datakiss

I PRAY INEC SHOULD BE EMPOWERED TO CONDUCT LG POLLS

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Senate President David Mark has said the power to conduct local government elections should be taken away from the states’ electoral commission and handed over to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for accountability and independence.<br />
Speaking in an interview at the sidelines of a two-day national delegates conference of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commission of Nigeria (FOSIECON) in Abuja yesterday, Senator Mark who was represented by the chairman, Senate committee on INEC, Andy Uba, said the local government remained the closest level of government to the people and needed to be strengthened.<br />
He was reacting to a question on the recommendation of the just concluded National Conference that the local governments should be expunged from the constitution.<br />
Senator Mark said: “I think what should be done is to give INEC the powers to conduct elections at the grassroots and not the state governors who would appoint who they like to conduct the elections. By so doing, I think, we will have better local government administration.”<br />
While declaring the conference open, the Senate president observed that the “reality on ground is that the local governments are far from people they are meant to serve,” adding “I believe some institutional reforms need to be effected to make them serve their role.”<br />
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Attahiru Jega, who was represented by #INEC Commissioner, Dr. Abdulkadir Oniyangi, said it was important for the state electoral commissions to lessen the burden of the voters in electoral services.<br />
He said the creation of new polling units by INEC was to ease the burden in voting and “has nothing to do with determining the preferences of voters in making electoral choices nor does it confer an electoral advantage on any candidate, party or region in the country.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I also pray God'll take away #<br />corruption in Naija</td></tr>
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I PRAY INEC SHOULD BE EMPOWERED TO CONDUCT LG POLLS

Senate President David Mark has said the power to conduct local government elections should be taken away from the states’ electoral commission and handed over to the Independent National Electoral C…

francisjohnsonofficial@Gmail.com

26 Sep 2014

FG flags off 54th Independence anniversary celebration

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Official activities marking #Nigeria’s 54th Independence anniversary celebrations, beginning on Friday with special prayers at the National Mosque, Abuja, have been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).<br />
This was disclosed to State House Correspondents by the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo.<br />
Maku said the celebrations would be coordinated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.<br />
He added that the #Muslim prayers at the National Mosque would be followed by an inter-denomination #Christian prayer session at the National Christian Centre on Sunday.<br />
Maku said President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday would formally confer national honours at the International Conference Centre as part of the programme marking the anniversary.<br />
“There would be national broadcast by the President on Wednesday, October 1 at 7 a.m., while the ceremonial military Change of Guards would take place at the Presidential Villa by 9.00 a.m.<br />
“Later in the evening of same day, Jonathan would host an Independence Anniversary Dinner at the State House Banquet Hall by 7 p.m.,”, the minister stated.<br />
Justifying the celebrations, Maku said Jonathan’s administration had carried out landmark reforms in various sectors of the economy in the past four years.<br />
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FG flags off 54th Independence anniversary celebration

Official activities marking #Nigeria’s 54th Independence anniversary celebrations, beginning on Friday with special prayers at the National Mosque, Abuja, have been approved by the Federal Executive …

francisjohnsonofficial@Gmail.com

26 Sep 2014

Police Check-piont is a menace to National Security

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Many years before Mr. M.D. Abubakar came into the scene as the substantive inspector general of police; there were police check-points on the nation high-ways. On assumptions of office, the check-points suddenly disappeared. And now unfortunately, having retired after serving the nation meritoriously for 35 years; the checkpoints have all return back! What’s going on? And what was the root cause of this unpopular policy reversal?<br />
If the #check-points were returned back because of insecurity in the country, very few Nigerians will agree with that line of thinking, because of the very minimal value and benefit they added in that direction and bitter experience of the past.<br />
Many #atrocities committed at check-points are still fresh in our memory, and only an infinitesimally small percentage will forget in a hurry how notorious the check-points have all turn out to be, given the many cases of accidental discharges; avoidable accidents, unnecessary time wastage and forceful collections of ‘money for the boys’!<br />
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Indeed, daily collections of bribes were carried out openly without any modicum of shame. And God help a motorist who carry overload or fail to update his particulars. Thus, the purpose for which check-points were set up initially to serve as bulwark against crime via security surveillance was defeated.<br />
So, realizing how these check-points practically became source of embarrassment and nuisance to the nation might strongly be the sole reason why, the former police boss, M.D. Abubakar made up his mind to do away with them. And it worked perfectly well. Indeed, that singular action drew huge accolades from many people.<br />
It’s indeed a source of worry that since the departure of the former I.G., motorist flying the nation high ways can notice new hype among police competing among themselves in setting up new check-points in many places now a days. Take for example, Kano to Zaria road where we now have more than 7 Police extorting centers spread strategically along the road!! A normal journey that used to take one and half hour from Kano to Zaria now takes a minimum of two and half ours as a result of those ubiquitous check-points. What a waste of time!<br />
It also remains true; whether the new Police boss Mr. Suleiman Abba is aware of these unfortunate developments or not that the generality of the populace are yearning for a return to the status-quo ante. Let those so-called police check points that sprang up moment after the new Inspector general of police assume office be dismantle to allow for free movements of goods and services!<br />
Their nuisance values by far, outweighed their benefit if any to the people. And the fact that the key to crime bursting and practical solution to the insecurity problem bedeviling the country still remain Intelligence gathering, not the current hype in returning police check-points that are mere extorting centers and a negative image maker to the #police force!<img src="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10369976_639411629506061_4228269323014865558_n.jpg?oh=b7516010447692533be822d33240eef4&oe=548BF558" /><br />
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ettefreeguy</div>

Police Check-piont is a menace to National Security

Many years before Mr. M.D. Abubakar came into the scene as the substantive inspector general of police; there were police check-points on the nation high-ways. On assumptions of office, the check-poi…

francisjohnsonofficial@Gmail.com

26 Sep 2014

A Female Lawyer executed in Irag

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#BAGHDAD —A female #human rights lawyer in the northern city of Mosul was executed by firing squad at the orders of Islamic State extremists, activists said Thursday, sparking international outrage. But she was not the first to suffer such a fate in a city where the militants’ rule is increasingly oppressive — especially for women.<br />
Samira al-Nuaimy, known locally for her pro bono legal and humanitarian work, was executed last week, according to rights activists and residents. The United Nations said that she was killed in a public square and that her body showed signs of torture when it was returned to her family.<br />
Since seizing controlof the Iraqi city in June, the Islamic State has expelled religious  minoritiesand steadily stepped up its oppression of those who remain.<br />
New rules ban women from working in jobs other than health care and education, where they are deemed necessary to treat and teach other females.<br />
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A regulation requiring all women to fully veil their faces was initially unenforced. But now, breaking that rule can trigger heavy penalties, including beatings.<br />
#Women such as Nuaimy, who refuse to submit to the militants, risk losing their lives.<br />
“Samira was not the first,” said Suha Oda, a 29-year-old social activist from Mosul who has moved to the Kurdish-administered area nearby but monitors human rights issues in the city. Four women have suffered a similar fate over the past month, she said, including three doctors who were executed last week. Iraqi media reports said the women had been killed because they refused to treat a wounded Islamic State fighter.<br />
A female politician also is believed to have been killed, but militants have refused to return the body to her family, Oda said.<br />
#Professional and educated women have been a particular target, rights groups say, with women who took part in #parliamentary  electionsthis year especially at risk.<br />
“This horrifying public execution of a courageous woman whose only weapons were the words she used in defense of the human rights of otherslays bare the bankrupt ideology of ISIL and its affiliates,” said the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Raad al-<br />
Hussein, using an acronym for the Islamic State.<br />
Working as a human rights lawyer in Iraq has never been easy; for decades Saddam Hussein ran a rigidly authoritarian system.<br />
In the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, advocates and judges were targeted for their work at a time of widespread sectarian bloodshed.<br />
The #Islamic State did not publicly acknowledge Nuaimy’s killing, but U.N. officials said a sharia court had sentenced her to death for apostasy — or abandoning the faith.<br />
Nuaimy had sought to run in the elections but did not end up competing, Oda said. The lawyer had spoken out on her #Facebook page against the militants’ destruction of historic sites, the U.N. office for human rights said. The Islamic State has blown up ancient tombs, ripped down<br />
statues and destroyed Shiite mosques — which it considers idolatrous or heretical under its extreme interpretation of Islam.<br />
“She refused the terrorists and Daesh,” Oda said, using the Arabic acronym for the group.<br />
While U.N. officials said the execution was public, Oda and several Mosul residents questioned whether it took place in the open.<br />
When the extremist group publicly executed a man this month on an accusation of sorcery, pictures of the killing were circulated online.<br />
In Nuaimy’s case, no pictures appeared.<br />
Initially, there were doubts about reports of Nuaimy’s killing, especially after the Gulf Center for Human Rights, a regional group, mistakenly posted with its release on the case a picture of a writer based in the United Arab #Emirates.<br />
But Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. human rights commissioner, said the agency had done extensive research into the killing. “Our United Nations human rights staff in Iraq knew her well,” he said.<br />
While public executions are still not common in Mosul, in<br />
the Syrian city of Raqqah, the<br />
de facto capital of the territory seized by the Islamic State, the group has carried out numerous public beheadings and crucifixions. In one particularly gruesome episode, the heads of slain Iraqi soldiers were displayed on spikes around the city.<br />
In Mosul, as in Raqqah, the Islamic State had initially taken a softer approach, apparently to avoid alienating the population. But the group’s sharia courts now mete out increasingly harsh punishments, residents say.<br />
Oda says a Mosul friend left the house without her hands covered and was punished by having them beaten with a stick by the Hisba — an Islamic State unit tasked with ensuring that the populace adheres to the militant group’s strict rules, such as women covering all flesh in public.<br />
“They are finished with the minorities,” said Hanna Edward, a prominent Iraqi women’s rights activist, referring to the group’s expulsion of people with different religious or ethnic backgrounds. “Now they are turning their focus on the people living there, and the women.”<br />
Mustafa Salim, the person that contributes to this report.<br />
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Published by ettefreeguy<br />
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A Female Lawyer executed in Irag

#BAGHDAD —A female #human rights lawyer in the northern city of Mosul was executed by firing squad at the orders of Islamic State extremists, activists said Thursday, sparking international outrage. …

francisjohnsonofficial@Gmail.com

26 Sep 2014

The World Religious Peace summit is Active

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The World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Summit, which held from September 17 -19, 2014 in Seoul, was an event that opened a new chapter in the peace movement worldwide.<br />
Theme of the event was “The Enactment of an International Law for the Cessation of Wars and Legacy of Peace and the World Alliance of Religions.”<br />
This summit was groundbreaking in the sense that it presented; “the World Alliance of Religions” as a concrete proposition for realizing the cessation of wars and world peace.<br />
The event presented a platform for realising peace worldwide – first is to sign the Unity of Religions Agreement, and the second is to present the Agreement to Propose the Enactment of an International Law for the Cessation of Wars and encourage political and religious leaders around the world to participate.<br />
The WARP Summit was hosted by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL, Chairman Man Hee Lee), which is a purely non-governmental organization, and it was attended by more than 50 former and current heads of state including presidents, vice presidents, and prime ministers from all around the world.<br />
Stjepan Mesic (former President of Croatia and former President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia), who was among the attendees, said, “This occasion where the heads of state and religious leaders came together for peace is unprecedented. Mr. Man Hee Lee’s idea is really amazing and excellent. This wonderful event will definitely play a positive role in bringing wars to an end and achieving world peace.”<br />
The fact that over 680 religious leaders from 120 countries agreed on the idea of “the World Alliance of Religions” and that they came to the Republic of Korea all the way from foreign countries has a significant meaning in the history of religions. Giani Gurbachan Singh, Jathedar of the Akal Takht, emphasized in his speech at the opening ceremony that; “All scriptures are telling us that religions must unite. A religious leader who speaks of division and conflict is not a religious leader.”<br />
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The WARP Summit was actively supported by people from all walks of life. Since young people are the biggest victims of war, it is natural that over 600 representatives and members of youth organizations in 139 countries attended the event.<br />
Also, women—whose sons and husbands participate in war—actively participated in the WARP Summit. The fact that women organizations, including the International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG, Chairwoman Nam Hee Kim), played a key role in the event was enthusiastically received by the foreign press.<br />
An anchorman of a famous broadcasting station, said, “I have often heard of the peace movement of Mr. Man Hee Lee, so I came to this event. The message that he delivered to the heads of state and religious leaders around the world for the cessation of wars and the achievement of world peace was impressive. The message of Ms. Nam Hee Kim saying that women are working together for world peace in the spirit of motherly love in order to protect children really touched my heart.”<br />
On the first day of the WARP Summit, the opening ceremony was held at Seoul Olympic Stadium. The event was attended by approximately 200,000 people both inside and outside of the stadium, establishing itself as the biggest event ever for peace. The Card Section performance by 12,000 members of the youth organizations presented a spectacular view and delivered the message of peace to the whole world.<br />
On-ground performances expressing the wish for peace also left an unforgettable impression on the attendees.<br />
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At the opening ceremony, a congratulatory video message from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the spiritual leader of South Africa and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, attracted much attention.<br />
In his message, he said, “I would like to congratulated both Chairman Man Hee Lee and the members of HWPL for hosting the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace Summit. Thank you for delivering the message of peace and the cessation of wars to the whole world.”<br />
The second day of the WARP Summit, religious leaders proclaimed they will transcend religion and denomination and embark upon the establishment of the unity of religions in order to bring about world peace. Twelve religious leaders, including Antonio Ledesma (Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, Philippines), Swami Chidanand Saraswati (the president of Parmarth Niketan Ashram), Martin De Jesus Barahona (Bishop of the Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador), and Giani Gurbachan Singh (Jathedar of the Akal Takht), participated in the signing ceremony of the Unity of Religions Agreement.<br />
Through this agreement, they declared to work with people all around the world to realize world peace through the unity of religions, saying, “All religions must unite as one under the name of God.”<br />
Representatives from different nations gave speeches under the theme of “Religious Conflicts and World Peace” on that day. The event was attended by heads of state, ambassadors, and other dignitaries. Five group sessions also took place that afternoon to encourage participants to share methods of cooperation to achieve the cessation of wars and world peace. Representatives from each nation including political and religious leaders, prime ministers, and chief justices attended the various sessions.<br />
The Agreement to propose the Enactment of an International Law was declared along with Unity of Religions Agreement, and political leaders and government officials of the world pledged to be on the frontlines of spreading the necessity of enacting an international law to bring cessation of wars.<br />
On the last day of the event, a total of 200,000 people, including the participants of the Summit, the members of youth and women’s groups, and local citizens, participated in the Walk for World Peace near Seoul Olympic Park.<br />
This event, hosted by the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), commemorated the huge success of the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace Summit, attended by about 600 members from youth and women groups representing organizations in 139 countries.<br />
Mr. Man Hee Lee, the chairman of HWPL, emphasized the realization of the cessation of wars and world peace through the unity of religions in numerous meetings with the media. This was stressed in a press conference with foreign media that took place on the day before the opening ceremony.<br />
Another press conference with national and international reporters was held at the conclusion of the Summit on the 19th. Mr. Lee said that through the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace Summit, “The wars within humanity can be avoided by the determination in our hearts, and we can accomplish a world of peace to leave as a legacy for our future generations.”<br />
He also brought attention to the role of those of faith, the religious people, for this purpose. Mr. Lee also encouraged the media from different countries of the world to frequently report on the peace agreement signed at the Peace Summit.</div>

The World Religious Peace summit is Active

The World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Summit, which held from September 17 -19, 2014 in Seoul, was an event that opened a new chapter in the peace movement worldwide. Theme of the event was “…

francisjohnsonofficial@Gmail.com

26 Sep 2014

Why its best to pay a Bride Price

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The average Nigerian wedding today takes four phases basically, which obviously does not mean getting married four different times to four different persons, but to the same person in four different ways, as dictated by religion, culture, tradition, and civil law.<br />
In Efik/Ibibio Land, the Introduction Ceremony (nkong udok or mbub) is the First Phase. Families of the intending couple formally meet for acquaintances and assert their consent to the proposed marriage. Some are done in a living room setting with strictly the nuclear or immediate extended families in attendance, and for some others, only the paying of Bride Price separates this from the proper engagement ceremony. During many introductions these days, the groom and his friends humbly bow severally to the bride’s family (signifying a plea to marry their daughter), intending couple cuts the cake, spokespersons usually referred to“Ada-Ibuot ke ufok” representing the bride’s family and “Akpan ibuot ufok” standing for the groom’s side are used, gifts such as fruits, wine and drinks are exchanged and so on.)<br />
The Second Phase is called The Traditional Wedding i.e. The Engagement, which showcases the couple in their traditional attire; with virtually a replication of all that had occurred during the Introduction, paying the Bride Price and all other dues, and also bringing Engagement Items as demanded by the Bride’s Family e.g. 42 Tubers of Yam, Kolanut, Bitter Kola, Wine, Luggage Box (definitely not an empty one), Bags of Salt, Sugar and Honey, to mention a few. These are all meant to be warmly received by the Bride’s Family.<br />
Surprisingly, a recent wind of returning the Bride Price to the groom’s family has swept across the land; in the light of not selling the Bride (I wonder where this unstylish vogue came from). Bride Price is slowly but surely becoming alien and unwelcome in the 21st century, because the practice is misconstrued as such a dehumanizing practice to women, especially from a Western philosophical point of view. Parents perceive that their daughters are being maltreated by wicked husbands on the excuse that they have been paid for, like a “commodity”.<br />
And while many blame this derision on families that take advantage of the Bride Price to make outrageous demands, others believe that how a man treats his woman may not necessarily depend on whether or not he paid her Bride Price, but greatly on his personality. Saying men maltreat their wives because they paid their Bride Price is like saying the expensive diamond engagement rings also produce women-beaters in the West. Jacob served 14 years as a Price to marry Rachel; a “Bride Service” that portrayed the value he placed on her – which is what the token called Bride Price is all about.<br />
In this contemporary era, it appears many are not aware that the Bride Price serves to protect the marriage from dissolution. It is NOT degrading to women and does not reduce them to slaves; not in any way tantamount to making a man feel like a slave master who owns a slave he has paid for. In actual fact, Bride Price is an instrument to ratify a marriage. It is one of the highest honours confirming a bride’s value and womanhood; giving a husband the full rights to the sexual, economic, or procreative powers of his wife. It fosters a friendly relationship between the two families; providing a material pledge that the woman and her children will be well treated and a level of compensation to her natal family for the loss of her company and labour.<br />
It is most often a matter of social, cultural, symbolic and economic reciprocity, being part of a long series of exchanges between the families. A symbol of sincerity and good faith connected with a woman’s reputation and esteem in the community. A token that highlights a degree of commitment and chivalry in a man and shows he does not only value his bride, but also holds a high regard for her family. No amount of money can buy a wife; her value is inestimable in human terms. No man can pay for all the input of those who raised a good woman and all the benefits she brings; her love, care, help and companionship far outweigh any monetary value. A Bride Price is a humble demonstration of appreciation, honour and respect to the bride’s family for all the work they put into raising/training “this” gift from God and returning it seems utterly disrespectful to the groom and his entire family.Where a man’s treasure is, his heart will be also; paying the Bride Price of a woman symbolises that a man has kept his treasure (money from his sweat) where his heart belongs.<br />
Needful to say, in some cultures, a marriage is not reckoned to have ended until the return of Bride Price has been acknowledged, signifying divorce. When a woman intends to leave her husband, she is expected to return the goods initially paid to her family. So before you decide to return the Bride Price on your daughter’s wedding day, consider that this is often done when a marriage is to be dissolved. Bride Price is our heritage; a genuine and deep-rooted customary practice that makes marriages more meaningful and prevents the despicable way of life where wives are extremely easy to find like stones, and equally easy to dispose of, like tissue paper.<br />
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The Court Wedding is the Third Phase: This is the only form of wedding recognized by law; a legal licence for a woman to take up her man’s name and officially become“oyoho awan”(Legal Wife). This, in most cases, is only attended by direct relations and some friends. But if the couple intends to skip Phase Four, this might be the “big deal”.Phase Four happens in The Church: This is the one all the other three above eventually lead to. No thanks to Cinderella,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Aladdin, Anastasia and all the fairy-tale cartoons that have stirred the fantasies of many little girls of someday marrying a Prince in a Castle garbed in a flowing white dress, with all the shimmering splendour all over them. This is where a minister claims to represent God and joins the two together in matrimony by a Holy Ordinance. As many believe, this phase of the wedding takes place before God and Man, and the couple’s name is written in the Heaven Book of Marriages (I have absolutely nothing to prove that that book exists).<br />
Some centuries back, on the engagement night, the man and his new bride go into a special room already prepared with a new sparkling white spread on the bed for him to “know” her for the first time. After the “knowing”, he presents the white bedspread to representatives of both families waiting to see the result. A bloodstained bedspread signifies he “met her at home”, which brings immeasurable joy and pride to the couple and their families. Otherwise, shame and despair, a stigma that never lifts from a home where such occurs.<br />
King Solomon wrote about this in his Songs: “We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a “wall”, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a “door”, we will in close her with boards of cedar.”<br />
A positive result was always a thing to celebrate. Every lady guarded her pride with all diligence and kept it for the man who truly deserves and earns it – by prostrating and paying the (Bride) Price. Men were confident that their time, efforts and resources were not going into “baskets”. And I am sure God did bless those marriages, even though they didn’t wear black suits and white dresses to religious houses or courts to be joined.<br />
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Recently, a preacher said to a couple:“… hope you don’t think marriage has occurred after your traditional wedding? Until you both appear on the altar for blessings, God does not recognize your marriage.”<br />
While some believe God only approves unions that take place in His House(s), many others feel strongly disheartened that we have extolled the foreign ways of getting married and undermined ours by saying God doesn’t recognize them. It was not recorded that Father Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or any of our biblical forebears were joined to their wives in a temple; they only sought the consent of their wives’ families, like today’s engagement ceremony, and they were married. The controversy stands, however, that the formal ways of marriage (Religious and Court) came from the Western world, and their high record of dismal state of marriages is a reason good enough for us to hold on to our traditions instead of discarding them. After all, nothing makes our parents’ blessings during the traditional wedding inferior to the ones we get from other people on the other platforms.<br />
Chastity keeps going bananas and frivolity is dressed up like a norm.Though everyone has the right to choose how (s) heweds, but disdaining our wedding culture appears to have done more harm than good. Nothing checks anymore, unlike the “dark” age, where every lady had in her subconscious the day she will face the world to be declared either awallor adoor. These days, indecency is curbed when the ushers give the confetti ladies scarves to cover their hot legs and save ourbelovedfrom seeing “misleading” visions, but the real indecency is what happens when no one is watching. You can spend eternity covering the body from men, but how successful can you be covering the heart from God? And I sincerely hope nobody thinks this encourages nudity.<br />
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It is also alarming and heart-breaking, how some families end up wallowing in debts to satisfy the pressure of having to do these four different ceremonies for the singular purpose of being referred to as Mr and Mrs, especially when they cannot afford it. While we all want the glory, glamour and glide that come with elaborate and multiple wedding ceremonies, I strongly believe God expects us to cut our coat according to our cloth. When less emphasis is placed on showing off and impressing people who don’t even give a monkey what you eat the next day, you sign up for a more comfortable and convenient life. Consciously sticking to affordable budgets supersedes giving in to the selfish interests of anyone who doesn’t even love you enough to make sure life is bearable for you after you say the inevitable “I do”. Be it religious, legal or traditional, the wedding is only an ignition, and marriage is the journey to the destination of a fulfilled life. The fact that some marriages go down the drain shortly after an earthshaking wedding ceremony proves the married life deserves more dedicated attention and input than the wedding day. Extolling weddings over marriages is like spending lavishly on house warming when you have not even bought a piece of land, let alone lay a foundation.<br />
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build, and was not able to finish.”<br />
Spend more time, money and other resources on building marriage – the life you live together after the wedding day(s).Greater is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof…<br />
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Thanks... Published by ettefreeguy.</div>

Why its best to pay a Bride Price

The average Nigerian wedding today takes four phases basically, which obviously does not mean getting married four different times to four different persons, but to the same person in four different …

francisjohnsonofficial@Gmail.com

26 Sep 2014

America should be blamed for manufacturing Ebola virus in their laboratory

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Last week, President Obama announcedan ambitious — and expensive — plan that effectively placed the U.S. military at the forefront of the global fight against the worst Ebola outbreak in history. In an effort that could cost as much as $750 million in the next six months, he assigned up to 3,000 military personnel to West Africa to “combat and contain” what officials call “an extraordinarily serious epidemic.”<br />
As those military doctors and officials begin what will be a difficult task, among the challenges they face are rumors that spread fear — fear of Ebola, fear of quarantine measures and fear of doctors. Already, several medical workers have been  murderedin Guinea — throats slit, bodies dumped in a latrine. Then six Red Cross volunteers were  attackedearlier this week while they tried to collect the body of an Ebola victim.<br />
And now, in what may plant further seeds of mistrust and suspicion, a major Liberian newspaper, the Daily Observer, has  published an articleby a Liberian-born faculty member of a U.S. university implying the epidemic is the result of bioterrorism experiments conducted by the United States Department of Defense, among others.<br />
And while some commenting on the article were critical, the number who praised it was telling. “They are using” Ebola, wrote one, “for culling the world population mainly Africa for the…purpose of gaining control of the Africans resources criminally.”<br />
The piece purports to describe scientific findings from various “reports,” which are not cited in detail, and even references the bestselling thriller, “The Hot Zone.”<br />
“Reports narrate stories of the US Department of Defense (DoD) funding Ebola trials on humans, trials which started just weeks before the Ebola outbreak in Guinea and Sierra Leone,” wrote Delaware State University associate professor Cyril  Broderick.<br />
Under the headline, “Ebola, AIDS Manufactured by Western Pharmaceuticals, US DoD?”, it says: “the U.S., Canada, France, and the U.K. are all implicated in the detestable and devilish deeds that these Ebola tests are. There is a need to pursue criminal and civil redress for damages.”<br />
Worse, in the same breath, the semi-intelligible article suggests groups trying to stop the epidemic — Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders — are all somehow in on it. The piece puts them on a list of those “implicated in selecting and enticing African countries to participate in the testing events.”<br />
Broderick, who is  listed as an associate  professorin the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Delaware State University, defended his article in a brief interview with The Washington Post. “There are many references to what was contained in my letter,” he said. “You may read the letter and double-check the sources listed. They are available and legitimate.”<br />
But are they? Broderick drew on research published in severalconspiracy Web sites, including Global Research and Liberty Beacon. He discussed a 1996 book called “Emerging Viruses: AIDS & Ebola — Nature, Accident or Intentional?,” written by a man who  called  himself a “humanitarian, clinician, prophet, scholar and natural healer.” One of Broderick’s sources  claimed Tulane University, which once workedon test kits for hemorrhagic fever in West Africa, has “been active in the African areas where Ebola is said to have broken out in 2014.”<br />
“Ebola has a terrible history, and testing has been secretly taking place in Africa,”  Broderick wrote, going on to praise the famous Ebola account “The Hot Zone” as “heart-rending,” but written “to be politically correct.”<br />
Broderick declined to answer whether he is concerned his article, published in Liberia’s Ebola-devastated capital, would convince locals that Western doctors are trying to harm them. “I refer you to the articles and reports published,” he said. “I hope you can understand them. They are unambiguous. I am happy that our government has taken the lead in counteracting the infection to curtail the infections and death.”<br />
His claims represent a pervasive, pernicious and crippling problem facing the fight against Ebola: misinformation. Across Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the CDC fears Ebola could eventually infect 1.4 million people, there is such distrust of the medical community that some don’t even think Ebola exists.<br />
Some in West Africa, reported the Economist, “fear that the government wants to sell the blood of Ebola patients, or that it will remove patients’ limbs for ritual purposes. Others think health workers will inject them with Ebola; or that the ubiquitous chlorine disinfectant spray will give them the disease; or simply the virus is an invention to help the government bring in donations.”<br />
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Broderick’s article played on those fears — and attempted to substantiate them. By drawing from conspiracy-obsessed American sources — one of which said the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were planned by the American elite — its author took rumors circulating in the United States and injected them squarely into the most Ebola-ravaged place on Earth.<br />
Such rumors are “commonplace” in Liberia’s capital, accordingto Ramen IR, an international affairs blog: “They become strengthened through mass dissemination and the credibility gained through publication. The public is then mobilized through misinformation. This tendency is especially high in post-conflict zone like Liberia, where the 14-year civil war still fills the country with memories of violence distrust.”<br />
“Unfortunately,” Ramen IR wrote, “articles like Dr. Broderick’s commonly circulate in Liberia’s local media.”<br />
Many readers of the article were equally critical of Broderick’s reasoning. “These are the kinds of publications which are going to do more harm to our fight against Ebola than good,” one said. “Dr. Broderick could have waited till this thing was contained before publishing his speculations. Dr. Broderick has inadvertently placed an anti-Ebola weapon in the hands of ebola skeptics!”<br />
Said another: “My God, this is why Liberians will continue to die, they can believe every half wit who writes with a dictionary and a cut and paste right click of the mouse. Dr. Broderick, I felt sorry for you but I am angry, amazed, and totally shocked at your ignorance.”<br />
“It does not take research to discover this professor is a crack pot,” wrote another.<br />
But see also: “This paper is creating awareness so that African will refuse any vacination as a biogun that they manufacture and use as a weapon of mass destruction only to anihilate African race.”<br />
And, “aids and ebola are perfect examples of recent forays into the germ warefare research the US is pursuing.”<br />
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America should be blamed for manufacturing Ebola virus in their laboratory

Last week, President Obama announcedan ambitious — and expensive — plan that effectively placed the U.S. military at the forefront of the global fight against the worst Ebola outbreak in history. In …

francisjohnsonofficial@Gmail.com

26 Sep 2014

Space enthusiast says he's spotted 'traffic signal' in Mars

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In the past, many strange-looking objects have been spotted in the images of Mars captured by Curiosity as well as Opportunity rover.<br />
LONDON: A British space enthusiast claims to have spotted a 'traffic signal' in a photo of the red planet taken by Nasa''s Curiosity Mars rover.<br />
The extraterrestrial "signal" was spotted by Joe Smith, 45, in an image shot from the six-foot-high left hand side mast cam on the Curiosity Rover last Thursday.<br />
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Smith, from Bristol, noticed a chunk of rock in the corner of the picture which looks bizarrely like a traffic signal.<br />
"I have been following the images from Nasa since the start and I flick through them on the Nasa website every day," Smith was quoted as saying by the 'Western Daily Press'.<br />
"I saw this one and I thought 'hang on, that looks a bit strange'. I think it looks like a traffic light.<br />
"It is hard to tell how big it would be without any point of reference, but I would estimate it was about 12 inches.<br />
"I posted it on the internet and people said they thought it looked like a set of traffic lights too, although some people did say it looked like a totem pole," Smith said.<br />
In the past, many strange-looking objects have been spotted in the images of Mars captured by Curiosity as well as Opportunity rover. The objects which resembled a jelly doughnut, a rat and a thigh bone were later found to be rocks.</div>

Space enthusiast says he's spotted 'traffic signal' in Mars

In the past, many strange-looking objects have been spotted in the images of Mars captured by Curiosity as well as Opportunity rover. LONDON: A British space enthusiast claims to have spotted a 'traf…

francisjohnsonofficial@Gmail.com

26 Sep 2014

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