Occupied in Nigeria, displaced in New York: See our Top 10 events that shook the world

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by Rachel Ogbu

Photo: theotherpress

Here is a look at 10 of the most crucial events in 2012 that made the world pay attention. Some were good and some too horrible, it’s better to forget.

January 2: OccupyNigeria protest began in Nigeria in response to the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government of President Goodluck Jonathan. Protests took place across the country, including the Nigerian Embassy in London, New York and Italy.
January 28 – Death toll from coordinated bombing attacks in Kano, Nigeria, reaches 185 and will increase in subsequent months.
February 6 – The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the 60th anniversary of her becoming Head of the Commonwealth.

February 27 – Arab Spring: As a result of ongoing protests, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is succeeded by Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi.
April 30 – Manchester City defeat Manchester United 1-0 in what is claimed to be the biggest match in the English Premier League’s history
June 24 – Shenzhou 9, a Chinese spacecraft carrying three Chinese astronauts, including the first-ever female one, docked manually with an orbiting module Tiangong 1, first time as the country, making them as the third country, after the United States and Russia, to successfully perform the mission.
July 27 – August 12 – The 2012 Summer Olympics are held in London, England, United Kingdom.
October 24 – 30 – Hurricane Sandy kills at least 209 people in the Caribbean, Bahamas, United States and Canada. Considerable storm surge damage causes major disruption to the eastern seaboard of the United States.
November 25 – December 2 – Typhoon Bopha, known as “Pablo” in the Philippines, kills at least 1020 with around 844 people still missing. The typhoon caused considerable damage in the island of Mindanao.

December 14 – 20 children, ages 6 to 7 years old, and 8 adults are shot and killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Two adults were left wounded.
 YNaija.com

Photo of the Day: Santa ditches the sleigh, delivers gifts on ‘okada’

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Santa

by Akan Ido
Forget the sleigh, in Nigeria, Santa has a faster means of delivering the gifts on Christmas – on a commercial motorcycle called ‘okada’.
That’s a sharp Santa (complete with an Elf on the motorcycle) right there for you.
Have you got Christmas photos like these, please let’s have them in the spirit of the season. Merry Christmas people!
YNaija.com

Obama’s daughters attend school staffed with 11 armed guards

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When NRA head Wayne Lapierre gave his press conference last week, he called for more guns in schools, not less. Specifically, Lapierre called for armed guards in school.

 “The only way to answer that question is to face the truth. Politicians pass laws for gun free school zones, they issue press releases bragging about them. They post signs advertising them. And, in doing so, they tell every insane killer in America that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk” said Lapierre.

He continued, saying, “We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. American airports, office buildings, power plants, court houses, even sports stadiums are all protected by armed security.”
And although most people believe that adding more guns to schools is not the answer to thwarting gun violence, it is important to note that the school President Obama’s daughters attend, Sidwell Friends,  is staffed by 11 armed guards.
Why is the school staffed by armed guards? Mostly because it’s a school where the wealthy and successful send their children.
The question this brings up is whether or not President Obama should call for gun control for the rest of America, while his kids are protected by armed security guards? Is it fair for the rich to protect their kids with weapons, while the rest of America sends their kids to study in “gun free” zones?
YNaija.com

INEC To Introduce Swiping Voters’ Card For 2015

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday said the use of chipped voters’ card in the next general election will not violate the section of the electoral law that prohibits the commission from conducting electronic voting.

Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, Kayode Idowu, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman said the first batch of the permanent voters’ card is already being processed.
“INEC expects that by 2015, every voter will have that card,” he said.
InformationNigeria

The Season’s message from the Presidency: A Hollow Ritual!-CPC

By Rotimi Fashakin
The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) heartily congratulates the Nigerian people for stoically wading through a very horrendous year, largely made so by the deliberate pauperization policy of the PDP-led ruling Federal government. A year that started with the crude and perilous forty-nine percent increase of petrol pump price by a very cruel and insensitive regime, eventually unveiled the most bizarre incongruence in national life in the over five decades’ existence of the Nigerian State!
President Goodluck Jonathan, in his season’s message to Nigerians, said inter-alia: “No one should doubt that we have the political will and determination to deliver on our promise of positive changes in the living conditions of our people in the shortest possible time….. It is my hope and expectation that more of the efforts, actions and measures we are already undertaking in these areas will successfully come to fruition next years and make the results of the diligent project planning and execution being done under this administration more apparent to all Nigerians.”  It is doubtful if the President truly believes that Nigerians can trust him on this one, after many broken promises in the past one year and sheer unwillingness to assuage the cruelty unleashed on them by his administration’s lethargy and incompetence. Indeed, this President and his forebears in the ruling behemoth have collectively mismanaged – in the last thirteen years –  the hopes of Nigerians and brought the Nation into impecunious status through unprecedented corruption and profligacy.
With N2.67 Trillion and N1.05 Trillion said to have been spent on fuel subsidy in 2011 and 2012 respectively, this administration has unwittingly created a bleeding pipe – in which the scarce resources of State are siphoned into private pockets of cronies and acolytes of the regime. The conundrum that this Administration has brought the Nation is that: any increase in world crude oil Price would not translate into the prosperity of the Nigeria and her Citizens. The administration of the fuel subsidy, under the regime, has become a phenomenon in legendary opacity and monstrous corrupt tendencies.
NewsDiary

REPORT: How PDP candidate, Oke, diverted campaign fund *Why he rejected President Jonathan’s directive on Tribunal

Campaign’s Director General aligns with PDP national’s position

VP Namadi Sambo presenting Olusola Oke. Party leaders donated various sums of money to Oke. He has been accused of pocketing majority of those funds.

That the PDP candidate, Chief Olusola Oke lost to Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party at the last governorship election is no longer news. what is however news are insider revelations showing that the Ilaje-born former legal adviser of the PDP only did quick business with the 2012 gubernatorial election.
In an exclusive scoop by the Liberty Report today in Akure, members of the PDP revealed that the candidate collected heavy financial resources from the leadership of the party as well as from serving governors of the PDP. Rather than focus such money on the gubernatorial battle at hand, Oke was reported to have bought choice properties in Abuja, including a petrol station.
Olusola Oke was also reported as having deceived the leader of the party in Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu who fell into his trap when he told the latter that he had substantial money with which he could prosecute the campaign.
Empowered by the information he supplied to Agagu, the former governor was reported to have then persuaded other aspirants to amicably step down for Oke in the interest of the party. Other aspirants promptly stepped down.
Not long afterward, Agagu himself was shocked to discover that Oke did not have the financial muscle that he boasted about. Olusola Oke had successfully deceived all.

Campaign’s DG kicks

Meanwhile, not someone to shy from a fight when necessary, Dr. Oluwadare Bada, a chieftain of the PDP who coordinated the Olusola Oke Campaign in the 18 local government areas has kicked against the horrendous activities of the PDP candidate accusing him of stealing from what normally should belong to him.
Bada went further to tell press men how Oke starved the campaign of funds and that none of the top members of the campaign knew that anyone, especially the PDP governors or the national body of the party provided any financial support. Unknown to most members of the party who were accusing the national body of neglect, the candidate had collected and pocketed the money given to him.

Why Olusola Oke rejected President Jonathan’s directive on Tribunal

Both the president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the national leadership of the party have warned the state’s chapter of the party against challenging the outcome of the election at the tribunal. This decision according to an insider was premised upon two reasons, namely that the incumbent won out-rightly and that there is a strong likelihood of the incumbent switching over to the PDP.
Oke has however rejected the advise of the president.
Dr. Bada reavealed that the reason Oke took his anti-party action was so he could remain relevant.
“ I think they know that they have no case at the Tribunal. They are just pursuing case to remain relevant in order for Abuja to persuade them to drop the case so that they can be given appointments. That cannot work because they are not the only party at the Tribunal.”
LibertyReport

Nkiru Sylvanus:Kidnappers Threatened To Rape Me If I Failed To Pay The Ransom

Since the release of Nollywood actress, Nkiru Sylvanus, by her kidnappers, there have been stories emerging about how she was freed exactly. One thing for sure is that her release didn’t come cheap.

Check out what the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Baba Adisa Bolanta had to say:
"Initially, the family paid N7million to the kidnappers and the police who laid ambush swooped on them at the point of collection and recovered the money that was locked in the trunk of their car as they escaped… After we returned the money to the family, they went behind us and paid N8milliom to the kidnappers. Surprisingly I saw Nkiru in my office after she was released, and I was told they paid N8million to secure her release."
The Commissioner wasn’t happy with the family of Nkiru Sylvanus as they hindered the police from doing their job. So he claims:
"According to our source, the Police boss didn’t really understand Nkiru’s situation in the hands of her abductors. They said her family was forced to defy the police and pay ransom to the kidnappers “when the issue of rape came in”.
The kidnappers allegedly “tampered” with Nkiru and even threatened her family that they would impregnate her if the ransom was not paid immediately. At this stage, the family of the actress was no longer sure the Police could rescue her unhurt, hence they paid N8million.
"I wouldn’t blame the family…We all know how the Nigerian Police might be at times."
Naij