Afrikan Post August 2011

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Vol 3 Issue 8

Street In New Jersey Named Ghanaian Way Pg. 30 & 31

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August 2011

Afrikan Post

There are still people wondering whether their business really needs a website. Are you one of them? Check these reasons

From the Editor O u r G r ea tes t G lor y is n o t in n ever f a llin g b u t in r is in g ever y time we f a ll .

We ar e committted to b r in gin g th e commu n ity th e bes t in N ews f r om Af r ica a n d th e D ia s po r a. Yo u ma y a ls o vis it o u r web s ite www. af r ika n p os t.com f o r d a ily n ews u p d ates f o r Af r ica.

D is cla imer : Th e o p in ion s ex pr es s ed in ar ticles a n d s to r ies in th is N ews pa per ar e th os e o f th e a u th or s a n d do n o t n eces s ar ily r ef lect th e views o f Af r ik an Pos t . All co mmen ts a n d s u g ges tion s ar e welco me.

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George Bright-Abu Publisher and Editor

2. Promote Your Services It is hard to showcase services in a store, or office. The web allows you to introduce the service, the professionals providing the service, and how several services can complement each other.

To Advertise Your Business or contribute

Call 703- 725- 6968 or E-mail: editor@afrikanpost.com Address: Bright House Productions 6236 Oscar Court Woodbridge VA 22193

3. Promote Your Organization People buy from people. People support organizations and causes that they believe in. A website is a fantastic tool to promote an organization and build trust – that is, if you do it right… A well-developed website can convey trust and credibility, making people to buy from you, or support you.

SECTIONS Vol. 3 Issue 8

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

Nkiru Sylvanus speaks on her new appointment by Gov. Okorocha pg. 36 UPDATE

Pg. 7 HEALTH ISSUES

Female Orgasm pg. 13

HER PAGE (Ad) Dress Your Soul pg. 20

SPORTS Blind Referee, Rob Agbeko Of Bantamweight Title pg. 39

Sonnie Badu and The True Worshippers pg 38

1. Promote Your Products A website allows you to showcase your products for everyone to see. You can explain the benefits, compare it with other products, or show testimonials of happy customers that already bought the product.

4. Promote Yourself Whether you are a professional looking for a job, or an expert in your industry: you can show that to the whole world by having a comprehensive website. The use of an associated email address also increases perceived professionalism: a letter from someone at me-the-expert.com will certainly open more doors than an email from a hotmail account.

5. Promote Your Ideas Political campaigns are now all over the web. A website can be a powerful way to promote your ideas, and build a following of like-minded people. Or you can just write online journals (“blogs”) to ventilate some of your thoughts and concerns.

6. Promote Your Events Have a fundraising event? Want to promote your business with seminars, workshops or a tradeshow? You will increase awareness when you create a website for the event. Show dates, programs, prices and riving directions – to name but a few features that will be greatly appreciated by your target audience.

7. Sell Your Events Want to take it a step further? You may even want to consider selling (or pre-ordering) tickets for your events on a website. Shorter line-ups, less expenses: it sounds like a good idea to me…

8. Sell Your Organization Whether “selling your organization” is a figure of speech (to convince people) or a true selling effort, a website can be considered a very valuable asset to your organization.

like Christmas and Valentine’s Day show record sales numbers, and money-guzzling giants like Amazon are starting to make money. Offering a great user-experience and minding usability is the key to success.

11. Save Costs By integrating systems and automating certain tasks you may be able to actually save costs. For instance, by integrating your e-commerce website into your inventory and accounting systems. Build extranets to connect with suppliers and clients alike. You can provide downloadable documents on a website rather than mailing them out. The opportunities are endless.

12. Build A Community Want to be perceived as a leader? Want people talking about you, or provide a platform for people to share ideas and ideologies? A website, especially with a forum or bulletin board, can be a great help in building an online community. It may even be the cement that keeps an offline community together, because of its empowering character and 24/7 availability.

13. Share Pictures, Sound And Other Files I just watched wedding photos, I enjoy watching funny commercials from all over the world, I like listening to music – on a website. You can use it to share Media Kits, sound bites, or PowerPoint presentations. A website is a great tool to exchange multi-media.

14. Offer Service 365/24/7 This may not be of great value to you (it may even be a burden…), but to your customers it is very empowering and important. The Internet puts the web browser in control – and if you are not there, you will be more and more passed over in favor of an online competitor.

15. Answer Frequently Asked Questions Answering the same questions over and over again can be a great waste of money and employee morale. A carefully crafted list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), posted on a website, can reduce the stream of repetitive questions so your Customer Support department can actually start supporting customers, and your Sales Department can really devote their time to selling!

16. Improve Branding Branding is a way to differentiate your product, service or company from its competition, and create loyalty.

The content of a website, its style and tools such as newsletters allow for many ways to differentiate yourself, make the visitor feel good about you, and build loyalty. More worrisome: if you do not do this, a competitor may snatch not only your prospects sales, but also their loyalty away from you with their website!

Eat, or be eaten!

9. Sell Your Services A website can be a great tool to not only promote, but also actually sell your services. You can automate many repetitive tasks, such as registration, billing, collecting and much more. Whether you are selling phone services or speaking Source : DadyCanDoIt.Com engagements: you can effectively do it with a website.

10. Sell Your Products A few years ago, after all the dot-boms, people lost faith in e-commerce. Now e-commerce is booming. Gift moments

Afrikan Post Call : 703-725-6968 Email : editor@afrikanpost.com

August 2011

Prophetic Conference and Book Launching

GRAND OPENING OF GYE NYAME RESTAURANT

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1ST ANNUAL OLD SKUUL REUNION AMANFOO, APSUNIANS, AKORA- do those words sound familiar? It should, if you attended secondary school in Ghana. Akwaaba Radio hosted the first annual Old Skuul Reunion in Virginia on August 6th. The event, a.k.a The Interco, which took place at Fort Hunt Park, was highly attended by people representing for St. Augustines, Mfantsipim, Sutesco, and Wesley Grammar. A few alum from St. Mary’s Secondary, Adisadel College, Bishop Herman Secondary, Achimota, and Pempreh College were also in attendance, including musician Koby Maxwell, a Methodist High (Saltpond) graduate, who thrilled the audience with a live performance. The park was big enough for each school to have their own corner and represent to the best of their ability. All the alum were proudly wearing their school colors or polo shirts which had their school emblems attached. Mfantsipim showed its pride by decorating its table with a red and black balloon display and signs that stated, “Mfantsipim: The School”. Mfantsipim, an all-boys school located in Cape Coast Ghana, was established in 1876 and its motto is, “Dwen Hwe Kan (Think Ahead, Plan Ahead )”. Former Mfantsipim students Nathaniel “Gazebo” Quartey (c/o ‘91) and James Hamilton (c/o ‘95) were pleased with the event, and Mr. Hamilton stated that, “taking into account that this is the first time this has been done, it has been great. I got to meet a lot of good old friends I haven’t seen in 15 years, and I got to meet new people. It is my hope that this event can grow from a local/regional event to a national event.” When asked about his impression of the Old Skuul Reunion event, Kwaku Boateng, another Mfantsipim alum, who travelled all the way to the event from Florida, stated that he “believes in the vision, and with good nurturing it will mature into something that is widely recognized by all well-meaning people.”

Suhum Secondary Technical School (Sutesco), the first secondary technical school in eastern Ghana, was also greatly represented at the Old Skuul Reunion. Apart from their matching green soccer jerseys, former Sutesco students could be seen in their bright yellow Sutesco shirts congregating around their gigantic Sutesco banner, which could be seen from a great distance. Sutesco alumni travelled from Arizona (Desmond Kwapong, c/o ‘92), New Jersey (Peter Ansah, c/o ‘94), and even Italy (Matthew Odum Baidoo) to attend the Old Skull Reunion. Mr. Ansah and Mr. Kwapong, both former residents of Peasah House, expressed their gratitude and overall satisfaction with the event. Mr. Ansah organized the first Sutesco reunion in Atlantic City, New Jersey last month and was happy to be at the Old Skull reunion, with the intention of returning next year. Mr. Desmond Kwapong stated that he was “expecting to see the old boys” and pleased that Sutesco boys are “rebounding again and getting to know each other”.

The picnic, which ended around 6 p.m, was followed by an after party in Maryland, which lasted until 5 am in the morning. The party was tasteful and elegant, with a bar provided for those who were interested, and a wall banner serving as the back drop for official Old Skuul Reunion photos. The music, provided by DJ Alongay, DJ Albert, and Debraks (UK) was a non-stop mix of old school (think 1980s music-Madonna, Michael Jackson, New Edition) and new school (Atumpan, Stay J, Obour, Sarkodie, 5Five,4x4, plus many more). The first annual Akwaaaba Radio Old Skuul event was a great social and networking event, bringing together Ghanaians from all over the world. According to the Management of Akwaaba Radio, the Old Skuul Reunion is going to be an annual affair, which will occur on the first Saturday in August every year, and preparations have already begun for the second Old Skuul reunion, scheduled for August 4th 2012.

By: Amy Ansong

Sutesco Alumni

Mfantsipim Alumni

Old Skuul Reunion After Party

Lovely ladies reminiscing

Roland Osae (Bishop Herman Secondary School), Gyan K. Manu(Adisadel College), Charles “Atom” Frimpong (Prempeh)

Katanga Hall (KNUST) Dance-Off

Friendly competition

Afrikan Post and Rodger “Aro” Biney (St Augustine, ‘92)

August

Libya conflict: Gaddafi forces 'launched Scud missile Military forces loyal to Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi have fired a Scud missile for the first time in the country's six-month conflict, US defence officials say.

Zawiya to Tunisia - and Tiji, although this has not been confirmed by residents. If the towns fell to the rebels, they would have Tripoli surrounded by land, with Nato blocking sea access.

They say it was launched from near the coastal city of Sirte and aimed at Brega - currently held by rebels - but landed harmlessly in the desert.

The BBC's Matthew Price in Tripoli says how much territory the rebels hold and for how long they can hold it is unclear.

Pro-Gaddafi forces are believed to have more than 200 Scuds in their arsenal.

days are numbered," said White House Fighting was reported in both Zawiya, 50km spokesman Jay Carney.

(30 miles) west of Tripoli, and Gharyan, 80km (50 miles) to the south.

Benjamin Barber, a Libya expert and fellow at the think tank Demos, said such claims were Medics outside Zawiya told Reuters news "wishful thinking". agency that sniper and mortar fire from government troops had left three civilians dead.

"I don't think there's any particular reason for 'Days numbered' Col Gaddafi's forces are still thought to control the Zawiya oil refinery - the only one in western Libya - where they get most of their fuel.

hope unless they're willing to do a negotiated settlement, but neither the opposition council, nor Nato, nor the United States seem very interested in that right now," he told the BBC World Service.

"There are a great many tribes and groups in and around Tripoli whose future depends on the survival of Gaddafi," he added.

Earlier, the rebels said they had seized Gharyan - a town in the Nafusa Mountains that straddles the road connecting Tripoli with Source:www.bbcnews.com Sabha, Sorman - west along the road from

Maiduguri unrest: Nigeria police 'thwart suicide blast state.

Nigerian police say they killed a man who tried to carry out a car bomb attack on the police headquarters of a violence-torn north-east city.

The man was shot dead as he drove the explosives-laden car into the police compound in Maiduguri, police said.

Police spokesmen said several containers of both gunpowder and petrol were found in the car.

Maiduguri has been in the grip of fighting between soldiers and the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram.

Somalia: Rights group says all sides guilty of crime The report also accuses the TFG of carrying out arbitrary arrests and detentions, and says those who flee the country face more problems, enduring rape and extortion, allegedly by the Kenyan police.

'Trouble everywhere' Mr Rawlence said support for the TFG had to come with pressure for it to respect human rights and improve accountability of its security forces and government.

But both rebels and the US said Col Gaddafi was coming under increasing pressure.

Rebel spokesman Ahmed Bani said the use of a The move comes as the rebels continue a push Scud was a sign of desperation by the Libyan towards the capital, Tripoli. leader. "This man will use any weapon necessary to keep his regime going and resume his rule, On Monday they advanced into two strategi- even for few hours," he said. cally important towns controlling access to the capital, from the west and the south.

"It's becoming increasingly clear that Gaddafi's

"Our men succeeded in killing a would-be suicide bomber who attempted to force his way into the police headquarters," state police commissioner Simeon Midenda said.

He said the incident happened during the screening of potential police recruits and 1,500 hopefuls were in the grounds at the time.

"Our initial suspicion is the attacker is from the Boko Haram sect," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Continue reading the main story Q&A: Somalia's conflict But Abdi Rashid Aseed, a spokesman for TFG, said the information used for the report Human Rights Watch has said all sides was inaccurate and denied the accusations in in Somalia's conflict are guilty of serious it. breaches of international law.

The campaign group says civilians are bearing the brunt not just of a famine but also a failure by any side to protect them.

The group, whose name roughly translates as "Western education is forbidden", is fighting to topple the government and create an Islamic

"When you are restoring law and order certain things are going to happen; collateral damage happens not only in Somalia but in all parts of the world where there is trouble and wars," he told the BBC.

It says Islamist group al-Shabab is guilty "This Transitional Government is committed of unrelenting brutality, while governto human rights. We are happy to listen but ment troops carry out arbitrary arrests criticism has to be constructive." and detentions.

HRW also criticises the West for not exerting pressure to stop the abuses.

A spokesman for the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) denied the accusations, and said the body was committed to human rights.

The HRW report, You Don't Know Who to Blame, says all ides in the conflict should end abuses against civilians and ensure Somalis have access to aid.

Somalia has been without an effective government for 20 years - much of southern and central Somalia is controlled by al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda and has imposed strict Sharia law.

Some 1.4 million people have been displaced within the country and hundreds of thousands have fled to neighbouring countries to escape fighting and food shortages. The World Health Organisation estimates that 2.8m people are in need of food aid.

The report's author, Ben Rawlence, told Source:www.bbcnews.com the BBC that al-Shabab carries out unrelenting daily repression and brutality in areas under its control, taxing the population for access to water, forcefully recruiting men so they cannot grow crops and restricting access to aid agencies.

"Al-Shabab must carry the burden of that responsibility for the way in which the demands of the fighting has led to human rights violations which have contributed to famine," he said.

Source:www.bbcnews.com Thousands of people have fled the area in recent weeks as fighting around the city has intensified.

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Mr Rawlence said al-Shabab often fired from within populated areas towards TFG troops and UN peacekeepers, who responded "without paying too much attention to who is there".

African Embassies in the US African Embassies and Consulates from Algeria - Zimbabwe Algeria Embassy of the Peoples Republic of Algeria 2118 Kalorama Rd, NW Washington, D.C 20008 Tel: (202) 265-2800 Embassy of the Republic of Angola 2100-2108 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 Tel: 202-785-1156 Benin Embassy of the Republic of Benin 2737 Cathedral Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 232-6656 Embassy of Botswana 3400 International Drive, NW, Suite 7M, Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 244-4990 Embassy of Burkina Faso 2340 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 332-5577 Burundi Embassy of the Republic of Burundi 2233 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 212, Washington DC 20007 Tel: (202) 342-2574 Cameroon Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon 2349 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 265-8790 Consulate General of Cape Verde 607 Boston St. 4th. Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Tel: (1617) 353-0014 Central African Republic (CAR) Embassy of the Central African Republic 1618 22nd Street, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 483-7800 Embassy of the Republic of Chad 32002 R Street, NW Washington DC 20009 Tel: (202) 462-4009 Congo Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo 1800 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Washington DC 20009 Tel: (202) 234-7690 Republic of Congo Embassy of the Republic of Congo 4891 Colorado Avenue, NW Washington DC 20011 Tel: (202) 726-5500 Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Embassy of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 2424 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008

Tel: (202) 797-0300 Embassy of Djibouti 1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 515 Washington DC 20005 Tel.: (202) 331-0270 Egypt Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt 3521 International Ct. NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 895 5400

Madagascar Embassy of Madagascar 2374 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20008 Phone: 202-265-5525

Equatorial Guinea Embassy of Equatorial Guinea 2020 16th Street NW Washington 20009 Tel: (202) 518 57 00

Malawi Embassy of Malawi 2408 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 797-1007 Fax: (202) 265-0976

Gabon Embassy of Gabon 2034 20th Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington DC 20009 Tel: (202) 797-1000 Gambia Embassy of the Gambia 1155 15th Street, NW, Suite 1000 Washington DC 20005 Tel: (202) 785-1399 Ghana Embassy of Ghana 3512 International Drive NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 686-4520 Guinea Embassy of the republic of Guinea 2112 Leroy Place, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 986-4300 Diplomatic Mission of of Guinea-Bissau 918 16th Street, NW (Mezzanine Suite) Washington DC 20006 Tel: (202)872 4222 Kenya Embassy of Kenya 2249 R. Street, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 387-6101 Lesotho Embassy of the Kingdom of Lesotho 2511 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 797-5533 Liberia Embassy of Liberia 5201 16th. Street, NW Washington DC, 20011 Tel: (202) 723-0437

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By Anouk Zijlma

Libya Mission of Libya to the UN 309 East 48th Street New York, New York 10017 Tel: (212) 752-5775

Ethiopia Embassy of Ethiopia 3506 International Dr. NW Washington, DC 20008 Tel: (202)364-1200

August 2011

Tel: (202) 232-2882 Senegal Embassy of the Republic of Senegal 2112 Wyoming Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 234-0540 The Seychelles Embassy of the Republic of Seychelles 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400 New York, NY 10017 Tel: (212) 687-9766 Sierra Leone Embassy of Sierra Leone 1701, 19th street, NW Washington, D.C - 20009 Phone : (202)-939-9261

Mali Embassy of the Republic of Mali 2130 R Street, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 332-2249

South Africa Embassy of the Republic of South Africa 3051 Massachusetts Ave, NW Washington, DC 20008 Tel: (202) 232-4400

Mauritania Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania 2129 Leroy Place , NW Washington, DC 20008 Tel: 202 232 5700

Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan 2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20008 Tel: (202) 338-8565

Mauritius Embassy of Mauritius 4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 441 Washington DC 20008 Telephone: (202) 244-1491 Morocco Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco 1601 21st Street, NW Washington DC 20009 Tel: (202) 462-7979 Mozambique Embassy of the Republic of Mozambique 1990 M Street, NW, Suite 570 Washington DC 20036 Tel: (202) 293-7146 Namibia Embassy of the Republic of Namibia 1605 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Washington DC 20009 Tel: (202) 986-0540 Niger Embassy of the Republic of Niger 2204 R Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 Tel: 202.483-4224 Nigeria Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 3519 International Court, NW Washington, DC 20008 Tel: (202) 986-8400 Rwanda Embassy of the Republic Rwanda 1714 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Washington DC 20009

Embassy of the Kingdom of Swaziland 1712 New Hampshire Avenue NW Washington. D.C. 20009 Tel: (202) 234 5002 Tanzania Embassy United Republic of Tanzania 2139 R. Street, NW Washington, DC 20008 Tel: (202) 939-6125 Togo Embassy of the Republic of Togo 2208 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 234-4212 Tunisia Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia 515 Massachusetts Avenue Washington DC 20005 Tel:(202) 862 1850 Uganda Embassy Republic of Uganda 5911 16th Street N.W. Washington DC 20011 Tel: 202 726 0416 Zambia Embassy United Republic of Zambia 2419 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008 Tel: (202) 265-9717 Zimbabwe Embassy of Zimbabwe 1608 New Hampshire Ave NW Washington DC 20009 Tel: (202) 332 7100

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Obama administration says it will conduct case-by-case review on deportation -- In a move that could shake up the U.S. immigration system, the Department of Homeland Security is going to begin reviewing all 300,000 pending deportation cases in federal immigration courts to determine which individuals meet specific criteria for removal and to focus on "our highest priorities."

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the review will enhance public safety. "Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons," Napolitano wrote Thursday in a letter to assistant majority leader Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and 21 other senators including Indiana Republican Richard Lugar.

In April, Durbin and Lugar sent a letter to Napolitano asking her to stop deportations of immigrant students who could earn legal status under the the DREAM Act -- legislation that would give children of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship through military service or college education.

Napolitano said the Obama administration has frequently pointed out "it makes no sense to expend our enforcement resources on low-priority cases, such as individuals... who were brought into this country as young children and know no other home."

Officials say immigration court dockets are clogged, putting public safety in jeopardy, costing money, resources and time. They want to see DHS enforcement resources diverted from illegal immigrants who don't have criminal records to individuals who pose a threat to public safety and national security.

A senior administration official, who requested anonymity because details of the policy change had not yet been announced, told reporters 79% of deportations involve people without a criminal record -- people who have just entered the country illegally or had been previously deported and re-entered.

Napolitano said the new policy change would not negate reforming immigration laws and "will not alleviate the need for passage of the DREAM Act," which would give legal status to illegal immigrant students who attend college or join the military. She added, "President Obama has called the DREAM Act the right thing to do for the young people it would affect, and the right thing to do for the country."

But the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which advocates changing policies to decrease the number of immigrants coming to the United States, said in a statement on its website that the action by the Obama administration "amounts to an administrative amnesty and a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration policy without approval by Congress."

FAIR President Dan Stein said in the statement, "In essence, the administration has declared that U.S. immigration is now virtually unlimited to anyone willing to try to enter and only those who commit violent felonies after arrival are subject to enforcement."

Under the new process, a DHS and the Department of Justice working group will develop specific criteria to iden-

tify low-priority removal cases that should be considered for prosecutorial discretion, including cases with minors, the elderly, pregnant and nursing women, victims of serious crimes, veterans and members of the armed services and individuals with serious disabilities or health problems.

Durbin expressed support for the Obama administration announcement, saying in a written statement that it was "the right decision" specifically as it relates to students.

"These students are the future doctors, lawyers, teachers and maybe, senators, who will make America stronger," Durbin stated. "We need to be doing all we can to keep these talented, dedicated, American students here, not wasting increasingly precious resources sending them away to countries they barely remember."

Durbin's statement added that when reviews of individual cases result in cases being closed, those individuals "will be able to apply for certain immigration benefits, including work authorization."

Durbin's statement did not elaborate on that aspect of the policy change, beyond saying such applications for benefits would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, an organization advocating improved rights for day laborers, praised the move. "The administration had earned the President the title of 'Deporter-in-Chief.' We hope the statement today announcing review of the current caseload of victims of indiscriminate enforcement is carried forth," the group said in a news release.

Source: cnn.com

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Al-Mustapha’s driver took Koku Anyidoho Should Admit His part in Diya’s coup – Orderly Mistakes And Quit Seeking For Scapegoats – Kweku Baako3

By Abdulwahab Abdulah

LAGOS — Sergeant Kyari Jidaie Gadzama, who was Major Hamza AlMustapha’s orderly while he was the Chief Security Officer, CSO, to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha shed light on the coup allegedly planned by the former Chief of General Staff, Gen. Oladipo Diya (rtd), disclosing that the coup was real and that al-Mustapha’s driver was also interrogated over the coup.

Gadzama, who was before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos High Court to give evidence in the trial of al-Mustapha for alleged murder of Chief M.K.O. Abiola’s wife, told the court that there was no doubt that the trio of Generals Oladipo Diya, Tajudeen Olanrewaju and late Abdulkareem Adisa planned to topple the administration of the late Gen. Abacha.

Asked whether he was aware of any coup while he was in the Presidential Villa, the witness said: “Yes, there was a coup involving Gen. Diya, Gen. Olanrewaju and Gen. Adisa. The coup was in the public knowledge. It is those of us in the security that knew that there was coup. My boss (al-Mustapha) driver was involved and was taken to Jos. We were also invited to Jos to appear before the investigative panel.

“Even two of my colleagues were also involved. My boss was also invited to Jos over the coup. The names of all of them (Diya and others) were mentioned in the coup.”

Testifying further, Gadzama told the court that contrary to the argument that Gen. Olanrewaju was moved all the way from Lagos to Jos by road, the witness said: “There was Donier plane which conveyed people from Lagos to Jos and from Abuja to Jos.” He also told the court that he was arrested three times and was severely tortured in order to force him to implicate al-Mustapha, but he refused.

Recounting his alleged horrible experiences in the hands of the interrogators after he was arrested immediately Al-Mustapha was transferred out of the Villa to Enugu, Gadzama said, “Immediately the CSO was moved to Enugu, I was arrested at my Aguda house and moved to the SSS headquarters in late 1998. I was asked if I submitted my arms and I said yes. They checked the record, I was asked why did I leave my office, I said my colleagues had left after the change of government, the CSO, Col. Aliyu thereby asked for my arrest.

“I was taken to the police headquarters, where I was detained and handcuffed with leg chains. After 17 days in the cell, somebody came in the night and loosed my leg chains and tied it with the Liason Officer, Bashir, who said to me that ‘don’t you think Al-Mustapha’s own is finished’ ? He therefore asked me to cooperate and do whatever the man, told me, because that is not the final destination.

“Following day, I was invited upstairs before the panel put up by the government, where I was asked what I know about Major Al-Mustapha, I told them, I didn’t know anything. I was then taken back to the SSS headquarters. I saw three men and a woman , who asked me to sit down, from there I saw my mate, Sgt. Rogers who told me I should cooperate with the men and follow whatever they say, else, I will be in trouble. I was given Sgt Roger’s statement and I told them I did not understand, suddenly, somebody came from behind and hit the chair I sat and I fell and rolled to the wall, where I secured serious injuries. I fainted, by the time I woke up, I saw water all over my body. I was later moved to the cell,” he said.

He said he was taken to the same venue the second day, where he was shown Roger’s statement and asked about what my boss (Al-Mustapha) did. “I was instructed to write that I was given arms by my boss, but I told them, it never happened.”

He said he was subjected to serial punishment ranging from non payment of his salaries and frequent transfers, which made him to eventually leave the Army. He denied ever meeting anyone called Sariki Sasa or Alhaji Lateef Sofolahan when he was the orderly to Al- Mustapha.

Reiterating the tight security at the Presidential Villa during late Abacha’s regime, Gadzama told the court that it will be difficult for anybody, including the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, to gain access to the Villa without the approval of his boss, Al-Mustapha.

SOURCE: vanguardngr.com

Koku Anyidoho Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Malik Kwaku Baako has described the threat by Director of Communications at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho to personally deal with Peacefmonline.com by hauling them to court as an empty one.

According to him, there is no way Mr. Anyidoho will seek any form of redress in court because “he does not have a case”, adding that his attacks on Peacefmonline.com are highly unnecessary. s “Koku’s court threat is an empty threat, how can he think you (Kwami) will start a conspiracy against him?” he said.

Mr. Anyidoho on Tuesday, August 16th, threatened to “personally deal with Peacefmonline.com” for a publication he deemed as “vicious" and “malicious”.

But contributing to discussions on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Morning show, Kwaku Baako said the furore over the “token” three-bedroom complex for the security detail at President Mills’ private residence being put up by real estate developers, Regimanuel Gray Limited, has arisen as a result of inconsistencies in the earlier explanations on the issue.

“The truth of the matter is that he actually said it on Adom FM that it was a token and there was no financial outlay from the president involved and when you say “token”, the first thing that will come into the ordinary Ghanaian’s mind is a “gift”. If a private company doing business in Ghana gives the president a gift, it raises legitimate concerns, but in Koku’s quest to clarify issues, he rather deepened the problem. We have now moved away from token to more of a contractual agreement…to a rental arrangement which contradicts his first response,” he said.

According to Mr. Baako, it is better for the Communications Director at the Presidency to admit his mistakes instead of looking for a fall guy.

“I think he should be honest to admit his mistakes because obviously there were some communication lapses. None of us is infallible, we all make mistakes…There should be an element of honesty and the courage to admit when you have erred…it enhances your integrity rather than attempting to find scapegoats and locking horns with everybody like a bull fighter,” he added.

The seasoned journalist further stated that though he does not doubt the authenticity of the letters provided by the presidency to back the assertion that the facility is a rental agreement, it is practicable that some people might still question its genuineness. “…if all these information was available, why did Anyidoho talk about ‘token’ in the first place?...there should be communication efficiency and efficacy,” he said.

Source: peacefmonline.com

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H E A LT H

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August 2011 Page 13 metyrapone, a drug that inhibits cortisol secretion, one group received 1500 mg of metyrapone, and one group received a placebo.

The men were then asked to remember the story. four days later, all the men were asked to rememthemselves” to orgasm. Without using any external stimulation, women closed their eyes ber the story again, when cortisol levels were and, using only sometimes erotic imagery but normal in all groups just as commonly very random and abstract The researchers were surprised to report that the thought processes, achieved an orgasm that was indistinguishable from orgasms achieved men who received the double-dose of metyrapone demonstrated impaired recall of the negative through self-stimulation. Kamisaruk also observed that when some women visualize a parts of the story, but no impairment in recalling certain part of the body, that part of the body the neutral parts. The impairment continued 4 days later. The continued decrease of negative becomes sensitive. Kamisaruk believes that memories indicates a neural change, and not just further study on this phenomenon could be a drug-induced lapse, that may allow the brain to helpful beyond simply treating sexual dyseventually erase and write over bad memories. function, but could aid in pain management and the prevention of obesity, among other These results strengthen previous work that has common health concerns. revealed a potentially therapeutic role of glucoIn the final analysis, however, as pointed out corticoids in the treatment of anxiety disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, and phobias. While in Brain Blogger and the New York Times, some of the studies have produced conflicting sexual dysfunction can be understood on a cultural level as well. Stifled sexual pleasure, results, the association between glucocorticoid particularly in women, can result from cultur- levels and memory is clear. The authors of the al taboos and poor relationships. As such, the current study hope that pharmacological therapy can be combined with psychotherapy to reduce relatively recent excitement about so-called “women’s Viagra” is still as yet a pipe dream, the emotional suffering caused by negative memories. Glucocorticoids may also have a role in and would it behoove both the scientist and the average person to understand human sexu- preventing negative memories from forming in the first place. ality through as many lenses as possible.

Female Orgasm – Unlocking the Neuroscientific Mysteries

By Donna Reish Female sexuality is particularly enigmatic, simply because the sex function in women is so much more complex than that of their male counterparts. A study conducted by Dutch scientist Gert Holstege and featured in a BigThink article showed that while the areas in male brains activated during orgasm were not surprising, the activated areas in the female brains were slightly different. For one, the female brain becomes noticeably silent in certain areas, like in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, two areas in the brain that process feelings and thoughts associated with self-control and social judgement. Holstege noted that “at the moment of orgasm, women do not have any emotional feelings.”

Recently Brain Blogger featured an article entitled Your Brain on Sex and Love.

While it delineated a few recent studies that focused on what goes on in the brain during sex, few recognize how little is known about human sexuality, particularly the neural and psychological responses that stem from it. Logistically, it is difficult to study human sex in a lab setting, simply because it is difficult for test subjects to engage in intercourse, or even to self-stimulate, in an fMRI scanner. MindHacks explains how the alternative use of PET scanners is still problematic:

New Scientist published a piece late last year featuring an experiment that revealed that pain processing centers in the brain also activate during female orgasm. Dr. Kamisaruk of Rutgers University, who is an early pioneer of neuroscieintific sex studies of the female orgasm, noted that at the moment of climax, women’s pain threshold Source:brainblogger.com drops drastically, and that “the fact that these areas are both active during pain and intense pleasure suggests that they may be involved in the analgesic effects of orgasm.”

[The test subjects] still had some considerable problems to overcome though, not least of which was timing an orgasm to occur during a predefined time-slot, during which brain activity could be monitored.

PET requires a radioactive tracer to be injected into the bloodstream, and although the radiation is very weak, it’s best to use only as much as necessary. This means the intuitive approach of continuous scanning and waiting for the pop of the cork is just not feasible.

While of course the study of men’s sexual response is important, it may be more important from a medical standpoint to delve into the female brain considering the much higher numbers of sexual dysfunction in women. Even women in good health have a difficult time achieving climax.

Reportedly, 10% of women have never had an orgasm, and as many as 50% of women have trouble being aroused.

One interesting ability that Kamisaruk found is unique to women is that some women he worked with were able to “think

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Bad Memories Don’t Have to Last Forever

By Jennifer Gibson Painful emotional memories may not be permanent, according to researchers from the University of Montreal. Manipulating hormone levels can decrease the recall and reconsolidation of negative memories.

Memories are continuously retrieved and reactivated, which keeps the memories alive.

Researchers have shown that glucocorticoids, such as cortisol, modulate this process. glucocorticoids are released in response to stress and affect memory retrieval; they are also important in the formation of new memories. Lowering cortisol levels before memory recall has long-lasting effects, according to the current study, published in the journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism.

The study included 33 male young adults who listened to a story that contained emotionally neutral and negative events. Three days later, the men were divided into three groups: one group received 750 mg of

The current study needs to be replicated in a larger and more diverse population. Gender likely plays a role in hormone –induced memory retrieval, and the findings need to be confirmed among females. Also, the men in the study were healthy. Evaluating memory retrieval in traumatized individuals may show different results. Last, metyrapone, the cortisol inhibitor used in the study, is not commercially available anymore.

Other drugs have similar effects on glucocorticoid levels, and studies with these compounds would clarify the role of hormones in memory recall.

Memories are a way to hold on to things you love. When memories keep reliving traumatic negative events, the effects can be devastating to the health and quality of life of an individual.

Mitigating the harmful effects of painful memories will have long-lasting benefits to individuals affected by numerous anxiety and mental health conditions.

Source:brainblogger.com

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August 2011

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Uganda: Cabinet Drops Bahati's Gay Bill

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South Kordofan ceasefire declared by Sudan's Bashi A senior rebel told the BBC he was in favor of a temporary cessation of hostilities, to deal with humanitarian issues, but he would not accept a ceasefire, as the underlying political issues were still unresolved Mr Bashir also said that foreign organisations would not be allowed into South Kordofan and that any aid would be delivered only through the Sudanese Red Crescent organisation, Reuters news agency reports.

A UN report published this month warned that war crimes may have been committed in South Kordofan.

It said that atrocities had been committed on both sides, but the army's actions were "especially egregious" - referring to summary executions, aerial bombardments and the shelling of neighbourhoods.

Many people in South Kordofan, especially residents of the Nuba mountains, fought with southern rebels during the two decade north-south war but now find themselves in the north.

A protest at the Ugandan mission to the United Nations (file photo).

Kampala — Cabinet has finally thrown out the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 on the advice of Mr Adolf Mwesige, the ruling party lawyer.

However, Ndorwa West MP David Bahati, the architect of the Bill, insists the proposed legislation is now property of Parliament and that the Executive should stop "playing hide- and- seek games" on the matter.

When South Sudan split from the north on 9 July, the new country's leader, Salva Kiir, said he would work with Mr Bashir to ensure the rights of former southern rebels in the north were respected.

Source: bbcnews.com

The decision to throw out the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was made at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday where Mr Mwesige, according to sources, told ministers that the Bill was unnecessary since government has a number of laws in place criminalising homosexual activities.

"We agreed that government should search the law archives and get some of the laws, enforce them rather than having another new piece of legislation," a source said. "He [Mwesige] said the Bill is overtaken by events and that donors and other sections of the public were not comfortable."

The Bill seeks to criminalise all same-sex relations in the country and proposes the death penalty for sodomy. Mr Bahati and his group maintain that the country should have stronger laws against homosexuality in order to protect the moral fabric that holds society intact.

"The future of this country's children will be determined by the peoples' representatives in Parliament," Mr Bahati said during a phone interview on Saturday.

Source:allafrica.com

Fighting in South Kordofan has forced people in the Nuba mountains to go into hiding

FONKAR will be king makers in 2012 – Owusu Bempah Leading member of FONKAR, Mr Ernest Owusu Bempah, told Joy FM’s Super Morning Show host Kojo OppongNkrumah, that having been ridiculed by the government in the run-up to the governing National Democratic Congress' delegates congress to elect a flag-bearer for elections 2012, the group would demonstrate why its strength must not be measured by Mrs Rawlings’ abysmal performance in the election which government spokespersons are wont to point to in order to minimize the influence of the former first family in the NDC in particular and Ghana politics in general.

Source: myjoyonline.com

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YOUTH GOT TALENT... IN CHRIST TALENT SHOW Faith Family Ministry International Church hosted a “Youth Got Talent.. in Christ” talent show in Woodbridge, Virginia on August 6, 2011. The talent show, which took place from 5:30- 10:30pm, was a full blown variety show filled with an array of talent, and the competition was FIERCE!!. Martin Owusu presented his comedic skills; Tiffany Scriber sang three songs:” Open My Heart” by Yolanda Adams, “Chasing After You” by Vashawn Mitchell, and “You are Holy” by Lisa McClendon; Mayah Dyson sang “I Need You Now”; and Janet Boateng performed a Minister/Praise dance. Also in attendance were The Miregens (Mission To Rescue our Generation), a well organized and talented band of young people who performed a melody of songs, which started out with a Jackson 5 - sounding melody and ended on the popular Christian tune,”Days of Elijah”.

One Focus was another group competing in the Youth Got Talent..In Christ talent show. One Focus could easily be compared to a go-go band, except for the fact that their form of go-go was Christian go-go. With eight energized members, One Focus brought the roof down when they performed their original song,”Walk by Faith”, which included the following lyrics,“we don’t walk by sight, no we walk by faith”. After the Top 5 contestants performed, Marcus St.Julien, the talented MC of the event, kept the audience entertained by conducting the raffle drawing and weaving humorous comments into his monologues. When the three judges (Bezaleel Korley, Gloria Okyne, and Richmond Sagoe) returned with their selection of the winners, the audience was in suspense because all of the contestants were equally gifted. Third prize, a $125 cash prize, was awarded to Janet Boateng. Second prize, a $250 cash prize, was awarded to Tiffany Scriber, and first prize, a $500 cash prize, was awarded to One Focus. As a result of their win, One Focus granted the audience an intimate and unforgettable performance of the songs “Five Seconds Away” and their original song “180”, which even had its own dance. With lyrics like, “I’m already gone, I’m up in the zone, lyrically for Christ, I am untouchable..so Ima praise him from dusk to dawn”, One Focus had the audience bopping their heads, waving their hands, and dancing - all at the same time. Unfortunately, the group does not have a CD for sale yet... but stay tuned. Youth Got Talent…In Christ was a powerful talent show which had everyone screaming and shouting, all in the name of the Lord.

By Amy Ansong

Audience

Martin Owusu and Mayah Dyson

MIREGEN instrumentalists

Group picture of the MIREGENS

Janet Boateng and Tiffany Scriber receiving their awards

The talent show judges

The Winners-One Focus: Kendrick Morton, Reynard Jackson,Devahn Powell,Kenny Thompson,Jeremiah Morton, E.J White, Jeremy Patterson, Marvin Smith

Tiffany Scriber, 2nd Place winner

August 2011

Mubarak Trial Adjourned for Three Weeks

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Ace actor, Sam Loco Efe, dies at 66 leagues who were worried when he didn’t come down for breakfast had alerted the hotel management and after banging on the door of his room, forced the door open only to discover his lifeless body on the bed.

There were conflicting reports as to the real state of health before his demise. While some said he was hale and hearty before his demise, others said he was ill while on the movie set Eye witness account said the Edo State born actor had gone to sleep after concluding the day’s shooting and was reported to have complained of a heart problem

Late Sam Loco Efe

Our reporter gathered that he had shared his usual jokes with colleagues before retiring to his room.

By Ogbonna Amadi,Chidi Nkwopara, Benjamin Sam Loco 66, died less than a month after the remains of another veteran actor Ashley Njoku, Jimoh Babatunde, Japhet Alakam & Nwosu was laid to rest in his home town, in Prisca Sam-Duru Umuahia Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak, bound to a stretcher and caged, appeared in court on August 15, 2011 before the judge announced a three-week adjournment and an end to live television broadcasts.

The judge, Ahmed Refaat, also decided that the trial of Mubarak and his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, would be merged, as demanded by the lawyers of families of those killed in Egypt's January-February uprising.

Refaat put a halt to live television broadcasts of the trial, which opened on August 3 with a brief session held on Monday that went into recess before the adjournment to September 5 was announced.

Mubarak was earlier flown in by helicopter and then driven in an ambulance to the court at a police academy in a Cairo suburb.

Source: allafrica.com

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Two Ghanaians Are Among Seven Oustanding Students Honored by Tenants and Workers United and City of Alexandria Superintendent (Alexandria, VA) The Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Morton Sherman, joined by Tenants and Workers United (TWU), the largest member-based, low-income community organization in Northern Virginia, recognized seven outstanding Alexandria students. The students, all members of the Community Organizing for Education and Democracy (COED) program, received full scholarships to pursue higher education at colleges and universities nationwide during a special send-off celebration.

The students shared their experiences from high school and their future plans for preparing to enter the world as leaders, academically focused young adults, and community organizers. The students have engaged in a variety of community issues and have been trained on spotting injustices and taking actions to correct them through organizing. From South African Apartheid to affordable housing, the students have been exposed and trained to make a difference in their adulthood.

The students represent the talent built by TWU and mirrors efforts the nonprofit has been trying to install in the diverse local high school, T.C Williams. The students hail from El Salvador, Ghana, Peru, Honduras, and Bolivia. The COED scholars will be attending Mary Baldwin College, Penn State University, Skidmore College, George Mason University, and Florida Southern College.

Through a partnership with Tenants and Workers United (TWU), New World Foundation, Posse Foundation and Social Justice Leadership, the program was designed three years ago to build the next generationof community leaders. This is one of the scores of programs TWU has developed over its 26 year history to build the leadership capacity of community members.

“These students have spent the last 3 years with us, learning about leadership, giving back to their communities and creating changes to positively impact the lives of those around them,” said Esteban Garces, Housing Organizer.The students rose above all challenges they experienced while in high school and successfully graduated with strong grade point averages. Many of them have become the first in their families toattend college. “When kids get the right support in our public schools, college isn’t out of the question,” said Evelin Urrutia, Lead Organizer.

Source: Tenants and Workers United

Students with Principal of TC Williams School

Dora Tweneboah - far left and Margie Obeng- far right

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Her Page

(Ad) Dress Your Soul

Dr. Miriam C. Gyimah

H

ing?’...for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added onto you”. The point here is that while these things matter, our concentration and priority should be on heavenly things.

So the question is, do we put God first in our lives? How much time a day or a week do we give Him in comparison to everything else? How much effort do we put in the spiritual as opposed to the physical? Are we really putting Him first before everything else?

It is true and we must acknowledge that because we are human, of flesh and blood, our focus tends to be more on providing and desiring for the flesh. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with wanting to make these provisions and fulfilling our desires, for they are a natural part of life.

And because life here on earth is too short, we should celebrate it and enjoy it to its fullest as long as it doesn’t contradict with God’s word.

However, even as we enjoy our lives, there should be a balancing act that we must keep in mind and heart so that we do not become preoccupied with our eating, wearing and acquiring.

We have to be mindful of the fact that we are not made of only the flesh, but that we are also made of the soul and spirit. Our soul, in particular, is important, for we Christians know In Ecclesiastes 1:2, and believe that once this physical King Solomon states, life comes to an end, our soul conI nstead of being oblivi“vanity of vanities, all to live on, and where our is vanity.” It can be ous to this phenomenon, tinues souls, our actual selves, end up inferred that after let’s rather become living for eternity depends on our squandering decades relationship with God and how we aware of it as a hovering of his life in simple lived our lives here on earth. So pleasures, which only temptation so that we do the balancing act has to become a turned away his conscious one.

We have to learn not become victims to it. desires and attention to strike a balance between from God, King (ad)dressing the flesh and the Solomon shares this thought with us as a soul. caution for life. The pleasures, while they

ow does it happen that sometimes god-fearing Christians become so immersed with our lives, and particularly ourselves, that we give little to no time to God? I am not talking about backsliding, but sometimes it happens that we gradually, and without our full awareness, allow the things of God to take a backseat to so many trivial things. These insignificant and inconsequential things are just distractions of vanity which compete for our attention away from God. Instead of being oblivious to this phenomenon, let’s rather become aware of it as a hovering temptation so that we do not become victims to it.

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dressed that I didn’t think about it.

Worse of all, having such a focus on physical and material things often made me distracted and didn’t much help me spiritually for an encounter with God. I had no idea that I was operating in a deficit where the physical got more attention than the spiritual. There was an imbalance in that I was (ad)dressing my physical self, the flesh, more than The topic of this article was prompted by an the spiritual. I became annoyed with myself for such a waste of time. actual experience in my life. I find it a little Something had to change. embarrassing, but I hope that sharing it will help those who see themselves in it and lead When I use the phrase “(ad)dressing them to take stock and make a change as I have the flesh,” I am talking about meeting begun. Recently, I came to realize that while the needs of the flesh as mentioned my family and I had relocated so that our comabove.

But I am also playing with the mute to church would be cut in half, I found word “address” as in “concentrate on”, that I was still failing to make it to church on “attend to” and “deal with”. time. Sunday after Sunday, I became frustrated Additionally, the play on words extends as I was averaging about 15-20 minutes late. to “dressing”, as in dressing up and How was this possible? Although we had worrying about how we will physically moved closer, I was still waking up at the same present ourselves in clothing, shoes, time I did at the previous residence. My jewelry etc.

It also refers to spending a thought was that if anything, I should be early great amount of time in grooming ourto church and be there before Sunday school began, not fifteen minutes into it. I complained selves with these items. We unthinkingto my husband and became even more frustrat- ly squander so much time and resources in buying and grooming, because it ed, because I dislike being late, especially to gives us pleasure to acquire beautiful Sunday church. things and present ourselves as beautiful and well put together. While we are As a result, my husband became the object of my finger pointing. Something was making doing this, we enjoy ourselves so much me late and it had to be him. After all, I always so that we forget how much we are operating in the flesh and how little woke up 30 minutes before him and had to keep at him so we would get to church on time. time we have reserved for the needs of But ironically, in the end, he was almost always the spirit, the needs of our soul.

by simply indulging in countless number of hours in television or movie viewing of the never-ending list of programmatic options. We can lose time and ourselves in material consumption, spending hours and hours shopping in the malls or online. In the end, we find, much to our regret, that we have invested not only too much time, but too much money as well.

in the car waiting for me. So of course, in my defense, I would point to all the things I had to do as a mother in preparing us all for church.

And while it is true that I do more than him, I came to learn, after asking God why this kept happening, that it wasn’t so much those things fulfilled his sensual and sexual senses, were As Christ’s words acknowledge, the flesh has which were causing the lateness, but rather how of no use and a great waste of time. We needs that must be met, but it also desires pleasmuch effort and time I invested in my own need to take a cue from King Solomon and ures, and while most pleasures have nothing to do dressing up and grooming. Granted, I believe know that even if the then richest man in the with our needs, some are yet good to experience. we all must look our best when we step out; world could say that all he acquired and For example, Abraham, God’s faithful servant however, spending so much time with different enjoyed in personal resources and pleasure and father of the Hebrew nation, like everyone garments and hair styles is just too much of a were in the end useless, then we also need to else only needed food and shelter.

He didn’t waste of time.

Even when I prepare the night take stock of our lives to acknowledge that need all the riches he acquired from the hands of before, which is my typical practice, things although we may not be as wealthy as the God. The riches were pleasures that the Lord don’t always work out and a change in clothing king himself, we can fall victim to vanity in saw fit to bless him with.

But no where do we or accessories will throw everything off and such a way that we can lose our focus on see in the Bible Abraham putting his relationship then here we are again, arriving at church about more significant things, as in spiritual and communion with God second to the enjoythe same time we were arriving when we lived growth and attainment. ment of his blessings. Even when the Lord tested much farther away! him and required that he sacrifice Isaac, his child Many things can turn our attention from of promise, we saw Abraham’s faithfulness even The situation troubled me, because I comGod, but in this article, I want to focus on to the point of tying up his son as a sacrificial pletely expected to be on time, if not early. those that we don’t consider to be problems, offer.

Additionally, I had vowed to God I would be the minor things in which we take pleasure. faithful in this attempt when He had been so While these are not necessarily sins in themSometimes, we have it in us to be as faithful gracious to us.

I felt guilty. As the truth selves, they can gradually become sins when as Abraham, but we must admit that we all fall dawned on me, I inwardly questioned myself: we become more and more immersed in short unnecessarily.

Our falling short could hap“why was I spending so much time in preparthem and therefore lose our focus on God. pen even with our normal socializing.

We can ing myself physically when my spiritual prepaThe sin comes in when we gradually abanspend so much time talking on the phone on ration was not equal?”

I was usually spending don the words of Christ in Mathew 6: 31-33 whatever subject with our friends that it becomes 30 minutes in prayer, but over one hour in when He tells us, “Do not worry then, sayhabitual and we lose our sense of time and even preparing my outward appearance.

It was so ing, ‘What will we eat? or What will we spiritual obligations.

We can fall victim to vanity natural to me to spend so much time in getting drink? Or What will we wear for cloth-

Rather, we should bear in mind that it is more important to pay attention to our spirit and therefore our soul, for the soul is the part of us that will live forever. Like the flesh, we must address the spirit and by so doing, we will be dressing the soul. How do we dress the soul? We have to feed the spirit. We need to spend time in nurturing and addressing the spirit in God’s word and righteousness, in prayer and in church attendance so that our attention and focus do not become so unbalanced that our spirit would starve and thereby affect the state of our soul.

I have come to acknowledge this issue and admit that it should not continue. This is not to say that we shouldn’t put thought and pride in our presentation, but it is to state that we should be careful not to lose ourselves in our self-presentation. As a Christian, losing yourself in this matter is focusing too much on the material. We must step out beautifully, but we should also be sure that our investment in our outward appearance is comparable to that of our spirit and our soul.

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Profile: Muammar Gaddafi Early days Gaddafi came to power in 1969 aged 27 after leading a bloodless coup against King Idris. He maintained tight control of his oil-rich country for decades by clamping down on dissidents.

He was born in 1942 in the coastal area of Sirte to nomadic parents. He went to Benghazi University to study geography but dropped out to join the army.

After seizing power, he laid out a pan-Arab, anti-imperialist philosophy, blended with aspects of Islam. While he permitted private control over small companies, the government controlled the larger ones.

He was an admirer of the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and his Arab socialist and nationalist ideology.

He tried without success to merge Libya, Egypt and Syria into a federation. A similar attempt to join Libya and Tunisia ended in acrimony.

Muammar Gaddafi In power since 1969, the colonel has been one of the longest-serving, most erratic, most grimly fascinating leaders.

After 42 years at the helm of his sparsely-populated, oil-rich nation, Muammar Gaddafi – the Arab world’s longest-ruling leader – finally lost his grip on power after a six-month uprising.

Crushing dissident In 1977 he changed the country’s name to the Great Socialist Popular Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah (State of the Masses) and allowed people to air their views at people’s congresses.

Critics dismissed his leadership as a military dictatorship, accusing him of repressing civil society and ruthlessly crushing dissident. The regime has imprisoned hundreds of people for violating the law and sentenced some to death, according to Human Rights Watch.

“Gaddafi, gradually as he took power, he used force and he used brutality,” Mohammed al-Abdalla, the deputy secretarygeneral of the National front for Salvation of Libya, told Al Jazeera.

“In the 1970s against students, when he publicly hung students who were marching, demonstrating, demanding rights in Benghazi and in Tripoli and many other squares, and his opposition members abroad in the 1980s, including here in London and other places in Europe and in in Arab Middle Gaddafi styled himself as Libya’s “brother leader” and the East. “guide of the revolution,” as an almost paternal figure look“He executed, in probably the most brutal massacre that we ing after Libya’s six million inhabitants. But in the hours saw, 1,200 prisoners in the Abu Salim prison who were after rebels stormed Tripoli, thousands of Libyans tore down unarmed, They were already in jail, he executed them in less regime posters, trampled images of Gaddafi, even riddled his than three hours.” likeness with bullets – an outpouring of anger directed at a man whose rule was often brutal.

Gaddafi played a prominent role in organising Arab opposition to the 1978 Camp David peace agreement between His relationship with the rest of the world was erratic. For Egypt and Israel. years, Gaddafi was a pariah, blamed for the 1988 bombing Later shunned by a number of Arab states, partly on the basis of a Pan Am jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, which of his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gaddafi’s forkilled 270 people. . After years of denial, Libya acknowleign policy focus shifted from the Arab world to Africa. edged responsibility and agreed to pay up to $10m to relaHis vision of a United States of Africa resulted in the foundatives of victims; Gaddafi also declared he would dismantle tion of the African Union.

A 2008 meeting of African monall weapons of mass destruction archs proclaimed Gaddafi the continent’s “king of kings.”

Those moves eased him back into the international commu- Lockerbie bombing nity. In February, only weeks after street protests brought down the governments of Tunisia and Egypt, an uprising against Gaddaf’s rule started in the country’s east.

In the West, Gaddafi is strongly associated with “terrorism”, accused of supporting armed groups, including FARC in Colombia and the IRA in Northern Ireland.

Libya’s alleged involvement in the 1986 bombing of a Berlin Days after it began, Gaddafi gave a televised speech in nightclub in which two American soldiers were killed which he vowed to hunt down protesters “inch by inch, room prompted US air attacks on Tripoli and Benghazi, killing 35 by room, home by home, alleyway by alleyway.” The Libyans, including Gaddafi’s adopted daughter. Ronald speech caused a furore that fuelled the armed rebellion against him; it has been since mocked in songs and proofed Reagan, then the US president, called him a “mad dog”.

The 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie is possibly the in arab world. most well-known and controversial incident in which Gaddafi has been involved.

For many years, Gaddafi denied involvement, resulting in UN sanctions and Libya’s status as a pariah state. Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence agent, was convicted of planting the bomb. In 2003, Gaddafi’s regime formally accepted responsibility for the attack and paid compensation to the families of those who died.

Gaddafi also broke Libya’s isolation from the West in the same year by relinquishing his entire inventory of weapons of mass destruction.

In September 2004, George Bush, the US president at the time, formally ended a US trade embargo as a result of Gaddafi’s scrapping of the arms programme and taking responsibility for Lockerbie.

The normalisation of relations with Western powers has allowed the Libyan economy to grow and the oil industry in particular has benefited.

However, Gaddafi and Lockerbie came back into the spotlight in 2009, when al-Megrahi was released from a Scottish prison on the grounds that he was terminally ill and was nearing death. He returned to Libya to a hero’s welcome from Gaddafi and many Libyans, sparking condemnation by the the US and the UK, among others.

In September 2009, Gaddafi visited the US for the first time for his first appearance at the UN General Assembly.

His speech was supposed to last 15 minutes, but exceeded an hour and a half. He tore up a copy of the UN charter, accused the Security Council of being a terrorist body similar to al-Qaeda, and demanded $7.7tn in compensation to be paid to Africa by its past colonial rulers.

During a visit to Italy in August 2010, Gaddafi’s invitation to hundreds of young women to convert to Islam overshadowed the two-day trip, which was intended to cement the growing ties between Tripoli and Rome.

Libyan uprising Inspired by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, Libyans began to hold peaceful protests against his regime in the eastern city of Benghazi in February of this year.

Demonstrations were met with military force and the uprising escalated into a civil war, with NATO-led forces intervening to ostensibly protect civilians but later siding with the rebels.

On June 27, the brutal actions of the government were referred to the International Criminal Court and arrest warrants were issued for Gaddafi, one of his sons and his spy chief on charges of crimes against humanity.

Gaddafi repeatedly blamed the unrest on al-Qaeda and a “colonialist plot”. He called those opposed to him “rats”, and alleged that they had been influenced by “hallucinogenic drugs”. In his last address before rebels entered Tripoli, he accused “Western intelligence” of “working with al-Qaeda to destroy Libya.”

His current whereabouts are unknown, though it seems increasingly unlikely that he is still in the Libyan capital.

Source:cameroononline.org

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Okyeman Council of North America (OCONA) Inaugurated Takoma Park, Maryland -Saturday August 6, 2011 Ghana’s ambassador to the United States H.E. Daniel Ohene Agyekum presided over a durbar in Maryland during the inauguration of the Okyeman Council of North America (OCONA). The durbar/dinner dance was attended by approximately 500 people, mostly Ghanaians who wore colorful traditional regalia as they would have done in Ghana. In observance of tradition around this time of the year, there was an enactment of the Ohum festival which the Akyem people celebrate to purify the whole state so that all can enter the New Year with renewed blessings.

OCONA is a national platform for development and networking for the Akyem people of Ghana and friends of the Akyem people. The council serves as an umbrella organization for the various Okyeman associations in the United States & Canada. In his keynote address Ambassador Ohene Agyekum stressed the importance and merits of unity as a core Ghanaian value and complimented the leadership of OCONA for their efforts in uniting the individual associations.

In an interview with Nana Yaa Larbi – Council Chapter Representative for the Washington DC Metro Area, she explained that OCONA was born out of the need for the various associations to consolidate strengths and resources for very significant development, educational and socio-cultural projects both at home and for their communities in the Diaspora. “Take marriage for example, by not acquainting ourselves with each other here in the Diaspora our children run the real risk of marrying their own relatives sometime in the future, something that almost happened in New York very recently. Apart from the development projects to help our motherland – Ghana – OCONA would serve as a platform to build social and professional relationships and also help us network and retain our core values as Akyem people” Notable Personalities & Leaders Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin – Okyenhene Nana Owrae Agyekum – Omanhene (Paramount Chief) of Akyem Bosome Oseadiaye Frimpong Manso IV – Omanhene of Akyem Kotoku Nana Akosua Bour – Okyeman Hemaa (Queen) of Washington, D.C. Metro Area Council Chapter Representatives Nana Yaa Larbi – Washington, DC, Metro Are Kwasi Adu-Sarkodie – New Jersey Febian Frempong – Toronto, Canada Maxwell Abiam Danso – New England Clement Asare – Chicago J. Kwame Otieku – Syracuse, New York George Bitihene – Atlanta, Georgia Gordon Agyekum – Virginia Joe Aniagyei Appiah – Columbus, OH Daniel Twum – Connecticut

By Fred Nnoma-Addison (AMIP NEWS, Washington, DC)

High Table

Chiefs & Elders

Chiefs & Elders

Ambassador Ohene Agyekum (Middle)

Traditional Priest

Durbar

August

2011

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MERCY JOHNSON FINALLY OPENS UP ABOUT HUSBAND SNATCHING SCANDAL The relationship between Prince Odianose Okojie and Lovely Okojie,packed up five years ago, and Mercy Johnson’s marriage plans to Odi has been in the open for quite a while.

Odianose truly is the father of the girl in the pictures being spread all over the internet but there are doubts that he is the father of the boy. Odianose is a prince and can marry more than one wife under customary law. In her bid to stop the marriage,Lovely Okogie has gone to Christ Embassy to demand that the marriage be stopped, but the Church has requested that she provides a marriage certificate to back up her claim but as at the time of this publication, Lovely is yet to come up with a tenable certificate.

While we are left to decide who is right and who is not, Mercy Johnson and Odi’s plans for the wedding remains the same, it will be a 4-day event that will run from August 25 to 28, 2011.

In details, the court wedding will be on August 25, Engagement will be on 26, Church wedding and reception will be on 27 and then a Thanksgiving Service/Bride’s party on 28.

Source: Nigeriafilms.com

Mercy Johnson Talented actress, Mercy Johnson has finally broke the silence about the scandal trailing her and fiancé Prince Odianose Okogie through her publicist Big Sam Media.

In spite of the challenges she's currently faced with, Mercy still remains focus and resolute in what she believes in.

Mercy issued a press report through her publicist Big Sam Media.

Checkout the report below.

The first report This statement is necessary due to the fact that stories are making the rounds about cancellation of Mercy Johnson’s wedding.

We wish to state categorically that the wedding will go on as planned and Mercy is fully aware of situations on ground.

We know some people are working real hard to see that the wedding is cancelled; we wish them luck and pray that God will be with us.

Our client will not be making any further statement on this matter.

The second part of the report Just as we all know that it is barely three weeks to Mercy Johnson’s grand wedding ceremony, plans are being cemented and invitation cards have already started going out, but as the count down begins to the wedding date, some lady that goes by the name Lovely Okojie has surfaced, and her story is that she was married and is still married with two kids to Prince Odianose Okojie, Mercy Johnson’s husband to be.

As expected, this situation has been generating a lot of comments but here are some basic facts to the story.

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GYE NYAME RESTAURANT: GRAND OPENING Gye Nyame African and Caribbean Restaurant celebrated its grand opening on August 20th, 2011. Located in Centre Plaza, at 4331 Dale Boulevard, Woodbridge, Virginia, Gye Nyame is a pleasant addition for the Ghanaian–rich community. Its location in a busy shopping center,which houses the African supermarket Birago International, and its close walking proximity to Dale Forest, an apartment complex which houses hundreds of Ghanaians and Africans, makes it a key attraction for Africans. During the grand opening, the owner, John Forson, delightfully greeted guests and gave tours to anyone who was interested. Mr. Forson made sure that all the guests felt welcomed, and had a way of making everyone feel free and atease. Gye Nyame Restaurant, which is brightly painted in red, orange, and purple blocks of color, is a spacious place with a tint of African décor hugging the walls and tables. As part of its grand opening, Gye Nyame Restaurant provided free food for all of it customers, allowing customers to choose between jellof rice and fried yams and pepper.

Gye Nyame Restaurant is hoping to serve as a one-stop shop catering to everyone’s needs. With free wi-fi, live jazz performances, and huge windows which let in the natural sunlight, Gye Nyame will attract those who just want a place to chill and people watch, and those professionals who are looking for a nice atmosphere to do some internet–based work. Due to the closing of the nearby Borders on the Prince William Parkway, it is expected that many of the people who used the meeting space there will transfer to the new meeting space that is readily available in Gye Nyame restaurant. $8.99 + tax can purchase favorite African staples, like jellof rice, fufu, and yams. Appetizers start at $1.99 and all children under the age of 2 will eat free if they dine-in. Dining-in not only benefits those with children under the age of 2, but it guarantees free refills from the soda fountain for all customers. For purchases of $15 or more, Gye Nyame restaurant will deliver to those homes which are within a 10 mile radius of the restaurant. Gye Nyame Restaurant prides itself on being “authentically African and Caribbean with services which are superbly American”.

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Obour is new MUSIGA President

August

2011

Roselyn Ngissah Finally Grabs The Ghana Movie Awards Car Roselyn Ngissah, who won Best Actress at the Ghana Movie Awards(GMA), finally grasped the much desired GMA Prize at stake from the organizers during a brief meeting held at the premises of TV3.

In a short interview with Prince Tsegah, the event director, he revealed that

Bice Osei Kuffour, New MUSIGA President Hiplife musician Bice Osei Kuffour popularly known as Obour, has been elected new President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).

He beat three others, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Nana Tuffour and Willie Roi after Thursday’s elections at the on-going MUSIGA congress at the Radath Memorial Centre in Tamale.

At the close of counting of ballots, Obour polled 64 votes while Nana Tuffour had 51 votes, Ambolley 24 and Willie Roi 2.

Kaakyire Kwame Appiah beat incumbent Amandzeba Nat Brew to become 1st Vice President. Other winners include, Bessa Simons 2nd Vice President; Deborah Freeman, General Secretary; Reggae artiste Chizzy Wailer as Organiser.

This will not be the first time Obour will be serving as an executive member of the union. He was the immediate past National Youth Organiser championing the affairs of the ‘youth’ in the music.

Obour did state in an earlier interview with Myjoyonline.com that “MUSIGA should be able to change the lives of musicians” adding he will re-brand the union to look more attractive and to bring on board all musicians who have not had a reason to join the union.

Obour staged his campaign on the motto: AJUMAPA (a good work), explaining that AJUMAPA stood for Accountable administration; Jobs for musicians; Unity of union members; Music and music business education; Aging musicians welfare; Pushing for policies and Achieving our goals.

This talented chap shot into musical prominence with his smash hit, Atentenben which scooped three awards at the 2002 Ghana Music Awards.

That propelled the career of this musical daredevil releasing his second hit Nana Obour off his Dondo album. Other richly brewed tunes on that album included Palm Wine, the ‘Judgment Day’ tune Mesoodae.

Interestingly, the video of Nana Obour won Best Video at the 2003 Ghana Music Awards. He has since released several works including, the controversial Konkotiba and The Game.

Obour has successfully executed several humanitarian campaigns including one on road safety, and was recently appointed National Tuberculosis Ambassador and is looking to bring these successes chalked to bear on his administration.

Source: myjoyonline.com

Roselyn will be using the car for a period of one (1) year aimed at promoting and advertising the various companies that sponsored the event and showcasing their respective logos.

Again, Prince added that Roselyn’s proposal to be nominated as the face of the brand was made easier since the other nominees did not express any interest in the promotion of the car.

Roselyn was escorted on the day by Socrates Safo, Eddie Nartey, Mustapha Ayinde Inusah a.k.a Attractive, and her driver.

Source:www.ghanasuperstars.com

Rosalyn Ngissah

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IN MEMORY OF THE LATE AKUA ADOMA OFORI because my brothers and I have broken our promise of not letting go of Adoma, no, you are reading this because I wish to sadly let you know that Heavenly Father has fulfilled His promise of calling Adoma back into His eternal bosom.

Who are we as humans to not let go of a loved one when God in His infinite wisdom decides to call that soul to a peaceful rest? So yes, we are today letting go of Adoma's body after holding onto spirit till the last minute just by watching her fight to the last breath... that spirit however still continues to hold on tight in our hearts and minds! So again, YES, the pact we made almost 17 years ago still holds good!

Adoma, as she was affectionately called by her brothers andall who came to know and love her, was a confidant and anadvisor when it came to issues pertaining to girls and2women.

AKUA ADOMA OFORI

By Oral Ofori It is with much grief that I update my blog today, I never thought I'd have to write this piece some 17 years ago because I thought We as her brothers felt greatly privileged to have her give the 15th of December 1993 would forever remain a joyous day, a us the feminine perspective of issues from a young woman's standpoint. I kid you not, let not her youthful age day of great happiness indeed. lead you into thinking her advice was nothing to write home about, as a matter of fact, Adoma had the heart of a I thought so because a beautiful girl child was born into the matured young woman whose words were with every bit world to Juliana Oates and Kwabena Ofori. The entire family of of seriousness.

Ask her friends and all those who know her this baby girl was grateful to the almighty God, as the baby, and they will affirm this fact. named Adoma, was carried home to an eagerly waiting family of smiling faces.

The newest member of my family at the time was received with tender loving care by all in both the immediate and extended family group. A vow of protection was made by me and my other 2 brothers: Kodjo Afriyie Karikari and Kwame Asante Ofori, as we all surrounded our angelic baby sister. We stuck to our vow and till today, continue to be abided by it. The demise of Adoma notwithstanding, we still count ourselves lucky today to have Adoma as our sister.

We, along with our mother, together promised to literally never let her go, and in certain instances, figuratively.

This promise was written not only in the hearts of all who love Adoma, but also in the hearts of all those who came across sweet Adoma one way or the other! She has this sweet spirit that makes her neutralize any form of negativity by bringing people together with her eternal smiles and jewels of thoughts.

However, in the final week of June 2011, we were all forced to come to terms with the fact that our sweet sister was no longer going to remain amongst the living. You are reading this, not

Young? Yes. Articulate? Correct. Beautiful? God damn obviously! Tender yet firm! She would intelligently let you know your right from wrong and correct you with such subtlety so as to not disrespect you! A perfect creation of God she is! As she grew through life's hormonally imbalanced years she proved not only to her brothers, but to all she encountered, that, women indeed are fighters and what a heck of a go-getter she is! Akua is academically astute and has a beautiful talent for dancing which she is well known for on the stage of her alma-mata-Achimota Secondary School. The way she talks and carries herself directly pitted her against the stereotype!

selvesand Adoma is never the one to be limited by herself.

Even before you could dream of negativity, she is busy talking about how possible her dreams are and how soon they will become realities.

One of her dreams is to fly around the world and at age 10, she wanted to become an air hostess but she felt that would somewhat limit her, so she vowed to become a financial guru, that way she could fly in style and even own the flight. She will always speak of herself as such, or say of herself, and I quote her, ''I'll become an Economist... maybe'', she would say with her sweet voice with which she also beautifully sings!

Given the opportunity, I could write a best seller on my young sister's life, but in just a few words, I say, on behalf of all who helped prolonged Adoma's life here on earth that: our sweet Adoma is the best sister and friend anyone could have ever wished for! Adoma is not dead, she is just on a vacation, chilling in the presence of God The Father Himself in Heaven, so yes it's OK to weep or cry for today, but remember joy comes in the morning.

When you wake up tomorrow morning, be filled with joy, because that is what Adoma will want for all of you reading this. Her life has ended, but her legacy continues to live on in the hearts of each and every one of us who direcetly or indirectly knew or met her.

Let's all finish the good work Adoma started, because God now has other assignments for her. She's at a much better place today and she prepareth a place for each and every one of us, she will meet us with that sweet smile of hers one day.

But for now... we say, rest in peace AKUA ADOMA OFORI! You will terribly be missed. However, our consolation dwells in the fact that we would meet again in God's bosom to happily join you in that sexy and sassy dance moves of yours!

An example of her positive defiance is evident in the fact that she chose to also learn the dance moves for men and mastered them as well just to prove to all that she is an all rounder when it comes to her dancing skills.

Her high flying spirit never limited her and for Adoma, the sky is never the limit, the only limit for a person is them-

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Dr Nduom Has No Credibility – Kabila became the flagbearer of the CPP was to create divisions, cause havoc and disunity among party members.

The embattled CPP Youth Organiser had been accused of being one of the negative vices that worked against the CPP and is a liability to the party. In a statement issued by Dr Nduom in reaction to what he describes as “negative comments” by Kabila, the CPP Flagbearer for the 2008 Elections labeled his compatriot “a loud-mouthed empty barrel” in the Monday August 15, 2011 edition of the The New Crusading Guide newspaper.

Responding to the charges in an exclusive interview withPeacefmonline, Kabila rubbished the accusations, saying it is only in the eyes of Dr Nduom that he is a liability, and accused the party’s former flagbearer of perpetuating indiscipline in the CPP.

Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom National Youth Organizer of the Convention People's Party (CPP), Kwabena Bomfeh aka Kabila seems to be on a collision course with the party’s flagbearer for the 2008 General Elections, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom after emphatically that he (Nduom) has no credibility to lead the country as president.

He claims there is empirical evidence to show that Dr. Nduom was once involved in some fraudulent acts.

According to him, he has documents from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) now Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) to back his assertions that Dr. Nduom has a questionable character. He alleges among other things, all what Dr Ndum sought to do when he

“Dr. Nduom as the flagbearer of the CPP has proved beyond reasonable doubt that indeed he is not a good party man. All he sought to do when he became flagbearer of the CPP is create division, havoc and disunity and perpetuate in discipline, which he is guilty of...Dr. Nduom confirmed he was not a good flagbearer when he told members of CPP to support the then President Kufuor in the 2004 election,” Kabila claimed.

Blazing on all cylinders, Kabila turned the heat on Ladi Nylander, National Chairman of the CPP, accusing him of being “weak”, claiming he is just serving the interest of Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom and therefore lacks the willpower to haul him (Nduom) before the party’s disciplinary committee.

Source:peacefm.com

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2011

Street In New Jersey

Congressman Donald Payne-Right

Consular General: H.E. Ernest Lomoteys-Right

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Named Ghanaian Way History was made in the United States of America on Saturday, June 24 2011, when a local street in New Jersey was named “Ghanaian Way”. The street was formerly called Victoria Street and that is where Dream African Market is currently located.

Dream African Market, managed by James Ken Kwofie, is a local hot spot for many Africans who live in New Jersey. The former Victoria Street, now known as Ghanaian Way, is the only street in America officially named after Ghana. The brains behind the street naming of Ghanaian Way is Council Member Ras Baraka “Oman”.

It started during the Ghana-USA soccer match in South Africa, FIFA World Cup 2010 where Ghana beat USA. Many Dream customers who were watching the game started jubilating on what was formerly known as Victoria Street. Due to the noise and commotion, a squad of police officers thought a riot was occurring and wanted to arrest the people who were celebrating over the World Cup match.

As a result of the confusion, a phone call was made to Councilman Baraka, who immediately ordered the road to be closed so people could continue jubilating through the day and night.

When Councilman Baraka came to witness the celebration, it was decided that the name of the street should be changed from Victoria Street to Ghanaian Way. In attendance to commemorate the naming of the street were: Congressmen Donald M. Payne; the Consul General, Ghana Missions, NY – H.E. Ernest Lomotey; City of Newark Municipal Council leaders, many chiefs, queen mothers, and the general public.

The Co-Chairperson for the ceremony was A. Zachary Yamba, EdD, now retired and known as New Jersey’s longest-serving college president.

The following people in conjunction with the Councilman made the occasion come true: Nana Attah Boamoah, Nana Barimah Gyensare V, ‘ Piankohene of Akwamu, Ghana aka Dream Chief, “Fish”, President of Dreamers Association of NJ, Okaikwei, Vice President, Edward Nsiah, Secretary and Alhaji.

Source: 3G Media

Afrikan

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Flagstaff House Is A Death Trap Notable structures in this case are: the Egyptian Embassy and Christ The King Church; French Embassy, TV3 and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) on the western part of it (Flagstaff House); the sprawling Kanda Estates taking the northern and western parts of it and some offices, including the GBC Club House and the Ghana Water Company.

Compared to the Osu Castle, the Flagstaff House is more vulnerable to security threats, the experts observed. One of them remarked that protection of the president should be a serious matter and should not be handled in the manner that the NPP did and theynearly got exPresident Kufuor killed when a drug addict, apparently his buddy, ran his car into his (Kufuor) convoy Mrs. Botchwey, co-owner of Regimanuel Gray Estates, denied the publication that President Mills was erecting a mansion.

A letter dated April 7, 2011, pointed out that Regimanuel Gray Estates, owned by Mrs. Botchwey and her husband, Mr. Emmanuel Botchwey, have been holding discussions with the Presidency on the construction of a “permanentb rest room and toilet facilities for the security personnel”.

President Mills, in his letter, indicated that “I shall be personally responsible for the payment of the rent involved”. The false story having collapsed, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Director of Communications, Nana Akomea emerged from his trauma – induced silence following the public condemnation he suffered for insulting the Deputy Minister of Tourism, James Agyenim-Boateng, saying that “it was about time President Mills took occupancy of the Flagstaff House.

He claimed that if President Mills had been residing in the Flagstaff House, he would not have had problems finding a place for his guards .

Source: myjoyonline.com The Herald’s enquiries into why President John Evans Atta Mills has not yet moved his office and residence to the Flagstaff House palace built by the Kufuor-led government, have yielded some nerve – chilling revelations,suggesting that the palace, for now, remains a death trap to any Ghanaian President.

According to the National Security Co-ordinator, Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, “the supposed palace does not meet the security and safety requirements for occupation by a President of Ghana.”

He remarked that when Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah used the Flagstaff House as his residence and office, the place was well structured and laid out as part of a complete presidential security enclave.

This, he said, included the flats opposite the Flagstaff House which were used as accommodation by the guards as well as Senior Non-Commissioned Officers of the military and police service (NCOs) as accommodation which covered the open flanks.

But Lt. Col. (Rtd) Gbevlo-Lartey, who for many years, was the Commander of the 64 Infantry Regiment – an elite commando unit within the Ghana Armed Forces which was also responsible for presidential and VVIP protection during the Rawlings regime – insisted that “President Mills would not move into the Flagstaff House today or tomorrow, until the security and safety concerns are addressed”.

He disclosed to The Herald in an exclusive interview that work was in progress to address the shortcomings, but declined further elaboration. He abhorred the lack of proper planning andpreparation that would make the palace suitable in terms of security for the purpose that it is meant to serve.One security expert The Herald spoke to questioned the continued virtual collocation of the French Embassy with the Flagstaff House.

Security experts have told The Herald that “the siting and design of the presidential palace make the president an easy pick for any assassin, taking for instance, a position from the Accra Girls Senior High School, near the famous “Kawo Kudi Junction”.

“That palace is naked, and you don’t need any sophisticated weapon to smash it,” the security expert said. It also “unduly exposes the VVIPs supposed to work and reside there to attacks from the many structures overlooking the palace which are not under the control of the Presidential security. In fact, the palace is currently naked and exposed to threats,” added the expert.

The security of the place has been seriously undermined by all kinds of structures that have sprung up around the Flagstaff House, posing a security threat to the occupants of the facility.

South Africa opens first unit for prison babies South Africa has opened its first unit for imprisoned mothers and their children who are below the age of two.

The babies and toddlers of mothers at Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town will no longer be raised behind bars - as is the norm across the country.

The facility can house 15 inmates and it has a creche and a clinic.

But Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula warned that it was not a "guesthouse" and that there would be security.

Children under the age of two are allowed to stay with their mothers who are serving a sentence in South Africa's prisons.

Older children are either cared for by a family member or put into foster care.

'Children should not be punished' Ms Mapisa-Nqakula said the facility at Pollsmoor Prison had been specifically designed to give children a good start in life.

She said she wanted all children living there to not only enjoy quality time with their mothers, but to be able to play with sand, touch grass and see the sky.

"The mothers have wronged society and given birth to their children here, [but] the children should not take the responsibility or be punished," South Africa's Cape Times newspaper quotes Ms Mapisa-Nqakula as saying.

"So this is in their best interest - not to make prisons more comfortable," she said.

Similar units will be opened at prisons across the country in the coming weeks.

According to the Department of Correctional Services, there were 143 children below the age of two living in South African jails last year.

Source:bbcnews.com

Afrikan

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GRACE FRONTIER

August 2011 At age 80 God appeared to Moses and commissioned him to liberate the Hebrews.

Moses was afraid to go and came up with excuses.God, realizing his fear worked more on his faith by turning Moses' rod into a snake and also making his hand leprous and cleansing it right away. Through the miracles Moses trusted God’s power to deliver and agreed to go.

Faith is the link to God’s power.

Maturity does not come with age. It comes with the acceptance of responsibility. Though Moses was over 80 years when liberated the Israelites his leadership skills left much to be desired. He needed more wisdom in handling his people on day to day basis. God sent his father-in-law, Jethro to provide time tested principle: delegation of authority. Moses was heading toward burnout When faith enters a room fear exits on the when Jethro took him aside. He not only warned quite. the immature leader that he was in imminent danger of collapse, but wisely counseled him to So, the guy everybody thought was probably delegate authority – Ex.18:17-27. As a result, dead - after 40 years of inactivity – resurrectMoses developed an organizational structure that ed. He re-entered Egypt and demanded that enabled him to lead Israel for the next forty Pharaoh must let his people go. But Pharaoh Rev. Kwabby Adom-Fosu years. That system might never have come about would not budge. Through signs and wonhad Moses not had a relationship with a wise ders, including the death of every first-born man like Jethro. email address:adomso@aol.com male of the Egyptians; human and animal, the spirit of the Nile bowed down to the Perhaps you are wondering how you can develGreat I AM. That was when the angel of op wisdom. The place to start is by cultivating The Resurrection of Moses. death passed over the houses of the Hebrews friendships with wise people – Prov.13:20. to smite the Egyptians.

Wisdom is not a set of facts to be memorized, “…and whosoever will lose his life for my but a set of life skills to be mastered.

Make note of this. Human wisdom and sake shall find it”. - Matt.16:25 Relationships are the key to making that happen. might do not win spiritual warfare. As a A good example is Moses’ friendship with Jethro. result do not hesitate to join a prayer gatherThe enemy foresaw that the deliverer of the In sports, a Jethro could be referred to as; a ing. Prayer activates your covenant with God; Israelites was about to be born to fulfill the coach, in business; a consultant and in ministry; it makes Him realize your still trust to fight prophetic word: that the descendants of a mentor. Somebody who helps you navigate the for you. Owing to their covenant with God, Abraham would be slaves in another country minefield of your profession with time tested He opened the Red Sea for them to go for 400 years, after that they would move out advice. to the promise land. As a result, he tried to kill through while the enemy got drowned in the sea. (Zach.4:6) him. Pharaoh decreed that every baby boy Moses was a man of power, so much of it. He must be killed. shared this in common with Elijah and the Lord Moses married an Ethiopian and his siblings; Jesus. They were all given to fasting; to stay God outwitted the enemy and raised Moses as Aaron and Miriam had issues with that. This away from food for a given period of time. Each brought up four things, (1) that Moses was a prince in Pharaoh’s court through his mothfasted for 40 days and nights, without food or color blind; in life character is more imporer’s daring faith, with Pharaoh’s daughter as drink. Do not try that unless you are led of God. tant than skin color. Nobody chose where the vehicle for entry into the court. This Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led into the proves the sovereignty of God; that He can do he/she was born but character is developed wilderness by the Spirit to fast for 40 days came whatever He wants to and chooses when to do through choices. (2) God has an answer for out in the power of the Spirit. (Luke. 4:1-14) A racism: on-the- spot justice; you never know. it. It equally proves that the devil is not all40-day fast is for dominion. These two lions met (3) You do not mess with a man who has paid knowing. the Lion of Judah on the day of His transfiguraa price for his anointing. Whether you are an tion in Mathew 17:2. Of the three, Jesus and So at age 40 sensing the call of God on his life aggrieved sibling, a peeved associate or a Elijah were caught into heaven and did not see journalist delving in sensationalism, think to do something about the plight of the death. Moses had an unmarked grave. before you act for God honors covenant.

Hebrew slaves, Moses made a wrong move that sent him into exile. That was to prepare to (Ps.105:15) (4)Last but not least, even though Like Osama bin Laden, nobody saw Moses’ Miriam and Aaron had criticized Moses, God take up leadership. grave, God buried him somewhere. Why? Moses singled out Miriam for retribution but not was a hero and like Osama burial at sea, God did Moses had earthly wisdom; that was what he Aaron. Why? Aaron had the priestly garment not want his grave turned into a shrine for inspion; anointed to operate in the office of the gained in the palace of Pharaoh but God did ration by his followers.

High Priest; only ceremonial sin would have not need that. Matter of fact God does not brought him down. Even death could not work with finished products. He works best Moses’ life spanned three generations, called at with broken vessels. He promotes the humble. touch him till the priestly garment was age 40, commissioned at age 80 and completed removed from him (Num. 20:23-29) his conquest at 120. 40 years is what it takes for Consequently, God used another 40 years to one generation to prepare to take over from take Egypt out of Moses. God stripped off his Locked in a fierce battle with the Amalekites, another. It appeared he lost a generation of his Moses lifted up his hands to God in faith. His princely robes. He unlearned all that he had life to adversity but god turned it for his good. former school mates heard about it and gosmastered in Egypt through adversity. For 40 No matter your mistakes in life, like Moses God umpteen years the crown prince of Egypt lived siped about him: “hey, have you heard about can turn your mess into a message, your test into at the backside of the wilderness as a shepherd the prince who used to make waves at the a testimony and your trial to triumph. Try Him. of somebody’s flock, in enforced tutelage. He Marine Corp University of Cairo? What about it? He is an idiot and a disgrace to all passed. In biblical parlance what happened to products of the University. The guy had a Moses is called Prophetic Incubation. When glorious opportunity to practice firsthand the God uproots an individual from his comfort principles of war he learnt at the lecture thezone and forces him to learn His Ways the ater. However, instead of fighting he lifted up hard way. Like David in the Cave of his hands to God. Ridiculous! It appears he is Adullams or Paul in the Arabian Desert. going nuts”. Moses responded that they were right. But his idiocy also opened the Red Sea for his people while Pharaoh’s best generals with all their knowledge in the principles of war drowned.

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Secretary Clinton On Benin National Day

Secretary Clinton “On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Benin on your 51st anniversary of independence this August 1.

The United States and Benin enjoy a strong relationship based on a shared commitment to democracy, peace, and rule of law. Benin is a shining example of a country that is dedicated to preserving its democratic traditions and encouraging these values in the region.

Your achievements as a peaceful, democratic country with a strong commitment to human rights and education will improve the quality of life for all Beninese people now and in the years to come.

As you celebrate your National Day with family and friends, know that the United States stands with you. We deeply value this relationship and will continue to look for ways to work together in the years to come.”

Source:amipnews.org

Afrikan

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Culture and Arts - Profiles

August

New York Picnic And Cultural Show

2011

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34

Afrikan

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August 2011

New York Picnic Continues

Pictures: Courtesy Of 3G Media

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August 2011

Afrikan Post

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EXCLUSIVE: Nkiru Sylvanus speaks on her appointment as Special Assistant Lagos Affairs to Gov. Okorocha. , it would interfere with my Office is any way. Face of Hope is centered on fund raising for the continuous Free Education for the less privileged. If anything, it would give me a wider opportunity to network with people I could dialogue with towards improving the lives of the less privileged in our Society.

Q:That makes sense. Back to your newly appointed office; is this Position a Paid position or Charity for the State?

A: Right now, just as I mentioned earlier, I have not been fully briefed on what my Office entails or . . . . what I am going to be paid, who would be paying me and all of that. The Appointment was made yesterday and I am yet to be fully briefed.Once when my Office has been fully set up, the Job specifications would be detailed to me. It is only then that I would have a full idea of everything that is required of me, what and how I am going to be paid.

Did your Appointment come as a surprise to you or did you see it coming?

Nkiru Sylvanus Nollywood Actress, Nkiru Sylvanus was recently named as Special Assistant to Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha. Her appointment as Special Assistant, Lagos Affairs sparked mixed reactions amongst concerned citizens of the State who criticized her appointment. In this Interview with the Award winning Celebrity Publicist and renowned Political Blogger Joi John, she opens up to IMO STATE BLOG. Ms. Sylvanus silences her critics and sets the record straight.

Congratulations on your appointment as Special Assistant on Lagos Affairs to His Excellency, Rochas Okorocha.

Thank you very much.

Q: There have been a lot of controversies surrounding your appointment, when they say, Special Assistant Lagos Affairs, what does that mean? Could you explain your Portfolio in detail?

A: Okay. Well, I am actually going to be the Imo State Liaison officer in Lagos. I am going to be a middle person for the Imo indigenes resident in Lagos that would want the Governor to listen to them and pretty much everything that a Liaison officer does. I would also help the Government to create activities that would also help boost the Imo indigenes in Lagos state.

Q:Basically, you would be focussing on Imo indigenes resident in Lagos?

A:Yes .

Q:Tell me more about this Lagos Liaison office and your specific job description.

A: I am yet to find out specific details because my Office was only inaugurated yesterday. However, I have been briefed that there a lot of abandoned properties in Lagos owned by the Imo State government. These properties have been abandoned for years. The Lipson office will be looking into that. We are going to ensure that we recover them and those that need to be put in use will, be put in use.

We are going to be recruiting reliable people to work with. The Governor found me worthy of that post, so I consider myself lucky and I am humbled to serve the people of Imo State.

A: I had no idea whatsoever that I was going to be given this Position. Somehow, people around me had been nursing the feeling that I would get an Appointment with the Government but there were no Specifics on what it was going to be. If at all there would be one. I could only hope that the Governor would entrust me to do somethings for him in Imo State and it was only Yesterday that I got to learn of the Appointment and Office assigned to me.

Q: What happens to your Acting career in Nollywood?

A:I still intend to remain in the Film Industry. I am not going to quit.

Q:Do you have any intentions to join Politics full time and maybe contest in an Election someday?

(Laughter) For now, it is too soon to say. I have been called upon to serve the people of Imo State and that comes first.

Q:Africa has 6 out of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world. Nigeria is one of them today because of the booming economy in Lagos. What are some business ideas that you have identified to have worked in Lagos that can work in Imo. A: Like I had stated previously. It is only when you are settled and fully briefed that you will know the expectations from the Office and what is required. That would give you an opportunity to begin creating ideas that would actually help to boost the image of Imo people and also generate funds for Imo State from Lagos State.When it comes to business, Joi . I am confident in myself that with the Business acumen I have, there would be nothing short of positive reviews from my office.

Q:What gives you this confidence? I must say that I am really impressed.

Q: Yes you are! Now, in 2010 you were named the Face of Hope Ambassador. How do you intend to combine your obligations with the Face of Hope Organization and your office as Special Assistant?

A: I have been in business all my life I ventured into Business at an early age of 16. Presently, I own a Communication company.

We have Pantered with Airtel in Enugu State. I have been involved in Business for a long time. I am not a loud person ; I let my work speak for me. For the people that have had the opportunity to work with me, they can attest to the things I am capable of doing. If Governor Rochas Okorocha did not see anything good in me, he would never take the risk because my position now is very sensitive.

A: The Face of Hope Organization is supposed to name an Ambassador yearly. My tenure would soon be over. Once a new Ambassador get picked, I will be handing over. In the meantime,

Q: Governor Okorocha is fondly called the "*Peoples Governor*". I love him and I make no apologies for admitting that publicly! He is a Blessed man. As a firm supporter of the

Administration, I would want to see him succeed in everything he sets out to do for the State. There are so many Igbos who live in Lagos. How would you advance the Government’s agenda when it comes to the Imo State Youths living in Lagos.

What would be your prospective towards using the Governors agenda to better the people's lives?

A: As for the Youths. You can only know what to do for people and how to help them when you interact with them. It is only when you talk with them that you will understand what their challenges are. I would see that we have room of dialogue. A forum of Imo Youths in Lagos.

We would bring them together to hear from them to know what their challenges are and how they would want the Okorocha led Administration to step in and help them. When you hear from them, it would give you an insight of what you should work on presenting to the Governor.

Q:As one of the Celebrated actresses in Nigeria today, would you rely on your influence in the Entertainment Industry to encourage the Youths?

A: When you talk about Entertainment. It has been overemphasized. There are other things we have neglected over the years that could be used to motivate and inspire the youths. That is why I need to have a dialogue with the people to know their problems to enable me assist better. One of the things I would love to do with the Youth is to hold Seminars to help them build their Careers. To enlighten them and put them on their feet because Education is key to success. If you are not informed, you cannot move forward. Starting with Seminars could go a long way towards helping the Youth and guide them towards a successful future.

Q:The internet has been agog with rumor linking you otherwise to His Excellency, some feel you dont have the qualifications needed for this position. How would you respond to your critics ?

A:"First, anyone saying such about me does not know me. Neither do they know the qualifications I bring to the table. It is normal that sometimes, when an Appointment like this is made, there might have been people who were interested in the same Position so it comes as a shock to learn that someone else has the Position they had been hoping for. It is very rare for we humans to lie low and congratulate. We are always looking for ways to bring people down. There is nothing that has been given to anyone on this earth that their peers felt deserved. Even when you toil day and night and everyone sees how hard you have worked; when you get a Position like this, you are bound to come across people who will do anything to pull you down because they feel you do not deserve it.

Q: Any last words for women out there who look up to you?

A: I would encourage them to stay focused and not discouraged by what they hear and what the Society identifies them with. I say this because once you begin to listen to the negative stories around you, it is one of the strongest factors in pulling you down and leaving you behind. I would want them to hold on to their Faith, their Beliefs and their Ideas. In no distant time, the Society is going to embrace them and realize that women are also part of the Society and should be respected.

Source:nigeriafilms.com

August

Afrikan Post

2011

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THE FINAL FUNERAL RITES OF OPANIN YAW BARIMAH DAPAAH, THE FATHER OF MR. BEDIAKO ASARE

Mrs. Rita Bediako- Daughter In-Law

Mr. & Mrs. Bediako Asare Owners of Kumasi African Market

Mr. Bediako Welcoming His Invited Guest

Friends and Relatives Mourning with Mr. Bediako

Aburi Gardens Restaurant Owners

Cross Section of invited guest

Mrs. Bediako Presenting Gifts to the Husband

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African Post

August 2011

Page 38

Sonnie Badu and The True Worshippers “A Night in His Glory”, was an unforgettable night presented by True Worshippers. On July 16th, 2011,RCCG River of Life Church, in Riverdale, Maryland, hosted a powerful and uplifting praise and worship concert which turned into a once in a lifetime event. A Night in His Glory opened up with praise and worship and a powerful preaching by Dr. Gina Aboagye, from Renew Life Worship Center. After her powerful word, True Worshippers presented an amazing skit which depicted God and the Book of Life. The skit displayed the disbelief of people who were surprised when “God” informed them that their names were not in the Book of Life, and as a result, were carried and dragged away by “evil spirits”. It was a captivating and emotional skit which had everyone on the edge of their seats. The skit was followed by a rousing performance by Pastor Bezaleel and Ken Appiah, who both got the crowd cheering and dancing, turning the place into a Christian pep rally. The place was electrified by the Holy Spirit and if the concert had ended upon the completion of Mr. Appiah’s performance, everyone would have felt fulfilled and gone home happy. However, there was more to come, courtesy of Sonnie Badu. When Sonnie Badu, a very handsome man meticulously dressed in African gear, took over the stage, he elevated the program to an unimaginable place. Sonnie Badu, often referred to as “The Worshipper” led the audience through numerous praise and worship melodies which captivated the souls of everyone, both young and old. Working every corner of the stage and the floor, Sonnie Badu sang his heart out, exclaiming lyrics like, “You can not lie to me, Lion of Judah, You will not Lie to Me”. Due to the atmosphere, each song had an intimate and personal feel to it and Sonnie Badu was interacting with the crowd through conversations and songs. Each song charged the atmosphere, and it got to a point where the Spirit of God took over, and it was no longer about the performers who were there. People ran to the front of the stage and started dancing, laughing, and crying tears of joy. A Night in His Glory was a night to remember.

By Amy Ansong

Pastor Bezaleel

Sonnie Doing What He Does Best

Sonnie Badu

Cross Section Of The Crowd

Excited Crowd

Book of Life Skit

P

August 2011

Blind referee, crude Mares rob Agbeko of Bantamweight title

Page 39

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editor@afrikanpost.com Pu b lis h ed By Brigh t Ho u s e Pro d u ct io n s Man agin g Ed it or G eorge Br ight- A bu Email:editor @af r ikanpos t.com

Amy AnsongH ar dcopy/pr int copy editor

Caught in the act! Mares drives a massive punch into Agbeko's 'vital area' and close by, on the left, a blinded Russel Mora calls it fair!

A despicable officiating so blatantly lopsided offered by an obviously blind ‘referee’ Russell Mora hugely assisted Mexican Abner Mares on his way to annexing the Showtime Bantamweight Championship from Ghana’s Joseph King Kong Agbeko.

Mares won a majority decision as two referees gave him the fight at 115 to 111, with ringside referee C.J. Ross drawing it at 113 for both men.

Agbeko demanded an immediate rematch, accepted, also immediately, by Mares.

Russell Mora had turned his blind eyes to Mares’ notorious below-the-belt punches refusing to even caution him once in no less than 10 of such blows, and then capped his shameful officiating job on the night with an even weirder act – to proceed so blatantly to start the count for an Agbeko knockdown in the 11th round.

He was not done yet though, for moments after Mares had been handed the title, Russell Mora was defending his actions and claiming the blows he had seen during the bout had been “fair” ones, and when shown the most glaring 11th round foul punch that should have at least earned Agbeko a draw, Russell Mora demanded he needed more time on the clip to come to a decision whether his performance was shameful.

“Abner Mares, would he have won without your help this evening?” was the point blank question put to Mora, and hear what he had to say, “I don’t help the fighters, I enforce the law. First and foremost I have to enforce the law. Those punches were on the belt line, it’s a fair punch, I had to call it fair. It will be unfair to give the other guy the advantage because he says it’s low. I saw the punch, it’s on the beltline, I got to call that a fair punch.”

You’re right! A fair punch indeed!

And how frustrating the criminality proved for the otherwise ‘gentleman’ of a boxer, Agbeko, who saw racism painted all over the sport and questioning why it must be so, mostly for Africans. It must have irked him too badly to have uttered those emotionally charged comments otherwise those would not be words to associate him with.

Mares himself was also defending his tactic to go for low blows and punches claiming he never hit him low, an action that immediately leaves one wondering what Vic Darchinyan, his previous victim in December last year during their semi-final encounter in Tacoma, Washington, might have been thinking as Sunday morning’s bout came to the controversial majority decision.

Agbeko had rebounded from a first round vintage performance by Mares that sent him to the ropes and apart from a slip in that round which strangely attracted a count, he had taken good control of the rest of the fight, destabilized from time to time by Mares foul punches that should at least have cost him some points, if not the bout. Mares himself suffered an unfortunate cut on the brow in the sixth round from an accidental head clash, but he fought gallantly and hardly appeared to have been done in by that accident.

In his frustration, Agbeko had to be restrained from making Russel Mora his immediate opponent in the ring as he made attempts at getting to him physically. Well, he was later to say the bout had been difficult because he had had to fight both Mares and ‘referee’ Mora.

“First of all, I want to tell the world that I’m a true champion. I don’t know why, especially boxers from Africa I don’t know why this happens to them every time, when I fought Vic Darchinyan. I was fighting the referee and Vic, I was butted and they counted me. When I was fighting Manny Perez, the same thing happened, I had a head butt and still the referee counted me. I’m fighting Abner Mares, and still the same thing is happening to me. I got like over 20 low punches, he never warned him, he never [did] anything. It’s like I’m fighting the referee and I’m fighting him. It’s like he is trying to be a racist...I don’t think I [lost] this fight, the referee stole my title to give it to him and I demand immediate rematch.”

In the meantime, Agbeko’s corner served notice they will officially protest the officiating and outcome of the bout, because what transpired, doesn’t make Abner Mares a worthy champion.

Source: myjoyonline.com

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