OSOGBO— A middle-aged woman, identified as Mummy Ajimo, and her son, Ajimo, were electrocuted in Abebi area of Oke Baale in Osogbo by a cable felled by the rain, Monday.
The rain we learnt was associated with lightning and thunder that wreaked havoc in some residential areas.
According to reports, the cables of an electric pole in Abebi area fell and sent shocks through the affected buildings during the torrential rain.
The Commissioner of Police in OsunState, Mrs Dorothy Gimba, confirmed the incident, saying the Police Area Commander informed her about the event.
She said that early yesterday, residents, who were scared, including Ajimo, scampered for safety as many of them relocated to avoid contact with the fallen electric cables.
Although the police report identified the deceased woman as Mummy Ajimo, some eyewitnesses identified her as Simiatu Rafiu, who had attempted to escape the danger with her son.
As residents hurried out of the area, Mummy Ajimo took her son, Ajimo, to leave the area but as they made their way out, they stepped on the live electric cable and were electrocuted.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Folashade Odoro, made available a report from one Ishmail Oyebode of Ile Balogun Abe Obi area of Osogbo.
The report read: “There was an electric spark a few hours ago and people living in that area started running out for safety and one Mummy Ajimo and her son ran into the wire and died immediately.”
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 — Office of the First Lady, Monday, said Dame Patience Jonathan’s visit to Germany and other European countries was for routine medical check-up and to visit her ailing mother, saying there was no need for negative insinuations in the media.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the First Lady, Ayo Osinlu, urged Nigerians to develop the habit of praying for their leaders as done in other countries.
According to the statement, “it is unfortunate that again, some media houses have allowed themselves to be used by dedicated mischief makers against the basic tenet of professional journalism, which regards truth as sacred
“For the avoidance of doubts and ambiguities, we wish to state that the First Lady travelled to Dubai, after which she proceeded to Paris, France, to participate in the 1st Green Women Conference, which took place in Paris on March 17, where she received the 2013 Global Women Leaders’ Award for Peace.
“She, thereafter, proceeded to Italy from where she went to Germany to see her mother, Mama Sisi, who is currently receiving medical attention.
“The First Lady is spending sometime overseeing the management of her mother’s condition. She is also using the opportunity to spend quality time with her holidaying children before they return to school, as they are with her to see their grandmother.
“It is notable that Her Excellency has a history of visiting the hospital in Germany even before she became the First Lady, thus making her medical trips routine.
“It is also instructive to state that medical experts have recommended that every human being should undergo medical check-up every six months, even if not suffering ill health.
“Therefore, hospital visitations of our leaders should not become leading media issues or attract disrespectful comments, just as the current circumstances of former President Mandela and other African leaders in similar situations, and even those who died, have not attracted negative comments from their people.”
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.
“The guru is gone. Papa Achebe is gone. Sir, safe journey. Have you seen Ojukwu? Please tell him that his brothers and sisters are experiencing another pogrom in Kano State. What of Awo? If you have come across him, tell him that Nigeria is preparing for another war.
What of the great ZIK of Africa? Please let him know that those things that made him to cross the Atlantic Ocean 50 times seeking for peace is looming again.
Have you seen Yar’Adua? Let him know too; that amnesty, that evil seed is causing wahala in Nigeria, that even some monstrous elements have started asking for it. Tell him that it has even been extended to convicted criminals who looted the nation dry. What of Tafawa Balewa? Don’t fail to let him know that his own scions are now carrying weapons against Nigeria.
Obviously you may not see Abacha, but if you see any one who will see him, tell him that 18 years after his reign, Mustapha is still in Kirikiri, kept by those who have skeletons in their cupboard.
What of MKO? Please, Sir, remember to tell him that another June 12 is looming.
Dear Achebe, who else have you seen since that night you joined your ancestors? Please don’t discuss Nigerian problem with them but just tell them that truly There was a Country, only that Things have Fallen Apart and Nigeria is No Longer at Ease Once again, remind them that the Arrow of God is now pointing at all of us, especially all of them who kept us in this mess. Adieu. The great writer”
Note:
We have all read the tributes of political leaders , academia, socio-cultural groups and public figures. Vanguard, in its usual manner is giving its numerous readers an opportunity to celebrate this icon – the person and life of Chinua Achebe, his legacies and how he has touched their lives- with his works.
Send your tributes to:citizenreport@vanguardngr.com
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.
When I read Charles Novia’s critique of the “music” and movie careers of Tonto Dikeh, I actually felt some parts were a bit over the top. But watching her perform at AY LIVE last Sunday really made me reconsider my judgment of that piece.
Tonto performs on Easter Sunday, at the sold-out AY Live concert. Clad in white panties/bum shorts, a white shirt, a black bowtie and sneakers, she ascended the stage with a retinue of dancers. There was no real attempt at singing as she was busy trying to pull down the shorts which kept riding up her ass and smiling sheepishly at nothing in particular while the disasters of her songs, It’s Ova, Hi and Crazically Fit, belched from the speakers. It was a really cringe-worthy affair and there was that embarrassing shamelessness of someone who doesn’t care about the public’s perception of her actions yet wants them to care about her and revere her. While not the best actress in Nigeria, Tonto is not the worst. No, not by any means. She has also exhibited genuine strains of social responsibility and human empathy as she has donated towards a number of charitable causes in recent times. But why she has chosen to embarrass herself and her fans with a spurious music career is a continuum that has baffled sane people ever since it began. It is not a case of ‘She who the gods want to kill, they first of all make mad.’ No god is involved in this embarrassing sequence. The almighty and benevolent God has already given her a talent which has made her a star in the movies and given her a beautiful space in the Nigerian star-sphere. The problem seems to lie in the proliferation and liberalisation of file sharing, good speech as well as nonsense through the Social Media. Anyone with an internet connection on any device can download music and the number counted including the failed downloads. Then they can proceed to Twitter and with a simple mention reach their subject and massage their ego through base sycophancy. One of such Twitter sycophants woke up one morning and declared that @TONTOLET would win a Grammy soon which she gladly retweeted knowing fully well that she can only win a Grammy awarded by her granny. Then there are Social Media mercenaries who for a fee would keep mentioning a handle or hashtagging anything until it trends. They, like local marabouts, fete whatever is their object until it is lulled into a false sense of fame and acceptability. One of such mercenaries who is on Tonto’s payroll is the persona of @TWEETORACLE – a Twitter character ready to fight into the gutters with some of the most rotten utterances you can encounter in a public place at the slightest provocation yet praise a paid product to the high heavens without either having experienced it – simply advertently misleading the public. Massive download numbers are misleading as they did not tell Tonto the simple truth: ‘People are downloading your song because they want to laugh at you and many will be happy to watch you make a fool of yourself on a stage!’ Thus it happened that she was absent at what would have been her first performance at the Best of Nollywood Awards last year which didn’t bother people because a performance such as hers can only be appreciated in a show like AY LIVE where the excellent comedy situation has already aroused the ironic tendencies of the audience and they would gracefully accept it as the worst joke of the night. Living in a world solely driven by sycophant social-media personas and commentators is the height of a celebrity’s irresponsibility. Some even pay these people by themselves to praise them and term the slightest criticism bad belle or hate. Yet it has been discovered that the highest amount of hatred exhibited on the social media is by fellow celebrity colleagues who hide under ‘anonymous’ to comment hatred on any post of their ‘frenemies’ on blogs and websites. Many have already lamented the tragedy of sacrificing a promising and decent acting career for a descent into musical lunacy but those fanning the embers of this disgrace are the Social Media sycophants who are not equipped to tell the truth. People with one or two followers on Twitter who tweet false praise at celebrities in order to get a retweet or attract followership and the paid mercenaries who advertise bad products and make them to trend are those pushing this beautiful actress to her doom and from being a national embarrassment, she will soon go international.
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.
The Lagos State Police Command today paraded seven suspected armed robbers said to have carried out the robbery attack on the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, last month.
A gang of armed robbers attacked the airport on 13 March, 2013, shot two policemen dead and made away with millions of dollars stolen from the Bureau De Change in the airport. The police recovered from the suspects five AK 47 rifles, four dynamites, 64 AK 47 Magazines, all fully loaded with 30 rounds totaling 1,920 live ammunitions, Toyota Siena Space Bus, with registration number BDG 918 AG, two locally made pistols, two masks and several charms.
The suspects paraded at the Lagos Police Command, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria are Ibikunle Olanrewaju John, Atoba Adeniyi, Ibrahim Abdullahi, Kazeem Aderibigbe, Saheed Adekunle, Christian Joshua and Saheed Okunola. Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, who paraded the suspects, said the gang was the one who attacked the Murtala Muhammed International Airport last month and killed two policemen, saying that the robbers were not based in Lagos, as they were arrested in Osun and Oyo State. “All the suspects confessed to the armed robbery at the MMIA and several other deadly robberies in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Kwara States, such as the Oro First Bank/Union Bank armed robbery in Kwara State in January 2013; First Bank /Wema Bank armed robbery in Ikirun in Osun State in December 2012 and the Bullion Van robbery attack at Odogbolu Junction, on Lagos-Ijebu Ode Expressway in January 2013. “They also confess to the armed robbery attack at the MMIA in February 2012 where about N600 million was carted away. Furthermore, the armed robbers involved in the airport robbery of February 2012 where about N600 million was robbed and the last month MMIA robbery include Teslim Okunola now late, Kazeem Aderibigbe (the middle man that links the armed robbers with the informant), Ibrahim Abdullahi, Emmanuel Ehianeta, Christian Joshua, Saheed Adekunle, Fasasi Jamiu, Ifeanyi Douglas (still at large), Felix Sunday (still at large), among others,” he explained. Manko said investigation was still ongoing with a view to arresting the fleeing suspects soonest.
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.
BEIJING (codewit) – A show of force by U.S. stealth jets over the Korean Peninsula after talk of war by Pyongyang has caused only minor concern in China, a measure of Beijing's belief that the North is to blame for the tensions and that hostilities are not imminent.
The presence of U.S. forces in places like South Korea and Japan has long worried Beijing, feeding its fears that it is being surrounded and "contained" by Washington and its allies, especially following the U.S. strategic pivot to Asia.
The flying of B-2 and F-22 stealth jets in joint exercises with South Korea, bringing U.S. military might virtually to China's doorstep, has barely generated a response from Beijing except for a generic call for calm and restraint.
Last month's announcement that the United States would strengthen its anti-missile defenses due to the North's threats also elicited only relatively mild criticism from China.
"All these new actions from the U.S. side are not targeted at China," said Ni Lexiong, a military expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.
"There is no possible threat to China."
Another well-connected Chinese military expert, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of discussing Chinese defense policy, said China believed the U.S. presence in Korea acted as a necessary restraint on troublesome Pyongyang, hence the lack of criticism from Beijing.
Chinese internet sites are resounding with criticism not of the United States but of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who is derided as "Fatty Kim" or "Fatty The Third", in reference to his father and grandfather, both previous rulers of the pariah state.
Blame is mostly being put on Kim for leading his country to disaster and the region close to war.
"Fatty Kim, while you are playing games, your people are starving to death," wrote one user on the popular Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo, blaming Kim for the chronic food insecurity that years of sanctions and economic mismanagement have bought to North Korea.
But speaking too strongly against North Korea in China can have consequences. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said on Monday that an editor at China's Study Times had been suspended for arguing in the Financial Times that China abandon North Korea.
FRENEMY
Russia, China's giant neighbor to the north and west, also appears to be setting aside its rivalry with the United States When it comes to issues with North Korea.
Moscow has warned that heightened military activity on the Korean Peninsula was slipping into a vicious cycle, but senior Russian Foreign Ministry official Grigory Logvinov told the RIA news agency on Saturday: "At least at this point, we see that the statements (of Washington) are rather restrained. The position of the American side is a bit reassuring".
China has long been accustomed to living with its unpredictable "frenemy" neighbor, a country valued as a bulwark against the United States and feared as a source of dangerous instability.
An online survey begun over the weekend by influential Chinese tabloid the Global Times found that more than 80 percent of respondents did not believe the current situation on the Korean Peninsula was serious.
"It's not the first time North Korea has used such strong language. They often say this. I think they are probably playing a game. It's to do with what sort of person Kim Jong-un is, and his young age," said Jia Qingguo, an international relations professor at the elite Peking University.
"I really don't think they will resort to using their weapons. The possibility is very small."
Retired Major General Luo Yuan, one of China's most outspoken military figures, expressed a degree of sympathy with North Korea in a blog last week, writing that the country was only trying to push the international community to properly guarantee its security and wanted normal ties with Washington.
War was unlikely, Luo added.
"Once the joint U.S.-South Korean exercises have finished and with birthday celebrations for (late founder of North Korea) Kim Il-sung imminent, the temperature will gradually cool and get back to the status quo of no war, no unification," he wrote.
Nevertheless, there has been some criticism in China directed at the United States.
One Chinese military expert, Li Jie, who works for a Chinese navy research institution, told the website of Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily that the B-2 sortie was actually aimed more at China that North Korea.
"The ultimate strategic aim is to contain and blockade China, to distract China's attention and slow its development. What the U.S. is most worried about is the further development of China's economy and military strength," Li said.
The opinion does not seem widely shared, though deciphering the perceptions of China's military top brass is usually difficult.
The People's Liberation Army has, instead of issuing any statements about the Korean peninsula, has in recent days focused its attention on new orders to restrict the use of military license plates on cars, part of a graft crackdown.
"The Chinese people know how to shadow box and know even better about Sun Zi's Art of War, so it (the military) won't make public that which need not be known," the official China New Service said in a commentary about the Korean tensions.
(Additional reporting by Sally Huang; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Monday took an emotional, close-up look at the tomb of Peter, the church's first pontiff, buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said.
By doing so, Francis became the first pontiff to visit the necropolis, where pagans and early Christians were buried, since extensive archaeological excavations were conducted at the ancient site decades ago, the Vatican said.
The 45-minute "visit of devotion to the tomb of St. Peter" was private, the Vatican said, but it later released a video of it.
The basilica was built over the location where early Christians would gather in secret, at a time of persecution in ancient Rome, to pray at an unmarked tomb believed to be that of Peter, the apostle Jesus chose to lead his church.
The Vatican first said Francis would pray at Peter's tomb, but later said he prayed instead in the basilica.
The new pope "paused in silent prayer, in profound and emotional meditation" in the Clementine Chapel in the vast basilica that is "the closest place (in the basilica) to the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles," it said.
During a tour of the necropolis conducted by its director and an Italian cardinal, the pope "climbed up a bit, got closer to the place where the tomb of St. Peter lies, exactly under the central altar and the dome of the basilica," the Vatican said.
Francis walked down the entire main street of the ancient city of the dead, the statement said. The streets of the necropolis are similar to those of ancient Rome, only they are flanked by tombs instead of shops and apartments.
The Vatican said Francis walked to the necropolis entrance from the hotel on the Vatican grounds where he lives, took the tour and later — after paying homage at the tombs of several popes in another underground level known as the grottoes, including Pius XII, Paul VI and John Paul I — strolled back to his residence.
The underground excursion was a sharp departure from how popes in past years often spent the day after Easter, known in Italy as "little Easter." Those pontiffs would head to Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican palace in the Alban Hills, a short drive from Rome.
But that oasis of sprawling gardens and strolling paths in the quaint hill town is occupied by the predecessor of Francis, Benedict XVI, who spent the last hours of his papacy there before becoming the first pope in 600 years to retire. Benedict is staying in Castel Gandolfo until a monastery at the Vatican in Rome can be readied for him.
Many Italians spend "little Easter" by having a picnic lunch in the countryside or in city parks, and Francis told Romans and tourists who gathered in St. Peter's Square at noon Monday to see him to "have a good lunch." Francis said he was praying that Easter would inspire the faithful so that "hatred gives way to love, lies to truth," and that it would especially comfort those in "most need of trust and hope."
He spoke to them from the studio window of the apartment in the Apostolic Palace overlooking the square. Benedict and popes before him lived there, but so far Francis, who stresses simplicity, has declined to move into the quarters.
Instead, he has continued to stay at the Vatican hotel, where, as Buenos Aires archbishop, he stayed with fellow cardinals to elect Benedict's successor. They chose him, Jorge Bergoglio, the first pontiff from South America.
St. Peter's mission was to continue to preach the message of Jesus and reach more souls. Francis, as a Jesuit, is steeped in the evangelizing mission of the church, and the necropolis tour brings him back to the origins of the church in its simplest years as a community of Christians professing their faith in defiance of the crackdown by Roman emperors.
Peter himself was among the Christian martyrs during Nero's reign. He is believed to have been crucified, head down, on the Vatican hill.
Constantine, the first Christian emperor, had an early basilica built on the slopes of the Vatican Hill, burying the pagan and Christian cemetery — necropolis means 'city of the dead' — that surrounded Peter's burial site.
The current basilica, named after St. Peter, was constructed over the earlier basilica that was deemed unsafe and demolished in the late 15th century.
The Baroque master architect Bernini designed the bronze canopy over the central altar over the spot of Peter's burial site. The current basilica was planned as an awe-inspiring monument that would project the image of a powerful church.
Under popes of the last century, extensive excavations were carried out of the sprawling necropolis. In 1965, archaeologists said they had found the bones of Peter in an area near an ancient Greek inscription saying "Peter is here."
Part of a nearby necropolis came to light in 2003 during construction of a parking lot.
A few years ago, the Vatican unveiled the largest and most luxurious of the pagan tombs under St. Peter's Basilica — that of a family of former slaves.
Guided tours of the necropolis, upon appointment, have been one of the most sought-after attractions for tourists to the Vatican.
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.
The latest chapter in lessons of Kim Jong-un's saber-rattling has left us with this: South Korea and U.S. are pretty convinced North Korea isn't that serious about making good on its bellicose threats of war — the propaganda-happy nation wouldn't even fire a potential first shot in any conflict. So why is the U.S. continuing its own show of force by moving a big ole missile destroyer and a mobile-radar station in the direction of North Korea?
"The U.S. Navy is moving at least one warship closer to the North Korean coastline and more may be on the way," CNN's Barbara Starr reported Monday afternoon, adding: "The SBX-1 radar, a sea-based platform with a radar on top, is also on the move." That warship appears to be the USS Fitzgerald, which is being moved to the waters beyond the Korean peninsula. "The USS Fitzgerald is capable of intercepting and destroying a missile, should North Korea decide to fire one off," reports NBC News, which adds that it is "unclear if the Fitzgerald was also part of the ongoing military drills."
The SBX-1 seems like another defensive safety precaution. Here's a quick description of from Naval-Technology.com:
The platform was developed by Boeing, as part of the ground-based midcourse defence (GMD) component of the US Ballistic Missile Defence System (BMDS). The GMD intercepts incoming warheads.
Yes, that's the word "warhead" in that description. (And, no, this has nothing to do with the sequester.) The mobilization of warships doesn't exactly seem to jibe what we've been told of late — that North Korea is puffing its chest up and is largely bluffing about its threats. But the mobilization of warships does match up with the passive-aggressive show of force from the U.S. military, which flew nuclear-capable stealth B-2 bombers over South Korea for the first time in history on Friday to send a message, then flew two F-22 Raptors over South Korea as part of a military exercise on Sunday.
Still, this sounds more like the naval war games following Iranian tough talk last summer, and U.S. officials have suggested that all these planes and ships and deterrents are more of a show of force in reaction to fighting words from the East. "We have no indications at this point that it's anything more than warmongering rhetoric," a senior Washington Defense official told CNN late Friday, and the National Security Council followed up by saying, "we would also note that North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats, and today's announcement follows that familiar pattern." And even though North Korea's month of upping-the-ante rhetoric has culminated of late in the rogue nation saying this weekend that it's back in a "state of war" with South Korea and that the "final warning" has come, Chinese news blog China Smack notes that South Koreans believe Kim Jong-un would not fire the first shot of any potential conflict:
According to leaks by multiple South Korean intelligence personnel on March 31st, although Kim Jong-eun made many high-profile inspections of the armed forces, he internally issued secret commands, ordering North Korean front-line military to maintain high alert and at the same time ensure that they do not fire the first shot. Kim Jong-un emphasized that they not create any opportunity for a “retaliatory strike” by South Korea and America.
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.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Condemned killer Steven Smith's argument for mercy isn't an easy one. Smith acknowledges he intended to sexually assault his girlfriend's 6-month-old daughter but says he never intended to kill the baby.
The girl, Autumn Carter, of Mansfield, died because Smith was too drunk to realize his sexual assault was killing the child, Smith's attorneys planned to tell the Ohio Parole Board on Tuesday. And Ohio law is clear, they say: a death sentence requires an intent to kill the victim.
"The evidence suggests that Autumn's death was a horrible accident," his attorneys, Joseph Wilhelm and Tyson Fleming, said in a written argument prepared for the board.
They continued: "Despite the shocking nature of this crime, Steve's death sentence should be commuted because genuine doubts exist whether he even committed a capital offense."
Smith, 46, was never charged with sexual assault, meaning the jury's only choice was to convict or acquit him of aggravated murder, his attorneys say.
The Richland County prosecutor says Smith continues to hide behind alcohol as an excuse, and calls Smith's actions "the purposeful murder of a helpless baby girl."
Prosecutor James Mayer told the board in his own written statement that the girl's injuries are consistent with a homicide that contradicts Smith's claim he didn't intend to kill the girl.
"The horrific attack upon Autumn Carter showed much more than Smith's stated purpose," Mayer said.
Mayer said Monday he didn't know why Smith wasn't charged with rape, but said it wasn't part of a trial strategy.
The attack happened early in the morning of Sept. 29, 1998, in the Mansfield apartment of the girl's mother, Kaysha Frye, a woman Smith had been dating about six months.
Frye was awakened after 3 a.m. by a naked Smith, who placed Autumn beside her in bed, according to records prepared for the parole board hearing. Frye realized the girl wasn't breathing, told Smith he'd killed her, then ran to a neighbor's house for help.
Smith, known to consume as many as 12 beers a day, had had several beers earlier in the evening and had a blood-alcohol content of .123 — well above the legal limit — when he was tested almost eight hours later, at 11 a.m., records show.
Smith had unsuccessfully tried to have sex with his girlfriend the evening before the attack, according to records. The prosecutor argued that Smith's assault of the girl was revenge for Smith's failure to perform with Frye.
Smith's attorneys dispute this, saying the girlfriend was not upset with Smith.
Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Smith's attack lasted as long as 30 minutes, during which time Smith beat the girl to death.
Expert witnesses for Smith conclude he may have accidentally suffocated the girl within three to five minutes while he lay on top of her, according to Smith's clemency petition.
Smith's attorneys have an uphill battle in their argument because of the "moral repugnancy" surrounding the claim of partial innocence, said Doug Berman, an Ohio State University law professor and death penalty expert.
"But if the lawyers for this defendant can legitimately assert that the evidence doesn't show or support that this was an intentional killing, not only is it appropriate to bring this up at clemency, I think they're obliged, representing their client appropriately, to stress this point," Berman said.
If executed, Smith would become the 51st inmate put to death in Ohio since the state resumed executions in 1999. The state has enough of its lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, to execute Smith and two other inmates before the supply expires. Eight more inmates are scheduled to die from November through mid-2015.
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.
Chuks Okocha writes that a new life may be underway in council administration in some states as the Nigerian Governors’ Forum moves to bring its erring members to order
Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) guarantees elections into the 774 local government areas in the country. The section 7 provides inter alia: “The system of local government by democratically elected council is under this constitution guaranteed and accordingly, the government of every state shall, subject to this section of the constitution, ensure their existence under a law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and function of such councils."
By implication, it states that as there are presidential, states and legislative elections in the national and state assemblies, elections must take place in the councils. Unfortunately, of the 37 states of the federation, only 17 states had conducted elections in their local governments.
Though, the conduct of local government elections in Nigeria has been marred by controversy, the last democratically conducted local government elections that could be said to be generally acceptable by Nigerians were in 1998. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the council polls at that time because the 1999 Constitution, which did not empower the commission to conduct local government elections, had not come into effect.
Under the constitution, it is the sole responsibility of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to conduct council elections in their respective states. But observers noted that the conduct of council polls across the country by INEC in 1999 was understandable, as the SIECs were not yet in place at the time.
Thus, the affairs of local government administration are left in the hands of the state governors, some of whom had chosen to have the local governments administered through the appointment of selected officials in the name of caretaker committee. This, in essence, denies the local government administration credible elections that could have brought governance at the grassroots under elected the officials.
The non-conduct of local government elections by the respective states has therefore remained in many quarters, a constitutional breach in ensuring that there is local government autonomy. This constitutional breach is being perpetuated by governors who stand against the evolvement of local government autonomy.
The inability of the state governors to conduct local government elections as stipulated in the constitution has however remained a sour point in the relationship between the governors under the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF). As such, the secretariat of the forum, in its release of the State Review Peer Mechanism, lampooned 18 states for their inability to conduct local government elections.
In the report, the governors’ forum singled out two states of Anambra and Ekiti for breaching the provisions of the constitution by not conducting the local government elections as at when due.
According to the report, Anambra State is the worst offender because the state has not conducted any local government election since 1998. The last local government elections conducted in the state was in 1998 when INEC conducted council elections across the country as a condition for the registration of political parties.
But the Anambra Governor, Peter Obi, who was elected on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) had the unenviable response of telling his colleague governors that he was unable to conduct the council elections because there was a subsisting court order that restrained him from doing so.
So also is Ekiti which was indicted for not conducting council election. In Ekiti, the last council elections were in 2009 and attempts to conduct new ones had been stopped by the court. The court stopped the conduct of council elections because of a suit challenging the composition of the SIEC in which it held that the membership of the state electoral board was partisan.
The report of the SPRM, therefore, mandated the two states to set up machinery in motion that will hasten the conduct of the council elections. But they are not the only states with such records of not conducting council elections. There are 16 other states that were indicted.
In the South-west, council elections are yet to be conducted in states like Oyo and Osun. In Oyo, the councils are run by caretaker committees, as the last elections in the state were held on December 15, 2008. But with the appointment of new caretaker committees, elections into the third tier in the state are not expected till 2013.
Osun last held local government elections in 2007. So, the councils have been under one form of interim administration or the other since the tenure of the last council administration expired. The permutation is that it may hold again in 2014.
In Ondo, election was held on December 14, 2007 under Olusegun Agagu but the elected officials were later sacked by the incumbent, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
The same is the case in Imo state. On assumption of office, the governor, Rochas Okorocha, dissolved the councils and set up a caretaker committee. No new date has been announced for the conduct of fresh elections in the state.
In Kogi State, the tenure of elected officials elapsed in July 2011 and preparations to conduct fresh polls were in top gear when a court ordered it stopped. Since then, the local governments have been run by caretaker committees and with the subsisting court order, no new date has been fixed for it. Governor Idris Wada, on assumption of office, had set up caretaker committees to administer the councils till such a time an election will be conducted.
Local government polls in Plateau State held last on November 28, 2008 and witnessed a lot of bloodshed. The tenure of the elected officials ran out in January 2012 and management committees were set up in their place. No date has been fixed for the next elections.
Council elections were last conducted in Borno State in 2007. Till date, ad hoc arrangements are what operate in the councils while in Yobe, council elections last held in 2009. Since then, the councils are without elected heads and no date has been fixed for the next elections. Matters were made worse in the state by the present security challenges. Not many would have expected an election, where pupils are out of schools.
In Nasarawa, council elections were last held in 2009 while the next is slated for 2013. As a result, the local government is being run by interim administration. In Kano, the last council polls were in 2009 which expired in 2011 and no date is yet fixed for the new polls.
Abia State last held council elections in January 2008 and when the tenure of the administrators expired in 2010, the governor appointed caretaker committees and had on several occasions, created a timeline for council polls which never held. It is not clear when the next election is expected to hold because the governor, three weeks ago, appointed caretaker committees for the councils. Bayelsa State has just conducted a council election. The last council election was done in 2010 and when the new governor assumed office, he dissolved the council chairmen and conducted his own local government election that was just sworn in.
It has been discovered that the fear of losing control of the local government areas by states that are not in control of the electorate in most cases inform their reluctance to conducting council elections. This is the case with Anambra and Nasarawa States, because of the circumstances the governors emerge. They are not in perfect control of the state as in most cases, the opposition political parties dominate the state assemblies and control the structures.
The Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) has been in the forefront of the campaign for the conduct of council elections because it would aid development and the Millennium Development Goals. President of ALGON, Nwabueze Okafor, once said that if there were local government elections as should be and council autonomy, it would assist the council achieve the goal of vision 20-20-20, the MDG 2015 target and the Sure-P.
“The democratically-elected council members for all the 774 local government councils will bring about rapid development at the grassroots,” he said, asking that the idea of caretaker committees in some states should be suspended forthwith.
Perhaps, with the intervention of the NGF, some of the governors might change their attitude to council administration in the country and conform to the provision of the constitution regarding council administration.
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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