The world's first man to give birth to a child

4:11 PM Health, man gives birth to a child No Comments

Thomas Beatie, an American female to male transsexual is known as the world's first man to give a child birth. According to Guinness Records, he is the first person to give birth fully documented as male and legally married to a woman. He was able to have a child after taking female hormones to reverse the effects of his female-to-male sex change treatment. And he has further told that his wish is to live his life as a normal father.

He had been living as a man for five years and had legally changed his name and gender before deciding to attempt to conceive with his male partner, from whom he is now separated.

Thomas and his wife Nancy now have three beautiful children born of Thomas, Susan Juliette Beatie (6-29-08), Austin Alexander Beatie (6-9-09), and Jensen James Beatie (7-25-10).

Source:  Incrediblez





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Nurse Jailed For Sex Offences commited 20 years ago

2:08 PM Nurse, Sex, Sex Offence, World News No Comments

A trusted nurse has been jailed for six years for sex offences he carried out more than two decades ago.

Keith Williams claimed the allegations made against him by three male victims were "figments of their imaginations" and continues to deny any wrongdoing.

The 56-year-old, who was once a mental health nurse at Monkwearmouth Hospital in Sunderland, was convicted by a jury, who rejected his protests of innocence, after a trial.

Newcastle Crown Court heard one of his victims, who was just nine when he was targeted and is now an adult, feels his life has been "destroyed" by what Williams did to him.

He said in a victim impact statement: "I am lost, I want someone to help me but I don't know who can.

"I don't know what life holds for me, I want it to be different.

"I had hoped if he got convicted I would feel better, I don't feel any different.

"I feel very vulnerable every day of my life."

Judge John Evans said for the rest of his life Williams must register as a sex offender, abide by a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and will be banned from working with children.

The judge told him: "Having been arrested and interviewed you flatly denied the allegations, saying they were figments of the boys' imaginations. That, you maintained in the trial.

"The jury, by their verdict, rejected your denials of committing these offences.

"With these cases it is always difficult to know precisely how much damage has been done, but damage has been done, undoubtedly, in each case."

During the case the court heard statements from Williams' friends and supporters about his positive character. Judge Evans said: "You have been a community psychiatric nurse for some considerable time.

"It is evident from the testimonials provided by witnesses in the course of the trial that your performance as a CPN has never been questioned, your integrity in that regard has never been doubted."

Robert Adams, defending, said Williams was of "positive good character" and his family, friends and supporters are still shocked and struggling to come to terms with the verdicts.

The court heard the sex attacks took place in the 1990s and are not linked to his work at the hospital.

The three victims gave evidence at the trial, where they were accused of "making up" what had happened to them.

After the trial Williams, of Close Street, Millfield, was found guilty of nine charges of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child in relation to the three victims. He was found not guilty of eight charges of indecent assault relating to the same victims.

Prosecutor Julian Smith told jurors at the start of the case: "The crown maintains this abuse took place 20 years or more ago and involved three alleged victims. The crown allege this man, Keith Williams, was the person responsible for a persistent course of sexual misconduct.

"He says none of the alleged incidents occurred and they are simply making it up these boys, now men."

During the trial Williams denied the allegations outright and read statements from former colleagues and friends relating to his good and trusted character.

One referee said Williams as a man who could put others at ease and described him as being "held in high regard by his peers, other health care professionals, patients and carers".

A spokesperson from Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust said after the conviction: "Keith Williams no longer works for the Trust after resigning in April this year.

"It's important to note that these charges were not related to Mr Williams' employment with the Trust and no patients were at risk.

"Once charges were brought against Mr Williams he was suspended immediately."











Source: Sky Tyne and Wear





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Three stadiums to miss FIFA deadline for 2014 Brazil World Cup

1:14 PM 2014 World Cup, FIFA, Sports No Comments

At least three World Cup stadiums in Brazil will not be finished by the end of December as FIFA had requested. Football's governing body said on Tuesday the stadiums in Sao Paulo, Curitiba and Cuiaba will not be ready by the deadline because of construction delays.

The announcement came after the World Cup organizing committee received updates from the six host cities that still have to deliver the venues for next year's tournament. The other six were ready for this year's Confederations Cup.

"Two stadiums will be delivered more in the region of February than in January or December," FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said. "Curitiba is the one where we are facing the most problems. Clearly, Curitiba will not be delivered before the end of February 2014, so that's a fact."

The stadium in Cuiaba also is expected to be ready in February, four months before the World Cup opens on June 12. FIFA said it still doesn't know when it will have the venue in Sao Paulo, where a crane collapse last week killed two workers and damaged part of the stadium. A report on the scale of the damage is expected by the end of the week.

"We are in a period of time when the opening game of the World Cup will be played in Sao Paulo," Valcke said. "We are not in a crisis mood where we are looking for an alternative to Sao Paulo. We are confident they can deliver the stadium on time (for the opener.)"

The Sao Paulo venue, which will host the tournament's opening match, was almost ready when a giant crane buckled while hoisting a 500-ton metal structure that clipped part of the roof and cut through a huge LED panel that runs across the venue's outer facade.

FIFA said it would not tolerate the same types of delays that plagued the Confederations Cup, when only two of the six venues were completed by the original deadline. While Valcke said FIFA is already rearranging plans for the installation of temporary facilities at the venues that also will not be delivered by the deadline, FIFA President Sepp Blatter downplayed the delays.

"There are some small delays in construction of stadia, but so small that, with one exception, we can just close our eyes and say everything will be ready," Blatter said.

FIFA wants the stadiums ready at least six months in advance mainly so there is time for at least two test events in each host city. It says there is no way of moving games because about 1 million tickets have already been sold for next year's tournament.











Source: IBN Live


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Researchers just found a big difference between the male and female brain

11:35 AM Health, male and female brain, Study/Research No Comments

Ready your knowing smirk, because here comes a scientific gem that's sure to enliven even the dullest of holiday parties.

By analyzing the MRIs of 949 people aged 8 to 22, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania found that male brains have more connections within each hemisphere, while female brains are more interconnected between hemispheres.

Male (upper) and female (lower) brain connections.

Ingalhalikar et al., PNAS, 2013

Yes, take that, Mike from IT! It, like, so explains why you just dropped the eggnog while attempting to make flirty conversation with Janet from Accounting.

Just kidding; we still have no idea why men or women do anything in particular. But the study, released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is interesting because it is one of the first to discover differences in the brain's structural connectivity in a large sample size of people from a variety of age groups.

By analyzing the subjects' MRIs using diffusion imaging, the scientists explored the brains' fiber pathways, the bundles of axons that act as highways routing information from one part of the mind to the other. After grouping the image by sex and inspecting the differences between the two aggregate "male" and "female" pictures, the researchers found that in men, fiber pathways run back and forth within each hemisphere, while in women they tend to zig-zag between the left, or "logical," and right, or "creative," sides of the brain.

Because female brains seem to have a stronger connections between their logical and intuitive parts, "when women are asked to do particularly hard tasks, they might engage very different parts of the brain," Verma said. "Men might over-engage just one part of the brain."

This could mean, for example, that men tend to see issues and resolve them directly, due to the strong connections between the "perception" and "action" areas of their brains, while women might be more inclined to combine logic and intuition when solving a problem.

Their less-interconnected hemispheres might prompt men, for example, to be, "going along, executing things very skillfully and maybe not taking into account that someone didn't [do something] because they were having a bad day," Verma explained. Meanwhile, "gut feelings, trying to join the dots together... women are known to be very strong in that."

The differences were less evident in young children, but they became prominent in the scans of the adolescents.

Child (B), adolescent (C), and adult (D) brains

PNAS

Scientists have long known that male and female brains are distinct, but the degree of these differences, and whether they impact behavior, is still somewhat of a mystery. The field has repeatedly unearthed seemingly solid clues that turned out to be red herrings. In August, for example, a study in the journalPLoS One challenged the long-held idea that male and female brains exhibit differences in "lateralization," or strengths in one half of the brain or another. And past books on the "male" and "female" styles of thinking have been criticized for only including studies that reinforce well-known gender stereotypes.

At the same time, there's plenty of evidence that male brains are from Mars and female brains are, well, from a different neighborhood on Mars. Researchers already know, for example, that men's brains are slightly bigger than women's (because men's bodies also tend to be bigger). Male and female rats navigate space differently. Women taking birth control pills, which alter estrogen and progesterone levels, have been shown to remember emotionally charged events more like men do in small studies. Migraines not only strike women more frequently, but they impact different parts of their brains, too.

A study published last month in the journal Nature Communications found that genes are expressed differently in men and women throughout the brain. One reason autism rates are higher among males, the researchers suggest, could be because a form of the gene NRXN3 is produced at higher levels in male brains.

And past research has shown that, across cultures, women's brains are more functionally interconnected when at rest than men's are, on average. This and similar findings have been used to support the idea that women are "better at multitasking." And indeed, a study released late last month by researchers at the University of Glasgow in Scotland found that women do have an edge when it comes to switching between tasks rapidly, ostensibly because, back in the cave, we had to keep an eye on the kids while we ... did whatever else it is that cave housewives did.

But examining the brain differences between the sexes also has an ugly past, since such findings have historically been used to paint women as less rational or intelligent.

The 19th-century French anthropologist Paul Broca, who lends his name to the area of the brain responsible for speech, once said, "We are therefore permitted to suppose that the relatively small size of the female brain depends in part upon her physical inferiority and in part upon her intellectual inferiority."

At the same time, though, modern medicine can't afford to ignore these variations. Just as with any disease, understanding sex differences in brains might help neuroscientists better diagnose and treat disorders.

"We see these differences everywhere, and we started to realize, damn, we simply assume they aren't there," Larry Cahill, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine, told the Orange County Register. "And these sex differences have implications for how the brain works and how to fix brains."

Even pain medications don't take male and female pain perception differences into account, Cahill points out. Countless medical fields have long been treating women by pretending "they are simply men with pesky sex hormones."

The most uncomfortable aspect of such findings is that they can be — and often are — twisted to prop up stereotypes and prejudices. Studies like the PNAS one might offer fodder for those who wish to explain away female underrepresentation in fields like engineering with factoids about brain "wiring." (Something former Harvard president Larry Summers essentially once suggested.)

But of course, that kind of thinking leaves out culture, which plays a big role not only in shaping how we think — both inside and outside of MRI machines — but also in determining what we do with our brains, however they're structured. Verma emphasized that there's a great deal of variation between individuals. Different fiber-pathway configurations don't necessarily predestine someone to behave or think a certain way.

"There is a lot to be said about the structural wiring of the brain," Verma said, "but it's what you use the wiring for that changes the person that you are."

Or as Anke Ehrhardt, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University Medical Center cautioned during a recent panel on neuroscience and gender, "Acknowledging brain effects by gender does not mean these are immutable, permanent determinants of behavior, but rather they may play a part within a multitude of factors and certainly can be shaped by social and environmental influences."

Spoken like someone who has her intuition wired firmly to her logic.










Source: Business Insider




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How to Deal with unwelcome sexual harassment

11:33 AM Health, Sex and Sexuality, Sex Education, Sexual Harassment No Comments

Sexual harassment is the persistent unwelcome sexual remarks, look and excessive unnecessary physical contact with the opposite sex [a woman in particular], especially in the workplace. It is also an inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favours. It typically becomes a harassment when unwelcome sexual advances is made by a superior employer to the vulnerable, defenceless, helpless, and gullible employee. It becomes a case of nuisance when countless number of complaints is made on several occasions by the victim. This mostly makes a person feel threatened, offended, humiliated or intimidated.

Sexual harassment is not interaction or friendship which is mutual or consensual between partners. It includes a range of actions from mild transgressions to sexual abuse or sexual assault. The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a superior or a co-worker.

Sexual harassment can take different forms; it can be obvious or indirect, physical or verbal, repeated or one-off and performed by males and females against people of the same or opposite sex. It is generally aimed at women, although some cases of sexual harassment have been against men too. It reckons that around 80 per cent of women either are, will be or have been subjected to some sort of sexual harassment during their working lives. It’s not only a case of the “office thing,” it can happen to people of all ages, in all working conditions, in many different parts of the society.

Sexual harassment could be in form of unwelcome comments about clothes, body or appearance, or suggestive comments, jokes, insults or taunts of a sexual nature, downright indecent remarks, intrusive questions or statements about your private life.

Non-verbal harassment takes the form of display of suggestive posters, calendars or pin-up magazines or screen savers of explicit sexual nature around your office space. Deliberate and obviously staring or leering at a person’s body (or a specific part of it!) and sending explicit emails or text messages are common forms of harassment. Some send nude pictures with explicit comments to persons of their interest. Another form is threatening to post an employee to far flung remote areas from their family unless they yield to pressure. Some harassed employees face threat of sacking or compulsory leave even when the company is short-staffed while others are left on a spot without any promotion even when it is obvious that they are due.

Sexual harassment doesn’t generally happen immediately, but often tends to gather momentum over a period of time. And because of the level of high unemployment and poverty in our society, many God-fearing, well behaved individuals have yielded to the pressure of sexual harassment.

But sexual harassment can be handled appropriately.

We must all bear in mind that someone has to speak out; you can humbly confront the harasser by just making your point and standing very clear, speaking slowly and clearly, while making eye contact and maintaining it. You tell them how you see their behaviour, how it makes you feel and that you want it to stop; do not allow them to try to trivialise what happens or dismiss your feelings. Do not apologise or be nervous; if you do that, it will only undermine the seriousness of what you’re saying. Try as much as possible to have a good grip of yourself; say your piece of mind in a very respective manner.

If you find the idea of confronting them face to face too disrespectful, simply write them a letter explaining their behaviour and how it makes you feel. Keep a copy of it and say, in no uncertain terms that if it continues, you will take further action.

Keeping documentation of times and places where the behaviour took place and whether anyone else was present at the time can help you in future. If your life or work is severely threatened, then, it is time to take the matter further. Speak to your employer, take someone with you if possible as a form of witness, or alternatively to back up your claims. When all else fails, you can just hand over the case to God in prayer. But bear in mind that sexual harassment, in the eyes of the law is clearly unacceptable behaviour. It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex.











Source: Punch



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Nigeria World Cup draw factbox

10:37 AM 2014 World Cup, Sports, Stephen Keshi, Super Eagles, World Cup Draw No Comments

Nigeria were the first African team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and their youthful side will be looking to reach the knock-out stages for the first time in 16 years.

The Super Eagles proved to be a team ahead of their time when they won the African Nations Cup at the start of the year, way ahead of the schedule coach Stephen Keshi had set for his young team.

Keshi had said before the tournament in January he was building a new-look side with an eye on being competitive at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and pleaded for patience as he began his project.

Just weeks later Nigeria had fast tracked his plans by winning the tournament in South Africa and will now hope they can have the same impact in Brazil, four years ahead of schedule.

Qualifying for a fifth World Cup finals appearance, Nigeria have not reached the final 16 since France 1998 and they will hope to do better in Brazil, where they failed to get out of their group in the Confederations Cup in June. The continental champions had a strong qualifying campaign and were unbeaten throughout, conceding just four goals in their eight games and beating Ethiopia 4-1 in the two-legged playoff.

Keshi had purged the squad of some supposedly key players and left pundits bewildered by his team selection but he had the last laugh as Nigeria emerged as a credible force for the 2014 finals.

Coach: Stephen Keshi

Keshi was one of the first high profile playing exports from Nigeria, playing at Anderlecht and Racing Strasbourg in France.

He captained his country to the 1994 African Cup of Nations title and was also captain at Nigeria’s first World Cup appearance in the United States the same year, but played in just one of the four matches.

The 51-year-old,describes coaching Togo to qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals as the highlight of his coaching career.

But a fallout with star player Emmanuel Adebayor saw him replaced in Germany.

Key player: Victor Moses

Moses moved to England from Lagos aged 11 and played at Under-21 level for his new country before switching his allegiance to Nigeria.

In a heady 2012, he won his first cap in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Rwanda in February and then transferred from Wigan Athletic to Chelsea.

He has since netted vital goals for Nigeria in both Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup action.

Injury kept him out of the Confederation Cup in Brazil earlier this year, but he moved soon after on loan to Liverpool.

And more minutes on the pitch for his club mean Moses will be hoping to have a big impact for the Super Eagles in Brazil.

How they qualified: One of five direct African qualifiers

2012

June 3 Namibia H W 1-0 I Uche
June 9 Malawi A D 1-1 Egwuekwe

2013

March 23 Kenya H D 1-1 Oduamadi
June 5 Kenya A W 1-0 Musa
June 12 Namibia A D 1-1 Oboabona
Sept 7 Malawi H W 2-0 Emenike, Moses (pen)

Playoff

Oct 13 Ethiopia A W 2-1 Emenike 2 (1 pen)
Nov 16 Ethiopia H W 2-0 Moses (pen), Obinna

World Cup record:

Previous appearances: 4 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010)
Best performances: Second round 1994, 1998.










Source: Vanguard




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2014 World Cup: Draw procedures approved

11:54 PM 2014 World Cup, FIFA, Sports, World Cup Draw No Comments

At its meeting in Costa do Sauipe/Bahia earlier today, the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup™ approved the procedures for the Final Draw, which will be held in Costa do Sauipe, Bahia on 6 December 2013 (13.00 local Bahia time/17.00 CET) and will be broadcast live on free-to-air-channels in no fewer than 193 countries. As already announced, the seeded teams have been selected on the basis of the October 2013 edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, namely hosts Brazil (A1), together with Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland, and Uruguay. Pot 2 contains Algeria, Cameroon,
Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, and Ecuador. In Pot 3 are Australia, Iran, Japan, Korea Republic,
Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, and the USA, and in Pot 4: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Russia. The detailed draw procedures can be found here.

Blind and visually impaired fans will also be able to enjoy a special live-match experience at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Thanks to a brand new commentary system which broadcasts via radio frequency and can be picked up on any personal radio headsets, blind and partially sighted fans will be able to sit anywhere in the stadium. This service, which is part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Sustainability Strategy, will enable many more disabled supporters to enjoy the tournament and also create a legacy that will have a lasting impact long after the final whistle has been blown. The service will be available in Portuguese in Belo Horizonte (Estádio Mineirão), Brasília (Estádio Nacional), Rio de Janeiro (Estádio do Maracanã), and São Paulo (Arena Corinthians).

To deliver this project, FIFA and the LOC are working together with the Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) and Urece Sports and Culture, a Brazilian organisation working with partially sighted and blind people. It will be the first time that such a service has been provided in Brazilian football. After the competition, the equipment will be donated to local entities that wish to be part of the legacy project. For more details, please click here.

The committee was also provided with a detailed update on the preparations for the World Cup. It was explained that during the Board Meeting of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) on 2 December 2013, the technical teams of FIFA and the LOC had presented the latest stadium assessment, reporting that four of the six stadiums yet to be completed for football’s flagship event were currently preparing to stage their first events in January 2014. Cuiabá, Manaus, Natal and Porto Alegre are currently finalising their event schedules.

In the case of Curitiba, the technical teams reported that the stadium could be inaugurated in January, with the first match planned for late February or early March. In regard to the Arena Corinthians, it is too early to provide a concrete assessment as the technical report and the investigation into the recent accident by local authorities have not yet been completed.

Due to the reduced timeline, FIFA, the LOC, government and stadium authorities are adjusting the stadium operational programme to ensure that the stadiums are delivered and host events prior to the FIFA World Cup without compromising on safety or quality.












Source: Fifa





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Amazon Experimenting With Drones That Will Deliver Packages In 30 Minutes

11:27 PM Amazon, Drones that deliver packages in 30 minutes, Technology, World News No Comments

Amazon is experimenting with drones that will deliver packages within 30 minutes. CEO Jeff Bezos made the announcement in a "60 Minutes" interview Sunday night with Charlie Rose.

Bezos expects the drones to be fully autonomous and in operation within four or five years. He said there are numerous tests and regulations to deal with in the meantime. Amazon calls the drone delivery service Prime Air. No humans are involved. The small plastic package containing your items are loaded underneath a drone, which Amazon calls an octocopter, and automatically flown to your house.

CBS teased the "60 Minutes" segment repeatedly during football games Sunday, with Bezos saying he had a "big surprise" to share with everyone.

Here's a video of the Amazon drones in action:

             

Source: Business Insider





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Consumers and operators disagree as power drops

10:38 PM Business, News, PHCN, power No Comments

Rising estimated billings, drop in power generation on account of gas shortages, funding and confusion over the Multi-Year Tariff Order, MYTO, measurement are among the legion of issues resulting in the near collapse of power supply in the country.

Electricity supply has dropped drastically in recent times, as new investors battle operational issues, thereby frustrating business and domestic activities.

As a result, consumers are resisting paying the estimated bills until they are assured of regular supply, while denying the new investors the funds they require to improve on their operations.

New operators of the erstwhile Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, generating and distribution companies, GENCOs and DISCOs, appear to be overwhelmed by these challenges since taking over on November 1.

Confusion galore

Giving more insight into the avalanche of challenges at the just concluded first general meeting organised by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, in Abuja, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, Director, Benin Electricity Distribution Company, described the situation as chaotic.

She said: “There is so much confusion in the public, and we need to look at how to address this.

“For instance, the public believes they are not supposed to pay anything until January; that they should not be disconnected until then; and they believe they can come and stand in front of you and collect pre-paid meters just like that.”

But electricity consumers are impatient and want to see regular power rather than being bothered with the issues relating to power system operation from generation (GENCOs), transmission and distribution (DISCOs).

According to Osibodu, “anything that happens anywhere, even if it is not your concern, it is assumed that it is your doing.

“The public believes that the lack of power is because the new owners in distribution companies do not know what they are doing.

“But in reality, it is a GENCO problem as a result of gas shortage. At one point, we were about going on air to make people know the true position.”

She said that the public was expecting too much too soon from the new operators.

Power generation

Also speaking, Dr. Jamili Gwamna, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Kano DISCO, disclosed that there had been a drop in power generation.

He said the amount of power allocated to his company was far below its capacity without giving details, adding that the development had reduced the DISCO’s revenue projections.

He lamented: “Our power allocation has been low in recent times. How on earth will customers pay me and how will I pay money also?

“There has not been power and when you threaten to disconnect consumers, they tell you to hurry up with the disconnection process.”

MYTO measurement For Mr. Adeyemi Adenuga, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Geregu Power Plc (GENCO), the challenge borders more on activities of the system operator.

He said: “The system operator that is supposed to know that capacity declaration is what they should use to measure capacity continues to use another thing outside what is in the Multi-Year-Tariff-Order 2, MYTO, agreement and outside the interim rules that have been provided.

“We are not happy and I think that the regulator, apart from coming up with all these beautiful rules, should make sure that the people who are there are actually keeping to these issues.”

Sam Amadi, Chairman, NERC, said the meeting was organised to hear out the operators and their challenges.

He promised that all the issues raised would be addressed by NERC.

Funding challenges

Though the new investors did not talk about funding, it was learnt that huge investment would be needed to put the GENCOS and DISCOS on track to meet the aspirations of Nigerians.

According to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, the DISCOs alone would require about $1.8 billion (about N288 billion) as capital expenditure over the next five years to attain efficiency and meet the required capacity.

However, such capital outlay would be challenging, given the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s directive that banks should scale down funding in the power sector, while international lenders are said not to be favourably disposed to lending to Nigerians due to what they described as volatile polity.

But Bekuochi Nwawudu, Director, CBO Capital, an investment advisory and project development firm, who is also an energy expert, said that the power companies would get the money to fund their projects.

He argued that, “telecommunications companies found the money and expanded. Oil companies have borrowed significant amount.

“Power will be the same. The question is will people pay their bills and thus will revenues/profits be demonstrated?

“If this happens, pensions funds have capital and bonds can be issued— the banks do not need to do it all.”

Nwawudu said the privatisation of the power sector has thrown up opportunities in the economy.










Source: Vanguard




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David Moyes expects mixed reception from Everton fans

10:19 PM David Moyes, Everton, Manchester United, Sports No Comments

David Moyes is expecting a "mixed" reception from Everton fans on Wednesday when he faces the club he served for 11 years for the first time since becoming Manchester United manager.
 
Moyes took over at Everton in 2002 when they were staring at relegation from the Premier League, and turned the club into a regular finisher in the top eight of the standings.

However, his stock has lowered among some Everton supporters following his summer pursuit of Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines, making a joint bid of 28 million pounds (now $46 million) for the club's top two players that was described by Everton as "insulting." Fellaini eventually joined for 27.5 million pounds ($43 million) in the final minutes of transfer deadline day this summer.

David Moyes

"It could be mixed," Moyes said Tuesday, when asked how he'll be received by Everton's away following at Old Trafford on Wednesday. "They know their football and they know exactly where the club has gone and will understand I took a lot of good players there. But it's football and you never know.

"For me, I'm not an emotional person. I'd rather get on with the game." Moyes says he doesn't even look at Everton's results anymore, such is his focus on succeeding at United in his first season at Old Trafford.

If he did, he'd see that Everton was doing well under his successor, Roberto Martinez, and currently three places ahead of United in fifth place.

"Obviously I have fond memories. You don't just throw 11 years away," Moyes said. "But I have had to divorce myself from it. United is my team now and all my concentration has been on them."

Moyes said Robin van Persie could return for United after sitting out three games with a combination of groin and toe problems.













Source: IBN Live





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Yaya Toure wins 2013 BBC African Footballer of the Year Award

10:03 PM 2013 BBC African Footballer of the Year winner, BBC African Footballer award, News, Sports, Yaya Toure No Comments

The Ivory Coast and Manchester City midfielder, who had been nominated in each of the past four years, beat Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Victor Moses, John Mikel Obi and Jonathan Pitroipa to this year's crown.


The 30-year-old told BBC Sport: "I think I've been nominated for five years in a row and finally winning the award is amazing.

"It's a fantastic achievement because I don't think there has ever been as many quality African players in top-level international football as there are now: Aubameyang, Pitroipa, Mikel, Moses, Salomon Kalou, Gervinho... we have fantastic players.

"I also think African football is improving and that means a lot to us. And as an African, I'm very happy."

The shortlist for the award was drawn up by 44 football experts across Africa, who based their choices on players' skill, technical ability, teamwork, consistency and fair play.

A record number of fans then voted for their favourite either online or by text message.

And those fans have considered Toure to be the standout African player over the past year, in recognition of the Ivorian's displays of power, pace, creativity and goals.

Toure said: "Thank you to all the fans around the world who continue to support me. It shows how much fans love you and appreciate your job as well.

"It's something special because it's not the vote of the manager or the club or the captain of the national team, it's just the fans.

"When you have a lot of fans behind you, it's always amazing. And I'm very happy as it is the fans who have given it to me - so I'm very appreciative."

While 2013 was not the most successful in terms of silverware for Toure - he did not manage to win anything with club or country - he still impressed hugely with his consistently high level of performances.

And after the disappointment of failure to defend the Premier League title with City, Toure came back stronger at the start of the new season and has added a new dimension to his game in the form of free-kicks.

He curled in a sublime effort against Newcastle United on the first day of the season and repeated the feat against Hull in his side's next home match. Toure has scored four times direct from a set-piece so far in the league this term in a total of seven goals for his club.

In 2013 to date, Toure has found the net 13 goals for club and country - a very respectable figure for a midfielder.

Allied to his clinical finishing, Toure's drive and leadership have helped City to fourth in the league table.

He was also a key figure in Ivory Coast's successful qualification for next year's World Cup finals in Brazil.

The Elephants needed to shrug off a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations Campaign earlier in the year - they lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Nigeria - and Toure has been inspirational.

Off the field, Toure has led the fight against racism after suffering abuse during a Champions League match against Russia's CSKA Moscow in October - demonstrating a strength of character to match his sporting ability.

The unsavoury episode might have affected the form of lesser players, but Toure has been exceptional ever since.

And in the fifth consecutive year he has been nominated for the BBC African Footballer of the Year award, Toure has finally been voted the best player on the continent.

Past winners of the BBC African Footballer of the Year Award

• 2012 - Christopher Katongo (Zambia and Henan Construction)
• 2011 - Andre 'Dede' Ayew (Marseille & Ghana)
• 2010 - Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland & Ghana)
• 2009 - Didier Drogba (Chelsea & Ivory Coast)
• 2008 - Mohamed Aboutrika (Al Ahly & Egypt)
• 2007 - Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal & Togo)
• 2006 - Michael Essien (Chelsea & Ghana)
• 2005 - Mohamed Barakat (Al Ahly & Egypt)
• 2004 - Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton & Nigeria)
• 2003 - Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton & Nigeria)
• 2002 - El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool & Senegal)
• 2001 - Sammy Kuffour (Bayern Munich & Ghana)
• 2000 - Patrick Mboma (Parma & Cameroon)

Source: BBC Sport Football

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ASUU Strike: We Have Met ASUU Demands - FG

9:19 PM Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), ASUU Strike, ASUU Strike Update, Education, FG, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), News No Comments

The presidency on Tuesday (today) said that the Federal Government has met with demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU and there was no need to maintain the strike, just as it stressed that the agreement was reached sequel to the last meeting held between Federal Government and ASUU.

According to the Presidency, the administration believes that with the agreement and the result of the votes across the campuses, ASUU has no reason for further sustenance of the strike, even as it called on the Union to comply with the call on them to resume work without further delay.

This is coming as the ultimatum issued to ASUU lapses Wednesday (tomorrow).

Speaking in Abuja during an interactive session with leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Youth and Students’ Matters, Comrade Jude Imagwe who noted that a larger membership of ASUU campus chapters had voted for the immediate call-off of the strike, stressed that the directive given by the government was not targeted to threaten the ASUU leadership, but designed to show government’s commitment towards ensuring that all university students return to school.

According to him, ASUU leaders must work in line with the directives by ensuring that all students get back to the campus as the government would ensure a water-tight security on the campuses, adding, “The Nigerian public should be informed that the government has met all the promises they made on this ASUU issue. If they have not agreed, there was no reason for them to have said they would meet their members and get back . It means there was an agreement that was reached.

“The Minister of Education announced that lecturers should resume, it was not in anyway targeted at threatening or compelling the leadership of ASUU to go back to school.”

In his remarks, NANS president, Comrade Yinka who maintained tha its association was neutral, said that it supports a just cause, adding that the association was standing by the government because it was working in line with its desire which was for all schools to reopen.













Source: Vanguard




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50 years old man allegedly rapes 12 years old girl

8:33 PM News, Osun state, Rape No Comments

A 50-year-old man, Tajudeen Omole, has been arraigned before an Osogbo chief magistrate’s court for allegedly having carnal knowledge of a 12-year-old girl.

The accused person was said to have committed the offence on November 27, 2013 at 1, Ikolaba, Osogbo, the capital of Osun State.

It was reliably gathered that the accused went to the house of the victim to ask after her sister who he claimed was his friend.

The sister was not in the house and the accused cunningly lured the girl into her room where he allegedly defiled her.

It was further gathered that although the girl attempted to scream for help, she was over powered.

She, thereafter, reported the case to those she found around the house.

The suspect was later arrested by the residents who handed him over to the police.

The Police prosecutor, Inspector Solomon Oladele, told the court that the offence committed was punishable under section 218 of the criminal code cap 34 vol II laws of Osun StateNigeria, 2003.

Counsel to the accused, Mr. Okobe Nagite, applied for the bail.

Presiding magistrate, Mr. Olusola Aluko, in his ruling ordered that the accused be remanded in Ilesha prison while counsel to the accused is to file a formal application for his bail.










Source: Vanguard



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FG’s sack threat for ASUU members will fail – Aturu

7:50 PM Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), ASUU Strike, FG, News No Comments

Lagos based lawyer and activist, Barrister Bamidele Aturu, yesterday, dismissed the Federal Government’s sack threat to striking university lecturers, saying that government has failed to appreciate the rot in the university system. Rather, he said government should meet the demands of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

Aturu, who spoke at the 6th Annual Law and Social Development lecture and public presentation of a book, ‘Law and Practice of the National Industrial Court,” at Lagos Airport Hotel, said it is “sad” that the Fededral Government has failed to appreciate the rot in the university system which ASUU wants corrected,” adding that members of ASUU would not be cowed by such threats.

Condemning the “resume or be sacked” order, Mr. Aturu said: “The truth of the matter is that we no longer have universities in Nigeria. This explains why many people among the ruling class have their children and wards in foreign universities.

“The demands of ASUU in my view are legitimate and patriotic. The government should do everything possible to meet those reasonable demands in order for our schools to be reopened as quickly as possible.”

He recalled attempts by previous military governments to cow ASUU which failed, and warned that the threat of the education minister will also fail.

The guest lecturer, Professor Sofiri Joab- Peterside of the Department of Sociology, Universtity of Port Harcourt, who spoke on ‘The Economy, the Rogues and the Law: The Development Conundrum,’ noted that, “the average Nigerian lives on less than one dollar a day. There are no roads, just as the public hospitals themselves are “dead” and the high education sector practically broken with ASUU on strike for more than four months over the Federal Government’s unfulfilled agreement, while the culture of impunity has become an integral part of the norm of political appointees.”

Also, Barrister Aturu, who insisted that those responsible for the accident that killed Professor Festus Iyayi be brought to book, said, “Iyayi did not die in an accident, he was murdered, pure and simple.

“We reiterate our call for the driver of the escort vehicle that snuffed the life out of this noble champion of the oppressed to be fished out and prosecuted. They may have privatised the economy; we won’t let them privatise our lives.”

He also dismissed the on- going National Conference, saying that it will not achieve the objectives of the original proponents of the idea. Though, he spoke against the decision to boycott it, suggesting that progressive organisations should use the forum to state their views on the state of the nation.

Professor Sofiri Joab- Peterside, also a guest speaker lamented that Nigeria has been unable to make any remarkable development as a result of corruption .










Source: Vanguard



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Relationship Matters: In hookups, inequality still reigns

7:45 PM Health, Hook-up, Relationship Matters, Sex, Sex and Sexuality No Comments

An illustration
| credits: New York Times Service

Natasha Gadinsky, 23, says she doesn’t have any regrets from her years in college. But the time she hooked up with a guy at Brown University does come close.

After his own orgasm that night, she said, he showed no interest in her satisfaction. The next time they got together, it happened again.

He “didn’t even care,” said Gadinsky, a health care case manager in New York City, “I don’t think he tried at all.” He fell asleep immediately, leaving her staring at the ceiling.

“I was really frustrated,” she said.“Like generations before them, many young women like Gadinsky are finding that casual sex does not bring the physical pleasure men more often experience.

New research suggests why: Women are less likely to have orgasms during uncommitted sexual encounters than in serious relationships.

At the same time, researchers say young women are becoming equal partners in the hookup culture, often just as willing as young men to venture into sexual relationships without emotional ties.

“The notion of sexual liberation, where men and women both had equal access to casual sex, assumed a comparable likelihood of that sex being pleasurable,” said Kim Wallen, a professor of neuroendocrinology at Emory University who studies female desire.

“But that part of the playing field isn’t level.”

A survey of 600 college students led by Justin R. Garcia, an evolutionary biologist at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University and researchers at Binghamton University found that women were twice as likely to reach orgasm from intercourse or oral sex in serious relationships as in hookups.

The paper was presented at the annual meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research and at the Annual Convention for Psychological Science this year.

Similarly, a survey of 24,000 students at 21 colleges over five years found that 42 per cent of women had an orgasm during their last hookup involving intercourse, while 80 per cent of men did.

The survey was led by Paula England, a sociologist at New York University who studies the dynamics of casual sex.

By contrast, 74 per cent of women in the survey said they had an orgasm the last time they had sex in a committed relationship.

“We attribute that to practice with a partner, which yields better success at orgasm, and we also think the guys care more in a relationship,” England said.

Indeed, young men surveyed in England’s study often admitted that they are less focused on sexually pleasing a woman they are seeing casually than one they are dating.

Duvan Giraldo, 26, a software technician in Queens, N.Y., said satisfying a partner “is always my mission,” but added,

“I’m not going to try as hard as when I’m with someone I really care about.” And with women he’s just met, he said, it can be awkward to talk about specific needs in the bedroom.

“You’re practically just strangers at that point,” he said.

The lack of guidance is common, England said. “Women are not feeling very free in these casual contexts to say what they want and need,” she said.

Part of the problem, she added, is that women still may be stigmatized for having casual sex.“Garcia said,

“We’ve been sold this bill of goods that we’re in an era where people can be sexually free and participate equally in the hookup culture. The fact is that not everyone’s having a good time.”

What women need to achieve orgasm can be very different from what they find in casual sex. Roughly one-quarter of women reliably experience orgasm through intercourse alone, according to a review of 32 studies conducted by Elisabeth Lloyd, a professor of the history and philosophy of science at Indiana University, in her 2005 book

“The Case of the Female Orgasm: Bias in the Science of Evolution.”

Another third of women rarely or never have orgasms from intercourse.

“Vanessa Martini, 23, from Marin County, Calif., learned early on that most men she slept with casually would not intuit her needs.

“I haven’t hooked up with anybody who was so cavalier as to just, like, not even care,” she said.

“But I think most of them were somewhat baffled that it would require more than just them thrusting.”

Martini said she was never taught how to have good sex, let alone how to ask for what she needs. The education she received in school was aimed at stopping teenagers from having sex at all; there wasn’t much discussion of arousal. Martini said most cultural representations of sex left out the messy details.

“The way we view sex in porn and in movies and in books, people aren’t talking to each other like, ‘Oh, my foot’s falling asleep, we need to move,’” she said.

Communicating about those particulars is especially tricky in hookups. When one awkward exchange or misread text message could end the arrangement altogether, there’s a certain amount of pressure to tread softly, Martini said.

“You have to balance a lot of things in your brain, like what’s more important to me – just getting off, or do I actually want to have a connection with this person?

“Debra Herbenick, a research scientist at Indiana University, said that for women, casual sex is exciting precisely because it is spontaneous. She compared a hookup with having dinner at a friend’s house.

“You wouldn’t be like, ‘This is what I want and this is how I want you to make it, and I want you to use only this amount of basil,’” she said.

Some women, confronted with these roadblocks, are redefining casual sex and the physical pleasure that they expect from it. Sex without strings has carnal and emotional benefits that don’t depend on reaching orgasm, they say.

“Something we don’t talk about is why having an orgasm is the main goal or the only goal” of sex, Herbenick said.

“Who are we to say women should be having orgasms?










Source: Punch



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When presidents visit me, I get queried by God - Prophet TB Joshua

6:39 PM Fashion and Lifestyle, interview, Prophet TB Joshua No Comments

Prophet TB Joshua

Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua of the Synagogue Church of all Nations spoke with Bosede Olusola-Obasa on myriads of controversies surrounding his person and ministry.

People say that you are very humble despite your popularity, how do you achieve this?

If you have passed through what I have passed through, you will even be more humble than I am.

Like what?

Things that can make people to be humble. You just think of it. I have good health and God shows me what I would have been in terms of sickness and death; it humbles me and I want to use my good health for him. At times, God shows me how people are suffering and the thought that it could have been me keeps me humble. For instance, if I did anything wrong during this interview, when you may have left, God will caution me. If I am not humble, I will be out of track. If I was not in the house of God, I would be one of the touts in the motor parks (the Agberos)

Why is it that your ministry seems to be more popular outside Nigeria than in Nigeria?

I want to offer the same prayer for you: that God should make you more popular outside your country than in your country. Let other countries introduce you to your country. I think that is better. As it is written in the Bible, a prophet has no honour in his country. I am not an evangelist or a pastor, I am a prophet. It is the word prophet that was used in that scriptural passage, not evangelist or so. If my people had understood the work from the beginning, it could have affected the glory of God in my life today. If people understand your vision from the beginning, you may not go far. It is better they don’t, they will understand later and by then, you would have been very strong and God would have strengthened your desire. Praises and adoration can make you a local champion. Where are the people that Nigerians praised from the beginning? I can mention some – even men of God, who are no longer living today, so many founders – CAC, Cherubim and Seraphim, Church of the Lord and so on. We should get this understanding that those who were local champions in the past did not reach international recognition. Look beyond the ministry job to the secular world, was it Nigeria that introduced Prof. Wole Soyinka to the world? But when he became a Nobel Laureate, he became more powerful; when he talks, everyone wants to listen. Whereas there were some other local champions that even when they were dying, nobody took their news to CNN. They don’t know them. God has a way of raising people by throwing the image to the international community. Even the footballers that are notable became acceptable to Nigerians when they belong to international clubs. I may not be accepted by some people in Nigeria but my acceptance in the world has been announcing me to my world. When you look at the people working with me, you see that the ratio of Nigerians working with me are not more than 10 per cent.

What is the special attraction that brings heads of government to synagogue?

You have said it all, where there is demand, there is supply and in that place, there would be enough anointing to do the work. God will not allow people to go to a place where there is no supply. It is not possible. I observe that if three chairs are added to this church today, you suddenly find people filling it and if four are removed, it is just the number of people that will fill the chairs that will come. I have studied that from the beginning. Sometimes when I see some ministries printing handbills, using signboards to advertise the church, I say those things are not necessary. God is the one inviting people, if you allow him to do it, the solution to their problems will be waiting for them. But if you take it upon yourself to do the advertisement, people that God is not expecting will come along with them and there will be crisis and trouble. You just continue doing your work and leave the advert for God, then those that God didn’t invite will not come and there will be peace and tranquillity. You should not go out to start saying ‘I can heal, I can deliver.’ At synagogue, our critics are our advertisement. They are people that don’t want to hear about us. They tell other people that ‘that church is devilish;’ unknowingly, some of the people they tell get inquisitive and they will want to come here and see what a devil looks like since they haven’t seen one before. God has been using this as advertisement for us. Ninety per cent of people who come here do so in the bid to come and verify what they had heard about this church. When some of them get here, they will sit at the back, fearing that they could be hurt. Some put on dark glasses or disguise in a way that will not allow people that know them to recognise them. But before the service is over, some of them will pick up their bags and move to the front seats. They eventually become my prayer warriors. Let me tell you something that amazes me and that I always thank God for – those who are with me are more than those that are against me. They keep supporting me all over the world. I have more, more, more people around the world. Whenever I say this, tears flow from my eyes (sobs for a while). These are tears of joy. I get so sad when I hear people’s confession when their eyes become open to what God is doing here. Some say, ‘I wish I had known this, my mum would not have died. She asked me to bring her here but because of what I was hearing about this place, I refused until she died. I hope that she will forgive me.”’

Is President Goodluck Jonathan on the list of heads of government that patronise your services?

When it comes to relationship, I think he would be in the best position to answer that question. Since what we are doing is creating impact around the world, you should expect Nigeria’s president to also be part of it. We are praying for the nation and being a Christian acknowledges it. If Jonathan had been here, it would have been shown on our Emmanuel Television network. No president has ever visited this place in secret. The Bible says that if you confess me before men, I will confess you before my father in heaven. I am not a witch doctor; we have nothing to hide. If you have not read in the newspapers that your president came here, then that is that. Anytime presidents of other countries come here, Jonathan is usually aware. If he doesn’t believe in what we are doing, he would have told them that we constitute security risks.

What is your relationship with President Jonathan, Does he speak with you on phone?

Don’t rush me. Let me finish answering the last question. Now, you would answer the question yourself; have you read that he came here, have you? My sister, you have said it all. What phone call are we talking about?

How do you tell the president when you have an instruction for the nation?

I say it on the television and all over the world. I accept that is not enough; it is better to see him one on one.

But what is the essence of a president’s visit if he won’t follow what I will tell him? This kind of trend keeps staining my name. I will not mention anybody, when they leave here; they do not obey the instructions.

But what are these presidents looking for in your church?

The reason why people visit a man of God is to receive instructions, his opinion about them or their country. But if they don’t follow it, yet the whole world knows that they are close to TB Joshua, it has no benefit.

Are you saying it’s no big deal that presidents visit you?

It is no big deal. Except they obey the counsel given to them, it has no benefit. It is not something to be proud of. At least, seven presidents have visited this place since inception. But each time presidents come to this place, I get query from God. When they come around, you won’t have time to attend to other people. They will block the road with their security and at the end of the day, they won’t do what you advise them to do.

People say that your generosity is used to woo people to your church. How do you react to this?

How much will I give to the president of a nation to come here? Even when they come, I don’t get any financial gain but I incur cost because I want to ensure that they are well cared for. That is all; I even prefer to spend my time with the poor than to be with the presidents. If a president visits this place today, the whole of the day will be devoted to that visit, I would have lesser time for the poor people, who need my attention. God has been warning me over this trend so much that when some presidents said that they wanted to visit me, I said no. I said it would be better for me to visit them in their countries. Each time they visit this place, I receive query from God because of my time that should have been used to attend to the poor and the needy that are waiting for me. One soul is not superior to the other, why should I continue to receive query? Really out of three presidents that may visit, there will hardly be one that will show good example of the counsel that they received from me. If the needy are more receptive to God, it is better to give them more of my time.

Still on generosity, why do you ask people to display the items given to them live on camera, is it proper?

We do so to encourage other people to do likewise. Some of them are physically-challenged or indigent people who do not even have bank accounts, so we have to give them cash. We don’t want them to be duped, but we don’t do that often anymore.

Isn’t it a deliberate way of advertising what you are doing?

It is not so.

But we don’t see such things in other churches?

Every man of God has his own habit. Habit is a gift from God. Like Daniel, whenever he wants to pray, he will open his window, that is his habit. The disciples of Jesus prayed six times a day; that is their habit. It is not that we are showing off. When people see what we are doing, they learn how to be good givers. If you do everything privately, what will people write about? Jesus fed the 5,000 people in the open, not in secret. That is why it could be written. When the tax collectors came to him, he did not hide to say, ‘I don’t want them to see that they want to collect money from me.’ Even when he healed a man and they asked him how he did it, he asked them to go and ask the healed man.

You said God speaks to you, how does he speak to you?

Faith must first be in the heart before there could be an accepted confession. That means faith must first be in the heart before there could be an acceptance of prayer, request, talk from God. Faith is of man’s heart, which is spirit. Heart literarily means a different thing from the spirit. You use your faith to put a demand.

So, how do you get those prophecies – picture or voice?

I use my faith to place a demand. You don’t understand what I am saying. Let me put it this way, faith is a channel through which the anointing flows. That means you use your faith to put a demand and ask for whatever you want. If there is faith in your heart, you can close your eyes and make a demand that you want to know what is happening around the world and before you know it, you will see the vision. There is what you call a measure of faith – deep, deeper, deepest faith. I don’t know which level you belong. Faith grows as we hear the word and obey it. We are not all at the same level, but all things are possible to him that believes. What is possible for you may not be possible for me.

But many people see you as mystical, they think you are not a believer in Jesus Christ; that you belong to some other sect. What is the source of your power?

Your question is funny. We don’t get power, it is faith we have. The power in our life is released by faith through our mouth. The issue of getting power is wrong. We don’t talk about getting power here. If you don’t have faith, power will remain dormant. In Mark, Jesus said this kind won’t be possible but by prayer and fasting. The disciples had power but lacked faith to release it.

Coming from you directly, who are you?

Nigerians cannot tell me who I am. The percentage of my people around the world is more than those in Nigeria. I am celebrated around the world. Go on the internet, Emmanuel TV is the most watched. Forget about anybody, I don’t need to promote myself. Even Jesus could not win everybody’s soul.

Are you a Christian, do you believe in Jesus Christ?

The word Christian is a title. How do you know that those people talking believe in Jesus Christ when Christianity is a matter of the heart?

But are you a child of God…

That is what I am correcting you about; that someone said he is a Christian doesn’t mean he is. If somebody says he belongs to this or that fellowship, only God knows. It is not about confessing that I am a prophet, a pastor, only God knows who is serving him. A mango tree cannot bear coconut. What you believe radiates around you. I’m more than that kind of confession. If anyone doesn’t believe me, they would when the time comes.

But why don’t you belong to a Christian body?

Christianity is not an association. Let us talk about Christianity. I don’t celebrate religion. I am a follower of Jesus; I am a Christian, that is all I know. I will invite you to come and worship here this Sunday. I am known by my love, not by my association, so whether Pentecostal, Catholic, Charismatic, Methodist, who is serving God? I don’t judge people but people can judge me. All I know is that my persecution has been a blessing; I have been tamed by it. It has strengthened me. I am a Charismatic.

So, who anointed you into the ministry?

I have told you about faith. You know that Elijah anointed Elisha, but can you tell me who anointed Elijah? So you see God can choose to do it the way He wants. Because I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t know which circle you belong to, maybe your own pastor was anointed by a man.

Are you still very close to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome?

Please, don’t drag me into all that. I beg you.

What about the issue of Jim Iyke?

Oh please, don’t drag me into that. All I can say is that if a person needs to see a doctor, he should be free to do so. I like the young man. He has been defending himself on the internet. Is he not enjoying a better life now? Are things not working for him?

Why are all these stars always coming to your church?

Please I don’t want to talk about that.

What about your alleged link with the release of Major Al-Mustapha?

Which one are you saying again? Please spare me that. I will give you time to come back and talk on that.

You are reputed for predicting football matches correctly, how far will Nigeria go in the World Cup?

I can’t say that now. I will give Punch the privilege of getting my prophetic messages once they come out.

Why is it that people don’t know your family members?

I don’t expose my family. I hear people saying that I don’t have a wife and that I have no child. That is the news everywhere. You have seen my wife and this is a photograph of my daughter.

Why is it that your wife does not preach like other pastors’ wives?

My wife is a very wonderful woman. She believes in receiving her own call. She does not just want to hold microphone because her husband is a pastor.

Men of God need to take care of their children. My daughter studied Law she is doing her PhD in Harvard and she is coming back home to preach the gospel. She loves to preach.

Is your wife the one responsible for your looks?

I love to look good too; it is 50-50 anyway. She has been a great woman to me. She has been a great source of encouragement in the midst of my challenges. She is different in the sense that she said I was the one God called, so she is waiting until she is called by God to be a pastor. That is unlike what most men of God do, they believe that once they are called, their wives must be pastors too.

When are you buying your own private jet?

When one is at the airport to catch a flight, you see that many have become like Molue. They could disappoint you by saying the flight has been cancelled. Even when you eventually get on board, people keep thronging you for one reason or the other. The person serving you the meal may be someone that needs deliverance, by giving you food, she will deliver you. There was an experience I had when travelling by air for a trip of about nine hours. I was pressed but couldn’t go and ease myself because I had to queue like other people before I could use the restroom. Besides, I thought that some of those people could go to the toilet immediately after I had used it in expression of faith, so I remained glued to my seat all through the journey. That would not have been if I was flying a private jet. Or if you are a man of God that snores and they see the pastor sleeping and snoring, they will think he shouldn’t snore. Meanwhile, he is human. So a man of God should have a private jet if the situation demands it.

Who should pay for it?

If the use is for the church, the church should buy it, own it and manage it. It should not be bought in the pastor’s name. When he is no longer there, the jet remains the church’s.

Big organisations have a need for crowd management, how did you handle the stampede case in Ghana over holy water?

I know where you are going, don’t go there. Why don’t you let’s leave that please.

What inspired you to owning a football club?

It is the desire to help people realise their dreams. There are other social platforms that we use to help people.

Still on prediction of football matches, is God not too busy to talk to you about that?

The same God speaks about everything. God is aware of everything. It is all about the faith that you have; it manifests even in small things. We need to know how much we need God.

But people said you see a crystal ball that aids your predictions?

Don’t you wonder why I am the only one saying it and it is coming to pass?

What about your influence on the stool in your village in Ondo State?

Don’t drag me into that, I will not go there, maybe next time.











Source: Punch




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