Can We Be Persuaded To Pay For Online News?

 Got any idea of how to make money from news in the online era? Well prepare for the media giants to beat a path to your door, as they struggle with plunging print advertising revenues and an audience that seems to think news should be free.

No wonder then that a young former technology journalist Alexander Kloepping is attracting attention – and investment – from the likes of the New York Times and the Axel Springer group.
His idea is called Blendle, and in his native Holland it has brought hope of better times for newspapers, in much the same way as Spotify has shaken up the music industry. Blendle allows the Dutch papers – which have all signed up to the service – to charge small payments for individual articles.

Blendle subscribers are presented with a series of cards on their home screen, showing the first paragraphs of articles which may interest them. If they click to read on they are charged somewhere between 20 cents (14p) and 90 cents (63p), although if they get to the end and decide they are unsatisfied they can get a refund.

Of half a million people who signed up to Blendle, about 100,000 have actually opted to pay for articles. Kloepping says that is a good start and compares it to the 20% of Spotify users who pay rather than opt to listen to adverts.

Alexander Kloepping

On this week’s Tech Tent he explains that readers are generally choosing to pay for opinion and background pieces rather than hard news. I was surprised that they would pay as much as 90 cents. “It’s not about the price,” he says. “It’s about the ease of use. When you know it’s one click away and you can get your money back, then users are really comfortable spending small amounts on articles that are really relevant to them.”

He is now hoping to bring the Blendle recipe to other countries, notably the United States. But he could find readers far more reluctant to spend money on articles than Dutch customers have been. Newspapers in the Netherlands had been very conservative in putting much of their longform journalism online, which in retrospect seems to have been a wise strategy. Readers have not had access to that content without buying a paper, so paying to get it online is not such a hard choice.

But in other countries, newspaper groups rushed to put everything online for free, before staging a partial retreat and in some cases erecting paywalls. While specialist titles like the Financial Times have made them work, others have found that their readers are reluctant to pay. In the UK the Sun newspaper has just abandoned a two-year experiment with a paywall.

The Financial Times is one of the few publications to make a paywall work

Alexander Kloepping admits that getting cash out of readers is hard, but says media groups have not given up on the idea: “All over the world, publishers are shifting to models on the web where they expect users to pay, but they see it’s not working for them.” His solution is a model which does not tie readers into a subscription to one newspaper but offers them a menu from which they can snack at will.

The other route, which sees online journalism supported by advertising, is certainly looking ever less attractive. This week the most successful exponent of the art of pulling in huge online crowds and serving them adverts, the Daily Mail group, unveiled its latest figures. They showed an impressive 24% rise in online audience to 208 million, and an 18% rise in online ad revenues. But that was not enough to offset plunging print revenues, and with advertisers paying less for every click, the old saw that analogue dollars are being replaced by digital cents looks truer than ever.

But there is one other route to online profits which more and more news sites are now heading down. It is called branded content and is what we used to call advertorial. It involves creating readable and watchable material for corporate customers which does not look like traditional advertising – and it has proved very lucrative for the likes of Buzzfeed.

All sorts of media companies are now trying this out, from the New York Times to the podcast maker Gimlet Media. But it brings with it all sorts of ethical dilemmas. A recent edition of Gimlet’s Startup podcast – which documents its own journey as a new tech business – featured agonised discussions about branded content. During an episode called “Words about Words from Our Sponsors” Gimlet staff try to work out how far they should go in allowing their brand as a journalistic product to be associated with the companies for which they make branded podcasts.

Such debates are going on in all news organisations right now. Turning good journalism into a profitable business has never been easy, but in the digital era it is proving to be more complicated than ever.

By Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC Technology correspondent

“My mother broke a plastic plate and pierced my eyes with it several times” - Godsway

The factual, emotionless way the five-year old Godsway reports how he lost his eyes, dwarfs the fact that it was his mother who actually plugged them out.

“My mother broke a plastic plate and pierced my eyes with it several times” he reported his own trauma with a dryness of a professional journalist.

No gory detail. No painful recollection twitched on his face. No change in his body posture to signal that what he just revealed is one of the most traumatic stories of domestic abuse.

The news is nuclear. It erases any memory you have of how bad a mother can be. It left the audience sick in the stomach.
The 5-year old boy was pinned to the dust with adult force one Tuesday in Amasaman. He must have thought that as long as it was his mother and not a murderer, the worst he could get was a spanking. Maybe a few lashes would drain the anger out of her.

He lied there supine, his gaze fixed on mother until a sharp object in a spilt second cut through the iris, spluttered blood over his eyes to announce a coming blindness.

A very unfamiliar rush of danger flushed through his body. This was not a spanking, he immediately realised. His tiny arms instinctively tired demonstrate his protest. But they were quickly finished off as her mother broke the arms in two.

And left Godsway with the only one defence – a feeble plea to a sick mother - stop, stop, stop.

Loud pain trapped in his head found free expression through his mouth. The boy screamed and screamed as his vision of the sun dimmed, dimmed and - dimmed.

Going, going, gone. The only witness –the sun - was shut out for the last time in Godsway’s life.

“I don’t know what I had done. I didn’t do anything. I beg her but she didn’t stop”, he spoke in twi during the interview with Joy FM’s Kojo Yankson.

“She said I wasn’t her son”, he revealed the trigger of his brutal attack. Godsway’s eyes are gone but his innocence is intact.

His version of the account was scanty - too scanty and begging for some more rational reconstruction.

His father told Kojo Yankson that he left his son to the care of the mother after a client called him in need of his carpentry.

About five days later, his brother called to alert him of his wife’s weird behaviour. She was acting mad, he said.

The alarm was followed by the dastardly act a couple of days after. “When they called me, they were weeping…I thought my son was dead”.
Godsway was taken to Amasaman hospital and later to Korle
-Bu.
His arms broken, his eyes swollen – and it oozed with a foul smell after five days in the hospital. Five days later, Godsway’s eyes were surgically removed. The effect of her mother’s ways was complete after days of showing signs of mental instability.

Godsway’s father believes a spirit may have entered his wife because before the incident, she had shown no signs of violence towards anybody at home. And she prayed a lot.

His father said his wife is still living in denial of the act. She has a jealous love for the son. She still thinks her son is fine. She believes the victim is rather another child from a different relationship the carpenter had with another woman.

Godsway wears shades today. It is no tribute to fashion but a tribute to a mother’s wickedness bothering on dementia.

She told Kojo Yankson that he wants to watch TV again. It was a playful expectation, an innocence that the wrong can be made right, the light can shine on his eyes again.

His innocence fuels his hope and maybe that is why he doesn’t express any anguish. But adults are not innocent. That’s why many weep at Godsway plight in the depressing knowledge that the evil deed is done.

But maybe that’s why Godsway is called Godsway – because many believe it is only God who can make a way.

Source: ghanaweb

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Africans Are The Fastest Growing Immigrant Population In The US

Africans are becoming one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the United States. The number of foreign-born Africans moving to the US has nearly doubled every decade since 1970, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

As a percentage of the total immigrant population, they make up only 4.4% but when compared to other major immigrant groups, they have grown the most—an increase of 41% between 2000 and 2013. There were 1.8 million African immigrants living in the US as of 2013, according to US Census data, up from just 881,000 in 2000 and 80,000 in 1970.
The trend can be credited to new rules passed in the 1980s and 1990s that have made it easier for those fleeing conflict areas to gain asylum as well as potential emigres from underrepresented regions like sub-Saharan Africa. The top sending countries are Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana and Kenya, which account for almost half of the African population in the US. The US Census bureau has predicted that by 2060, some 16.5% of the country’s black population will be immigrants hailing from Africa as well as the Caribbean, South and Central America, Europe, and Asia.

Over half move to the south or the northeast and while their numbers are small, in some places they make up the majority of the foreign-born population. Africans account for as much as 28% of South Dakota’s foreign-born residents, led by Ethiopians and 21% in Minnesota, led by Somalians.

For the sending countries, this could be a problem. Many of them are some of their country’s best educated. According to Census data between 2008 and 2012, 41% of African-born residents had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 28% of all foreign-born US residents. Another analysis of Census data found that 30% of African-born residents in New York City had obtained a college degree, in contrast to 22% of US blacks and 18% of Caribbean blacks.

Source: Quartz Africa

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Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Uncovers Over 1,000 Fake Lawyers: Check It Out!

The Nigerian Bar Association says it has discovered no fewer than 1,000 fake lawyers in the country in recent times.

The Vice President of the association, Mr Akintokunbo Oluwole, stated this on Monday in Akure, the Ondo state capital, during a Special Sitting of the NBA to mark the opening of the 2015/2016 legal year.

According to him, the fake lawyers were discovered after the inauguration of the association’s Stamp Policy, which was introduced to curb the operation of quacks in the legal profession.

Oluwole explained that the issue of quackery in the legal profession had been a pain in the neck of the association.

He added, “So far, the NBA Stamp Policy has been able to revive the system and has increased the revenue stream of lawyers across the country.

“It has improved the authenticity of documents which are now being filed in court registries since all legal documents must now bear the stamps of lawyers to be considered valid. The persons (quacks) have also devised various means albeit unsuccessfully, to scuttle the smooth implementation of this policy. ”

He called all stakeholders in the profession to assist the association in actualising the vision of restoring the integrity of the legal profession.

In his remarks, the state Chief Judge, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, said the state judiciary had been able to checkmate all forms of malpractices in the state’s third arm of government.

Justice Kumuyi stated that some dubious individuals had carved out personal stamps, which they used in issuing illegal affidavits to unsuspecting members of the public.

One of the ways used to curb the malpractices in the state judiciary, the CJ explained, was the prohibition of affidavits by proxy, irrespective of the despondent’s status, explaining that a special Seal of Oaths and peculiar serial were affixed to all affidavits while hard and soft copies were archived.

Speaking on the occasion, the Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, expressed satisfaction over the performance of the judiciary, advising the arm of government not to compromise with any other arm in the interest of democracy.

Source:Myjoyonline

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Leader Of Hausa State's Call On Buhari To Repair Federal Roads In East

Chairman, Hausa Community Alhaji Adamu Sokoto, in the South-East, has called on the Federal Government to urgently look into road in eastern part of the country and repair federal roads across the zone.

Alhaji Adamu who told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Owerri on Sunday, said that commuters in the zone were experiencing hard times as a result of the deplorable state of roads in the zone.

He said “The condition of roads transportation in the South-Eastern states of Enugu, Imo, Abia, Anambra and Ebonyi is deplorable and it needs urgent attention.

“Traders from other parts of the country who transport cattle, goats, tomatoes, yam and other produce to the zone are lamenting the losses they incur due to the bad roads,’’ he said.

According to him, the deplorable condition of the roads has thrown some people out of business, adding that doing business in the region had become increasingly risky

“But we have the confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari has the good intention to be fair to every section of the country because the Nigerian state is one entity,” he said.

Source: gossipmill

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We’re Ready To Work For Free – Buhari’s Ministers

Following Friday’s pronouncement by President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria is broke and he might not be able to pay ministers, some minister-designates have said they are ready to work for free.

Some of the ministers who said this include Mr. Adebayo Shittu and Professor Isaac Adewole.

The ministers, who along with their colleagues are expected to be sworn in and given portfolios any moment from now, described their appointment as a call to service.

Shittu, representing Oyo State at the yet-to-be-constituted Federal Executive Council, said he was ready to give his services free to Nigeria if that was what the situation demanded.
Shittu, a legal practitioner and human rights activist told Sunday Punch that what matters is the intention to serve and not the financial benefits.

He said, “It is an issue of national service. There is nothing too much to sacrifice. If that is what our situation in Nigeria demands, then we must put ourselves up selflessly. We cannot say because of selfishness, we cannot work selflessly.

“With my background as somebody from a very humble family, I know what poverty is and I have been experiencing it. I have been dogged in conforming to the dictates of politics and poverty. There is nothing too much to sacrifice for the service of our people.”

Adewole, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan spoke on Saturday through his media aide, Mr. Sunday Saanu.

According to Saanu, Adewole who is to represent Osun State, is ready to serve the nation without pay.

Saanu said, “It is a great honour to serve one’s fatherland and I can tell you Prof. Adewole is ready to serve Nigeria without collecting salaries.

“Everything is not about money. It is a privilege and a great honour to serve. This is what he was doing at his former school. He was paying some teachers employed to complement government’s efforts.

“ He is not driven by money but passion to make positive impact in the nation in whatever capacity.”

The past governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, also said he did not accept to be a minister for personal and pecuniary gains.

Amaechi, who spoke through his former aide, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, explained that he was interested in the development of Nigeria

He said, “If he (President Buhari) has not said that he would not pay ministers, the question of whether he (Amaechi) will work for free should not be necessary. We know that we are currently dealing with hard times. For us as a country, we will manage our cost.

“He (Amaechi) has never run for anything because he is looking for money. His interest is in the development of Nigeria.”

Another minister-designate, Mr. James Ocholi, said he will not run away from challenges.

He said, “I will not run away from challenges. If the first challenge in the new assignment is to solve the financial crisis of the federation, I will be willing to devote time and attention to solving it before any other national issue.”


Source: Punchng

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Africa Produces Just 1.1% Of Global Scientific Knowledge

When Abdoulaye Djimdé returned to his home city of Bamako, Mali, after receiving a grant to set up his first lab, he naturally went to see the university’s finance office.

The conversation was not what he expected. Frustratingly, the grant, which had been transferred to the University’s bank account, had been mixed up with funds from various other sources. Eventually, after a small percentage had been deducted to cover the institution’s running costs, Djimdé was handed the remaining amount – some $20,000 (£13,000) – in cash.

That was 2001. Djimdé had returned to Mali after completing a PhD in malaria genetics at the University of Maryland. During his time in the United States he had authored ground-breaking research identifying the first genetic markers for chloroquine-resistant malaria, and a method for tracking drug-resistant malaria parasites in the field.


He was a world-class scientist, but obtaining access to his research funds had been an uphill battle and, with no systems for research procurement or accounting in place at the University of Bamako, Djimdé was tasked with setting up an internationally recognised genetics lab virtually unaided.

Nevertheless, Djimdé and many other leading researchers are convinced that the best place to do malaria research is in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease is a massive health burden and there is a pressing need for better methods of prevention and new treatments. A key partnership for the lab was with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, which meant that although the resources locally were scarce, he was able to sequence malaria parasite DNA by sending back samples to the UK.

Following the same logic, we should be doing Ebola research in Sierra Leone, basic science on HIV in South Africa, and malaria genetics in Mali. Why then are we more used to seeing the latest developments in these areas being pioneered in the universities of California, Oxford or Zurich, rather than KwaZulu-Natal, Accra, or Harare? Inevitably, it is down to lack of investment, by both governments and the international community, in research infrastructure, training and programmes. Djimdé is one of many African scientists who have gone to study at a non-African university, and – crucially – he’s one of the very few to have come back. It is common for a scientist to move around the world to do research, but not to move to Africa to set up a research base.

The figures are stark, and the task of developing African science and its future scientists is daunting. Government money is spent on development and security, not research and innovation. According to the World Economic Forum, Africa produces only 1.1% of global scientific knowledge. The continent has just 79 scientists per million of inhabitants compared to countries like Brazil and United States where the ratio stands at 656 and 4,500, respectively. Worst of all, of those scientists and engineers who are trained in Africa, most work elsewhere due to the lack of infrastructure and resources.

Under-investment has knock-on effects, both on the stability of the healthcare systems, as we saw in West Africa during the Ebola epidemic, but also on the economy. There are clear links between investment in basic science and innovation in the form of spin-outs and large-scale commercial research and development. Similar arguments are made all over the world, but so far in Africa they are not being won.

But one new organisation hopes to turn this story around. AESA (the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa), of which I am the director, has been founded by the African Academy of Sciences and the African Union’s New Partnership for African Development as a body that will award research grants to African universities, advise them on financial best practice and develop a science strategy for Africa. Our vision is to make research an attractive, recognised career option in Africa, creating scientists who stay in the continent and can win their own grants to address local problems.

Initially we have been working in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development to develop our resources and capacity. The Wellcome Trust and BMGF are working towards handing over control of their African research funding programmes to AESA. The active grants in these portfolios total more than $70m (£45m). But the real story is the step-change in governance. AESA will be directing the strategy for future funding, convening decision-making committees of international experts, and providing advice on finance and grant management – all of which is desperately needed if money is going to be reliably spent on research.

Abdoulaye Djimdé is one of the first awardees. The University of Bamako has made great strides in the past 15 years, and Djimdé will be using a $7m award to bring sequencing capacity to Mali and regionally, creating the first permanent genomics hub in sub-Saharan Africa, and training the next generation of biomedical scientists across nine African countries.

But this is just the beginning. We are in discussions with African governments, African NGOs, the World Bank, European Union funders and others who are interested in committing expertise and resources to AESA. Our ultimate vision is to develop science across Africa, and, in turn, a knowledge-based economy. Djimdé, and the other world-leading researchers receiving research awards this year, are at the forefront of a revolution in African-led science. This time, no cash will swap hands.

(Tom Kariuki, an immunologist and biomedical scientist, is the director of the African Academy of Sciences’ Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya.)

‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 6 Will Likely Not Start Until May Next Year.

Past seasons of HBO’s hit show have generally debuted sometime in early April; Season 3 hit the earliest, on March 31, while season 1 hit the latest, on April 17. So fans — with appetites for new material whetted by the many spoilers that have leaked out of the show’s set — have been hoping that Season 6 would follow a similar timeframe. Or even earlier!

But it looks like that’s not happening. Today, HBO announced that Martin Scorsese’s much-hyped rock drama “Vinyl” will start on Feb. 14, while comedies “Girls” and “Togetherness” are returning on Feb. 21. All three shows will run for 10 episodes — which implies that “Vinyl” won’t end until April 17, while the other two won’t end until April 24.


“Vinyl” will occupy the time slot — Sunday at 9 p.m. — that “Game of Thrones” normally does. So unless HBO decided to make the virtually unprecedented step of switching its biggest show to another night, the earliest it could possibly return is April 24, before the season finales of “Girls” and “Togetherness.”

Last season of “Game of Thrones,” though, was paired with “Silicon Valley” and “Veep,” not “Girls” and “Togetherness” — which would imply that “Game of Thrones” won’t premiere before May 1.

Yet even this seems like a dicey proposition: HBO generally leaves a week between its quirky “seasons.” If the network does so in this case, “Game of Thrones” might not start until May 8. Or even later!

 HBO, for its part, told HuffPost that it has not yet set a premiere date for the show, and would not comment on how the air dates of “Vinyl,” “Girls” and “Togetherness” might affect “Game of Thrones,” with a representative nothing they “can’t confirm any dates at all.”

This is, needless to say, a major bummer.

There is one ray of light here though. Albeit a dim one. Season 6 will be the first season of “Game of Thrones” to cover material that hasn’t yet been covered in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. And no one knows when the next book in the series, The Winds of Winter, will be released. But many fans believe — based on a few scraps of news — that Martin is racing to finish this book in time to release it before the next season, in order to keep the show from spoiling the book.

This may be a stretch, but it’s not inconceivable that Martin and his publishers told HBO that they would be releasing The Winds of Winter on, say, April 30 — and HBO scheduled the show accordingly. That sounds a little convoluted, admittedly, but we are talking about the people behind Littlefinger and Varys. Convoluted secret plots are their lives.

Source: HuffPost

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Saraki And Alleged False Declaration Of Assets, Court Quashed The Charge Today

 ‎The propriety of the 13-count criminal charge against the Senate President, Dr. Olubukola Saraki has created a sharp division among Appeal Court Justices.

Saraki docked at CCT

Whereas Justice Moore Adumein dismissed the appeal that was lodged by Saraki as lacking in merit, another member of the panel, Justice ‎ J.E. Ekanem upheld the appeal, declaring the charge before the CCT as incompetent.

Justice Ekanem specifically quashed the charge and discharged Saraki on the basis that the Deputy Director at the Ministry of Justice, M. M. S. Hassan who signed the charge, did not specify who authorized him to initiate the ‎criminal proceeding.
“A look at the charge showed that Mr. Hassan instituted the action pursuant to section 24 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, 2004 which permits only the Attorney General of the Federation to initiate criminal proceedings”.

Justice Ekanem stressed that though the constitution permits the Solicitor-General of the Federation, SGF, to commence criminal action in the absence of the AGF, he said that Hassan failed to produce any document showing that he was properly authorised by th‎e SGF.

“The opening paragraph of the letter Hassan sent to the CCT on September 11, wherein he applied to commence trial against the appellant is very instructive.

“He merely said ‘ I am authorised to file this action’ but did not say that he was authorised by the Solicitor-General. He went short of identifying who authorised him.

“It is therefore my view that the charge before the tribunal is incompetent. It is for this view that I hold that this appeal has succeeded and I hereby set-aside the charge and discharge the accused person”, ‎Justice Ekanem held.

However, the third member of the panel , Justice M. Mustapha, concurred with the lead verdict which declined to quash the charge against Saraki.

Earlier, leader of the panel, Justice Adumein dismissed Saraki’s appeal, saying he should go to the tribunal to answer the charge against him.

He held that Justice Danladi Umar-led tribunal was properly constituted to try the offences against Saraki, noting that he was not charged in his official capacity, but as an individual.

‎Justice Adumein placed reliance on paragraph 15(1) of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution and section 20(2) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, 2004, ‎and held that the two-man panel of Justices at the tribunal formed a quorum to entertain the charge.

“The above provisions are very clear and unambiguous and should be given their ordinary meaning. This is in line with ‎the golden rule of interpretation. There is no provision on minimum number of members which the tribunal must have before it can sit to hear cases”.

Justice Adumein held that the charge was competently instituted, saying the tribunal had the requisite powers to issue bench warrant against Saraki.

He dismissed all five grounds of appeal that Saraki filed before the court for want of merit.
Saraki had gone before the appellate court to query the legality of the charge against him.

He was among other offences, alleged to have owned and operated foreign bank accounts while being a public officer.

However, aside challenging the charge, Saraki also queried the constitutionality of the warrant of arrest that was initially issued against him by Chairman of the CCT, Justice Umar.

Besides, the embattled Senate President, through his team of lawyers led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. J.B. Daudu, SAN, wants the higher court to ascertain whether the Justice Umar-led panel subscribed to the appropriate legal procedure when ‎it ordered him to mount the dock and enter his plea to the charge despite preliminary objections against his trial.

He described the criminal proceeding that was initiated against him by the Federal Ministry of Justice as‎ “a politically motivated witch-hunt”.
‎
He begged the appellate court to quash the proceeding of the tribunal and discharge him, a request that was refused by two members of the appeal court panel today.

Source: vanguardngr

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Alleged False Declaration Of Assets: Saraki Knows Fate At A-Court Today

Saraki

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, will today, deliver judgment in the appeal seeking to quash the 13-count criminal charge pending against the Senate President, Dr. Olubukola Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.

The appellate court had earlier adjourned its verdict on the matter indefinitely, a situation that forced the Justice Danladi Umar-led tribunal to defer hearing on the case against Saraki till November 5, to await the outcome of the appeal.

The tribunal took the decision to suspend full-blown hearing on the criminal case after the Justice Moore Adumein panel of the appeal court, on October 21, postponed its judgement without adducing any reason.
A source at the appellate court who spoke to Vanguard on ground of anonymity that day, insisted that the “eleventh-hour deferment of judgment on Saraki’s appeal”, was not unconnected with the just concluded screening of Ministerial nominees that were forwarded to the Senate by the Presidency.

Saraki is in his appeal, challenging the legal propriety of the 13-count charge that was preferred against him by the Federal Ministry of Justice.

He was among other offences, alleged to have owned and operated foreign bank accounts while being a public officer.

However, aside challenging the charge, Saraki also queried the constitutionality of the warrant of arrest that was initially issued against him by Chairman of the CCT, Justice Umar.

Besides, the embattled Senate President, through his team of lawyers led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. J.B. Daudu, SAN, wants the higher court to ascertain whether the Justice Umar-led panel subscribed to the appropriate legal procedure when it ordered him to mount the dock and enter his plea to the charge despite preliminary objections against his trial.

He raised 12 grounds of appeal against the CCT, supported by a 16-paragraphed affidavit and four exhibits.

Saraki also deposed another 17-paragraphed affidavit of urgency, wherein he urged the higher court to intervene and protect him from what he described as “a politically motivated witch-hunt”.

Out of the 12-grounds, five of them are basically seeking to invalidate the charge against Saraki.

He is begging the appellate court to suspend the proceeding of the tribunal pending the hearing and determination of his substantive appeal against the Justice Umar-led panel.

The appellate court had on October 8, okayed accelerated hearing on the matter.

Meantime, the federal Government, while urging the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, maintained that it has garnered sufficient evidence to establish that Saraki, as a public officer, acquired several assets beyond his legitimate earnings.

FG, through its lead prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, equally told the appellate court that five witnesses it lined-up against the Senate President, have all expressed their readiness to appear before the CCT tomorrow to testify and tender exhibits against him.

Among those that FG billed to give oral testimony against Saraki included the erstwhile Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and present governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

Specifically, El-Rufai is expected to testify that he was the one that sold one of the assets that Saraki bought in Abuja, which the government alleged that he failed to list among the assets he acquired while in office as the governor of Kwara State.

The prosecuting counsel, told the appellate court that Saraki has already been furnished with all the proof of evidence against him, including copies of four separate assets declaration forms that he earlier submitted before the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.

Therefore, FG, urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal and order Saraki to go to the CCT and clear his name.

Saraki had through his lawyer, Mr. Daudu, SAN, argued that the CCT erred in law by going ahead with his trial despite that fact that “it was not properly constituted”.

He contended that whereas the constitution provided for a three-man panel to sit over cases brought before the tribunal, he said that only two Justices sat on September 22 when he was docked.

According to him, the composition of the tribunal was in violation of paragraphs 15(1) of the 1999 constitution, as amended.

Daudu maintained that the tribunal was wrong in assuming criminal jurisdiction against the Senate President when it was not listed in the constitution as a superior court of record.

He described the CCT as an “inferior court”, saying it does not in any way, share concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal High Court.

He therefore urged the appeal court to nullify the proceedings of the tribunal against Saraki and also set aside the criminal charges filed against him by the federal government for being illegal and unlawful.

Nevertheless, FG, bent on going ahead with the case, asked the appellate court to dismiss Saraki’s arguments as baseless and grossly lacking in merit.
Jacobs, SAN, argued that the tribunal was properly constituted and empowered to try the accused person.

He urged the court to invoke the Interpretation Act to resolve the issue on whether the two-man panel had indeed formed a quorum as envisaged by the law.
More so, the prosecuting counsel submitted that the tribunal has criminal jurisdiction hence the use of words like “guilty” and “punishment” in the law that established it.

“We urge your lordships to dismiss this appeal and order the appellate to go before the CCT and face criminal charges against him. We have gathered enough evidence to prove that he made anticipatory assets declaration”, Rotimi added.

Saraki was in the charge before the CCT, marked ABT/01/15 and dated September 11, 2015, alleged to have falsely declared his assets, contrary to the constitutionally requirement.

He was accused of deliberately manipulating the assets declaration form that he filed prior to his assumption of office as the Senate President, by making anticipatory declaration of assets.

The offence was said to have been committed while Saraki held sway as a governor.

He was also accused of breaching section 2 of the CCB and Tribunal Act, an offence punishable under section 23(2) of the Act and paragraph 9 of the said Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

FG alleged that Saraki claimed that he owned and acquired No 15A and 15B Mc Donald, Ikoyi, Lagos, through his company, Carlisle Properties Limited in 2000, when the said property was actually sold by the Implementation Committee of the Federal Government landed properties in 2006 to his companies, Tiny Tee Limited and Vitti Oil Limited for the aggregate sum of N396, 150, 000, 00.

He was alleged to have made false declaration on or about June 3, 2011, by refusing to declare plot 2A Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which he acquired between 2007 and 2008 through his company from the Central Bank of Nigeria for a total sum of N325, 000, 000, 00.

Similarly, Saraki was said to have refused to declare No1 Tagnus street, Maitama, Abuja, which he claimed to have acquired in November 1996 from one David Baba Akawu.

Some of his alleged offence while in office as governor, which are said to be punishable under section 15(1) and (2) of the CCB and Tribunal Act, Cap C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, were allegedly committed between October 2006 and May 2007.

His actions were classified as a gross violation of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
Saraki has since pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

Source: vanguardngr

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British Ghanaian Actor, Model And MTV Host, Sam Sarpong Commits Suicide

British-Ghanaian actor and model Sam Sarpong, known for co-hosting MTV’s “Yo Momma” and presenting the BET Award for Best International Act, died Monday, his rep confirmed. He was 40.

Sarpong died after jumping off a bridge in Pasadena, Calif., according to E! News. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner has ruled his death a suicide, with an autopsy pending.
“It is with great sadness that the family of Samuel Sarpong, Jr. must share the news that Sam has passed away,” said his publicist in a statement. “The circumstances surrounding his death are currently under investigation and no additional details are known at this time. Information about final arrangements will be forthcoming. The family appreciates the thoughts prayers and other expressions of sympathy, and request their privacy be respected at this extremely difficult time.”

“[Sarpong] had a pure heart and always went out of his way to help others,” his rep, J.D. Sobol, told Variety. “We will all miss him dearly.”

The British-American star was born in London and moved to Los Angeles with his father when he was 11. He would go on to book modeling work, including being the face of Tommy Hilfiger for six years, as well as walking runways for Versace, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Donna Karen.

Sarpong’s first onscreen role came in an episode of Claire Danes’ “My So-Called Life” in 1994. His big TV break, however, came in 2006, when MTV cast him as one of its co-hosts for “Yo Momma.” Sarpong and Valderrama traveled across the country for three seasons to find the best trash talkers. After the show ended in 2007, Sarpong hosted BET pre-awards show “All Access.”

His other TV credits include “Pacific Blue,” “Family Matters,” “ER,” “Boston Public,” “Everybody Hates Chris,” “Veronica Mars,” “Bones” and “24.” He also had a role in FX’s heavily buzzed “American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson,” which is set to debut next year.

He appeared in films “Carmen: The Hip Hopera,” “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” and “Anchor Baby.”

Sarpong is survived by his father, Samuel Sarpong Sr., and his sister, June.


Source: jumpfon

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Police Command Impounded 800 Vehicles In Ordder Ban The Misuse Of Unregistered Vehicles In Ghana

The drivers of the vehicles were granted bail shortly after their caution statements had been taken at the various police stations in whose jurisdictions they were arrested.

In a special operation organised simultaneously by divisional commands under the Accra Regional Police Command last Monday, policemen impounded vehicles with defective vehicle (DV) and drive-from-port (DP) number plates after inspecting the documents covering them.

Since the exercise, the compounds of all the divisional police headquarters have been taken over by the impounded vehicles.
Misuse of number plates
According to the Road Traffic Act 2004, DV and DP number plates, also referred to as trade licence, can be used when a motor vehicle has been unloaded from a ship and is being driven to the garage.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) issues DV and DP number plates to garage owners and car dealers to assist in transporting vehicles from the ports to homes, garages or mechanic shops.

The DV and DP plates are also used for transporting vehicles to the offices of the DVLA for registration and for test-driving or trial by a prospective buyer.
It is unlawful to use vehicles with DV and DP number plates beyond 7 p.m.

Security concern
Speaking to journalists, the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Tetteh Yohuno, said unregistered vehicles posed security threat concerns to the police and the public.

That, he said, was because the police were unable to trace such vehicles when they were involved in criminal offences.
Intelligence picked up by the police, he said, was that some persons did not paste the DV and DP plates on the cars “but hung them with a piece of rope and quickly removed them after committing crimes with the cars”.

“When such cars are involved in accidents, the drivers leave the victims and run away and it is difficult to trace them,” he said.

During the operation, Mr Yohuno said, it was observed that most of the drivers of the DV and DP plate-carrying vehicles either did not have log books, as required by law, or failed to make entries of their movement.

“Failing to make entries in the log book, making incorrect entries in the log book or failing to make the log book available for inspection by a police officer is an offence,” he said.

Operation
Mr Yohuno explained that the special operation, which was the second since January this year, was carried out because it had been observed that people bought cars at this time of the year and deliberately kept them until the early part of the following year to acquire fresh number plates.

He explained that the objective for embarking on the unannounced operation was to help reduce the misuse of DV and DP number plates in the region.

Source:Graphic

Woman Found 'Frozen In Solid Ice' Inside Cryotherapy Chamber (UPDATED)

 A Henderson, Nevada, cryotherapy center manager froze to death inside one of the business's freezing chambers, according to local news station KSNV.

The frozen body of Chelsea Ake, 24, was discovered by a fellow employee last Tuesday at Rejuvenice, a beauty salon that specializes in cryotherapy, the deep-freezing beauty and medical treatments.

Nevada's Occupational and Safety Health Administration told KSNV that Ake was in the chamber for at least 10 hours before she was found and may have suffocated by inhaling the cooling nitrogen gases emitted into the chamber.


Medical examiners told Ake's family that she likely died within "seconds," according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The body of Ake, a Hawaii native, appeared "frozen in solid ice" and had "blue" skin, family members told reporters.

Rejuvenice advertises cryotherapy treatments on its website that use two types of machines: a single-person device known as the "Cryosauna," which "envelopes a patient's body while keeping the head and neck area ... above the device," and the "Cryochamber," a "multi-person walk-in device that exposes the patient's entire body to hyper-cooled room-air."

It is unclear which machine Ake was using. The website says doors on all of Rejuvenice's machines never lock, "which allows clients to stop treatment instantaneously at any time."

"All Rejuvenice employees undergo very strict and rigorous training," the cryotherapy center said in a statement. "Our cryochambers are never locked and guests and employees are always supervised during the entirety of the treatment to ensure their safety."

Some Rejuvenice employees told Albert Ake, the dead woman's uncle, that it was common for spa employees to use the chambers with no supervision, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Rejuvenice did not immediately return The Huffington Post's request for comment.

State OSHA officials said they won't investigate Ake's death because she was using the chamber for "personal use outside of business hours."

Two days after Ake's body was discovered, the Las Vegas Review-Journal published an article that featured Ake's comments about the benefits of a cryotherapy facial treatment.

Cryofacials, according to the article, use liquid nitrogen to chill the face and "reduce pore size, remove wrinkles, stimulate collagen production, improve skin elasticity and blood flow and brighten dark spots."

"We like to do the cryofacial [after hydrafacials] because it helps seal everything in," Ake said in the Las Vegas Review-Journal article.

Cryohealthcare, the company that makes the cryotherapy chambers, claims that the exposure to extreme cold can improve a number of conditions, including psychological stress, rheumatism, and muscle and joint pain.

"Industry protocol is that no person may ever undergo treatment in any whole body Cryotherapy machine alone or unsupervised ... A thoroughly trained operator must be present at the control panel at all times during treatment," a Cryohealthcare representative told The Huffington Post.

LeBron James, Lindsay Lohan and Mandy Moore are part of the growing number of athletes and celebrities who have added the freezing treatments to their health regimens.

Ake's autopsy was scheduled for Monday. Lab results won't be ready for six to eight weeks.


Source: huffingtonpost

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PHOTOS: President Mohammadu Buhari leaves for India

 The summit, which is aimed at boosting socio-economic development in Africa and India, will hold in New Delhi.

President Muhammadu Buhari, today, October 27, 2015, left Nigeria for India to attend the 3rd Summit of the India-Africa forum

The summit, which is aimed at boosting socio-economic development in Africa and India, will hold in New Delhi


Buhari will also meet with Chief Executive Officers of Indian companies with existing or prospective interests in Nigeria before returning to Abuja on October 30.

Source: pulsengr

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Africa’s Richest Man, These Are The Five Things You Can Learn From Aliko Dangote

With a net worth of $16.5 billion, Aliko Dangote, of Lagos, Nigeria, is the richest man in Africa. To get a sense of just how staggering that figure is, consider that Dangote’s fortune is 2.9% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product. For comparison, the richest man in American history, John D. Rockefeller, had a net worth of 1.5% of the U.S. GDP in 1937. Take it a step further, and if an American had a net worth of 2.9% of the U.S. GDP today, that person would be worth $500 billion.

How does someone build such a massive net worth built, and what lessons can we learn?
1. Invest in what you know


Dangote learned from one of the oldest investing lessons in the book. Born in 1957, he was exposed to the entrepreneurial spirit at a young age. He was raised in Kano State, Nigeria, by his grandfather, who himself became one of the wealthiest men in the area selling commodities.

After graduating from Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, the 21-year-old took a $3,000 loan from his uncle and set out on his own, but he didn’t stray far from the family business. Dangote used the loan to import rice, sugar, and cement from overseas at wholesale prices and then sell locally at significant markups. This was a business Dangote understood thanks to his grandfather, and he was able to make the venture an immediate success. According to Warren Cassel at Investopedia, Dangote Group “had grown into one of the largest trading conglomerates operating in the country” by 1990.

2. Find companies that create value

Dangote’s business flourished for 20 years, but he saw the opportunity to shift directions, fulfill a dire need. and grow even more. Nigeria was at the end of a 15-year stretch of military rule, and the new president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had promised to protect local industry, which set the stage for Dangote to make his move. “In a country where imports constitute the vast majority of consumed goods,” the Dangote Group website states, “a clear gap existed for a manufacturing operation that could meet the ‘basic needs’ of a vast and fast growing population.”

Having begun as an importer and trader of commodities, Dangote already had a strong distribution network, so he had a distinct competitive advantage as his company transitioned into manufacturing flour, pasta, and sugar.

3. Harness the power of brands

The distribution network was an important piece of the puzzle, but as Dangote has said, “[T]o succeed in business you need to build a brand and never destroy it.” Whether it was a Donald Trump-like flair or a desire to capitalize on name recognition built from his years as a commodities trader, Dangote branded the products with his name.


SOURCE: DANGOTE GROUP WEBSITE.

The brand would be built on high-quality products at affordable prices — which is something that works as well in Africa as it does everywhere else in the world — and is now one of the most recognizable brands on the continent.

4. Focus on strong capital allocation

Building and maintaining a brand requires substantial investment. And if there’s one thing that stands out about Dangote, it’s his ability to successfully plow money back into his businesses. He has created the economies of scale that allow his company to sell products at cheaper prices than his competitors do. That’s something many CEOs attempt to do but only a handful do well. Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos are two names that come to mind.

In 2000, the Dangote Group acquired a cement company from the Nigerian government, and by 2003, Dangote was ready to expand the business by combining a $479 million loan with $319 million of his own money to commission the largest cement plant in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, Dangote Cement Plc is valued at roughly $14 billion, which makes it the largest company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and accounts for 25% of the exchange by market cap.

The successful reinvestment into Dangote companies is a consistent theme. It’s also happened by way of multiple expansions at Dangote Sugar, which has grown to become the second largest sugar refinery in the world. The company’s distribution network has grown from 600 trucks to over 1,500 since the late 1990s.

5. Embrace optionality

However, along with reinvesting into current business, what makes companies such as the Dangote Group special is their ability to move in multiple directions. The Dangote Group has ventured beyond its initial focus of cement, sugar, and flour and into real estate, telecom, steel, and oil and gas.

There are probably sectors Dangote won’t move into, but it seems as if nothing is off limits. That approach is what has allowed Dangote’s business — and his net worth — to grow so incredibly. Today, Dangote Group is a massive conglomerate generating $3 billion in revenue annually.

In Africa, Dangote Group is viewed as part folk hero — for reinvesting in and creating jobs on the continent — and part villain — as Dangote himself came from wealth and has potentially leveraged government relationships to establish unfair advantages. Dangote is a polarizing figure, but his story provides plenty of interesting business insights and investment advice. And since he’s just 58 years old, we can expect to hear plenty more from Africa’s richest man.


Source: The Motley Fool
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Event; Professor Of Literature And Distinguished Poet For Ghana Voices Series On OCTOBER 28

To conclude the 2015 reading series at the Goethe Institute, Writers Project of Ghana and the Goethe Institute present Kofi Anyidoho, Professor of Literature and distinguished poet at an evening of poetry readings and recitals.

Kofi Anyidoho was born in Wheta in the Volta Region and educated in Ghana and the USA. He has a B.A. Honours degree in English and Linguistics from the University of Ghana, Legon, an M.A. in Folklore from Indiana University — Bloomington, and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently a professor of Literature at the Department of English, University of Ghana.
Among his notable works of poetry are the collections Elegy for the Revolution(Greenfield Review Press, 1978); A Harvest of Our Dreams (Woeli Publishing Services, 1985); Earthchild (Woeli Publishing Services, 1985); Ancestral Logic and Caribbean Blues (Africa World Press, 1992) Praise Song for the Land (Sub Saharan Publishers, 2002) and The Place We Call Home (Ayebia, 2011).

Kofi Anyidoho has also received several awards for his works in poetry, including the Davidson Nicol prize, the Langston Hughes award, and many others. He was named Ghana’s poet for the year in 1984.

In 2010, Professor Kofi Anyidoho became the first occupant of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies at the University of Ghana.

Source: http://livefmghana

Four Years After Muammar Gaddafi Died, Post-Gaddafi Libya Haunted By The ‘Dictator’s’ Absence

Four years after Muammar Gaddafi was killed in an uprising, the dictator’s legacy continues to haunt oil-rich Libya as it struggles to find its national identity.

He was also a major player in African politics—a grandson of Nelson Mandela is even named after him, in a country that was inspired—and funded— by his revolutionary credentials in its own struggle for liberation.

Mandela was key in ending Gaddafi’s international pariah status following the 1988 bombing of an aircraft. “Those who feel irritated by our friendship with President Gaddafi can go jump in the pool,” he said.

But he also divided the continent’s opinion—backing rebel leaders in West African countries and ruffling feathers as he sought to head a mooted United States of Africa, including by bankrolling the African Union, but many saw him as an African nationalist.

At an AU summit seven years ago, he nudged African traditional leaders into anointing him the continent’s “king of kings”.

But domestically, opinion is less forgiving.

“Gaddafi chose to build the idea of a state around his personality,” said Michael Nayebi-Oskoui, senior Middle East analyst at the US-based global intelligence firm Stratfor.

The dictator ousted and slain in October 2011, “used a military funded by oil to crush any opposition to himself, rather than build state institutions that could survive beyond him,” he said.

“It will be several years if not decades for Libya to create a national identity,” he said.

Libya, a largely tribal nation, descended into chaos after Gaddafi’s fall, with two governments vying for power and armed groups battling for control of its vast energy resources.

A militia alliance including Islamists overran Tripoli in August 2014, establishing a rival government and a parliament that forced the internationally recognised administration to flee to eastern Libya.

Months of UN-brokered talks to persuade the warring sides to agree to a peace deal and form a national unity government have run aground.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Islamic State group has gained a foothold in Libya and people-smugglers are again ferrying illegal migrants from its shores to Europe on rickety boats and contributing to thousands of deaths.

But the focus remains on Gaddafi, the flamboyant strongman who called himself “Guide of the Revolution” and declared Libya a Jamahiriya or “state of the masses” run by local committees.

“He will make headlines for a long time because the regime he consolidated will need a long time to be undone,” an official with the Tripoli-based government said.

“Everything he left behind is corrupted: politics, the economy, society even sports, and we need to change from A-to-Z, all the legislation, all the rules and all the instructions,” he added.

Captured and slain

Gaddafi was captured and killed by gunmen in his hometown Sirte on October 20, 2011. Three days later transitional authorities announced the “total liberation” of Libya.

Known for his droning speeches and flashing bedouin-style robes, he ruled Libya four decades after leading a military coup that toppled a Western-backed monarchy in 1969. He died aged 69.

“There was no institutionalised state in Libya, leading to the chaos after his removal,” said Nayebi-Oskoui.

“He pitched tribes and regions and different ethnic groups against one another for decades, which is why Libyans and the international community have struggled to create a national identity in his absence.”

The expert believes that Gaddafi’s name and the consequences of his policies will continue to make news for years to come.

Last week Scottish prosecutors said they had identified two new Libyan suspects in the bombing of a Pan Am jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, which killed 270 people.

Scottish media named one of the two suspects as former intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi and the other as Abu Agila Mas’ud.

Senussi was sentenced to death in July for crimes committed during the uprising along with Seif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s son and one-time heir apparent, and seven other people linked to the slain strongman.

Mas’ud is reportedly behind bars in Libya, where Senussi has been in custody since 2012.

Scottish prosecutors said they are suspects in the bombing along with former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, the only other person ever convicted in the case who died in 2012 protesting his innocence.

Admitted responsibility

Libya admitted responsibility for the bombing in 2003 and Gaddafi’s regime eventually paid $2.7 billion (2.4 billion euros) in compensation to victims’ families.

Gaddafi has left behind a “fractured nation,” said Nayebi-Oskoui, who expects that the policies he formulated would “extend for decades”.

The Tripoli government official agreed.

“He is still remembered despite his death and he will stay present among us until we can overcome the 40 years of chaos he has sown,” he said.

“I hope we won’t need another 40 years.”

Outside the walls of Gaddafi’s former Tripoli compound, meanwhile, street artists have left unflattering graffiti of the dictator and drawings, including one depicting him in a trash can.

“We used to be afraid even to look at the compound,” said Ahmad, a cigarette vendor who works nearby.

“Today, things have changed, of course, but the fear we felt still reminds us of him.

“Generations will pass before we can overcome the fear he instilled in us,” he added.

Source: Mail & Guardian Africa

“I’m Not A Feminist But An Independent Woman”

As usual actress Lydia Forson has released a piece which addresses her take on how society stereotypes unmarried women.

Her piece comes at a time ace broadcaster, Gifty Anti’s got married to Nana Ansa Kwao of the Multimedia Group.

Below is Lydia’s piece:

INDEPENDENT WOMEN – The Misconception

I love the interesting comments I get on things I post. Mostly because it exposes the cracks in the way we think in this country and our level of ignorance. To be honest, it’s sad actually because I wonder how some of these people go through life thinking the way they do. But it always explains a lot of what’s wrong with this country and why we’ll probably never attain the level of development we want. We can’t develop if our minds are still in cages.



I posted this artwork on Instagram this morning, and I need to state that this was designed by CREO CONCEPTS a group of young men whose designs and animation have gone viral.

They tagged me in this post a while back and I only decided this morning to put it up. Again I need you to understand that these are young men, who I’ve known for a while and are nothing like the average young men in Ghana. They are smart ambitious and extremely creative, so this coming from them made me really proud.

The comments on my page got me thinking about the assumption that being an independent woman automatically to most means, single, never been married, no children and may probably never want to be with a man.

I’ve always maintained that I’m not a feminist, because like “independent women” it’s always misconceived that feminist again are single, unmarried, and hate men. Any woman that takes a stand and doesn’t conform to societies rules of life is automatically a bitter single woman. And that’s why I refuse to allow people put me in that bubble. But perhaps I have fed into this stereotype myself and it is the reason why I dislike the word so much. The fear that immediately I label myself a feminist I automatically join the pool of women who are constantly against anything traditional.

So sadly in as much as I’ve fought against this misconception, by shying away from it I’ve actually without realizing it started to believe it and is probably why I dissociate myself from it.

However, if I were to give myself a label it would probably be an ‘EQUALIST’ meaning I’m in the fight for all humans to be treated with respect and given equal rights. Words like feminist, chauvinist and all other labels etc wouldn’t exist if people were treated equally.


Now about ‘independent women’; being an independent woman to me doesn’t mean I don’t want a man, but that a man isn’t the center of my existence, a man doesn’t define who I am. It means I recognize that I have a destiny and goals that God has set for me, and these goals may or may not include a man. It doesn’t mean I don’t believe in marriage or companionship, but that I respect that the institution is sacred and should be treated as such. And I know men will come at you with” you’re independent so it means you don’t want a man to take care of you”.

Far from it, I’m actually quite traditional and recognize a man’s role in a relationship. I expect my man to step up to the plate and be the man in our relationship. Being independent just means that I can live without all of that, but choose not to, it means I’m more than who I date or marry, but that they’re just a part of my story.

Sadly our society and the world continue to beat down any woman who even attempts to have an ambition outside of marriage or relationships.

A man isn’t and shouldn’t be your destiny, he should be your partner and together you can help each other achieve your goals and build an empire. What’s the point in educating women if it’s only to tell them that they’re not supposed to want anything more out of life, or they shouldn’t dare to dream?
Why empower women only to tell them to not be more than the men they’re with, or constantly feel like the more they achieve the harder it will be for them to find a man.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie put it best, she wrote:
“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise, you would threaten the man. Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are.”

A real man won’t be threatened by his woman’s achievements; neither will he think her less of a woman for wanting to be more than a wife and a mother. A real man will recognize the gem in the woman he’s with and realize that instead of trying to beat her down he should lift her up.

Perhaps when they said “behind a successful man is a woman” they didn’t mean women were hiding behind the men, but that they were the driving force behind their men’s success.

So don’t let the world change you into something you’re not, or force you to change your dreams in the fear that having dreams automatically means living a lonely life.

Marriage is great, but being happy in marriage is the greatest.
So focus on being happy and the rest will fall into place. Don’t feed into the assumption that wanting more out of life means you won’t get a man.
You can have it all.


Credit: missforson