FACT ABOUT TOGO


• Full name: Togolese Republic
• Population: 5.1 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Lome
• Area: 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq miles)
• Major languages: French (official), local languages
• Major religions: Indigenous beliefs, Christianity, Islam
• Life expectancy: 52 years (men), 56 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc = 100 centimes
• Main exports: Cocoa, phosphates, coffee, cotton
• GNI per capita: US $350 (World Bank, 2006)
• Internet domain: .tg
• International dialing code: +228

FACT AND FIGURE ABOUT HIS EXCELLENCY YAR ' ADUA

President: Umaru Yar'Adua

Umaru Yar'Adua of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) won the presidency following the April 2007 elections which were condemned by local and foreign observers, who alleged widespread vote-rigging.

Nigerian president-elect Umaru Yar'Adua
Umaru Yar'Adua
He had served as governor of the remote northern Katsina state since May 1999. A little-known figure in national politics, he was chosen by outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo as his successor.

He comes from a prominent political family. His father was a minister in the first government after independence and his late elder brother was an army general who served as deputy to President Olusegun Obasanjo when he was Nigeria's military ruler during the 1970s.

When he was elected governor of Katsina in 1999, he immediately declared his assets. In his bid for the presidency he promised to fight corruption.

Mr Yar'Adua's health has been the subject of media speculation and during the election campaign he travelled to Germany for treatment.

He was born in 1951 and was a chemistry teacher until he went into business, then politics, in the 1980s.

Mr Yar'Adua took over from Olusegun Obasanjo, whose election in 1999 came at the end of a period of military rule. Mr Obasanjo won a second term in 2003. A bid to keep him in office for a third term was blocked by parliament.

Mr Obasanjo began his first leadership stint in 1976 after the assassination of Brigadier Murtala Mohamed in a failed coup. In 1979 he earned the distinction of becoming Africa's first modern military leader to hand over power to civilian rule.

FACT AND FIGURES OF NIGERIA

* Full name: The Federal Republic of Nigeria
* Population: 130.2 million (UN, 2005)
* Capital: Abuja
* Largest city: Lagos
* Area: 923,768 sq km (356,669 sq miles)
* Major languages: English (official), Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa
* Major religions: Islam, Christianity, indigenous beliefs
* Life expectancy: 43 years (men), 43 years (women) (UN)
* Monetary unit: 1 Nigerian naira = 100 kobo
* Main exports: Petroleum, petroleum products, cocoa, rubber
* GNI per capita: US $560 (World Bank, 2006)
* Internet domain: .ng
* International dialling code: +234

NIGERIA OVER VIEW

Thousands of people have died over the past few years in communal rivalry. Separatist aspirations have been growing, prompting reminders of the bitter civil war over the breakaway Biafran republic in the late 1960s.


AT-A-GLANCE
Oil and gas terminal, Niger delta
Politics: Parliament blocked moves to allow President Obasanjo to stand for third term in 2007. The army was the dominant political player until 1999
Economy: Nigeria is Africa's leading oil producer; more than half of its people live in poverty
International: Nigeria plays a prominent role in African affairs; has withdrawn troops from oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to settle border dispute with Cameroon

Timeline
The imposition of Islamic law in several states has embedded divisions and caused thousands of Christians to flee. Inter-faith violence is said to be rooted in poverty, unemployment and the competition for land.

The government is striving to boost the economy, which experienced an oil boom in the 1970s and is once again benefiting from high prices on the world market. But progress has been undermined by corruption and mismanagement.

The former British colony is one of the world's largest oil producers, but the industry has produced unwanted side effects.

The trade in stolen oil has fuelled violence and corruption in the Niger delta - the home of the industry. Few Nigerians, including those in oil-producing areas, have benefited from the oil wealth.

Nigeria is keen to attract foreign investment but is hindered in this quest by security concerns as well as by a shaky infrastructure troubled by power cuts.

Use the Power of Ignorance-on-Fire

Business Articles

“Ignorance-on-fire” is what I call those people who for whatever reason are on fire with profound enthusiasm and have what is called a “Big Why” that overcomes all rejection, obstacles, and resistance.

“Ignorance-on-fire” is what I call those people who for whatever reason (need for the opportunity; change in occupation; desire to travel, win a new car, or to get some other reward; respect for you; hoping to generate new results; or because that person is a true believer in the product) are on fire with profound enthusiasm and have what is called a “Big Why” that overcomes all rejection, obstacles, and resistance.

A Big Why is an unstoppable need!

If you have a BIG WHY, you can overcome anything!

The husband of a lady that I know well left her and her kids. He left her with $248 and two children who had cystic fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease affecting the lungs and digestive system. In most cases it means that the person may need at least one lung replaced, which costs a minimum of $200,000.

She had a Big Why. She had didn’t have any insurance that covered lung replacement.

She had no education, qualifications, rich relatives, foundation connections, or support system that would or could serve her.

She decided to have courage—which means strength of heart—and bravely set out to do what she had never done before and learn, master, and quickly manifest lots of money in network marketing, because her children’s lives depended on it.

She did what I will call “do-the-do” and mastered earning vast, fast cash to pay the enormous costs of her children’s treatment.

Amazingly, she made a fortune and paid for the operation.

She not only paid for the operation, she mastered herself—the greatest challenge of all—and is now busy raising $100 million for research, because researchers say with those funds, they can find a cure for cystic fibrosis.

She discovered a niche market in her problem. She enrolled other parents who had children with cystic fibrosis.

I say grow rich in your niche.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

Children die in Somalia violence

MOGADISHU, Somalia (Afrika Awake) -- Neighborhoods in the Somali capital were deserted on Sunday, a day after 17 civilians were brutally killed in the wake of intense fighting between Ethiopian-backed Somali troops and Islamic insurgents, according to witnesses and journalists in Mogadishu.

Witnesses in Mogadishu's al-Baraka neighborhood said the dead included women, the elderly and children as young as 10.

They said all 17 killed were non-combatants,blamed the deaths on Ethiopian troops, who are backing interim Somali forces in an attempt to quell an Islamist-led insurgency.

CNN has been unable to reach the Ethiopian military or members of the Somali transitional government for their response.

Residents in Mogadishu accuse the Ethiopian forces of targeting civilians in revenge for the killings of its troops.

Witnesses and journalists in the city also say Ethiopian and Somali forces are indiscriminately shooting at anyone, fearing no consequences from the weak government in Mogadishu.

Bakara market -- Mogadishu's largest public market -- remained all but deserted Sunday, a day after the Ethiopian-backed Somali forces occupied the streets surrounding the bazaar.

The Somali forces scared off traders after firing shots in the air, witnesses said.

The situation had calmed by Sunday, but there were reports of sporadic fighting.

Up to 100,000 people have abandoned the capital in the last two weeks, according to United Nations estimates.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Friday of a growing humanitarian crisis in Somalia and said 1.5 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance, a rise of 50 percent since the start of the year.

According to witnesses, the 17 bodies found Saturday in al-Baraka had bullet wounds to the head and chest. Some were heavily bruised and appeared to have been beaten and had their hands tied together, witnesses said.

Photographs seen by CNN showed crowds standing over the blood-spattered bodies of young men in civilian clothes lying in a dusty street. Some had been covered with a loose piece of garment, but their faces were still showing.

In a separate incident, five children -- between ages 1 and 7 -- were injured after a shell from an Ethiopian tank smashed into their family home in the same neighborhood, the children's father Aweys Ali Abukar said.

According to Abukar, the shell hit the building as the family was sitting down to breakfast Saturday morning. He said the youngest child was in serious condition in a hospital after the family was struck by falling debris and shrapnel.

According to local media estimates, 60 to 80 people have been killed since Ethiopian troops launched reprisals after the body of one their soldiers was dragged through the streets by an angry mob Thursday.

In a brutal echo of a 1993 battle between Somali militias and U.S. troops, crowds shouting "God is great" dragged the bruised, bullet-riddled corpse of the Ethiopian soldier through the dusty Mogadishu neighborhood of Suqa Holaha after it was dumped there by insurgents Thursday afternoon.

Ethiopian tanks and artillery have rained down missile and mortar fire on insurgent strongholds in the city, but witnesses said that many of the dead and injured were civilians caught up in the fighting.

Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in December 2006 to drive the Islamic Courts Union out of Mogadishu and restore a U.N.-backed transitional government after a decade and a half of near-anarchy.

The Islamists responded by launching an insurgency against Somali government and Ethiopian troops that has lasted nearly a year.

Residents say they are a target of the Ethiopian military who want revenge. "All young men run away whenever they set eyes on Ethiopians in uniform," one woman said, who did not wish to be named.

The bodies of two brothers, aged 30 and 13, were discovered Tuesday in the Gubta settlement following a raid by the Ethiopian military.

Their mother Halimo Abdullahi Abdi claimed they had been shot dead by Ethiopian troops when they tried to leave their home

One Plus One Equals 400 Times More Profits When You Choose the Right Objectives

Business Articles

Choosing to combine ways to add 20 times more revenues and reduce costs by 96 percent can create 400 times more earnings for a company while an individual 2,000 percent solution may not even grow earnings by 20 times. This article explains why choice of paired 2,000 percent solutions to create is an essential element of a successful business strategy.

By Babatunde Awal

Nigeria makes 'al-Qaeda' arrests

A group of militants with suspected links to al-Qaeda in northern Nigeria has been arrested according to Nigeria's internal security service.

A State Security Service spokesman said men in three states were detained and explosive-making devices were found.

Nigeria has not suffered a terrorist attack and despite occasional arrests of suspected Islamic militants there is no evidence of al-Qaeda in Nigeria.

In September, the US embassy warned Nigeria is at risk of a terror attack.

A group of Islamic militants were found with fertiliser and explosive-making devices, following investigations in three states in northern Nigeria: Kano, Kaduna and Yobe.

The SSS said the men had suspected links to the al-Qaeda network and the Nigerian Taleban.

However, over the last few years the Nigerian authorities have detained many suspected militants yet have failed to produce any substantive evidence of an al-Qaeda presence or terrorist plot in the country and there's never been a terrorist attack here.

The Nigerian Taleban have nothing to do with the Taleban in Afghanistan.

They were initially a group of Islamic university students who raided a few police stations in north-eastern Nigeria in 2003.

Almost all were hunted down and killed by the Nigerian army.

There are some radical Islamic sects who exist in the effectively borderless arid areas where northern Nigeria meets Chad and Niger.

Given that Nigeria is a major oil producer yet its population is poor and equally split between Muslims and Christians, British and American officials have long been obsessed that Nigeria was ripe for al-Qaeda-style groups.

It is not clear if these arrests will give any substance to those fears

By Babatunde Kolly

Deviance Behaviour

The sociology of deviance is the sociological study of deviant behavior, the recognized violation of cultural norms, and the creation and enforcement of those norms. The sociology of deviance is related to, but also distinct from the field of criminology. The field of deviance is primarily defined by the theories used to explain deviance