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chybuz's Friends
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Kenya on Monday confirmed the first case of Swine Flu
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 NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 29 - Kenya on Monday confirmed the first case of Swine Flu involving 20-year-old British student who is on a field trip in Kisumu. Public Health Minister Beth Mugo broke the news on Monday, saying that the patient may have had contact with the initial suspected case that turned negative on Saturday in Nairobi.
“The patient has been quarantined at a hotel in Kisumu,” she told a press conference at her Afya House office.
On Saturday a suspected case of Swine Flu in Kenya tested negative after momentarily spreading panic across Nairobi.
Ministry of Public Health officials said tests conducted at the Kenya Medical Research Institute – based Centre for Disease Control produced no traces of the H1N1 influenza virus.
Samples were taken from a 20-year old Kenyan female student who had arrived from London and reported that she may have come into contact with someone exhibiting symptoms of the flu.
She was rushed to the AAR Health Clinic at Sarit Centre, Westlands where doctors immediately alerted KEMRI officials who took over the case.
AAR Public Relations Officer Juliet Ratemo said: “We closed the AAR Health Centre and took all measures to ensure that our staff and other patients present did not come into further unprotected contact with the patient.” News about the patient had spread across Nairobi via SMS overnight on Friday, spreading panic as people sought to know the authenticity of the text messages.
In mid this month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the Pandemic alert status from phase 5 to phase 6, which meant that the disease had reached the emergency level.
“It’s not killing more people, it’s not more aggressive than before so don’t think because we have elevated the phase to 6 the disease has become more severe, no! It is about geographical spread. We have been expecting the worst, we are lucky it’s not that bad,” Dr David Okello, WHO Kenya Director had said.
After the alert was raised, Public Health Minister Beth Mugo said the government had stepped up surveillance of the influenza H1N1 and over 50,000 doses of the drug Tamiflu was in the stock pile for use in case of an outbreak in the country.
She had also said there was a ready isolation facility at the Kenyatta National Hospital in case of an outbreak.
The first case of influenza H1N1 virus was reported in late April in Mexico.
According to the WHO website, by Friday, there were 59,814 confirmed cases of the swine flu around the world. 263 people have died of the disease.
The H1N1 strain is a new type of virus that has not circulated previously in humans. The virus is contagious, spreading easily from one person to another and from one country to another.
Young people under the age of 25 years are the main casualties in all the countries.
A similar outbreak occurred in 1918 but was more severe than the current epidemic but the WHO warned that this may change hence the need for more vigilance.
Kenyans can get more information on the disease through the following contacts: 0722- 331 548,020-204 0542, 271 8292.
HOW IT SPREADS AND SYMPTOMS
The virus typically spreads from coughs and sneezes or by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the nose or mouth. Symptoms are similar to those of the seasonal flu, and may include fever, sneezes, coughs, headache, muscles or joint pain, sore throat, chills, fatigue and runny nose. The CDC notes that most hospitalizations have been people with underlying conditions such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, or a weakened immune systems. In an attempt to slow the spread of the illness, a number of countries, especially in Asia, have enforced strict quarantines on travellers showing any symptoms, along with travellers seated nearby any infected persons.
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2 lost icons: For Generation X, a really bad day
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 A record-shattering vinyl album and its moonwalking maestro. A paper poster of a golden-haired beauty in a one-piece swimsuit that was gossamer and clingy in all the right places. It all seems so quaint now, the fragmented dream memories of a fleeting micro-era that began with words like "bicentennial" and "pet rock" and ended with MTV, Atari and absurdly thin cans of super-hold mousse. The man-child named Michael Jackson and the luminous girl known as Farrah Fawcett-Majors jumped into our consciousness at a plastic moment in American culture — a time when the celebrity juggernaut we know today was still in diapers. When they departed Thursday, just a few hours and a few miles apart, they left an entire generation — a very strange generation indeed — without two of its defining figures. "These people were on our lunchboxes," said Gary Giovannetti, 38, a manager at HBO who grew up on Long Island awash in Farrah and MJ iconography. "This," he said, "is the moment when Generation X realizes they're grown up." It was a long time coming. Cynical, disaffected, rife with ADD, lost between Boomers and millennials and sandwiched between Vietnam and the war on terror, Gen X has always been an oddity. It was the product of a transitional age when we were still putting people on celebrity pedestals but only starting to make an industry out of dragging them down. Its memorable moments were diffuse and confusing — the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt, the dawn of AIDS, the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It had no protest movement, no opponent to unite it, none of the things that typically shape the ill-defined beast we call an American generation. These were the people who sent to the top of the charts a song called "We Don't Need Another Hero," then figured out how to churn them out wholesale, launching the celebrity obsession that is now an accepted part of American cultural fabric. And that was personified nowhere better than in the two people who died Thursday. She was, perhaps, the last in a line that began with Betty Grable in World War II — the bathing beauty who seemed kissed by the sun and exuded a potent combination of innocence and sexuality. But her "Charlie's Angels" jiggle-show image presaged another world entirely. It was the one that would come to be dominated first by Brooke and her Calvins and ultimately, as the hunger grew tawdrier, by American Apparel ads and the celebrity sex videos of Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton. She struggled for credibility after the poster and the Angels. She got it in 1984 with a dramatic turn as an abused wife in "The Burning Bed." But her last stand — a documentary about the cancer that killed her — was tainted by her run-ins with insatiable paparazzi and tabloids. He was another thing entirely — perhaps the most recognizable face in the world, even more so than the pope or Barack Obama. His musical genius and energy seemed boundless for a time. They were rivaled only by his quirks, which consumed him. He had a bumpy, extraordinarily public childhood. Then he spent an off-the-wall lifetime trying to get it back, erecting a ranch named after the fantasy land of Peter Pan and inviting children to share his life and his bed — with results that some said drifted into the criminal. He caught fire in a Pepsi commercial. He shrouded his children in full-body coverings and dangled one over a balcony to show his fans below. His fabled multiple plastic surgeries turned him into someone almost unrecognizable. Nose sunk into face, cheekbones became caricature, ebony drifted into ivory. Yet through it all, even when the years of his quirks outstripped the years of his glory, he remained one of the planet's most popular figures, selling out shows wherever he went. "Icon," the Rev. Al Sharpton said, was "only a fraction of what he was." But icon was, of course, what he always acted as if he wanted to be. Today, celebrities aren't merely created for our consumption. Audiences are passive no longer. We demand a part in creating our icons: Jon and Kate Gosselin and their ilk might as well be publicly held companies, and we all insist upon buying a few shares. Farrah and Michael Jackson were other — above us, maybe, or apart from us. Now, when we crown new icons, we want them to BE us. "We want everything right now, and there's a blurring of reality. When does the celebrity world stop and our world begin?" said Penni Pier, an associate professor of communications at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. When Farrah gazed at us in her swimsuit and, a single moment in history later, MJ dared us to moonwalk, they commanded giant audiences. The world had not yet become fragmented into the microcommunities that exist today. We liked them or we hated them, but we shared the experience just as Walter Cronkite told us each night that "that's the way it is." Today, when Lindsay Lohan Twitters pictures of herself to her legions of followers, the notion that a paper poster bought in a shopping-mall Spencer Gifts could change the celebrity game seems rustic. And the vinyl version of "Thriller," redolent of raw materials and production lines, is a ghost in the virtual world of iTunes — a world that the generation after X negotiates with the fluidity of natives. In the 1990s, members of Generation X would often laugh in bars about how the time of the Boomers was passing — about how the quaintness and naivete that made up the 1960s was, finally, a grave being danced on by Kurt Cobain. Today, members of that same generation sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings of pop. A sexy poster upon a boy's wall in which a young woman grins wholesomely. A record album called "Thriller" and its attendant music videos, built upon the notion that sexiness came in the frisson of hints and suggestions rather than in cutting directly to the big reveal. In the end, finally, they stand as the relics of a generation — one that struggled to find its place and now, suddenly, while still young, one that must wonder if it is as passe as the paper and vinyl that its icons' most memorable moments were etched upon. We don't need another hero? After this week, are we sure?
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Michael Jackson, the King of Pop is dead at 50
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 For his legions of fans, he was the Peter Pan of pop music: the little boy who refused to grow up. But on the verge of another attempted comeback, he is suddenly gone, this time for good.
Michael Jackson, whose quintessentially American tale of celebrity and excess took him from musical boy wonder to global pop superstar to sad figure haunted by lawsuits, paparazzi and failed plastic surgery, was pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon at U.C.L.A. Medical Center after arriving in a coma, a city official said. Mr. Jackson was 50, having spent 40 of those years in the public eye he loved.
The singer was rushed to the hospital, a six-minute drive from the rented Bel-Air home in which he was living, shortly after noon by paramedics for the Los Angeles Fire Department. A hospital spokesman would not confirm reports of cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm.
As with Elvis Presley or the Beatles, it is impossible to calculate the full effect Mr. Jackson had on the world of music. At the height of his career, he was indisputably the biggest star in the world; he has sold more than 750 million albums. Radio stations across the country reacted to his death with marathon sessions of his songs. MTV, which grew successful in part as a result of Mr. Jackson’s groundbreaking videos, reprised its early days as a music channel by showing his biggest hits.
From his days as the youngest brother in the Jackson 5 to his solo career in the 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. Jackson was responsible for a string of hits like “I Want You Back,” “I’ll Be There” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” “Billie Jean” and “Black and White” that exploited his high voice, infectious energy and ear for irresistible hooks.
As a solo performer, Mr. Jackson ushered in the age of pop as a global product — not to mention an age of spectacle and pop culture celebrity. He became more character than singer: his sequined glove, his whitened face, his moonwalk dance move became embedded in the cultural firmament.
His entertainment career hit high-water marks with the release of “Thriller,” from 1982, which has been certified 28 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and with the “Victory” world tour that reunited him with his brothers in 1984.
But soon afterward, his career started a bizarre disintegration. His darkest moment undoubtedly came in 2003, when he was indicted on child molesting charges. A young cancer patient claimed the singer had befriended him and then groped him at his Neverland estate near Santa Barbara, Calif., but Mr. Jackson was acquitted on all charges.
Reaction to his death started trickling in from the entertainment community late Thursday.
“I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news,” the music producer Quincy Jones said in a statement. “I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”
Berry Gordy, the Motown founder who helped develop the Jackson 5, told CNN that Mr. Jackson, as a boy, “always wanted to be the best, and he was willing to work as hard as it took to be that. And we could all see that he was a winner at that age.
Tommy Mottola, a former head of Sony Music, called Mr. Jackson “the cornerstone to the entire music business.”
“He bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and pop music and made it into a global culture,” said Mr. Mottola, who worked with Mr. Jackson until the singer cut his ties with Sony in 2001.
Impromptu vigils broke out around the world, from Portland, Ore., where fans organized a one-gloved bike ride (“glittery costumes strongly encouraged”) to Hong Kong, where fans gathered with candles and sang his songs.
In Los Angeles, hundreds of fans — some chanting Mr. Jackson’s name, some doing the “Thriller” dance — descended on the hospital and on the hillside house where he was staying.
Jeremy Vargas, 38, hoisted his wife, Erica Renaud, 38, on his shoulders and they danced and bopped to “Man in the Mirror” playing from an onlooker’s iPod connected to external speakers — the boom boxes of Mr. Jackson’s heyday long past their day.
“I am in shock and awe,” said Ms. Renaud, who was visiting from Red Hook, Brooklyn, with her family. “He was like a family member to me.”
Dreams of a Comeback
Mr. Jackson was an object of fascination for the news media since the Jackson 5’s first hit, “I Want You Back,” in 1969. His public image wavered between that of the musical naif, who wanted only to recapture his youth by riding on roller-coasters and having sleepovers with his friends, to the calculated mogul who carefully constructed his persona around his often-baffling public behavior.
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New Private Equity Fund to Strengthen Health Care in Africa
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The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the German development finance institution DEG announced that they have created a new private equity fund that will invest in Africa’s health sector. The Health in Africa Fund will invest in small- and medium-sized companies in sub-Saharan Africa, such as health clinics and diagnostic centers, with the goal of helping low-income Africans gain access to affordable, high-quality health services. The fund will help implement key recommendations of IFC’s report, ‘The Business of Health in Africa: Partnering with the Private Sector to Improve People’s Lives,’ which found that the private sector already delivers about half of all health-related goods and services in Africa, and that greater investment in private health companies could have major health and economic benefits for low-income Africans.
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CSO Observers Sought for Climate Investment Funds
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The World Bank’s Environmental Department is seeking civil society representatives to serve as observers on two Climate Investment Fund (CIF) Trust Fund Committees. The Bank has contracted a leading public policy dispute resolution organization, RESOLVE, to manage this self-selection process. The CIFs, which are managed by the World Bank and implemented jointly with the Regional Development Banks, were established through an inclusive and consultative process in support of the Bali Action Plan and approved by the World Bank Board in July 2008. Application forms, criteria, and instructions for the observer seats are available on the RESOLVE website (www.resolv.org/cif). Application instructions and criteria will be posted in Arabic, Bengali, Cambodian/Khmer, French, Nepali, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tajik, and Turkish during the week of June 15. Completed applications are due by Wednesday, July 2. CSO Observers Sought for Climate Investment Funds (CIF)
The Bank’s Environmental Department is seeking civil society representatives to serve as observers on two Climate Investment Fund (CIF) Trust Fund Committees. The Bank has contracted a leading public policy dispute resolution organization, RESOLVE, to manage this self-selection process. The CIFs, which are managed by the World Bank and implemented jointly with the Regional Development Banks, were established through an inclusive and consultative process in support of the Bali Action Plan and approved by the World Bank Board in July 2008. Application forms, criteria, and instructions for the observer seats are available on the RESOLVE website (www.resolv.org/cif). Application instructions and criteria will be posted in Arabic, Bengali, Cambodian/Khmer, French, Nepali, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tajik, and Turkish during the week of June 15. Completed applications are due by Wednesday, July 15.
Visit the website: www.resolv.org/cif for more details
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Ha..ha..ha
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A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her poodle along for company.
One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a hungry-looking leopard heading rapidly in his direction.
The poodle thinks, "Oh, oh!" Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the poodle exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?"
Hearing this, the leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!", says the leopard, "That was close! That poodle nearly had me!"
Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.
The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, monkey, hop on my back so you can watch me chew that poodle to bits!"
Now, the poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?", but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and waits until they get just close enough to hear.
"Where's that damn monkey?" the poodle says, "I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!"
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Did you know this....
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Personally I wouldn't marry someone I don't know. You need to know what
you are committing yourself to. After all we are talking about a
life-long commitment. Like the author, I also don't believe that one
should be in a relationship for five years before committing without a
sound reason, whatever that means. The point is: five years is too long a
time for two people to be involved without any progress.
They stay in relationships with hope. My advice to all the women is:
Start from now and ask your long relationship partner what he thinks about
you!
I am a man myself but I am sure that it will not take me years to marry a
woman Once I get a right woman with all the qualities or I need, I will
get married immediately. It will not take years, a year will be too long,
and a delay will be caused by arrangements. I also blame you women why
don't you ask your partners?
There are plenty guys who are interested in you but you always tell them
about your boyfriend that you have been involved for 4yrs and you are
happy, my question is if you are happy why are you in relationship for so
long
(4yrs) without marriage Women are not clever enough when it comes to do a
feasibility study about men.
WAKE UP AND ASK HIM (boyfriend): What will be my future with you? Do not
take excuses? Tell him your future plans Enough is enough ask him what
he is waiting for? If possible give him your parents' address and he must
tell them what he wants from you. If he came to play around with you he
will never come back. You must rather stay without a man rather than
wasting your time with someone who will hurt you and leave you, for how
long will you live like that? Once you are able to do that you will see
the future you were dreaming of.
A RIGHT MAN WHO LOVES YOU WILL COME AND DO THAT. You ladies with
long-term relationships ask your boyfriends today, if he is mumbling,
leave him because you will be depressed one day if you find out that he is
getting married to someone whom he met within 4 months. Imagine (4years =
4months) I am just picturing how your feeling will be? Ladies stay away
from those relationships, they are 3% useful and 97% wasting your time.
There could be someone out there who was going to marry you during this
4yrs maybe it was going to take him a year to marry you but you refused
you wanted to stay in a relationship with no due date. We are all working
according to time
(Projects, Deliveries, Purchasing, Contracts, etc.) Why Not Love Affairs?
I have sisters I always tell them because I want the best for them. Some
of you might not agree but I am sure this can help some of you.
PLEASE REMEMBER THIS: "IF A MAN IS STABLE IN LIFE, IN A RELATIONSHIP, BUT
NOT MARRIED, THEN IT IS BECAUSE HE IS NOT SURE ABOUT THE WOMAN THAT HE IS
WITH."
He is not willing to commit to her and constantly has his eye open for
something better or is waiting for her to become something better. Point
blank. When he finds a woman that he is satisfied with, he will make her
his wife. And ladies, sorry to tell some of you, but it doesn't take 4 or
5 years for that man to figure it out. It doesn't take 2 or 3 years
either.
The only reason that a man will get married after that long of a time is
because he's tired of looking for something better. And trust me, that's
definitely what he was doing all of those years. So if you should happen
to find yourself in one of those "long term" relationships then maybe you
should step back, take a look at yourself and wonder what it is that
you're missing by doing favors for this man who is not willing to fully
commit.
Don't make excuses to yourself and your girlfriends saying things like "Oh
he's waiting 'til he gets a better job" or "he's waiting to finish school"
or "he's waiting until he moves from his apartment to a house".
DON'T FOOL YOURSELF, IT'S NOT THAT COMPLICATED!!
Which one of those things can't be done with a wife or fiancé' by your side?
So ladies, when you read this think about your situation and that man that
you are living with, or the one that you spend many nights over his house
or him over yours. Think about your baby's father that you are still in a
sexual relationship with. Think about your "ex" that you are in a sexual
relationship with. Think about your "boyfriend". And definitely think
twice before you brag on a relationship that's a couple of years long and
you still have no commitment.
Like I've said before, I'm a man and I know the situation. I've been
there and I know that we can come up with some extremely reasonable
excuses, but.... DON'T FOOL YOURSELF, IT'S NOT THAT COMPLICATED!
"Ladies, can i hear you say Amen!!"
And
"Guys, let's be honest"
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The Seven point Agenda crucial to national economy
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The Presidency is satisfied with the conception and implementation of the Seven-point Agenda of the Administration and therefore has no plans to either prune or adjust it.
Presidential spokesman, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi said that the agenda was crucial to the survival of the Nigerian economy and the pivot on which Vision 20-2020 was anchored.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity was reacting to the suggestion put forward by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi during his confirmation hearing on the floor of the senate.
Mr. Adeniyi noted that since the Seven-point agenda is not an ad-hoc measure, any attempt to prune it would amount to economic suicide and urged Nigerians to see the views expressed by Governor Sanusi as “a suggestion with the best of intention and not an attack on the government focal policy.
The 7 Point Agenda are:
1. Critical Infrastructure
2. Niger Delta
3. Food Security
4. Human Capital
5. Land Tenure Changes & Home Ownership
6. National Security & Intelligence
7. Wealth Creation
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Nigeria’s sustained quest for Foreign Direct Investment
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Having painstakingly laid the foundations of economic development, as articulated in the Seven-point Agenda and Vision 20:2020, there is a visible resurgence in Nigeria’s international economic relations under President Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s administration. There is a new impetus, a fresh dynamism as well as growing momentum to open up Nigeria and make it ready for solid and sustainable investments. It is not just a case of doing more of the same old drive for foreign direct investments.
Though the concept of using Investment Forums/Fairs to interact with investors is not new, the style of the current investment drive is novel. The current exercise is not just a series of talk-shops or seminars. The campaign involves networking sessions, investment dialogue forums, informal and interactive engagement sessions as well as road shows and rallies as each particular occasion demands.
This time around, there are conscious efforts to diversify Nigeria’s economic diplomacy away from restriction to traditional partners in order to engage new and more development partners in the international arena. Through diplomatic contacts and hosting or making official visits, the current administration has concretized Nigeria’s economic relations with Asian tigers such as India, Japan, China and South Korea. It has also forged links with Brazil, South American and Caribbean countries. Of course, the traditional partnership with United States of America, United Kingdom, France, and continental Europe as well as with North America continues to be strengthened.
It is no longer about telling investors fairy tales about Nigeria, rather it is about letting them know the immense potentialities as well as the daunting challenges while encouraging them to come on-board. The government is also going beyond offering incentives and palliatives to creatively engage investors in fixing and improving the critical infrastructures in order to reduce the cost of doing business in Nigeria.
Moreover, the investment drive is not just about wooing big companies, conglomerates and trans-national corporations; it is more to do with encouraging partnership between Nigeria’s small and medium enterprises and their foreign counterparts. It is about encouraging information exchange, technology transfer and personnel exchange/training collaborative schemes in a way that will integrate Nigeria into the global economy matrix.
It is within this context that the present administration has enlarged and re-energized the Honorary International Investors Council (HIIC), which it inherited from President Olusegun Obasanjo’s civilian regime. The HIIC has been enlarged to become more representative of different economic sectors as well as the various geographical locations and investing populations of the world. Beyond the two six-monthly meetings held annually, Council Members scattered around the globe are now more practically engaged to organize investment meetings and dialogues in their different geographical regions as occasions demand.
From a high-brow technocratic talk-shop on investments, the HIIC is gradually becoming an interventionist and activist agency for attracting investors to Nigeria’s rich but challenging economy. HIIC has become more pro-active, pragmatic and sector-specific in its drive to too investors into the Nigerian market.
This administration is not just urging investors to come to Nigeria; it is also making the investing environment more conducive to investors and fertile for their investments. Definite steps are being taken to reduce corporate taxes, eliminate double taxation and end the rash of illegal levies on manufacturing companies. Following the advice and at the instance of members of the HIIC, the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has instructed Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs ministry to make issuance of visas in our embassies abroad more investor-friendly. In the same vein, the Vice President said our immigration laws must be more investment-oriented and tourist-friendly.
According to him, “It is in the overall national economic interests of our country to issue long-term visas and make procurement of visas easier for investors and tourists. We must also make our airports and ports less cumbersome and more people-friendly if we are serious about getting foreigners to partner with us in our development efforts.” With the effectiveness of Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission’s (NIPC) one-stop-investment-centre (OSIC), where foreigners can access information and register new business without delay, a brand new deal is being forged for investors in Nigeria.
A lot has changed as far as Nigeria’s investing environment is concerned. Yet, the world out there is still stuck with the old stereotype of Nigeria as the tottering sleeping giant. Not much is known is about the positively altered macroeconomic situation or more favourable policy environment.
It is against this backdrop of changed circumstances in Nigeria vis-à-vis global ignorance -- at a time when the country is in dire need of international resources and support -- that this administration has been organizing or facilitating a series of investment forums in key development centres across the globe.
The first in the series of investment forums was a two-legged conference on Stating the Case for Investing in Nigeria scheduled to take place in Dubai and London, which was jointly facilitated by African Matters Limited and Developing Markets Associates. While the Dubai Forum was postponed for logistic reasons, the London Forum was successfully held at IET Savoy Place on April 22, 2009 with about 200 participants comprising government officials, prospective investors, business tycoons, development activists, non-governmental organizations, diplomats and representatives of the international community.
At the London Event, the Ministers of National Planning, Commerce and Industry, Finance, Mines and Steel Development, Agriculture and Water Resources as well as the Governors of Kano State, Rivers State and Ondo State (represented by the Secretary to Government) were on hand to showcase Nigeria’s immense investment potentialities vis-à-vis the country’s agenda for development. Aside from fielding questions after each session of paper presentations, the Nigerian investment delegation used coffee breaks and networking moments to engage and interact with would-be investors and fact-finding tourists who had many posers about Nigeria’s social climate and economic environment.
The tone of the London Forum was set by H. E. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who spoke passionately and analytically about Nigeria’s largely untapped investment potentials amidst some daunting development challenges. He said that Nigeria remains the preferred investment destination because of its abundant natural endowment and immense manpower resources as well as because of infrastructural gaps and deficiencies that are being fixed. The investment forums, he explained, are veritable avenues to get willing and genuine development partners and investors to collaborate with Nigeria to develop, upgrade or upscale the infrastructures in order to make the country the ideal and fertile investment ground. He said we cannot wait to fix all our infrastructural deficiencies, logistics problems and legal hurdles before calling on development partners who may actually be needed to accelerate the process of getting the ideal investment climate in the first place.
Expectedly, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Engr. Mustafa Bello was around to restate and recall all the steps that Nigeria has taken and is taking to transform Nigeria to an investor’s paradise. He spoke about the myriads of incentives, tax holidays and all sorts of sweeteners and palliatives designed to woo investors into the manufacturing sector of Nigeria’s economy. He said the One-Stop-Investment-Centre (OSIC) has removed most of the logistics challenges and bureaucratic hurdles that new investors face in a developing economy like Nigeria.
Representatives of the organized private sector in Nigeria like the Dangote Group and Total Oil were readily available to give the needed endorsement to Nigeria’s investment climate. The Chief Executive of Dangote Cement Group, Tony Hadley said “Nigeria’s improved investment climate is making it easier to do business, to source external finance and secure foreign technical partners.” He explained that investors and foreign finance institutions have more confidence in Nigeria’s economy.
Following on the resounding success of the London Forum, Nigeria’s ambassador to Sweden, Dr. Godknows Bolade Igali (who was present at the London Forum) successfully organized a Nordic Forum on Nigeria-Nordic Economic Partnership that will take the Vice President’s delegation to Finland, Sweden and Denmark between May 10 and 17, 2009. This is a bold initiative to concretize and expand Nigeria’s international economic relations with Scandinavian countries with a view to benefiting from their high technologies and other comparative economic advantages.
The first of two HIIC meetings held annually will hold from June 25 to 26 in London this year to take stock of the gains and challenges of Nigeria’s investment drive in the light of the current global economic melt-down. The second Council meeting slated for November should ordinarily take place in Abuja but may be moved to the United States to tap into the business connections and investment potential of some American members on the Council. There is also the possibility of another Nigeria Investment Forum in Germany in the first quarter of next year to engage with investors in Germany, Austria, Czechs and Slovenia.
The global meltdown or economic downturn is not a reason for Nigeria to slow down its drive for foreign investment rather it is a good reason to intensify it. For one, investors have become more wary and discriminatory in their choice of investment destinations, making it necessary for countries to deliberately publicize their investment opportunities and comparative advantages. Secondly, the fact that several investors and banks had their fingers burnt in hitherto favoured investment destinations has made emerging markets like Nigeria to become objects of favourable consideration for new equities. It is therefore the right time for Nigeria to press her comparative advantage as a preferred investment destination.
In any case, as explained by the Vice President, to achieve Nigeria’s Vision 2020-20, there is no way Nigeria can shy away from partnership with the international community by way of international trade and utilization of foreign investment. The current drive is for solid strategic investments that can deepen and diversify the country’s economy and promote sustainable development. Such investments would lead to genuine value-addition through improving and increasing local content of Nigeria’s products. Moreover, the investments would not only build personnel and institutional capacity but also create more jobs and employment opportunities for Nigeria’s huge and resourceful population
Therefore, while Nigeria continues to take concrete actions to improve her infrastructure and improve the regulatory environment, it must continue to state and reassert its credentials as a desirable emerging market in order to continue to attract and retain foreign investments.
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President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua of Nigeria
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Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, GCFR is the President, and the Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was born in the ancient city of Katsina, Katsina State on August 16, 1951 to the famous Musa Yar’Adua family that has become synonymous with politics and public service in Nigeria.
He started his primary education at Rafukka Primary School, Katsina in 1958. He moved to Dutsinma Senior Boarding Primary School in 1962 where he completed his primary education in 1964.
Between 1965 and 1969, Yar’Adua was a student at the Government College, Keffi, in the present day Nasarawa State for his secondary education, from where he moved to the famous Barewa College, Zaria for his Higher School Certificate between 1970 and 1971.
He gained admission into the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria in 1972 and obtained a B.Sc Education degree with specialization in Chemistry in 1975. He returned to the same University in 1978, earning a Master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry in 1980. Yar’Adua taught Chemistry at the Katsina Polytechnic before venturing into private business and eventually into politics.
In the political arena, Yar’Adua opted for a socialist leaning contrary to the traditional conservative posture of his renowned family. During the Second Republic, the late Malam Aminu Kano, leader of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP)and acclaimed ‘champion of the masses’, was his political mentor when most members of his family were with the more establishment-inclined National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He also associated very closely with the late Ahmadu Bello University 'radical' lecturer, Dr. Bala Usman, among others as a member of the Think-Tank.
Yar’Adua was a member of the 1989 Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) which prepared the groundwork for the return to civil democratic governance in the aborted Third Republic. In 1990, he became the Secretary of both the defunct Peoples Front (PFN) and was later elected the State Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Katsina State. A year later, he emerged the SDP gubernatorial candidate in the state. In 1999, he contested and won the governorship of Katsina State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – a positioned he retained for eight years following his re-election in 2003.
For Yar’Adua, politics has always been viewed as a vehicle for transforming the society for the general well-being of the citizens. This is evident from his commitment to the ideals of accountability, transparency and prudent management of state resources. It is on record that as Governor of Katsina State, Yar’Adua was not only able to massively change the infrastructural landscape of the state, he also radically transformed the educational sector.
His commitment to engendering qualitative education in the State has manifested in the trebling of primary school enrolment in the State from 460,000 pupils in 1999 to over one million in 2007; and the reduction of the number of pupils per class in primary schools from 250 to 40 pupils throughout the State. He also established a N1.5 billion Scholarship Trust Fund.
More remarkable is the fact that even with these laudable accomplishments, Yar’Adua was able to leave behind well over six billion naira (N6b) in the Katsina State treasury at the end of his outstanding stewardship. This, surely, is an enduring testimony to prudent management of public resources.
Given these exceptional antecedents, it is no surprise that the PDP decided to field him as its presidential candidate during the 2007 presidential election. He contested and won the election convincingly.
Today, Nigerians are beginning to see that his declaration at his inauguration of himself as a Servant-Leader was made with the highest sense of responsibility and clear vision of the legacy he wishes to leave behind for posterity.
His self-effacing style, disarming humility, transparently honest devotion to the supremacy of the rule of law, focused leadership and uncommon commitment to Nigeria’s restoration combine to evoke a new hope and abounding faith in the eventual realization of the great potentials with which Nigeria is endowed.
Yar’Adua, who holds the traditional title of the “Mutawallen Katsina”, is married to Hajia Turai and the couple is blessed with many children.
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FG signs contract for Niger Delta Development
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The Federal Government of Nigeria on Thursday June 11 signed a N74billion contract for the dualisation of the East-West highway running through the states in the Niger Delta.
The contract was signed in Abuja on behalf of government by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Ufot Ekaette while the chief executive of the construction firm, Setraco, signed on behalf of his company.
The contract which was first signed three years ago was then awarded to Julius Berger Plc but the company pulled out citing militant activities in the area.
The new contract is to cover Port Harcourt-Eleme Junction to Ahoada-Kiaima.
Speaking during the occasion, the minister said the present administration was irrevocably committed to improving the lives of the people in the Niger Delta.
He warned contractors handling jobs for the ministry to work in accordance with certified standards and to deliver on schedule.
The minister expressed optimism that peace will reign in the Niger Delta region.
“We believe once the details of the amnesty are worked out the people will reciprocate and imbibe the spirit of peace which the government has been preaching. Once this happens, once peace is restored in the Niger Delta, we go in and develop the area”.
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Safari Sevens Countdown: Big guns coming to Nairobi
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Breaking News: Argentina, Fiji, France, Samoa and Japan set for Safari
Sevens 2009.Reliable sources within the Kenya 7's team have confirmed that 5 high
profile IRB Series teams named above will participate in this years
tournament. Confirmations are being awaited from world champions Wales and
Scotland while England have declined citing fatigue. New Zealand All
Blacks and Australia have indicated they will consider participating
in the near future while South Africa have continued with their policy
of sending the Junior Boks. How long they can avoid sending the main
Boks 7's team remains to be seen. The IRB Sevens Series champions
would be a welcome addition to the event. With Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia filling
the African quarter this promises to be a very competitive competition
with defending champions Kenya the star attraction this time.
Scorpions will be the other Kenyan side. With so many IRB teams coming
this must be the best tournament ever. Kopo's injury sustained against KCB is a worry as he was stretchered
off in the second half. We hope he will recover and be part of the
Kenya 7's squad. With Ayimba as the Mean Machine coach, he will surely
be monitoring his fitness closely.
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Yaradua on the Niger Delta
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“Developments in the nation’s Niger Delta region over the past few weeks have necessitated the Federal Government’s decisive action against armed criminal elements.
“The criminals have hijacked genuine agitations in the region and constituted themselves into very real threats to Nigeria’s national security and economic survival”.
The President stated that his administration’s agenda for resolving the lingering developmental challenges in the Niger Delta remained on course.
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Can you tell I'm single?
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One of the most insanely frustrating things about women is their constant need for
reassurance. No, you're not fat. If you were fat you wouldn't be able to fit
into that size 2 dress. And yes, you look good. Guys wouldn't be giving you free
shit if you were ugly.
So here it is for the last time...You're not fat! You're not ugly!
You know it and I know it so stop asking.
What makes you think I care about the kind of day that your sister's
co-worker's dog had? Your sister is nice enough, but I don't know her co-worker
and I certainly don't know her dog. So why the fuck are you telling me this
story? I don't care! If you have something worth talking about, then I'll enjoy
engaging you in meaningful conversation. But before you start talking to me
about some of the insane frivolous shit that you talk to your girlfriends about,
first ask yourself "Does this have a point?". Because if it doesn't I'm just
going to smile, and nod, and zone out and you'll get mad because I'm not
listening to your retarded shit!
So men are pigs because they stare at your boobs. I'm sure it has
nothing to do with the fact that you're wearing a skin tight low cut shirt that
has 'Bebe' printed across your boobs... one 'Be' per boob. It's totally unfair
that you have to put up with guys staring at you all the time just because you
like to look sexy. And boo hoo, it's so hard for you to meet a nice guy. Well
actually it isn't, because the shoulder you are crying on belongs to a nice guy.
He's the one that puts up with all your stupid shit. And yet you somehow end up
with all the assholes... Could it be because you're holding out for a six foot tall alpha-male with a trust fund?
Yeah, so you finally sold a freezer to an eskimo.Congratulations on
being a hot sales rep. We're all very proud of you for having a nice ass while the rest of us actually have to work for a living. And we're all so excited to see your new diamond jewelry. Your ability to date another rich fucktard that will shower you with expensive bobbles is commendable. And I'll be so surprised and sorry for you when he dumps you for the next hot girl because I really thought that materialistic trophy bagger was in love with you. But I'm happy to hear that you wrecked your fifth car while multi-tasking between your cell phone and doing your make up in the mirror. Your dedication to enforcing
the stereotype of women drivers is nothing short of awe inspiring.
Disclaimer: the contents of the note do not in any way mirror events in my life, past or present.
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Christians are going to Hell (with the rest of us)
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Think you'll make it to the Pearly Gates? Better read up on the Bible, sinner.
For example : in Deuteronomy 13:6-10, it states :
'If your brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife tries to secretly entice you, telling you to go and worship other gods, gods of people living near you, or far from you, or anywhere on earth, do not listen to him. You must kill them. Show them no pity. And your hand must strike the first blow.Then the hands of all the people. You shall stone them to death."
So unless you think the Bible is just a big load of horse-crap, you really should be stoning your family members to death if they do anything that might lead you to other gods.
But that's just that wacky Old Testament, you say. Nobody pays any attention to that any more!
OK then, you're off the hook for your holy reluctance to kill your horrible, unclean family members with thrown stones. But the New Testament says, in 1 Corinthians 11:4-5,
" For any man to pray or to prophesy with his head covered shows disrespect for his head. And for a woman to pray or prophecy with her head uncovered shows disrespect for her head."
So men, if you've ever worn a hat in Church (or any other time you are praying), you're a sinner. And ladies, if you've ever NOT worn a hat in Church (or any other time you are praying), you too are a sinner, even if you thought showing off your great new hairdo in Church was to the greater glory of God.
Indeed, in 1 Corinthians 11:6 it clearly says " Indeed, if a woman does go without a veil, she should have her hair cut off too.". The lineup for shaving forms on the left, you brazen hussies!
Of course, not wearing a hat in Church is not the worst thing a woman can do... not compared to the infamous and flagrant sin of talking.
For is it not written in 1 Corinthians 14:34,
" As in all the churches of God's holy people, women are to remain quiet in the assemblies, since they have no permission to speak: theirs is a subordinate part. If there is anything they want to know, they should ask their husbands at home: it is shameful for a woman to speak in the assembly. During instruction, a woman should be quiet and respectful. I give no permission for a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. A woman ought to be quiet."
So hush up those chatterbox mouths of yours, ladies. Yours is the subordinate role, it says it right there in the Bible. And seeing as you can't ever have authority over men, any of you who have men working for you, or God forbid, seek public office, are Jezebels of the foulest degree.
But that's just the Epistles, right? Those aren't the literal words of Jesus.
Right you are! So let's see what Jesus has to say about things.
Well, for starters, there's Matthew 5:41-42
"Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you. If you lend to those from whom you hope to be repaid, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners. "
And in Luke 6:30-31"
"Give to everyone who asks you. And do not ask for your possessions back from the person who takes them away.. "
So if you've ever lent something to someone with the hope of being repaid, you're a sinner, a demon, and a wretch. I mean, Jesus must have been quite adamant about this, two Apostles say this is His opinion. So you must give to anyone who asks you and never expect repayment, or it's Hell for you. Obviously, there are a lot of bankers and owners of finance companies who are sin-soaked horrors, worse than any homosexual, and who are going to find Hell especially toasty.
Or how about Mark 11:10, wherein it is written : "Whoever divorces someone and marries another commits adultery. Whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. "
Now I seem to recall that there's quite a number of prominent Republicans and others of the Religious Right who have been divorced and remarried at least once. How dare you Christians let yourself be lead by such obvious abominations of sin? You might as well just join Michael Moore in hating America.
And of course, for all you rich Republicans, there's Matthew 6:19, Luke 12:15 :
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
And further in Matthew 6:24, " No one can serve two masters. He will hate the one and love the other. You cannot serve both God and money.'"
And moreso in Mark 6:21-22, "Sell everything you have. And give to the poor.".
Clearly, if you have many possessions and much wealth, you must sell them all and give it to the poor, lest you roast in the fires of Hell. Christ Himself, the one who is so central to your religion that you named it after Him, says to do so, and unless you think the Bible is anythign less than the literal Word of God, you have to do it.
Even if you plead ignorance of the Word of God until this moment, you have now received Testament and from this point on, you must sell all your possessions, kill those who try to entice you away from the Lord, forsake all love of money (unless you hate God), ban all forms of divorce, and follow many, many other rules, too numerous to list here. But unless you wipe your ass with the Bible and the Word of God, you have a lot of reading to do.
On the other hand, you could just admit that you pick and choose the parts of the Bible that you like, and ignore what you don't like, and thus it is a meaningless book to reference in any argument.
But hey.... you're going to Hell anyway.
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