'BEING MANDELA:' GRANDDAUGHTERS DISH ON SHOW

NEW YORK (AP) -- The newest reality television show is in some ways like any other: mother and daughters, sibling rivalry, family gossip and talk of Big Grandpa, who is very strict but loves it when his great-grandchildren are around making a racket. But that's where the twist comes in: Big Grandpa is Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid legend.

"Being Mandela," a new series premiering Sunday on COZI TV, invites U.S. audiences into the lives of Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway and Swati Dlamini, the fashionable, 30-something granddaughters of Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The 94-year-old former South African president, who recently was treated for a lung infection and had surgery to remove gallstones, does not appear in the series but his controversial ex-wife - "Big Mommy" to her grandchildren - does and seems to relish it.

If the Mandela clan seems like an odd subject for a reality show, the granddaughters make no apologies.

"We get asked this question a lot. Is this not going to tarnish the name and is this not going to be bad for the name?" Swati Dlamini said in an interview with The Associated Press in New York, where she and her sister were promoting the show. "But our grandparents have always said to us, this is our name too, and we can do what we think is best fitting with the name, as long as we treat it with respect and integrity."

The 13-episode first season follows the two women as they try to carry on the family legacy while juggling motherhood in Johannesburg.

The sisters, who spent most of their childhood in exile in the United States, make an emotional visit to the prison on Robben Island where their grandfather spent 18 of the 27 years he was imprisoned by South Africa's white-ruled government. Swati works on publishing the prison diaries that her grandmother wrote but now cannot bear to read.

The women, along with two brothers, also become the latest famous names to launch a fashion line, called "Long Walk to Freedom" in honor of their grandfather's autobiography. Their lives are special and glamorous and they know it. They hope that U.S. audiences - COZI TV is a new network launched by NBC Owned Television Stations - will see a vibrant and modern side of South Africa through their eyes.

They also bicker. The family, especially Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, loves to gossip about when Swati, the single mother of a 4-year-old daughter, is going to get married. Swati is furious when Zaziwe, despite being sworn to secrecy, blurts to their grandmother that her sister is dating someone. Zaziwe, 35, is married to an American businessman and has three children.

The sisters are the daughters of Zenani Mandela and Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini of Swaziland. But parents everywhere will delight in seeing that being royal doesn't help them face toddler tantrums or get older children out of bed and into school uniforms.

Big Grandpa and Big Mommy are into the show, the sisters insisted.

Mandela will definitely watch it, they said. The Nobel Peace Prize winner apparently sort of likes reality TV.

"You'll be interested to know that he loves Toddlers and Tiarras," said Swati, laughing in reference to the TLC series about child beauty pageants.

"Because of the kids! He just loves children," Zaziwe added quickly.

The sisters said their grandfather is "happy and healthy."

Zaziwe showed a Feb. 2 photograph of Mandela at home, flashing his familiar smile, with his youngest great-grandchild on his lap - Zaziwe's one-year-old son. The picture is a rare public image of Mandela, whose last appearance on a major stage was during the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa.

Mandela, who always lamented his long separation from his family during his imprisonment, is happiest these days when his offspring are running around being loud, his granddaughters said.

"We're in and out of the house. We're loud and he loves the noise," Zaziwe said.

The granddaughters say their grandfather - to the world, a symbol of integrity and magnanimity - holds the family to high standards and sets rules for when the children should be home and when dinner should start.

"He's a very strict person. Most people wouldn't think that but he really, really is," Zaziwe said.

The sisters are closer to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who divorced Mandela in 1997. Their adoring description of their grandmother as the doting matriarch stands in contrast with her checkered public image. Beloved by many poor urban blacks, Madikizela-Mandela also faces accusations that she and her bodyguard unit committed 18 killings in the 1980s. She denies it.

"She's fun. She never says no to us. I don't think I've ever heard my grandmother say no to us," Zaziwe said.

Still, the series shows Big Mommy clearly taking charge of the family. She marches into the hospital room where Zaziwe gave birth to Zen with a list of possible names for the baby boy.

The sisters say it was only after Mandela retired from public life that they started to get to know their grandfather.

"Our grandfather always told us that he belongs to the country and he's of service to the country and he doesn't belong to us as a family. And that's the sacrifice he's made for the country and that what he's told us as far as I can remember," Swati said.

TalkOfNaija

15,000 Fight For Commission’s Job Meant For only 1000

THE high rate of employment in the country reared its head on Wednesday again as over 3,000 graduates stormed the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) in search of employment application forms.
This is sequel to the publication put out by FJSC in some national newspapers on January 19, 2013 advertising job vacancies in compliance with provision of the federal character principle.
A visit by The Guardian to FJSC witnessed a mammoth crowd of about 3, 500 people. However, it was well managed as the crowd were split into batches of 40 applicants and invited into the office where the application forms were being issued.
An authoritative source said about 15, 000 applicants have so far collected employment application forms even though the vacancies available were less than for 1,000 persons.
TalkOfNaija

Ekweremadu: Visa-Free Regime Between ECOWAS And EU

The Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States has made case for a visa-free regime between the ECOWAS member states and the European Union.

Speaker of the ECOWAS parliament, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, made the call at a meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Honourable Martin Schulz, during a one-day working visit to the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.
Senator Ekweremadu said the new visa regime had become imperative, given the increasing diplomatic and economic cooperation between both economic blocks.
Senator Ekweremadu allayed the fear by EU member-states that such a visa regime would result in influx of people of ECOWAS into Europe.
He also assured the EU parliament that ECOWAS was on top of the Mali crisis, but called for more material and financial support to ensure that terrorist insurgents were stamped out from not only Mali, but the West African sub-region.
Naij

NANS President Escapes Assassination Attempt

The President of the National Association of Nigerian Student, NANS, Yinka Gbadebo, has said he escaped an assassination in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

A display of the internal rife and politicking in NANS
Mr. Gbadebo said a gang of about 24 armed men stormed the Rayfield area of Jos on Thursday at about 7:30 a.m. in the evening with a mission to kill him. But since they did not locate him, they went ahead to kidnap one Dimeji Azeez, a student of the University of Ibadan. While addressing journalists on Friday in Jos, Mr. Gbadebo accused one Prince Miaphen, one of the aspirants who contested the position of NANS presidency last year during the convention of the students’ body held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, of being the mastermind.
"Prince Miaphen sent a group of assassins after me and my entourage on Thursday 7th Feb, 2013. The assassins arrived Rayfied area in Jos at about 7:30 a.m. with guns and matchete but they couldn’t locate me. Unfortunately, they kidnapped one of my colleagues, comrade Dimeji Azeez of the University of Ibadan," he said. Mr. Gbadebo added that despite coming 7th out of 12 candidates in the election, Mr. Miaphen has been parading himself as the elected president of NANS. The union leader said he got 32 votes out of the total votes cast during the convention to emerge President of the Association, while Mr. Miaphen got 18 votes.
"Prince Miaphen is hereby declared persona non grata on all Nigerian Institutions of higher learning," he declared. Mr. Gbadebo said the matter has been reported to the State Security Services, SSS and the Police, adding that one of the culprits has already been apprehended by security agents, and has made useful statements to them. The NANS leader also noted that, apart from the kidnapped person, the gang also inflicted injuries on some of his association’s members, and vandalised a brand new bus donated to NANS about two weeks ago by the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha.
He told journalists that the vandalised bus has been taken by the SSS as part of evidence. NANS therefore gave a seven-day ultimatum to security agents to bring the culprits and their sponsors to book. The association said if the ultimatum elapses, they will resort to self help in order to bring Prince Miaphen to Justice. They also urged the Plateau State Government to purchase a new bus for the association since Mr. Miaphen hails from the state.
Naij

Pirates Attack Cargo Ship, Kidnap Sailors Off Nigeria

Pirates have attacked a British-flagged cargo ship off Nigeria and kidnapped one Romanian and two Russian crew members in the latest such incident to hit the region, a statement said Friday.
“Carisbrooke Shipping Ltd. regrets to report that their 2008 built, UK flag, … general cargo ship ‘MV Esther C’ was boarded by pirates on the evening of February 7 whilst in international waters south in the Gulf of Guinea,” a statement issued by MTI Network on behalf of the operators said.
“Having stolen personal possessions, the pirates departed the vessel taking three crew members as hostage,” it added.
MTI later specified that those kidnapped included two Russians and a Romanian, while the nine other crew members were Filipino. The attack occurred off Nigeria’s coast in line with the Cameroon border, some 85 miles (135 kilometres) offshore, it said.
“The safety and well-being of these seafarers is the company’s absolute priority and all possible steps to secure their return are being taken,” it said.
“The nine crew members remaining on board the vessel are reported to be safe and well.”
A spokesman for Nigeria’s navy said he could not immediately comment on the attack.
The Gulf of Guinea off west Africa has seen a spate of pirate attacks in recent years, particularly involving the theft of fuel cargo for sale on the black market, but also kidnappings and robberies.
Such attacks have long been a problem off Nigeria, but have recently spread to other countries in the region.
Militants in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta region carried out scores of such kidnappings before a 2009 amnesty deal led to a sharp decline in unrest, though incidents continue.
Hostages are usually released unharmed after the payment of ransoms.
Poverty and crime remain widespread even though Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer.
Five Indian crew members of an oil tanker who were kidnapped in December after heavily armed pirates stormed their vessel off Nigeria’s coast were released last month.
Medallion Marine, a Mumbai-based shipping firm, said the hostages were freed in good health, but did not disclose whether a ransom had been paid, or whether Nigeria’s security forces played any role in securing their release.
Naij

First The Hausas, Now Yorubas Too Complain About Marginalization In Government Appointments

Barely a week after news hit the media waves about the complaints from Northerners that they were being discriminated against in army postings, leaders from the South-West geo-political zone have also accused the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan of systematically excluding the Yoruba nation from the federation in terms of appointments without justification.

The Yoruba leaders, while addressing a world press conference in Ibadan, called on President Jonathan to redress the “systematic discrimination” against the Yoruba nationality in federal appointive positions without delay, saying that the Yoruba have been getting “crumbs” from the administration.

The leaders spoke in unison under the aegis of the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), umbrella body for all Yoruba sons and daughters. They presented a long list of those at the apex of political power as well as those in control of the principal economic and financial agencies from which no South-West person was included, adding that the Yoruba did not deserve the humiliation it was getting from President Jonathan who was massively voted for in the region in 2011.

The list reads in part: “The President (South-South); Vice President (North-West); Senate President (North Central); Speaker (North-West); Chief Justice of the Federation (North-West); Deputy Senate President (South-East); Deputy Speaker (South-East); Acting President Court of Appeal (North-West); Secretary to the Government of the Federation (South-East); Chief of Staff (South-South); National Security Adviser (North-West); Head of Service of the Federation (North-East).

The list also noted that of the 12 topmost positions in the country, no single Yoruba person was included. And it continues: “Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy (South-East); Governor of the Central Bank (North-West); Minister of Petroleum (South-South); GMD NNPC (North-West); Chairman, National Council on Privatisation (North-West); Comptroller of Customs (North-West); MD Nigerian Ports Authority (North-West); Minister, National Planning Commission (North-West); DG, Bureau of Public Procurement (South-East); Acting Comptroller of Immigration (North); Minister of Power (South-East)”.

TalkOfNaija

Enugu High Court sacks Victor Umeh as APGA national chairman

By Emmanuel Uzodinma

A High Court sitting in Enugu State on Friday sacked the national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh from office.
The court presided over by the Enugu Chief Judge, Justice Innocent Umezulike said Umeh’s tenure elapsed in December, 2010.
It could be re-called that an aggrieved member of the Party, Mr. Jude Okolie had approached the court in June 2012 asking it to declare Umeh’s stay in office beyond December 2010 unconstitutional.
Okolie asked the court to determine “whether going by article 18 of the APGA constitution, the defendant, (Umeh) can be re-elected other than through a secret ballot system in an election organized by the National Executive Committee, NEC of the party.
“Whether the defendant can legitimately remain in office after 2010 without any valid national convention in line with the constitution of APGA”, adding that in line with the provisions of the party, Umeh was also supposed to have vacated office at least two months to a fresh election.
In challenging the suit, Umeh through his counsel, Patrick Ikwueto raised preliminary objections, which bordered on the jurisdiction of the court as well as the locu standi of the plaintiff.
According to him, the non-joinder of the APGA in the suit would lead to injustice. He also claimed that the plaintiff had since been expelled from the party, and as such lacked the locu standi to pursue the suit.
He also told the court that the suit was a domestic and internal matter of the party, insisting that the court had no right to dabble into such issues.
However, in his judgment, Justice Umezulike who dealt with all the issues raised by the defendant said although it may be desirable to bring in APGA, “failure in my view cannot affect the action in any way”.
The court held that independent of APGA as a party to the suit, it can interpret section 18 of its constitution.
“The provisions of APGA constitution which is before me is very clear, it is written in English and not in any strange language; so the position of this court is APGA as a political party is not indispensable in exercising the interpretative powers of this court”.
On the issue of locu standi, the court also ruled in favour of the plaintiff, holding that the expulsion of the plaintiff from the party does not exist to the knowledge of the court.
“If the said 3-man panel that recommended his expulsion really existed, where is the notice of proceedings, when was the plaintiff invited and was he given fair hearing? In the absence of all this, no sane court can hold that the plaintiff was expelled. It is a nullity; it was contrived for the essence of this suit”.

Umezulike also faulted the defendant’s opinion that the matter was not within the jurisdiction of the court. He noted that it was the constitutional responsibility of courts to interpret statutes, documents, agreements and constitutions binding individuals, or associations together.
“Accordingly, the court shall not run away from this suit in terror at the slightest mention of the word ‘domestic affair’. The court has a duty to insist that rule of law and constitutional provisions prevail in political milieu”, he averred.
The court, therefore, declared that the convention of APGA, which took place in February 2011 was unconstitutional, null and void and that Umeh’s tenure came to a legitimate end on the 2nd day of December, 2010.
The defendant’s claim that he was re-elected during a national congress of the party held in Awka, Anambra State in February, 2011 did also not change the mind of the court. The court observed that section 18 of APGA constitution was violated in the said election, as Umeh and other members of the national exco of the party were only presented through a voice vote, other than a secret ballot, as provided by the party’s constitution.
“By law, he has since 2nd Day of December, 2010 seized to be the APGA national chairman. I have not said that the defendant is barred from presenting himself for election, he may as well win, but the court insist that such election must comply strictly with the provisions of the party’s constitution.
“He is not and has not been the party’s national chairman since December 2, 2010”, the court further held.
It said following from the above, the NEC of APGA is bound to meet and fix a date for election, stressing that “the defendant cannot be re-elected other than by a secret ballot system in such election fixed by the NEC.
“His occupation of office after 2010 is illegal, ultra vires the constitution of APGA. He is thereby restrained from parading himself as the national Chairman of APGA”.
DailyPost