The United States President-elect, Donald Trump is expected to appear in court to testify in his own defence against allegations that Trump University for-profit business seminars were a hoax and hundreds of individuals were charged large sums of money for courses that were essentially worthless.
The country’s Federal judge, Gonzalo Curiel, in San Diego, California, largely supported the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit against Trump. The Judge, Curiel had ruled against Trump’s legal team seeking to ban testimony relating to Trump’s conduct during the presidential campaign.
The case is scheduled to go for trial on November 28.
Justice Curiel also ruled against Trump’s request to ban testimony about Trump University’s “F” rating by the Better Business Bureau and the fact that it has since gone bankrupt.
He also denied a request by Trump’s lawyers to ban discussion of the financial condition of students, many of whom described themselves as poor, and what impact the seminar fees had on their lives.
Trump’s lawyers argued testimony about the presidential campaign, and testimony about the other elements of the case are irrelevant and would serve to colour the jury’s opinion of Mr. Trump and his business venture.
Justice Curiel ruled in favour of allowing Trump’s defence team to call students who would tell “success stories” about how the courses improved their understanding of business and real estate.
Trump has steadfastly defended Trump University as a worthwhile investment for participants. The courses promised to offer students inside information on how he built his business.
In a technical ruling, Justice Curiel found insufficient evidence or supporting case law to warrant granting Mr. Trump’s other requests, though he said Trump’s lawyers could object to individual pieces of testimony during the trial.
President of Family Victory Marriage Counseling Home in Lagos, Mrs. Ola Madari and another marriage counselor, Mr John Ikugbonmire have advised couples to always engage in steady sex to save the marriage from collapse.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that healthy sex life is one of the most important factors in a thriving and successful marriage, adding that constant love making in marriage would make it to remain steady, longer and happier.
“One of the major reasons for many marriage break-up is because there was no mutual relationship which originate through constant love making.
“Once the sex goes, so many other problems follow and it has also been proven that couples will live and stay longer if they have steady sex.
“Not only does sex brings couple together, it also brings about a deeper level of communication that they don’t have with any other person,” she said.
Madari, however, said that couples engagement in constant love making will create passion and a unique connection that can settle any differences within marriage.
Also John Ikugbonmire said: “many marriages are at the verge of collapse because of sex gap.
“Some couples engage in infidelity act simply because the other partner does not want to have or rejects love making advances.
“Intimacy and physical touch creates passion and bond, it also helps couple thinks that they are more than friend.
“This unique connection that lovers have creates vibrancy, passion and romance between the two of them that cannot be created in any way other than sexually.
“What is more important is that sex becomes an intimate and connecting experience for couple
“Lack of constant sex in some cases pushes either of the partner to commit adultery or fornication, while sex is a recipe for great marriage, couples should satisfy each other sexually,” Ikugbonmire said.
They both advised that couples should not just have constant sex but should be able to sexually satisfy each other. (NAN). [myad]
“Democracy is tricky; it sometimes ends up as a parody of itself. When the people clamour for change, they can vote with their hearts, and prove impervious to plain sight reason, and overlook likely pitfalls. We can only hope that Donald Trump does not become the symbol of the change that Americans are seeking. That would be sad indeed for the free world.” – Reuben Abati, “Anything Can Happen in America”, The Guardian, March 6, 2016.
Earlier this year, I had written a piece titled “Anything Can Happen In America”, from which the quote above is excerpted, but I had virtually no idea that the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election could be so shocking, unthinkable and unbelievable. I was like the pollsters, the cultural activists, the Nobel Laureates, the American media establishment and the global community, minus Russia and Vladimir Putin, a Clintonite. I stood with her. When the unthinkable happened on Tuesday, and Americans chose as their 45th President, Donald John Trump, the real estate developer, reality television celebrity, a complete outsider who stumbled on politics and turned it into a celebrity show, I could only ask: how did it happen?
The triumph of Trumpism, a byword for incorrect conduct, misogyny, hate, racism, nativism, isolationism, anger, and defiance is sad news for the world. It is an assault on the ideals of American democracy. Trump’s triumph has left America more divided than it was a week ago, and the prospects of that nation rescuing itself from the tragic mistake it seems to have made may take long in coming. The same country that champions it the most has exposed the underbelly of democracy, that beloved option for global leadership, ironically.
Democracy is said to be driven by the values of good rather than evil, of humanity as opposed to inhumanity, individual freedom and rights rather than oppression, inclusion as different from exclusion but the same model of governance hands over power to the majority. As we have seen, the majority may not necessarily represent the will of all the people, or even the real majority, it is the choice that is made by the voting majority or as determined by the guiding rules as in the case of the United States: and no matter how stupid, illogical or unreasonable that choice may be, it is taken as the voice of the people and it is binding. This dictatorship of the determined majority has nothing to do with popular opinion or goodwill, but the actual choice that is made according to the guiding rules of the game.
Democracy, relying on the strength of numbers and local rules has fed many countries with statistically right but logically wrong outcomes. The outcome in the United States this week is completely confusing. And that explains why there have been protests across America by those chanting “notmypresident” to express their dismay over Trump’s surprise win. This is the first time in a long while that the outcome of an American Presidential election will leave the entire country so tragically divided the morning after. Even the international community is in shock. Trump’s triumph is a threat to the liberal standards on which the global order is anchored. Hillary Clinton in her concession speech said her defeat is “painful and it will be for a long time.” Not necessarily for her but for America and the rest of the world. The deepest cut is in America’s heart; the wound that has been inflicted therein by Americans themselves will be felt for a long time to come.
This year’s American general election should inspire a deeper interrogation into the nature of democracy and its many pitfalls. The people of the United States had a plain choice between good and bad alternatives. More than any other American Presidential candidate in this election, Hillary Clinton got the most impactful endorsements, yet she did not win. If the rest of the world had been asked to vote, she would have won by a landslide, but it was up to the Americans themselves to choose their own President, and they have just told us to mind our own businesses in our countries. Hillary Clinton is urbane, experienced, charming and gifted. She has proved her mettle as First Lady, Senator and as Secretary of State. She won the Presidential debates, ran a dignified and organized campaign and won the confidence of every critical constituency. Bernie Sanders who ran against her for the Democratic party’s ticket and Donald Trump, as well as their agents in many places threw mud in her direction, but the polls favoured her to the last minute.
The pollsters have been proven wrong by the choice that America has made. Hillary Clinton gave hope to generations of women across the world. Her emergence as America’s President would have broken the glass ceiling at the most powerful spot in the world, and energized young men and women across the world. America has decided to spit in the face of history and opt for misogyny birthed by ultra-conservatism. Confronted with the obvious choice of a decent, tested and experienced woman who could have given them the prize of two Presidents for the price of one, they chose a foul-mouthed, egoistic, bombastic, free-wheeling outsider with a wife whose body shape and naked assets would be part of a yet uncertain legacy.
America’s future post-Trump’s triumph is uncertain because what Trump stands for, the little that we know about that, raises nothing but anxiety, definitely not confidence. America has as President in waiting a man elected on the wings of sheer populism and racist, nativist propaganda. His campaign was anchored on the hate-propelled belief that the only way to make America great again is to shut out Muslims, blacks, immigrants, intruding neighbours from Mexico and Latin America, keep Americans for Americans only so they can have jobs and prosper, and the spin that America is not safe in the hands of women whom he considers fit only as objects and pieces of decoration.
By voting Trump, America with its intriguing electoral college system, which robs a popular candidate on technical grounds, has deleted the triumph of American-led neo-liberal progressivism in the global order. The sad news in part is that this is also a growing trend in Europe, the equivalent of Brexit. Trump’s triumph is however worse than Brexit. It is not likely “to make America great again.” It is more likely to reduce, if not jeopardize America’s influence as a stabilizing force in the global system. Donald Trump as Presidential candidate repudiated America’s commitments within the global system. He says he will pull out US troops and command stations in Europe and Asia. If he keeps to his words, he could create such instability across the globe that would result in countries which otherwise depended on the United States looking out for themselves security-wise.
Trump is perhaps America’s nemesis: too much rationalization and over-simplification of everything was bound to get the United States into trouble. The chasm between the American establishment and its ordinary people has been blown open. Washington is a living symbol of correctness on every stage, but now the people have rejected Washington and its politics. There have been about 44 female Presidents across the world, and now, the most powerful country in the world has proven itself to be less progressive than India, Bangladesh, Brazil, South Korea, Liberia, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Croatia, Nepal, Taiwan, Chile, Costa Rica, Philippines, Indonesia, Iceland, Malta, and even Kosovo! America preaches inclusion and unity in diversity, but the white, blue-collar and middle-class Americans who voted majorly for Donald Trump have shown that the average American is not interested in diversity; they want America to themselves alone. America is not a country of nationalities, it is a country of immigrants, and yet the settled immigrants want to shut the door of the land of dreams to others. Donald Trump exploited their fears. He has proven that it is possible to become President by appealing to the people’s basest instincts. Shameful.
Trump, Machiavelli’s “great-great-grandson” has through dirty tricks created a revolution from which even the same party that saw him as an outsider and treated his emergence as flag-bearer as an accident has benefitted. The Republican Party owes its ascendancy in the White House and Capitol Hill to this outsider who brought the tactics of Machiavelli, soap opera and television shows to push a failing party back to reckoning. Trump is neither Republican nor Democrat; he belongs to the party of the streets, of a racist American street motivated by a determination to reverse the misfortune of disappearing jobs in inner America, inability of make ends meet, pay children’s school fees or live decently. Americans chose Trump because he spoke the language of the streets and projected himself as their messiah. He projected himself, in his own words, as the champion of “the forgotten men and women of our country…People who work hard but no longer have a voice. I am their voice”. And so the people think, and so they voted for him so enthusiastically they even handed him the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina, which secured his victory and ended the emerging Clinton dynasty. He is the candidate of America’s children of anger.
Trump’s organized blackmail and dirty job may have given him the biggest job in the world but it will not sustain him there or make him a great President. The easiest thing to do is to promise the people change by pulling down the sitting government and the entire political Establishment. In Trump’s reckoning, he did not just defeat Hillary Clinton; he has defeated Barrack Obama, the entire Washington Establishment and its allies. Inexperienced, badly prepared and ignorant, as is the common consensus, Trump has to run the most complex governance system in the world. He can repudiate his campaign promises and turn 360 degrees. This is not beyond him. In the last year, his position on anything and everything has changed from one stop to another. Or he may choose to fulfill his bizarre promises and imperil the American Presidency and the global order. One option will expose and ridicule him. The other may fetch him the aggrieved assassin’s bullet or a one-term Presidency that could end up either as a tragi-comedy or a nauseating farce. The fulfillment of the Simpsons’ and Michael Moore’s prophecy is the highest point of America’s disillusionment. Soon enough, America will learn, at substantial cost, new lessons about its new reality. Take it easy, Hillary. Destiny is what waits for every person behind the dream. [myad]
Barack Obama has pledged to help his successor, Donald Trump because his success is the success of America.
“We will do everything we can to help you succeed, because if you succeed, then the country (America) succeeds.”
Obama spoke today, Thursday, after a 90-minute transition meeting he held with Trump in the Oval Office.
Obama, described the meeting as an “excellent conversation,” even as Trump said the pair “discussed a lot of different situations — some wonderful and some difficulties.”
He said that he looked forward to receiving Obama’s counsel.
The two men ended the historic White House encounter with a handshake and refused to take questions. [myad]
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has said that there is no regret in stopping the importation of food, especially in this era of foreign exchange constraints. He said that since there is abundance of arable land, there is no need for Nigeria to continue to import food. Osinbajo who spoke today, Thursday as he received in his office, a Russian delegation led by the Russian Minister of Agriculture who is also the Co-Chair of the Nigeria-Russia Joint Commission, Mr. Alexander Tkachev, noted that there has been improved local agricultural production which made importation less attractive, especially in this era of dwindling foreign earnings. “The oil prices have gone down tremendously and yet large amount of foreign exchange is used to purchase food abroad and we have large arable land for agric. It won’t make sense, if you don’t use the land.” The Vice President invited Russian farmers to invest in Nigeria, produce and import from here, adding: “we are just six hours away from Europe by air. “Vegetables, flour can be exported to Europe from here, even our local market here is a lot.” Both the Vice President and the delegation that included the Russian Ambassador in Nigeria, Ambassador Nikolay Udovichenko, Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Evgeny Gromyko and officials of Russian’s firm-United Company (Rusal) agreed that Nigeria and Russia should deepen the existing diplomatic relationship, especially economically. Professor Osinbajo said: “there is a lot of money to be made if Russian technology in agriculture is deployed locally.” Earlier, the Russian Agriculture Minister expressed his country’s willingness to enhance the existing trade relations with Nigeria. He said that the Nigeria-Russia trade volume as at the end of 2015 exceeded $300 million, but added that there are potentials for improvement in the years ahead. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador of the Holy See) to tell Pope Francis that Nigerians appreciate his efforts at bringing peace to all parts of the world. The President, who spoke at a farewell visit by Archbishop Augustine at Aso Villa, Abuja today, Thursday, acknowledged the contribution of Pope Francis and the Holy See to global peace, describing it as “active and relentless.” Buhari said that the effort of the Pope for peace, especially in Syria, is inspiring and impressive, adding: “please convey our gratitude to the Pope. We thank the Vatican for supporting Nigeria’s efforts. You have spent over six years here. We hope you will keep in touch.” This was even as Archbishop Kasujja acknowledged what he called “the courage of Nigerians.” He said that despite the devastation by Boko Haram, people in the North-east have remained resilience and unbowed. He said that he visited all parts of the country in his almost seven years’ stay. “If you permit me, I will love to be an ambassador of Nigeria wherever I go.” The Apostolic Nuncio said he found Nigeria fascinating, and his tour of duty quite fulfilling and rewarding. [myad]
The Director-General of National Population Commission (NPC), Ghaji Bello, has said that Nigeria’s population is currently 182 million and that half of the population is less than 30 years of age.
According to him, this puts a severe strain on a nation, with its slowing economy and declining revenue to provide enough schools and health facilities.
Ghaji Bello, who spoke in Abuja in a chat, said that the latest estimate was based on the population of 140 million recorded in the last census a decade ago, using an annual growth rate of 3.5 percent weighed against other variables such as rising life expectancy and a declining infant mortality rate.
He said that Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is witnessing a growing youth bulge, with those under 14 years accounting for more than 40 percent of its citizens.
He lamented that this is happening at a time the International Monetary Fund (IMF), had predicted that the nation’s gross domestic product will shrink 1.7 percent this year, the first full-year contraction in more than two decades.
“The implication is that they are assets, they are the future of our country, but they are also liabilities. We need to know how to plan for their transition from youths to the next category.
‘’It has implications for education, health and security, particularly in our environment where you have a lot of unemployment,’’ he added.
“We’re hopeful the government will soon make a statement for the next exercise,” he said.
Meanwhile, the senate had recently asked the Federal Government to conduct census in 2018. [myad]
Secretary-General of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), Reverend, Dr. Agatha Ogochukwu has made it clear that there is no religion in the world that call for violence and hatred.
Ogochukwu, who spoke today, Thursday in Abuja at a 2-day African Union Interfaith Forum, with the theme “Leap of Faith: religious leaders advance justice, peace, security, inclusiveness, dialogue and development in Africa,” emphasised: “no religion calls for violence and no religion tolerates hatred in its name.”
He regretted however that in many countries of the world, the manipulation of religion and religiousidentity for violence is leading to divisions in societies, communities, families.
“The religious leaders tell us that those who manipulate religion to incite violence are motivated by greed, or by political or by personal motives. They do not speak in the name of any religion.
He said that a recent study conducted by the organization with partners showed that young people join Boko Haram in Nigeria because they are misled or because they seek social, political or economic gain.
Rev. Ogochukwu said that religious leaders need to have a seat at the dialogue table and that they need to be able to discuss with policymakers, to share joint concerns, and to learn from each other.
“They need to be able to collaborate, not only with each other, but with all sectors of society.
According to Rev. Ogichukwu, many of these societies have for centuries been models of interreligious coexistence and collaboration, saying: ”religion acts as a force for good for millions of believers around the world.”
He said that KAICIID was founded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Spain , the Republic of Austria, together with the Holy Sea as the Founding Observer, as a result of the vision of and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, and His Holiness Pope Benedict.
“They agreed in their historical meeting in 2007, to be partners in an organization that builds bridges between cultures and religions. We are now the only intergovernmental organisation dedicated to promoting interreligious dialogue.
“We, at KAICIID, believe that humanity is best served when policy makers and religious leaders work together to reinforce the positive role of religion in achieving stability and social cohesion, and to combat extremism and violence.
“Hence policy makers and religious leaders have an important role in our governance structure and, therefore, are also essential in all our programmes.
Our Council of Parties is made up of policy makers from our founding members, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the Holy See as the founding observer.
“We work closely with religious leaders in the Central African Republic and Nigeria, helping to facilitate dialogue platforms where religious leaders can work together.
“Here in Abuja, KAICIID convened dialogue in September between representatives of the Muslim and Christian communities in Nigeria. They spoke of interreligious cooperation to foster peace and reconciliation.
“We partnered with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution and the Inter-faith Mediation Centre.
“We hope to re-convene both communities at an interreligious conference to help advance interreligious respect and cooperation in Nigeria.
“In the Central African Republic we support the Interfaith Peace Platform created by the courageous Catholic, Evangelical and Islamic leaders. Their goal and ours is to help these communities work together for the sake of peace in the country.
“In order to achieve that goal we also work through inter-religious platforms. We have facilitated dialogue between Muslim religious leaders, representatives from Muslim women and youth groups. The action plan they agreed will help create a cohesive Muslim platform.”
Meanwhile, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Metropolitan See, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, have, at the occasion, called on religious leaders in Africa, and Nigeria especially, to be mindful of their utterances to their followers, as development cannot be attained in an atmosphere of conflicts.
The Sultan also called on Muslims and Christians who constitute about 90 per cent of Nigeria’s population to constructively engage those in authority to be just and fair to all Nigerians no matter their faith and religion.
He was represented by the Wazirin Katsina, Alhaji Sani Lugga.
He stated: “Religious leaders in the continent have prominent roles to play in achieving the needed peace.” [myad]
Former Vice President and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar has called on his friends, well-wishers and associates to deploy resources which they had earmarked for the celebration his 70th birthday through newspaper adverts to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other charitable courses. A statement from his media office quoted Atiku as saying that he wanted his friends and associates to celebrate him in the service of humanity instead of devoting money to adulatory and self-glorifying advert messages. Atiku, who is the Turakin Adamawa, said that God has been wonderfully kind to him for sustaining his life and keeping him in good health to witness yet another birthday event. According to him, giving back to humanity has been his passion and that his friends and associates can honour him better if they spend their resources on charitable causes to celebrate his special day. “My special Day, and indeed the season is one of reflection, of thanksgiving and prayers; of inestimable gratitude to God for attaining this milestone.” Atiku said touching the lives of others is the best expression of gratitude to God for His boundless favours and blessings. “I will forever cherish your prayers for more years in good health to enable me undertake whatever assignment God and humanity have set for me.” [myad]
The move by the Benue State government to build a Cargo Airport in Makurd has attracted some comments from media, especially the one by the Daily Trust’s editorial of 8th November. Of course, no one would argue about the bad roads, especially in the state capital or about the need to create value addition for agriculture produce in the state, but the idea of using the Air Force Base airport in Makurdi for commercial landing and cargo as suggested by the editorial team is out of place. It is on record that before now, the military had insisted that they would not compromise security by opening its airport for commercial operations. Even the federal government’s plan in the past to extend the existing airport to accommodate a Cargo wing was turned down by the Air Force officials. The new arrangement by governor Ortom is strictly on a PPP system, which attracts only 15 percent investment from the state government and 85 percent from the private investor on a concession basis to complete a cargo airport. The cargo airport itself stands the chance of exposing the state’s agricultural produce to the rest of the world. If anything, Governor Ortom should be encouraged to complete all the technical engagement processes to ensure that investors are moved to site. This would ensure that the Benue people gain maximally from the project. In fact, the project should be seen as a plus for infrastructure development in the state. There is no doubt that when construction work begins, one of the multiplier effects would be the creation of new jobs for the youths in the state. The take-off of the project would also bring in many investors, especially in the agro-allied sector of the economy. [myad]
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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has said that there is no regret in stopping the importation of food, especially in this era of foreign exchange constraints.
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador of the Holy See) to tell Pope Francis that Nigerians appreciate his efforts at bringing peace to all parts of the world.
The move by the Benue State government to build a Cargo Airport in Makurd has attracted some comments from media, especially the one by the Daily Trust’s editorial of 8th November.