Lose weight without dieting

By Shola Ogundipe

YES it is possible to lose weight, and  nothing can be too little or too much.Strategies such as making a commitment and being focused take a lot of mental   and physical energy. One fact anyone attempting to lose weight has to know first and foremost is that no one else can make you lose weight. You need to undertake diet and exercise changes to please yourself. It is also vital to adopt habits for slimming down without a complicated diet plan. Here are great tips to make you lose weight without necessarily going on a diet.

To lose weight exercise is key

Slow eaters eat less

Savour each bite and make it last.Partake of smaller portions from which you eat slowly rather than wolfing your food down in a hurry which may signal overeating. Set a timer for 20 minutes and reinvent yourself as a slow eater. This is one of the top habits for slimming without diet plan.

Sleep more, weigh less

Sleeping an extra hour a night could help a person drop eight kilos a year. When sleep replaces idle activities  you can effortlessly cut calories by 6 percent. Results would vary for each person, but sleep may help in another way, too. There’s evidence that getting too little sleep revs up your appetite,

Eat more vegetables

Serve three vegetables instead of just one, and you’ll eat more without really trying. Greater variety tricks people into eating more food and eating more fruits and vegetables is a great way to lose weight. The high fibre and water content fills you up with fewer calories. Cook them without added fat. And season with lemon juice and herbs rather than drowning their goodness in high-fat sauces or dressings.

Soups drop weight

Add a broth-based soup to your day and you’ll fill up on fewer calories. Soup’s especially handy at the beginning of a meal because it slows your eating and curbs your appetite. Start with a low-sodium broth or canned soup, add fresh or frozen vegetables and simmer. Beware of creamy soups, which can be high in fat and calories.

Go for whole grains

Whole grains such as brown rice, barley, oats, and whole wheat also belong in your stealthy weight loss strategy. They help fill you up with fewer calories and may improve your cholesterol profile, too. Whole grains are now in many products including waffles, pizza crust, muffins, pasta, and soft “white” whole-wheat bread.

Soups can drop your weight

Cut back on sugar

Sugar is the No.1 enemy of every weight loss strategy. Replace one sugary or soft drink with water or a zero-calorie cola and you’ll avoid about 10 teaspoons of sugar. Add lemon, mint or frozen strawberries for flavour and fun. The liquid sugar in soft drink appears to bypass the body’s normal fullness cues.

Drink from a tall, thin glass

Use a tall, skinny glass instead of a short, wide tumbler to cut liquid calories — and your weight — without dieting. You’ll drink 25-30 percent less juice, cola, wine, or any other beverage. How can this work? Visual cues can trick you into consuming more or less. People tend to poud more into a short, wide glass—even experienced bartenders.

Limit alcohol

When an occasion includes alcohol, follow the first drink with a nonalcoholic, low-calorie beverage like sparkling water instead of moving directly to another cocktail, beer, or glass of wine. Alcohol has more calories per gram than carbohydrates or protein. It can also loosen your resolve, leading you to mindlessly inhale chips, nuts, and other foods you’d normally limit.

Go for green tea

Drinking green tea may also be a good weight loss strategy. Some studies suggest that it can rev up the body’s calorie-burning engine temporarily, possibly through the action of phytochemicals called catechins. At the very least, you’ll get a refreshing drink without tons of calories.

Eat at home

Eat home-cooked meals at least five days a week. A Consumer Reports survey found this was a top habit of “successful losers.” Cooking may be easier than you think. Shortcut foods can make for quick meals.

Catch the ‘Eating Pause’

Most people have a natural “eating pause,” when they drop the fork for a couple of minutes. Watch for this moment and don’t take another bite. Clear your plate and enjoy the conversation. This is the quiet signal that you’re full, but not stuffed. Don’t miss it.

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Brazil 2014: Nigeria draw Argentina again, open with Iran June 16

Nigeria were yesterday handed what could be termed a soft group after they were drawn against former World Cup Champions Argentina hoping to inspired by mercurial and skillful Lionel Messi with former African player of the year winner, Victor Ikpeba calling on the Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi to work hard on the team.

Drawn in number four of the group, the Eagles will open their World Cup account with a match against Asians, Iran on June 16, 2014 in the Brazilian city of Curitiba inside the 41,000 capacity Estadio Joaquim Americo better known as Arena de Baixada.

According to Ikpeba, “Argentina are favoured to top the group because of their pedigree in footbakl with a player like Lionel Messi. Nigeria will come second but Keshi needs to work hard to contain the stubborn Bosnia Herzegovina and Iran,” he said, adding that “It is a good draw for Nigeria.”

Despite rating the Argentines highly, Ikpeba who would be remembered to have missed his penalty in the 2000 Nations Cup co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana stressed that “ If we work hard on our team, we could take the game to the Argentines.”

Nigeria was in pot two alongside Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana,Chile and Ecuador and fans of the Super Eagles were all hoping for the best possible draw .

Joining Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke to assist with the draw were a host of legends: Uruguay’s 1950 World Cup winner Alcides Ghiggia, England’s 1966 hero Geoff Hurst, former Brazil captain Cafu, Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro, Argentina’s Mario Kempes, Spain’s Fernando Hierro, France’s Zinedine Zidane and German great Lothar Matthaus.

It will be the fourth time Nigeria and Argentina will be clashing in the group stages of the World Cup finals.

The two nations both clashed in 1994 when Claudio Canniggia scored a brace to condemn the Super Eagles to a 2-1 defeat.

In 2002, Gabriel Batistuta scored a brace to sink the Africans while Gabriel Heinze netted a solitary effort as Argentina won again at the expense of Nigeria in 2010.

Nigeria will also face Bosnia and Iran in the group.

Hosts Brazil are in Group A alongside Croatia, Cameroun and Mexico while champions, Spain square off in Group B alongside the Netherlands, Australia and Chile.

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It was very difficult to arrest my kidnappers — GUO Motors boss

By Okonkwo Eze

Godwin Okeke

An Onitsha High Court in Anambra State, presided over by Justice Chudi Nwankwo on Thursday adjourned till Thursday, December 19,this year for continuation of cross-examination of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of G.U.O.Motors Limited,Chief Godwin Okeke, the first prosecution witness, PW1in the on-going trial of three accused persons in connection with his kidnap on August 23,2009.at All Saints Anglican Church Cathedral, Onitsha.

The adjournment came after D. U. Nwafor, counsel to the second accused, Ifeanyi Okafor, concluded his cross-examination of the complainant, Okeke and midway into the cross-examination of Okeke by Mrs. Chinelo Okongwu, counsel to Alexander Onyinanya, the third accused.

During the cross-examinations by both the second and third defence

counsels, Okeke noted that it was very difficult to track his kidnappers down  after the incident, to the extent that the third accused was arrested even two years after because he was in hiding.

“I made statements to the police ever before they were arrested and they were not arrested in one day. I limited my statements to the general attitude of quite  a good number of the accused because I could not know their names one by one”, he stated.

On the date of his statements, Okeke declared: “I can’t remember the particular statement I made on each date and the exact date I made them or the exact date the second defendant was arrested. None of them was arrested at the scene of the crime because their weapons were so sophisticated that they kept firing for 30 minutes and I later heard that even the policemen at the nearby CPS and Area Command, Onitsha were locking up their gates for fear of being invaded by the kidnappers”.

When D. U. Nwafor asked him whether he acted as a pointer to the accused, Okeke replied: “I did not act as their pointer when they were arrested, rather, the police invited me to identify them which I did and most of them in the charge sheet in Charge No. MO/179c/2010 were identified by myself on the particular date they were arrested by the police”.

“Before my kidnap”, he continued, “I can’t remember knowing the accused, except the third defendant who served in my village at Adazi-Ani as a member of the vigilante group. He worked in my village for about a year before he was redeployed at my own request because of his flamboyant life style and as at the time I was kidnapped, he was no longer with me but he was still hanging around my village”. .

“I am not aware if there was any previous criminal charge against the third defendant but I learnt he ran away from South Africa for one reason or the other best known to him. In my statement, I did say that only two of my kidnappers covered their faces with masks while I was with them in their hideouts.”

He further replied: “I made a statement of suspicion to his employer and leader of the vigilante group but I made a general statement to the police.  I made statement to the police in Onitsha before their arrests and after their arrests, I made other statements. to the police but I don’t have their dates off-head”.

On why his statements to the police were not elaborate as to mention the name of the third accused in any of those statements, Okeke replied the third defence counsel, Mrs. Chinelo Okongwu thus: “Even as at January 2010 when I made statement to the police, I was still in shock but now that it is four years after my kidnap and torture, I rely more on my evidence-in-chief in this court because they are more detailed now that I am more composed than then”..

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Mandela’s life example of what people should aspire for – Obasanjo

Abeokuta, – Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has described the late Nelson Madela as a man who raised the beacon of human struggle to lofty heights of nobility.

Obasanjo, who addressed journalists in his home in Abeokuta on Friday, said Mandela’s life was an example of what people should all aspire for.

“In all situations, he lived nobly and died in nobility. Let us bear in mind that we all have the opportunity to act nobly in whatever position we find ourselves,” he added.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

He described Mandela’s death as a monumental loss to all human races and called on all to emulate the life and times of the great leader.

“His demise is a loss to his family who will miss a caring patriarch; the people of South Africa who will miss a guide, Africa who will miss a role model and the world who will miss a leader.

“When we teach our children lessons for tomorrow, let us remember lessons Mandela gave the world in forgiveness and forbearance,’’ Obasanjo said.

Obasanjo, who eulogising Mandela, recalled the times when he was voted to become South-Africa’s post-apartheid president.

“During the first non-racial democratic elections in 1994, I was on election observation assignment in South Africa and was there for his campaign and when he cast his vote.

“He was devoid of bitterness or anger against anybody except the hated apartheid system.

“He went on to win the election and more importantly led South Africa to the extent that the country was able to cast aside its apartheid legacy and take its place in comity of nations.

“Certain that his task was completed, Mandela modestly refused to seek re-election after his first term in office as his presidency elapsed.

“I still recall his pragmatic words when he said to me ‘Olu, show me a place in the world where a man of 80 years is running the affairs of his country.

“This, to me, reflects an unequalled sense of modesty for a man who spent 27 of the prime years of his life in prison for a just cause.

“Yet he still kept a calm and peaceful disposition to those who took away his freedom for all those years of his life,’’ he explained. (NAN)

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Mandela and his three wives — Evelyn, Winnie and Graca

JOHANNESBURG, (AFP) – Nelson Mandela ducked out of an arranged marriage when he was a student, then went on to wed three times.

His first two marriages collapsed under the strain of politics, but the third time around he found enduring happiness with the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel.

In sharp contrast to Graca Machel and his feisty second wife Winnie, Mandela’s first wife was a demure country girl who kept well away from politics.

Nelson Mandela

Like him, Evelyn Wase hailed from the rural Transkei and had come to Johannesburg in the early 1940s to carve out a living in the big city.

She was the cousin of African National Congress (ANC) stalwart Walter Sisulu and met Mandela in Sisulu’s home in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, in 1944.

They married months later, in the same year that Mandela, Sisulu and Oliver Tambo formed the ANC’s Youth League and politics of struggle against white minority rule came to consume his life.

Descriptions of their first years tell of Evelyn as the happy housewife with Mandela bathing their three babies and helping with the cooking when his work at his law practice and political meetings were done.

But by 1954, Evelyn had buried herself in religion like her husband had in politics and bitterly resented his absences.

When Mandela was arrested for treason the first time, he came home on bail to find Evelyn had gone, leaving behind their two youngest children.

She returned to the Transkei, ran a shop and remarried in her seventies.

Winnie came into Mandela’s life at the start of a second treason trial, which would see him jailed for 27 years, and they married in June 1958.

She too came from the country, but took to the city, and once she met Mandela, also dived into politics with alacrity.

Soon after their wedding she was arrested for an incendiary speech, leading Mandela to remark — proudly and prophetically — “I think I married trouble.”

The couple had two daughters before the prison doors slammed behind Mandela in 1964. In the coming years Winnie would be in and out of jail as the police hounded her in a bid to demoralise him.

In 1969, she was held in solitary confinement for 13 months on terrorism charges and in 1973 endured another six months in jail, but when the 1976 student riot revolt broke out in Soweto, Winnie was unbowed, urging crowds to “fight to the bitter end”.

The police saw her as a mastermind of the uprising. She was locked up for five months, then banished to the desolate town of Brandfort for seven years.

When she returned to Soweto, the firebrand militant-martyr became a liability for Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement.

In 1986, at a time when suspected traitors were being burned alive in the volatile townships, Winnie declared that South African blacks would be freed “with our matchboxes”.

She surrounded herself with a band of thugs christened the Mandela United Football Club who murdered a young activist called Stompie Sepei.

Her bond with Mandela had endured through letters and visits to prison and when he was released in 1990, Winnie was there holding his hand, but in private she rejected him for a young lover.

Mandela stood by her when she was convicted for kidnapping Sepei and only in 1992 announced their separation.

Winnie’s six-year sentence was suspended on appeal and in 1994 she was appointed a deputy minister in his government, but was later sacked for insubordination.

By the mid-90s, Mandela was courting Graca Machel — a serious but warm woman 27 years younger than him who studied in Lisbon before she became a freedom fighter for Samora Machel’s Frelimo movement, and eventually Machel’s education minister and wife.

Graca’s first contact with Mandela came in 1986 when her husband died in an air crash many believe was orchestrated by the apartheid regime, and he wrote to her from prison.

When they met in Mozambique’s capital Maputo in 1990, Machel was still in mourning. But two years later Mandela became the godfather of her stepchildren and in 1996 they were spotted at President Robert Mugabe’s wedding.

Mandela was smitten and let the press in on their love story, telling reporters: “Late in life, I am blooming like a flower because of the love and support she has given me.”

On July 18, 1998 — Mandela’s 80th birthday — Machel broke her vow that she would not marry another president.

While clearly a proud husband, Mandela sometimes found it hard to keep pace with the younger woman.

“She is busier than I am. We meet for lunch, go off and then only see each other again for supper. I wish I had married a wife who was less busy,” he quipped to students at a ceremony in March 2007.

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How Mbazulike Amaechi hid Mandela from apartheid regime in Nigeria

BY VINCENT UJUMADU
ONE of the few surviving nationalists and former Minister of Aviation in the first republic, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi has revealed how he hid the foremost South African nationalist and former president of South Africa, Chief Nelson Mandela for six months in Nigeria to evade his arrest by officials of the apartheid regime in that country.

Amaechi, who spoke with Vanguard at his Ukpor country home in Nnewi South local government area of Anambra State said people like Mandela are great assets to humanity and should not be going through the pains of life.

Amaechi

The former minister, popularly known as ‘the boy is good’, said it was a privilege to him being asked to live with Mandela when he ran away from the apartheid regime and came to Nigeria in 1963, adding that they shared great moments during the six months plus Mandela lived in his house.

According to Amaechi, even when Mandela returned to South Africa and was sentenced to life imprisonment, he still wrote him letters from prison, showing how appreciative he is.

The interview with Amaechi on Mandela went thus:

PRESENTLY, the foremost South African nationalist, Nelson Mandela, is sick and in the hospital. We want to know if you had any relationship with him in the past or an encounter?

Yes, he was the leader of the Africa National Congress, ANC. He led the group that struggled for democracy in South Africa. That was the time of the apartheid regime in South Africa and when the British government was desperately looking for him to imprison him; he ran away from South Africa and took refuge in Nigeria.  That was when the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was the President of Nigeria and late Dr. Michael Okpara the Premier of the Eastern Region.

When Mandela came to Nigeria, Zik as the leader of the nationalist group in Nigeria in consultation with Okpara decided that they should find a nationalist of Mandela’s caliber who would accommodate him. So they called on me to take Mandela and accommodate him.

At that time, I was the parliamentary secretary and also a member of the parliament before I became a minister. He moved in to my house and stayed for about six or more months with me and my wife. I was then newly married while he was in his early 40’s or so.

We used to go out together and both the British intelligence and the South African intelligence services knew that he was with me, but there was nothing they could do about it because I was in government. Then, after sometime, during our discussions, he said: “My stay here, how long will it last? “I think I better return to South Africa. They will either kill me or send me to prison and it will spur the other nationalists remaining to continue with the struggle.

So, after about six or seven months in my house, he decided to move back to South Africa. When he went back, he was promptly arrested, charged and sentenced to life imprisonment. He went to prison, but the nationalism in him did not depart from him.

He continued doing his best for some of his colleagues. He wrote me a letter from prison asking me to find employment for one Dr. Barange. Barange’s father was a lawyer who defended the nationalists in a previous case, while Barange himself was a geologist. The apartheid people in South Africa were seriously looking for him and so Mandela wanted him to get out of South Africa. I was able to get a job for Dr. Barange at the University of Ife as a senior lecturer in Geology.

Mandella wrote me from prison. In fact when you called that you were coming, I went to my office to search for this letter. This is the letter he wrote me from the prison on the 18th of February, 1964, he signed the letter as Nelson Mandela, prisoner No 116570/63.

Then during his 74th birthday, he was still in prison, I joined his family to send him goodwill messages.

When he came out from prison, I wrote him too. When he came to Nigeria after his release, he specifically requested to see me and Dr. Azikiwe. So, when he came to Enugu, the then governor, Col. Robert Akonobi, because we were in military rule then, wrote me to say Mandela wanted to see me. I honoured the invitation and I went to Enugu with my wife to see him. He was in the company of his former wife, Winnie. We shared some time together before he went back to South Africa.

After that visit in 1993, have you been communicating with him?

Yes, my last letter to him was on 18th November, 1993.

Since the last letter, have two of you been communicating?

No. We have not spoken to each other again. When he was appointed the President of South Africa, I was invited to his inauguration ceremony, but the military here did not allow me to go. They said I needed clearance to go and I did not get it.

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BREAKING NEWS: Abuja Airport Shut As Saudi Plane Blocks Runway

Towards credible elections in 2015

Professor Attahiru Jega’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has continued to chalk up questionable competence in every election its has conducted in the country in its over three years of existence.
It set an ugly tone in the 2011 general elections when it became the first electoral regime to cancel a general election midway and start all over again. But because Jega, who was highly touted as a credible person for the job of INEC Chair was still new on the job, Nigerians were willing to forget that show of shame.
Since then, elections have been held in states like Ondo and Edo. In each case, the old bedevilling factors that make Nigerian election nototrious for failure to meet basic standards of credibility continued to shadow the performances of Jega and his Commission.
The just-concluded governorship elections in Anambra State provided yet another platform to test-run the competence of INEC, but alas! Rather than improving on the Edo and Ondo exercises, the elections fell way below the expectations of many stakeholders, such as a cross section of the political parties and their candidates, local and international observers and the electorate.
Though the election was generally peaceful and devoid of incidences of ballot snatching, much of its drawbacks centered on the INEC’s shoddy preparations and deployment of electoral materials, especially on November 16th 2013.
I

Police parade robbers, woman for axing husband to death

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM
BENIN CITY — FOUR notorious robbers, including the alleged killers of policemen along the Benin-Auchi road by-pass, were yesterday gunned down by the police in Edo State during an early morning shoot out.
One police officer was, however, shot on the leg by the robbers who operated by the Ogbemudia Farms area, along the Benin-Lagos road and the Benin-Auchi roads at about 9 am.

Zenab who allegedly axed her husband to death

This came as the state Police Commissioner, Funso Adebanjo paraded 42 suspects, including robbers and other criminals among who was one 32-year-old Augustine Obodeke who impregnated his 19-year-old daughter.
One Zenab Agbontine who allegedly axed her husband to death was also paraded.
The command also warned members of the public to resist the temptation to use fireworks popularly known as knock-out this yuletide, warning that there “will be continuous manhunt for both buyers and sellers of any form of fireworks.”
While parading the suspects, the CP said: “This morning, there were twins operation in the outskirts of Benin City. One was at Ogbemudia Farms, which is along the Benin-Lagos road, were about 20 robbers attacked passengers.
“My men moved in swiftly and there was exchange of fire. Three of the robbers were shot dead while one of my men was shot on the leg and is currently receiving treatment.
“Another set of robbers were also intercepted by my men along the Benin-Auchi road by-pass. One of them was shot dead while others escaped.
“From the confession of one of them, they were the ones that attacked our men who were from Osun State to Anambra for the governorship election along the by-pass.
“This is a warning that you cannot kill a policeman and go free. We got them and we will continue to go after the rest.”
Some of items recovered from them include five vehicles, seven cut to size guns, 13 ammunition and four live cartridges.
In her confession, Zenab, who allegedly killed her husband, said: “He stopped me from entering his room. I pleaded with him to forgive me because I had problems but he refused. It was when he slept that I entered the room with an axe and hit his head. I don’t know what entered into me.”

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KOMPANY NAMED IN CITY’S SQUAD FOR WEST BROM

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany could make a return to first-team football on Wednesday night against West Brom after recovering from a thigh injury he suffered in the club’s 3-1 win over Everton in October.

The 27-year-old defender, who has missed ten games on the sideline, has been selected by coach Manuel Pellegrini for the trip to the Hawthorn. He has been partaking in full training sessions.
City’s Chilean coach has been full of praise for the Belgian but admits his side’s defence has fared well enough in his absence, despite losing away to Sunderland and Chelsea.

Kompany Named in City’s Squad for West Brom But Hart Could Still Be on the Bench.

“In the last five (domestic) games just Sunderland have scored one goal (against us). In all the others we have had clean sheets,” said Pellegrini.
“So the other defenders can do it as well, but Vincent is always an important player.”

TSAV URGES JONATHAN TO FORGET ABOUT 2015 IN THE INTEREST OF NIGERIA’S UNITY

The outcome of the 2015 general elections would make or mar Nigeria as a united nation, a former Lagos State Police Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav said yesterday.

Speaking with journalists in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, the outspoken Tsav expressed fears that the country may implode in the next political dispensation if President Goodluck Jonathan does not forego his rumoured second term bid.
“President Jonathan’s followers are saying there would be war if he does not win in 2015. He should save us that trouble by relinquishing his ambition in the interest of the old and young people of this country,” he said.
The former police boss admonished the president to hearken to the voice of reason by not over-stretching his luck even as his name implies to contest the 2015 election.
Meanwhile, Tsav has condemned the recent Anambra governorship election, describing it as a total failure just as he questioned the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s ability to conduct a credible, free and fair poll in 2015.

JONATHAN OBSESSED WITH REELECTION BID IN 2015 THAN TACKLING RISING INSECURITY WAVE, SAYS PROGRESSIVE GOVS

on December 4, 2013
The Progressive governors under the aegis of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) have accused President Goodluck Jonathan of focusing more attention on his second term ambition in 2015 than frontally tackling the increasing security threat to lives and property in the country.

The governors, who belong to the All Progressives Congress (APC), made the accusation in reaction to Monday’s pre-dawn attack on the Nigerian Air Force base in Maiduguri, Borno State, by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
The governors attributed the attack to what they called “lack of security agenda’’ by Mr. President, whom they claimed was more obsessed with winning the next presidential poll than tackling rising insurgency in the land.
Making their views known in a statement signed by the Director-General in charge of the PGF secretariat in Abuja, Mr. Salihu Lukman, the governors noted with concern that  the security situation in several parts of the country had continued to deteriorate despite the extension of the State of Emergency in some states and the trillions of naira supposedly spent on security.
The governors said, “The most recent attack was particularly telling as it shows that President Goodluck Jonathan has no security agenda and is only focused on retaining power beyond 2015. The result of this criminal negligence is the unabated slaughter of lives. Clearly the security structures set up in the region have been overwhelmed.
“The PGF calls on the President to reassess his security strategy and focus more on the critical issues of the day. Obviously, the strategies and tactics currently adopted by the President and security agencies drafted to the region have been ineffectual, just as they leave much to be desired.
“While we commiserate with the Government and people of Borno State, we call on the Federal Government to immediately overhaul the tactics and rules of engagement of the security agencies deployed in Borno and other states.
“The President, who also doubles as the Commander-in-Chief needs to get a firmer grip as well as ensure coherence in the management of the various tiers of security interventions in the affected states. His obsession with 2015 is a dangerous diversion at a time when real courage and statesmanship are needed.
“We, on our own part, shall continue to offer support to our colleague, Governor Kashim Shettima and to provide necessary humanitarian assistance in these extremely difficult times.
Information Nigeria recalls that Monday’s attack in Maiduguri lasted for close to five hours with the insurgents inflicting serious casualties on the people and burning down some military aircraft and buildings in the process although the security agencies repelled their advancement in an airstrike which left dozens of the gunmen dead.

TAMBUWAL, TINUBU, BUHARI, AMAECHI, KWANKWASO, WAMAKKO, APC GOVS IN CRUCIAL MEETING

on December 04, 2013   /   in News 1:06 a
By Henry Umoru
ABUJA- SPEAKER, Federal House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was yesterday engaged in a marathon meeting with Governors who on Tuesday last week dumped the PDP for the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Also at yesterday’s meeting which took place at the Kano  State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja were former  Head of state and 2011 Presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, General Mohammadu Buhari and  former governor of Lagos State and leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, just as Governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti; Babatunde Fashola of Lagos; Bola Ajimobi of Oyo state, Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso of Kano; Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers; Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun; Murtala Nyako of Adamawa: Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto, among others.
Tambuwal who appeared for the meeting at Kano Lodge briefly after the commencement of the meeting, left thirty minutes later, but the meeting was still ongoing even when he left.
The meeting was still in progress as at press time.

SHOCKING: POLICE OFFICER ACCUSED OF MURDER DISAPPEARS IN PRISON CUSTODY

on December 04, 2013   /   in Crime Guard 12:20 am
By BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE
The Comptroller of Kirikiri prison in Lagos, has told a Lagos High Court in Igbosere that a police officer attached to Ajeromi Police Station, Sgt. Joseph Ugbah, who is being accused of murder of one Okafor Charles at a viewing center, could not be traced at the prison.
The presiding judge, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo, on several adjournments had issued a “Production Warrant” to Kirikiri and Ikoyi prisons. In his reply dated September 13, 2012, the Kirikiri Prison Comptroller  told the court that there was no trace of the defendant, while the Ikoyi Prison is yet to give any information on the defendant.
Twenty nine-year-old Sgt. Ugbah (defendant) is facing one- count charge of murder, an offence contrary to section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Law Cap C. 17 Vol. 2 Laws of Lagos State 2003.
The charge LCD/31/12 reads: “Sgt. Joseph Ugba ‘M’ on April 1, 2010 at about 07.00pm at the DSTV Hall in the Ajeromi Area of Lagos in the Lagos Judicial Division murdered one Okafor Charles.” It will be recalled that the prosecutor, Mr. O. Soetan, had asked the court for a further date to enable him ascertain the defendant’s whereabouts, and the case has seen 7 adjournments before it was again adjourned to February 2, 2013.
Crime Alert gathered that the defendant joined the Nigeria Police in 1992, served in Imo State before coming to Lagos State (Ajeromi Division), where he was attached to the Anti Robbery Team. In a statement to the police, the deceased’s father, Mr. William Okafor, a clergyman, said those who witnessed the alleged murder of his son told him that Charles (deceased) and others were in a film hall when the police from Ajeromi Division stormed the hall and ordered all person’s to lie flat.  “The police started searching their pockets and was removing the money in their pockets. On getting to Charles, he challenged the police for searching their pockets and removing their money. The challenge got one of the police officers angry, and he used the butt of his riffle to hit Charles.
After that, the police officers then asked everybody to leave the hall, while Charles still remained lying on the ground.”
On how the deceased’s father was treated at the Ajeromi Police station, 55-year- old Williams said “I went to the DPO of Ajeromi Police Station and introduced myself as the father of the deceased, and he said he did not send any of his men there to make trouble. He (DPO) pleaded with the people outside the police station to be calm, to enable the police take the corpse to the mortuary. My late son is unmarried and works as a traveling agent, and I depend on him for survival,”he stated.

ASUU STRIKE: FG BOWS, EXTENDS DEADLINE TO DEC 9

on December 04, 2013   /   in Headlines 12:00 am
By Funmi Komolafe, Simon Ebegbulem, Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Laide Akinboade & Daud Olatunji
ABUJA —The Federal Government, yesterday, reviewed the seven-day ultimatum given to striking university lecturers to resume today or be sacked as it now gave them till Monday, December 9. This came as most members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities remained adamant and vowed to continue with the strike until their demands were met.
ASUU president, Dr. Nasir Issa Fagge has also assured that once the government opens the bank account with N200 billion as requested by the union, the strike would be suspended.

Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, who announced the shift in the date for the compulsory resumption of Federal Universities to Monday, December 9, said it was as a mark of respect for the former National President of the Academic Staff  Union of Universities, ASUU, Professor Festus Iyayi, who died in an auto accident on his way to a National Executive Committee meeting of ASUU.
Speaking in Abuja, yesterday, Mr Wike said that the family of the late Professor Iyayi officially informed the ministry of the burial rites for the late ASUU President through the National Universities Commission, NUC, on Monday, hence the shift in the mandatory resumption date.
He said that the Federal Government will fully participate in the burial rites of the former ASUU President.
According to a statement by the minister’s Special Assistant, Simeon Nwakaudu: “The decision to shift the date of the compulsory resumption of Federal Universities for academic activities has been taken as a result of the respect we have for the former ASUU President”.
Wike stated that the Federal Government took the decision to re-open the universities in the interest of Nigerians and not to engender any form of show-down with ASUU.
He said Nigerians must appreciate the fact that the pro-chancellors and chairmen of the Federal Universities Governing Councils took the decision to re-open the schools, pointing out that the Federal Government’s directive was to the vice-chancellors who are expected to comply with the directive of the pro-chancellors.
The minister also said that the Federal Government has already opened a dedicated account for the revival of infrastructure in the universities, while the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education has signed the resolution that the Federal Government will commit N1.3trillion into the revival of infrastructure in the universities.
He stated that despite the repeated misrepresentation of facts on the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, the Federal Government had implemented over 80 per cent of the issues contained in the document, with only the payment of earned allowances and revitalisation of infrastructure pending.Read More

US RAPPER WALE MEETS HIS GRANDFATHER FOR THE 1ST TIME IN NIGERIA

Posted on Dec 3 2013 - 1:55pm by Mayor Bos

Wale, his uncle Bayo and grandfather.

When he travelled to his home country, Nigeria for the first time last week, the US based rapper got to meet some family members he’s never seen before – this includes his grandfather. It’s good to see the MMG connecting to his roots after so many years gone.
He revealed in a recent interview that he was raised in ‘the Nigerian way’ by his parents and would do it all over again if he had to.
In related news, little did we know that Nigerian producer Maleek Berry and Wale are related. Maleek was also spotted in a family group picture with Wale and calls him ‘my brother’.

Wale with his family – His father, grandfather uncles and Maleek Berry

Wale with Maleek Berry and Zei of Legendury Beatz

UN LAUNCHES FIRST SURVEILLANCE DRONE IN DR CONGO

The Italian-made pilotless aircraft was launched at 12:01 pm (1001 GMT) from the airport in Goma, capital of North Kivu province, at a media event attended by the chief of UN peacekeeping operations, Herve Ladsous and several diplomats.
The UN mission in the DR Congo, MONUSCO, currently has two such drones. According to a military expert in the capital Kinshasa, both aircraft began trial flights on Sunday.
The drones, which are unarmed and exclusively equipped for reconnaissance flights, are intended to help the United Nations to watch over North Kivu, a mineral-rich province prey to dozens of armed movements, which MONUSCO troops have been ordered to neutralise, including by force.
The aircraft will also be used to survey the porous borders between North Kivu and Rwanda and Uganda, in a bid to prevent these countries from providing support to groups inside DR Congo.

GIRL DISGRACED FOR STEALING BLACKBERRY IN UNIBEN HOSTEL

See what happened when a young 200 Level student of the University of Benin stole a Blackberry Phone allegedly belonging to her girlfriend in BDPA. It all happened when her friend started looking for her BB phone for over 3 hours and could not find it. The girl was later asked if she saw a BB Phone which deny taking.
While the discussion went on, the phone rang and she refuse picking it, it rang again and again until her friend insisted she pick it, but she refuse until argument started which led to neighbors coming to the scene. The phone was later discovered and the boys around removed her clothing and started abusing her body and snapping pictures.

ALI BABA CHALLENGES MEN TO WORK AND NOT JUST SIT DOWN ( A MUST READ)

Comedian Ali Baba, has taken upon himself to write to men all over on the essence of getting work to do...he writes thus:
It’s important you have something doing. You CAN NOT be waiting for something to do. DO ANYTHING. DONT WAIT FOR WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

It has been proven time without number, that a woman respects a man who provides… more than she respects a man that CAN NOT PROVIDE.

There are huge differences between a man that CAN NOT PROVIDE/ A MAN THAT CAN PROVIDE/ and A MAN CAN PROVIDE BUT DOES NOT WANT TO PROVIDE. You may fall into any of these categories. But if it’s the right one well done. If it’s not, hey!!!! Brotherly, there is work to be done.

Forget anything anybody tells you, 50% of why many marriages survive, besides the core ingredients of love, respect, understanding and sex… Is PROVISION.

The struggle we get involved in everyday, is just so we can provide. Like my friend, Zakiloooo always says, NA OUR WIVES AND CHILDREN ALL THESE STRUGGLE DEY FOR. Because, he would explain further… We for just begin grooooove enter Ghana, Kenya, Jo’Burg, Uk, Dubai…

BOTTOMLINE, we must know that, if we make 25K, family must get 10K, 5K goes back into the business, savings go hold 5K and we will use the last 5k to hold our side for in case of incasity and other cases of should in case! Zakilo!!!!! God no dey sleep.

So, my guys, no just SIDDON. Get up. Find something to do. At all at all NA him bad pass. One of my guys in Warri, was dropped by GTB in the last retrenchment when the new management took over, he said he waited for a bit (5months) when it looked like all those job offers were not coming like when he was employed, he had to do something… He started diesel supply.

Now, he says, the respect as the head of the house is beginning to come back. He also says, men who say, it does not matter if your wife is earning more than you do are being economical with the truth. Your ability to provide MATTERS A GREAT DEAL. DONT LISTEN TO SOME LAZY BUMCUM WHO SAY ITS NOTHING.
I agree totally.

So guys, lets get cracking. Even if it’s a stop gap job. Just do it. Not for you. But for the family. I know some will say, it’s easy for you to say. Dupe ti re!! No it’s not. I started working in 1984 in SuperBru, loading Skol lager beer in trailers and lorries for N5 a day. I have worked in bakeries, taxi driver between Ring Road and Ogba Zoo in my dad’s yellow Toyota Crown… I have been, there done that…

We need to groom the next generation of men who believe in dignity of labour, recognize that we are providers, head of the home, protector of the HONOUR of the family and THE MAN. So get to work.

SHOCKING BUT TRUE: AWARD ORGANISER REVEALS DIRTY SECRETS SOME ACTORS/ACTRESSES DO TO WIN AWARDS

We are Nigerians and there is nothing that can not be possible in this country, it was revealed how upcoming actresses pay before they feature in a movie, now it is how Nollywood actresses pay to get awards.
According to one of the organizers of the Nollywood awards has exposed the dirty secrets of many ladies in the Nollywood movie industry.
Hear what one of them said recently, "It depends on how you hold yourself. I remember in the third edition when the nominees list came out, one actress sent somebody to call me and offer me money in order for her to win.


I told the person that the money they offered me wouldn’t change my life in any way. It is just the money I could spend in less than 24 hours. If I collect money from anybody, before the next award, the person would easily tell a nominee to just go and pay a certain amount to me if she or he wanted to win. We have a long way to go.

Award ceremony is very sensitive. Once you get it wrong the first time, you are doomed. There is no second chance. Because of that, I cannot collect money from anybody. But then again, I noticed that once the nominee’s list comes out, some people start giving us jobs for our other businesses."

ONLY THE BEST PLAYERS WILL REPRESENT NIGERIA AT THE WORLD CUP" – KESHI

Super Eagles manager, Stephen Keshi has said his side will not accommodate new players without an enhanced value in the World Cup squad.
Recently the names of captain, Joseph Yobo, Ikechukwu Uche, Taiye Taiwo, Osaze Odemwingie, among several others have been mentioned as possible comeback to the Super Eagles.
However, Keshi commented on this as follows:
“It will be senseless to invite any new player who has nothing new or value higher to add to what I’ve at present in camp. Stephen Keshi with Mikel Obi Stephen Keshi with Mikel Obi."
Keshi also added,
“I’ve indicated that new players will be brought in to strengthen the side but it will be players who are far better than the ones that toiled for the ticket.
According to his words, the World Cup is not a platform to try players but a showpiece for the experienced ones.
“We’ll accommodate the best that will deliver the goods at the World Cup,” said the former Nigerian defender.
Super Eagles will on Friday, December 6 in Bahia, Brazil know their group opponents when the draw will be made for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. 
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/53528.html

THE COMPLEX HISTORY OF WWE'S ERA OF UNIFICATION

BY Zach Linder

Page 1 of 11

December 05, 2013

Did you know that the Intercontinental Championship was once unified with the World Heavyweight Championship? Or that the WCW Tag Team Championship and WWE World Tag Team Championship were unified on two separate occasions three months apart?
Following WWE's acquisition of WCW in 2001, there was an influx of championships from the Atlanta-based organization. Over the following two years, WWE’s title scene went through more changes than it ever had in the company’s history. In total, seven championships were retired, two were reinstated and two were created completely from scratch.
If you were a WWE fan during this “Era of Unification,” you might recall some of the convoluted events that brought these titles together and then tore them apart. Still, WWEClassics.com spent weeks attempting to untangle the complex history of this landmark period. By the time we were done with our research, our heads were spinning and our eyes were glazed over from pouring through Titan Towers’ record books. Thankfully, we think we finally have this highly complicated age in sports-entertainment history figured out.
View infographics: Full | Singles | Tag Team | Cruiserweight | Heavyweight
Watch the "Era of Unification" unfold | View photo gallery | Explore Title Histories

PDP CRISIS: JONATHAN TO "DROP" TUKUR

3 December, 2013
 
Some indications have emerged from Sunday meeting President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo and governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic party, PDP held that the National chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur will be dropped in March next year during the mid term convention.
It was gathered by the Vanguard journalists that the governors since the election of Tukur alongside other members of the National Working Committee, NWC have been calling for the sack of Bamanga Tukur against the backdrop that his manner of administration never rallied with the governors, just as the governors were said have again demanded for his removal.
At the said meeting a source disclosed to the newsmen that the PDP governors loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan frowned at the attitude of the ruling party chairman. In their opinion, such an attitude has inflamed negative passion rather than calm frayed nerves.
It was also gathered that a former deputy national chairman of the party and now a governor of Katsina State from North West, Ibrahim Shema; Isa Yuguda of Bauchi; Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa; Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta; Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom; Liyel Imoke of Cross River and Jonah Jang of Plateau State, present at the meeting, were said to have told the President and Vice President Sambo that the move to ask Tukur to go at the special convention next year was the only panacea to lingering political quagmire in PDP.
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/53532.html