ABUJA – A former Nigerian government minister accused of misappropriating millions of euros will face corruption charges in court Thursday, days after returning from self-imposed exile, his lawyer said.
Nasir el-Rufai, the 2003-2007 minister in charge of Nigeria’s federal capital of Abuja, wanted to clear his name of the allegations, his lawyer Abdulakeem Mustapha said Tuesday.
“The former minister, Nasir el-Rufai, will appear before the court of law on Thursday on a nine-count charge,” he said.
Rufai, a close ally of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, returned last Saturday after two years in exile.
Mustapha said he accompanied the former minister to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission offices Tuesday where he was quizzed for nine hours.
“The two parties appeared to be satisfied. He said he was coming to Nigeria to clear his name. He has submitted himself willingly,” Mustapha said.
Rufai is suspected of misappropriating 32 billion naira (213 million dollars or 162 million euros) of public funds when he was in office.
He is also alleged to have reclaimed land allocated to the electricity supply agency and given it to relatives.
Commission spokesman Femi Babafemi told reporters Rufai was granted bail and Thursday’s hearing would focus on corruption and abuse of office.
The ex-minister has said in the media that the charges against him are politically motivated.
His return to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and a leading oil producer, comes as political tensions increase ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai called Monday for a speedy resolution of major disagreements stalling a power-sharing government with his long-time rival, President Robert Mugabe.
Tsvangirai acknowledged at a press conference there had been some progress in the past three months of mediation involving the government of South African President Jacob Zuma but said more must be done to break the impasse.
“Agreement on some issues has been achieved,” he said.
“But on the fundamental issues of provincial governors, attorney general, Roy Bennett, Reserve Bank, security sector reform and ministerial portfolios, the parties have failed to converge,” he said.
Bennett is a top aide to Tsvangirai and accusations already dismissed by the courts that he plotted to assassinate Mugabe have been a major source of conflict in the fragile power-sharing deal.
“It is important that finality be brought to these issues and in this regard, president Zuma’s office, the Southern African Development Community secretariat and the principals themselves are working to ensure that this is done as expeditiously as possible,” Tsvangirai said.
Since the setting up of the power-sharing agreement in February last year, Tsvangirai and Mugabe have failed to implement terms of the deal which include the appointments of senior government officials.
Tsvangirai added that his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party was ready for elections expected to be held sometime in 2013.
“That election is important to deal with the question of legitimacy once and for all in Zimbabwe. Trust me, we are ready for that election or any election,” he said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ABUJA – An indefinite strike over pay launched by court workers stalled the start Tuesday of a corruption trial for the chairman of the Nigeria’s ruling party, officials said.
The Abuja High Court, where corruption charges were expected to be formally laid against Vincent Ogbulafor, was locked by workers who were protesting against poor pay, said an photographer at the scene.
No new date has been fixed for the start of the court case.
Ogbulafor, who travelled to the court on Tuesday, is accused of fraudulently awarding contracts worth 223 million naira (1.5 million dollars) when he was minister of special duties in 2001 under former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Judge Ishaq Bello had granted an order sought by a corruption watchdog to arraign Ogbulafor, national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), for “criminal charges” this week, along with four co-accused.
Ogbulafor has recently become embroiled in a power struggle within the PDP, amid calls for the removal of the party’s executive ahead of next year’s presidential elections.
The party is yet to pick a candidate for the polls.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
I have been struggling with this letter. The reason is not because I hate to write to you, rather it’s because my heart is heavy and troubled. My feeling towards you is becoming leaden. I do not want to fake my laugh to your silly jokes anymore. I cannot stand your big boisterous voice and your inability to do something right. Hence, I have been riddled with so many aches in my heart towards you. I search my soul to find a soft spot for you, but obviously I am losing it. I just find it extremely difficult to break into a happy smile when the thought of you creeps into my mind, because you have not been true to me lately. You have made me to cling onto false hope all these years.
Whenever I remember you, I remember failures; I remember lies, the selfishness of your politicians, your weakness, and your shame among other nations. I am truly sad about how you have detoriated and decayed. You have harbored kidnappers, murderers, thieves and all sorts of criminals in the form of politicians. You have lost your good precepts and also have failed to chastise them that disobey them. It seems that you have abandoned it all for the worst.
I recall the words of my parents, how they were happy at the mention of your name and how they were proud of you. Sorry! Their beautiful memory of you does not coincide with mine. I have known you these years as one that has lost direction, as a mother that does not care nor take pride in her kids, as a vampire sucking on the blood of her children, and as a sick, mean and unpredictable man . I cannot contend the sickening feeling I get when I look at other nations politicians thinking and acting in every way to ensure, establish and promote the happiness, comfort and beauty of their fellow citizens; while your politicians are more interested in degrading the standard of life of their fellow citizens from level poorest to most poorest.
Time after time your politicians have proved that they are incapable of making positive changes. All their changes are targeted to finding a way to punish and steal from your poor citizens for reasons that I do not know nor can I fathom. I wonder if you are destined to be so, ineffective, corrupt, nonchalant, irresponsible, fugitive, weakling, destitute, poor, needy, ill, failure and disgrace in the world. I keep wondering if they ever sit and give thought to the negative steps they have made you (Nigeria) to take ever since you gained independence. I wonder if they ever consider it wrong that your reputation, wealth, strength and intelligence has plunged disgracefully low among many nations in the world. I wonder if it ever occurs to them that they have made you worst than you were 50 years ago. I wonder a lot about you, my dear country!!!!
Obviously, your politicians take pride in bragging about their corruption. They take awful lot of pride in bragging about how they care less about your citizens. They feel that it is just and right for your citizens to be hungry, destitute, poor, and fleeing to foreign countries. They enjoy having their association of irresponsible shameless idiots in the helm of your affairs. Irresponsible, untrustworthy and corrupt politicians that care only for their selfish gain, how to steal and embezzle the public money and stuck them away in foreign banks, that care only about how to drastically and fatally murder innocent citizens and people that points out their sins to their faces or try to blockade their hideous selfish quests and device schemes that will prolong the hardship of your citizens. It is a big shame!!!!
They have made life unbearable for your citizens, hence chased your citizens out. Their reckless actions and neglect for the life and well being of your citizens have encouraged the young, old, healthy, sick, educated, illiterate, rich, poor, and all alike to run to foreign countries; where they are treated like 125th class of human beings, regarded as less privileged to life and less valuable than pets; and are subjected to scorn, disgrace, humiliations, harassment, intimidation, verbal and moral assault, and all unimaginable kinds of hideous aversion. Your dire situation caused by your politicians spurs your citizens to take suicidal routes to foreign countries in order to flee from the encroaching wickedness and desolation. Some of your babies end up in the sea bed, some in jail, and others in the streets homeless. Your politicians have no regard for their existence. To your politicians, they are valueless or fool seeking for a better life in foreign land. Perhaps they even consider your citizens as burden.
I recall the first few lines of your national anthem, which says “arise o compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey, to serve our father land, with love and strength and faithâ€. It has become arise and kill yourselves oh fellow Nigerians. That’s why the perpetual act of Muslims constantly and repeatedly killing of Christians in the north goes unpunished every time. “ To serve our fathers land with love strength and faith†has become steal and embezzle our fathers land wealth with greed, strength, no doubt, no moral thoughts, no remorse and above all unashamed.
Is it not ridiculous that in this 21st century that you still cannot boast of steady power supply per day? Is it not shameful that your roads are death traps, a route where armed robbers lurk in wait to prey, steal and kill road users; and unfortunately also your police force (the guardian of security over people and property) sets check points in order to extort money illegally and forcefully from road users, and even condescend to shooting and killing those that refuse to bow to their demand. People are still living in slums, epidermis diseases killing people constantly, lack of good hospitals and medicines, schools going on strike for more than half of each academic year, kidnapping and all sort of crime on the rise daily, poverty enduring and waxing strong, and the list continues.
With all these atrocities happening, your politicians turn blind eyes and fly high. It is very disheartening and infuriating. It is downrightly sad and hurtful. And I hear year after year the large sum of money that have been pumped into power and energy sector, works and housing sector, roads construction and rehabilitation, health and other sectors; but still yet, all to no avail. No positive change ever made!
Is looting and embezzling of the public fund a symbolic act of good governance? Is ever metamorphosing cruel crimes an essence of development? Oh how can I forget that they have no clue to the meaning of human right, social amenities, good hospitals and school, and rule of law? I assume that they lack the desire to be good, that’s why they strive to be worse than ever with each new administration.
Are you bewitched, my country Nigeria? Are you bewitched by irresponsible and unrepentant politicians sadists in the form of politicians? Is this your destiny?
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Many in the world are heralding the dawn of an “African Millennium” culturally and politically. Africa is poised to undergo more changes and wield more influence in the world than ever before. Until now, much of what is visually documented about Africa is a view from outside, seen through eyes that are not African and, in some cases, not Africa friendly. We believe that it is only Africans that can tell their stories to the world and in that manner will gain renewed respect and authentically express their promising future. Based on this background, Codewit World News was founded. Our mission is to provide a global voice for Africans to tell their own stories to the world.
Vision
As it is said, youth are the backbone of society. This is no different in Africa. But sadly, African youth is left without a spine. In an attempt to mobilize Africans’ young minds, for them to believe and own their future not to mention pave the way for the next generation, it’s imperative, therefore, that they are exposed to an alternative media source. An information outlet designed to highlight the diabolical historical past of our colonial experience & ancestors with a vision of a New Africa. Codewit.com is the call to raise The Continent of Africa, Independent of global influences.
About Us:
Codewit World News (formerly known as Codewit Global Network from inception) was established in December 2007. The term Codewit is a terminology used by the founder to suggest a collective approach to mobilize African authors, journalists, and writers around the world to use the power of writing to help bring about change in Africa. To pursue this vision vigorously, Codewit founder, Mr Anthony Claret, sectioned the organization. Codewit Global Network becomes a non-profit organization registered in Finland. Visit Codewit Global Network -About Us and Codewit World News – the news channel.
Codewit World News is a news section of Codewit Global Network Ry. We bring you closer to what’s happening in the world. Delivering daily round-up of the latest breaking news stories, information, online news service, high-profile global cases, and Nigerian and African current stories as they unfold.
As a branch of Codewit Global Network Ry, we also use our technology in innovative ways to further social change or voice our dissent on the wide range of issues affecting Africa exercising our freedom of information and speech which is a legitimate and absolute human right.
The organization is registered in Helsinki, Finland (Regnum: 203.472) The staff headquarter is also in Helsinki, but the collaborative nature of our work means we have advisors, authors, contributors and journalists worldwide, who work with us to shape the Codewit Activities, and the Codewit News website
The Codewit World News is also an e-newspaper for Africans that discusses business, careers, education, entertainment & sports, free downloads, global news, jobs & vacancies, technology, travel & places, and many more. Codewit allows people to easily upload and share text on www.codewit.com and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email. Codewit is the premier destination to read and share African stories worldwide through a Web experience.
Codewit.com is independent
In Codewit World News, Visitors can share their thoughts, Post a column on whatever topic they wish. Anyone visiting our site can search for your column by performing a keyword search. If they like your column, they can then share it with their friends by posting it on their blog, Facebook or site. Writing a column is easy. First, you must create an account, and then create your column, and you can start writing your articles. You can add photos, links, videos or whatever you can think of to embellish your article.
At Codewit.com, you can voice your opinion to a never-ending audience. We provide another way for people to connect and communicate·
Everyone can read text and columns on Codewit. People can see first-hand accounts of current events, find columns about their hobbies and interests, and discover the quirky and unusual. As more people express special moments in a digital way, Codewit is empowering them to become the writers of tomorrow
Codewit brings writers and audiences closer together by enabling them to share their words. We don’t know what you want to express, or what you want to share.· We offer a way to connect with the people you care about by sharing your activities with them on the Web. More cool third-party applications built by other developers using our API can be within your reach in the near future.
Codewit has a very cute design for its homepage, which does an accurate job of describing how the site works. The site is easy to navigate and has no clutter so that users can get down to business. The search feature is great; you can easily find columns that interest you. Codewit makes sharing information easy and fun.
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Our lives begin to end on the day we become silent about things that matter[as] injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
WASHINGTON – For days, as an oil spill spread in the Gulf of Mexico, BP assured the US Government that the plume was manageable, not catastrophic.
Federal authorities were content to let the company handle the mess while keeping an eye on the operation.
United Stares President Barack Obama
But then government scientists realised the leak was five times larger than they had been led to believe, people were saying it threatened to eclipse the Exxon Valdez disaster, and days of lulling statistics and reassuring words gave way yesterday to an all-hands-on-deck emergency response.
Now questions are sure to be raised about a self-policing system that trusted a commercial operator to take care of its own mishap even as it grew into a menace imperilling Gulf Coast nature and livelihoods from Florida to Texas.
The pivotal point had come on Thursday, at a news conference at an oil research centre in the tiny community of Robert, Louisiana. That’s when Americans learned the earlier estimates were way off, and an additional leak had been found.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama set in motion a larger federal mobilisation, pledging to deploy “every single available resource” to the area and ordering his disaster and environmental leaders to get down there in person.
Only a few days after the Coastguard assured the country there was “ample time” to protect the coast if oil came ashore, warnings from the Government were newly alarming.
“I am frightened for the country, for the environment,” David Kennedy, assistant chief of the National Ocean Service at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said.
“This is a very, very big thing, and the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling.”
The political subtext of the crisis was clear and increasingly on people’s minds, whether from a federal office deploying oil-containment booms or from a Louisiana parish awaiting yet another sucker punch from the sea.
Will this be Obama’s Katrina? Should the federal and state governments have done more, and earlier? Did they learn the lessons of the devastating hurricane?
Political calculations vied with the increasingly scary Gulf reality – hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and its progression to landfall overnight.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who is also in a hot campaign for the Senate, flew over the slick and commended the federal actions to date but wondered if anyone, really, could be doing enough in this situation.
“It appeared to me that this is probably much bigger than we can fathom,” he said.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency yesterday so officials could begin preparing for the oil’s impact.
He said at least 10 wildlife management areas and refuges in his state and neighbouring Mississippi were in the oil plume’s path.
The declaration also noted that billions of dollars had been invested in coastal restoration projects that may be at risk. He also asked the federal Government if he could call up 6000 National Guard troops to help.
The crisis began with a massive explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20, more than 60km off the Louisiana coast. The search for 11 missing workers overshadowed environmental concerns until they were given up for lost.
Rear Admiral Mary Landry, chief of the Coastguard in the region, said at the outset that most of the oil was burning off, leaving only a moderate rainbow sheen on the water and no sign of a major spill.
“Both the industry and the Coastguard have technical experts actively at work,” she said. “So there’s a whole technical team on both sides of the aisle here to ensure we keep the conditions stable.”
Two days later, the Deepwater Horizon sank and crews spotted a massive sheen with a dark centre that appeared to be a crude oil mix. Obama got his first briefing on the accident.
Landry said the following day that no oil appeared to be leaking from a well head at the ocean floor, nor was any leaking noted at the surface.
At the White House, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said sometimes accidents happen, and the loss of the Deepwater Horizon was no reason to back off on the President’s recent decision to support expanded offshore drilling.
Throughout the Government was deferring to BP on what was being done at the site and on assessments of progress.
The Coastguard was not doing its own independent, first-hand assessment of the seabed rupture. Landry repeatedly asserted that BP was the responsible party and would shoulder the costs and organisational duties associated with the cleanup effort while the Coastguard monitored things and approved the numbers of vessels working the scene and the methods of control.
On Tuesday, Landry offered assurances that the Gulf Coast should be safe.
“This is ample time to protect sensitive areas and prepare for cleanup should the oil impact this area,” she said.
And at sea, BP officials were “doing their best”.
On Thursday night, she reported the findings of federal experts that up to 5000 barrels (757,000 litres) a day were leaking from the well. BP had estimated only 1000. What’s more, the company told the Coastguard a new leak had been found. Obama was briefed on these developments on Air Force One while returning at night from the Midwest.
At that rate, the spill could eclipse the worst oil spill in US history – the 275,000 barrels that leaked from the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989 – in the three months it could take to drill a relief well and plug the gushing well 1500m underwater on the sea floor.
The spill could grow much larger than the Valdez because Gulf of Mexico wells typically hold many times more oil than a single tanker.
By yesterday afternoon, the White House had assembled a team of top advisers to showcase the Administration’s determination to head off the damage posed by the oil slick. And Gibbs acknowledged details of the President’s drilling proposal might be revisited, depending on the investigation into the rig explosion and spill.
The equation had changed, like a hurricane setting a new course.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A short-tempered partner may make you feel afraid at times. You just wouldn’t know how he/she would react to certain issues, their response to your feelings, their behavior in case you disagree, if there are differences etc. A short-tempered partner may blow up suddenly and make you feel utterly helpless and confused, as you may not know how to handle the situation or the partner.
He/she may shout at you for simple mistakes, may pick fault with you on minor issues, may feel their temper rising if you disagree, may have a tendency to threaten you by talking of ending the relationship and sometimes may use violence too. Such a partner may be lovable in most aspects but may still make you feel on edge or uncertain or not confident. The partner may cool down sooner and may also apologize for the behavior and accept the mistake. If your partner scolds or shouts at you for silly reasons, does not care if it is a public or private space, insults before friends in his/her state of short temper, do not take it lying down.
He/she may tell you that they cannot handle their anger or temper and may want you to forgive them easily. Do not take this lightly. If you allow this to happen the partner may always use this trick knowing fully well that you will understand his/her condition and excuse it. Let the partner know that you are very much hurt, you do understand the problem but you cannot take it. This may make the partner think twice before throwing the temper on you again. If there are fights or disagreements, a short-tempered partner may use insults or abusive language in a state of anger or rage.
You may find this disagreeable but do not protest or fight at that point. He/she may just lash out at you even more. Bear for a while and then use your tact to set him/her straight. Don’t receive the calls, don’t meet him/her for some days. Tell the partner clearly that you fear this behavior and do not feel safe and comfortable any longer. The partner should better learn to control his/her tongue and temper if he/she genuinely wants the relationship.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A short-tempered partner may make you feel afraid at times. You just wouldn’t know how he/she would react to certain issues, their response to your feelings, their behavior in case you disagree, if there are differences etc. A short-tempered partner may blow up suddenly and make you feel utterly helpless and confused, as you may not know how to handle the situation or the partner.
He/she may shout at you for simple mistakes, may pick fault with you on minor issues, may feel their temper rising if you disagree, may have a tendency to threaten you by talking of ending the relationship and sometimes may use violence too. Such a partner may be lovable in most aspects but may still make you feel on edge or uncertain or not confident. The partner may cool down sooner and may also apologize for the behavior and accept the mistake. If your partner scolds or shouts at you for silly reasons, does not care if it is a public or private space, insults before friends in his/her state of short temper, do not take it lying down.
He/she may tell you that they cannot handle their anger or temper and may want you to forgive them easily. Do not take this lightly. If you allow this to happen the partner may always use this trick knowing fully well that you will understand his/her condition and excuse it. Let the partner know that you are very much hurt, you do understand the problem but you cannot take it. This may make the partner think twice before throwing the temper on you again. If there are fights or disagreements, a short-tempered partner may use insults or abusive language in a state of anger or rage.
You may find this disagreeable but do not protest or fight at that point. He/she may just lash out at you even more. Bear for a while and then use your tact to set him/her straight. Don’t receive the calls, don’t meet him/her for some days. Tell the partner clearly that you fear this behavior and do not feel safe and comfortable any longer. The partner should better learn to control his/her tongue and temper if he/she genuinely wants the relationship.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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