Good Friday!

Good-Friday! The reflection:
IBIS AD CRUCEM!
(You shall go to the cross!)

With these three words Pontius Pilate pronounced the sentence of death upon Jesus, forcing Jesus to carry his cross to a spot outside the city gates of Jerusalem, to a hill called Golgotha, and there he was crucified.
We must linger long there and take in carefully all that happened. For what happened at Golgotha when Jesus ‘was crucified, died, and was buried,’ as the Apostles Creed so succinctly declares, discloses both the raw and naked aggression of evil and also the supreme expression of God's love.
Good Friday marks the slaying of our Jesus. The unblemished lamb, the perfect sacrifice. He took our guilt and blame upon Himself so we could be with Him in paradise. Today we remember God's great love for us. May this day bring new meaning and change in your life! Wishing all Christians a blessed Good Friday.

Imo State deputy governor impeached

Imo deputy governor impeached
2013-03-28 17:19:24
Imo State Deputy Governor Jude Agbaso has been impeached by the state House of Assembly. Agbaso was impeached on Thursday by 25 out of the 26 lawmakers in the Assembly. Agbaso had been served a notice of impeachment over an allegation that he requested and collected N458m bribe from a construction firm handling the reconstruction of Sam Mbakwe Road, Owerri.

Chinua Achebe, the demise of an icon

Wisdom and courage" were an "inspiration to all who knew Chinua Achebe ". One of Africa's best known authors, his 1958 debut novel Things Fall Apart, which dealt with the impact of colonialism in Africa, has sold more than 10 million copies.
He had been living in the US since 1990 following injuries from a car crash.
'Indelible lessons' The writer and academic wrote more than 20 works -
some fiercely critical of politicians and a failure of leadership in Nigeria. South African writer and Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer called him the "father of modern African literature" in
2007 when she was among the judges to award him the Man Booker International Prize in honour of his literary career.
Things Fall Apart has been translated into more than 50 languages and focuses on the traditions of Igbo society
and the clash between Western and traditional values. The Anambra state government in Nigeria first made the
announcement about his death.
Analysts say in Igbo society the death of an important person must be announced by someone in authority.
His home state was in mourning for the death of "the illustrious son of the state, Nigeria and Africa", Mike Udah, spokesman for Anambra state governor Peter Obi said.
A statement released on behalf of his family said Mr Achebe was "one of the great literary voices of his time". "He was also a beloved husband, father, uncle and grandfather, whose wisdom and courage are an inspiration to all who knew him. Professor Achebe's
family requests privacy at this time."
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan said Mr Achebe's admirers had all learnt "indelible lessons ofhuman existence" from his works. "Achebe's frank, truthful and fearless interventions in
national affairs will be greatly missed at home in Nigeria because while others may have disagreed with his
views, most Nigerians never doubted his immense patriotism and sincere commitment to the building of a
greater, more united and prosperous nation that all Africans and the entire black race could be proud of," the president said in a statement.
Nigerian author Victor Ehikhamenor said the news came as a shock even though people knew the novelist had
not been feeling well. "I met him on two occasions. When you are with Achebe
outside Nigeria, even when you are with him in Nigeria, you cannot claim him as a Nigerian because he's a world citizen," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa
programme. Last year, Mr Achebe published a long-awaited memoir
about the brutal three-year Biafran war - when thesouth-eastern Igbo region tried to split from Nigeria in
1967. After leaving Nigeria, he worked in the US as a professor. His 1990 car accident left him paralysed from
the waist down and in a wheelchair.
A statement of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory said it offered its condolences to the Achebe family.
The former South African president and anti-apartheid fighter, who spent 27 years in jail, "referred to Prof
Achebe as a writer 'in whose company the prison walls fell down'", the statement said.

Exposed : David Mark's presidency campaign posters printed in Lagos.

As the clock ticks for the 2015 presidential election, more gladiators are battle ready for the soul of Nigeria.

One of those who may likely take over the mantle of leadership from Goodluck Jonathan is the current president of the senate, Senator David Aleichenu Bonaventure Mark.

We can authoritatively confirm that the Okpokpowulu of Idomaland is currently warming up to spearhead the affairs of the country, come 2015.

DailyPost over the weekend stumbled on presidential campaign posters of Mark being printed at Shomolu area of Lagos state.

The posters had a picture of Mark donned in a red and black traditional Idoma cap over a black and white apparel.

Above the poster, which is on a green and orange background, was a bold inscription, “Mark of Hope 2015.” Beneath the inscription is another was also written “David Mark for President 2015,” with the logo of the ruling party on both sides.

The poster, which is courtesy of Concerned Middle Belt for Better Nigeria (CMBBN) carries another inscription thus: “Mark my words, Nigeria will be better again.”

It would be recalled that the Idoma people in Benue State had since tipped Mark as the next President of Nigeria come 2015.

His ambition which had been an open secret in political aisle reverberated during a reception in his honour by the Idoma League of Professors, ILP, led by Prof. Owoicho Akpa, with Mike Omeri, a former special adviser to the Senate President, when they had canvassed for Senator Mark’s Presidency at the next general election; arguing that the Senate President had the pedigree to lead the nation after President Goodluck Jonathan.

Effort to reach Mark’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Paul Mumeh proved abortive as his phone rang endlessly without answer.

Igbos massacred in the North again

ad in multiple blasts
Maduabuchi Nmeribe/kano with agency reports
Scores of bus passengers at the New Road Luxury
Terminal, Sabon Gari, Kano northwest Nigeria were
feared dead when two suicide bombers in a VW Golf car
rammed into a Lagos-bound Gobison Luxury bus on
Monday.
Witnesses at the Luxury Bus Terminal said low-profile
Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, planted inside four
other buses exploded simultaneously.
On the whole, two buses owned by Gobison Transport,
two buses marked Ezenwata Transport Limited and one
other owned by Chimezie Transport Limited were
affected in the devastating attack.
an injured victim being stretchered off the bomb scene
in kano
Several calls put across to the Commissioner of Police,
Musa Daura, by P.M.NEWS were not answered, but the
spokesman of the Joint Military Task Force in Kano,
Captain Ikedichi Iweha said it would be too early to
confirm the number of casualties.
However, President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Kano, Chief
Tobias Michael Idika told journalists that the casualty
figure in the attack the casualty figure is about 60, "I
counted up to 60 dead bodies when I visited the scene
of the incident and several people were seriously
injured," Idika said.
The scene has been cordoned off by the police and the
JTF.
Residents of Sabon Gari, an enclave predominantly
inhabited by non-natives are panicked as tension
continues to mount in the Nigeria's city of Kano.
The dead and the wounded have been evacuated to a
government-owned hospital by security operatives.
Initial reports, quoting rescue officials put the death toll
at about 20 as two suicide bombers rammed a car
packed with explosives into a bus at the New Road
station in Sabon Gari, a predominantly Christian
neighbourhood in the majority Muslim city.
Several explosions were heard following the initial blast,
sparking panic as bloodied bystanders including some
with serious injuries fled the scene as soldiers arrived
to cordon off the area.
Kano, the largest city in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north,
has been repeatedly targeted by Islamist group Boko
Haram, blamed for killing hundreds in the region since
2009.
“I saw three buses on fire. One of them was fully loaded
with passengers waiting to leave the station at the time
of the blasts… There are at least 20 dead,” said the
rescue official who requested anonymity as he was not
authorised to speak to journalists.
“The figure may rise,” he added.
A senior security official in Kano, who also declined to
be named, told AFP he believed the death toll was
“massive”, describing the figure of 20 as an
“understatement”, without giving a precise toll.
Fatima Abdullahi, 30, who had boarded a bus scheduled
to head south, said she saw a car with two men inside
ram into a nearby bus.
another injured person.on the ground
“There was a huge explosion followed by another. The
bus went up in flames,” she told AFP at a hospital in
Kano where she was being treated for her injuries.
Mechanic Tunde Kazeem, who works at the station, said
he saw “people rushing out of the motor park” after the
blasts, “some of them with blood on their clothes”.
There was also no immediate claim of responsibility, but
the seemingly coordinated attack was likely to be
blamed on Boko Haram.
The targeted station primarily services passengers
heading to the mostly Christian south of Nigeria.
It was attacked in January of last year in a blast which
wounded several people and which was blamed on the
radical Islamist group.
That bombing came days after the group’s deadliest
ever attack, also in Kano, when at least 185 people were
killed on January 20, 2012.
“Rescuers and security personnel are yet to determine
the source of explosions…casualty figures not available
at the moment, the seriously injured have been taken to
hospital and bodies evacuated,” said a statement from
the National Emergency Management Agency.
Boko Haram has previously targeted Christians,
including through a series of suicide bombings at
churches packed with worshippers on Sundays.
The group has also been blamed for killing officials,
security personnel and other symbols of authority in an
insurgency it says is aimed at establishing a Muslim
state in northern Nigeria.
The group has also purportedly claimed the kidnapping
of a seven members of a French family, including four
children, abducted last month near in the Nigerian
border in Cameroon.
In an audio recording obtained by AFP on Monday, Boko
Haram demanded the release of its members it says are
being held in Nigeria and Cameroon in exchange for the
release of the hostages.
Boko Haram is believed to include a number of factions
with various interests and shifting demands and experts
say the group may have fostered ties with foreign
extremists, including Al-Qaeda’s north Africa affiliate.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil
producer, where poverty remains rampant, particularly in
the north.

Lagos Gov. Re-opens Ladipo auto spare parts mkt

The Lagos State Government on Monday reopened
Ladipo Market, which was shut on February 25 over
environmental offences.
The government said it decided to open the market
following the intervention of “well-meaning individuals
including the Imo State Governor, Mr. Rochas Okorocha.
A statement by the Ministry of the Environment said the
decision to open the market was reached after a
tripartite meeting with the state government, the
Chairman, Mushin Local Government and the traders'
association.
The statement said, ” The agreement reached with the
tarders was that they must observe non-conversion of
the drainage Right of Way into trading points and
mechanic workshops; non-conversion of the access
roads in the market for trading activities; non-
conversion of the shops in the market for residential
purposes; no dumping of wastes and vehicle parts into
the canal; and maintaining the general cleanliness of
the market environment at all times.”
The statement added that in order to make the
agremment possible, governments and the traders
planned a proper and acceptable security arrangement
in the market which cost would be borne by the traders.
The statement said, “Also, the canal shall be properly
fenced and no dumping of refuse into it. All statutory
revenues, and fees shall be paid to Mushin Local
Government and other relevant government agencies
regularly. No mechanic workshop shall operate on any
access roads leading to the market. Only one - side
parking shall be operated by the traders.”

Reverend Father Burns Pope Benedict 's Picture During Sermon

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Rev Father Burns Pope Benedict’s Photo During Sermon

Church chiefs in Italy have launched an investigation after an Italian priest set fire to a photograph of former Pope Benedict XVI in front of dozens of stunned worshippers.

Father Andrea Maggi, 67, ignited the picture during a sermon, saying that Benedict had “abandoned” the Catholic Church.

He then went on to compare him, to Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino, who was been accused of fleeing his post and leaving passengers on the stranded cruise ship. Father Andrea, a priest for more than 40 years, told the packed service at Santo Stefano church in Castelvittorio near Imperia: “I’m doing this because he has not been a Pope, he has abandoned us.

A shepherd never leaves his flock.” Parishioners including children, looked on amazed as the picture of Benedict, who resigned last week after eight years as Pontiff was enveloped in flames before the priest let it drop to the ground and burn itself out.

Father Andrea is unrepentant, and said: “I’d said that I would burn his picture the day he left and that’s what I did. I’m glad what I did has caused such an outcry. I don’t have maize in my head. We are not in a communist state. “I’m not interested in his reasons for leaving. The job of Pope is for life. He should not have left. He’s behaved just like (Francesco) Schettino. Where is the proof of his faith? “The Pope said this was the year of faith and he then leaves his post as head of the church.”

Bishop Alberto Maria Careggio, of the diocese, said: “This was an abominable action. I’m mortified by the actions of Father Andrea who in the past has always been a very generous and sensible priest. I’m arranging a meeting with him as soon as possible.”

Benedict said he made the shock decision, the first time a Pope has resigned in 600 years because he “felt tired”. However by stepping down he has angered many Catholics and some senior Church chiefs as the job is for life. Locals in his parish, which nestles in a picturesque medieval hilltop village, have described him as “very strict and ultra orthodox”.

Before the incident Father Maggi, who has been a priest there for five years, had been complaining bitterly about Benedict’s decision. Gianstefano Orengo, mayor of Castel Vittorio, who witnessed the incident, said: “Certainly everyone knew Father Andrea was upset and angry at Benedict’s announcement. “It was a shocking thing to see. I know it may be a difficult time for him but it was still a serious thing to do.”

He pulled out a picture of the Pope and then used a nearby candle to ignite it as he started his sermon. “It lasted a minute or so and he then said Benedict had acted in a similar fashion to (Francesco) Schettino who left his post when the Costa Concordia struck rocks and with passengers still needed to be saved. People were shocked and started complaining and several including myself left the service.

There was no justification at all for it even if there are mitigating circumstances. “People were shocked and started complaining and several including myself left the service. There was no justification at all for it even if there are mitigating circumstances.” Meanwhile cardinals in Rome have begun their discussions ahead of setting a date for the start of the conclave which will elect the next Pope, with the selection process expected to begin in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel next week.