Jonathan Challenges APC Candidate To Presidential Debate

Ahead of the 2015 presidential
election, the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) has on behalf of President
Goodluck Jonathan expressed
readiness for a debate with the
opposition on his performance and
effort at preserving the peace and
unity of the country.
Addressing a press conference in
Abuja, on the preparation of the party
for its national convention, National
publicity secretary of the PDP, Chief
Olisa Metuh, made this declaration.
He boasted about his party’s chances
at the polls, warning the All
Progressives Congress (APC) that
President Jonathan would inflict a
crushing defeat on anyone the
opposition party fields in the
presidential election.
“The PDP is rest assured that we have
a very good product to sell to
Nigerians.
We are confident that President
Jonathan, as our candidate, is primed
to win the 2015 presidential election
based on his popularity as a result of
his forthrightness, humility and
steadfastness to the Nigerian project,
coupled with his record of verifiable
achievements.
“We are today serving notice to the
opposition APC to expect a crushing
defeat at the polls. In view of our
confidence, preparedness and the
popularity of our candidate, we
declare that the APC can put forth its
two frontline aspirants in one bunch,
namely General Muhammadu Buhari
and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as joint
presidential candidates with their
collective credentials and
followership to face our candidate,
President Jonathan.
“For us in the PDP, it is neither a
matter of conjecture nor propaganda;
we are certain that with the
grassroots support and the love he
enjoys from Nigerians across board,
President Jonathan will secure an
emphatic victory at the poll,” he said.
Speaking about Jonathan’s approach
in dealing with Boko Haram
insurgency, Metuh noted that the
president take actions only after they
have been carefully thought out.
Noting that when he came under
pressure from some quarters to
declare total emergency by
dismantling democratic structures in
the North-East, he thought differently.
“Instead of reacting in ways that could
damage the trust and love of
Nigerians for one another, the
president has acted more on the side
of caution by ensuring that actions to
defeat terrorism are carefully
thought-out and pursued,” he said.
Metuh disclosed that the party expects
3,073 delegates to cast their votes to
elect President Jonathan, in
confirmation of his candidacy as the
party’s flag bearer in the 2015
elections.
The delegates will also elect national
chairman of the party, Dr Adamu
Mu’azu; national secretary, Professor
Wale Oladipo and the national
auditor, Adewale Adeyanj, all of
whom came on board the National
Working Committee (NWC) in acting
capacity.
While others have withdrawn to let
Jonathan run unopposed, Mrs Akasoba
Duke-Abiola had insisted on
contesting the presidential primaries
with the president.
Metuh said nobody would stop her
from the convention, as long as she
was satisfied with the party
guidelines.

A letter to Boko Haram

2014-12-09 21:33
Dear Management and staff of Boko Haram,
It is with a heart full of sadness and pain that
we write to you today dated 2 December,
2014. We are fully convinced that you will see,
read, and reflect over the content of this letter.
I stand in the gap for ALL Nigerian Women
representing every female baby, child, girl and
adult. We could as well pass for your mothers,
sisters, wives and daughters because we know
for sure that you have women in your
individual lives.
It is a well known fact globally that woman
bears the brunt of violence and terrorism and
this has been the glaring case in Nigeria since
you came on the scene with your violent
strategies that has practically rendered our
Northern States incapacitated. We have
suffered exorbitantly from the venom of your
anger and violence that we are left in awe of
what you really want from all these.
You have maimed, murdered, slaughtered and
killed our children, husbands and relations like
rams in the abattoirs. We have been thrown
into consistent mourning, weeping and
gnashing of teeth from the deep seated
wounds you have engraved in our hearts and
in this moment of despair we silently wish we
had you aborted when you came into our
wombs as fetus.
We do not communicate this wish but that is
how we feel. Sure, if we had you aborted when
we received the test results of your
pregnancies, we would have had a society
without Boko Haram. How happy we were
when we were told that we were pregnant for
you? We were so happy and our joy knew no
bounds when we announced your presence to
your fathers. We celebrated, danced and made
merry at your birth because we thought we
were blessed with male children who used to
be the pride of our nation. We were proud to
be called Uwar, Mama, and Iya - Shekau,
Mohammed, Sani, Murktar, Obere etc.
Today, the sadness in our Spirit has deleted
the happiness and curiosity we felt when we
carried you in our wombs for 9 months. We
are even deeply saddened when we see your
age groups who have made Nigeria proud by
standing out in the crowd like the shining
amour. Now, you will want to defend your
actions by saying you were not given equal
grounds. You could even argue that that is
one reason why you are fighting, but the truth
is that they faced their own challenges as well
but refused to succumb to the dark terrorism
path which you have chosen.
You even said you are fighting for God but any
God who cannot fight for him/herself is
definitely not qualified to be God. The God we
serve is meant to fight for us not the other.
How can you, a mere mortal fight for an
immortal God?
Your actions against us are far hurting than
the pain and labour of child birth. Remember,
when you kidnapped the CHIBOK girls? We
went crazy, many of us died imagining what
our daughters were going through in your
hands. We walked the streets of Nigeria
calling for their release. Some of us even
walked naked with tears streaming down our
eyes but all fell on your deaf ears.
The whole world joined the campaign but
mercy did not touch your hearts to release the
girls. We can’t believe, we gave birth to you.
Till today, the girls left in your custody will
continue to be the memories of the carnage of
your destruction forever. You boldly told us
that you have married them off. Married them
off to whom? Many of them are already
pregnant with your breeds that definitely will
carry on your nefarious acts.
Will you truly rejoice when those children are
born knowing you have sacrificed their lives in
the altar of darkness? How happy will you be
when someone else kidnap your children and
marry them off without your consent?
At will, you bombed the market places being
fully aware we are always at the markets
struggling to make a living for our children.
You bombed the schools at will being fully
aware that our children are there. At will you
bombed the churches and the mosques being
fully aware that we are always there praying
for our families which includes you. You have
destroyed our homes and made us refugees in
our own country and we now live off charities.
The war you have declared on Nigeria is
actually war against WOMEN. What did we do
to deserve these?
What really is your intention? We know. Yes,
you thought that by declaring war against us
that the government will surrender to you?
You are absolutely wrong. Do you not see that
irrespective of your nefarious acts that the
government hardly pays attention other than
send few words of condolences to us? Do you
not see that their main preoccupation is their
campaign for 2015 elections? Do you not see
that their lives are filled with luxury and
numerous trips abroad? Do you not know that
their children are all away from Nigeria? You
see, you can never get their attention by
putting us through sleepless nights because
you are not priority to them at all.
We actually thought that the worst you could
do was the kidnap of the CHIBOK girls but
alas! You came along with another strategy –
using women and girls as suicide bombers!
Using our daughters to destroy us? Oh how
evil can you get? This is the final straw!
The only offence we committed against you is
giving birth to you. We wish we can turn back
the hand of time to when you were in our
wombs, we wouldn’t have thought twice about
aborting you regardless of what the law and
religion say.
However we wish, we cannot change the time
but you can change because we know that
deep down your heart lies those cheerful and
loving sons we had and are proud of. It is
time to sheath your swords! It is time to label
correctly and address the issues of your
grievances accordingly! It is time you stop this
violence against women! It is the 16 days of
activism! It is your time for change!

New campaign to end mum-to-baby HIV

2014-12-09 21:33
Lagos- A leading beverage maker and global
health group have invited Nigerians to join
efforts to help end mother-to-child
transmission of HIV.
"Share the sound of an AIDS free generation”,
the global campaign, is the brainchild of the
Coca-Cola Company and (RED).
The campaign shares a message of hope and
unity to empower today’s youth to understand
that they can be the generation to end the
AIDS pandemic.
Award winning hip-hop artiste, Wyclef Jean,
recorded a song titled “Divine Sorrow” for the
(RED) campaign together with various Coke
Studio Africa artistes, including Chidinma from
Nigeria.
Coca-Cola and (RED) have partnered with
MTN Nigeria, the largest mobile
telecommunications operator in Nigeria to
make the song available for subscription.
Also read: No Nigerian child should be born
with HIV - Jonathan
Proceeds from the song, now available for
download as ringtone on the MTN network,
will go to the Global Fund to fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, and also to finance
grants which provide HIV prevention, testing,
counseling, treatment and care.
“We want to use the instrument of music and
its strong connection with the youth to
reinforce the message that it is in the hands of
this generation to stop the spread of HIV/
AIDS,” said Patricia Jemibewon, Marketing
Director at Coca-Cola Nigeria.
The initiative comes days after
commemorations of World AIDS Day with the
theme “Getting to Zero” and a focus on
achieving zero infection, zero discrimination
and zero AIDS-related deaths.
According to Joint United Nations Programme
on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), 650 babies are
born with HIV every day, yet life-saving
medication exists and costs as little as $.40 a
day.
That same medication can reduce the risk of
an HIV-positive woman passing-on the virus
to her baby by up to 95 percent.

Seven injured in W Cape crash 2014-11-29 13:01

Johannesburg - Paramedics said on Saturday that seven people were injured when a truck collided with five vehicles on Sir Lowry's Pass near Cape Town.
The truck's brakes allegedly failed causing it to plough through other vehicles, said ER24's Russel Meiring.
Three people were critically injured. Two of them had to be freed from the wreckages with the jaws-of-life, while one was airlifted to hospital.
Paramedics treated patients for their injuries before transporting them to nearby hospitals.

Qaeda moved US hostage before Yemen raid

 Qaeda moved US hostage before Yemen raid

Aden - Al-Qaeda militants holding an American journalist in Yemen moved him and two other foreign hostages just days before a raid to free him, a Yemeni defence ministry website said.
The journalist as well as a British national and a South African are among several hostages held by al-Qaeda in the violence-wracked country, according to the ministry's 26Sep.net news website.
On Tuesday, Yemeni special forces, said to have been backed by US commandos, raided an al-Qaeda hideout in Hajr As-Saghir, in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, to free the captives.
Eight hostages - six Yemenis, a Saudi and an Ethiopian - were freed in the operation, in which seven gunmen were killed, Yemeni security officials said at the time.
The ministry website reported late on Wednesday that hours before the raid the militants moved the American journalist, the Briton and the South African.
A Yemeni hostage and a fifth person believed to be Turkish were also moved, said the report, quoting a member of the Yemeni special forces who had spoken to one of the freed hostages.
The special forces member was identified as Abu Maruf, but the website provided no further details or official confirmation.
The New York Times, quoting American and Yemeni officials, said on Wednesday that US Special Operations commandos carried out a raid with Yemeni troops to try to free the American captive.
"But when the commandos swooped in on the mountain cave where they believed the American was being held, they found eight other hostages, including six Yemenis, but not the American," it said.
The newspaper added that it had initially withheld the information "at the request of the Obama adminstration", out of concern for the safety of the American hostage.
The Times said it was withholding the name of the captive journalist.
Abu Maruf told 26Sep.net that the operation followed intelligence information that al-Qaeda militants were holding hostages, "including a number of foreigners."
Al-Qaeda is active in southern and eastern Yemen, especially in Hadramawt, where the authority of the central government is weak.
A South African teacher, Pierre Korkie, was abducted by al-Qaeda militants in May last year along with his wife Yolande, who was released in January.

Ib rahimovic inspires PSG to win over Ajax

Paris - Edinson Cavani has scored twice and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was also on target as Paris Saint-Germain beat Ajax 3-1 at the Parc des Princes in Champions League Group F on Tuesday.

Cavani's first-half opener was cancelled out by Davy Klaassen midway through the second half as Ajax looked set to leave the French capital with a point, but Ibrahimovic scored his first goal for his club in nearly three months to put the hosts back in front in the 79th minute.

And Cavani then made sure of the victory as PSG moved a step closer to their objective of advancing to the last 16 as group winners, the result allowing them to maintain a one-point lead over Barcelona with a trip to the Camp Nou still to come next month.

Barcelona won 4-0 away to APOEL in Cyprus in the night's other game, but with both sides already through to the last 16 before this matchday, the French champions now know that a draw in Spain next month will see them progress in first place.

The statistics make for impressive reading for Laurent Blanc's side, who have now won eight games in a row in all competitions and remain unbeaten this season, a status shared only with Chelsea in Europe's leading leagues.

PSG are also now undefeated in 32 European outings at the Parc des Princes, a record that stretches back over eight years, although Ajax could count themselves a little unlucky to return to Amsterdam with nothing to show for their efforts.

The Dutch champions, with only one player aged over 25 in their starting line-up, played the better football for long spells but, having already been eliminated before this game, can now look forward to a home game with APOEL in two weeks in which they will hope to secure the consolation of a place in the Europa League in the new year.

The loss of captain Nicolai Boilesen to injury after just 10 minutes came as a blow to Frank de Boer's side but it did not prevent them from keeping the ball for long spells inside the opposition half.

Nevertheless, a PSG side missing Thiago Silva, Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti and Yohan Cabaye fired the first real warning shot in the 24th minute.

Ibrahimovic, facing his former team, played Ezequiel Lavezzi through with just the goalkeeper to beat but the Argentine was denied by a fine Jasper Cillessen save.

Only a superb interception by Gregory van der Wiel prevented Arkadiusz Milik from closing in on goal at the other end before Paris broke the deadlock just after the half-hour mark, Ibrahimovic lofting a pass over the Ajax defence for Lavezzi, who squared the ball to Cavani and allowed the Uruguayan to finish into an empty net.

That should have given the hosts a platform from which to build but instead they appeared content to try and see the game out, and were duly punished in the second half.

Tricky teenage winger Ricardo Kishna whipped in a glorious cross from wide on the left and Klaassen stooped to head low into the net past the despairing dive of Salvatore Sirigu.

Lasse Schone then curled a free-kick narrowly over for the away side but it was Paris who struck again 11 minutes from time, Ibrahimovic controlling and volleying past Cillessen from the right-hand side of the box to find the net at the far post.

And as the rain lashed down, a poor back-pass by Niki Zimling allowed Cavani to round Cillessen and make it 3-1 in the 83rd minute as he scored his seventh goal in his last seven games for the club.

Man eats an entire turkey in eating contest

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. (AP) — Competitive eater Joey Chestnut has won a turkey-eating contest in Connecticut, setting a record by devouring an entire bird.
Ten contestants vied to see who could eat the most of a 20-pound turkey in a competition Saturday at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Chestnut ate 9.35 pounds of meat off the bone in 10 minutes. According to Major League Eating, the food equivalent of the NFL, he bested the previous record, which was held by Sonya Thomas, who ate 5.25 pounds of turkey in November 2011.
Chestnut, a San Jose, California, resident who turns 31 on Tuesday, is ranked the top competitive eater in the world.
He took home a $5,000 check after stuffing his face with turkey. The remainder of the $10,000 purse was divided among other contestants.