Andy Still in Africa

AED

2011-04-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Contract Killer
Why did USAID suspend one of its biggest contractors without any explanation?
By Christopher Beam
Posted Thursday, March 31, 2011, at 3:37 PM ET

Dr. Rajiv Shah (far left) of USAID visits Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan
In the fall of 2010, the Academy for Educational Development, then headed by president and CEO Stephen Moseley, sent a check for nearly $1 million to the United States Agency for International Development. Money usually flows the other way—AED was one of USAID's largest contractors—but AED had concluded it had overcharged the federal government by that amount for a project it was overseeing in Pakistan. Hence the check.

If the payment was intended to settle the matter, it didn't work. In November 2010, Moseley stepped down. Four other top executives followed him out the door. On Dec. 8, USAID announced its decision to suspend AED because of "evidence of serious corporate misconduct, mismanagement, and a lack of internal controls," as well as "serious concerns of corporate integrity." That meant AED couldn't receive new funds from the federal government. Less than three months later, on March 3—after 50 years of spearheading thousands of development projects around the world—AED announced that it would sell its assets and dissolve itself.
The sudden collapse of AED startled the development community. One moment, USAID's inspector general had been investigating reported mismanagement in AED projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan, two projects out of scores that AED managed for USAID. The next, AED was suspended based on "initial findings" by the inspector general that weren't being made public. Soon after that, AED was folding—and the inspector general hadn't even released its report yet.

According to USAID, the suspension of AED was evidence of the government's careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars. But to five current AED employees and three others in the development community—none of whom would speak on the record for fear of retribution by USAID—it's the result of a recent crackdown on government contractors at a time when "accountability" has become a byword of both political parties and the Obama administration, particularly when it comes to Iraq and Afghanistan. "The American people's money must be spent to advance their priorities, not to line the pockets of contractors or to maintain projects that don't work," Obama said in March 2009. For some, the death of AED was evidence that it's possible to take "accountability" too far.
The fall of AED made waves in part because of its size and history. AED managed about $500 million in grants and contracts every year. Until the suspension, it employed more than 700 people in Washington and about 2,000 people worldwide. Since then, 180 employees have left or been laid off, according to Michelle Galley, a spokesperson for AED. As president and CEO for more than 20 years, Moseley turned AED into one of the biggest nonprofits in the country. He was compensated for it, too: In 2007, he was paid nearly $900,000 in total.
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AED's woes first began in the summer of 2009, when someone blew the whistle on an AED project in Pakistan. After the country was hit by a massive earthquake in October 2008, AED had scrambled to provide emergency relief and apparently overpaid for emergency supply kits, according to an AED employee close to the activity. AED hired the accounting firm Ernst & Young to investigate the problem, and looped in some USAID officials. But it didn't immediately involve the USAID's inspector general.

That turned out to be a mistake. "You need to engage with them fully as soon as possible, instead of pushing them off and making it look like you're obstructing justice," says the AED employee.
In the fall of 2009, USAID's inspector general launched its own investigation into AED's Pakistan project. From the start, AED and the inspector general disagreed on how much AED was required to cooperate, according to people familiar with the events. AED argued that because its project was technically a "cooperative agreement" with USAID—a deal that's looser than a formal contract—it wasn't strictly required to report any problems to the I.G.

When a new round of allegations emerged in July 2010 involving an AED higher education project in Afghanistan, the inspector general expanded its investigation. AED dug in its heels. Instead of dealing with the inspector general directly, AED engaged its attorneys. "We lawyered up," says an AED source.
In late 2010, AED gave back almost $1 million to USAID—the amount that AED's own audit had determined that it owed as a result of its mismanagement of the Pakistan project. It was Moseley's way of saying, "I can handle this. We've dealt with this issue," says a longtime development official who has worked with Moseley. The final straw was the inspector general's discovery of emails that suggested AED wasn't fully cooperating with the investigation, according to sources within AED who admit they haven't seen the emails. On Nov. 16, 2010, Moseley stepped down, and three weeks later—the same week that the inspector general released an audit critical of USAID's work in Pakistan—AED was suspended.

It's impossible to say definitively what happened until the inspector general's report is released. (If you have information, Slate wants to hear from you.) But members of the development community are voicing their disappointment with what they call USAID's lack of transparency during the investigation. In a letter that circulated widely within AED, former USAID officer Marcia Bernbaum wrote to agency director Rajiv Shah to express her "serious concerns regarding the way that USAID has handled the suspension."

The main complaint has been that USAID suspended AED without sufficient explanation. Its announcement of the suspension uses strong language—"serious corporate misconduct, mismanagement, and a lack of internal control"—but doesn't provide examples. Another objection is that USAID opted to suspend the entire organization rather than targeting the problematic programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Others argue that USAID should have known that suspending AED, a low-margin nonprofit that relies overwhelmingly on government funds, would be a death sentence. AED receives 90 percent of its funding from USAID and other federal agencies, according to Galley, and many of those contracts require annual renewal. The suspension effectively dried up AED's revenues. "It's a tragic case of somebody who just wanted to smack somebody and hit them, and they fell over backwards and died," said a senior executive at another development organization.
Then again, the financial health of a company is not a consideration when USAID is weighing suspension or debarment of the contractor. "We did not force AED to dissolve," says Lars Anderson, a spokesman for USAID. Indeed, it was the decision of AED's board to find an acquirer to buy the company's assets, according to Galley. At that time, says Anderson, USAID and AED were negotiating an administrative agreement that would have allowed parts of the organization to continue operating.

Accident or not, AED's collapse is just the latest chapter in the ongoing effort for better oversight of federal contractors. Every president since Ronald Reagan has emphasized government based on measurable results. In Obama's case, that's meant cracking down on spendthrift contractors who don't deliver. Congressional Republicans have joined the crusade, too, in the name of efficiency and reducing spending overseas. In a 2009 report, USAID's inspector general urged USAID to make more use of its powers to suspend (cut off funds to an organization temporarily) and debar (cut them off permanently).
USAID took the task to heart. By February 2011, the agency had "made great strides forward," said USAID chief acquisitions officer Maureen Shauket in testimony before the Wartime Contracting Commission. (Shauket, who did not return a phone call to her office, was the person who made the decision to suspend AED.) Between 2003 and 2007, USAID issued 17 suspensions or debarments, according to USAID. Between 2008 and February, 2011, that number rose to 37. Their greatest "success story," deputy inspector general Michael Carroll told the Wartime Commission at the same hearing, was "the recent suspension of the Academy for Educational Development, AED."

Yet USAID has uncovered instances of fraud that have not resulted in suspensions. In November 2010, the Louis Berger Group agreed to a $69 million settlement after allegedly overcharging USAID by $15 million to $20 million over 10 years for development projects in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan. Two former executives went to prison for fraud. Yet the settlement allowed the company to continue to working on government contracts. USAID did suspend Deloitte Consulting LLP in March after the contractor failed to crack down on corruption at Kabul Bank in Afghanistan. But unlike the suspension of AED, the suspension of Deloitte applied only to its Kabul Bank contract. Its other contracts with USAID remain.

It's impossible to gauge USAID's decision to suspend AED without seeing the full inspector general's report. But AED employees say it is possible to get a rough sense of proportionality. The AED executives responsible for any high-level mismanagement have left the company or been pushed out. The money has been paid back. What was the point of suspending—and, inadvertently, destroying—the entire organization? "The terms of the suspension appear to be disproportionate to the possible infractions and mismanagement," Bernbaum wrote in her letter to Shah.
In interviews, several AED employees brought up a recent article by Andrew Natsios, the head of USAID in the Bush administration, about the rise of a government "counter-bureaucracy" that prioritizes compliance over effectiveness. When contractors operate in corrupt and high-risk countries, it's impossible to avoid being tainted to some extent by that corruption. Accountability is important, but not at the expense of doing good work. "A point can be reached when compliance becomes counterproductive," he writes. "I believe we are well past that point."

Whoa

2011-04-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Check out my old and new passports. I've aged badly over those 10 years! I blame Nigeria mostly...

The cover of my rap album

2011-03-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

Neighbor Kid

2011-03-23T08:35:00.001-07:00

His name is Pinochet or something, i just call him Peanuthead. He likes gyming, practicing being a thief, and playing Nintendo...

Water Park!

2011-03-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

HIPPO HORROR ON RIVER

2011-03-09T02:23:00.000-08:00

This is sad, i knew Omge as the cool dreaded barman at old bridge backpackers...

Two of four people on a mokoro in the Thamalakane River on Wednesday evening have died after the canoe was attacked by a hippo.

Police scoured the river banks during the night and, on Thursday scuba divers from the Botswana Defence Force began searching for victims

Those on the mokoro were two men and two women, one an American missionary.

They were Sizweni Zhie Mogotsi, of Maun Love Botswana Outreach Mission, Ashley Maldonado, a visiting missionary from the United States, Omogolo Modise, a Professional Guide in Maun, and Ditsotlhe Buddha Gopolang, of the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB).

Search parties were underway immediately by residents and the police. The search went on to 3am on Thursday with the use of flashlights and boats. The four were apparently heading towards the old bridge from near the Sedia Riverside Hotel when the hippo attacked.

Mogotsi and Maldonado managed to reach the riverbank and Modise waved to them to get help before turning back into the water to rescue Gopolang. They both disappeared.

The badly traumatised and injured women were rescued by residents who rushed to the scene. The incident took place at about 7.20pm on Wednesday. It is believed the hippo charged the vessel which broke in two, spilling the occupants into the river. The bodies of Modise and Gopolang were retrieved on Thursday and Jana Lackey, of Love Botswana, told The Ngami Times “we are all thankful that, according to initial findings, there was no indication of a physical encounter with the hippo.” She added: “Ashley and Zhie managed to get to the reeds and pulled themselves onto shore. Omogolo (Omge as he was known) waved for them to go on to the shore and then went to rescue Buddha.”

According to Lackey, who said she was “very close” to the victims, it appeared that the mokoro trip was already over and they were on their way back to load up another group when the hippo attacked them. “After the hippo hit the canoe there was confusion as water was already inside the mokoro and they then tried to hold on to the pieces,” she said. “As an experienced tour operator and a good swimmer, Modise was the first to reach the shoreline followed by Maldonado. Mogotsi and Gopolang both could not swim and were struggling. “It was then that Modise tried to swim back to get Gopolang. Unfortunately Gopolang was a bit far out and he could not make it, and that is when they both drowned.”

Families of both victims have been informed and survivors are said to be in a stable condition. The incident was confirmed by Maun Police station commander Joubert Kome. The two people who died were members of the All Nations Village Church and prayers are being held at 5:30pm daily at a family member's house behind the Marcos Caltex filling station on Tsheko Tsheko Road

Learning to Cook

2011-02-26T04:05:00.000-08:00

Not too many pics or exciting things happening nowadays...
but check out some food I learned to cook after 30 years of take out or other people cooking for me....yeah, its mostly different salads :)

Protein Muscle Salad

Chicken Marsala

Beef Fajitas

Typical Sunday Barbeque

Fattoush

Meatloaf with Potatoes and Carrots

Chicken Weiner Schnitzel with Potato Salad

Savuti and Linyati Game Reserves

2011-01-01T02:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Botswana

2010-12-26T12:13:00.000-08:00

Counseling and testing project finished!

2010-12-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

Over 15k hiv tested, over 30k received comprehensive hiv info in just 4 months...

Kgale hill

2010-11-28T00:21:00.000-08:00

Reminder

2010-11-19T05:11:00.001-08:00

click on pictures once to get them big. click a second time and they get even bigger...

Lekopole village

2010-11-18T07:54:00.000-08:00

Molema Bush Camp, Tuli, Eastern Botswana

2010-11-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

Testing out the 4WD on the truck in Tuli

2010-11-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

LIONS!!!!

2010-11-09T00:56:00.000-08:00

Notice the bite marks in the kids toys...

News article in the paper about the project

2010-11-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

NEWS

Progress in HIV testing in S/Phikwe

CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
CORRESPONDENT

SELEBI-PHIKWE: Despite getting off to a slow start, the voluntary counselling and testing outreach project sponsored by BOTUSA and the Ministry of Health is showing progress.

The aim of the project is to test 20 000 people in Bobirwa and Selebi-Phikwe districts by the end of this month. According to a statement from Academy of Educational Development (AED) that is spearheading the project, 23 749 people from the two districts have been mobilised and have received comprehensive HIV prevention messages while 6 809 people tested in the first 10 weeks.

Several villages outside the main urban areas have been visited by project teams. These villages include Semolale, Gobojango, Mabolwe, Tsetsebjwe, Molalatau, Mothabaneng, Mathathane, Moletemane and Sefophe.
A representative of AED, Andrew Sigman says people testing positive are referred to HIV care and treatment sites for follow-up assessments and care. Over 6 000 people have so far tested.

"This means that on average, each of the 20 counselors is providing services to eight clients per day," says Sigman.

The key to the success the project so far has been the support and involvement of district health authorities, government officials and traditional leaders. This was secured through involving the Ministry of Health and District AIDS Coordinators in extensive planning and coordination meetings leading up to the Project. Sigman says it was the wish of DMSAC that residents of the two districts are involved in the study as much as possible. At the moment, people from Bobirwa and Selebi-Phikwe have been employed as community mobilisers and Tebelopele peer educators and have been appointed to the Community Advisory Boards.

"Strategies such as this ensure the communities are left with improved capacity to address the HIV pandemic using their own resources," Sigman continues.

"The counseling and testing outreach project is left with four weeks." He called upon people who do not know their HIV status to visit the mobile testing sites. This month, the testing tents will be located in Selebi-Phikwe, Bobonong, Mmadinare, Tobane, Tshokwe and Damuchujenaa.

Meanwhile, the Selebi-Phikwe District AIDS Coordinator, Lameck Myengwa, says they have realised that women are still leading in testing while men still drag their feet. He says men think when their partners test negative, they are also negative, which is often wrong.

A few more pics from Khutse camping trip

2010-11-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

These are a few more from my phone. Stay tuned for the good lion pics from my friends camera tomorrow...

Lion footprints near my tent!

2010-11-07T04:59:00.000-08:00

We actually awoke to 7 lions in our campsite at Khutse Game Reserve this morning, 2 males and 5 females. The rest of the pics tomorrow...

The real traditional dancing

2010-11-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Bushmen (San) performing at retreat at Khutse Lodge

Test 2

2010-11-01T00:52:00.000-07:00

A few seconds longer...

Test

2010-10-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

Time to bring video to the blog?

New (super old) car

2010-10-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

Im taking this camping everywhere in botswana. First a test drive to phikwe today, then khutse game reserve this weekend, then moremi and other game reserves in december...

Press release on the project from AED

2010-10-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

Press Release:

Selebi-Phikwe & Bobirwa Voluntary Counseling and Testing Outreach Project

Brings Services Closer to the People

BOTUSA/MOH Outreach project reaches an ADDITIONAL 800 people per week with voluntary HIV counseling and testing in community settings. So far 23,749 community members have been mobilized and received comprehensive HIV prevention messages through the project.

Humana People to People Staff at testing tent,

Distance, Selebi-Phikwe, September

After more than 5 years of planning and pilot testing, the counseling and testing outreach project led by the US based Academy of Educational Development (AED), with local partners Tebelopele and Humana People to People, finally reached the implementation stage, signaled by a project launch ceremony held in Phikwe on July 31st. Expectations were set very high from the outset of the project– it had an ambitious goal of reaching 20,000 residents of Selebi-Phikwe and Bobirwa district with HIV counselling and testing services over a 4 month period.

The methodology involves a combination of 20 teams providing mobile counseling and testing services (one such tent pictured here) throughout the two districts, with house to house community mobilization and HIV education – designed to both increase awareness regarding the drivers of the epidemic, and encourage families to receive HIV testing and counseling. Each counseling site is usually located near a busy shop, main road, or other gathering place, where they will remain for a few days before moving elsewhere. Already several villages outside of the main urban areas have been visited by the teams, including Semolale, Gobojango, Mabolwe, Tsetsebjwe, Molalatau, Mothabeng, Mathatane, Moletamane and Sefophe. Those testing positive are referred to HIV care and treatment sites in the district for follow up assessments and care. The project team is working closely with clinic/hospital staff and collects referral slips every week to monitor that clients are receiving proper care and treatment following testing.

At the half way stage of the project, over 6,000 people had received testing services, which on average means that each of the 20 counselors is providing services to 8 clients per day. These figures compare favorably with the 3 people per day counseled and tested through actual door to door testing in the 2007 pilot, and with similar projects in neighbouring Southern African countries, where counselors test an average of 5-8 clients per day. With approximately 20,000 people accessing HIV counseling & testing services in Phikwe alone in 2009, these figures demonstrate that although testing coverage rates are quite high, there are still a significant proportion of the population who do not access these services through government and non-government sites, and will use the services if they are closer to home.

Preliminary results indicate around 27% of those tested to be first-time testers, and over 70% of all those tested were doing so for the first time in 2010. Reports have also emerged of the mobilization efforts having follow on effects including increased utilization of testing services at Tebelopele’s centre in Phikwe and government hospitals and clinics in Bobonong and Mmadinare.

Pitching large black and yellow tents

Bobonong, September

Tebelopele sign around small green tent,

Mmadinare, October

Key to the project’s success so far has been the support and involvement of district health authorities, other government officials and traditional leaders, which was secured through extensive planning and coordination meetings leading up to the project and involving the Ministry of Health, respective District AIDS Coordinators traditional leaders, Members of Parliament, and District Health Management Teams regarding referral issues, community participation and the composition of community advisory boards.

It was the wish of the District Multi-Sectoral AIDS Committee (DMSAC) that residents of the two districts be involved in the study as much as possible, and to this end, people from Bobirwa and Selebi-Phikwe were employed both as community mobilizers and Tebelopele peer educators, as well as appointed to the study Community Advisory Boards. Strategies such as this ensure the communities are left with improved capacity to address the HIV pandemic using their own resources.

The counselling and testing outreach project has 4 weeks remaining. We invite all members of the public who do not currently know their HIV status to visit one of the mobile sites. There they will be greeted by one of Tebelopele’s best counsellors and a peer educator who will explain the process and make them feel comfortable. In November, the testing locations include Selebi-Phikwe, Bobonong, Mmadinare, Tobane, Tshokwe, and Damachujena. Please check with the Tebelopele centre in Selebi-Phikwe (ph: 2600513) for exact information on locations and dates.

A brief overview of training and counseling and testing results follows:

70 people (many residents of Phikwe, Bobonong, and Mmandinare) were trained:

· 10 data collectors were trained and conducted a pre-intervention survey of 500 individuals from randomly selected households;

· 20 community mobilizers were trained and conducted door to door education and mobilization reaching 23,749 individuals;

· 20 peer educators were trained to provide further education and assist with pre-test counselling; and

· 20 counsellors were trained and conduct

23,749 community members were mobilized:

· All individuals mobilized for testing received a comprehensive HIV prevention interpersonal communication session from the Humana People to People team members. The Ministry of Health approved comprehensive communication guide was used at each house, and focused on key drivers of the epidemic such as MCP, GBV, SMC, and alcohol usage.

6,809 people received VCT in first 10 weeks:

· Most testing in tents, moved often for easy accessibility to different locations outside of shops and community gathering areas.

· Particularly successful in smaller villages, where people normally have to travel further to access services.

AED together with its partners on the project express our sincere appreciation to the leaders and residents of Selebi-Phikwe and Bobirwa districts, and encourage all stakeholders to support a coordinated response aimed at helping Botswana reach the goals of the second National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS, 2010-2016.

Monkeys!

2010-10-27T05:07:00.000-07:00

View from my bedroom this morning

My new workout partner

2010-10-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

Another day at the office

2010-10-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

AED Staff Retreat

2010-10-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

Some pictures

2010-10-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

Independence Day in Nigeria

2010-10-01T07:27:00.001-07:00

Explosions kill at least 7 near Nigeria ceremony

By BASHIR ADIGUN and JON GAMBRELL (AP) – 47 minutes ago

ABUJA, Nigeria — Two car bombs blew up on Friday as Nigeria celebrated its 50th independence anniversary, killing at least seven people in an unprecedented attack on the capital by suspected militants from the country's oil region.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the main militant group in the country's oil-rich southern delta, had threatened to attack the festivities and warned people to stay away.

"For 50 years, the people of the Niger Delta have had their land and resources stolen from them," the group said in a statement. While Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is oil rich most people live on less than $1 a day. The delta is very impoverished and polluted from spills.

A third and smaller explosion hit a venue at Eagle Square where President Goodluck Jonathan stood with other dignitaries, about a 10-minute walk from where the car bombs detonated. A security agent was apparently injured in that blast heard by an Associated Press reporter, though the militant group later denied placing any explosives in the venue.

Friday's attacks are among the militants' boldest yet, striking in Nigeria's capital during an event with heavy security held hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the delta.

The car bombings seemed designed to lure first-responders and then kill them with a second blast. Five minutes after the first vehicle exploded, the second went off, killing at least seven people, a police officer told an AP reporter at the scene. At least one of the dead was a policeman, the officer said. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Inside Eagle Square, an AP reporter saw a small explosive detonate before members of the military gathered there. A security agent was seen lying on the ground near that blast.

The anniversary ceremony continued without interruption.

In a statement Friday afternoon to the AP, the militant group acknowledged that it knew allowing the second car bomb to detonate would put passers-by at risk.

We "warned the authorities ahead of time who decided to ignore the warning and alert the public," the group said. It added: "The blame goes to the Nigerian authorities and our message to the families of those who may have been affected is that we deeply regret any loss of life."

Upset by oil spills and the region's unceasing poverty, militants in the delta have targeted pipelines, kidnapped petroleum company workers and fought government troops since 2006. That violence drastically subsided after a government-sponsored amnesty deal last year provided cash for fighters and the promise of job training. However, many ex-fighters now complain that the government has failed to fulfill its promises.

In March, MEND detonated two car bombs near a government building in the Niger Delta where officials were discussing the amnesty deal, wounding two people in an attack heard live on television.

In April 2006, MEND claimed responsibility for attacks on an army barracks and an oil refinery during which two people were killed. It also detonated a car bomb outside a state governor's office in December 2006.

The group's attack comes a day after it says security agencies in South Africa raided the home of its former leader Henry Okah. Okah was freed from a Nigerian jail in July 2009 after the nation's attorney general dropped the treason and gun running charges he was facing. He later moved to Johannesburg.

The militant group said Okah's house was raided after the Nigerian government "sent a false petition claiming Okah planned to overthrow the government and other claims." Police in South Africa could not confirm any raid took place at Okah's home.

Nigeria, a member of OPEC, is one of the top crude oil suppliers to the U.S. last year, attacks by militants led to a sharp drop in oil production, allowing Angola to replace Nigeria as Africa's No. 1 exporter.

Gambrell reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Associated Press writers Lekan Oyekanmi in Abuja, Nigeria and Donna Bryson in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

last couple weeks

2010-09-23T13:21:00.001-07:00

New Mailing Address

2010-08-10T02:48:00.000-07:00

PO Box 3780, Gaborone, Botswana

SURVEY IS DONE!!! + PROJECT LAUNCH!!!

2010-07-31T09:40:00.001-07:00

448 surveys done!

2010-07-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

even MORE training and surveying! 400 of 500 surveys complete!

2010-07-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

more training, more surveying

2010-07-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

More Pics from Data Collector Training and Surveying....

2010-07-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Me and the Data Collection Team

2010-07-10T10:07:00.001-07:00

Today's Training

2010-07-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hi- Here is a funny pic from the training we conducted today for the data collectors for the survey we are conducting...

New Pics

2010-05-23T04:49:00.000-07:00

Hi- I went with a friend to a 4x4 training course this weekend past weekend in South Africa. Here are a few pics...

Oh, also here is a funny pic of cows chilling outside my house the other morning...

Remember to click on the pics to make them way bigger

Few pics of the new place

2010-04-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

By request, here are some pics of my new place, ill get some nice ones of the neighborhood later...

Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe'

2010-03-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe'
By Steve Vickers
BBC News, Harare
The Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa may look like their compatriots, but they follow a very different set of customs and traditions.

They do not eat pork, they practise male circumcision, they ritually slaughter their animals, some of their men wear skull caps and they put the Star of David on their gravestones.

Their oral traditions claim that their ancestors were Jews who fled the Holy Land about 2,500 years ago.

It may sound like another myth of a lost tribe of Israel, but British scientists have carried out DNA tests which have confirmed their Semitic origin.

These tests back up the group's belief that a group of perhaps seven men married African women and settled on the continent. The Lemba, who number perhaps 80,000, live in central Zimbabwe and the north of South Africa.

And they also have a prized religious artefact that they say connects them to their Jewish ancestry - a replica of the Biblical Ark of the Covenant known as the ngoma lungundu, meaning "the drum that thunders".

The object went on display recently at a Harare museum to much fanfare, and instilled pride in many of the Lemba.

"For me it's the starting point," says religious singer Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave.

"Very few people knew about us and this is the time to come out. I'm very proud to realise that we have a rich culture and I'm proud to be a Lemba.

"We have been a very secretive people, because we believe we are a special people."

Religion vs culture

The Lemba have many customs and regulations that tally with Jewish tradition.

They wear skull caps, practise circumcision, which is not a tradition for most Zimbabweans, avoid eating pork and food with animal blood, and have 12 tribes.

“ Many people say that the story is far-fetched, but the oral traditions of the Lemba have been backed up by science ”
Tudor Parfitt University of London
They slaughter animals in the same way as Jewish people, and they put the Jewish Star of David on their tombstones.

Members of the priestly clan of the Lemba, known as the Buba, were even discovered to have a genetic element also found among the Jewish priestly line.

"This was amazing," said Prof Tudor Parfitt, from the University of London.

"It looks as if the Jewish priesthood continued in the West by people called Cohen, and in same way it was continued by the priestly clan of the Lemba.

"They have a common ancestor who geneticists say lived about 3,000 years ago somewhere in north Arabia, which is the time of Moses and Aaron when the Jewish priesthood started."

Prof Parfitt is a world-renowned expert, having spent 20 years researching the Lemba, and living with them for six months.

The Lemba have a sacred prayer language which is a mixture of Hebrew and Arabic, pointing to their roots in Israel and Yemen.

Despite their ties to Judaism, many of the Lemba in Zimbabwe are Christians, while some are Muslims.

"Christianity is my religion, and Judaism is my culture," explains Perez Hamandishe, a pastor and member of parliament from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Despite their centuries-old traditions, some younger Lemba are taking a more liberal view.

"In the old days you didn't marry a non-Lemba, but these days we interact with others," says Alex Makotore, son of the late Chief Mposi from the Lemba "headquarters" in Mberengwa.

"I feel special in my heart but not in front of others such that I'm separated from them. Culture is dynamic."

Crowds

The oral traditions of the Lemba say that the ngoma lungundu is the Biblical wooden Ark made by Moses, and that centuries ago a small group of men began a long journey carrying it from Yemen to southern Africa.

“ Hearing from those professors in Harare and seeing the ngoma makes it clear that we are a great people and I'm very proud ”
David Maramwidze Lemba elder
The object went missing during the 1970s and was eventually rediscovered in Harare in 2007 by Prof Parfitt.

"Many people say that the story is far-fetched, but the oral traditions of the Lemba have been backed up by science," he says.

Carbon dating shows the ngoma to be nearly 700 years old - pretty ancient, if not as old as Bible stories would suggest.

But Prof Parfitt says this is because the ngoma was used in battles, and would explode and be rebuilt.

The ngoma now on display was a replica, he says, possibly built from the remains of the original.

"So it's the closest descendant of the Ark that we know of," Prof Parfitt says.

Large crowds came to see the unveiling of the ngoma and to attend lectures on the identity of the Lemba.

For David Maramwidze, an elder in his village, the discovery of the ngoma has been a defining moment.

"Hearing from those professors in Harare and seeing the ngoma makes it clear that we are a great people and I'm very proud," he says.

"I heard about it all my life and it was hard for me to believe, because I had no idea of what it really is.

"I'm still seeing the picture of the ngoma in my mind and it will never come out from my brain. Now we want it to be given back to the Lemba people."

To hear more about the Lemba people, listen to the BBC World Service

programme on Saturday 6 March at 0830 GMT.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8550614.stm

Published: 2010/03/08 11:15:10 GMT

A Call For Peace

2010-03-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

I was asked to post this article, written by a great friend and colleague in Nigeria...

Some great philosopher once said “The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing” I believe in this quote so much that I write it down and say it whatever chance I get. It also influences the way I live, work and relate to those around me, speaking out against injustice and influencing my own small way my immediate spheres of influence by what I do and what I say. At least I try to the best way I can.

This way of thinking was severely tested many times and on many occasions and in many ways but nothing prepared me for what I witnessed on the morning of Monday the 15th of March when on my way to work contemplating a busy hospital schedule that involves saving lives. Already despondent about all the brutality in the land, I was very unfortunate to witness the last moments of a hard working family man, a taxi driver brutally chased by a mob killed and burnt accused falsely of being a child thief by some motorcyclists that he had an altercation with. It is an experience that I am certain would remain with me for as long as I live. Many good people did nothing that day either from fear, helplessness, and apathy or just not knowing what to do. I still recall the fear in his eyes and his voice as he shouted pleading his innocence trying to flee from the monster of a mob.

The feeling of helplessness that one goes through at moments like this is hard to imagine, looking back it is difficult to have imagined how I could have helped but it still doesn’t make the anguish any less. Sad to think, this is just one victim too many in an existence where life has become so cheap, where people turn into cold blooded killers in a twinkle of an eye. Innocent people are killed every day, people who wake up in the morning like a majority of us with nothing in mind but how to navigate through the rough terrain of existence, feed their families, send their children to school. Even innocent children are not spared in a land where life has become so cheap.

Be it in ethnic clashes, religious clashes, in maternity wards on the roads, in our homes while we sleep. Evil continues to flourish because good men (and women) do nothing. It is time that we think of our roles in the society and what they can do and how best we can do it. Some of us are in a position to do something big, but for those of us who aren’t we can start by showing love and tolerance and peace in not only what we say but what we do. We can talk to our children, our neighbors, our friends and our kinsman. There is too much hate and by doing nothing we may just as well share in the blame.

I just thought I could trade in my stethoscope for the pen today to reach out further in my bid to continue to live by my principles if I am able to convince even one person today then perhaps the anguish I feel will lessen a bit.
Best regards

Dr (Mrs) Yashua Alkali Hamza
Sharada, Kano

Look what I am missing...

2010-03-08T07:59:00.000-08:00

Daily Independent (Lagos)
Nigeria: 500 Feared Killed in Fresh Jos Mayhem - Jonathan Orders Immediate Arrest of Killers

Paul Arhewe Chesa Chesa And Onoja Audu With Agency Reports 7 March 2010
Lagos/Abuja — About 500 Berom natives in Dogon-Hauwa village, five kilometres south of Jos, were massacred on Sunday morning by Fulani herdsmen who raided the community through a border village in Bauchi State.

Neighbours joined Dogon-Hauwa villagers to wail as the bodies of elderly women and children littered everywhere among the dead.

Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, who raced to the village from his private residence in the same Du district, fought back tears on seeing the havoc.

He appealed to the survivors to hold their peace as the government would do everything humanly possible to bring the perpetrators to book.

The corpses have been deposited at the state Specialist Hospital and Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).

Those who received bullet and machete wounds are being treated at the hospitals by doctors who were drafted from their homes to attend to the emergency cases.

The Gbong-Gwom Jos, Jacob Buba, told reporters in Dogon-Hauwa that what took place is unfortunate, lamenting that while the government and traditional rulers are trying to bring enduring peace to Jos and its environs, some people are bent on causing more trouble.

He described what happened in Dogon-Hauwa, which is in his domain, as a crime against humanity that should be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted.

He promised to ensure that justice is done in the matter, even if it means drawing the attention of the Presidency and the international community to the crime.

Police Public Relations Officer, Mohamed Lerema, confirmed the incident, and said the Police Commissioner, Ikechukwu Aduba, would soon address the media on it.

Pockets of attacks were also recorded at Heipang in Barkin Ladi Council at the weekend while Riyom Council has been having similar attacks by Fulani herdsmen in the past two weeks.

Tension built in Jos on Sunday afternoon as news of the killings filtered into the city, but the government urged everyone not to take the law into their hands.

Information Commissioner, Greg Nyelong, declared wanted, former Secretary of Plateau State Muslim Welfare Board, Saleh Bayari, for allegedly inciting the herdsmen.

He told a press conference in Jos that Bayari who recently addressed journalists in Kaduna on the Jos crisis, has been inciting the Fulani against their host communities in Plateau.

He described the latest attack as "ethnic cleansing" carried out against the Berom, the ethnic group to which Jang belongs.

He said 500 persons were butchered, even as Jang toils day and night to maintain peace in the state.

"Saleh Bayari should be arrested because he has been issuing threats and recently addressed a press conference in Kaduna. We have copies of his statement in which he has been spreading false rumours and inciting Fulani against Berom natives," Nyelong said.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has placed the Army and other security agencies on red alert and ordered the arrest of the murderers.

He has, just days after receiving a briefing from Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, on the recurring mayhem on the Plateau, scheduled another meeting with the heads of security agencies.

A statement issued by Aso Rock said Jonathan directed the security agencies to "undertake strategic initiatives to confront and defeat these roving bands of killers."

He urged all Nigerians to remain peaceful and law abiding, "since violence only begets further violence."

Jonathan expressed sympathy for those who have lost relatives and friends in the attacks, and prayed God to grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

The incident came two days after Jang embarked on a peace tour of the three Senatorial Districts in the state.

Witnesses said the violence began in the mostly Christian Dogon-Hauwa community at about 3 a.m. on Sunday - an hour when the area should have been under curfew and guarded by troops.

Military units began surrounding the villages around the same time, according to Red Cross Spokesman Robin Waubo, who said the agency did not know how many died, though officials have been sent to local morgues and hospitals.

Police and military officials declined to comment on the attack or the motivation for it.

"It appears to be reprisal," Waubo told the Associated Press (AP).

In nearby Bauchi State, more than 600 people fled to a makeshift camp still holding victims of January's violence, said Adamu Abubakar, a Red Cross official.

"They started running away from the fighting," he disclosed, and "more continued to come."

Jos has remained under curfew since violence on January 17 left more than 300 people dead, the majority of them Muslims.

In January, a panel was still in the middle of a probe of the violence which occurred in Jos on November 28, 2008 that resulted in the death of several people.

Sectarian violence in the North has left thousands dead over the past decade, despite efforts by Abuja to quell religious extremism in the region.

Hope you are enjoying the snow...

2010-02-16T01:32:00.001-08:00

A few pics in Botswana

2010-02-02T02:09:00.000-08:00

Holiday party and other random office pics

2010-01-03T22:50:00.000-08:00

Calabar Christman Festival

2010-01-03T22:12:00.000-08:00

Hi All- I haven't had time to post anything in a long time, but I am now at the Joberg airport with some hours to kill, so I am posting pictures of my recent trip to the Calabar Christmas Festival, check it out...

Jos Zoo and Wildlife Park

2009-11-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Nigerians love UM!

2009-09-25T06:22:00.000-07:00

Funny Picture from Mackinac Island

2009-09-24T02:40:00.000-07:00

The girls in orange attended the wedding, the other 2 women were just random people in the bar who like there picture taken...

Random Picture

2009-09-04T06:46:00.001-07:00

This is me with my friend Ijogo at Millenium Park in Abuja last Sunday.

Paintings

2009-08-15T07:19:00.002-07:00

I have a friend who is a painter and asked her to make 3 paintings for me. The first is a mosaic of Kano, Nigeria from a picture I took in February of this year. The second is of Kasane, Botswana from a picture I took there in December 2008. The third is OBAMA!!! Remember you can click on the pictures to make them bigger...

Governance has failed in Nigeria, says Clinton

2009-08-13T03:01:00.000-07:00

Here is an article from Nigerian newspaper, The Nation, on Hillary Clinton's visit...

United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke last night on Nigeria’s crisis of growth, saying corruption has caused a failure of governance.

She said at a town of hall meeting in Abuja:

"The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, state and local levels."

Mrs Clinton added: "Lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace violence and reject the authority of the state".

She said contrary to the belief in some quarters, the US had been providing information on the Halliburton bribery scandal.

Mrs Clinton, the most senior official of the Obama administration to visit Nigeria, said her country also shared with Nigeria other information needed to address corruption.

She lamented that despite Nigeria’s potentials and resources, it had nothing to show for the welfare of its citizens, adding that it is up to Nigerians to fix their country for the betterment of the majority.

Mrs Clinton said: "We want to see the reinstatement of a vigorous corruption commission. The EFCC, which was doing well, has kind of fallen off in the last one year. We will like to see it come back to business to be able to partner with us."

She said the fight against corruption was necessary for the creation of the kind of business environment needed for the growth and development of Nigeria, adding, "We think it is good business to eliminate corrupt practices. It is better for competition, it is better for trade and investment environment, it is better for Nigeria’s reputation as a place to do business without heavy transaction cost".

To underscore the importance attached to fighting corruption by the Obama presidency, Mrs Clinton said the US was willing to assist Nigeria with information in its anti-graft campaign.

Her country, she added, is also willing to help in zeroing in on specific individuals responsible for corruption rather than a sweeping action against Nigerians in the US.

The lack of accountability and transparency, according to her, has eroded the gains Nigeria ought to have from its enormous resources.

"We are sharing information with the Nigerian legal system, as we want to cooperate closely. So we will do all we can to prosecute whoever crosses the line who has an American connection. American companies were made to sign up to an anti-corruption standard and we would punish any company found to have violated the standards," she said.

This is the second time in less than one week that Mrs Clinton has spoken harshly about Nigeria. "Nigeria is the fifth oil producer in the world and it still imports oil. This is an example of bad governance," she said on CNN last weekend.

On how to sustain democracy and ensure good governance, Mrs Clinton said proactive steps must be taken that include the establishment of a credible system of registration "that keeps track of those eligible to vote; it is essential and must start soon if a fair and credible election is expected in 2011".

She added: "There must be a truly independent electoral system run by independent group of people. There must be political parties that are rooted at the grassroots for party internal democracy to be enshrined"

She said the use of technology to organise people must also be put in place and that the people along with the Civil Society Organisation (CSO) and others must be able to convince the parliament to pass strong Electoral Reforms Bill.

"There is a need to strengthen Nigeria’s democratic institutions for credible elections," Mrs Clinton.

Mrs Clinton said the condition is meant to protect developed countries’ investments abroad.

The scrapping of subsidies she said, would keep their industries afloat as well as be able to invest more and export to other countries.

She said it had become imperative for the global financial institutions to reflect the realities of the 21st century.

Nigeria, she said, ought to be part of the G20 but that corruption has robbed it of its potentials.

Mrs Clinton promised that as Nigeria moves towards the realisation of its potentials, the US would give maximum support.

The World Bank, Mrs Clinton said, recently concluded that Nigeria had lost well over $300billion during the last three decades of corruption and mismanagement".

On the Boko Haram sectarian crisis, Mrs Clinton warned that Nigeria could be a target for al-Qaeda.

"Al Qaeda has a presence in Northern Africa. There is no doubt in our minds that al Qaeda and like organisations that are part of the syndicate of terror would seek a foothold anywhere they could find one, and whether that is the case here or whether this is a homegrown example of fundamentalist extremism - that is for the Nigerians to determine," she said.

The meeting was attended by various groups including Transparency International, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Campaign for Democracy (CD), West African Bar Association (WABA), and Media Rights Agenda (MPA) among others.

Among those who asked Mrs Clinton questions were Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin of CD, Mr Femi Falana, WABA’s president, and Dr Jibrin Ibrahim of CDD.

Fashion Show

2009-08-13T02:23:00.000-07:00

I attended one fashion, poetry, music show over the weekend...

Nigerian militant amnesty starts

2009-08-06T02:11:00.000-07:00

The Nigerian government's offer of an amnesty for militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta region has begun.

During the next two months officials hope about 10,000 armed men will surrender their weapons in return for a pardon and retraining.

It is not yet clear how many of the region's numerous armed groups will take part in the amnesty.

They attack oil refineries and smash pipelines in what they say is a fight for a fair share of the delta's wealth.

In recent months the violent struggle in the delta has worsened, but the amnesty offer is being hailed by analysts as one of the most significant efforts so far to end the unrest.

Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, spokeswoman for the amnesty programme, said the militants had made their point.

"They have raised the issues of the Niger Delta sufficiently to national and international consciousness," she said.

"This amnesty, I believe, offers the militants the opportunity to engage in finding lasting solutions to the problems of the Niger Delta."

She said hundreds of militants had expressed interest in taking the clemency, including one commander who said he and 800 fighters were ready to accept the offer.

'Oil war'

Officials said gunmen who accept amnesty would be given 65,000 naira ($433; £255) a month for food and living expenses during the rehabilitation programme, which runs from 6 August to 4 October.

But the main rebel group in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), has not yet said it will take part in the amnesty.

"When we choose to disarm, it will be done freely, knowing that the reason for our uprising which is the emancipation of the Niger Delta from neglect and injustice has been achieved," the group said in statement e-mailed to the AFP news agency.

The group, which called a temporary ceasefire last month after one of its leaders was freed from jail, is in talks with senior officials about the terms of any possible amnesty.

Oil revenue is the major source of income for the entire country but the so-called oil war has cut Nigeria's oil output by about a quarter in recent years.

The militants tap into pipelines, siphon off oil and sell it on a huge scale. Some analysts estimate the illicit industry generates more than $50m a day.

The BBC's Caroline Duffield, in Nigeria, says some of the most powerful people in Nigeria directly profit from the militants' activities.

With that kind of money involved, our correspondent says, it is hard to see why the militant gangs or their powerful patrons would want peace at all.

Nigeria Violence Sparks New Concerns

2009-08-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

By WILL CONNORS

LAGOS, Nigeria -- A week of brutal violence in northern Nigeria has spurred questions over whether an obscure homegrown religious fundamentalist group represents a broader threat to national security in Africa's most populous nation.
More than 800 people were killed last week during fighting between an Islamic fundamentalist group calling itself Boko Haram, and Nigerian security forces. The clashes spread across several northern states.

A Red Cross worker in the northern city of Maiduguri, where most of the fighting occurred, said that 780 bodies had been collected in the past few days, and that at least 3,600 Maiduguri residents had been displaced. Officials in Bauchi, where the violence began, had earlier confirmed more than 50 deaths.

Rights groups say many civilians were among those killed, though exact figures remain unknown. Police say most of the dead were militants.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in sectarian violence in Nigeria since 1999, often in the so-called Middle Belt, where the predominantly Muslim north meets the Christian south.
But Boko Haram's targeting of its own government, attacking police stations and other official buildings, surprised many observers. Some northern Nigerians, who were aware of previous incidents involving the group, say the government should have seen this coming.

"The group's teachings are not new," said Hassan Karofi, operations manager of the Daily Trust newspaper for the northern region of Nigeria.

President Umaru Yar'Adua also has been criticized for leaving the country as the crisis escalated. The president returned from a trip to Brazil on Saturday, after the fighting had subsided.
Boko Haram, which means "education is prohibited" in the Hausa language spoken in northern Nigeria, has been advocating a withdrawal from Western education and ideals, and for a stricter adoption of Shariah law, already practiced in 12 northern states. The group has convinced followers to drop out of school, quit their jobs and become more focused on living according to its strict guidelines. The exact number of followers of the group isn't known.

Some analysts believe the group gained traction because of growing poverty in northern Nigeria over the years. The emergence of the oil industry in the southern delta region took the government's focus away from agriculture. Growing cities such as Lagos, the economic hub of West Africa, lured the north's residents.

While they were once the agricultural center of a country that was a net exporter of foodstuffs, most of the northern farms now lay fallow. Hundreds of once-humming textile mills are silent. Only five working mills remain.

Security forces have been criticized in the days following the violence for ignoring signs that the group was planning attacks. Police spokesmen in Bauchi, where an attack on a police station last week ignited the recent violence, and in Abuja, the capital, confirmed that the group had been under surveillance for months for "preaching fundamentalism."

Residents of major northern towns and Muslim leaders knew of the group and the radical
teachings of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, for years.

The local Guardian newspaper cited senior security officials Sunday as saying that nearly a dozen confidential reports detailing the "imminent threat" of Boko Haram had been presented to the Inspector General of Police over the last year, but nothing was done.

Federal Police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu confirmed the police had received several security reports concerning the group, and though they had arrested Mr. Yusuf twice, didn't have enough evidence to keep him in jail. "This is a democracy, you can't arrest somebody [again] without evidence," Mr. Ojukwu said by phone from Abuja. "We'd been keeping tabs on them."
Mr. Yusuf had been arrested twice for "inciting public disturbances and subversive activities," according to police, most recently in January, when he was released on bail.

In June, police stopped Boko Haram followers for traffic violations during a funeral procession for two members of the group. Members of the fundamentalist group reacted violently, according to the police, and eight of the Boko Haram followers were killed in the confrontation. Afterward, Boko Haram members publicly threatened to attack police and said they would have their revenge, according to press reports at the time.

Three weeks ago a member of Boko Haram was killed in an explosion in his home. Police said he had been trying to build a bomb.

Adding to the turmoil surrounding the incidents are questions surrounding the death of Mr. Yusuf on Thursday.

A photo obtained by the BBC shows the Mr. Yusuf, with a wound on his arm, being escorted to jail by army officials. Hours later, police officials invited journalists to photograph his bullet-riddled body.

Police say he died while trying to escape custody. Some rights groups have urged an investigation, suggesting Mr. Yusuf was executed while in police custody.

"We're investigating the circumstances that led to his death and the death of other Nigerians," Mr. Ojukwu said.

Many in Nigeria say that the leader's death means critical information about his group is lost.
"Some things might have come out if he had gone to trial," said Zacarys Anger Gundu, a professor at Ahmadu Bello University in the northern city of Zaria, who has been following the incidents. "There are a lot of things we don't know about the group, and killing the leader removes the issue from public scrutiny."

Residents in Maiduguri told reporters many Boko Haram members have shaved their beards and slipped back into daily life, according to reports. "We know it is not finished yet," said Mr. Karofi of the Daily Trust newspaper.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A14

Back to work

2009-07-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

More random Amsterdam pics

2009-07-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

And by special request...

2009-07-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

Mom keeps asking for pictures where im in them...

Here is a little photo series I have been working on...

2009-07-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

Paris Day 2

2009-07-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

There is a bit more to take pictures up in Paris than the 'Dam...

Paris Day One

2009-06-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

Hi there- I will write lots more really, I promise, but might as well do that in Abuja. Yesterday I had a lot of fun! We spent a lot of time in the Musee d'Orsay (apparently the Louve is closed on Tuesdays), walking along the Seine, then went on a really fun bike tour at night which included a boat ride too. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Amsterdam- Day 1

2009-06-23T23:44:00.000-07:00

Hi All- I will write much more later, but i wanna go get started with today. Here are a few pictures from yesterday. If you want to reach me, my number here is 0031-614-857-472. Enjoy!

No Escaping Halliburton...

2009-04-13T02:59:00.001-07:00

Nigerian heads of state: Sani Abacha( 1993-1998), Abdulsalami Abubakar,(1998-1999), Olusegun Obasanjo(1976-1979, 1999-2007). Photo: NEXT

The Halliburton bribe takers
By Dapo Olorunyomi and Musikilu Mojeed
April 1, 2009 12:07AMT

Our so-called leaders are nothing but common bribe takers, according to US investigators who have got to the bottom of the Halliburton scandal.

The fingered personalities include three former presidents;Obasanjo, Abacha,and Abubakar- as well as a who's who of Nigeria's political and business elite.

At least three of our former presidents, Sani Abacha, Abdusalami Abubakar, and Olusegun Obasanjo, received millions of dollars in bribes from American and European contractors retained to build Africa's first liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny, Rivers State, according to US law enforcement officials.

Also enmeshed in the vast and formalized bribery scheme is a long line of ministers, bureaucrats, top politicians,state and local officials and former oil minister Dan Etete, according to American investigators.

This cast of characters, charged with running the affairs of 150 million people in the heart of Africa,received stacks of US dollar bills in briefcases and sometimes in bullion vans.
In other cases they received their payoffs via electronic bank transfers involving such financial institutions as Citibank.

In all, these eminent Nigerians accepted at least N27 billion in bribes from the oil services companies in exchange for billions of dollars in contracts to build our liquefied natural gas plant, US investigators say.

American authorities are now pursuing their own citizens and corporations, notably the oil

services company Halliburton, in connection with the scandal.
Halliburton has agreed to pay $579 million in fines and many of its agents face long jail terms.
Our law enforcement authorities, notably Attorney General Michael Aandoaka, have lately been making noises but have in reality done little to pursue those indicted in this scandal, which reveals us as a nation that fully justifies its reputation as one of the world's leading cesspits for corruption and unrestrained graft.

How it all started
The origin of the Nigerian Liquified scandal can be traced back to 1994, when bids were submitted to build Africa's first liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny, Rivers State, at a cost of $6 billion.

A joint venture company, TSKJ, formed in equal partnership between a French engineering company, Technip; an Italian engineering company, Snamprogetti; a US engineering company, KBR,of the Halliburton group; and the Japanese engineering and construction company, JGC, amplified corruption in Nigeria to unprecedented levels.
Soon after TSKJ was formed, it set up three companies registered in Madeira, Portugal to recruit two "consulting companies," Tri-Star Investment Ltd, and Marubeni Inc, with the mandate to bribe Nigerian "officials of the executive branch of government, NNPC and NLNG officials, and political party leaders," according to a sealed indictment filed at the United States District Court in Houston, Texas.

Three early decisions taken by TSKJ were: hiring a British lawyer, Jeffery Tesler, to coordinate the affairs of TriStar; signing up Wojciech Chodan, an American deal maker resident in the UK to assist him and contracting Messrs Matsuda, Endo, and Lida to run Marubeni.
According to the court deposition of Mr.Tesler, in a clinical application of the principles of division of labour,TSKJ mandated the Tri-Star team, which it disingenuously called "cultural advisors," to focus only on bribing the "senior level officials", while the Marubeni team was instructed to restrict itself to bribing the "lower level Nigerian officials."

Thus while Tristar was incorporated in Gibraltar and had a budget of $130 million; Marubeni, incorporated in Japan, had a budget of $50 million.

Our investigations in the United States, France, the UK and in Nigeria spanned a three week period and were based on court indictments, depositions and interviews.
Bribery in a customary manner

Sani Abacha, Nigeria's late Head of State, was the first significant point of contact for the TSKJ team, according to lawyers of the United States department of justice, who claimed in court depositions that, in August 1994, the CEO of KBR, Albert Jackson Stanley, and top executives of TSKJ struck an agreement with Abacha "to do business in a customary manner."
Towards this end, a "cultural committee" of the sales and senior personnel officers of the four joint venture companies, as well as agents of Marubeni was put together to "consider how to implement, but hide, the scheme to pay bribes" to Nigerian officials.
The "cultural committee" in October 1994 worked out a programme of what it called "the downloading and offloading of payments through subcontractors and vendors."
According to the U. S. Department of Justice, once a plan of how to distribute the bribes and a scheme to evade US bank monitors were resolved, the "cultural committee" gave Mr. Tesler the green light to meet the then petroleum minister, Dan Etete, to discuss and agree on the modalities.

This meeting held on November 02 1994, when Mr. Tesler handed Mr. Etete the bribe schema to secure Train 1 and Train 2 of the Liquified Natural Gas(LNG) contract.

It was made clear that $60 million was available to be shared. Out of this, $40 million would go to Mr. Abacha, while others would have to scramble for the remaining $20million.
A cultural committee to manage the graft

Keeping faith with the grand plan of the cultural committee, Mr. Stanley, the CEO of KBR, who

was handpicked for this job by former U.S.Vice President Dick Cheney, rushed to Abuja three weeks after the November 2 meeting , to confirm if Mr. Abacha was comfortable with Tesler as a go-between.

Once this was understood on both sides, a series of decisions was made ahead of the signing of the Train 1 and Train 2 contracts.

In January 1995, Chodan and Stanley agreed to exclude any US citizens from participating in the bribe scheme. In March of the same year, TSKJ formally signed the $60 million contract with TriStar.

Furthermore, in December, TSKJ paid TriStar $1.5 million as commission for its "services," and in April 1996, TSKJ formally signed a $29 million contract with Marubeni to settle the "lower level Nigerian officials."

According to filings in the Houston District court, by the time the Train 1 and Train 2 contracts had been signed, Mr.Tesler himself wired $63,000 into a Swiss account of Mr.Etete.
French police prosecutors have determined that around the same time, in order to cover up his tracks, he also opened negotiations with Etete to purchase five per cent of the then minister's holding in the OPL 245 Malibu oil block.

For this deal, Mr.Tesler wired a total of $2.5 million into the accounts of the former minister through the TriStar accounts.

Mr. Etete used three different names, according to the deposition, his personal name or Buzaki Etete, or one Omoni Amafegha, who Mr.Tesler told the French Court was a listed name on the board of Malibu.

Dele Adesina, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Mr. Etete's lawyer in respect of the Malabu oil block licence which the Obasanjo administration revoked in 1999, would not comment on this matter when asked.

He said: "I was only retained with respect of the revocation of the Malabu block; I have absolutely no knowledge of Mr.Tesler."

Mr.Tesler's brief was to make sure things moved smoothly. A key challenge at this point was unfettered access to Mr.Abacha at that time, and as he told French investigators, the man who made this possible was the former Inspector General of Police, M. D. Yusuf, who later became Chairman of the NLNG.

Mr.Tesler claimed he "downloaded $75,000 in two installments" into Mr.Yusuf's pocket for this purpose. Information on the former policeman's involvement in the TSKJ scandal, is not new.
In 2004, when a House of Representatives Committee headed by Chudi Offodile investigated the NLNG contract, it found out that Mr. Yusuf as NLNG chairman acted improperly in favour of TSKJ.

Petroleum minister at the time,Don Etiebet, had sought to ensure fair play in the contract bid between TSKJ, and the only other competitor, BCSA.

It "appeared that a decision had been taken even before the Board meeting of 24th Sept. 1994" that determined the contract, the Offodile report stated.

What happened after Trains 1 and 2
Having put the Train 1 and 2 contracts in the can, TSKJ turned its gaze on the Train 3 contract. For this, Stanley flew to Abuja again in the second quarter of 1997, with the sole mission of asking Mr.Abacha to recommend a trusted front man to collect his bribe.
Shortly after he died on June 8, 1998, Mr.Tesler promptly erased him from the list of bribe beneficiaries, substituting him with the new helmsman, Abdulsalami Abubakar.
To keep the entire scheme on the rails, Stanley flew back to Abuja on February 28 1999, asking Mr. Abubakar, to recommend a trusted front man to collect his bribe.

Anxiety about the election
With an election already fixed for May 1999, TSKJ was anxious to wrap up the Train 3 contract before a change of power in Abuja.
Another meeting was held in London on March 05 1999, to come up with a strategy to achieve this objective.

One week after, TSKJ won the Train 3 contract for $1.2 billion. On March 18, 1999, TSKJ paid a kickback of $32.5 million into TriStar's account, to bribe the Nigerian officials who facilitated the award of the contract.

Even though the lower class officials were eventually catered for in the bribe scheme, they always got the short end of the stick.

Thus, while the senior Nigerian officials had their bribes promptly paid, it took one year after TSKJ had signed the Train 3 contract before Marubeni lined the pockets of the lower class officials.

Computing the pay-offs up to January 2001, American prosecutors believe that a $2.5 million bribe was "off loaded" directly to the Swiss account of Mr. Abubakar's frontman.
For four days last week, NEXT sought unsuccessfully, through his media consultant, to reach the former Head of State, sending him details of the court indictments but he declined to comment.
After the transition to civil rule in 1999, the United States Department of Justice attorneys stated that Mr.Stanley met with the new President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the then Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Gauis Obaseki, in Abuja on November 11, 2001, to designate "a representative with whom the joint venture [TSKJ] should negotiate the [obligatory] bribes in support of the award of the [forthcoming] Trains 4 and 5 contracts."

One month later, on December 20 in London, Mr. Obaseki met Mr. Chodan and Mr.Stanley over lunch, to discuss the details of the Trains 4 and 5 contracts.
On Christmas Eve, TSKJ signed a $51 million deal with TriStar, to bribe Nigerian officials for the Trains 4 and 5 contracts.

Three months later, in March 2002, TSKJ won the Train 4 and 5 contract for $3.6 billion. Mr. Obaseki declined to respond to these charges when NEXT spoke to him on the phone.
He appeared to be more disturbed about how we got his phone numbers. "I am sorry I have no response to give" he said.

Mr. Obaseki's email address and phone numbers are all listed on his own personal website. We also could not reach former president Obasanjo, for his comment on the bribe claims by Mr.Tesler.

Taking care of the political big boys
Following the signing of contracts for Trains 4 and 5, all seemed to be going well between the new administration and TSKJ.
June 2002 would turn out to be a significant month in this narrative of sleaze between TSKJ and

Nigerian government officials.

That month, TSKJ signed another $25 million contract with Marubeni to settle the bribes of the low cadre officials for the Trains 4 and 5 of the NLNG project.
It also signed a $23 million contract with TriStar to bribe the top officials for the Train 6 project.
However, Mr.Obaseki's meeting with Mr.Tesler in London represented an important turning point in the scandal.

The former NNPC's GMD's message to the meeting, according to Mr. Tesler's indictment papers, was that the time had come to bring in the political boys.

Apparently the Peoples Democratic Party gods needed to be appeased.

Indictment records from both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States attorneys showed that in August 2002, Mr. Tesler wired $5 million to the account of a Port Harcourt based sub-contractor named Intels Energy Limited.
The money was received in the company's account with Citibank Nigeria.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the late Shehu Musa Yar Adua are alleged to have substantial interests in Intels Energy Limited.
NEXT made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to speak to Intels officials on the phone.
A letter delivered to their Ikoyi, Lagos office asking for their response to this allegation is still unanswered .

A Mr. Joseph who was in the office said , "How did you people even get this information," adding that the letter must be forwarded to Intels Port Harocurt office.
Intels, according to our investigations, was the key sub contractor for Marubeni in bribing the lower level officials of the NNPC and NLNG.

Bullion van bribery
Both the Department of Justice and the Security and Exchange Commission's attorneys, corroborated each other's claim that $1million in $100 bills was deposited "to the NNPC official" at the NICON Hilton Hotel in a "pilot's briefcase" for onward delivery to the PDP before the 2003 general elections.

The remaining $4 million was, according to the court filings, delivered in naira in a bul-lion van.
Audu Ogbe who was the PDP chairman at the time denied any knowledge of this and loudly called for an investigation.
A spokesman for Vincent Ogbulafor, the current chairman, said in Abuja last week that Ogboluafor also discounted this claim.

Phenomenal greed and sleaze
The planning, the scale and the sophistication of TSKJ's web of corruption and its capacity to ensnare three successive heads of state, coupled with the elaborate scheme to set up corrupting agencies for lower and senior officials, stands out in the annals of official corruption in Nigeria.
The ruling class was identified and broken down into its constituent parts: political, bureaucratic, and technocratic so as to isolate the beneficiaries of the graft.
TSKJ came fully prepared and well primed to sustaining this code named scheme over the decade it would take to come to fruition.

The multijurisdictional impact of the corruption is still unprecedented in Nigeria.
Keeping mute

Attorneys for TSKJ, KBR, and Halliburton in Nigeria, Templars Law Offices on Victoria Island, Lagos declined to answer questions about the conduct of their clients, saying "we cannot make any comment on TSKJ because they are no longer our clients."
Yet, Templars maintains a relationship with both TSKJ and Halliburton on its website.
It indeed claims to maintain a "recent relationship," regarding multi-jurisdictional investigations in Nigeria, Switzerland, France, and the UK.

An office spokesperson declined to comment on when Templars severed its relationships with TSKJ and Halliburton.

But he was emphatic that the principal partner, Oghogho Akpata, who is the office lead on the TSKJ/KBR/Halliburton brief, would not be available for comments.

Investigating KBR
KBR or its principal officers are facing investigation and prosecution in at least five countries today.

Officers from Britain's Serious Fraud Office(SFO), arrested Mr. Tesler, now 60, at his offices in Tottenham, London, on March 05.

He is to be extradited to the USA to face further questioning by the Department of Justice.
Also arrested with Mr.Tesler was Mr.Chodan, 71, who as an agent for Halliburton, wrote detailed diaries, describing meetings with the bribe consortium and representatives of the international oil companies.

From the United Kingdom, Britain's Serious Fraud Office confirmed that there is an on-going investigation into the allegations of bribery and corruption against British businesses in Nigeria.
Since 2004, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been investigating the conduct of Halliburton/KBR.

The investigation is ongoing, according to sources in Abuja.
Recently, the Swiss Justice department followed the steps of the Police Judiciare of France, which in 2003, started an investigation which revealed fraudulent Halliburton payments to Jeffery Tesler.

In their home country, the United States, KBR and Halliburton admitted last month to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, by engaging in a decade-long bribing scheme to secure contracts in Nigeria.

The companies also agreed to pay a combined fine of $579 million to settle criminal and civil charges brought by both the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The indictment of Mr.Tesler and Mr.Chodan, in all likelihood, will also open a floodgate of other suits.

This month the president gave full backing to the Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa, to again investigate Halliburton for tarnishing the image of the country by bribing its officials.
Mr. Aaondoaka has assembled a team of local lawyers and briefed American-based financial crimes experts, to institute a suit against KBR and Halliburton for soiling the name of the country through the bribery schemes.

Also last Tuesday, the Nigerian Senate called on the Federal Government to identify the Nigerians involved and proceed to prosecute them.
Smart Adeyemi,one of the eight senators who sponsored the Bill said "the matter is so huge it can erase the prestige of the Senate and indeed of the Nigerian government to be legitimate, if this is swept under the carpet."

The chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-corruption, Sabo Nakudu, also takes the position that the allegations deserve "serious investigation", although he was worried that "we haven't got any petition in that regard and no report has been sent to us.
We just read about the thing in the newspapers. Unless we are able to come across some documentation to look at that kind of issue, there is nothing we can do.
We are just reading all these information in the newspapers like anybody else."

In the 2003-2007 House of Representatives, when Chudi Offodile, as chairman of the House committee on pubic petitions, investigated the Halliburton scandal, he said he repeatedly ran into a brick wall.

The Offodile committee, however, recommended that all companies in the TSKJ consortium, as well as Halliburton be excluded from future contracts in the country.
The House sitting of September 2004, approved the committee's recommendations.
In his response to the current phase of the scandal, Mr.Offodile, in a pained response, lamented how the NNPC and the Federal Government subverted all the best intensions of the legislature.
In spite of the legislators recommendations, NNPC went ahead to give KBR the contract to build the "topsides of the FPSO for Agbami Deep offshore field, owned by NNPC, ChevronTexaco Petrobras and Statoil... [and that the] same KBR formed a Joint Venture with Snamprogetti, and JGC, all three Companies were members of the notorious TSKJ consortium and still won a $1.7Billion EPC contract to build the Escravos Gas to Liquids Project, owned by the NNPC and Chevron-Texaco,'' said Mr. Offodile.

He recounted a meeting in June 2005 when he accompanied then House Speaker Aminu Bello and Deputy Speaker Austin Opara, to brief President Obasanjo on the true situation of the Halliburton/KBR.

"We were all seated at the President's conference room, the Halliburton team led by Mr. Andy Lane, the Chief Operating Officer, the NNPC team, led by the Group managing Director, Funsho Kupolokun , " a few minutes later, one of the presidency staff walked up to the Deputy Speaker and informed him that I would not be part of the meeting."
Offodile said adding that he was thrown out of the meeting. He described the situation as frustrating and painful because "once again, the Halliburton enforcers had their way."
It appears that Mr. Aoandoaka, who reportedly travelled to London and Washington last week also has an eye on the civil forfeiture processes for some of the monies and investments derived from the bribes.

Officials at the Serious Fraud Office in London declined comments on Mr. Aoandoaka's statement, saying investigations are still going on.

NEXT can however authoritatively confirm, that no mutual legal assistant requests have yet been filed from the Attorney General's office to give substance to his stated desire.
Sources working in UK and US law enforcement agencies told NEXT the attorney general's request for support on the Wilbros case has not been honoured due to a perception of official stalling and stonewalling on the part of Nigerian anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies.
Local attorney's reviewing Aoandoaka's strategy say it is self serving and funny.
"It is empty braggadocio couched in legal phraseology," says Jiti Ogunye, a lawyer on Aoandoaka's strategy.

"When you say you are going to sue a company for damaging the image of a country, you are speaking in the realm of libel. A country is a subject in international law, I'm not aware of a situation in which a country as an entity sues an individual or another country for libel. I think his statement should just be dismissed."
But Carol Ajie, another lawyer thinks that Aondoaka's pursuit of Haliburton might be "in order to compel Haliburton to disclose the names of bribe takers since the giver and taker of bribes are both guilty."

House Party

2009-04-09T02:30:00.000-07:00

Hi All-

A few weeks ago my roommate and colleague had a huge party at the house to celebrate her birthday. It was pretty over the top, check it out...

Conversion to Islam

2009-03-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

Hello-
I am hesitant to write this post, but after many months of careful contemplation I have decided to make the announcement.

The word “Muslim” means one who submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background. Becoming a Muslim is a simple and easy process that requires no pre-requisites. One may convert alone in privacy, or he/she may do so in the presence of others.

If anyone has a real desire to be a Muslim and has full conviction and strong belief that Islam is the true religion of God, then, all one needs to do is pronounce the “Shahada”, the testimony of faith, without further delay. The “Shahada” is the first and most important of the five pillars of Islam. With the pronunciation of this testimony, or “Shahada”, with sincere belief and conviction, one enters the fold of Islam.

To convert to Islam and become a Muslim a person needs to pronounce the below testimony with conviction and understanding its meaning:
I testify “La ilah illa Allah, Muhammad rasoolu Allah.”
The translation of which is:
“I testify that there is no true god (deity) but God (Allah), and that Muhammad is a Messenger (Prophet) of God.”

The first part of the testimony consists of the most important truth that God revealed to mankind: that there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God. God states in the Holy Quran:

“We did not send the Messenger before you without revealing to him: ‘none has the right to be worshipped except I, therefore worship Me.’” (Quran 21:25)

This conveys that all forms of worship, whether it be praying, fasting, invoking, seeking refuge in, and offering an animal as sacrifice, must be directed to God and to God alone. Directing any form of worship to other than God (whether it be an angel, a messenger, Jesus, Muhammad, a saint, an idol, the sun, the moon, a tree) is seen as a contradiction to the fundamental message of Islam, and it is an unforgivable sin unless it is repented from before one dies. All forms of worship must be directed to God only.

Worship means the performance of deeds and sayings that please God, things which He commanded or encouraged to be performed, either by direct textual proof or by analogy. Thus, worship is not restricted to the implementation of the five pillars of Islam, but also includes every aspect of life. Providing food for one’s family, and saying something pleasant to cheer a person up are also considered acts of worship, if such is done with the intention of pleasing God. This means that, to be accepted, all acts of worship must be carried out sincerely for the Sake of God alone.

The second part of the testimony means that Prophet Muhammad is the servant and chosen messenger of God. This implies that one obeys and follows the commands of the Prophet. One must believe in what he has said, practice his teachings and avoid what he has forbidden. One must therefore worship God only according to his teaching alone, for all the teachings of the Prophet were in fact revelations and inspirations conveyed to him by God.

One must try to mold their lives and character and emulate the Prophet, as he was a living example for humans to follow. God says:
“And indeed you are upon a high standard of moral character.” (Quran 68:4)

God also said:
“And in deed you have a good and upright example in the Messenger of God, for those who hope in the meeting of God and the Hereafter, and mentions God much.” (Quran 33:21)
He was sent in order to practically implement the Quran, in his saying, deeds, legislation as well as all other facets of life. Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, when asked about the character of the

Prophet, replied:
“His character was that of the Quran.” (As-Suyooti)
To truly adhere to the second part of the Shahada is to follow his example in all walks of life.
God says:

“Say (O Muhammad to mankind): ‘If you (really) love God, then follow me.’” (Quran 3:31)
It also means that Muhammad is the Final Prophet and Messenger of God, and that no (true) Prophet can come after him. “Muhammad is not the father of any man among you but he is the Messenger of God and the last (end) of the Prophets and God is Ever All-Aware of everything.” (Quran 33:40)

Lagos update

2009-03-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hi-

Scroll down to the earlier posting about the construction of the child-friendly waiting area at a hospital in Lagos. You can see it during the construction phase. Now here are pictures of it completed:

Pretty nice! It should make a lot of kids happier to be at the hospital. The parents too. Hopefully, this help to keep kids on their HIV treatment.

This was what it looked like before:

Check out this article on the Clinton Foundation website

2009-03-01T05:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.clintonfoundation.org/news/news-media/news-hiv-testing-for-kids-increases-over-10-times-in-2-years-in-nigeria

Random Story

2009-02-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

Last week I was walking down my street. There is a club on the corner and it was night, so lots of people were around. Here was an encounter I had with one girl:

Girl: Oyibo! (that means white guy)
Me: Hey, how you doing? (I keep walking)
Girl: Look at the Oyibo, walking around Abuja so freely. If this was Port Harcourt I would kidnap you!
Me: HAHAHAHA!

This could be a continuing series, people say lots of funny stuff to me on the street.

Old Peace Corps Pics

2009-02-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

Hi All-

Just a normal work week this week, except I got a couple packages in the mail. One had Eminem's new autobiography, woo hoo! The other had tons of old pics from Peace Corps. One volunteer collected everyone's pics and made a CD of them and mailed them to everyone. Here are some old ones I never saw before...

This one is definitely on the bus from Johannesburg to go to Botswana for the first time...

Here are a couple pictures during our initial training...

Here are a some more from that kickass trip to Mozambique....

Seems like a long time ago. Hope you enjoyed.

Lagos

2009-02-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hi All- I am in Lagos for meetings. We are starting up a new program here. I am very optomistic that it is going to be extremely successful. The potential is great since the population is so large.

Here is a bit on Lagos:

Lagos State is an administrative region of Nigeria, located in the southwestern part of the country. The smallest of Nigeria's states, Lagos State is the second most populous state after Kano State, and arguably the most economically important state of the county, containing Lagos, the nation's largest urban area.

Lagos State was created on May 27, 1967 by virtue of State (Creation and Transitional Provisions) Decree No. 14 of 1967, which restructured Nigeria’s Federation into 12 states. Prior to this, Lagos Municipality had been administered by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Lagos Affairs as the regional authority, while the Lagos City Council (LCC) governed the City of Lagos.

State took off as an administrative entity on April 11, 1968 with Lagos Island serving the dual role of being the State and Federal Capital. However, with the creation of the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja in 1976, Lagos ceased to be the capital of the State which was moved to Ikeja.

Equally, with the formal relocation of the seat of the Federal Government to Abuja on 12 December 1991, Lagos Island ceased to be Nigeria’s political capital. Nevertheless, Lagos remains the center of commerce for the country.

I am staying at a hotel with the fastest internet I have had in like 3 years, so here are lots of pictures...

Here are some of the Doctors I was working with at the teaching hospital here in Lagos. It was one of their birthdays:

Here is a general hospital in Lagos that was a small grant award winner. They are building a child friendly waiting area that will have toys and health education DVDs. They are just starting construction it now:

This one if from Nasarawa State last week. You can see some coworkers reviewing patient charts for that study on Expert Clients:

And here are more random pics from the car window in Kano State. You can see the Emir's palace, the main mosque, and some other sculptures:

And just because the internet is so good, here are 2 pictures of me in funny hats:

Please write some comments!!!!

More Kiva!

2009-02-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am still obsessed with http://www.kiva.org/ and can't stop talking about it. If you still don't know what it is, what is wrong with you? :) It is a microlending site you can do online with your credit card. You receive email updates of the progress of those you lend to on creating their businesses and they pay the money back in 3-6 months right back into your account. I did a profile of the 3 loans I made last year. Grandma got me some gift certificates, so now check out the 3 others I just make this year:

Eribarik Paulo, age 29, is single. He has a catering business. He started this business in 2006 and works daily from 8am until midnight. He is able to earn a monthly profit of around US$ 177.

This will be Eribarik’s fifth loan from Tujijenge Tanzania. He used the previous loans to build his private house and has repaid the loans successfully. He now hopes for the fifth loan to buy a good stock of food for his business.

Eribarik will share this loan with his loan group "Neema Kimara", which totals 16 members. The members of the group hold each other accountable in paying back their loans. In the picture, Eribarik is in the middle, front row, in a white T-shirt. About Group Loans In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults.

Béatrice Wilangi is 49 years old and the mother of four children, of whom two are twins. They are aged between 17 and 25. Besides her own children, she also takes care of an orphan aged 17. Three of the children in her care are enrolled in school.

Béatrice began her business in 2004 selling a five-kilo bag of sugar. Her beginning capital was US$ 5. As she used to sell near a garage, she quickly noticed what the mechanics’ needs were. She then catered to their needs by buying and selling peanuts and cakes. Over the months, those mechanics become loyal customers. With hard work and good management, she used her profits to increase her inventory from one five-kilo bag of sugar to ten.

Béatrice joined "Beni", one of Hope’s groups, last September. The two loans she has received have helped her to diversify her business by beginning to sell loaves of bread. Beatrice’s business makes a profit of about US$ 40 per week. Her dream is to open a beverage store and a clothing shop. Beatrice’s strategies are based on keeping up good relationships with her customers and knowing their daily needs. About Group Loans In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults.

Ramatu Abubakari is 28 years old. She is married and has two children - a son and a daughter. Ramatu's daughter is already in school, while her son is yet to start. Ramatu and her family live in a rented apartment in Koforidua, a suburb of Offinso in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Koforidua is a farming as well as a commercial community, and many of its inhabitants are either farmers or traders. Ramatu works hard to help her husband financially support the family. Her husband works for one of the timber firms in the locality. Ramatu herself earns income as a food vendor. She prepares and sells porridge at the market square in the mornings. Porridge is eaten for breakfast by many Ghanaians. Ramatu procures the necessary ingredients, such as maize and millet, from Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region where they are readily available.

She has been in the food sales business for about three years and currently needs a loan to buy millet and maize in bulk in order to cut down on the cost that she otherwise incurs as a result of the frequent trips made to procure the porridge ingredients. She hopes to thereby increase her business profit and be able to better support her husband in paying for their children's education.

So I obviously thing this thing is pretty cool. It makes such a difference and it so easy to do. I know the economy is a bit tight in America just now, but try it out sometime...

Kano State

2009-02-07T03:09:00.000-08:00

Last week I traveled to Kano State to help do a study on the effectiveness of our Expert Client program and to monitor a small grant we awarded to a hospital there.

Kano State is a state located in North-Western Nigeria. Created in 1976 from part of the Northern Region, Kano state borders Katsina State to the north-west, Jigawa State to the north-east, and Bauchi and Kaduna states to the south. The capital of Kano State is Kano. The state originally included Jigawa State which was made a separate state in 1991.

Historically, Kano State has been a commercial and agricultural state, which is known for the production of groundnuts (peanuts) as well as for its solid mineral deposits.

Foreign investments and investors can be seen all over the city. It is arguably within the first five states in terms of commercial activity within Nigeria.

Kano's once booming manufacturing sector has been stagnant over the last 15 years. Largely due to epileptic power supply. Plans are being considered to build a Nuclear Power Station in the North-Eastern region of Nigeria.

The official language of Kano State is English, but the Hausa language is commonly spoken.

According to the latest census figures from Nigeria Kano State has a population totalling 9,383,682.

We were mostly inside hospital records rooms the whole time, but on Sunday we did a bit of site seeing with one of the doctors and here family. Here are some pictures:

We went to a soccer match where the local time played a team from Chad.

We went to the top of Dala Hill to see the whole ancient city. Look at all the crowed mud houses.

Here we are at on eof the hospitals.

We also met the Doctor's whole family:

Lately, I have been traveling in Kogi and Nassarawa states. Pictures from there next week...

Some other things happened, besides the visit by President Clinton

2009-01-25T01:43:00.000-08:00

Hi All-

Last week wasn't that special, just working and going to the gym, so I think I will still write about the week before. Besides the big visit from President Clinton, many other things happened.

On the morning of his visit, I had already scheduled a testing day in a small village just outside Abuja called Kobi. This was done in partnership with a small NGO called the Children Under 5 Initiative. It was a big success, 140 people where tested, 100 children and 40 adults.

Look at all the kids so well lined up to go to the clinic.

Here I am with the head of the Children Under 5 Initiative.

Also, that day a small grant I am managing was being implemented. It involved training people to help the doctors to get more people tested and retain the patients that are already on treatment. Check it out, this is in Kano, where I am right now:

So, it wasnt all just work. We took out some people who were from the Clinton Climate Initiative who were in town. I took them to a place I like that has live music and dancers. As you can see, I learned a new was to drink a beer and kinda became part of the entertainment as well. Grandma, please don't print out these pics for Grandpa...

So I am in Kano State right now and that is what next week's post will be all about, there are already some great pictures. Hope you liked it.

Bill Clinton's Visit to Nigeria

2009-01-16T00:26:00.000-08:00

Hello All-

President Clinton visited Abuja on Wednesday. The primary purpose of the visit was to speak at the ThisDay Awards. Here is a description of the event:

"Former US President Bill Clinton and former United Nations Secretary-General,
Kofi A. Annan, have confirmed participation at the 14th Annual THISDAY Awards Festival of Ideas. The Festival of Ideas aims to further good governance in Nigeria and throughout Africa by addressing current challenges. These include deepening democracy and democratic
institutions; strengthening leadership; and addressing poverty.

The conference will also focus on how to promote investment in Nigeria and in other African nations. The event which takes place in Abuja, Nigeria on 14 January 2009, will be preceded
by an awards ceremony where distinguished Nigerians will be honoured. Among
them: Cardinal Francis Arinze, the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican; Chief Anthony Enahoro, the elder statesman who moved the motion for Nigeria's independence in 1952; and Supreme Court Justices, Chukwudifu Oputa and Kayode Eso.

Also speaking: Jeb Bush, Howard Dean, Andrew Card, and Karl Rove!

THISDAY Awards honour those citizens and corporate leaders who personify
integrity, hard work, innovation, sound corporate governance, excellence and corporate
social responsibility.

President Clinton is not being paid for this speech. THISDAY is making significant
contribution to the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) to support its work in
Africa. CHAI works to expand access to high-quality HIV/AIDS care and treatment
in the developing world. Currently, 1.4 million people are benefiting from medicines
purchased under CHAI agreements. "

However, before the event, we were lucky enough to have a chance to show him a hospital in Abuja that his Foundation supports. I met him there:

This one is funny, he put me right in front of himself in the picture:

This one is even funnier, the hospital staff kind of pushed me out of the way, so I popped my head up :)

Here is how the newspaper described the visit:

"Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin has commended the work of the Clinton Foundation in Nigeria, describing the foundation as a worthy partner in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country. The minister said this when the proprietor of the Foundation and former United States President, Bill Clinton paid a visit to the Maitama General Hospital, which is one of the sites where the Foundation provides paediatric care for HIV- positive children.

Osotimehin acknowledged the support of the Foundation in the identification and placement of over 22,000 children living with HIV/AIDS on treatment and providing quality care for 45,000 others. He expressed Nigeria’s appreciation to the Clinton Initiative for the donation so far of HIV/AIDS drugs and diagnostic commodities worth over N1.3 billion to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the National ARV Scale Up programme.

Responding, former President Bill Clinton congratulated Osotimehin on his appointment as Nigeria’s Health Minister, describing the decision as that of putting a round peg in a round hole. He expressed how grateful the Foundation is for the successful collaboration with the Federal Government, which has brought quality treatment to thousands of children and is strengthening the healthcare systems. He expressed the hope that the Opt Out Policy can be implemented across all hospitals in Nigeria that admit children. He also expressed his hope that high quality medicine will continue to be available in Nigeria.

The visit at the Hospital saw the former President interacting with children living with HIV/AIDS and their care givers. Even though, the interaction took place in camera due to issues of confidentiality for HIV patients, sources close to the Foundation indicated that he was impressed with the work that the Foundation is doing in Nigeria and he promised to do his best to sustain the work."

Here we are at the Awards that evening. There was a professional photographer there, so better pictures are to follow.

Here is the newspaper article about the awards show:

"Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, arrived the country yesterday for the 14th THISDAY Awards Festival of Ideas holding in Abuja today.Also already in the country for the awards is the former governor of US State of Florida, Mr. John Ellis “Jeb” Bush.

Former US President Bill Clinton also left the United States for Nigeria last night for the ceremony which is billed to celebrate the best and the brightest of Nigeria and commemorate the longest unbroken democratic rule in the country that is now in its 10th year.

American pop star, Lionel Richie, arrived the country yesterday and is billed to perform at the awards gala. Nigeria's Dare Art Alade will also entertain the guests.

Jeb Bush will join Nigerian governors this morning at an early Breakfast Session entitled “Idea on Governance and Infrastructure” and tackle questions on the challenges facing Nigeria as it moves to consolidate democracy, enthrone sound governance practices and seek the right framework for building infrastructure to ensure and sustain economic growth.

With Bush leading the session, the discussants are ex-Cross River Governor Donald Duke, Governor Gabrial Suswam of Benue State and Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State. Others are Chairman, Intekea Corp, US, Bill Mundell, and Liling Chen of the Peoples Bank of China.

Jeb, who was born February 11, 1953, was the 43rd Governor of Florida. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the younger brother of current President Bush; the older brother of Neil Bush, Marvin Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch; and the second son of former President George H. W. Bush.A star-studded international team will discuss the implications of the Barack Obama Presidency for Africa at the second session.

The team will lead discussions in Session II entitled “Obama is President: What Next for the World and So What for Africa ?”Members of the team are Howard Dean, the chairman of the US Democratic Party which produced Obama; Donna Brazile, Democratic Strategist and former Campaign Manager of ex-Vice President Al Gore; Card, former White House Chief of Staff; and Karl Rove, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush.The session will be moderated by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigeria’s former Minister of External Affairs.

Entertainment correspondent for CNN’s flagship morning news programme, Lola Ogunnaike and senior strategist for the Democratic Party in the United States of America, Paul Begala, have been confirmed as hosts of the 14th edition of the Awards holding.

Ogunnaike who is based in New York will partner Bagala who was formerly co-host of Crossfire, CNN’s political debate programme to receive guests from across the world who will gather to witness the recognition of Nigerians and institutions with the most impact in year 2008.

She joined CNN in May 2007 and reports on pop culture and entertainment news as part of the network’s American Morning's daily news coverage. Ogunnaike has been covering entertainment news since 1999. Prior to joining CNN, she was the top culture reporter for The New York Times and spearheaded its entertainment coverage, writing profiles of celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey and Sting for the paper's "Arts and Leisure" section.

Begala first entered the national political scene after the consulting firm he and fellow Democratic strategist, James Carville started, Carville & Begala, helped President Bill Clinton get elected in 1992. Serving in the Clinton administration as counsellor to the president, he was a close adviser to Clinton and helped define and defend the administration's agenda. He served the extremely successful American president as a principal public spokesman."

There is actually a great group shot of the whole CHAI Nigeria staff in the newspaper today. I will try to find a way to show you that pic.

It was pretty fun and inspired the staff. He also made an excellent speech about the importance and power of NGOs in an interdependent and globalized world. It was also really cool that he had a Q&A session afterwards. Hope you like the pics.

BOTSWANA 2008!

2009-01-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

Hello All! Happy New Year!

This post is going to be all about my trip to Botswana over the holidays. Work this week is especially hectic due to a visit next week by WJC himself. I will write about that one soon.

Anyways, so I flew from Abuja to Lagos and then to Joberg. I have a friend there and I stayed with him a couple days before I went to Botswana. We just went to some bars and one day we went to see a movie with his children who I had never met. There are not any pictures of this, sorry.

Then I flew from Joberg to Maun. I could not fly directly to Kasane so I stayed in a little guest house in Maun, check it out, my room was like one of those little rodevel huts.

From Maun, I took a bus to Nata. In Nata, I hitched a ride to Kasane. It was so cool because from there onward there were elephants crossing and walking along the road.

I spent Christmas in Kasane with a friend I met in Nigeria. He married a Motswana girl and they built a house in Kasane right on the Chobe River. He just had his second child so I got to see his sons also. Check out the view from his house:

See the across the river? That is in Namibia. Kasane is right at the border of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Look, there are hippos in the river that come out and walk around. This fence was no match.

Look at this sunset. The sky is so big here and there is little light polution so you can see so may starts.

The best photos of the trip are not yet here, I let my friend take them since he had the better camera. When I was in Kasane, I did a small day trip to Victoria Falls. This was amazing. Hopefully, I will be posting the photos soon.

While in Kasane, I went on a boat cruise and saw tons more elephants, hippos, and buffulo.

Look at how strange this is. Why is that hippo chillin with the elephant? Don't see stuff like that too often.

This is a small island between Namibia and Botswana. I guess they were disputing ownership last year, and Botswana won. They put a flag to rub it in.

I also visited a croc farm. That was pretty cool, look at these guys:

This one looks like some kind of monster with all that moss on him. He really wanted to eat me.

Look at the size of this one! He is like a dinosaur or something.

From Kasane, I took a bus like 1,300 km to Gaborone, the capital. The next day I drove with a friend there to his familiy reunion in Molepolole. We ate a bunch of beef and drank some beers there.

In the middle, I slipped out and went to my old village, Letlhakeng, since it was close. I saw my old friend Same and her family there. Here is her in a Nigerian dress I got her.

Here is the rest of her family. They fed me and kept an eye on me a lot when I stayed there almost 2 years ago.

Some of you may remember I had a dog when I stayed there. Unfortunately, it got ran over by a car. But before she died, she had puppies. Same's mom kept one of the puppies and now that one had puppies. So here are my one of my dog's children and grandchildren. I hope they are ok, I think the father may be the dog's brother (gross!)

So then I returned to Molepolole, and then spent the rest of my time in Gaborone. I spent new years eve with some old peace corps friends that are still there and some of the newer peace corps. I met the volunteers in my village. I guess I am still remembered there as they call them all by my name. Or maybe they just think all white people look the same :)

I visited my old language teachers and some other people from my village who had since moved to the capital. I hung out by the pool and ate beef and stuff like that. I went shopping got some batswana crafts. I also went to their natural history museum. Here a pic of me there with one of my friends. She obviously likes posing.

Then I had a long ride back. I took a bus from Gaborone to Joberg. Then I fly the next morning from Joberg to Lagos. Then had to wait several hours to get a fly from Lagos to Abuja. I am not much of picture taker, but I think this gives you a good idea of the trip (minus Victoria Falls).

I do expect to to more traveling with work this year, but do not expect any postings as interesting as this one for a while!

Hope you liked it, I had so much fun!