The Village Square - Random Videos

The Village Square - Random Videos http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/ This is a discussion forum about Nigerian affairs en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:17:44 GMT vBulletin 60 http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/styles/webpoint/misc/rss.jpg The Village Square - Random Videos http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/ New Pap Test Guidelines http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/woman-woman/38822-new-pap-test-guidelines.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:41:29 GMT Yes, I knew the yearly test was a waste of time, energy and money...:lol:, once every three years is okay but longer is better...;). If I can make it... Yes, I knew the yearly test was a waste of time, energy and money...:lol:, once every three years is okay but longer is better...;). If I can make it once every five years, I will...good dreaming eh?

http://www.healthprofessor.com/newsl...rticles/633273

Experts urge first screen at 21, then once every 2 years or more, not annually
By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDay News) -- For the second time in a week, medical experts are revising the advice given women on cancer.

Now women are being told that they should get their first screening for cervical cancer -- including a Pap test -- at age 21. The recommendation appears in guidelines released Nov. 20 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

And, rather than have an annual Pap test, most women need to be screened every other year or less, depending on their age, the guidelines say.
The recommendations come on the heels of a similar advisory on breast cancer screening, issued Nov. 16 by a government panel of experts, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Those guidelines suggest that the average woman need not have a mammogram to screen for breast cancer until age 50 and, after that, should have the test every other year rather than annually.

Those suggested changes stirred a firestorm of debate.

Under the new Pap test guidelines:

Women are advised to get their first test at age 21. Previously, the recommendation was to start Pap tests three years after becoming sexually active or at age 21, whichever came first.
Most women 21 to 30 should have a Pap test once every two years instead of every year.
Women 30 and older who've had three consecutive negative tests and no abnormal history need to be re-screened only once every three years.
No changes are recommended for older women. After no abnormal Pap result for 10 years and three or more negative results consecutively, women can stop the test at age 65 or 70.

.... check link above for more. ]]> Woman to Woman Oluwato http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/woman-woman/38822-new-pap-test-guidelines.html Azikiwe, 1904-1987 http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38821-azikiwe-1904-1987-a.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:38:48 GMT *Azikiwe, 1904-1987* The Orbit Nov 22, 2009 By Obi Nwakanma THIS week I pay tribute to the memory of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (1904-1987), poet,... Azikiwe, 1904-1987
The Orbit Nov 22, 2009

By Obi Nwakanma

THIS week I pay tribute to the memory of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (1904-1987), poet, scholar, journalist, and statesman; one of the great leaders of Africa’s anti-colonial and independence movement in the 20th century. He was also founding president of Nigeria. Dr. Azikiwe would have been 105 years last Monday, November 16.

It is always necessary to place him before the scrutiny of history, for if Nigeria in its most ideal state were to seek a guiding national spirit, Nnamdi Azikiwe is that spirit. His was an ambition that contained and ramified the Nigerian ideal.

It is also because he remained true to that vision and ideal of just nationhood, that he suffers great criticism. Because the Nigeria of his dream did not materialize, Azikiwe fails. The Nigeria that has become idealized is not the “Nigeria sans frontiers” of his dreams, but Nigeria bordered and bounded by the fissures and the incontinence of sub-national affiliations.

It is Nigeria in which Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Ojukwu are the great heroes. Zik’s critics have accused him of using far too much the tool of “compromise,” although Zik himself always explained that his real tools were the sagacity of “patience” which demanded a semblance of compromise to achieve intricate political objectives.

No wonder his greatest opponents, the British called him, “Zig-Zag-Zik” “Quicksilver Zik” He was a slippery opponent, always ahead of the game. He was a student of the methods of Fabius Maximus Pontifex, the Roman General and military strategist, whose methods rested on patience and compromise.

Nigerians wish today that there are politicians of Azikiwe’s substance, capable of deploying the virtues of compromise rather than the extremism and the absolutism of “do or die” politics that have greatly characterized Nigerian political values.

It is important especially for a contemporary generation of Nigerians to begin to examine the true history of modern Nigeria beyond the revisions. It is important to tell that true story because from its sources we could find the wherewithal to begin a necessary reappraisal of the nation and understand the implications of its roads not taken.

Azikiwe is unarguably the most important Nigerian that lived in the 20th century, and whose documented life and work straddles the fundamental spectrum of Nigerian history from 1935 at least. But a few sleights of hands often attempt to erase or diminish his eponymous life. For instance, my colleague, the Vanguard columnist, Owei Lakemfa penned a worthy tribute to the memory of the victims of the colliery massacres at the Iva valley Enugu in 1949, sixty years ago.

He paid just and rightful compliment to the activists of the Zikist movement: Osita Agwuna, Mokugo Okoye, Raji Abdalla, Nduka Eze, Bello Ijumu, Aminu Kano, etc.“who put their lives on the line for freedom.” About these men he writes: “It is true that many of the official “nationalists” wore long traditional clothes about, making ineffectual speeches in parliament and attending constitutional conferences in London where they had the privilege of taking tea with the colonial masters, but the true nationalists were the patriots who looked the colonialists in the face and demanded freedom.”

I would agree with Mr. Lakemfa in part that there may have been, particularly in the later phase of decolonization, “official nationalists” who made rather bombastic speeches in parliament and who were in cahoots with the colonialists.He in fact studiously, quite deliberately, ignored Azikiwe, the key architect of the anticolonial movement.

Indeed there was no one of that generation whose life and livelihood were put more on the line than Nnamdi Azikiwe, a fact that gets clearer as the British slowly open the archives of that era for public scrutiny. Indeed, in the event of the Iva Valley in 1949, there was no greater champion, or louder public voice challenging the British on the massacres at Iva valley than Azikiwe and his West African Pilot, a fact which the Brits also held against him. Yet in paying tribute to the activists of the era, Owei Lakemfa ignores this basic fact.

It is this project of revision, whose provenances are rather well known, and which began from 1970 to undermine the stature and contributions of Nnamdi Azikiwe and the implication of his life in the 20th century, perhaps because it reflects the actual truth of Igbo contributions to nation-building in the 20th century, that has denied Nigeria the capacity for a reconstructive myth and the use of her own epic national hero of the 20th century.

Whereas the Ghanaians for instance now celebrate Nkrumah, and indeed put up a shebang recently to mark the centenary of their nationalist leader, Azikiwe’s life and work, which potentially carries more cache, for even Nkrumah himself acknowledged Zik’s leadership, is obscured by revisionist and dubious histories. Just for the benefit of those who may wish to get some different perspective on that history, Richard Sklar’s Nigerian Political parties or James S. Coleman’s Nigeria: background to Nationalism or K.W. J Post and Michael Vickers Structure and Conflict in Nigeria : 1960-1966, are important sources.

They make it clear why it is dangerous, perhaps even fruitless, to attempt to erase or subvert or undervalue Zik’s contributions to the anti-colonial struggle, particularly from the inter war years. It ought now be said that the battle for decolonization was won for the colonies in 1945 largely because of the work done by Nnamdi Azikiwe and his lieutenants, particularly Mbonu Ojike and Nwafor Orizu in the United States, and Azikiwe deploying his own polemical missiles from Nigeria.

The various constitutional conferences that shaped Nigeria from 1950-1958 were simply icing on the cake. At the convention of the nations in San Francisco in 1945 at the end of World War II leading towards the convention of the United Nations, Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain tried to steer the discussion towards agreeing that the Atlantic charter did not cover the colonies who were standing upon the argument that the charter guarantees freedom for all peoples.

Mbonu Ojike went to San Francisco distributing petitions, lobbying and giving fiery speeches. From New York Nwafor Orizu was threatening armed insurrection. Azikiwe who had been refused travel permit by the colonial government engaged Churchill in a press war from Lagos, arguing that “Africans did not fight in the war so that Europe alone should enjoy freedom” and wrote that famous article: “there is no new deal for the black man in San Francisco.”

These pressures helped finally to secure American president Roosevelt’s support for the anticolonial movement and the resolve not to support Britain on the matter “simply so that she will be able to ride roughshod over colonial peoples.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/11/2...iwe-1904-1987/

Quote:

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (November 16, 1904 – May 11, 1996),recorded notes from the online encyclopedia..click it to enter site

. How thorough is the writer of this article? If we can't trust him on simple dates, how do we trust him on the accuracy of the content or facts of his write-up?
]]> The Main Square naijafulani http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38821-azikiwe-1904-1987-a.html Men NEVER listen? http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/jokes-odds/38820-men-never-listen.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:31:48 GMT A man and his wife received a letter from their daughter who went to study overseas:

My beloved Parents,

I miss you so much. I don't know when I'm coming home, but it seems not anytime soon. It breaks my heart to think that by the time I get back you'll be too old. So enclosed you will find a bottle of a potion I have invented. It will make you young, so when I return you'll be the same age as I left you.

NOTE: "Please take only one drop"
NOTE: "Please take only one drop"

So they opened the envelope and in it there is a bottle with a red potion.
The husband looks at the wife and says: "You go first." (typical of men!)

So the wife opens the bottle and takes a drop, there after the husband follows. Indeed they do turn 5 years younger.

Years later the daughter returns home to find her mother young and beautiful, carrying a baby on her back.
The mother proceeds to tell her daughter how the potion worked and made her look young.

The daughter is delighted and asks about her father.
"Your father, my child, he was so jealous that I was young and beautiful so he drank the whole bottle."

"So where is he?"

"Oh, that's him I have on my back." ]]> Iye http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/jokes-odds/38820-men-never-listen.html US Senate Passes 1st Step of Health Reform Bill http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38819-us-senate-passes-1st-step-health-reform-bill.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:14:03 GMT President Obama and the Democratic Party are at the cusp of succeeding at Health Care Reform efforts... a major victory is quite possible now... ILN... President Obama and the Democratic Party are at the cusp of succeeding at Health Care Reform efforts... a major victory is quite possible now... ILN

November 21, 2009
Healthcare Bill Passes First Senate Test
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/...gewanted=print
Filed at 8:44 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sweeping healthcare overhaul narrowly cleared its first hurdle in the Senate on Saturday, with Democrats casting 60 party-line votes to open debate on the biggest healthcare changes in decades.

In the first Senate test for President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, Democrats unanimously backed a procedural motion to open Senate debate over the opposition of 39 Senate Republicans. Republican George Voinovich did not vote.

Democrats needed 60 votes to approve the motion in the 100-member Senate and had no margin for error -- they control exactly 60 votes and Republicans were united in opposition.

The Democratic victory was assured earlier in the day when the party's last two holdouts, Blanche Lincoln and Mary Landrieu, said they would support the motion but would not commit to backing the final bill without changes.

"I believe that it is more important that we begin this debate to improve our nation's healthcare system for all Americans rather than just simply drop the issue and walk away," Lincoln said in a speech hours before the vote.

The Senate debate will begin on November 30 and is expected to last at least three weeks. The House of Representatives has passed its own version, and differences in the two would have to be reconciled in January before Obama could sign a final measure.

The healthcare reform bill would expand coverage to millions of uninsured and bar insurance practices like denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.

The legislation would spark the biggest changes in the $2.5 trillion healthcare system -- which accounts for one-sixth of the U.S. economy -- since the 1965 creation of the Medicare government health insurance plan for the elderly.

The stakes are high for Obama, with his political standing and legislative agenda on the line less than a year into his first term.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama was gratified by the Senate vote and "looks forward to a thorough and productive debate."

Republicans condemned the bill as a costly government intrusion in the private sector that would raise insurance premiums, reduce consumer choices and raise taxes.

DEBATE UNDER WAY

"The healthcare debate is now officially under way on this 2,074 page, multi-trillion-dollar health care experiment," said Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who vowed to use whatever means he could to delay or block the legislation.

He said the final Democratic holdouts had to "twist themselves into a pretzel" to justify voting to move ahead on the bill. Almost all Senate bills that clear the first hurdle eventually pass, he said.

"The easiest time to change this bill, if you were serious about it, is right now," McConnell told reporters. "The time of maximum leverage would have been before tonight's vote."

But Landrieu and Lincoln, moderates from conservative Southern states where the overhaul is unpopular, said they simply wanted the debate to begin. Lincoln said she opposed the government-run insurance option included in the bill.

Landrieu said she wanted changes to make healthcare more affordable, ease the burden on small businesses and rein in the growth of costs.

"There are enough significant reforms and safeguards in this bill to move forward, but much more work needs to be done before I can support this effort," she said.

Landrieu and Lincoln had been showered with attention by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and Obama administration officials as they pondered their vote.

In her floor speech, Landrieu defended her successful effort to win more funds in the bill for Medicaid, the government health program for the poor, for her home state of Louisiana.

"I am proud to have fought for it. I will continue to. But that is not the reason I am moving to debate," she said.

The Senate bill would require virtually all Americans to buy insurance and would set up exchanges where they could choose among various options. It would offer subsidies to help low-income workers pay for the coverage.

Republicans have criticized its tax increases to help pay for the expanded insurance coverage. It would also raise the Medicare payroll tax on high-income workers, which is used to finance Medicare, and impose a tax on high-cost "Cadillac" insurance plans.

(Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Vicki Allen and Sandra Maler) ]]> The Main Square I Love Nigeria http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38819-us-senate-passes-1st-step-health-reform-bill.html With such things happening, who wants to be a Nigerian Christian? http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38817-such-things-happening-who-wants-nigerian-christian.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:27:13 GMT Bakare Vs Oyedepo, Adeboye, Kumuyi • Winners Chapel, Deeper Life Church, CAN, Redeemed, other churches join in the fray By HENRY UMAHI... Bakare Vs Oyedepo, Adeboye, Kumuyi
• Winners Chapel, Deeper Life Church, CAN, Redeemed, other churches join in the fray
By HENRY UMAHI (kinghenrysun@yahoo.com), WOLE BALOGUN, RACHAEL AGUNTA, DENNIS UGBUDIAN, GILBERT EKEZIE, VERA WISDOM-BASSEY, Lagos and GODWIN TSA, Abuja
Saturday, November 21, 2009

•Pastor Tunde Bakare
Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section
In the aftermath of the blistering criticism of leaders of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye; Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Kumuyi and Bishop David Oyedepo of the Winners Chapel, by Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Pentecostal Christian community has been polarized.

While some church members and pastors have described the radical preacher’s comments as a function of his rabid desire to be in the limelight, even at the expense of others, others said that the fundamentals he raised should be addressed.

Speaking with Saturday Sun, a visibly agitated Deacon Okpara, Media Officer of Winners Chapel, said: “Whatever Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Day Assembly says remains his own personal opinion and he is entitled to it. As for us in Winners Chapel, we are too busy to be featuring in such drama. As far as I am concerned, my church is not occultic.

Over 100,000 worshippers come to worship here. Do we bring them by juju? Whatever he said does not change anything. We are busy preparing for Shiloh 2009 with the theme ‘The Hour of Restoration.’
“Whether the devil likes it or not, it shall be successful. Bishop Oyedepo is not occultic and cannot teach occultic doctrines. He is a renowned man of God. He is a man of integrity, who has affected lives within and outside the country. You should know the kind of pastor that Pastor Bakare is if you have been in the media for long.”

Okpara refused to have his photograph taken, threatening hell and brimstone.
When Saturday Sun visited the international office of the RCCG, at the Redemption Camp, on the Lagos-Ibadan Express way, our reporters were asked by one Mrs. Olawole to see a woman heading the legal unit of the church. On the door that leads to her office is written Coordinating Centre.
However, when asked to react to the burning issues raised by Bakare, she retorted: “It has been the tradition of the Redeemed Christian Church of God not to comment on any issue brought from the media. We are mandated not to speak to the media on any issue. However, you can write an application for an interview and address it to the General Overseer (G.O) and take it to Ebute Metta, where our headquarters is.”

Indeed, the bespectacled, dark complexioned and robust woman of average height rebuffed every question, saying: “No comments”.
Saturday Sun wanted to know her name and designation but she said: “Look young man, I cannot tell you my name or my designation because I know you people at The Sun can say that so and so said something that is scandalous. Don’t even describe me. I have told you people what you should know. Good day.”
Efforts to get the official reaction of the Deeper Life Bible Church, at its international headquarters, Ayobo, Lagos, was unsuccessful, as Kumuyi and his key men were said not be available.

However, one of the pastors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “We should pray for him (Bakare). This shows that he’s not following what the holy book says; he’s derailing from what he is preaching. But people should call him to order and bring him back to what we knew to be. The Deeper Life Bible Church is known for truth; people know that the church stands on the truth. Moreover, he did not catch any Deeper Life pastor committing adultery or stealing or doing anything wrong. But even Christ passed through trying period. It will fizzle out in due time.”

Reacting to Bakare’s interview, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said the pastors involved should be warned. Speaking on behalf of CAN, Engr. Samuel Salifu, general secretary said: “The Bible says it is not by our power but by the Grace of God. So, whatever position we are today, you should always remember that it is not by our works or making, but by His Grace. All this unnecessary bickering and arrogant show of wealth is not the way of Christ. Christian leaders especially, should stop playing God and refrain from unnecessary squabbles and work together for the interest of the church.

“Christians in Nigeria should always remember that they are Christians under the Grace of God and that they would give account of their stewardship when they appear in Heaven. It is, therefore, unnecessary to engage in petty issues when there is God’s work to be done. The stories in the papers between Pastor Tunde Bakare and Pastor Oyedepo are unnecessary. Whether it is T.B Joshua, Oyedepo or Tunde Bakare, all of them are doing great exploits by the Grace of God. It is not by their works because anything outside the Grace of God will end up to nothing.

“Christians must be humble and remained focus on the work of God. It is not by bragging on the pages of newspapers. A Christian is expected to do what is right, transparent, humility and honesty. Unfortunately, brethren dwell so much on prosperity.”

The CAN secretary said that the association does not impose doctrine, adding that churches are free to choose their doctrines. He said: “We don’t impose doctrines on churches. Churches are free to choose whatever doctrine they believe in. But at the end of time, everybody will appear before God and give account of himself. We cannot say one church doctrine is better than the other. It is the business of the church and its members.

However, we will resist any noticeable act of heresy against the church.”
Equally, other pastors are reacting. Speaking on the development, Pastor Daniel Ugochukwu of Fruitful Land Ministry International, Ijegun, said: “We have been taught that we are not to judge anybody, not even our colleagues in the ministry. As pastors, God has not committed judgment into the hand of any man. Jesus said He did not come to judge. God has not made any pastor, any person a judge over anything, if we do, it means pulling the hand of God over an image of God.

“There was a time Jesus gave the parable of a farmer in the Bible: We are to leave the wheat with the chaff, that they should gather all so as not to damage the seed in the process of separating the chaff. A lot of things that are hidden to man today are left for God. There are so many things we try to know when we get to heaven.”

Ugochukwu described Oyedepo as “one of the great fathers of the gospel we have here in Nigeria.”
Pastor Folorunsho Ajao, District Superintendent of Christ Apostolic Church, said: “When we mention church, it is supposed to be a forum where people of God meet. Jesus called us to work together and share our problems. The church does not mean that people should not go out for their business and engaging in daily service. Actually, the issue of regular programmes in the church is not bad because it is not compulsory.

Anyone who attends regular programmes in the church needs it. Otherwise, they will not go. So, it is a matter of choice. Moreover, there is no programme in the church that all attend. For instance, if 1, 000 worshippers are in the church, at least 200 may have time to attend regular church programme, while others go to their businesses. For me, the important issue is to have good purpose. It is unfortunate that some pastors deviate from the godly ways and practise whatever they like.”

Ajao contended that pastors making their wives automatic pastors, even when they were not called and ordained, is not biblical. According to him, all these things started with the proliferation of churches.
Pastor Chukwudi Emmanuel Onyeari, Pastor in charge of Christ Divine Ministries, said: “My reaction to the issue of Christianity is that there is no peace among the churches. Under normal circumstances, pastors are supposed to be united, loving one another so as to make progress. But it is unfortunate that we are seeing a different thing due to selfish interests. Apart from that, there is division among Christians themselves. As a pastor, I do not believe in that ideology.

“On the issues Pastor Bakare raised against some pastors, I believe that everyone has his own calling. For instance, if one has eye problem, he would go to the doctor that treats eye and not teeth ache. Some of us say we are prophets or prophetesses, but we do not know where we are following. For me, I do not address myself as prophet. Rather, I prefer being called a pastor. It bothers me that some of us have messed the whole thing up. Sometimes, we need to ask ourselves questions. Jesus Christ, who we are following was never addressed as an evangelist, pastor, prophet or bishop.

We know Him as Jesus Christ of Nazareth, but today the story is different, everyone wants to be on top for selfish reasons.
“On the issue of pastors making their wives automatic pastors is wrong. In fact, I observed that such things are common in our churches today. Even when a pastor’s wife is called, she has to go through the right process, the Bible college in order to acquire the necessary knowledge to operate successfully. Bible colleges are not there for fun, it is to train servants of God.

There is no shortcut or sentiment. There are other things the pastors’ wives, who are not called, can do to help the church grow, not serve as pastors. The major problem is that some pastors refused to obey what the Bible says. We are expected to seek the kingdom first and then all other things shall be added unto them. But today, some us seek all other things first before the kingdom of God.”

Rev Ifembiri Eugene, President of Divine Mandate Evangelical Outreach Ministry, said: “Concerning the issue, it is a known fact that Pastor Tunde Bakare has been a good contributor to the governance of his nation, directly or indirectly. Many of his prophecies have come to pass. During Obasanjo period, it was due to Bishop Bakare’s stand that made some men of God to be invited during the swearing in.

I believe he has a spiritual insight. There is a reason and that could point on what is on the ground. You can see that till now none of the seven-point agenda has been fully implemented. That shows that the president is not having absolute power to implement his polices. In spite of that, he is there on the platform of PDP. Fifty per cent of our leaders are there for themselves and never bother about the masses.
“In the religious sector, some of our pastors are not doing well.

They deviate from the right path and decide to practise what they feel will favour them. Some of us live bogus and flambouyant lives, not minding how their followers survive. Also, the issue of some of us making our wives pastors without the due process is not in line with true Christian worship. In fact, things have to be done accordingly and there should be no sentiment or favouritism. I served under Pastor W.F. Kumuyi of Deeper Life Church for 10 years. I never knew his wife, Biodun Kumuyi, till she died. But many pastors parade their wives in the ministry. And some of them bring marine spirits into the ministry and use it to pollute other women in the church, who always like behaving like her. If a man has the vision, mission and the direction, he will not marry his ministry with his family. They are two different things.

Pastor Paul Erakhifu of the United Apostolic Church of Christ said: “What God needs from every pastor is to focus attention on their spiritual callings and not to be distracted by the earthly things. With the way some of us are going, the church of God would soon be fully commercialized. It takes total submission, knowledge of God and commitment to succeed in the pastoral duty. So, those of us in the system should not see it as an ordinary business where money is the target.”

Rev Emmanuel Aleyakpo of the Church of God Mission, Apapa branch, said of Bakare’s outburst: “I don’t believe that Bishop David Oyedepo is practising occultism. He is a man of God who preaches the word of God and believes in it. For anybody to say he is an occultist based on what he believes in or do, I disagree with it totally. As for the use of anointing oil, it depends on what one believes in, because it is optional. The oil is meant for anointing believers, which is from the Old Testament. When David was to be made a king, he was anointed and the spirit of God came down upon him. Today, many people have also embraced that part of the portion from the Bible.

“I totally agree with Pastor Tunde Bakare that it is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and not the other way round. But if Oyedepo says it is not the symbol of the Holy Spirit but the life of God in a bottle, this does not mean he is an occultic. And that does not also mean that he is right. The truth is that it is a level of people’s understanding. People must understand that it is not the oil that heals believers but their faith in God. The use of oil is a level of one’s belief. Oyedepo, no doubt, is a man that believes in the word of the Lord and preaches it.

“As for churches preaching about wealth creation, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. Serving God does not mean one must be poor. God’s house is a place of salvation, deliverance and prosperity. If people were poor before, people expect you to be prosperous as soon as you give your life to God. He is the giver of everything, including prosperity, so a place of God is a place of wealth. Churches preach idea and knowledge to people on how to make money, which they, in turn, bring back to God. It is God that gives them the wisdom and knowledge on how to make money. So, people should not say churches don’t ask their believers on how they make their money. Nobody prays for criminals or evil-minded people to make money for them. Churches pray for people to make use of their lives and be prosperous. It is the blessing of God we offer. As you are blessed, extend it to others also.

“On the issue of a pastor’s wife becoming a pastor because of her husband’s position is dependent on their calling. Some people married people who have the same belief as them in order to move their ministry forward. It helps in strengthening the husband in the work of God. However, that does not mean that when a man becomes a pastor, his wife must automatically become a pastor. That is the truth.”

Pastor Abraham Okoyah said: “As far as I am concerned, I don’t think it is right for anybody to judge the righteousness of another man because it is expressly stated in the scriptures. Every judgment is left in the hands of God. He alone has the right to determine who is doing His will. So, Pastor Tunde Bakare has no right to judge Bishop David Oyedepo. Oyedepo is a man of God, who has advanced in the scripture and has been doing the will of God to the best of my knowledge. For Bakare to regard his preaching and practices as occultic is wrong. I will not toe that line. ]]> The Main Square FSU http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38817-such-things-happening-who-wants-nigerian-christian.html <![CDATA[Nigeria ex-leader Sani Abacha's son 'must pay $350m']]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38816-nigeria-ex-leader-sani-abachas-son-must-pay-350m.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:15:07 GMT Nigeria ex-leader Sani Abacha's son 'must pay $350m'

General Sani Abacha may have stolen more than $2bn when in office
A Swiss court has ordered the seizure of $350m (£212m) in assets from the son of Nigeria's former military ruler, General Sani Abacha.

Abba Abacha was convicted of being a member of a criminal organisation and given a suspended custodial sentence.

Switzerland began investigating the Abacha family in 1999 and has so far handed back about $700m to Nigeria.

Nigerian state lawyers believe Sani Abacha, who ruled from 1993 until his death in 1998, may have stolen $2.2bn.

The Swiss authorities pursued Abba Abacha for six years before extraditing him from Germany in 2005.

"The examining magistrate sentenced him to a suspended jail term, and ordered the confiscation of his assets of $350m," Geneva canton's justice office said in a statement.

"[The money] is held by his criminal organisation and seized through international assistance in Luxembourg and the Bahamas."

Correspondents say Abba Abacha can appeal against the judgement

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8371220.stm ]]> The Main Square abeyance http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38816-nigeria-ex-leader-sani-abachas-son-must-pay-350m.html <![CDATA[Let's define Tribalism (Ethnicism)]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38815-lets-define-tribalism-ethnicism.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:09:57 GMT When can one be said to be tribalist (or an ethnicist)? Is it when one posts an otherwise interesting article that happens to contain names or... When can one be said to be tribalist (or an ethnicist)?

Is it when one posts an otherwise interesting article that happens to contain names or events that do not relate to one's own tribe?

Is it when one responds to previous posts that appeared to malign one's own tribe?

Is it when one sifts through articles looking for names of people that sound like theirs in order to attack the poster?

Is it when one sifts through articles looking for names of places that sound like theirs in order to attack the poster?

Is it when one discusses the culture of others and wants to learn?

Is it when one discusses the culture of others and but when theirs is discussed one gets freakep up?

Is it when one says what he has heard and read about others?

Is it when one refuses to comment when other tribes appeared to be maligned but does so when his own tribe is maligned?

Does an individual person constitute a tribe?

Does an individual town or state constitute the tribe to which that state or town belong?

Does defending anything that concerns one's tribe tribalistic?

Does mentioning events or names that contain peoples of all tribes including one's tribe tribalistic? ]]> The Main Square FSU http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38815-lets-define-tribalism-ethnicism.html Onitsha of my Dream -Prof. Soludo http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38814-onitsha-my-dream-prof-soludo.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:29:13 GMT Image: http://i45.tinypic.com/ip8vow.jpg *Soludo will make Anambra Africa’s Dubai – Anaekwe* Politics...

Soludo will make Anambra Africa’s Dubai – Anaekwe

Politics Nov 21, 2009

Agunwa Anakwe, a lawyer and Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Third Republic , rarely speaks to the media. He is by his own admission taciturn and almost shy, preferring to work in the field and behind the scenes. Often described as ruthlessly efficient and always strategic in planning, he was the Director General of the Chris Ngige Campaign Organisation in 2007.

Anaekwe has now cast his lot with Prof Chukwuma Soludo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in the February 6 2008 election in Anambra State . Anaekwe, now the DG of the Soludo Campaign Organisation, spoke to newsmen recently.

Excerpts:

What is unique about the manifesto?

Almost everything, but let me single out the vision to turn Anambra into the Dubai or Taiwan of Africa. The African Dubai—Taiwan (ADT) concept is totally new in Nigerian politics. ADT is about visioning—and this is the element most lacking in Nigerian and African politics. Our leaders don’t dream dreams any more. They think governance in the 21st century should be about paying salaries of civil and public servants and building elementary infrastructure such as roads and providing distribution transformers to communities.
No one thinks of how to provide jobs to hundreds of thousands people who yearly graduate from the universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and secondary schools. No one thinks of how to build industries, both small and big, which will employ these new graduates of chemical engineering, chemistry, industrial engineering, etc.
Neither Ngige nor Gov Peter Obi knows how to stimulate the economy, to say nothing about our state becoming the Dubai or Taiwan of Africa. Can they tell us how many jobs they have created or big companies they have attracted to the state as governors? Gov Obi has a worse record. He has not employed even teachers in government –owned schools since he became the governor over almost four years ago.
He denies workers in the employ of the state government their legitimate entitlements. That’s why doctors in the state went on strike for one year until recently.
Critics could say that Soludo’s ADT may be good in theory but not in practice. What’s your reaction?
Only someone who is mentally lazy could argue like that. Every major achievement in the world began as a dream. Who would have believed that Singapore would today be one of the greatest economies when it was in 1965 kicked out of the Malaysian Federation for contributing nothing to the wealth of the Federation? The development miracle began with the founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who made a first class in the university, just like Soludo.
Did any person in the world give Dubai – a swath of desert- any chance of becoming an economic oasis when the programme for its transformation was launched? As we are talking, the authorities in the United Arab Emirates are out with the dream to make Abu Dhabi a more resounding economic success than neighbouring Dubai .

How did Soludo come about the idea of making Anambra the Dubai or Taiwan of Africa ?

Frankly, I don’t know. But I do know that in 2006 he delivered a keynote address at the annual meeting of the League of Anambra Professionals in Awka where he did an arresting analysis of the development situation in the state, and asked both the people and government to immediately set in motion the machinery for Anambra’s transformation within a short period. I am reliably told that Gov Obi was in the audience when the address was given and he clapped enthusiastically. Every word uttered in the address is very relevant to this day.

happy reading yonder===>>>link! ]]> The Main Square denker http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38814-onitsha-my-dream-prof-soludo.html Cheats in Sports Arrested in Europe http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38808-cheats-sports-arrested-europe.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:23:07 GMT November 21, 2009 *Arrests in Europe Over Soccer Fixing Investigation* By ROB HUGHES and ERIC PFANNER... November 21, 2009
Arrests in Europe Over Soccer Fixing Investigation
By ROB HUGHES and ERIC PFANNER
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/sp...gewanted=print

BOCHUM, Germany — European enforcement officials said Friday that they had arrested the ring leaders of a far-reaching match-fixing cartel involving 200 soccer games in nine countries across the continent.

The investigation, which was led by the German police, suggests that the sport is riddled with far more corruption at nearly all levels than fans or officials may have suspected.

Announcing that 17 people had been arrested — 15 in Germany and 2 in Switzerland — prosecutors said they might have uncovered only the tip of the scandal.

Visibly shaken, Peter Limacher, the head of discipline at UEFA, the governing body for soccer across 53 nations in Europe, said, “Without question, this is the biggest betting scandal in the history of European soccer.”

“We are here today with mixed feelings, ” added Limacher, who was pleased with the arrests but “deeply shocked” by the scale of the alleged operation.

While even some matches within the Champions League, played between the best teams of the different European leagues, are under suspicion, the investigation did not so far uncover evidence of match fixing in any of the highest ranked domestic club matches in England, Spain, Italy or France.

In Germany, Belgium and Switzerland, second-tier professional leagues were involved, the police said. In Austria, Bosnia, Hungary, Turkey, Slovenia and Croatia, games in the top leagues as well as secondary leagues are included.

The investigators said they had evidence involving 3 matches in the Champions League and 12 in the Europa League.

The police said the arrests followed a coordinated investigation involving officials in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Britain. They said the number of arrests could grow, though they added that they thought they had the leaders of the ring in custody.

Germany and Turkey are the two countries with the most games in question, with 32 and 29 involved. Officials said it appeared that only soccer matches, and not other sporting events, were involved.

Until the announcements here on Friday, it was widely assumed that the Champions League was untouchable by criminal involvement. The police said they uncovered some of the evidence through phone taps. Germany had set a precedent for this in 2005 when a top referee, Robert Hoyzer, was caught fixing cup matches on behalf of a Croatian cartel.

Limacher said that there was no evidence that the ring had fixed matches before this year and that he did not want to speculate about the possibility. About a year ago, UEFA disclosed that it found evidence of suspicious betting on 26 soccer games, but at that time it said that the games were in Eastern Europe and involved only obscure teams playing at relatively low levels.

UEFA later gave 14 more suspicious files to the police, but that was before the present group of games under investigation in Bochum were found.

Officials of UEFA and the German organized crime unit, based in this city in the Ruhr region near Düsseldorf, refused to identify the suspects, or to specify the games in question, saying that would jeopardize the case.

But one German soccer club, F.C. Würzburg Kickers, said one of its players had been arrested in the sweep. It said the player had been involved in a previous betting scandal.

The alleged crimes involve bribing players, officials and soccer trainers to fix the outcome of games on which millions of Euros were gambled.

The level of soccer under investigation is below the radar of the very top European leagues. No English Premier League matches, no Spanish Liga, Italian Serie A or German Bundesliga matches are involved, the investigators said. The stars of the sport, paid salaries upward of four million Euros, or about $5.93 million, are not likely to be susceptible to bribes to sell their game, they said.

And on Friday officials insisted that the big clubs of the Champions League, like Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and A.C. Milan, so far are not suspected of fixing games at the behest of the betting cartels of Central Europe, Asia and anywhere else.

Still, the speed of the announcement, and the scale of it, appeared to come as a surprise to UEFA. As late as Monday, William Gaillard, the adviser to UEFA’s president, Michel Platini, insisted in an interview that he knew of no cases beyond the 40 that had been reported to the European police last season. And he said he believed it unlikely that any would surface beyond lower-level matches, predominantly in Eastern Europe.

As the scandal was disclosed Friday, law enforcement officials said they had evidence of at least 10 million Euros, or about $14.8 million, in illegal gains.

“But that is surely just the tip of the iceberg,” said Friedhelm Althans, the Bochum police chief. He said that in some cases the games did not end as the plotters had hoped — or they might have pocketed even more.

Andreas Bachmann, a prosecutor, described the plot as being, without question, the largest sports betting conspiracy uncovered by the German organized crime unit. The police said they had seized more than a million Euros in cash and other assets, the equivalent of about $1.48 million, after more than 50 searches.

To influence players, coaches or referees to fix a game, officials said, money may not always be the most important factor. It is possible that some of the gamblers were able to catch a player in a compromising situation, they said, and make him pay for silence by throwing a game.

Apart from the current investigation, there is evidence that Asian betting cartels have been involved in fixing matches at a much lower level than the top professional soccer leagues. Some obscure games have attracted millions of dollars in betting, officials said, suggesting the groups have been seeking to fly under the radar by focusing on games involving only part-time professional players. ]]> The Main Square I Love Nigeria http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38808-cheats-sports-arrested-europe.html Woman stoned to death! http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/exhale/38807-woman-stoned-death.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:10:04 GMT And we wonder why Africa is the way it is?

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/af...014611167.html

Somali woman stoned to death

Somalis ulema and muftis say al-Shabab has no judicial framework in order to carry out stoning [AP]

A Somali woman has been stoned to death for committing what a judge has said was adultery.
The 20-year-old divorcee was executed on Tuesday after confessing to having had sex with a 29-year-old unmarried man.
Sheikh Ibrahim Abdirahman, the judge for a court created by the rebel group al-Shabab, says the woman was killed in front of a crowd of some 200 people near the town of Wajid.
The woman, who gave birth to a stillborn child, was buried up to her waist before the stoning took place. Her boyfriend was given 100 lashes for having the affair.
The woman's death is the second recorded stoning for adultery carried out by al-Shabab fighters, who are confronting the government and control large parts of Somalia.
Sharia interpretation
Al-Shabab are proponents of stoning as a punishment under their interpretation of sharia (Islamic law).
Mohamed Abdullahi, an East Africa analyst, told Al Jazeera that Islamic law can only be conducted where there is proper jurisdiction in place - not in a lawless failed state like Somalia today.

In depth

Timeline: Somalia

Restoring Somalia

A long road to stability

Al-Shabab: Somali fighters undeterred

Somalia at a crossroads

Somaliland: Africa's isolated state

Riz Khan: The vanishing Somalis

"The position of the majority of Somalis is that these courts should not be held at all," he said. "What they are doing is atrocious and un-Islamic, as they don't have at the moment the right investigative judicial setup necessary for such a verdict, in which capital punishment can be brought forward.
"You must have a legal system, a witness system, peace and this is the view of the Somali ulema (legal scholars), the muftis (Islamic law interpreters), that no such verdicts can be conducted in Somalia at the moment."
One man was stoned to death for adultery last week.
His pregnant girlfriend is due to be given the same punishment in the next few months after she gives birth.
In November 2008, a 13-year-old rape victim was stoned to death after being accused of adultery, according to Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group.

]]> Exhale Anonymous Villager http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/exhale/38807-woman-stoned-death.html Different Thanksgiving Recipes http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/recipe-junction/38806-different-thanksgiving-recipes.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:13:19 GMT http://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43911/13141199/Thanksgiving_Recipes Food, food, food, gobble gobble gobble...yes, we give... http://community.beliefnet.com/go/th...giving_Recipes

Food, food, food, gobble gobble gobble...yes, we give thanks:lol:....poor turkeys eh? ]]> Recipe Junction Oluwato http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/recipe-junction/38806-different-thanksgiving-recipes.html <![CDATA[[Comment]Governor Shekarau And Religious Harmony In Kano State]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/38810-comment-governor-shekarau-religious-harmony-kano-state.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:13:22 GMT ...Read the full article. ]]> Articles and Comments Robot http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/38810-comment-governor-shekarau-religious-harmony-kano-state.html <![CDATA[[Comment]We Talk Too Much]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/38811-comment-we-talk-too-much.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:19:28 GMT ...Read the full article. ]]> Articles and Comments Robot http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/38811-comment-we-talk-too-much.html Changing Color Complex http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/lounge/38802-changing-color-complex.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:53:26 GMT Image: http://www.essence.com/images/mt/sammy.jpg Image: http://www.essence.com/images/mt/images/sidebar/sammy-sosa-300x425.jpg Image:...

Sammy Sosa's Changing Face

From this to this. Is it poor self esteem?

Isn't it ironic that while some darker-skinned people seem to want to be lighter, it seems the opposite for caucasian people. Millions of them are diagnosed with skin cancer from lying in the sun wanting to tan their colour. ]]> The Lounge valteena http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/lounge/38802-changing-color-complex.html Could Obama Pass On 2012 Reelection Bid? http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38801-could-obama-pass-2012-reelection-bid.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:43:50 GMT ---Quote--- Is it possible that President Obama could be considering not running again in 2012? President Barack Obama In an interview with...

Quote:

Is it possible that President Obama could be considering not running again in 2012?

President Barack Obama

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, the nation’s first African-American commander in chief suggested he might take a page from the biography of President Lyndon B. Johnson and not seek reelection.

"You know, if – if I feel like I've made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and because we've gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I'm in a tough spot, I'll – I'll feel all right about myself," Obama told CNN's Ed Henry during an interview in China. "I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting reelected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant."

But Obama was careful to leave room for a possible reelection bid, just in case. "Obviously, if I make those decisions, and I think that I'm moving the country on the right direction – economically, in terms of our security interests, our foreign policy – I'd like to think that those policies are continued because they're not going to bear fruit just in four years," he said.

Also during the wide-ranging interview, Obama said he’d take a pass on reading the much ballyhooed new book by former Alaska governor and Republican political movie star Sarah Palin.

When asked by Henry whether he would be one of the hundreds of thousands expected to gobble up the memoir of the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential candidate, he said, "I probably won't, but I don't get a chance to read things other than briefing books very often these days anyway.”

But he declined an opportunity to dismiss her as a non-serious candidate for 2012.

"You know, she obviously has a big constituency in the Republican Party," he said. "You know, there a lot of people who are excited by her."

http://www.bet.com/news/National_Cou...Reelection_Bid

Could it be that he can sense that it will be harder for a carmel to pass through the eye of a needle than for him to clinch a second term?. Any way A term is enough me think. The point and history has been made. ]]> The Main Square valteena http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38801-could-obama-pass-2012-reelection-bid.html