Saturday, February 25, 2017

Two Nominees Bearing the Same Surname Will Be Going Home With Oscars Tonight


As the entertainment world celebrates the 89th Academy Awards tonight, two nominees bearing the same surname will be going home with Oscars tonight.


See more details on Who Goes Home With An Oscar Tonight?.

Morocco Has the Fourth Biggest Film Industry in Africa


Morocco's film industry ranks second to the film industry of Egypt in north Africa and also attracts many foreign filmmakers for the exotic tourist attractions which have become some of the best locations for Hollywood films. The most popular films made in Morocco include "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), "The Living Daylights" (1987), "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), "The Mummy" (1999), "Gladiator" (2000), "Kingdom of Heaven"  (2005), "Kundun" (1997), "Legionnaire" (1998), "Hanna" (2011), "Hills Have Eyes" (2006), "Babel" (2006), "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" (2011) and parts of the TV series "Game of Thrones" and "Prison Break" have been shot in Morocco.

Queen Njinga: Overlooked African Female Ruler Gets Her Due


Queen Njinga: Overlooked African Female Ruler Gets Her Due
Dr. Linda M. Heywood presents Njinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen to the community

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Feb. 24, 2017  /PRNewswire/ -- Queen Njinga of Angola is one of the most powerful and brave figures in African history. Her story is often overlooked in history books, but she was one of the most multifaceted rulers in history. At a book signing yesterday at Jamestown Settlement, Dr. Linda M. Heywood, professor of African History at Brown University, discussed her book Njinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen and how Queen Njinga skillfully navigated―and ultimately transcended―the ruthless, male-dominated power struggles of her time.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Speaker Paul Ryan Speaks on President Trump's Travel Ban Order


I addressed the critical issues of the Travel Ban with Speaker Paul Ryan and he sent me the following reply yesterday.


February 23, 2017

Dear Michael Chima,

Thank you for contacting me regarding immigration. We are a compassionate nation, and we are also a nation of laws. It is important we insist that everyone come here legally and maintain legal status. 

I recently visited the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to get a firsthand look at the many challenges facing our law enforcement professionals along the border. It gave me even greater respect for the work that they do day-in and day-out. But more tools and more support are needed for them to do their jobs effectively. 
That is why Congress is working closely with the Trump administration to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws.

Visit Speaker.gov for future updates on this issue, and thank you again for getting in touch.  

 Sincerely,


Paul D. Ryan
Speaker of the House
******                      
He is not opposed to the executive order President Donald Trump signed on Jan. 27, temporarily banning travelers from seven predominately Muslim countries and halting entrance of all Syrian refugees.
ed out immigrants, refugees, and travellers from seven countries – Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Sudan, and Somalia – originally identified by the Obama administration in a 2015 revision to the visa waiver programme. The programme allowed refugees from 38 countries to enter the US without visas for up to 90 days. President Obama excluded the seven countries from that list, but did not outright ban migration from those areas.



Obama Ranked Second To Lincoln in the Best President of United States


Obama Ranked Second To Lincoln in the Best President of United States 


When it comes to picking the best president in the history of the United States, no one president receives 20% or more of the vote. President Lincoln (19%) tops the list, followed by presidents Obama (15%, including 30% of Democrats), Washington (14%), Reagan (13%), Kennedy (8%) and Franklin Roosevelt (7%).

Those polled were also asked to pick their second choice. When those who chose a president as their first or second choice are added together, the rank order is more or less the same, with Lincoln (31%) topping the list, followed by Obama (26%), Reagan (24%), Kennedy (19%), Washington (18%), Clinton (14%) and Franklin Roosevelt (12%).

Click here for the full report of the Harris' Presidents’ Day Poll.

The Victory of Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Dream:
My Testimony on the 2015 Presidential Election is an important chronicle of the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria and the principal actors in the emergence of the first Nigerian presidential candidate to defeat an incumbent President in the political history of Nigeria.
Click here to order now.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the Most Followed World Leader on Facebook; U.S. President Donald Trump Comes Second


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Most Followed World Leader on Facebook; U.S. President Donald Trump Comes into Power with Massive Following

Burson-Marsteller Study Finds 87 Heads of State, 70 Heads of Government and 55 Foreign Ministers Have Personal Pages on the World's Largest Social Media Platform

NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most followed world leader on Facebook with 40 million followers on his personal page, and U.S. President Donald J. Trump is in second place with 20 million followers on his personal page, according to the newly released 2017 "World Leaders on Facebook" study by leading strategic communications and global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.


As of February 1, 2017, the institutional page of the Indian Premier, PMO India, is in third place with 13 million followers, ahead of Queen Rania  of Jordan, in fourth place with 10 million. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rounds out the top five with 8 million followers.

Saturday, February 18, 2017

The Production, Distribution and Exhibition of Falsehood on Nollywood By CNN and Others


The Production, Distribution and Exhibition of Falsehood on Nollywood By CNN and Others

There is a misrepresentation of facts on Nollywood by certain desperados among the actors, distributors and exhibitors to promote their selfish interests and they are paying both local and international news reporters to publish their misinformation. An example is The Evolution of Nollywood in Pictures http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/15/africa/gallery/nollywood-portraits/, which is not what the title claims.
They paid the CNN to broadcast an erroneous photo documentary on a selection of their favourite actors and actresses and called it an evolution of Nollywood in pictures. But it failed to show the evolution of Nollywood.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Nigerians in Europe Can Send Money To Nigeria Through Mobile Phones


TerraPay Joins Forces With MoneyTrans and Paga to Make Cross Border Remittance Easy Between Europe and Nigeria
 
AMSTERDAM, February 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

TerraPay, a mobile-first international payment network, today announced that it has partnered with MoneyTrans, a leading Money Transfer company established in Europe and Africa as well as Paga, Nigeria's pioneering payments and financial services company to launch cross-border remittances from Spain to mobile wallets in Nigeria.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

A Great Nation Cannot Be Built On the Foundation of Corruption


A Great Nation Cannot Be Built On the Foundation of Corruption

It is a terrible thing to be intellectually retarded and not to know that you're intellectually retarded.
A generation almost drowning in the flood of the information age of the internet with access to facts on their fingertips, but still lacking in intellectual comprehension and ratiocination.
It is tragic to act without logic.
To be ignorant is tragic.
Youths who don't read cannot lead.
They want to reap without sowing a seed
Their daily creed is based on their greed.
They live a life of fallacy and hypocrisy.
But a great nation cannot be built on the foundation of corruption.
We cannot celebrate our nationhood on the threshold of falsehood.
This is the calamity of the majority of Nigerian youths.
Only few are truly intelligent. But who can hear the words of wisdom of the wise in the tumult of fools making the loudest noise?
 "Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cellphones, iPods and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books."
~ Harper Lee, famous author of "To Kill a Mockingbird" on May 7, 2006, in a letter to Oprah Winfrey (published in O, The Oprah Magazine in July 2006).


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, author of "In the House of Dogs", *The Prophet Lied" and other books. https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

The Academic and Professional Importance of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series


There are more foreigners reading the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series than Nigerians and 90% of these foreigners are white people from academic institutions and practitioners in the film industry.

There are dozens of books and other publications on the Nigerian film industry which I have listed in my "Nollywood Associations Without Libraries: What A Shame" published on Modern Ghana and other news channels.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Senator Buruji Kashamu Petitions the United States Supreme Court


IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 8, 2017.
Contact:
Brian Berg/Brian@mkcpr.com
312.822.0505/312.282.8260 (m)

Buruji Kashamu Petitions the United States Supreme Court
To Uphold Law Against International Kidnappings By U.S. Agents

February 8, 2017 (Chicago, IL) -- In response to the ruling of a federal court of appeals, which made factual findings and addressed the merits of a case despite having no factual record before it, lawyers for Buruji Kashamu, a duly elected federal Senator and businessman from Nigeria, today filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to review and reverse the ruling.

Attorneys Robert Cohen and Matthew Piers filed the lawsuit federal court in Chicago seeking a court order that would end and prevent attempts by agents of the United States government to unlawfully kidnap Senator Kashamu in Nigeria and forcibly bring him to the United States to face charges that were brought against him in 1998. Since the original charges were filed, two courts in Great Britain have determined that the evidence presented by the U.S. was insufficient to warrant his extradition and that the charges were the product of a case of mistaken identity.

“Our courts may not make findings of fact without evidence, and our law enforcement officials should never be allowed to violate the law – either here in the U.S. or in other nations,” said Matthew Piers, one of Senator Kashamu’s attorneys and a shareholder of the law firm Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. “These principles have never been more important than now, when the rule of law is under attack from both inside and out of our government. We hope this action will halt any further attempts by U.S. authorities to abduct the Senator, allow respect for the rulings of the British courts, and let Sen. Kashamu get on with his life and his important work in the Nigerian government,” Piers added.

The unprecedented ruling of the court of appeals was only the latest chapter in a bizarre tale that started nearly 18 years ago at Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

Senator Kashamu’s troubles began in 1998 when the United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois added his to name to an indictment that is still pending today. The indictment was initially created in 1994 and was issued to 14 other defendants accused of importing and distributing narcotics in the U.S. – the most notable defendant being Piper Kernan, whose memoir inspired the hit television series “Orange is the New Black.” From the onset, Senator Kashamu has asserted the accusations against him are a case of mistaken identity, an assertion that has been supported by two British Courts, INTERPOL, and multiple Nigerian Court rulings.

Senator Kashamu filed a lawsuit in the United States in April 2015 alleging that U.S. officials, attempting to circumvent the rulings of the British courts, have been engaged in efforts to kidnap him and bring him to the United States for criminal prosecution. As he alleges, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit concluded, the United States has already tried to seize him once in 2015, and it failed only when the Nigerian courts prevented the abduction.

United States law, specifically the Mansfield Act, expressly forbids the U.S. government from effecting the arrest of foreign nationals overseas in connection with narcotics investigations. Yet the trial court in Mr. Kashamu’s case stripped this law of any practical effect and allowed the government to conduct illegal foreign abductions without recourse when it held that the target of the illegal seizure could not sue to enforce the Mansfield Act.

Kashamu’s attorneys assert that both the process and outcome of this case are alarming. The Court of Appeals has in effect concluded, without ever allowing the presentation of a shred of evidence, that the United States government did, in fact, attempt to seize Kashamu, a foreign national in a foreign country, but did so in coordination with local government officials. The Court of Appeals thus concluded that Sen. Kashamu has no recourse in the U.S. courts to prevent further such efforts so long as they are coordinated with local government officials, and even when, as here, those officials are, in turn, violating the laws of their country.

“Despite repeated confirmation of Sen. Kashamu’s innocence from both the Nigerian and British courts, and despite repeated attempts by Senator Kashamu to take legal action in the U.S, the U.S. courts not only refuse to dismiss the indictment against Senator Kashamu, but they are sanctioning illegal kidnappings and threatening the rule of law,” said Matthew Piers. “This is particularly troubling in the current political environment in the United States, when our courts will have to play a critical role in defending the rule of law.”

Robert Cohen is a partner of the law firm Frankel and Cohen; Matthew Piers is a shareholder in the law firm of Hughes, Socol, Piers, Resnick and Dym.

Link to the writ of certiorari : http://hsplegal.com/wp-content/u ploads/2017/02/Kashamu-Petition.pdf.


The Case of Senator Buruji Kashamu: A Brief Synopsis and Time Line

After two British Courts and multiple Nigerian courts exonerated him and repeatedly quashed attempts by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois to extradite him, lawyers for Nigerian Senator Buruji Kashamu continue to fight a nearly 18-year battle in the federal courts to end what has become a Kafkaesque nightmare built on the accusations of convicted heroin distributors who were involved with the also convicted story teller Piper Kerman (of Orange is the New Black notoriety).

Senator Kashamu’s troubles first began in 1998 when the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois added Senator Kashamu’s name to an indictment stemming from the 1994 O’Hare Airport arrest of Piper Kerman and indictment of 13 others accused of importing and distributing narcotics in the U.S.

From the beginning, Senator Kashamu has asserted that the accusations against him are a case of mistaken identity – an assertion that has been supported by the British Courts, INTERPOL, and multiple Nigerian Court rulings. In 1998, based on the indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in 1994, British authorities detained Senator Kashamu at the request of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (then Patrick Fitzgerald). As a result, over the next five years, Mr. Kashamu endured incarceration in Britain and two separate British Court proceedings, both of which affirmed that he was not the person involved with Piper Kerman and others as alleged, and that they had confused Sen. Kashamu with his brother, Adewale Kashamu.

The first court ruling, in December of 1999, accused the United States of suppressing exculpatory evidence in obtaining an arrest order against Senator Kashamu and, citing the misconduct of the United States Attorney’s office, revoked the extradition order it had earlier granted on the basis that the suppression of exculpatory evidence had rendered the proceedings in which the order was granted “unfair.”

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities before that ruling was delivered had reissued the warrant for Kashamu’s re-arrest and immediately had him re-arraigned before the Bow Street Magistrate Court in London, ostensibly on new identity evidence. This triggered a new trial, spanning the next three years, and involving voluminous documentary evidence, and several witnesses from West Africa, including top officers of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (an agency with a long history of close partnership with the UN DEA). The trial culminated in a ruling delivered on the 10th of January 2003, which found that Senator Kashamu was not the person involved in the 1994 heroin importation - the crime upon which his desired extradition was based – and that the U.S. authorities had again proffered false evidence to the British courts.

In 2003, Senator Kashamu returned to Nigeria where he resumed his business activities. As he succeeded in business and in politics in Nigeria, he also had to suffer an orchestrated barrage of political accusations involving the indictment in the U.S.

Determined to clear his name and bring normalcy to his life, in 2009 and 2013 Mr. Kashamu filed two successive applications in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois to have the indictment quashed, first on the basis of the rulings of the British Courts as well as the fact that he had never even been to the United States let alone been involved in drug trafficking and second, based on the 6th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution that guarantees the right to a speedy trial. Up until this time, as admitted by the US authorities in the 2013 application, the US Government had made no further moves to have Kashamu extradited, citing their failure in the UK and the exoneration of Kashamu by the British Courts.

The District Court Judge, Charles Norgle, denied the two applications in opinions which found that the British judgments exonerating Kashamu should be ignored by the U.S. courts, and that the U.S. constitutional safeguard against undue delay in trial of criminal offenses would not apply to Kashamu.

Despite the hardships, in March of 2015, Mr. Kashamu became a democratically elected Nigerian national Senator, representing the Ogun East Senatorial District in Nigeria. Yet his success at the ballot box angered and emboldened his vanquished political adversaries who, according to court papers filed in both the U.S. and Nigeria, colluded to kidnap the newly elected senator and hand him over to U.S. agents for exportation to the U.S. to face the still pending indictment.

Kashamu immediately filed two different actions, one in Nigeria seeking restraining orders on the Nigerian law enforcement authorities to enjoin any collaboration with U.S. agents for his rendition as planned and the other, on the basis of the Mansfield Act, in the U.S. District Court seeking restraining orders on the U.S. DEA and Homeland Security officials to prohibit any attempt to arrest him in Nigeria.

The allegations in the lawsuit proved to be accurate when in May of 2015 the Senator’s home in Nigeria was invaded and occupied for six days by Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) under the direction of two United States agents, believed to be from the Drug Enforcement Administration (United States DEA).

Kashamu’s lawyers, in emergency proceedings in the already pending action in the Nigerian court, obtained an order halting the illegal abduction attempt. In Nigeria, two separate federal courts ordered the NDLEA to vacate Kashamu’s residence, and ruled that in light of the rulings of the British courts, Kashamu could not be extradited from Nigeria.

In Chicago, Kashamu’s legal counsel amended the complaint in the pending action to include the facts of the attempted abduction, and requested injunctive and declaratory relief to ensure any further abduction attempts by U.S. law enforcement officials against the Senator would be deemed illegal. That case was dismissed in the district court, and affirmed on appeal, and is now the subject of a petition to the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari.

Regardless of the orders of the Nigerian courts, the U.S. authorities in Nigeria have continued to express an intention to attempt to seize Senator Kashamu, and allegedly are continuing to conspire with the Senator’s political rivals. At the same time, despite repeated confirmations of innocence from both the Nigerian and the international community, and despite repeated attempts by the Senator to take legal action in the U.S. to clear his name, the U.S. Courts have declined to dismiss the indictment or take action to stop efforts to abduct him in violation of International, United States and Nigerian law.

For nearly two decades the Senator has battled in both Nigeria and the United States to clear his reputation and to be allowed to represent his constituents without the cloud of these allegations over his head.
A Time Line

Early 90’s - Kashamu owns Societe d’Egrenage Industrial de Coton du Benin – lucrative cotton manufacturer. Throughout UK detainment he also maintains he is an informant for the NDLEA.

1994 – Indictment is created against named conspirators involved in drug distribution ring in U.S.

1998 – Kashamu’s name is added to the indictment and he is incarcerated in London (Case No. 94 CR

U.S. v. Kashamu) pursuant to indictment pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

1999 – General Obasanjo becomes first Civilian president – PDP (People Democratic Party).

2000 – Extradition proceedings culminate in habeas corpus proceedings at the High Court of Justice, Queens Bench Division in London on October 6. Lord Justice Pill quashes the committal order because U.S. authorities had not disclosed the flawed ID process used to incriminate Kashamu. Immediately upon release, Kashamu is re-arrested because the U.S. had commenced a 2nd extradition proceeding before the high court’s verdict.

2003 – On Jan 10th Judge Tim Workman, Bow Street Magistrate Court in London – finds allegations against Kashamu to be a case of mistaken identity and that it was Kashamu’s brother who bore a "striking resemblance" to him who was the member of the alleged conspiracy which formed the basis for the indictment. Kashamu is released and moves to Nigeria.

2008 – INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) conducts investigation into Kashamu and determines he is not a wanted suspect. Kashamu begins exploring politics but is harassed by political rivals including those in the Attorney General’s Office and those who have ties with the Nigerian National Drug Enforcement Agency.

2009 – In the U.S. Kashamu’s lawyers file in the U.S. District Court of the Northern Illinois to dismiss indictment arguing that English Courts’ ruling should eliminate U.S. indictment. Norgle denies application.

2010 – In the U.S. Orange is the New Black is published. In Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan becomes third elected President in the Nigerian fourth Republic following the second President’s untimely death of cancer. Kashamu forms an alliance with the ex-President, Olusegun Obasanjo, as a leader of the ruling party in his home State, Ogun State.

2009-2012 – Kashamu creates political alliances with Jonathan and various members of the PDP, but gains both enemies and power as he works to democratize the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party). He falls out with Obasanjo on this basis too and immediately becomes the target of several attacks in the media, and the orchestrated plan is to have him removed from Nigeria.

2013 – Kashamu files second attempt to dismiss indictment in front of Judge Norgle based on a claim of 6th amendment right to a speedy trial. Norgle eventually denied and the decision was again affirmed by Judge Posner. Denial in U.S. Court emboldens Kashamu’s political rivals, including those who hold positions in law enforcement.
2014 – Kashamu brings second action against Nigerian law enforcement, AGF, and Otunba Gbenga Daniel (former Governor of Ogun State) claiming that based on the London Court ruling and the INTERPOL investigation, law enforcement and AGF can’t act against Kashamu pertaining to the US indictment. The court agreed and mandated Kashamu be left alone.

September – United State Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit denies petition for Writ of Mandamus (submitted Aug. 18, decided Sept. 15).

May - Norgle denies Kashamu’s motion to dismiss indictment based on violation of 5th and 6th amendment rights. United States allegedly began to make arrangements with Nigerian officials and powerful political figures in Nigeria to have Kashamu seized without proper legal authority and flown to the United States.

2015

March 29 – Kashamu is elected as Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (PDP), representing the Ogun East Senatorial District of Ogun State. He defeats opponent Dapo Abiodun (All Progressives Congress, APC.) Mohammed Buhari – the former military head of state – is elected president.

April – Kashamu receives information that APC political rivals whom he vanquished in election and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo are colluding with the U.S. to remove Kashamu by force from Nigeria because of his election. Kashamu files suit in Nigeria to stop law enforcement collusion with his political adversaries and U.S. agents to abduct or extradite him.

April 17 - Nigerian Federal High Court grants interim injunction restraining Nigerian Federal Attorney General, NDLEA and other agencies in Nigeria from arresting or taking any steps against Kashamu until pending case is determined.

May 9 – In U.S., through attorneys, Kashumu files for injunctive relief from imminent danger.

May 4 – Alleged extradition request (diplomatic note) from the United States supported by affidavit from Diane MacArthur, Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois is sent to the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister instead of AG, violating normal protocol.

May 22 – In U.S., Kashamu’s case is moved from Executive Committee and reassigned to Norgle because of the pending 1998 case.

May 23 – Kashamu’s house is surrounded by Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents allegedly working under the direction of U.S. DEA and ICE agents armed with an illegally issued provisional warrant.

May 26 – Lawyers for Kashamu demand arrest warrant, and when NDLEA cannot provide any recourse to the court in the pending matter to enforce interim restraining order by contempt application, Kashamu is brought against the Attorney General of Nigeria and the NDLEA.

Federal High Court Lagos Division declares that attempted kidnapping and attempt at extradition are illegal and orders NDLEA to vacate Kashamu’s premises.
May 27 – Judgement delivered in substantive proceedings declaring attempts against Kashamu, whether by abduction/rendition or by extradition, as illegal and restrains Nigerian Federal Attorney General and NDLEA from further attempts at abducting or extraditing Kashamu.

May 28 – NDLEA and two U.S. agents vacated the premises while Nigerian AG files formal extradition proceedings seeking a new arrest warrant. Federal Judge denies request for warrant and fixes application for hearing on the merits.

June 6 – In U.S., Kashamu’s motion to transfer his case to the Executive Committee for reassignment is denied by Judge Norgle.

July 1– Nigerian federal court dismisses the Attorney General’s extradition application and rules that there shall be no further attempts at arresting Kashamu or taking his property.

July 10 – In U.S., first amended Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory relief is filed.

August 14 – In U.S., Memo in support of Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint is filed.

2016.

November 18 - Appeal of Kashamu’s case is submitted to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

2017

January 23 – U.S. Appellate Court Judge Richard Posner upholds a lower court’s decision to toss out Senator Kashamu’s lawsuit against the American government.

Despite previous verdicts from Great Britain and Nigerian courts exonerating Kashamu, the decision provides no recourse preventing the U.S. from abducting and extraditing him for criminal prosecution.

February 7 – A petition for a writ of certiorari is filed asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reverse the January 23 ruling.


IBM Launches "Digital - Nation Africa" with $70 Million


IBM Launches "Digital - Nation Africa": Invests $70 Million to Bring Digital Skills to Africa with Free, Watson-Powered Skills Platform for 25 Million People 
- "IBM Digital - Nation Africa" Education and Skills Initiative Expands IBM's Global Emphasis on "New Collar Jobs"

- Program designed to reach up to 25 million people across Africa, supports development of skills required for career success in a knowledge-based economy
   
JOHANNESBURG and ARMONK, N.Y., Feb. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) is investing $70 million (approximately ZAR 945 million) in building much-needed digital, cloud, and cognitive IT skills to help support a 21st century workforce in Africa. The initiative, "IBM Digital - Nation Africa," provides a cloud-based learning platform designed to provide free skills development programs for up to 25 million African youths over five years, enabling digital competence and nurturing innovation in Africa.

Students use the Watson-powered portal to develop skills for their diverse career paths.

This is part of IBM's global push to build the next generation of skills needed for "New Collar" careers.  "New Collar" is a term used by IBM to describe new kinds of careers that do not always require a four-year college degree but rather sought-after skills in cybersecurity, data science, artificial intelligence, cloud, and much more.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

They Say President Buhari's Economy is Bad, But 2face is Opening Night Clubs

They Say President Buhari's Economy is Bad, But 2face is Opening Night Clubs

The detractors of President Muhammadu Buhari cry and whine that his economy is bad, but 2Face Idibia opened another branch of his chain of night clubs on upper class Victoria Island of the megacity of Lagos state, Africa's fifth biggest economy.


The most mindboggling of this development which cost him millions of naira is the fact that he opened the night club whilst he was calling for a nationwide political protest march against the administration of President Buhari by condemning the economic situation in Nigeria with a long list of goods sold at exorbitant prices and how Nigerians are suffering from the economic recession.But whilst thousands of his fans were being mobilized for the nationwide protests, 2Face was busy putting finishing touches on his new upscale night club on Victoria Island in addition to the other branches in Festac Town and Ikeja on the mainland of Lagos.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Nigerian Protesters March Against Maladministration in Lagos and Abuja



Nigerians from different locations Monday morning marched on the streets of the megacity of Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria and others marched to the gates of the Aso Villa State House of President Muhammadu Buhari in the capital,  Abuja. They carried placards with messages on the different cases of economic hardship affecting the poor masses and other Nigerians.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

No! 2Face is Not A Coward!


No! 2Face is Not A Coward!


Popular Nigerian singer, Innocent Idibia, alias "2Face" is not a coward for cancelling the protest march against bad governance he wanted to lead on Monday, February 6, 2017, in Lagos.
He just realized that Nigerian masses are not worth the sacrifice.
Because, if anything happens to him on Monday, life goes on.

He saw Nigerians from the south-south jubilating to welcome James Ibori, a convicted felon and wanted by the EFCC.
The same Ibori that former President Goodluck Jonathan hounded by all means until Ibori escaped overseas.

He saw Ekiti people hailing Governor Fayose as he was cruising his posh convertible car on the street.


He just saw that the Nigerian masses are hypocrites not worth sacrificing for.

They are easily fooled by corrupt politicians and fraudusters.

They waste millions of naira daily on useless calls and chats.
They waste millions of naira gambling on "Baba Ijebu", Nairabet and other bets.
They wasted billions of naira on MMM.
Then they blame President Muhammadu Buhari and his only 18 months old adminstration for all their failures and frustrations of the past 16 years.

2baba has seen the gullibility and stupidity of majority of Nigerian poor masses.

U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for February 4: Rosa Parks


U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for February 4: Rosa Parks
   
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

ROSA PARKS


Profile America — Saturday, February 4th. Adding poignancy to Black History Month, today marks the birthday in 1913 of Rosa Parks, a community activist who became a symbol of the fight for civil equality. Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man. This sparked a boycott of the bus system by black people, which greatly energized the ultimately successful civil rights movement. During her life, Rosa Parks championed the cause of increased opportunities for youth. When she was arrested in 1955, black children on average had attended about seven years of school. Now, about 85 percent of African-American adults have at least a high school diploma, and almost 3.4 million are enrolled in college as graduate or undergraduate students. You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at www.census.gov.

Sources:
Rosa Parks/accessed 11/30/2016: http://www.biography.com/people/rosa-parks-9433715
Black education in 1950s: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 380
High school diplomas/American Community Survey: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201//popgroup~004
College enrollment: American Community Survey:
https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/B14007B

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu).





SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov

Friday, February 3, 2017

122 Million Nigerians Are Not With 2face Idibia and His Noisemakers



122 Million Nigerians Are Not With 2face Idibia and His Noisemakers

Popular Nigerian singer, Mr. Innocent Idibia, alias "2Face" or "2baba" has suddenly realized that Nigerians are suffering?
Which Nigerians are suffering?
A minority of poor urban dwellers who have refused to explore the numerous opportunities offered to them in the over 84 million hectares of fertile land of Nigeria where agriculture accounts for about two-thirds of Nigeria's employment (120 million people), contributing at least 22% to the country's economic growth.

These 120 million Nigerians are feeding Nigeria day and night.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Techstars Atlanta is Coming To Lagos!

Techstars Atlanta is Coming To Lagos!

Techstars Atlanta, in partnership with Cox Enterprises, is proud to announce that it is now accepting applications for its second class.

We are eager to meet companies around the world that are interested in applying to our program. If you think your company might be a fit, please join us at Cranium One for a evening of networking, presentations, and opportunities for Q & A.

Additionally, office hours (20-minute slots) with Tyler Scriven, Managing Director of Techstars Atlanta will be held throughout the week, and will be extended to companies after they have completed the office hour requests form.

More Info About The Program:

The accelerator will run in Atlanta, GA, at the Techstars Atlanta office in Ponce City Market, and will kick off in mid-July 2017. During the 3-month intensive program, participants will receive mentoring and guidance from entrepreneurs (active & exited), F500 executives, subject matter experts, Cox employees, and Techstars’ global network of more than 7,000 founders, mentors, investors, and corporate partners. Each company participating in the program receives an investment of $120K.

Helpful Links:
Learn more about our program here.
Watch the Techstars Atlanta 2016 Demo Day here.
Apply to our second class here.
We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, March 1st, 2017, at Cranium One!