President Jonathan In London Clinic Over Intestinal Problems; Babangida’s Leg Disease Worsens!

President Jonathan and Wife

An intestinal problem has forced President Jonathan to cancel a planned surprise visit to the Super Eagles in South Africa, medical sources in London said today.
The Nigeria president, who is on a whirlwind three-nation trip to Egypt, the United Kingdom and France, had planned to surprise the Super Eagles in South Africa following their qualification for the final of the African Cup of Nations last Wednesday.

 London Clinic on Harley Street

However, in London Mr. Jonathan came down with an intestinal disorder referred to as Amoebic Colitis and he underwent testing at the London Clinic on Harley Street.  The clinic is highly favoured by Nigeria’s rich and powerful.
A medical source told newsmen that Mr. Jonathan's situation is not worrisome but that the persistent nature of the condition meant the president had to undergo some screenings.  It was not clear why he did not undertake the screenings in Abuja, where State House has an excellent clinic manned by a largely idle staff.

former Nigerian Military Head of State Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida

Meanwhile, former Nigerian military Head of state Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida was also sighted at the InterContinental Hotel in London limping on one leg. Mr. Babangida was helped into a vehicle by two aides on his way to a hospital in the city.


                               

Continental Hotel London

                                      

It was not clear if President Jonathan previously knew of Babangida's stay at the same hotel but the two met briefly as Babangida struggled to get to his car.

Mr. Jonathan is expected to arrive in France on Monday, according to his itinerary, but it is unclear if his health issue will force a change.  Mr. Jonathan’s wife, Patience, last month returned to hospital in Germany following new health concerns.  
The president has detailed the Senate President, David Mark, to cheer on the Super Eagles to victory in their final match against Burkina Faso tomorrow.
A presidency source said the President plans a massive reception for the Super Eagles in Abuja on Tuesday night.
Following decades of irresponsible management of the Nigerian economy, including failure to develop the health sector, Nigeria’s leaders and their families routinely hurry off to the developed world to squander valuable foreign exchange even on minor health procedures.
Two years ago, Babangida’s wife died in a hospital in California.  Prior to that, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s wife died in a hospital in Spain.

Word for the Day: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” ― Mark Twain

South Korean doctors killed in Nigeria!

Three South Korean doctors have been killed in a pre-dawn attack in Nigeria's northeastern town of Potiskum, police say.

The motive of Sunday's attack was not immediately clear, but a security source said that preliminary reports suggested it was a robbery that resulted in the medics' deaths. Yobe State police commissioner Sanusi Rufai initially said the victims were Chinese. "Unknown attackers scaled over the fence of an apartment in Potiskum housing three Chinese doctors around 1am and slit their throats. No arrest has been made," he told the AFP news agency on Sunday. Residents said the dead were employees of the state ministry of health and had been living in the volatile city for one year. Nine health workers who were administering polio vaccinations were shot dead in the northern city of Kano on Friday. Kano, Nigeria's second largest city, has been regularly targeted by Boko Haram, an armed group which has condemned the use of Western medicine. The group is also active in Potiskum, where Sunday's killings happened, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killings. "It is still premature to point any accusing fingers but we have commenced investigation to unravel the killings," Rufai said.

culled from Al Jazeera

Word for the Day:  “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

Court file: LA ex-cop was disturbed, self-obsessed!

A photo never tells the whole story, and that's especially true for Christopher Dorner. The images on his Facebook page are essentially the same: Dorner, smiling, seemingly loving life and all it offers.

But they accompany a rambling document where he portrays himself as a real-life Rambo, an expert in weapons, explosives and military tactics who will stop at nothing to avenge his 2008 firing from the Los Angeles Police Department.

It's incongruous and it underscores the complexity of the man who now is the most wanted in America, accused of killing three people as he carries out his vendetta.

Where Dorner sees himself as a warrior, others see someone much different. The 6-foot, 270-pounder is a physical hulk who — despite his size — seemed to battle deep-seated insecurities, lived with his mother and cracked under the pressures of police work.

Court and police files show that Dorner once began weeping while on duty in a patrol car, awkwardly flashed his police badge on a first date and told a girlfriend he kept his emotions bottled up.

Those who study the psyches of criminals said Dorner's aggressive and self-aggrandizing rant indicates a classic case of malignant narcissist personality disorder. Some people with the disorder are extremely thin-skinned and vengeful, said Mary Ellen O'Toole, a retired FBI profiler.

They may seem insecure, she said, but in reality their rages — and even tears — are extreme reactions to real or imagined criticisms because they have such grandiose visions of themselves.

"He's putting in his manifesto that he's going to use all the training he received as an LAPD officer and as a military officer to basically hold Southern California hostage, and to be there when you least expect it," she said. "Is he deadly? Yes. Of course he has killed people."

"But is he capable of taking on some 1,000 officers looking for him? That's someone with a personality disorder," she said.

Dorner, 33, is accused of killing a woman last weekend whose father had represented him as he fought to keep his police job, and the woman's fiance. On Thursday, police say he ambushed two officers, killing one, and then vanished, setting off a manhunt that put police on alert across the Southwest.

The search Friday focused on the mountains around Big Bear Lake, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Police said officers still were guarding more than 40 people mentioned as targets in the rant.

The rambling manifesto was on a Facebook page that also includes smiling pictures of Dorner and critiques or politicians, musicians, and comedians. He also offers commentary on topics from gun control — he wants stricter laws for assault weapons — to sexual abuse by priests to the proper room temperature.

Court papers from 2006 show that Dorner requested a restraining order against a woman he had dated for six weeks after he said she posted his LAPD badge number and trash-talked about him on a website called dontdatehimgirl.com.

Dorner attached the lengthy posting he said was by his ex-girlfriend, Ariana Williams, as well as a handwritten note she apparently placed on his belongings when she returned them after they broke up.

In the web posting, Dorner is described as "severely emotionally and mentally disturbed," ''twisted" and "super paranoid." It also said he flashed his police badge on their first date, lives with his mother and hates himself for being black — at one point asking her to act more like a white woman.

"Just be careful because this guy is a police officer and he will probably think that he can get away with anything. ... If you value your sanity, stay away from this guy."

Dorner claimed Williams was harassing him and sent a threatening letter to his home. He asked that she also stay away from his mother and sister. In her response, Williams denied Dorner's allegations.

Records show Dorner did not show up at a hearing in November 2006 and the case was terminated. She could not be reached to comment. Her attorney, Stephen G. Rodriguez, did not return a call or email seeking comment.

In 2008, after Dorner was deployed to Bahrain with the Navy Reserves, he returned to the LAPD and began to patrol with his training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans. He had worked for just four months after his graduation from the academy before being sent overseas.

In internal police papers, Evans said Dorner repeatedly asked why he was being put back on patrol without reintegration training. On one occasion, he began weeping in the patrol car and demanded to be taken back to the police academy to be retrained, according to a summary of an interview with Evans contained in 2009 court documents.

Evans warned Dorner that she would give him an unsatisfactory rating and request that he be removed from the field unless he improved. A day after she followed up on her threat with a poor review, Dorner reported to internal affairs that Evans had kicked a severely mentally ill man in the chest and left cheek during an arrest.

A police review panel ultimately found the allegation untrue and Dorner was fired for making a false statement.

In the manifesto, Dorner said the LAPD destroyed his life, ruined his relationships with his mother and sister and harmed his military career.

Those types of statements don't surprise O'Toole, the former FBI profiler, who said narcissists feel intense shame and humiliation when outside events challenge their perception of themselves.

"He's somebody I call an injustice collector," she said. "When they respond to an injustice that they think is out there, their reaction is completely over the top."



Word for the Day:
“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.” ― Mother Teresa

Half a million without power in US storm!

A storm that forecasters warned could earn a place in the history books with up to three feet of snow left half a million homes and businesses in the US northeast without electricity and battered by blizzard conditions.

By Friday night the National Weather Service reported snow falling in some areas at a rate of up to five inches an hour, and wind gusts of up to 75mph along the Massachusetts coast and through greater Boston. More than 18 inches of snow fell in parts of Massachusetts and northeastern Connecticut, and more was expected by Saturday morning.

Thousands of people had their travel plans disrupted as more than 5,000 flights from some 60 airports were cancelled, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto, according to FlightAware, the tracking website.#

Severe weather warnings reached from Pennsylvania to Maine’s border with Canada, with coastal flood warnings as far south as Delaware. Hurricane-force winds were anticipated for the south shore of Long Island from the Hamptons to Montauk at the eastern tip. Rail travel was also affected, with Amtrak suspending train services between New York and Boston as well as in Vermont and Maine.

New York City, where 1,700 ploughs and 450 salt spreaders were ready to be deployed as darkness fell, was expecting to see 10 to 14 inches of snow with accumulations of up to 19 inches on eastern Long Island.

From New Jersey to Maine, shoppers crowded into supermarkets and hardware stores throughout Friday to buy food, snow shovels, flashlights and generators, something that became a precious commodity after October’s superstorm Sandy. Schools in several states closed early so students could get home before the worst of the storm.

Connecticut’s emergency management agency warned on Twitter that “a wide ban of extremely heavy snow” was moving through the central and eastern parts of the State, dropping snow at a rate of up to five inches an hour.

Boston declared a snow emergency and shut down all public transit on Friday afternoon. City officials said 600 pieces of snow-clearing equipment and 34,000 tonnes of salt were ready for use.

Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, banned all private vehicles from the state’s roads after 4pm. Cars were also banned in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Thousands of power outages were reported across the state.

As icy rain turned to snow over Manhattan on Friday afternoon, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg urged residents to leave work early and stock up on supplies such as medicine in the event of power failures. He warned that falling tree branches overloaded with snow could knock down power lines.

Mr Bloomberg said there was no need for panic-buying as “the gas supply is plentiful”. However, queues formed at filling stations as worried motorists filled up their cars.

Mr Bloomberg warned: “Stay off the city streets, stay out of your cars and stay in your homes while the worst of the storm is on us.”

The Long Island Power Authority, which came under intense criticism following its performance during Sandy, turned command of its storm response over to National Grid, the utility that provides power to hundreds of thousands of customers on Long Island.

New York City officials said that as of late January some 6,000 families were still waiting for repairs to heat, hot water or power systems in 3,000 buildings that had been damaged by Sandy. Mr Bloomberg said the city would find shelter for people living in unheated homes.

Residents of Brick Township, New Jersey, were asked to voluntarily evacuate on Friday from their homes in flood-prone areas that had been battered by October’s storm.

In Manhattan, Fashion Week was still going ahead – with extra help hired to remove snow – even as attendees were hard-pressed to find taxis and some high-profile guests were stranded in Europe after flights were cancelled.

Marc Jacobs postponed his show from Monday to Thursday citing “weather and production problems”, after fabric and accessories were not delivered to New York in time.

Five states – New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island – declared states of emergency on Friday as the storm approached along the New York to Boston corridor.

Word for the Day: One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity. – Albert Schweitzer

Tunisians bury Slain Opposition Leader!

In a country quieted by the largest labor strike in decades, thousands of people started to gather early Friday for the funeral of Chokri Belaid, a leading opposition figure assassinated by unknown gunmen two days ago. 

Slain Opposition leader Chokri Belaid

The killing of Mr. Belaid, a human rights activist who had been a harsh critic of the ruling Islamist-led party, has led to fears that polarization and growing political violence will imperilTunisia’s transition, often held up as a model in the region.

“We are steadfast, like mountains,” mourners chanted in the Jebel Jalloud neighborhood, where they gathered the rain in preparing to march to the city’s largest cemetery.  “We do not fear assassination.”

A steady stream of supporters also traveled to Mr. Belaid’s home, where a circle of flowers and other mementos marked the spot where he was killed, raising fears of a broader conflagration.

  “I’m afraid the country will descend into chaos,” said Nuzha ben Yayha, a mourner who came to pay her respects.

The country’s labor federation called the first general strike in more than three decades for Friday to coincide with the burial, adding to a combustible mix of passions just two years after the overthrow of President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in early 2011 signaled the beginning of the Arab revolts sweeping the region.

The official TAP news agency said the national Army had been ordered to “secure” Mr. Belaid’s funeral “and ensure the protection of participants” while the trade union federation had called for a “peaceful” general strike “in order not to serve the objectives of Tunisia’s enemies who had planned Chokri Belaid’s assassination.”

The embassy of France, the former colonial power, said on its Web site that it would close its schools in the capital on Friday and Saturday for fear of renewed outbursts of violence.

On Thursday, protesters clashed with riot police officers in several cities. In Tunis, shuttered stores, tear gas and running street battles recreated the atmosphere of that uprising against former President Ben Ali but with none of the hope. Instead, many worried about a growing instability following the killing.

Adding to the uncertainties, Tunisia’s governing Islamist-led party on Thursday rejected a proposal by the prime minister to form a national unity government.

The announcement by the party, Ennahda, revealed growing strains within a movement that has promoted its blend of Islamist politics and pluralism as a model for the region. As it rejected the proposal by the prime minister, Hamadi Jebali, a member of Ennahda, the group also publicly rebuked one of its most senior leaders and rejected his efforts to calm the political crisis.

“The prime minister did not ask the opinion of his party,” Abdelhamid Jelassi, Ennahda’s vice president, said in a statement reported on the party’s Web site that rejected the proposal to replace the government with technocrats not affiliated with any party. “We in Ennahda believe Tunisia needs a political government now. We will continue discussions with other parties about forming a coalition government.”

The troubles in Tunisia unsettled the region and endangered a country that was credited with avoiding the chaos plaguing some its neighbors. In the same way some had held up Tunisia’s transition as an example, politicians in the region studied Mr. Belaid’s assassination and saw a broader warning.

Mr. Belaid’s death was seen as a blow to the country’s turbulent transition, raising the possibility that the political violence in Tunisia had reached a dangerous new level.

In the southern mining city of Gafsa, riots broke out and the police fired tear gas at demonstrators who threw stones, a local radio station reported. The city is known as a powerful base of support for Mr. Belaid, who was a fierce advocate for the miners.

A regional headquarters of Ennahda was burned down in the town of Siliana, according to local news media, one of more than a dozen party offices attacked by protesters in the last two days.

In one of the most disturbing aspects of the situation, Mr. Belaid had himself warned just before his death about Tunisia’s troubling turn toward violence and called for a national dialogue to combat it. He took special aim at Ennahda, accusing the Islamist group of turning a blind eye to crimes perpetrated by hard-line Islamists known as Salafis, including attacking Sufi shrines and liquor stores.

There have been no arrests in the killing, and no suspect has been identified. The governing party has condemned the assassination. Anxiety about the assassination reverberated in Egypt, where political feuds have been eclipsed by street clashes between protesters and the riot police. Security officials said plainclothes guards had been assigned to guard the homes of prominent opponents of Egypt’s Islamist-dominated government. The worries were amplified because of a fatwa issued by a hard-line Egyptian cleric saying that opponents of President Mohamed Morsi should be killed. The fatwa specifically mentioned Mohamed ElBaradei, a former United Nations diplomat and leader of Egypt’s largest secular-leaning opposition bloc, which led him to request the protection.

“Regime silent as another fatwa gives license to kill opposition in the name of Islam,” Mr. ElBaradei wrote in a twitter message. “Religion yet again used and abused.”

On Thursday, Mr. Morsi addressed the issue in a speech, saying that political violence “has become one of the most important challenges that face the Arab Spring revolutions.”

In what seemed to be a direct challenge to religious hard-liners — as well as an attempt to avoid the criticism directed at Ennahda — he condemned those “who claim to speak for religion” and who “permit killing based on political differences.”

“This is terrorism itself,” he said.

Governor Chime, returns after 140 days!

Enugu state Gov. Sullivan Chime

The Governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sullivan Chime, returned to Nigeria on Thursday after 140 days sojourn abroad where he reportedly attended to his failing health  in a London hospital.

The governor was said to have arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, from London in the early hours friday, (8th Februaru 2013).

Chime left the shores of the country since September 19, 2012, ostensibly on holiday but his prolonged stay abroad had attracted public angst even as many believed the governor’s health had failed. The rumour of his death indeed circulated across the country sometime ago.

There were however, conflicting reports about his whereabouts in the Federal Capital Territory.

While some people said he was at the Enugu State Governor’s Lodge, others said he was at a private residence in Asokoro.

Others also said he was at the Anambra Governor’s Lodge where he was touted to be ready to address a press conference.

However, when our correspondent visited all these addresses, Chime could not be found.

An Enugu-based lawyer, Mr. Ray Nnaji, said, “I think he is back. A lady who sat on the same aircraft with him confirmed this to the leader of Save Enugu Group, Maxi Okwu.”

 “The General Editor of Tell magazine, Adekunbi Ero, equally told me that someone close to him also boarded the same plane, British Airways, that brought Chime into the country today (Thursday),” Nnaji told our correspondent in Enugu.



Our correspondent sought out the woman who spoke to Okwu and she said, “I boarded the same flight with the Enugu State Governor. I sat close to him and even saw him greeting and chatting with a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain from Imo State.”

 “He was looking very frail and emaciated. As soon as we landed at the airport, he even walked to his car unaided, but there was a formidable security team waiting for him and he left with them.”

At the Enugu Governor’s Lodge, renovation works were ongoing, but some of the workers were not at the site but a security guard at the gate said he was not aware of the arrival of the governor.

Another man, who also came briefly to the lodge, directed our correspondent to the Anambra Governor’s Lodge.

However, a source close to the governor told our correspondent that the governor was at a private residence within Asokoro and that he would be going to Enugu in a chartered flight on Friday (today).

Also, a protocol officer at the Government House in Enugu confided in our correspondent that Chime would arrive in the state today.

“If there are no hitches, we would leave Abuja by 2am tomorrow (Friday) and get to Enugu before or by about 7a m. We are taking this step because we do not want people to besiege the airport or wait on the streets, all because they want to see the governor.

 “By the time he gets into town, he would definitely make changes in his cabinet as he has been so unhappy with the way things were done in his absence. He is so bitter that Enugu never worked while he was away.”

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party said it received the news of the return of Chime to the country with great joy.

The party said in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, that the party was happy that the governor returned in good health.

The statement read, “We sincerely thank all the functionaries of the Enugu State Government and the state PDP officers for their loyalty and commitment to the ideals of the Party and the PDP Chime-led administration.

“Furthermore, we thank the good people of Enugu State and indeed all Nigerians whose prayers ensured the successful return of the governor.




“We dare say that the love shown to the governor by all and sundry during his period of absence is a clear indication that our people appreciate the good work of the governor.

“We are confident that the governor shall consolidate on the tremendous achievements of his administration now that he is back to work.”

Also, the Save Enugu Group that sprung up in the wake of Chime’s “disappearance” on Thursday reacted to the governor’s return.

The group in a statement jointly signed by its convener, Maxi Okwu; Secretary General of the Conference on Nigerian Political Parties, Willy Ezeugwu; and a former Commissioner for Information in Enugu State, Igbonekwu Ogazimora, said,“Chime, we learnt, arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, this morning and was taken to the city. We note this coming exactly one month after we first sounded the alarm of prolonged and unexplained absence.

 “We acclaim this as falling within desired responsive action of leaders in a democracy. If the information on the unstable and frail condition of the governor is reliable, he should avoid the pitfall of trying to combine full recovery with the stress of political power play.

 “We wish to state that Chime did not deserve being hustled out of ‘gainful stay’ in good health institutions if the right things were done first and before questions arose. In that respect, we, as other good people of Enugu State stand to hold responsible the primitive liars in Government House.”

Nigeria polio vaccinators shot dead in Kano!

Nine female polio vaccinators have been killed in two shootings at health centres in northern Nigeria.

In the first attack in Kano the polio vaccinators were shot dead by gunmen who drove up on a motor tricycle.

Thirty minutes later gunmen targeted a clinic outside Kano city as the vaccinators prepared to start work.

Some Nigerian Muslim leaders have previously opposed polio vaccinations, claiming they could cause infertility.

On Thursday, a controversial Islamic cleric spoke out against the polio vaccination campaign, telling people that new cases of polio were caused by contaminated medicine.

Some Kano residents told news men in the city, that those injured in the first attack had been taken to hospital.

A health official confirmed that those killed in the second attack in Hotoro were female health workers - there were earlier reports that people waiting at the clinic had been among those shot.

Witnesses in Hotoro told news men that  gunmen also approached the health centre using a motor tricycle.

Kano banned motorbikes from carrying passengers after a recent attack on the prominent Muslim leader, the emir of Kano.

Analysts believe the attacks may have been the work of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram but it has not yet commented.

The group - whose name translates as "Western education is forbidden" - says it is fighting to overthrow the government and impose Sharia.

It has been blamed for the deaths of some 1,400 people in central and northern Nigeria since 2010.

Along with Afghanistan and Pakistan, Nigeria is one of only three countries where polio is still endemic.

In the past month, polio workers have also been targeted and killed in Pakistan, where the Taliban have threatened anti-polio efforts - accusing health workers of working as US spies and alleging that the vaccine makes children sterile.

culled from the BBC.

Word for the Day:  “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” ― Albert Einstein