Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Senegal: Run-off

Djerfexfcrsktvsnrsswx frvtgvgtggvgffgbhbvbhbhvgbvgTnnggjbnnjjhjnbgvfvvvvngvvvvvbvvvbnvbbbbhvbhzvvhbgjbbbbhvvbnbvvvvnvbhbvbnbbbhbnjbvbhsgbhgghhgsuv x
Cedcçvnefutzwrwgz

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

From: Toyin Falola <toyin.falola@mail.utexas.edu>

Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:43:02 -0600

To: <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>

ReplyTo: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Senegal: Run-off

AFRICA

29 February 2012 Last updated at 18:43 ET
Senegal presidential poll results confirm run-off
Senegal is to hold a second round of presidential elections after incumbent Abdoulaye Wade failed to win outright, election officials have confirmed.
Mr Wade gained 34.8% of the vote in Sunday's first round.
He faces a run-off next month against his former prime minister, Macky Sall, who came second with 26.5%.
Mr Sall urged the opposition to rally behind him against Mr Wade, who has been in power since 2000 and is seeking a controversial third term.
"I'm sure the desire for change of the Senegalese people will give me the victory in the second round," Mr Sall said at a press conference after the results were announced.
Mr Sall promised that if elected, he would shorten the presidential term to five years from the current seven, and enforce a two-term limit.
He also promised to bring in measures to reduce the price of basic foodstuffs.
Analysts say Mr Wade is likely to struggle in the second round.
His bid for a third consecutive term has sparked weeks of violent protests in recent months, leading to about six deaths, although polling on Sunday was largely peaceful.
The second round is expected on 18 March.
On Tuesday, Mr Wade's admitted he had failed to win more than 50% in the first round.
He also said that he would be opening talks with opposition candidates ahead of the run-off.
The president was booed as he cast his vote on Sunday in the capital, Dakar - and he lost in his own constituency.
Senegal's constitutional court ruled in January that Mr Wade could stand again on the grounds that his first term had not counted since it began before the two-term limit was introduced in 2001.
Senegal, a former French colony, is seen as a stable democracy with an unbroken series of elections since independence in 1960.
It remains the only West African country where the army has never seized power.

More Africa stories

ANC youth leader Malema expelled
South Africa's governing ANC expels its controversial youth leader Julius Malema after he was found guilty of fomenting divisions in the party.

'7/7 widow' link to Kenya terror probe

Row erupts over towing Costa ship

--

Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
http://www.toyinfalola.com/
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Senegal: Run-off

ANC youth leader Malema expelled
South Africa's governing ANC expels its controversial youth leader Julius Malema after he was found guilty of fomenting divisions in the party.

'7/7 widow' link to Kenya terror probe

Row erupts over towing Costa ship

--

USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Turin Horse (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1316540/

The Turin Horse

A rural farmer is forced to confront the mortality of his faithful horse.

Directors:

Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky

Writers:

László Krasznahorkai (screenplay), Béla Tarr(screenplay)

Stars:

János Derzsi, Erika Bók and Mihály Kormos

Film Summary

On January 3, 1889 in Turin, Italy, Friedrich Nietzsche steps out of the doorway of number six, Via Carlo Albert. Not far from him, a cab driver is having trouble with a stubborn horse. The horse refuses to move, whereupon the driver loses his patience and takes his whip to it. Nietzsche puts an end to the brutal scene, throwing his arms around the horse's neck, sobbing. After this, he lies motionless and silent for two days on a divan until he mutters the obligatory last words, and lives for another ten years, silent and demented, cared for by his mother and sisters.

Somewhere in the countryside, the cab driver lives with his daughter and the overworked horse. Outside, a windstorm rages. The horse refuses to move, and the man and his daughter struggle through their daily schedule. Food and water grow scarce. Beggars and gypsies come to their door. The horse stops eating. Slowly, the apocalypse approaches.

Immaculately photographed in Tarr's renowned long takes, THE TURIN HORSE is the final statement from a master filmmaker.

The film was awarded the Silver Bear and FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2011. It has been an official selection at the New York Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival. Tarr has announced that THE TURIN HORSE will be his final film.

Béla Tarr was born in 1955, and grew up in Budapest, Hungary. He began making amateur documentaries at the age of 16 and shot his 1977 feature debut Family Nest at the age of 22, made with non-professional actors in a stark, realist style. His work made a dramatic shift with his 1982 video adaptation of Macbeth which is comprised of only two shots. In subsequent films, Tarr developed a durational aesthetic revolving around extended shot lengths, most famously in 1994's Sátántangó, a film heavily influential in both the film and art worlds, and of which Susan Sontag said "I'd be glad to see it every year for the rest of my life." Across the entire body of his work, Tarr has established himself as one of the defining filmmakers and greatest innovators in contemporary cinema.

http://www.cafeafricana.com

http://www.indigokafe.com

http://www.laemmle.com/viewmovie.php?mid=7690

RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori

I want to puke. And, this is one person. Imagine how much Nigeria has been bled and is still being bled. So, if Ibori wey be small shrimp in the sea come tief tief all dis money how much him ogas bin take? Will London return the money he siphoned through them? And, if that is returned, who takes custody of it?

This is an ugly cycle really. Think of it, these are simply the foot soldiers. My mother would say this is like tape worm. You cut of the tail, but the head survives to continue sapping the life force out of its victim. How painfully sad, very sad, indeed.

Maureen

Maureen N. Eke, PHD
Professor of English
AN 240
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
Direct: 989-774-1087
Main: 989-774-3171
Fax: 989-773-1271
Email: eke1mn@cmich.edu or Maureen.eke@cmich.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Biodun Sowunmi
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 2:43 PM
To: naija politics ; omoodua ; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com ; naijaelections@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Nigerian World Forum ; Naijaexcel ; nigeriaroundtable ; TalkNigeria ; Naijaobserver
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori

The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori

Published on February 28, 2012

He was on trial in the UK because much of the stolen money was laundered through his London office.
Ibori moved from Nigeria to West London in the late 1980s and was found guilty of stealing goods from the Wickes store he worked at in Ruislip in 1990.
A year later he was convicted of handling a stolen credit card. He moved back to Nigeria and worked for its president, Sani Abacha, as a policy consultant.
Rising quickly through the ranks of the ruling People's Democratic Party, he was voted governor of Delta State in 1999, winning re-election four years later.
In power, he systematically stole from the public purse, taking kickbacks and transferring state funds to his own bank accounts around the world.
He was helped by family members, including his wife Theresa, sister Christine Ibori-Ibie, his mistress Udoamaka Oniugbo, and Mayfair lawyer Bhadresh Gohil.
A massive police investigation into Ibori's activities revealed he had bought six properties in London, including a six-bedroom house with indoor pool in Hampstead for £2.2million and a flat opposite the nearby Abbey Road recording studios.
There was also a property in Dorset, a £3.2million mansion in South Africa and further real estate in Nigeria.
He owned a fleet of armoured Range Rovers costing £600,000 and a £120,000 Bentley. On one of his trips to London he bought a Mercedes Maybach for more than £300,000 at a dealer on Park Lane and immediately shipped it to South Africa.
He bought a private jet for £12 million, spent £126,000 a month on his credit cards and ran up a £15,000 bill for a two-day stay at the Lanesborough hotel in London.
Prosecutor Sasha Wass told the court Ibori concealed his UK criminal record, which would have excluded him from office in Nigeria.
"He was never the legitimate governor and there was effectively a thief in government house," Miss Wass said. "As the pretender of that public office, he was able to plunder Delta State's wealth and hand out patronage."
The court heard Ibori abused his position to award contracts to his associates including his sister and his mistress.
Scotland Yard began its investigation into Ibori after officers found two computer hard drives in his London office that revealed his criminality.
He was arrested by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in December 2007, but two years later a court in his home town, Asaba, dismissed the charges saying there was not enough evidence.
When the case was reopened by Nigerian authorities in April 2010, Ibori fled to Dubai where he was detained at the request of the Metropolitan Police and extradited to the UK last April.
In a packed courtroom Ibori, dressed in a dark grey suit and black shirt, appeared in the dock to enter ten guilty pleas to fraud, money laundering and conspiracy on what was due to be the first day of a 12-week trial.
His wife, his mistress and his sister were all jailed for five years each for money laundering offences following earlier trials.
Last March, Gohil, 46, and described as Ibori's London-based lawyer, was jailed for seven years for his role in the scam.
Attempts will be made to confiscate as much of Ibori's money and assets as possible so that they can be returned to Nigeria.
The Met's Detective Inspector Paul Whatmore said: "It is always rewarding for anyone working on a proceeds of corruption case to know that the stolen funds they identify will eventually be returned to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world."
Ibori will be sentenced on April 16 and 17.
.Culled from the DailyMail

Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone, from Etisalat. Enjoy high speed internet service with Etisalat easy net, available at all our experience centres

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori

The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori

Published on February 28, 2012

The Daily Mail of London exposes the massive wealth of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who pleaded guilty to a 10-count charge of money laundering and conspiracy yesterday before a Southwark Crown Court in London.
His rise from DIY store worker to international playboy with a £250 million fortune is the stuff of dreams.
A few years after quitting his £5,000-a-year job as a cashier for Wickes, James Ibori had become one of Nigeria's most influential and richest politicians.
He wasted no time spending his new-found wealth on luxury homes, top-of-the-range cars, five-star travel and fees at exclusive boarding schools.
But yesterday the 49-year-old stood shame-faced in the dock of London's Southwark Court as he admitted stealing tens of millions of pounds from the oil-rich state he governed in Nigeria. Scotland Yard detectives believe his fraud could exceed £250million.
He was on trial in the UK because much of the stolen money was laundered through his London office.
Ibori moved from Nigeria to West London in the late 1980s and was found guilty of stealing goods from the Wickes store he worked at in Ruislip in 1990.
A year later he was convicted of handling a stolen credit card. He moved back to Nigeria and worked for its president, Sani Abacha, as a policy consultant.
Rising quickly through the ranks of the ruling People's Democratic Party, he was voted governor of Delta State in 1999, winning re-election four years later.
In power, he systematically stole from the public purse, taking kickbacks and transferring state funds to his own bank accounts around the world.
He was helped by family members, including his wife Theresa, sister Christine Ibori-Ibie, his mistress Udoamaka Oniugbo, and Mayfair lawyer Bhadresh Gohil.
A massive police investigation into Ibori's activities revealed he had bought six properties in London, including a six-bedroom house with indoor pool in Hampstead for £2.2million and a flat opposite the nearby Abbey Road recording studios.
There was also a property in Dorset, a £3.2million mansion in South Africa and further real estate in Nigeria.
He owned a fleet of armoured Range Rovers costing £600,000 and a £120,000 Bentley. On one of his trips to London he bought a Mercedes Maybach for more than £300,000 at a dealer on Park Lane and immediately shipped it to South Africa.
He bought a private jet for £12 million, spent £126,000 a month on his credit cards and ran up a £15,000 bill for a two-day stay at the Lanesborough hotel in London.
Prosecutor Sasha Wass told the court Ibori concealed his UK criminal record, which would have excluded him from office in Nigeria.
"He was never the legitimate governor and there was effectively a thief in government house," Miss Wass said. "As the pretender of that public office, he was able to plunder Delta State's wealth and hand out patronage."
The court heard Ibori abused his position to award contracts to his associates including his sister and his mistress.
Scotland Yard began its investigation into Ibori after officers found two computer hard drives in his London office that revealed his criminality.
He was arrested by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in December 2007, but two years later a court in his home town, Asaba, dismissed the charges saying there was not enough evidence.
When the case was reopened by Nigerian authorities in April 2010, Ibori fled to Dubai where he was detained at the request of the Metropolitan Police and extradited to the UK last April.
In a packed courtroom Ibori, dressed in a dark grey suit and black shirt, appeared in the dock to enter ten guilty pleas to fraud, money laundering and conspiracy on what was due to be the first day of a 12-week trial.
His wife, his mistress and his sister were all jailed for five years each for money laundering offences following earlier trials.
Last March, Gohil, 46, and described as Ibori's London-based lawyer, was jailed for seven years for his role in the scam.
Attempts will be made to confiscate as much of Ibori's money and assets as possible so that they can be returned to Nigeria.
The Met's Detective Inspector Paul Whatmore said: "It is always rewarding for anyone working on a proceeds of corruption case to know that the stolen funds they identify will eventually be returned to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world."
Ibori will be sentenced on April 16 and 17.
.Culled from the DailyMail

Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone, from Etisalat. Enjoy high speed internet service with Etisalat easy net, available at all our experience centres

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [NaijaPolitics] Fellowship Opportunities

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: oladunjoye Tunde <oladunjoyelo@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 11:56 AM
Subject: [NaijaPolitics] Fellowship Opportunities
To: omoodua <omoodua@yahoogroups.com>, naijapolitics <naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com>, arts writer <awon_nig@yahoogroups.com>

Message flagged

Tuesday, February 28, 2012 10:54 AM

African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists is now accepting applications from professional journalists from developing countries for its 2012 fellowship program. The application deadline is Wednesday, March 30, 2012.

The fellowships are available to radio, television, print and web journalists, age 25 to 35, from developing countries who are interested in coming to New York to report on international affairs during the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The fellowships will begin in early September and extend to late November and will include the cost of travel and accommodations in New York, as well as a per diem allowance.

The fellowship program is open to journalists who are native to one of the developing countries in Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean, and are currently working full-time for a bona fide media organization in a developing nation. Applicants must demonstrate an interest in and commitment to international affairs and to conveying a better understanding of the United Nations to their readers and audiences. They must also have approval from their media organizations to spend up to two months in New York to report from the United Nations.

Details with regard to applying for a journalism fellowship can be found on our web site atwww.unjournalismfellowship.org .

In an effort to rotate recipient countries, the Fund will not consider journalist applications for 2012 from nations selected in 2011: China, Ethiopia, India and Nigeria. Journalists from these countries may apply in 2013.

Four journalists are selected each year after a review of all applications. The journalists who are awarded fellowships are given the incomparable opportunity to observe international diplomatic deliberations at the United Nations, to make professional contacts that will serve them for years to come, to interact with seasoned journalists from around the world, and to gain a broader perspective and understanding of matters of global concern. Many past fellows have risen to prominence in their professional and countries. The program is not intended to provide basic skills training to journalists, as all participants are media professionals.

Questions about the program, eligibility and application process should be directed to fellowship@ unjournalismfellowship.org.

Source: UNITED NATIONS

United Nations Youth Ambassador for World Peace 2008

"An injury to one, is an injury to all".

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

New Members 6

Visit Your Group

Disclaimer:
Forum members are reminded that NaijaPolitics is established to be a moderated forum for gavel-to-gavel discussion of political developments in Nigeria, Africa's largest democracy. Freedom of opinion/expression is inherent in NaijaPolitics. Views and opposing views expressed in NaijaPolitics forum are the rights of individual contributors. Mutual respect for people's views is the corner stone of our forum. Freedom of speech applied responsibly within the guiding parameters of Yahoo! Inc (our hosts) and NaijaPolitics Rules and Guidelines (broadcast monthly and accessible to all subscribers in our archives) is our guiding principle. Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.
NaijaPolitics is division of Afrik Network Groups.
Latest Version of Disclaimer released (December 15, 2005)

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: ||NaijaObserver|| DISOLVING THE NIGERIAN UNION: SELF DETERMINATION OR SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Osita Ebiem <ositaebiem@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 6:35 PM
Subject: ||NaijaObserver|| DISOLVING THE NIGERIAN UNION: SELF DETERMINATION OR SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE
>

DISOLVING THE NIGERIAN UNION: SELF DETERMINATION OR SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE

By Osita Ebiem

In recent time there has been an increase in the call by the people of Southwest of Nigeria for the convocation of what they term a Sovereign National Conference, SNC. On the surface that may sound impressive, even attractive especially with the level of anxiety on people's minds concerning Nigeria's dire situation. Currently the entrapped peoples within Nigeria are anxious to find quick solutions on how to dissolve the unworkable Nigerian union. In considering viable paths to take and walk out of the deathtrap and dysfunctional madhouse which is also known as the failed state of Nigeria, almost any suggestion appeals to the peoples' anxiety. But the appeal of a SNC lasts until you begin to read further down the script. As you go down the page you start experiencing some discomfort. The stated aim of the much talked about SNC is to review the terms of Nigeria's corporate existence by the various federating nations that are held captive in the god-forsaken union. But this is not time for mere reviews since everyone already knows what is right to do: Divide Nigeria along the existing cultural/religious lines.

The SNC advocacy has its beginning in the 1993 June 12 political crisis when Moshood Abiola's presumed election victory was annulled by Ibrahim Babangida. It was used by the political elites of the Southwest of Nigeria to gain political attention and advantage and, ultimately Nigeria's presidency. As every other thing Nigerian, SNC is a temporary or momentary answer to a very fundamental and permanent or recurring question. The question of why the annulment happened and how to prevent future occurrence was never addressed. It is one of those temporary palliatives or political trump cards being used by the elite class of the various political blocs of the Nigerian union to gain positions and power. Such ruses as wools are thrown over people's faces and used to win positions and plum advantages for the ruling class to the detriment of the people. They are never conceived to do any permanent good for the majority of the people. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND played a similar card to win Goodluck Jonathan's presidency of Nigeria. That has also given birth to the current jihadist Islamic Boko Haram Movement of Northern Nigeria. With the various bombings and destruction of lives, Boko Haram is playing the same card right now and hoping to win. But these games are leading the people and country nowhere. They are deceptive and dishonest ploys which only benefit the ruling class to the loss and destruction of lives, property and future of the people.

Going strictly by the goal of the SNC, the people will merely sit down today and talk of how to continue with a one-Nigeria or dissolve the union. Of course nothing definite or beneficial would be achieved, then a new meeting would be called tomorrow which will say, let's divide Nigeria or let's have a weak or strong center and on and on. I don't care how anyone thinks about it but the truth is that a SNC with the current agenda is merely a device by some elements that are hell-bent on maintaining the killer one-Nigeria status quo. In my opinion the SNC compares with when you intend to tunnel through a mountain and you remove a few boulders every other year. These advocates are trying to buy time while in the meantime Igbo/Biafran people and other Christians are getting killed by one-Nigeria. SNC is like trying to circumnavigate the long and dangerous terrain instead of using the short and less painful route (separation or Self Determination of the various federating ethnic nations). The SNC advocates continue to say hey let's just make one little adjustment here and there and eventually we will get it right someday. For them they are not in a hurry to get it right any day soon since they have little or nothing to lose. It is not the people from the side of SNC advocates that are getting killed. Their progress and development are not being stunted; they are by all standards OK. So, they can afford to buy time indefinitely.

Every sincere and honest political move should always be aimed towards doing greater good for a greater number of people on a permanent basis. And this is the time to use that approach in dealing with the Nigerian situation. The present Nigerian societies have some fundamental and permanently irreconcilable differences. These differences underscore the very basis for any society's existence. It strikes at the very heart of the reason for a society's being and its collective aspiration. If they got it right then all will be well for them but if they got it wrong as it is in Nigeria's situation then everything will continue to be wrong. The worldview of the various peoples that make up the present Nigerian state are antagonistically opposed and cannot be reconciled. A people's culture/religion is the essence of their being or what defines them and the various ethnic components of the present one-Nigeria cannot be reconciled. It will remain a waste of time, lives and material resources in continuing the pursuit of a never-can-work one-Nigerian agenda. The only honest, sincere and permanent good that will be done to the people who bear the brunt of the callous insistence on maintaining the unworkable one-Nigeria is a clear cut division of the country. Let each group with similar cultural/religious worldview go their separate ways and start their journey in nation building.

At this time in the day the people of the Southeast cannot afford the luxury of a SNC with its current agenda or the so-called "true federalism". Not even the nearly fifty years old Aburi Accord will do the Igbo/Biafrans any good now. There can only be a new and viable roadmap today: Self Determination. If the assumed purpose for the SNC remains merely to decide at the table how the peoples that make up Nigeria will co-exist or maintain a weak or strong center, then for the Southeast it is a waste of time. The position of the people of the Southeast is that any solution to Nigeria's problem that is short of clear division along the naturally occurring national/ethnic boundaries is a waste of time, dishonest and insincere, cannot last and is unacceptable to them. The Igbo/Biafrans want independence and total freedom from Nigeria. They want an arrangement where they can only relate with the rest of the Nigerian components as neighbors and citizens of different countries and no more. This is the era of Self Determination and the Christian Igbo/Biafrans will take the full advantage of the moment to be free from the Nigerian bondage.

The Igbo/Biafrans will not be deceived into anything that looks like the real thing. From all indications the calls for SNC remain nothing short of another veneered deception from familiar quarters, at best a delay tactic. The Southeast is not interested in any arrangement of weak or strong center of a one-Nigeria. The Igbo people of today will not do the job half way and leave it for coming generations to continue grappling with the same problem of a one-Nigeria. No, the Indian/Pakistanis split of 1947 and the Sudanese/South Sudanese split of 2011 are the examples the Igbo/Biafrans are following. It is also interesting to note that these countries as mentioned were also colonized by the British. The only difference is that when the British left the peoples of these countries were honest, sincere and bold enough to revert to their old pre-colonial conducive, convenient and cultural/religious boundaries. They never had to maintain any kind of meaningless "true federalism" or a childish sentimental "weak/strong center". They chose the path of wisdom, the path of dignity, the part to permanent peace, the path to the respect of the sanctity of human life and the path to progress and development. Boldly they did the right thing by walking the honorable road of Self Determination. These countries chose the only reasonable and dignified road; a clear, complete separation and independence from and of one another rather than stay together and kill off each other. No one is bound to win in any ridiculous piecemeal approach to Nigeria's festering problem of diversity. Every honest and sincere player in the Nigerian arena had long come to agree that there is just one solution: Self Determination or the Sudan/South Sudan Solution is the only option available for Nigeria. It can only be delayed but can never be wished away.

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (11)

Recent Activity:

New Members 77

Visit Your Group

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

USA Africa Dialogue Series - CAN condemns Christian bombers, calls bombing attempt sign of end times

>
Sent: Wednesday, 29 February 2012, 7:04
Subject: Premium Times - CAN condemns Christian bombers, calls bombing attempt sign of end times

http://premiumtimesng.com/mobile/news/3973-can_condemns_christian_bombers_bombing_sign_of_end_times.html

Oladosu A. Afis Ph.D

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ibori's Conviction, A Warning To Corrupt Politicians'

Ibori's Conviction, A Warning To Corrupt Politicians'

Published on February 29, 2012 by pmnews ·

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Tuesday said that the conviction of former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, for money laundering by a UK court was a warning to other corrupt Nigerian politicians.

James Ibori
Mr. Adebamigbe Omole, Chairman, NBA, Ikeja Branch stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Omole said: "The take of the NBA on Ibori's conviction is that many politicians, especially governors, who are in the habit of plundering the peoples' wealth, will also face justice someday.
"Ibori's conviction has reinforced what the NBA has been saying that some of our political office holders are just there to steal and loot."
He said that corruption was a contributory factor to Nigeria's underdevelopment, adding that there was the need to intensify the war against it.
" A lot of money that could have been used to benefit Nigerians is being siphoned away by our leaders.
"There is a need for us to review our statute books to ensure that those who steal public funds receive capital punishment.
"That is the only way to solve this problem in Nigeria otherwise it would continue to be the same story," Omole added.
He, therefore, called for the establishment of a separate court to try corruption cases, noting that the present system was being used to frustrate prosecution of offenders.
The NBA chairman said: "The system now is that those defending these politicians and governors in corruption trials try to delay the matter as much as possible.
"They keep bringing frivolous applications before the court to stall the matter and make sure it does not go to trial."
According to him, a special court, dedicated to prosecuting those accused of corruption, would ensure that they are brought to justice.

Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone, from Etisalat. Enjoy high speed internet service with Etisalat easy net, available at all our experience centres

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Washington Post: Colonialism in Africa helped launch the HIV epidemic a century ago

Nonsense! This is conjecture on steroids masquerading as news. There is no proven causal relationship between the chimps in Cameroon or anywhere else in Africa and HIV/AIDS in humans. The fact is that first AIDS cases were detected in the United States of America in 1981. This prompted extensive epidemiological work by CDC and others, which included interviewing the first 40 patients, and identifying the person most responsible for spreading the HIV –nicknamed patient zero, although he was actually patient #7 or so. Notably, it was only after we have had documented cases of HIV/AIDS in the USA and Europe, did HIV/AIDS then appear in Africa…most likely via tourists/visitors from the USA/Europe.

-OU

On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com> wrote:

By Craig Timberg and Daniel Halperin, Published: February 27

We are unlikely to ever know all the details of the birth of the AIDS epidemic. But a series of recent genetic discoveries have shed new light on it, starting with the moment when a connection from chimp to human changed the course of history.

We now know where the epidemic began: a small patch of dense forest in southeastern Cameroon. We know when: within a couple of decades on either side of 1900. We have a good idea of how: A hunter caught an infected chimpanzee for food, allowing the virus to pass from the chimp's blood into the hunter's body, probably through a cut during butchering.

Read the rest here.

Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

Okechukwu Ukaga, MBA, PhD
Executive Director, Northeast Minnesota Sustainable Development Partnership
Extension Professor, University of Minnesota Extension
Adjunct Professor, UMD Geography Department
University of Minnesota Duluth

114 Chester Park, 31 W. College Street, Duluth, MN 55812

Website:http://www.rsdp.umn.edu/Northeast/index.htm

Phone: 218-341-6029 Fax: 218-726-7566

Book Review Editor, Environment, Development and Sustainability

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." - Richard Buckminster Fuller

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [nigerianbiomedicalandlifescientists] Elsevier Abandons Anti-Open Access Bill

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shittu, Aminu <ameen_vet@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 7:26 PM
Subject: [nigerianbiomedicalandlifescientists] Elsevier Abandons Anti-Open Access Bill
To: Nigerian Scientists <nigerianbiomedicalandlifescientists@yahoogroups.co.uk>

Elsevier Abandons Anti-Open Access Bill

The publishing giant withdraws its support of the Research Works Act, which would eliminate open-access requirements on federally funded work.

By Bob Grant | February 28, 2012

Comment

Link this Stumble Tweet this

FLICKR, MOONLIGHTBULB

Publishing company Elsevier has backpedalled on its support of the Research Works Act (RWA), a bill that proposes to stop federal agencies from requiring that their grantees deposit federally funded research findings in open access databases.

Elsevier, which publishes a slew of highly cited science journals such as The Lancet and the Cellseries, said in a statement yesterday that it decided to cease rallying for the legislation after hearing from "Elsevier journal authors, editors and reviewers who were concerned that the Act seemed inconsistent with Elsevier's long-standing support for expanding options for free and low-cost public access to scholarly literature."

US Representatives Darrel Issa (R-CA) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the RWA into the House of Representatives last December, and the Association of American Publishers, a trade group to which Elsevier and many other journal publishers belong, contributed heavily to drawing up the bill. Elsevier had been staunch supporters of the RWA, which would have rolled back the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy—a mandate that any published research that was funded by the federal science agency be submitted to the publically accessible digital archive PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication.

But in January, renowned Cambridge University mathematician Timothy Gowers sparked a boycott of the publisher based on criticism involving the company's business practices and its support of the RWA. By early February, some 5,000 academics had signed on to the boycott, and as of this writing, more than 2,500 additional researchers have added their names to that list.

Tom Reller, an Elsevier spokesperson, told The Scientist that the company still opposes rigid government mandates regarding science publishing but hopes that withdrawing support of the RWA will quell some of the complaints the company had heard. "We don't necessarily think this is going to end the boycott or anything," he said, "but hopefully this helps everything calm down a little bit so we can get back to having a dialogue with funding bodies, both nonprofit and government."

But some boycotters aren't changing their positions based on Elsevier's latest move. University of North Carolina theoretical biology PhD student Joel Adamson said that the company's decision was welcomed, but that it didn't go far enough to deter his support for the boycott. "Within the realm of those kinds of solutions, it is a good thing, but it still doesn't go all the way toward what I would call a real solution to the problem," he said. "It shows me that they are a predictable corporation; in other words that they're capable of being scared that something might affect their profits." Adamson added that if Elsevier would abandon "bundling practices," in which the company allegedly groups desirable science journals with less-august titles in package deals for university libraries, it would go further towards changing his mind.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine geneticist Brett Abrahams said that he considers the decision a token gesture that means little in light of what he sees as Elsevier placing "the burden of the publication cost on the funders and on the public."

"They're still anti open-access," Abrahams said of Elsevier. "They've just taken a very far reaching outrageous position and backed off it a little bit."

Judging from Elsevier's statement announcing their withdrawal of support for the RWA, the company will continue to support similar legislation and oppose other open-access efforts, such as the recently introduced Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) of 2012, which would mandate federal agencies with extramural research budgets more than $100 million to allow public online access to taxpayer-funded research. "While withdrawing support for the Research Works Act, we will continue to join with those many other nonprofit and commercial publishers and scholarly societies that oppose repeated efforts to extend mandates through legislation," the Elsevier statement read. "I was amazed that they still continue to defend the merits of the RWA," Abrahams added.

But Elsevier could make changes that would bring Abrahams back into the fold, the researcher said. "If Elsevier wants to drop their pricing 75 percent across the board, and provide open access for everything, I'll sing and dance for them."

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a new topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

Visit Your Group

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Corporate Crime and Punishment

Should corporations have immunity for human rights abuses? On February 28, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that will decide whether corporations will be exempted from a crucial law that allows foreign victims of serious human rights abuses to sue them in US courts for civil damages. Any decision that lets corporations off the hook would be a major blow to justice and contrary to the global move toward more corporate accountability.

The case currently before the Supreme Court, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, concerns allegations by 12 Nigerian plaintiffs that Royal Dutch Petroleum, also known as Shell, collaborated closely with Nigeria's then-military government as it carried out a campaign of intimidation and violence against the Ogoni people, a local community opposed to oil development on their land. The plaintiffs accuse the company of aiding and abetting abuses by the Nigerian government, including arbitrary arrest, torture, rape, and the hanging of Dr. Barinem Kiobel, an Ogoni leader who was executed in 1995 alongside the author and activist Ken Saro Wiwa. Saro Wiwa's family filed a separate lawsuit against Shell, which they settled in 2009 for $15.5 million.

The Alien Tort Statute of 1789 under which the Nigerians are bringing their case was designed to ensure that foreigners could seek justice on US soil for crimes against "the law of nations." The First Congress had in mind crimes such as piracy, but a Supreme Court ruling in 2004 found that acts such as genocide, torture or crimes against humanity are regarded everywhere as serious violations of international law and could be a reason for suing under the law.

In 1996 Burmese villagers filed a suit against Unocal under the Alien Tort Statute, which produced a human rights landmark. The plaintiffs alleged that Unocal (now Chevron) was complicit in killings, torture, rape, forced labor and forced relocations by the Burmese military, who carried out these abuses when clearing land and providing security for the construction of a natural gas pipeline partly owned by the company. The case was ultimately settled for an undisclosed sum believed to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

In the years since that case, the concept that companies should not violate human rights wherever they operate has become mainstream. While it is easy for companies to make social responsibility pledges when there are no strings attached, increasingly they are being held to basic standards through independent monitoring of their actual practices. For example, private security companies that want to join a new industry code of conduct have to agree to allow an independent oversight body to assess their compliance.

The core principle that companies should respect human rights was formally endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2008. But companies still need to be held legally accountable if they are implicated in human rights violations.

National criminal, civil and administrative laws in virtually every country allow corporations to be held liable in some way for their involvement in serious abuses. The universal recognition across all legal systems that corporations are liable for their wrongful conduct is so compelling that it in fact is the basis for a rule under international law. Under this "general principle of law," governments can and should use domestic means to hold corporations responsible for egregious conduct that violates international human rights norms.

It is still extraordinarily difficult to bring corporate perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice, though. Multinational corporations argue that cases should proceed in courts where the abuses took place, rather than where they are headquartered. But local victims cannot always afford or obtain representation and local judiciaries frequently lack the independence to adjudicate these cases credibly against powerful investors. The local law may not reach to corporate headquarters where the real decisions and profits are located. Local legal processes can drag on for years, draining the meager resources of victims and their advocates. Or they can end abruptly with a decision that fails to deliver justice.

The Alien Tort Statute provides a vital avenue for human rights cases against companies to be heard. Victims and surviving family members can hold multinational companies responsible for complicity in abuses, and the corporations can't hide from the U.S. legal system or from international law. The victims and their families deserve a day in court.

The Supreme Court's decision in the Kiobel case could be a watershed moment for corporate accountability. If it blocks the plaintiffs' suit, it will send a disturbing message that multinational corporations do not have to pay a price for their involvement in torture, unlawful killings and other violations of the law of nations. Corporations, like pirates of old, should not be able to flout firmly established and universal legal norms with no real prospect of facing justice.

Arvind Ganesan is director of the Human Rights Watch business and human rights program. Along with other international human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the Kiobel case.

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RIP James Iroha, popularly known as Giringory :-(

......and the man died.........unappreciated.........pity........RIP "Gringory".

----CAO.

About Me

From: Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com>
To: "USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com" <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>; "Ederi@yahoogroups.com" <Ederi@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 6:39 PM
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RIP James Iroha, popularly known as Giringory :-(

A top notch of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Segun Arinze, authored a Blackberry message confirming the death of Iroha.
Aged 70, Arinze said Iroha's son, Uche, confirmed the passing on of his dad.

The Blackberry message reads: "Just received the sad news now that Veteran Actor James Iroha aka Gringory of the popular Masquerade tv comedy series is dead!
"I spoke with the Son Uche who confirmed the story.
"He was aged 70 years.
"We at AGN commiserate with his family.
"May God Grant him eternal rest."
Iroha became famous for his role in the rested Nigeria Television Authority programme, The New Masquerade.
He starred alongside Chika Okpala, aka Zebrudaya.

http://www.theeagleonline.com.ng/arts-and-entertainment2132/1498-james-iroha-aka-giringory-is-dead

Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

Dialogues

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Senegal: Run-off

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Senegal: Run-off

USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Turin Horse (2011)

Directors:

Writers:

Stars:

RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori

USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [NaijaPolitics] Fellowship Opportunities

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: ||NaijaObserver|| DISOLVING THE NIGERIAN UNION: SELF DETERMINATION OR SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE

DISOLVING THE NIGERIAN UNION: SELF DETERMINATION OR SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE

USA Africa Dialogue Series - CAN condemns Christian bombers, calls bombing attempt sign of end times

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ibori's Conviction, A Warning To Corrupt Politicians'

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Washington Post: Colonialism in Africa helped launch the HIV epidemic a century ago

By Craig Timberg and Daniel Halperin, Published: February 27

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [nigerianbiomedicalandlifescientists] Elsevier Abandons Anti-Open Access Bill

Elsevier Abandons Anti-Open Access Bill

The publishing giant withdraws its support of the Research Works Act, which would eliminate open-access requirements on federally funded work.

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Corporate Crime and Punishment

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RIP James Iroha, popularly known as Giringory :-(

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me