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How to say I Luv U in Nigeria
Your mobile phone beeps, you have received a text message.
It begins: "I swear, I will make sure I give you HIV..."
But it's not an abusive threat, it's a "romantic" text message copied from a book on sale all over Nigeria that professes to give young people the words they need to court the woman or man of their dreams.
"H is for Happiness and joy forever with an I: Incomparable love that will never V: Vanish until death do us part. I love you," the message concludes.
The book, called "Touching the heart through unforgettable text messages (vol.2)" is one of several on sale in markets around the country that give suggestions to tongue-tied young lovers.
Nigerians are compulsive text senders.
Many men complain that women send them "hot" text messages, but all they really want is money, while women say they are pestered by men sending "romantic" texts when all their suitors really want is sex.
But the book's author, 33-year-old entrepreneur Femi Emmanuel, says he writes text messages for people who are too busy, or illiterate, to properly express what is in their hearts.
He is not married but says he send "special" text messages to his girlfriend - original ones, not out of his books.
The sale of all four volumes has been such a success he has bought a car with the proceeds.
"People have really embraced the mobile phone here in Nigeria, but they may not be smart enough to know what to say in these kind of situations, or maybe they're too busy, running an office or whatever," he said. Your mobile phone beeps, you have received a text message. It begins: "I swear, I will make sure I give you HIV..." ... more -
Nigeria: Shell to Face Trial in U.S. Over Saro-Wiwa
Oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum, will go on trial in the United States on February 9, 2009 for alleged complicity in human rights abuses in the Niger Delta, THISDAY has learned.
The case entitled Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Shell and Wiwa v Anderson concerns the November 10, 1995 hangings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Movement of the Emancipation of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) known as "Ogoni Nine" and the shooting of a woman protesting the bulldozing of her farm by Shell in preparation for a pipeline project.
After several years of litigation, Judge Kimba Wood ruled that the trial would he held next year.
According to documents made available by EarthRights International, one of the counsel, Shell was engaged in "acts of oppression" against peaceful opposition to the company's environmental damage and human rights abuses in the Ogoni area.
THISDAY gathered that the plaintiff's action was brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO).
The defendants dismissed the complaints on grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction over Royal Dutch/Shell and lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
According to the defendants, ACTA did not apply to a corporation and the claim was precluded by the political questions and act of state doctrines as well as Nigerian law on corporate liability. They also argued that the case should be heard in the Netherlands or England.
But on September 25, 1998, Judge Wood ruled that personal jurisdiction was appropriate in New York but also ruled that England was a more convenient forum and therefore that the defendant's motion to dismiss should be granted for forum non conveniens (Latin for "inconvenient forum" or "inappropriate forum").
Plaintiffs appealed to the US Court of Appeals for Second Circuit, arguing that a forum non conveniens dismissal would vitiate Congressional intent to allow plaintiffs claims to be heard in US courts.
Defendants cross-appealed the ruling personal jurisdiction. And the Court of Appeal on September 15, 2000 reversed the district court's forum non conveniens dismal, thereby concluding that the US was the proper forum.
The court further upheld the district court's ruling that jurisdiction over the defendants was proper. Oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum, will go on trial in the United States on February 9, 2009 for alleged complicity in human righ... more -
US financial turmoil ripples felt in Africa
African stock markets are feeling the heat of the world financial crises created in the United States. At the Nairobi Stock Exchange of Kenya (NSE), the share price fell to a new historical low of Sh4.30 on Tuesday.
Strong indications have emerged that the Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) may have made headway in its efforts to bail out the nation's stock from its lingering slide. By the end of last week, foreign investors had reduced their South African equity holdings by R24bn this year, compared to net purchases of almost R60bn over the same period last year.
All these and recent trends show that finally, the global financial crises has begun hitting African continent. On Monday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga joined world leaders in warning that the financial crisis on Wall Street would inflict significant damage on African economies, including Kenya's.
Speaking on the sidelines of an international development conference in France, Odinga told Reuters that the turmoil in world markets “will impact very negatively on the Kenyan economy in the short and medium term.”
"They say that when America sneezes, Europe catches a cold, Asia develops pneumonia and Africa's tuberculosis gets worse. This is what we are beginning to see,” Odinga added.
World Bank and United Nations officials also spoke about Africa's prospects for continued economic growth. Panic on Wall Street and in other financial centres could cause Western investors to reduce their stakes in African businesses, Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank's top economist for Africa, said in Washington on Monday.
“Now there is a risk that if there is a really difficult financial crisis in the United States and Europe and risk aversion rises, it is possible these capital flows which have fuelled growth in Africa will fall,” Devarajan said.
In the case of Kenya, the NSE 20 share index, a key performance indicator, has over the past 12 months dropped by about 1,000 points, washing away about a quarter in returns. That means an investor who bought shares on all the 20 counters included on the NSE 20 index in October 2007 has by now lost a quarter of his investment. African stock markets are feeling the heat of the world financial crises created in the United States. At the Nairobi Stock Exchange o... more -
Police raid Nigeria 'baby farm'
The shocking news that Nigerian police have raided a hospital where they believe that newborns were being sold off to traffickers.
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Nigerian oil rebels release 19 hostages
LAGOS (AFP) - Militants behind a recent "oil war" in Nigeria's Delta region on Sunday freed 19 local hostages but said they were detaining two Britons and a Ukrainian "for security reasons".
"The Nigerian hostages rescued from pirates by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta have been released in Rivers state," MEND said in an email statement to the media on Sunday.
MEND told AFP that the 19 Nigerians were part of a group of 27 hostages they said were liberated from "pirates" in mid-September and which they have been holding since.
The rebels said that the three foreign nationals still being held were "two Britons and one Ukrainian, officially.
"Due to the location where the expatriates were kept for their safety, they cannot be released at this time because of security concerns," the email added.
MEND has previously identified the group as comprising 22 Nigerians and two South Africans as well as the British and Ukrainian trio. The South African pair were freed on September 18.
The release of the 19 comes a day after a British national kidnapped this month in the southern Nigeria's oil hub of Port Harcourt was freed with no ransom paid.
However, six Filipinos were kidnapped early on Saturday in the Delta region by armed men who attacked their vessel near the key Bonny oil terminal, security sources told AFP.
The most prominent armed group in southern Nigeria, MEND declared a ceasefire on September 21 following a week of attacks on oil industry targets.
MEND has changed the security paradigm in Nigeria since its emergence in early 2006 -- multiplying attacks, kidnappings of foreign oil workers and sabotage at oil installations on land and offshore.
It has caused Nigeria to lose one quarter of its oil production, costing Lagos its place as the biggest crude oil producer in Africa, with Angola recently taking that title.
The group says it is fighting for a larger share of Nigeria's oil revenue to go to local populations. LAGOS (AFP) - Militants behind a recent "oil war" in Nigeria's Delta region on Sunday freed 19 local hostages but said ... more -
"Homosexuals must die"
Furious over what seems a bourgeoning community of homosexuals in Nigeria, a Muslim cleric, Professor Is-haq Akintola, has suggested capital punishment for the practice, with recourse to the Holy Qu’ran, which he says prescribes death penalty. Furious over what seems a bourgeoning community of homosexuals in Nigeria, a Muslim cleric, Professor Is-haq Akintola, has suggested c... more
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Nigerian consortium in for Newcaste United
Newcastle United chairman looks like getting his wish of selling up as fast as possible.
A Nigerian consortium hoping to buy Newcastle United has apparently made a confirmed bid for the troubled club.
To make matters even more interesting, apparently they are not the only interested party (I know I was surprised).
Rumours that Mike Ashley received an email telling him he must send them a cheque immediately so that they can release the funds in their account are entirely without foundation. Newcastle United chairman looks like getting his wish of selling up as fast as possible. ... more -
Gates gives $168 mln for malaria vaccines research
Microsoft founder Bill Gates gave $168.7 million to develop vaccines for malaria, part of $3 billion in funding announced on Thursday to tackle Africa's biggest killer disease.
Gates said the funding for the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, in conjunction with GlaxoSmithKline Plc, will support "next-generation" vaccines research to find longer-lasting protection against the mosquito-borne disease.
The funding was announced on the sidelines of a special poverty summit organized by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to assess the Millennium Development Goals to halve global poverty by 2015, including by tackling malaria.
"I'm very hopeful that the malaria vaccine currently in advanced testing will be proven effective, but that will just be the first step," said Gates, who stepped down from his duties at Microsoft in June to focus on philanthropy.
"Now it's time to develop a new generation of vaccines that are even more effective, and could someday help eradicate malaria altogether."
Experts agree that a vaccine is the best way to fight the disease, but this has proven nearly impossible. The Plasmodium falciparum parasite has a complex life cycle inside mosquitoes and the human body, which helps it evade the immune system.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has reported that its experimental vaccine had protected 65 percent of infants from infection, but it reduced illness by just 35 percent after six months.
An international health consortium, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, comprising U.N. agencies, leading drugmakers and aid experts, said on Thursday the world should spend more than $5 billion a year to prevent deaths from malaria, nearly five times current spending.
The World Bank said on Thursday it will increase spending on fighting malaria in Africa by $1.1 billion, and focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, which account for 30 percent to 40 percent of all malaria deaths worldwide.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said countries such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zambia had made progress in cutting malaria deaths through the distribution of bed nets and more access to low-cost, effective drugs for treating the disease.
In other funding announced, the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said it would give $1.62 billion in grants over the next two years for malaria; Britain pledged $40 million; and Houston-based Marathon Oil pledged $28 million for Equatorial Guinea over five years. Meanwhile, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it would give $2 million for insecticide-treated bed nets to refugees in Africa. Microsoft founder Bill Gates gave $168.7 million to develop vaccines for malaria, part of $3 billion in funding announced on Thursday ... more -
Shell pipeline 'wrecked' by radicals
A major Nigerian militant collective, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, has announced its latest strike against the oil industry, saying it has destroyed a key pipeline belonging to Royal Dutch Shell. The group says it is fighting for a better living environment and civil development in an area of social and economic neglect.
In an emailed statement, the group said, "MEND will continue to nibble every day at the oil infrastructure in Nigeria until the oil exports reach zero."
Output in Africa's most prolific oil area has plummeted by 150,000 barrels per day because of the now almost-daily attacks on its infrastructure. Shell has warned the upsurge in violence is likely to affect its quarterly earnings. A major Nigerian militant collective, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, has announced its latest strike against th... more -
Bolivia added to drug blacklist
In annual findings on the global illegal drug trade, Bush for the first time says Bolivia had "failed demonstrably" to meet its obligations to battle narcotics under international accords and US laws governing overseas aid.
Bush's comments came in a memorandum for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, dated Monday but released at the White House on Tuesday, identifying 20 major drug transit or drug producing countries.
Bush put Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela on the list.
The US president noted that appearing on the list does not necessarily mean governments are not trying to stem the flow of illegal drugs or are not cooperating with Washington.
Instead, it can be "the combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced despite the concerned government's most assiduous enforcement measures," he says. In annual findings on the global illegal drug trade, Bush for the first time says Bolivia had "failed demonstrably" to meet ... more -
Nigerian militants say Shell pipeline destroyed
Nigerian rebel group said Tuesday it had blown up and destroyed a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline in the latest attack in its "oil war" on western firms.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) also said it would soon release two South African hostages it rescued from pirates but gunmen abducted a Briton in the region's oil capital as tensions spread.
Shell did not immediately confirm the pipeline attack, but MEND has already attacked a Shell flow station since declaring its war on Sunday. It attacked a Chevron facility hours before the declaration.
A Nigerian army officer however said the attack on the Shell installation was repelled.
"Soldiers sighted the militants in time and confronted them so they dropped their explosives which detonated," Lieutenant-Colonel Musa Sagir, spokesman for the unit of the Nigerian army tasked with policing the Niger Delta, told AFP.
MEND is the most prominent armed group in the Delta region which says it is fighting for local people to get a greater share of the huge oil revenues. Since it began operating in early 2006 it has cut Nigeria's oil production by a quarter.
"A major crude oil pipeline at Bakana Front in Degema Local Government Area ... was destroyed with high explosives by MEND detonation engineers backed by heavily-armed fighters," MEND said in an email statement to the media.
Bakana is in Rivers State, the heart of the oil region. The two earlier attacks on Shell's Alakiri flowstation and on a Chevron facility at Robertkiri are in the same state.
MEND declared an all-out war on the oil industry at the weekend in response to what it said was an unprovoked attack by the Nigerian military on one of its positions on Saturday.
Other less prominent armed groups appear to have either joined forces with MEND or taken advantage of the confusion.
Unidentified gunmen on Monday night kidnapped a Briton in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers, Sagir told AFP, without giving further details. The Briton had worked for plastics company Indorama.
There was no immediate confirmation from the British embassy.
But MEND announced it would soon free two South Africans who were among 27 people, also including 22 Nigerians and three people who are British or Ukrainian, it rescued from pirates on Friday.
MEND said it was persuaded to release the two by an appeal from Azuka Okah, wife of Henry Okah, one of the group's leaders detained in secret in the centre of Nigeria.
Azuka Ohah said she and her children considered South Africa their home since her husband's detention in September 2007 and have been well-received there.
"In consideration of the above, MEND will be ... releasing the two hostages to the care of the South African government representative at the earliest convenience after working out the modalities including safety concerns since the creek is now a war zone," the group said in a separate statement.
MEND had said Saturday it was planning to hold all 27 hostages as leverage for Okah's release. It said some of the men had been injured when the Nigerian army attacked a MEND camp.
The Nigerian army said it had raided a camp of fighters led by Ateke Tom, a local warlord, in the Alakiri area.
Sagir gave no further details of the raid but said the army had uncovered "a plot to destabilise Rivers State". He said local armed groups had set aside their differences to mount the plot together. Nigerian rebel group said Tuesday it had blown up and destroyed a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline in the latest attack in its "oil war... more -
Nigerian Militants Destroy Oil Station
Militants in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region say they have destroyed an oil installation a day after declaring they were "at war" with the military.
A flow station belonging to Shell in Alakiri, in Rivers State, was attacked in the early hours of the morning, a military spokesman confirmed.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said they killed several soldiers and workers inside.
But the military said they had suffered no casualties.
In an e-mail to journalists, Mend said they would not be taking hostages in their new campaign.
"The foolhardy workers and soldiers who did not head our warning perished inside the station," Mend spokesman Jomo Gbomo said.
Military spokesman Lt Col Sagir Musa said that was "disinformation".
"There was no casualty on the military side, the situation is being closely monitored and is under control," he said. Militants in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region say they have destroyed an oil installation a day after declaring they were &#... more -
Nigeria rebels declare 'oil war'
Nigeria's main militant group in the Niger Delta has declared an "oil war" against forgeign-owned oil companies working in the region.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said on Sunday it had launched "hurricane Barbarossa" and destroyed flow stations and oil pipelines, killing 22 Nigerian soldiers.
Mend said it was launching the "war" after government troops attacked one of its positions a day earlier with aerial and marine forces.
Chevron confirmed one of its oil platforms was attacked by rebels on Sunday.
"There was an attack on a platform already shut down due to pipeline problems," an official said.
"There were heavy casualties on the part of the militants," Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, a military spokesman for the task force in Rivers state, said.
"We are hopeful they will give up the fight very soon."
'Hurricane of retaliation'
He said no oil facilities were affected by two days of heavy fighting.
Violence in the Niger Delta, the centre of the Opec member's oil sector, has halted a fifth of the country's oil production since 2006.
The Niger Delta accounts for most of Nigeria's oil output of two million barrels per day, making it the world's eighth biggest oil exporter.
Dr Muhammed Ali Zainy, a senior analyst for the centre for Global Energy studies, told Al Jazeera: "Recently Opec reduced production by about 520,000 barrels per day but this did not stop the sliding price of oil.
"This means that the demand for oil is faltering and that the world economy is weak, therefore any dent in Nigerian oil production would not have a big impact on the market," he said.
Mend members warned oil firms in the Niger Delta on Saturday to withdraw their workers in the next 24 hours or face a "hurricane" of retaliation following a major gun battle with security forces earlier in the day.
Mend said security forces used helicopters, jet fighters and more than 20 gunboats in Saturday's fighting.
A security source said soldiers from the army, navy and air force were involved in the clashes.
Insecurity in the region has cut the West African country's output by around a fifth since early 2006, when Mend began blowing up oil pipelines and kidnapping foreign workers, helping push up world oil prices.
Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, Eni, and Chevron, are among the numerous oil companies operating in the Niger Delta. Nigeria's main militant group in the Niger Delta has declared an "oil war" against forgeign-owned oil companies working... more -
Nigerian Rebels declare an Oil War
"Nigeria's main rebel group declared Sunday an 'oil war' in the west African nation in response to what it said were 'unprovoked' attacks by Nigerian government forces a day earlier.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta issued an e-mail statement saying it attacked several oil installations, making good on a previous threat that any attack on its positions 'will be tantamount to a declaration of an oil war.'
It said Nigerian forces attacked its positions in the Rivers State on Saturday, prompting MEND to deploy 'heavily armed fighters in hundreds of war boats' with the intention of carrying out 'destructive and deadly attacks on the oil industry in Rivers State.'
As part of its operation -- dubbed 'Hurricane Barbarossa' -- MEND said it intercepted 22 Nigerian soldiers at the Soku Gas Plant, Chevron Platform, at Kula. It said the soldiers were 'killed and dispossessed of their weapons,' but was not specific. It also said it blew up several points on the major crude trunk pipeline at Nembe Creek.
'The operation will continue until the government of Nigeria appreciates that the solution to peace in the Niger Delta is justice, respect and dialogue,' MEND said."
Looks like the price of Oil is going up, and not in dollars. "Nigeria's main rebel group declared Sunday an 'oil war' in the west African nation in response to what it said we... more -
Andrew Berends returns home; Samuel George’s fate undetermined, remains detained i...
ANDREW BACK ON US SOIL
NEW YORK, September 11, 2008 –Andrew Berends, the American filmmaker who had been detained by Nigerian State Security Services was returned to the United States Wednesday. He was escorted to his plane by Nigerian immigration officers without an explanation as to why he was being sent home. Berends was never charged with a crime, and had a legal business visa in his passport at the time of his detainment.
His Nigerian translator, Samuel George, has been provisionally released, but is expected to return to the State Security Services offices at noon on Friday, along with a third man who had also been detained. The status of any investigation against them is still uncertain.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) jointly sponsored a letter, written to the President of Nigeria calling for Berends’ immediate release, and signed by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Robert Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and John Kerry (D-MA).
This is the third in a string of similar detainments of American journalists in the past two years by the Nigerian government. Most recently, five members of the crew making the documentary film “Sweet Crude” were detained for seven days, before ultimately being released without being charged.
Berends says, “I am extremely disappointed with this pattern of suppressing press freedom in Nigeria. It calls into question the Nigerian government’s sincerity when it comes to upholding the basic tenets of democracy since the transition from military rule in 1999.”
Berends was in Nigeria working on his documentary film, “Delta Boys,” about the militancy in the Niger Delta. He had been arrested at Nembe Waterside in Port Harcourt along with his translator, Samuel George, while filming women on their way to market. He had been granted permission to film by the military sergeant in charge in the area. ANDREW BACK ON US SOIL ... more -
Nigerian Blood Oil Crisis
There's more going on than the election people
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'Fela!' - Afrobeat’s King, Recrowned
The big-talking title character of “Fela!,” the pulse-racing new show about the Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is not someone you rely on for literal truth. For this self-defined “black president” of his own republic of rebellion, to speak is to magnify, to exaggerate, to mythologize.
But the grandiose claims that Fela, played with inexhaustible swagger by the remarkable Sahr Ngaujah, makes for his music wind up feeling dead accurate. In the percussion section in his band, he says early in the show, you feel “the pulse of the world, the impulse of life.” And darned if 10 minutes into this production, which opened Thursday night at 37 Arts, you don’t find yourself believing this as gospel truth. The big-talking title character of “Fela!,” the pulse-racing new show about the Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is... more -
Documentarian Held in Nigeria
NEW YORK, September 3, 2008 – Andrew Berends, an established, award-winning American filmmaker and journalist from New York, was detained Sunday August 31st by the Nigerian military along with his translator, Samuel George. Andrew entered Nigeria legally in April 2008 to complete a documentary film.
Andrew was held in custody without food, sleep, or representation, and with limited water for the first 36 hours. He has been questioned by the army, the police, and the State Security Services in Port Harcourt. The State Security Services has confiscated his passport and personal property. Andrew has been returned to sleep in his rented room each night after the initial 36 hours, but then re-detained each morning. Andrew's translator, Samuel George, has not been released at night and has remained in custody since Sunday.
The US State Department is aware of the situation, and an attorney has been retained on Andrew's behalf. Reporters without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have issued statements condemning Andrew's arrest. We, Andrew's friends, family, and colleagues, are deeply concerned that he has been held without cause and are calling for his safe treatment and immediate release. NEW YORK, September 3, 2008 – Andrew Berends, an established, award-winning American filmmaker and journalist from New York, was detai... more -
Nigeria arranges 'HIV marriages'
HIV-positive couples are being paired up for marriage by a northern Nigerian state in an attempt to reduce the spread of the disease.
But international Aids experts have voiced concern at the plan. Warren Naamara from UNAids said the two people could have different strains of the virus, which could interact. He said the couples should use condoms.
Around 70 couples have been matched up in the last few weeks, Bauchi state authorities told the BBC. Authorities in the state say they are trying to stop HIV spreading and battle the "isolation and stigma" of the disease.
Some 3% of Nigeria's adult population - 2.4 million people - is estimated to be HIV-positive HIV-positive couples are being paired up for marriage by a northern Nigerian state in an attempt to reduce the spread of the disease. ... more -
American Filmmaker Arrested in Nigeria
LAGOS, Nigeria -- An American documentary filmmaker and his interpreter working in the volatile Delta region of Nigeria have been arrested and accused of spying, according to Nigerian government officials and media watchdog groups.
Andrew Berends, a New York-based freelance filmmaker and journalist who was working on a film about the oil-producing Delta region, was arrested on Sunday and held overnight.
Reporters Without Borders issued a statement that said: "Berends was arrested just for doing his job and no other reason. It is absurd for the authorities to think that by arresting him and his interpreter, they can conceal the economic and ecological disaster unfolding in the Niger Delta."
To see more on the deteriorating situation in the oil-rich Niger Delta, see the embedded video. LAGOS, Nigeria -- An American documentary filmmaker and his interpreter working in the volatile Delta region of Nigeria have been arre... more
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