I'm going to kill you first.'"

DNA tests have confirmed that Gomez is the father of nine of his daughter's 10 children, aged between six and 26.
Tests could not be carried out on Ms Gomez's first child - a boy born when she was 15 - because he committed suicide.

Ms Gomez, of Santa Fe, said her eldest son killed himself before he reached 18 when he learned the truth about his father.

"I always thought he had decided to take his life because of a fight with his girlfriend, but they found a letter explaining it, that he had learned that his grandfather was his father," she said.

Ms Gomez said she did not have the courage to report the abuse until now "because since I was a girl he beat me with whatever he had in his hand: a rod or a machete which cut me all over".

Gomez, who denies the charges against him, is being held in prison accused of aggravated sexual abuse with a relative.
While he is behind bars, Ms Gomez said: "I can now walk the streets without fear.
"I feel a great relief even though I seldom leave my house because I feel ashamed."

A judge in Santa Fe described the case as "even worse" than the crimes of Austria's Josef Fritzl in 2008, for the "remarkable amount of violence and the length of time it lasted".

Fritzl was sentenced to life in 2009 for having kept his daughter imprisoned for 24 years, fathering seven children with her and killing one of them. TUFIAKWA... This is an abomination.

Source: Sky News

British Investigators Beams their searchlight on SOLUDO

The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chukwuma Soludo, is under the radar of British crime investigators who want to understand his role in the N29 billion polymer banknote contract issued during his tenure.

Between 2006 and 2009, the Central Bank carried out currency reforms that saw the introduction of polymer bank notes to replace the paper notes of the country’s lower denominations. In late 2009, media reports alleged that top CBN officials had received bribes in order to grant an Australian company, Securency International Pty Ltd, the contract which saw the Australian company supplying Nigeria with at least 1.9 billion pieces of the polymer substrate.

The contract is now the subject of a multi-national investigation straddling Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, the UK and Nigeria, from which about N3.5 billion was paid out in slush fund. Investigators believe that millions out of the amount were paid to top Nigerian politicians and bank officials.

Investigating the Scandal

International sources who spoke to NEXT in confidence, said that feelers from the on-going investigations by the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) point to the fact that Mr. Soludo has become a subject of their investigations. NEXT had earlier reported that the former bank chief directed contract processes in the CBN as well as the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC, of which the CBN has a 77% shareholding.

“SFO is investigating the Nigerian deal in the UK. Soludo may be tied to a lot of those Nigerian deals which explains why the SFO may be investigating him,” our source said.

The SFO’s spokesperson in an email exchange with NEXT however declined to confirm or refute the claims.

“Without wishing to be unhelpful, I am unable to provide any further details. The investigation is ongoing. For guidance; it is not SFO policy to confirm or deny the names of suspects in its investigations,” Katie Winstanley of the SFO said. Ms. Winstanley further said that the SFO has arrested at least five people so far in connection with the on-going investigation.

A source within the EFCC, who asked not to be named, however confirmed that the SFO had indeed contacted the Nigerian anti-graft agency in relation to the investigations involving Mr. Soludo.

“There may be something like that. I know that there has been intelligence exchange between the EFCC and the SFO concerning this matter. It is an on-going investigation which was not initiated by the EFCC,” our source said.

In the months following the media reports, several anti-corruption agencies within and outside Nigeria have launched investigations into the scandal. In Nigeria, the initial enthusiasm showed by the Nigerian Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the National Assembly has since waned. None of the Nigerian investigations have yielded any results.

Efforts to get obtain reactions from the official spokesmen for the EFCC and the CBN were unfruitful.

Sharing the contract commissions

Documents obtained by NEXT show that Securency, whose parent company is the Reserve Bank of Australia, paid about $23 million dollars in suspect commissions to a company domiciled in a tax haven, Seychelles. The company, SPT Limited, further commissioned two other agents to secure the Nigerian contracts.

The Australian media, championed by The Age, is claiming that the agents chosen had close links with top government and CBN officials. One of the agents, Joseph Raad, who was appointed as a ‘confidential sub-agent’ by SPT LTD, is Iceland’s honorary Consul General to Nigeria. SPT, which stood to gain 12% of all contract deals secured from Nigeria, pledged to pay its agents between 4.5-5% of the contracts worth.

FIRST 'CLASICO' BARCELONA VS REAL MADRID on Monday 29th November 2010

The first 'Clasico' of the season between Barcelona and Real Madrid will take place on a Monday night, the Spanish league has confirmed.The two heavyweights will meet at the Nou Camp on November 29 to avoid a clash with the Catalan elections which take place in Barcelona a day earlier.A statement on Real's official website confirmed the news. It read: "The football league has announced the matchday 13 clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid will be played on November 29 at 2100 local time.
"This is due to the 13th round coinciding with the elections for the parliament of Catalonia and the security problems that would create.''

Barca beat Real home and away in their Clasico encounters last season, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory at the Nou Camp, before goals from Lionel Messi and Pedro gave Pep Guardiola's side a crucial 2-0 win at the Bernabeu to catapult them towards the Primera Division title.The big two in Spain are again dominating La Liga this season; Jose Mourinho's Madrid are a point clear of Barca at the summit after winning eight of their opening 10 matches.Meanwhile, Barca defender Gabriel Milito is expected to be out for up to six weeks with a thigh injury picked up in Wednesday's Copa del Rey victory over Ceuta.

The Argentina international scored early in the 5-1 win but then had to leave the field seven minutes before the break and was replaced by Eric Abidal. Milito has been plagued by injuries during his time at the Nou Camp and now faces a battle to play again before the winter break.