MILITANTS SURRENDER IN PORT HARCOUT

Militants Surrender in Port Harcourt

Amnesty Day 1
As the Federal government amnesty for militants in the Niger Delta got off to a good start yesterday, the police, acting on a tip-off, recovered 26 brand new AK 47 rifles and other arms and ammunition allegedly imported by Mujahid Dokubo Asari.
The informant, Prince Wisdom Amachree, had claimed that he was Asari’s ally.Six militants, in their mid twenties, brought their weapons to the state Police Headquarters at about 2 p.m. yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The militants are Asi Loolo, Great Nelson, Bigi Nne, Rago Mina, Denis and Menaya Chinyere, all based at Opoko in Khana Local Government area of the state. The weapons deposited at the centre are two AK-47 rifles, one pump action rifle, one G3 rifle and a locally made pistol.
The weapons were received by Mr Azubuko Udah, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of zone six, Calabar.
Udah, who told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that it was a sign of good things to come, commended the militants for coming out to surrender their weapons.“We hope their decision today will motivate others, still in doubt, to come out and surrender their weapons,’’ he said.
Mr Joshak Habila, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Rivers Police Command, said the militants had chosen to go to Kaa collection centre, in Khana Local Government for documentation.“They are the first group to come out on their own and surrender their weapons as the amnesty offer commenced today.“We believe they have embraced the Federal Government’s amnesty offer and we will work with them to ensure that others surrendered their weapons,’’ he said.Asari, the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), is believed to have repented and has embraced peace.
Amachree had informed the police that Asari imported about 4,000 AK 47 rifles with other assorted weapons with the aim of fighting in collaboration with some sections of the country to divide the country into two.
In Bayelsa State, militants operating along the creeks of the Niger Delta shunned the amnesty offer as none of them showed up to return their arms at the Sagbama and Nembe centres.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Committee on Amnesty was engaged in a crucial meeting yesterday with another militant leader, Ateke Tom, on the amnesty.
It was gathered that Ateke may embrace the offer anytime from now. Amachree claimed that he renounced his membership of the NDPVF when former President Olusegun Obasanjo granted them amnesty but said Asari took him into confidence and showed him the armoury.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has described the formal take off of amnesty programme as the beginning of peace, development and freedom in the region and the country at large.
The state’s deputy governor, Professor Amos Utuama, made the observation in Asaba while receiving the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 5, Mr. Julian Okpalaeke, at the Government House, Asaba.
Utuama, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), noted: “Today marks the take off of the amnesty in the nation, which in turn marks an era of peace, freedom and development for the whole of the Niger Delta in particular and the whole of Nigeria in general and indeed the world at large.
“The resources from the Niger Delta are resources that advance the course of humanity not only in the South-south, not only in Nigeria but the world at large. So peace and development in the Niger Delta is peace and development in the whole world.”He stressed that the amnesty has “come to cure” the unrest and violence that had characterized the region, noting however that Delta State, although among states in the region, had been peaceful.

Culled from THISDAYonline through the following reporters;
Ahamefula Ogbu in Port Harcourt, Segun James in Yenagoa and Victor Efeizomor in Asaba with agency report, 08.07.2009

Put together by Anuoluwapo Ajagbe

FROM GRASS TO GRACE

From one room apartment somewhere in Fadeyi came alive a beautiful young Mercy some thirty years ago. All hope was high and dreams were up that she will become a very important person in life. Considering her pareants background, this dreams could not be achieved easily hence, the need for her to assist the mother to hawk her business while going to school.

This was a big challenge for Mercy as she had to double up in her studies to be able to meet up, not only that she was also faced with the challenges that every normal black African girls exposed to street hawkings always face.

Mercy is the fourth child of her mother and the tenth of the father coming from a polygamous home. The Mother was in the business of selling fresh Plantain, so Mercy grew up selling plantains on the wicked street of Lagos.

Her mother though not literate, understands the important of Western Education and she desired it for all her children. The effort from these children, who understood the effort from their mother, yielded good result though not without the sacrifice that comes with such children such as not having the opportunity of playing with their peers. They however got that with their contemporaries in the same trade on the street 'at work'.

Mercy through hardwork, perceverance and God went through primary education, a public school then and through to the University to achieve her dream and that of the mother. Three out of the five children of Mercy's mother are graduates from Higher institutions of learning today.

Street selling though was not the best option as at then but the only option available for 'mama ologede' as she was fondly called.

Very little support if any at all came from the father and other members of the family such as uncles and Aunties so the resolve to street selling to support the family ecomony.

"The parents we had were the ones God chose for us and no matter how we feel they were custom-designed with God's plan in mind, and they bear the master's seal. said mercy"

So no matter the trauma, no matter the condition under which we grew up, God would not have allowed it. God allow it to sharpen your life and to bring the best out of one. you are who you are for a reason. You are God master piece.

Realising that life is what you make out of it early enough help in the journey of life for Mercy. She realised early enough the need to have a dream and work at it and focus to overcome obstacles that should come along the way like the condition under which the street hawking presented itself.

The determination Mercy and the other sibblings put up, most especially Mercy being the only girl among them was outstanding. Not even the name calling and other similar humiliation from her peers and pupils in school, she pushed on with her studies while she sells after school and during vacations.

the business because successful and their mother was able to pay for their school fees and pay for other things that they needed for their education. Mercy also benefited immensely through the relationships that she developed with some of her good customers in the course of selling her goods. She still see some of them till date.

Today, Mercy is a celebrated Journalist, an international speaker of repute on the subject that she knows very well and runs an NGO to support young people in similar capacity to achieve their Dream.

Mercy is happily married with children.

World Health Organisation backs use of DDT against malaria

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has endorsed the use of banned insecticide DDT in a new approach to controlling malaria in West Africa. Stephan Tohon, WHO’s focal point on malaria in West Africa, told a malaria evaluation meeting in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou that the organisation no longer recommended the use of mosquito nets. Instead he cited the positive results of southern African countries with indoor house spraying using the partially banned insecticide DDT. The endorsement of DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane) will be particularly controversial. The pesticide was used in World War II to control malaria with apparent great success. DDT is toxic and kills by opening sodium ion channels in insect neurons, causing the neuron to fire spontaneously. The Swiss chemist Paul Müller won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1948 for demonstrating DDT killed the Colorado potato beetle, a pest that was ravaging the potato crops in the developed world.DDT contributed to the final eradication of malaria in Europe and North America and WHO’s program to combat malaria worldwide was based on the success of the drug. DDT was less successful in the tropics. Because farmers used it as a crop spray, insect populations began to develop resistance. It all began to unravel for DDT in 1962 when Rachel Carson published the hugely influential “Silent Spring” which showed the chemical resulted in reproductive problems and death in humans. The US eventually banned DDT in 1972. With the failure of DDT, experts focussed their attentions on bednets impregnated with other insecticides. However the Stockholm Convention of 2001 which outlawed a dozen persistent organic pollutants left the door open for continued use of DDT as a vector control. Vector control works by reducing the levels of transmission and its method varies widely depending on local conditions. Arata Kochi, head of the WHO's antimalarial campaign, is leading the charge to bring back DDT. In November 2006 he called on environmental groups to support the change. “We are asking these environmental groups to join the fight to save the lives of babies in Africa," Kochi said. "This is our call to them." Kochi is supported a group called Africa Fighting Malaria, who say that while there may be lab studies showing DDT could potentially cause cancer, no large studies show an actual increase in cancer in people.Approximately 40 percent of the world’s population, mostly in the poorest countries, are at risk of contracting malaria. Its intensity depends on local factors such as rainfall patterns, proximity of mosquito breeding sites and mosquito species. Every year, an astonishing 500 million people (one person in every twelve) become seriously ill with one of the four different types of the disease. Malaria has serious economic impacts in Africa, slowing growth and development as well as perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty. It mainly afflicts the poor who tend to live in malaria-prone rural areas in poorly-constructed houses with few barriers against mosquitoes. Malaria disease affects sub-Saharan Africa harder than anywhere else in the world and kills about 800,000 children younger than 5 each year. The disease also contributes greatly to anaemia among children, a major cause of poor growth and development. Malaria infection during pregnancy is associated with severe anaemia and other illness in the mother and contributes to low birth weight among newborn infants.The cause of malaria is a parasite called Plasmodium, transmitted through bites from infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and infect red blood cells. Symptoms include fever, headache, and vomiting, usually about 10 to 15 days after the mosquito bite. If untreated, Malaria can kill by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. The parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines and the field of malaria control has historically been dogged by problems with resistance. Each time scientists find a way to fight the parasite, the parasite finds a way to fight back. WHO says resistance can be limited if DDT is used carefully, and only where it's likely to be effective.
Culled from Barak Derrick’s Blog.

HOPE REVIVED

As a dreamer, i went through the terrible time of my life growing up and had to decide by myself that i am going to live my dream, which is to go to a higher institution of learning and through that become somebody in life. i stood by this decision and pursued this dream. I had to do all sorts of menial jobs and errand for my parents, who had to struggle to keep us alive and educate us.
With perseverance and God on my side, this dream eventually came alive. Though it wasn't easy. It took a lot of determination and hardwork.

Hence, the birth of this NGO 'Hope Revived' to encourage all those young people who are dreamers like me to make their dreams come through.

Life is what you make out of it.

Keep Hope Alive.

Anuoluwapo Ajagbe