Ambassadors of Poverty

What kind of ambassador are you? don't tell me now, after you read this you can check yourself then tell me *winks*  Got this from a friend today.
 
Ambassadors of poverty are: The corrupt masters of the economy with their head abroad and anus at home, patriots in reverse order, determined merchants of loot who boost the economy of the colonial order to impoverish brothers and sisters at home. Ambassadors of poverty are the ''saviours'' of the people, office loafers in the guise of workers, barons of incompetence with kleptomaniac fingers and suckling filaments, position occupants and enemies of service, locked in corrosive war of corruption with their peoples' treasury and killing their future. Ambassadors of poverty are the dubious-sit-tight ''patriots'' frustrating the corporate will of their followers;the beleaguered, hungry and famished owners of the land. People , priced out of their conscience and power, incapacitated by their destitution, unable to withstand the temptation of crispy mint and food aroma. Ambassadors of poverty are the political elite in air conditioned chambers and exotic cars, with tearful stories of rip-off, tucked away from their impoverished constituencies, lying prostrate with death traps for roads, mud for water, candle for light, underneath trees for schools, rats for protein, fasting as food and alibi as governance. Ambassadors of poverty are the rancorous elite in battle of supremacy for the control of power, and their peoples' wealth mowing down their own with whiteman's machine, oiled by the prosperity of black patronage, counterpoised by deprivations as the corpses of their able bodied men, women and children lie unmourned in shallow graves, in their fallow farm lands long abandoned. Ambassadors of poverty are the able-bodied men on the streets without motive, without vision, without mission! Men fit for the farms but glued to the city hungry and desperate, constituting willing tools in the hands of political overlords for mission of vendetta against political foes in their fight for power. Ambassadors of poverty are those whose actions and in-actions reduce their peoples' expectations to nothingness! Those whose antecedents have lost the spark to inspire, while their people lie in surrender, having been defeated by poverty. Ambassadors of poverty are the round trippers, the elusive importers of unseen goods and services, sand inclusive..who trip the economy down by tricking form M for harvests of dollars as import, when their people see neither money nor food. Ambassadors of poverty are all of us whose in-actions steal our collective joy because of what we should do which we never do, as we bargain away our conscience in the market place to assuage our hunger and our masters' will. Refuse now to be an ambassador of poverty and a corrupt master of the economy!!!

Meet Asuelimen Precious on FB

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At Last 5000naira suspended

I have been wondering why someone who is working to make the society a cashless one, will be planning on introducing a higher currency denomination into the economic system. Now fading away the N20, N10,N5 to coins is another issue entirely, like i saw in a cartoonist column of a paper, will we now be forced to withdraw "coins" from ATM's and carry them home with

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Army Headquarter Dog Centre

Right now, the Federal government of Nigeria is commissioning the Army Headquarter Dog centre...I don't understand this o...Is it dog centres we need now or what? please i want to know what you think about this new development

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Miners' strike tops S Africa congress agenda

Police have dispersed striking miners at the Marikana mine in South Africa who tried to march despite a government-ordered clampdown to halt illegal protests. Monday’s development came as unions in South Africa began their national congress where the strike at the Lonmin PLC's platinum mine is expected to top the agenda. The miners were angry at a police crackdown on Saturday during which rubber bullets and tear gas were fired at a shantytown in Marikana, where officers killed 34 miners on August 16. On Sunday, police persuaded hundreds of strikers at another mine, run by the Anglo American company, to halt an illegal protest without violence. In Depth The presence of 1,000 soldiers brought into the "platinum belt", 100km northwest of Johannesburg, has escalated tensions over union rivalries and higher pay demands that have stopped work at one gold and six platinum mines. Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from the mine, said: "Police are playing a cat-and-mouse game with the striking miners. They have brought in reinforcements and encircled the entire settlement. "They went out on foot, cocked their guns, then got back in their vehicles and seemingly drove away. "The miners on the road here are defying government orders not to assemble and they are quite defiant now. They are saying that "if the police come back, there will be war". Meanwhile, at the gathering of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the major talking point for delegates is the crisis that has gripped the country's mining sector for the past five weeks. The ongoing strikes are continuing to damage South Africa's economy and are especially critical to the mining sector. Tens of thousands of miners remain on strike, and many are critical of the close ties between the main labour unions and the ruling ANC party. Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from the congress venue in Johannesburg, said the meeting was happening against a backdrop of the labour dispute which has created great ruptures and splits within the union movement. There has also ben great criticism of the union movement, COSATU and the ANC, he said "What we are seeing is questioning among the delegates of whether the ANC is going to shift its policy, or whether the delegates at this conference can bring pressure to bear on the government to alter its policy, or if this is not going to work and the trade union will have to split away from the ANC and the government itself". The striking miners have accused union leaders of being too close to politicians.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

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Miners' strike tops S Africa congress agenda

Police have dispersed striking miners at the Marikana mine in South Africa who tried to march despite a government-ordered clampdown to halt illegal protests. Monday’s development came as unions in South Africa began their national congress where the strike at the Lonmin PLC's platinum mine is expected to top the agenda. The miners were angry at a police crackdown on Saturday during which rubber bullets and tear gas were fired at a shantytown in Marikana, where officers killed 34 miners on August 16. On Sunday, police persuaded hundreds of strikers at another mine, run by the Anglo American company, to halt an illegal protest without violence. In Depth   In pictures: Marikana miners   Legal implications for S African miners   Can Zuma survive?   Mine Shooting: Who is to blame?   Unrest spreads   Will Marikana resurrect Julius Malema?   Has the post-Apartheid bubble burst?   South Africans react to mining 'massacre   S Africa miners complain of 'living hell' The presence of 1,000 soldiers brought into the "platinum belt", 100km northwest of Johannesburg, has escalated tensions over union rivalries and higher pay demands that have stopped work at one gold and six platinum mines. Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from the mine, said: "Police are playing a cat-and-mouse game with the striking miners. They have brought in reinforcements and encircled the entire settlement. "They went out on foot, cocked their guns, then got back in their vehicles and seemingly drove away. "The miners on the road here are defying government orders not to assemble and they are quite defiant now. They are saying that "if the police come back, there will be war". Meanwhile, at the gathering of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the major talking point for delegates is the crisis that has gripped the country's mining sector for the past five weeks. The ongoing strikes are continuing to damage South Africa's economy and are especially critical to the mining sector. Tens of thousands of miners remain on strike, and many are critical of the close ties between the main labour unions and the ruling ANC party. Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from the congress venue in Johannesburg, said the meeting was happening against a backdrop of the labour dispute which has created great ruptures and splits within the union movement. There has also ben great criticism of the union movement, COSATU and the ANC, he said "What we are seeing is questioning among the delegates of whether the ANC is going to shift its policy, or whether the delegates at this conference can bring pressure to bear on the government to alter its policy, or if this is not going to work and the trade union will have to split away from the ANC and the government itself". The striking miners have accused union leaders of being too close to politicians.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

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Beyond Obama: Could a True Socialist Actually Gain Power in America...How One Almost Did

As we all know, President Barack Obama hardly deserves the epithet “socialist” tossed at him by right-wing commentators and candidates. There is one prominent Socialist in Washington, DC, but Senator Bernie Sanders comes from a very small state and acts as a true voice in the wilderness. Looking abroad, French voters this year elected a Socialist, François Hollande, to head their government, the first time that has happened in two decades. Could this happen some time soon in

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Beyond Obama: Could a True Socialist Actually Gain Power in America...How One Almost Did

As we all know, President Barack Obama hardly deserves the epithet “socialist” tossed at him by right-wing commentators and candidates. There is one prominent Socialist in Washington, DC, but Senator Bernie Sanders comes from a very small state and acts as a true voice in the wilderness. Looking abroad, French voters this year elected a Socialist, François Hollande, to head their government, the first time that has happened in two decades. Could this happen some time soon in

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Beyond Obama: Could a True Socialist Actually Gain Power in America? How One Almost Did

As we all know, President Barack Obama hardly deserves the epithet “socialist” tossed at him by right-wing commentators and candidates. There is one prominent Socialist in Washington, DC, but Senator Bernie Sanders comes from a very small state and acts as a true voice in the wilderness. Looking abroad, French voters this year elected a Socialist, François Hollande, to head their government, the first time that has happened in two decades. Could this happen some time soon in

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Beyond Obama: Could a True Socialist Actually Gain Power in America? How One Almost Did

As we all know, President Barack Obama hardly deserves the epithet “socialist” tossed at him by right-wing commentators and candidates. There is one prominent Socialist in Washington, DC, but Senator Bernie Sanders comes from a very small state and acts as a true voice in the wilderness. Looking abroad, French voters this year elected a Socialist, François Hollande, to head their government, the first time that has happened in two decades. Could this happen some time soon in

Read More

Beyond Obama: Could a True Socialist Actually Gain Power in America? How One Almost Did

As we all know, President Barack Obama hardly deserves the epithet “socialist” tossed at him by right-wing commentators and candidates. There is one prominent Socialist in Washington, DC, but Senator Bernie Sanders comes from a very small state and acts as a true voice in the wilderness. Looking abroad, French voters this year elected a Socialist, François Hollande, to head their government, the first time that has happened in two decades. Could this happen some time soon in

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Angry protests spread over anti-Islam video

Sources from Al Jazeera  disclosed this not long ago... I mean what is happening in our today world? Is dialogue no more in the dictionary?  Demonstrations over movie trailer made in US and deemed insulting to Islam spread across Middle East and North Africa.

Angry demonstrations against an anti-Islam film made in the US have spread to several countries across the Middle East and North Africa. Clashes between police and demonstrators near the US embassy in Sanaa on Thursday killed four people, a security official said. "Four people were killed and 34 others were wounded in the clashes that lasted from morning until late in the evening" in the area around the US embassy in Sanaa, the official said. The protesters removed the embassy's sign on the outer wall and brought down the US flag and burned it, according to witnesses.Earlier on Thursday, a security official said that Yemeni police shot dead a protester in confrontations outside the embassy, shortly after ejecting crowds that briefly stormed the mission's compound. A number of diplomatic vehicles were torched as security forces used water cannons and warning shots in a bid to drive them out. In Egypt, 224 people were injured in protests, eight of whom needed to be transfered to hospital, the health ministry said. In Libya, where the US ambassador and three embassy staff were killed during protests in Benghazi on Tuesday, officials said they had made "four arrests" over the attack. In the Iranian capital, Tehran, up to 500 people protested over the issue chanting "Death to America!" and death to the movie's director, an AFP photographer at the scene said. The rally, near the Swiss embassy that handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran diplomatic ties, ended peacefully two hours later. US flags burned Meanwhile, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has condemned the film that has sparked an outcry in his country. "We Egyptians reject any kind of assault or insult against our prophet. I condemn and oppose all who... insult our prophet," Morsi, on an official visit to Brussels, said in remarks broadcast by Egyptian state television. President Morsi appealed for calm, saying Egyptians "reject any kind of assault" against Prophet Muhammad "[But] it is our duty to protect our guests and visitors from abroad... I call on everyone to take that into consideration, to not violate Egyptian law... to not assault embassies," he added. Egyptians have clashed with police outside US embassy in the capital, Cairo, for the third day. About 30 people have been injured, including more than 10 riot police in the overnight clashes, as the fallout from a film ridiculing Islam's prophet continued to rage on Thursday. Police have used tear gas to disperse the crowd, as interior ministry said at least 12 people have been arrested. American flags were also burned in Tunisia, outside the US embassy in the capital, Tunis. Police fired tear gas at demonstrators who shouted their opposition to the film, and chanted slogans against the US. A small crowd also burned an American flag in Gaza City where Hamas, the elected government there, has condemned the film. Despite the Egyptian government's call for calm, protesters chanted in the streets and fires burned. Innocence of Muslims, the film that mocked Prophet Muhammad, was allegedly produced in the US by a filmmaker with ties to Coptic Christian groups, and excerpted on YouTube with dubbing in Arabic. On Wednesday, about 200 demonstrators took part in protests in the Egyptian capital. They rallied into the night chanting "leave Egypt" but there was however no repeat of the previous day's events when angry crowds climbed the walls of the complex and tore down an American flag, which they replaced briefly with a black, Islamist flag. YouTube block Meanwhile, YouTube, the video website owned by Google Inc, has said it will not remove the film clip, but it has blocked access to it in those countries. Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports on US-Middle East relations following protests  The Afghan government has ordered an indefinite ban on YouTube to prevent access to the film deemed offensive to Muslims, officials said on Thursday. The US prosecutor-general said on Wednesday that four people were being questioned after Tuesday's events. Nine Coptic Egyptian-Americans were also put on an airport watch list. They are believed to have contributed to the production of the anti-Islam film that led to the embassy protest. The man behind the protests told Al Jazeera he just wanted to combat insults against Islam through legal and peaceful means. Wesam Abdel Wareth, the protest organiser, said his group was not happy that young people who joined their protest brought down the US flag. He also said there was no co-ordination with protesters in Libya, and he condemned the violence there. On Tuesday, Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque condemned a symbolic "trial" of the Prophet organised by a US group, including Terry Jones, a Christian pastor who triggered riots in Afghanistan in 2010 by threatening to burn the Quran. But it was not immediately clear whether the event sponsored by Jones also prompted the embassy events. Egypt 'neither enemy, nor ally' Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has called the leaders of Egypt and Libya to discuss security co-operation following the violence in Cairo and Benghazi, the White House has said. Iraqi supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr burn Israeli and US flags in the Iraqi city of Kut [AFP] Obama urged Egypt to uphold its commitments to defend US diplomatic facilities and personnel and called on Libya to work with US authorities to bring those behind the deadly attack on the US consulate to justice. Morsi promised Egypt "would honour its obligation to ensure the safety of American personnel", the White House said. Obama told Morsi that while "he rejects efforts to denigrate Islam ... there is never any justification for violence against innocents". Whatever the cause, the events appeared to underscore how much the ground in the Middle East has shifted for Washington, which for decades had close ties with Arab dictators who could be counted on to crush dissent. Obama's administration in recent weeks had appeared to overcome some of its initial caution after the election of Morsi, offering his government desperately needed debt relief and backing for international loans. Egypt is neither an ally nor an enemy of the United States, Obama said on Wednesday. "I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy," Obama said in excerpts of an interview with Telemundo aired by MSNBC.

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Senegal opposition celebrates election win

Senegal opposition celebrates election win

Victory celebrations in Dakar as Macky Sall heads to landslide win over longtime incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade. Last Modified: 26 Mar 2012 12:48

Thousands of people are celebrating in the streets of Dakar after preliminary results showed Senegalese opposition candidate Macky Sall has won over Abdoulaye Wade, the incumbent president who sought a third term in office. Sall supporters gathered in the streets of the capital on Monday, chanting, dancing and sounding car horns. Outside Sall's party headquarters people danced to music blaring from powerful speakers, and revellers shouted: "Macky president", "This time we have it", "We have won".

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Soldier in Afghan killings ‘remembers little'

Soldier in Afghan killings ‘remembers little'

US army sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 civilians has sketchy memory of the night of the massacre, says his lawyer. Last Modified: 20 Mar 2012 06:14 inShare9

Sixteen Afghan villagers, including nine children and three women, were slaughtered inside their homes [Reuters] The lawyer for the US army staff sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians in a pre-dawn shooting rampage has met his client for the first time and said the soldier has a sketchy memory of the night of the massacre. Lawyer John Henry Browne said on Monday that Robert Bales remembers some details from before and after the killings, but very little or nothing from the time the military believes he went on a shooting spree through two Afghan villages.

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Mexican police killed in highway ambush

Mexican police killed in highway ambush

Twelve officers killed on their way to investigate the beheadings of 10 people in Guerrero state. Last Modified: 20 Mar 2012 02:50

Twelve Mexican police have died in a mountain highway ambush hours after the severed heads of 10 people were dumped in a small town in a key illegal drug growing region. Gunmen opened fire on Sunday evening on a police convoy, killing 12 officers and wounding 11 more, said Arturo Martinez, spokesman for the Guerrero state government said on Monday. Click here for an in-depth analysis of Mexico's many challenges The ambush took place on a rural highway near the town of Teloloapan, located in southern Mexico between the beach resort of Acapulco and Mexico City. Earlier Sunday, the severed heads of 10 people were lined  along a street outside a slaughterhouse in the center of Teloloapan. The region has been long used by drug gangs to grow marijuana. Surrounding Guerrero state has seen a spike in violence since last year as several major gangs battle over trafficking routes. The La Familia cartel and its offshoot, Los Caballeros Templarios (The Knights Templar), are among the gangs fighting for territory in the region. The heads had been left with a message threatening the La Familia gang, local media reported. More than 50,000 people, including more than 2,500 police and soldiers, have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an army-led crackdown on the cartels after taking office five years ago.

Source: Agencies

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French manhunt for school killer

French manhunt for school killer
 Vigil held for four killed in Toulouse, as police probe links between shooting spree and soldiers' killings last week.

Last Modified: 20 Mar 2012 09:16

French police are hunting for a gunman who shot dead four people, including three children, at a Jewish school in the city of Toulouse, prompting President Nicolas Sarkozy to put the region on its highest terrorism alert. More than a 100 officers were dispatched to the area on Monday to search for the gunman, who is also a prime suspect in the killing of three soldiers in two seperate shootings last week. As thousands held vigils for the latest victims, a police source told the AFP news agency that the same weapon and the same stolen scooter appeared to have been used in all three attacks. All three attacks were carried out by the rider of a powerful, dark-coloured scooter, using a .45-calibre weapon, who witnesses described as calmly shooting his victims at point-blank range. In carrying out the killings outside the Ozar Hatorah school on Monday, the shooter opened fire with a 9mm calibre weapon, which jammed.

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National Assembly ignores the Constitution On March 20, 2012

National Assembly ignores the Constitution

On March 20, 2012

THE National Assembly should be more reticent  when making laws. Its tendency has been to make laws for their sake or to please the Executive. In the process it ignores the Constitution. The Central Bank Act 2007, which may soon be a subject of legal dispute, is a good example.
It became law on 25 May 2007, days to the end of the Obasanjo administration. Its efforts at creating a new Central Bank, succeeded largely in the emergence of an organisation that acquires some powers of the National Assembly.

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Nigerian Consulate in S-Africa to outsource issuance of Visa On March 20, 2012 ·

Nigerian Consulate in S-Africa to outsource issuance of Visa

On March 20, 2012 ·

Johannesburg -  The Nigerian Consulate in South Africa will soon outsource the issuance of visa to consultants.
A source in the consulate in Johannesburg on Monday on the condition of anonymity, said  that the consulate was still working on the process of outsourcing issuance of visa to credible consultants.
“Yes we are working on the possibility of outsourcing the issuance of Nigerian visas in South Africa to consultants.
“This will help in reducing the possibilities of visa racketeering involving our staff here and reducing the volume of people coming to the Consulate to procure Nigerian Visas.

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Fire rages at UNILAG Faculty of Science

Fire fighters are currently making efforts to put out the fire

 By Nkechi Opurum

An early morning fire, which started in the Faculty of Science, University of Lagos (Unilag) is still raging.
Uncertain as to how the fire started, some eyewitnesses say the fire erupted from one of the offices located in the department of physics and spread to other offices.
The Lagos State Fire Service was at the scene trying to put a stop to the fire, and as at press time, reports had it that the Federal Fire Service had also arrived.
Unilag students are however angry with the school's Fire Service, as they were the last to get to the fire scene.
It will be recalled that about 2 weeks ago, another fire raged for 120 minutes, claiming a car in a university. The campus cab burnt to ashes without rescue from the fire service on campus while bystanders prevented the driver of the burning car from re-entering the burning vehicle which he said he got on hire purchase.

 

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Drama, intrigues as BBA returns

The stage is set  again for another  round of  91 days of tension, excitements and actions as Africa’s biggest reality TV show, Big Brother Africa returns live on Dstv, May 6.
This 7th season sees contestants doubling up to enter the series in pairs with a USD 300 000 prize for just one winner . M-Net and series producers, Endemol recently revealed the name of the latest edition of Big Brother Africa, announcing that the new series will be called ‘Big Brother Stargame.’
And, fittingly, the ‘star’ themed name was announced at the same time as M-Net confirmed that Grammy nominated American rapper and hit maker J.Cole is set to perform at the glam series launch.

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2,140 ex-soldiers sue FG over unpaid pension

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA — A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned till Friday to hear a suit filed before it by 2,140 ex-soldiers who fought during the Nigerian Civil war between 1967 and 1970.
The retired soldiers are asking the high court to invoke its original jurisdiction and order the Federal Government to forthwith, pay pension benefits and other entitlements due to them since the past 42 years after they bowed out of active service.

Senate Committee Chairman on Defence Navy Senator Chris Anyanwu Inspecting Guard of Honour at Nigerian Army Training Camp Kachia Kaduna State during the closing ceremony of Exercise Camp Highland Direct Short Service Course 20 (Navy) Kachia Monday.photo by Olu Ajayi.

In an originating summons they filed through their counsel, Mr. Femi Falana, the plaintiffs contended that having contributed their quota towards securing the territorial integrity of the country by fighting on the side of Nigeria against Biafra insurrection, it was unconstitutional and unjust for the government to refuse paying their pension benefits since the Civil war ended.
Consequently, they are praying the trial court to issue a declaration that each of them is entitled to payment of pension benefits computed in accordance with the due process of the law.
Joined as defendants in the suit are the Minister of Defence, Dr Haliru Bello Mohammed and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN.
Meanwhile, when the case came up for hearing, Monday, trial judge, Justice Donatus Okorowo asked all the parties to appear before him on Friday to address the court on the issue of jurisdiction.
Justice Okorowo noted that in view of the nature of the case, he would want both the defence counsel, Mr. A.O Alilu and counsel to the plaintiffs, Mr Falana, to argue on whether it is the federal high court or the National Industrial Court, NIC, that has the requisite jurisdiction to handle the matter.

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CASHLESS POLICY: CBN buckles, shifts kick-off date On March 20, 2012 ·

CASHLESS POLICY: CBN buckles, shifts kick-off date

 

On March 20, 2012 · 

By Babajide Komolafe & Favour Nnabugwu
LAGOS— The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said yesterday that it has postponed nationwide implementation of the cashless policy till January 1, 2013 and also granted partial exemption to ministries, parastatals and agencies  (MDAs) only for the purposes of revenue collection.
This was  part of the amendments to the cashless policy announced in a statement issued yesterday and signed by the Head Corporate Communications, CBN, Alhaji Abdullai Mohammed. The statement was  entitled, “REVIEW OF INDUSTRY POLICY ON RETAIL CASH COLLECTION AND LODGEMENT.”

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