Xpress Urself Show

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

Okechukwu becomes the 26th NBA President

Okechukwu Wali (SAN) elected as president of Nigerian Bar Association;Polled 688 votes to defeat Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN, and Chief Blessing Ukiri.

And the New NBA secretariat in Abuja has been named after Rotimi Akeredolu (fmr president)

Good deeds people did to honor Nelson Mandela on his 94th birthday

Yesterday marked the 94^th birthday of the best African leader ever, so much happened to honour this day

JOHANNESBURG — Annah Nankie Nhlapo has been waiting 22 years for a home. On a dusty narrow road on the outskirts of Johannesburg, the foundation of her new house is finally taking shape.

Over the next five days, to commemorate the U.N.-mandated Nelson Mandela International Day, housing charity Habitat for Humanity is working with volunteers to build 67 houses across South Africa, in honor of Mandela's 67 years of political service.

Nhlapo is one of the lucky ones who will be handed keys on Friday. For two decades, she and her five children have lived crowded into one of the flimsy shacks that sprawl across Orange Farm, a settlement named after its original purpose.

"I'm happy and I feel proud of myself because it's been a long time staying in a shack that is leaking water," said Nhlapo, a 47-year-old single mother. That the house is being built to honor Mandela resonates with Nhlapo, who sees South Africa's first black president as a champion of nation building. Across the country, and even abroad, people are doing good deeds to honor the country's most famous statesman on his 94th birthday Wednesday.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton got the celebrations off to an early start Tuesday. He and daughter Chelsea met for 1 1/2 hours with Mandela in his birth village of Qunu in a remote, southeastern corner of the country. Photographs tweeted by one of Mandela's grandsons showed the Nobel Peace Prize winner comfortably seated in an armchair with a blanket over his knees and with the Clintons and his wife, Graca Machel, at his side.

Then Clinton, Chelsea and Machel each planted an avocado pear tree to mark the occasion. Clinton said he is fond of the trees, an African symbol of growth and sustenance. Children will begin their school day Wednesday by singing Happy Birthday to Madiba, the clan name by which Mandela is fondly known. South Africans of all colors to whom Mandela is a hero came up with creative ways to do 67 minutes of community service.

Many volunteers will be collecting books, distributing sanitary pads and cleaning up neighborhoods. In Pretoria, a tattoo parlor is hoping to tattoo clients with 67 images of Mandela's face, with proceeds going to charity. On Constitution Hill Saturday, artist James Delaney used coffee cups to create a mosaic of Mandela. Asked what would be the best gift for Mandela, Nobel laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said the greatest gift the nation could give would be "to emulate his magnanimity and grace."

"Mr. Mandela taught us to love ourselves, to love one another and to love our country," Tutu said. Mandela's 50-year fight, including 27 years in jail, helped bring democracy and freedom to the once white-ruled South Africa.

But the country remains beset by tensions over continued white minority domination of the economy, massive unemployment, poor education and health services and the millions who remain homeless or in shacks. When Mandela's African National Congress won power in 1994, the housing shortage was a priority.

Eighteen years in, informal settlements without electricity and running water have ballooned and the lack of adequate housing for the poor is at crisis point, said Kate Tissington, a senior researcher at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa. "You get the sense from government officials that there is a never-ending battle to eliminate the housing backlog," she said. Some 3 million homes have been built for some of South Africa's 50 million people, according to Xolani Xundu, spokesman for the government Department of Human Settlements.

But 2.2 million more homes are needed, he said. Tissington said population growth and the influx of people into cities and towns have contributed to the crisis. The high demand and low supply makes informal settlements, like Nhlapo's shack at Orange Farm, a viable option. Government-subsidized housing, often built on cheaper vacant land on the outskirts of urban developments, is not always linked to bus routes or services such as clinics, making it even more difficult for people to survive. Corruption is another factor undermining efforts, as sometimes people who do not necessarily qualify end up being allocated subsidized housing, Tissington said.

This creates a lot of tension. "A lot has been happening in political and policy circles over the years," Tissington said, "but implementation on the ground has not kicked in and people are getting increasingly impatient with living with compromised access to basic services.

" Every day there are protests, sometimes violent, against the lack of housing and other basic services like electricity and potable water. Ryan Horsfield, a volunteer who had taken two days off work to help build the homes at Orange Farm, believes citizens also have a role to play.

"I don't think it's up to us to sit back and say the government must do it or not. If something is not happening we should all get in and try make it happen," he said.

Which is exactly what Mandela had in mind when he retired from politics at age 90 and told the world that "It's in your hands to make the world a better place."

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

The cause of Actor Sage Stallone's death

The cause of Sylvester Stallone’ s son, Actor Sage Stallone,who was found dead in his apartment last Friday, July 13, will be revealed in six or eight weeks.

So sad ,accord to report he had planned to marry his girlfriend in Las Vegas this weekend. He was only 36years.

Late socialite Angela Onyeador buried today

She died in the US on Saturday June 16th was buried today in Lagos. Service at the Church of Assumption, Falomo, Ikoyi and she was buried at Vaults and Gardens, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Rest peacefully in the Lord, Amen

Vanity Wonder admitted she didn't know what she was injected with the first time she had the procedure

Just in case you missed an earlier post on this,here is a recap.

She was driven by competition with other dancers over who had the biggest bottom, the injections gave her an infection so she then needed silicone implants.

She regrets her current size but feels lucky to be alive as illegal injections have killed other women, apart from the fact that she who spent $15,000 on illegal bottom and hip injections admits she's lucky to be alive after her obsession could have killed her

Lagos state government demolishes Makoko slums

Just maybe,the Lagos state government did read this my post here which was last year and decided to take this action.........According to report:

A joint taskforce of policemen, soldiers and officials of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI), on Monday demolished dozens of shacks built on stilts in the Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront community of Lagos.
Thousands of residents living in the popular slum settlement built on the Lagos lagoon, were subsequently displaced, as the state government acted after a three-day quit notice, which lapsed on Sunday.

According to the notice dated July 12 and signed by Mr. Akin Tijani, Head of Operations, KAI on behalf of the Commissioner of Waterfront Infrastructure Development, the government said the settlement was illegal and not in line with its megacity project.

“You have continued to occupy and develop shanties and unwholesome structures on the waterfront without authority thereby constituting environmental nuisance, security risks, impediments to economic and gainful utilisation of the waterfront such as navigation, entertainment, recreation etc”, it said.

“The state government is desirous of restoring the amenity and value of waterfront, protect lives and property, promote legitimate economic activities on the waterfront, restore security, improve water transportation and beautify the Lagos waterfront/coastline to underline the megacity status of Lagos State and has decided to clear all illegal and unauthorised development on its waterfront and water bodies.

“Therefore, notice is hereby given to you to vacate and remove all illegal developments along the Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront within 72 hours of receipt of this notice.” Makoko is one of Nigeria’s most popular slums and its shanties have over the years served as home to indigent emigrants from other parts of the country.

It was featured in the 2010 BBC film, Welcome to Lagos.