The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Africa, West at odds over Zimbabwe’s poll

    Africa, West at odds over Zimbabwe’s poll

    South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma on Sunday congratulated Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe on his re-election, in sharp contrast to Western governments which questioned the credibility of a rushed, disputed vote.

    African monitors broadly approved the conduct of the election but Mugabe’s main rival, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, has said he will challenge the results in court with evidence of massive vote-rigging, irregularities and intimidation.

    The sharply divergent views of Wednesday’s vote surfaced after Zimbabwe’s election officials declared a landslide win for Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party, giving Africa’s oldest president five more years at the helm of a nation he has ruled for 33.

    Reuters says the standoff raises some fears the southern African nation risks repeating the turmoil that followed another contested vote in 2008. Election violence then forced Zimbabwe’s neighbors to broker a shaky unity government between ZANU-PF and the MDC.

    But Sunday’s “profound congratulations” extended to Mugabe by Zuma, leader of Africa’s economic powerhouse, reflected willingness by the continent’s diplomatic bodies to swallow the re-election of Mugabe, 89, for the sake of regional stability.

    Mugabe, one of the grand old men of southern Africa’s liberation fight that ended white minority rule, is admired as a defiant nationalist by some Africans, though others share the West’s view of him as a ruthless despot who wrecked Zimbabwe.

     

     

  • Efe’s Celtic wins in Scotland

    Efe’s Celtic wins in Scotland

    Super Eagles defender, Efe Ambrose and his Celtic teammates got off their Scottish Premier League title defence to a perfect start with a 2-1 home win over Ross County on Saturday.

    The victory was hard earned as the Hoops had to come from behind to secure all three points at the Parkhead and stay in tune for the midweek UEFA Champions League clash, futaa.com reports.

    Graham Carey gave the visitors a dream start when he slotted in the first goal of the night with barely three minutes of action.

    Anthony Stokes then levelled up with a scrappy goal in the 27th minute and Celtic pounded the Dingwall team for most of the game thereafter, hitting woodwork twice amid a litany of missed chances before the Irishman grabbed his second in the 87th minute.

     

  • Australia’s election to hold September 7

    Australia’s election to hold September 7

    Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has called an election for September 7, six weeks after defeating former PM Julia Gillard in a Labor party vote.

    The date was announced after he visited the governor-general, a formality preceding an election announcement.

    The head of the centre-left party faces stiff competition from conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott, who is favourite to win.

    The economy, asylum seekers and climate change are among the key issues.

    “It’s on. A few moments ago I saw the governor-general and asked that she dissolve this parliament and call the federal election for September 7,” Mr. Rudd said in an email to Labor supporters.

    BBC reports that Mr. Rudd returned to lead Australia’s government three years after he was toppled in a similar Labor leadership contest by Ms Gillard.

    Since taking office on June 26, Mr. Rudd has changed several key policy positions and opinion polls suggest his party is narrowing the conservative opposition’s lead.

    “This election will be about who the Australian people trust to best lead them through the difficult new economic challenges which now lie ahead,” Mr. Rudd said, speaking at a press conference after the announcement.

    “New challenges have been brought about by the end of the China resources boom,” he added, referring to Australia’s declining finances due to a dwindling mining sector.

     

     

  • Three journalists die in auto crash, NUJ declares 7-day mourning

    Tragedy struck on Friday night as three journalists lost there lives in an auto crash which left several others injured along Ilesa-Akure express way.

    The journalists who are  officers of the Nigeria Union of Journalists were returning from Abuja to Lagos en-route Ibadan when the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Lagos state Council bus which they were travelling  in was  involved in a  ghastly accident.

    Sequel to the mishap, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo state council has declared seven days mourning for the departed colleagues.

    Those who died in the accident are  Adolphous Okonkwo, the national financial secretary of the union, Kafayat Odunsi from the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Victoria Island, Lagos and the Chairman of the Radio Nigeria, Ibadan Network Centre of the NUJ, Tunde Oluwanike.

    A release issued by Oyo NUJ Secretary, Comrade Rotimi Babalola stated that the seven day mourning commenced Saturday and will last till Friday, August 9th after which special interdenominational prayers would be offered for the repose of the victims; quick recovery of the injured ones and to forestall future occurrence of such incident among journalists.

    It added that all activities including conferences and social events have been suspended forthwith at the Press Centre, Iyaganku, Ibadan while condolence register has also been opened at Executive Chambers of the union for members to pay their respect for their dead colleagues.

    Following the mishap, the victims were rushed to the Osun State General Hospital, Ilesa, from where they were referred to the Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH), Osogbo, where the injured victims are currently receiving treatment.

    Narrating their experience, the chairman of the NUJ, Oyo State council, Mr. Gbenga Opadotun said “We are coming from Abuja where we held a meeting and by the time our vehicle got to Osu area, the rear tyre of our bus burst and the vehicle veered off the road before we somersaulted about eight to nine times and finally crashed in the bush”.

    “It was a terrible experience because we lost three of our members in the accident. The rest of us involved in the accident survived by the grace of God”, he said.

    At the emergency unit of LAUTECH on Friday night, doctors and nurses were seen making frantic efforts to attend to the survivors of the accident, while the Osun state Deputy Governor and chairman of the NUJ, Osun State council, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori and Comrade Abiodun Olalere mobilised support and care for the injured officials.

     

  • Mugabe re-elected Zimbabwe’s president

    Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe was on Saturday  officially returned for  a seventh term in office, amid claims of electoral fraud.
    Mr Mugabe, 89, won 61% of the vote, against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s 34%.
    Mr Tsvangirai earlier said the elections for parliament and president were fraudulent and promised to take legal action.
    He said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would no longer work with Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.
    The two parties have been working together in a coalition since the last election in 2008 sparked widespread violence.
    Mr Mugabe has been president since Zimbabwe won independence from the UK in 1980.
    The European Union, which maintains sanctions on Mr Mugabe and his senior aides, said it was concerned about “alleged irregularities and reports of incomplete participation” in the election.
    The largest group of domestic monitors, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), had said problems with voter registration had left up to one million people unable to cast their ballots, most of them in MDC strongholds.
    However, the African Union and SADC broadly endorsed the election, saying it was free and peaceful.
    On Saturday , one of the nine members of the election commission resigned over the way the election was conducted.
    Commissioner Mkhululi Nyathi said in his resignation letter: “While throughout the whole process I retained some measure of hope that the integrity of the whole process could be salvaged along the way, this was not to be.”

     

  • 15 feared dead in Jos road accident

    Early morning joggers killed in Plateau State.
    At least 15 youths in  Barkin Ladi local government of Plateau state are feared dead when a vehicle lost control and ran into them while on road  walk exercise Saturday  morning.The accident which occurred at 6:30am is said to be  the worst accident in the area  in the last ten years.

    Chairman management committee of the local government, Hon Emmanuel Loman who confirmed the incident said most of the youths were members of Boys Brigade  who were on their regular physical exercise.

    He said, “15 of the youths died while several of them had fracture and are been attended to at government hospital in the locality.”

    Eye witness, Hon Tigana Yakal said the youths involved  in the accident are those of Tudun Mazat, Rop district of Barkin Ladi local government numbering over 40 who  were jugging along the road when the incident  occurred.

    He explained that  youths of the community do embark of road side walk every Saturday morning between 5:30am and 6:30am as a form of regular exercise.

    However, the routine exercise on Saturday  turned bloody when the vehicle ran into the crowd  of youths crushing 15 of them to death.

    Hon Tigana said the vehicle was loaded with bags of corn and heading to Jos. A woman suspected to be the owner of the goods and the driver of the vehicle who were not injured in the accident fled into the bush and escaped.

    Fourteen of the victims were said to have died instantly while  one died at the general hospital Barkin Ladi where those injured were rushed to for treatment

    After evacuating the bodies, angered youths of Barkin Ladi blocked the highway and immediately set the car ablaze.

    The Plateau State Commissioner of Health, Dr Pam Dakwak has ordered that the injured and  the dead  be moved from the general hospital, Barkin Ladi to Plateau Specialist hospital in Jos for better medical attention.

    Government source reveal that the victims may be given mass burial since they are from the same village.

  • Who is your friend?

    Who is your friend?

    As the world commemorates the world friendship day, Sonia Nwosu captures views of some people on what defines true friendship.

     

    “True friendship is a life time achievement, and a friend is the path through whom huge sentimental, spiritual and even material blessings gush,” Dr. Bill Denton

     

    It is generally believed that everyone has at one time or the other engaged in friendship or read about it. Some articles have been written extensively on this with explanation on what type of friends to keep, how to behave around these friends, how to have friends and many others write about people and their friends.

    There is this believe that just as people are different so are their friends. While some believe in having so many friends, others believe few friends are better and some believe in having just one friend considered to be the best.

    According to Laurence Peter, Canadian teacher and author of the best-selling book The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go wrong, “Friends are special and important. Friends are part of us, they make our lives complete in different ways, in short, friends are life. You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself, he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.”

    But who really is a friend? What are the qualities that define true friendship?  “A real friend knows and can predict you. It’s like another you. A true friend is one who lets you have total freedom to be yourself,” Chima Udeze, a graduate of University of Benin told the Nation.

    For Chidindu Okeke of Meadow Hall secondary school, “A friend is someone you can trust very much and rely on.”

    Others like Omorinsola Oladejo, a 300 level student of Covenant University, Ota, believe that for someone to be called a friend, he or she must possess the qualities of love and trust, “I think friendship is about love, trust, commitment and happiness. Friends are the people you feel at home with, you share jokes together,” he added

    Corroborating Oladejos’ views is Iroro Gbenedio, a Mass Communication student of Covenant University who said, “Friends are people who through thick and thin are with you, they’re those who love you for who you are and don’t judge you.”

    And yet for Martha Gbadebo, a business woman, “A friend is someone who you can rely on and who should be able to die for you like our lord Jesus Christ,” she added, “Unfortunately there are no such people around now.”

    Just like the views expressed above, everyone at some point in life has had a fair share of annoying and amazing friends, best friends, close friends, true friends, and good friends – all of them, revolving around the orbit of their lives, making them smile like never before.

    In his book Friends and Friendship, Dr. Bill Denton wrote, “Friends can cheer us when we’re sorrowful or depressed. Friends can challenge us when we allow ourselves to get beyond our reasonable boundaries. Friends can motivate us when we’re ready to give in, and they can provide for us when life falls apart.”

    Friendship is really not about the happy endings that is, what friendship really is about the story gathered in the course of the friendship.

    It is funny how there are many rules to do almost anything and everything in this world. We grow daily; we develop daily and everything changes both in us and around people. Life is full of entertaining and invigorating relationships because it is full of friends.

    The World Friendship Day was first proposed on 20 July 1958 by Dr. Artemio Bracho as an idea during a dinner with friends in Puerto Pinasco, a town on the River Paraguay about 200 miles north of Asuncion, Paraguay. Out of this humble meeting of friends, the World Friendship Crusade was birthed.

    The World Friendship Crusade is a foundation that promotes friendship and fellowship among all human beings, regardless of race, color or religion. Since then, July 30th has been faithfully celebrated as Friendship Day in Paraguay every year and has also been adopted by several other countries.

    The day has been celebrated in many South American countries for several years. The day is particularly celebrated in Paraguay, where it was first proposed in 1958.

    Friendship Day was originally promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1930, intended to be the 2nd August and a day when people celebrated their friendships by sending cards. The second of August was chosen as the center of the largest lull between holiday celebrations.

  • Why women retain maiden names

    Why women retain maiden names

    The rationale behind women retaining their maiden names after marriage has been an age-long debate.

    It has also become a trend among the women folks which cuts across every strata of the economy with each giving reason to justify their positions.

    Via our  twitter handle: @thenationnews, we asked our followers their opinion on the issue.

    As expected, there were diverse opinions – while some argued that it is against the tenets of religion, others say a lady is not an addition to the family and as such should not be denied her identity.

    It was also the opinion of others that if the lady comes from a well- known family, her maiden name will open doors while others simply posited that such ladies don’t believe in God or in His ability to make great husbands.

    However, a few others also felt there is nothing wrong in it but that it should be an agreement between the couples.

    Below are some of the views as expressed by our followers, you can also join by following @thenationnews on twitter.

    * Oseiwe Ibhagui @OIbhagui: said “To save themselves the hassle of another name change when they divorce their husbands ladies should retain their maiden names”

    * Ogba Okezie @ogba_okezie: said, “Her been married does not in any way change who she is by birth.”

    * Nansik @Mariefamwang: said, “A woman’s maiden name would open doors for her especially if her family has great societal influence.”

    * Tunde Bakare BK@Backarray: said “Islamically, it is allowed for a lady to keep her father’s name even after getting married. She may as well drop it if she so wishes.”

    * Christopher Talker @lechseed: simply said, “I don’t think ladies should retain their maiden names after marriage.”

    * The great Mrs me!@faizadanyaro: said “Women should keep their maiden names because a woman should be a separate entity not an addition to her husband’s family.”

    *For MosakuAbiodunWaheed@MosakuAW:  “There’s nothing bad in it if the lady is a celebrity and there’s an agreement between both couples. No wahala then! Nothing special.”

    * In Sebastian@corretboi’s view, “That should be an agreement between the couple.”

    * According to Ayodeji Ajao@deji_ajao: “So that when they are tied of their husbands,
    they won’t need to go through the rigor of change of name.”

    * Obi Chkwuma@marvelouschuks: said “Such women have no faith in God”

  • Recovered human heads: Wife of hotelier cries for help

    Wife of Chief Bonaventure Mokwe, the Proprietor of Upper Class Hotel, Onitsha, where  two fresh human heads were allegedly found,  demolished Friday by the Anambra State  Government , Mrs Nkiru Mokwe has  raised alarm that the life of her husband is in danger.
    Speaking to newsmen, Mrs Mokwe, a lawyer appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and Senate President, David Mark to intervene and ensure her husband is not killed as the case is being investigated.
    ‘’My husband was arrested and detained at Central Police squad Onitsha and when the commissioner of police was petitioned he was moved to Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Awkuzu. My husband is being detained in a very de-humanizing condition at SARS Awkuzu, and the police have denied him access to his lawyer and relations.
    ‘’My husband’s hotel at No 8 Old Market Road Onitsha which he inherited from his father Chief G.C Mokwe has been demolished. ”
    She also alleged  that the government threatened to demolish his plaza at Ose-Okwodu and other properties belonging to him and his family and confiscate all his assets.  She appealed for intervention of the Presidency and Senate to the jungle justice against her husband without hearing from him.
    She raised alarm that her husband was set up and the police invaded her husband’s hotel to effect his arrest claiming that they acted on a tip off.
    She wondered why the police formation in Anambra state has  not reported about the matter until police from IG’s office came down to Anambra based on a petition written on 2nd July, 2013 to effect arrest on 1st August,2013.
    She claimed to be conversant with the facts of the matter that brought about what she described as trumped up charges against her husband in order distract people from the main issues of contention.
    She said her husband deals on estate and there were lots of conflicts and skirmishes over ownership of lands between him and some persons which led to the shooting of her husband on 9th March, 2009.
    Mrs Mokwe informed that about four of the disputes are pending in court and wondered why the masterminds of her husband’s arrest  wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police alleging that her husband stores human heads and arms in his hotel.
    She further alleged that the masterminds  got approval of their petition and arranged and smuggled in two rusty objects which the police claimed were human skulls and arms in one of the commercial rooms in the hotel on or before the arrival of the police.
     She prayed that her husband be charged to court or granted bail as they have threatened to kill him.
    Also speaking, Dr M.N Umenweke , lawyer to Chief Bonaventure Mokwe raised some issues begging for questions.
    Umenweke demanded to know who made the complaint to the police and why should government demolish the only evidence against Mokwe which is the hotel where the human heads were allegedly found.

     

  • 25 police officers convicted for Brazilian jail massacre

    At least 25 police officers have been given life sentences for their part in the 1992 massacre in Sao Paulo’s Carandiru jail that left 111 prisoners dead.

    Each police officer was sentenced to 624 years for the death of 52 inmates, BBC reports.

    The verdicts come in the second of four stages of the trial involving different floors of the prison. 23 officers were given life terms in the first stage in April.

    The police officers expected to stay free pending an appeal.

    The defence can only challenge the verdicts after the end of the whole trial, expected in January 2014.

    The officers, nine of whom are still on active duty, would also lose their jobs, according to O Globo newspaper.

    The riot began on October 2, 1992 after an argument between two inmates quickly spread, with rival gangs facing off in what was at the time one of South America’s largest prisons, housing 10,000 inmates.

    Inmates said riot police brutally repressed the riot.

    The officers’ lawyer, Ieda Ribeiro de Souza, argued they were only doing their duty and acted in self-defence, as many of the inmates were armed.