NIGERIA: FG Approves N485m Intervention Fund For Public Universities - Minister

Prof. Ruquayyatu Rufa’i, Minister of Education on Friday said every public university in the country would receive N485 million as financial interventions for 2012. Rufa’i said this in Gwagwalada at the opening of the 17th National Delegates Conference of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). She said the money would be disbursed under the 2012 Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ceremony also featured the inauguration of the national secretariat complex of ASUU at the permanent site of the University of Abuja.

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'Blind' Nigerian athlete Etinosa Erivo charged with importing two kg of heroin into Australia

Nigerian Etinosa Eriyo, 33, was hailed a hero after finishing third in the (T12) 100m sprint at the 2006 games. But Eriyo, granted Australian citizenship not long after, was allegedly caught by police with an estimated $600,000 worth of heroin at Toongabbie last Wednesday. Police allege that after he relocated to live in western Sydney to work as a personal trainer, Eriyo planned to deal heroin worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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NIGERIA: Saturday Papers, June 02, 2012

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: Air Nigeria Pilots, Engineers Embark On Indefinite Strike

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: Lagos Doctors Give Conditions For Resumption

DAILY TIMES: Jonathan blames past leaders for under-development

VANGUARD: As UNILAG buries VC, ASUU vows to fight back over name change

BUSINESS RECORDER: Pirates attack Greek oil tanker off Nigeria

The Ambrose Ehirim - Ogor Winnie Okoye Q & A Interview

Ogor Winnie Okoye, a music aficionado and lover of people, earned a Bachelor's Degree in law from the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, and a Juris Doctorate from the Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a trial attorney and founder of the law firm BOS Legal, LLC. She is an avid writer and blogger who has published several articles on positive living and related topics. She currently resides with her husband and children in Massachusetts. In this interview she talks about her book and what inspired it, her journey in life's endeavors and a whole lot of other stuff.

EXCERPTS:

Tell me a little bit about yourself

My name is Ogor Winnie Okoye. I am a married to man I absolutely adore, Victor ( I call him my Bubu); I have four lovely children, I am a trial attorney and the founder of BOS Legal, LLC, a firm specializing in criminal and immigration laws; I love writing and blogging; I am a lover of LOVE and a lover of life! I am extremely bubbly and I love people! Music is my first love. I also sing and record my own songs.

I must admit, “Awaken And Unleash Your Victor: Uncover the Path to Your Magnificent Destiny” is a well-written book. In what environment did you start putting your thoughts together on this book into perspective?

Ambrose, When I started getting in touch with my spirituality and asking questions about life generally and my life specifically, I began this journey that led me ultimately to uncover the greatest, most positive and most potent force of all - LOVE! After that encounter, I found that the application of the principles that I shared in the book gave my life a whole new meaning and made me encounter joy and peace like I never felt before. That was the precise moment that I started writing. My husband had also encouraged me to make this collection of my thoughts into a book. I knew that I definitely wanted to share this with the world! I knew that lives would be improved and enriched through the message! The actual writing of the book was not something that comes all of the time. It is really difficult to explain but I do get random thoughts and inspiration only when I am in harmony with the force of LOVE! I cannot write jack, no matter how hard I try if I am out of sync, meaning, not at a very healthy and positive frequency! I can only write when I am at a positive and joyful place! That is when those motivational and inspirational thoughts start streaming and I can sit down for hours and just lose every sense of time and place! it is beautiful when that happens!

For years now, I have been jotting down my thoughts into publishing a book, telling different kind of stories, and up till now, I am no where done and yet to publish. What’s the key to publishing within a time frame?

Personally, I think it comes from really enjoying the penning process. Ambrose, you are a natural already and so might not need this advice but I find that when you really enjoy the writing process, again, it is going back to powering the force of LOVE, it is a lot more seamless and it will automatically flow from within. So, I guess the key to publishing within a time frame is finding the process enjoyable and not merely writing to publish because you will write effortlessly when you are in harmony and find the process really enjoyable.

You are trained as a lawyer, and one would expect you’d be writing a book on law reviews and things like that. What generated the book you have just written instead of thoughts relating to your area of specialty?

[laughter!] I am a trained lawyer both here in the U.S and also back in Nigeria! I love the law and my clients but I found that the topic that I explored in my book is such a fundamental and compelling topic that spans across people of all races, religion, creed, background, etc. Almost everyone on earth is searching for answers and wondering about life generally and what their purpose or destinies might be. This is a journey everyone will attempt to make at one point or another and it actually is the impetus for every religion and ideology out there. People have always searched and are still searching for answers and so, i delved into a topic that I believe if and when you eventually grasp it, almost every other facet of your life will begin to make sense and your life will become a lot more seamless. At least, that is what I found in my personal life after I embarked on my individual journey!

You are a practicing attorney, a mother of four children and happily married. With a handful of these responsibilities, how did you find time to writing this book?

Ambrose, personally for me, life is almost always about balance. If you are truly determined to do anything whatsoever, you will not only make time, but you will also make a concerted effort towards making it happen! I write only when I am in sync with the force and if that happens when I am driving, I have had to pull over to pen that thought down, I write sitting down in court and waiting for my case to be called; I write when the kids are sleeping! I just love writing!

I read about how “stress” and “worry” took a toll on your life, and, on a variety of troubling issues. What did you do to overcome that predicament?

Ambrose, that is a great question! Thank you! Before I began this journey, I was so stressed and trying to find that balance that we just talked about! I was working very hard and yet felt really unfulfilled. I knew that there was something lacking in the whole story of my life and decided to search. When I encountered the force that I spoke about in the book, I understood that I was charting the course of my destiny through the thoughts, words, actions and inactions that I had taken thus far in my life and decided at that point that I needed to change course. Changing course through the victor-driven principles that I shared in my book gave me the precise antidote for the stress and worry, all of which It just evaporated and I look back at those wasted years and just feel so sorry for my poor little self. Worrying and stress are both negative emotions and diametrically opposed to the most powerful and positive force of all!

On Page 86, you wrote: “Each time we condemn, criticize or coerce another to change, we further widen the gap towards our self improvement and miss out on yet another opportunity to evolve into our highest good possible. The journey of change must start not from others but from self.” From around what time did you start realizing that change must start from you?

Ambrose, that quote is to me what everyone of us needs to embrace and imbibe in our dealing with one another! Imagine what would happen when we each acknowledge our own flaws, blemishes and short-comings and begin working on eliminating those. Life would be blissful for everyone! As beautiful as it was meant to be, I have tried to change people in my life by condemnation, criticism, even coercion and the result has been nothing but a colossal failure. You just cannot change anyone. Try changing a man and you will end up being the most miserable person on earth. I am talking from experience and I am sure most people can attest to this. [ laughter] But seriously, people can only change when they truly desire to change on their own. They become resentful when you try to do it and who the heck are you to try to change another when you have so many blemishes yourself. When I realized that people step up to your level when you become an example of what you attempt to make of them was a defining moment for me. Just like Ghandi said, "be the change you want to see in the world". Utilize the most powerful and positive force of all as your constant ally to become the person that you want your spouse, family, friend, children, and acquaintances to be and they instantly would step it up to your level.

You cited Thomas Kempis, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Camus, Melodie Beattie, Sophocles, Ralph Waldo Emerson, among others on social related problems around us. Are there any Africans you admire who should have fallen in that category of thinkers and who have done things worthy of mention?

I love Nelson Mandela! I love M. I. Okpala, even though I never met him, he has a compelling legacy of selfless public service!

Like face-to-face emotional interactions, was this book the way to express your feelings in what you went through?

Yeaah. . .it was Ambrose! "Awaken and Unleash your Victor" is my individual journey and the convictions and conclusions that I reached during the journey. It also has a lot of time-tested principles including Biblical quotes that embrace the same principles that I attempted to share with the world.

What was the inspiration behind “Role of Prayer, Faith and Religion in Unleashing” and “You, Yourself and You” in the last two chapters of the book?

That chapter on prayer for me stressed the point regarding the huge difference between spirituality and religiosity. They are not even remotely the same and when we become more spiritual as opposed to more religious, we find that we begin to experience a lot more answered prayers because spirituality envisages that you are in tune with LOVE which is really God! I gave the example of the reason why the reception (answers to our prayers) is usually poor even for the people who are very religious. Reception is poor because in reality the transmission is clogged with negative and toxic emotions which are very far from the force of LOVE! You begin to receive better transmission the moment you embrace the force!

The last chapter on "You, yourself and you" was an attempt to reiterate the enormous power that we each wield as individuals; sort of, like putting a ring on the whole process as Beyonce will say! You must be a willing participant and open to embarking on this individual journey towards awakening and unleashing your own Victor before your life assumes this incredible new dimension! You do not have to force others to start with you; you are single-handedly behind the wheels of your destiny and when you embrace the force, backed by your own faith and unequivocal belief in a particular outcome, success for you becomes inevitable! Your journey or destiny is really not tied to any one person or thing and it is yours and yours alone to make! Other people cannot and should not determine your destiny for you unless you let them! I want everyone to recognize how stupendously powerful they can become when they start practicing being in harmony with the force!

What would be your advise to young and aspiring writers who have read your inspirational book and what path they should follow?

Always follow your bliss! Make LOVE your primary guiding principle while putting in your earnest and best efforts and success would have no choice but to come to you!

Anything we should know about what you are working on, right now?

Bubu and I are doing a collaboration on relationships! Kind of like, love, sex, and marriage. I am also putting my quotes together for a possible sequel of more inspiration.

Thank you very much Ambrose and the opportunity for this interview. It was a pleasure!

NIGERIA: Wednesday Papers, May 31, 2012

VANGUARD: Presidency 2015: Suit against Jonathan begins June 21

VANGUARD: Trailer load of arms, ammunition intercepted in Onitsha

VANGUARD: Strike paralyses activities in Imo govt offices

VANGUARD: Nigerians ‘ll decide Jonathan’s fate in 2015, says PDP scribe

SPY GHANA: Man sues dad for re marrying

LEADERSHIP NIGERIA: Group Hails FG For Renaming UNILAG After MKO

LEADERSHIP NIGERIA: Northern Elders Storm Aso Rock Over Security, Political Issues

LEADERSHIP NIGERIA: Boko Haram, Not A Foreign Terrorist Organisation – John Campbell

MONEY MORNING : Keep Your Eye On Oil Exploration Companies

FIFA: African favourites seek home comfort

THE MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: Oil headed for biggest monthly drop since 2008

Protest Over Renaming Nigeria University Grows

Students of university of Lagos protest with the poster of late Vice chancellor Adetokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe, following the renaming of the University by Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan said the school would be renamed Moshood Abiola University in honor of a political prisoner who died in jail over a decade ago. The major university in Nigeria has shut down campus for two weeks after thousands protesting a proposed name change for the institution closed a major bridge leading into business center of the country's largest city. The University of Lagos urged its students to head home for the hastily announced holiday Wednesday as students and unemployed youths took over the city's Third Mainland Bridge that morning. The protest disrupted traffic throughout the city. Image: Sunday Alamba/AP

Students of the University of Lagos barricade a major bridge during a protest following the renaming of the University by Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday, May 30, 2012.
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Motor bike taxis join students of the University of Lagos protest following the renaming of the University by Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday, May 30, 2012.

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LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Commandeered buses blocked off the main bridge linking Nigeria's largest city Wednesday, stranding thousands of commuters as protesters took over the 12-kilometer (7½-mile) span to demonstrate against the country's president. Their rage didn't focus on rampant government corruption, increasing terrorist attacks or massive unemployment in Africa's most populous nation. Instead, it came down to simply a name.

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NIGERIA: Wednesday Papers, May 30, 2012

LEADERSHIP NIGERIA: Alaafin Of Oyo: The Royal Counsel

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SPY GHANA: Syria: Another Western false flag event?

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NIGERIA: University Of Lagos Renamed M.K.O. Abiola University

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, may 29, 2012 on state-run television the renaming of University of Lagos to M.K.O. Abiola University in honor of the "June 12", 1993 presidential candidate who allegedly was said to have won the election, but was nullified by the Ibrahim Babangida-led military juntas on the grounds of election irregularities in what would lead to power sharing between the civil and military sector. According tp President Jonathan, the name change was meant to honor Abiola's "Martyrdom" to mark the nation's 13th year anniversary of uninterrupted democracy.

WORLD: Syrian diplomats around the world expelled

PARIS (AP) — Governments around the world expelled Syrian ambassadors and diplomats Tuesday, an unusual, coordinated blow to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime following a gruesome massacre that the United Nations said involved close-range shootings of scores of children and parents in their homes. The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and the Netherlands took action Tuesday against Syrian diplomats. Britain's foreign secretary said the countries involved in Tuesday's expulsions would also push for tougher sanctions against Syria. The moves came after the killings Friday in Houla, a collection of farming villages in Syria's Homs province — one of the deadliest single events in a 15-month-old uprising against Assad that has killed thousands.


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NIGERIA: Tuesday Papers, May 29, 2012

BBC: Nigeria's President Jonathan 'must act over fuel scam'

BUSINESS DAY: Nigeria surpasses 5 million Visa cards milestone

BUSINESS DAY: FG partners foreign firm To Train 5,000 Nigerians on ICT, says minister

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: Democracy Day... Democracy Day... Democracy Day... Democracy Day...

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: Edo gov: Politicians plan to import arms - Police

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: US security experts meet today on Boko Haram

THE MOMENT: Democracy Day: Balarabe, Ngige, others score Jonathan low

THE MOMENT: Gunmen behead four policemen, village head, 29 others in C/River

THE MOMENT: Northern elite own three-quarters of Nigeria's oil blocks

VANGUARD: N32.8bn pension scam: Accused beg court to quash charge

VANGUARD: NAFDAC uncovers illegal drug factory in Onitsha

VANGUARD: Tension in Adamawa as Igbo protest killings

VANGUARD: Army court-martials 2 colonels, 12 others for alleged misconduct

PM NEWS: Shot Nigerian Council boss flown to India

Los Angeles Greater Tomorrow Drummers

Siblings brought by their mother display their developing talents beating drum at the Drum Church Circle Leimert Park Village Art Walk in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 27, 2012 after procession through the village. Fela Kuti's boy and founder of the Drum Church Circle Najite Agindotan commences drumming by splashing water on the circles as parts of rituals and callings of Olokun Prophesy. Distinguishing surrounding features: World Stage Performing Arts Gallery, Eso-Won Book Store, Buckingham University administrative offices, KAOS Networks, The Vision Theater, Adassa Jamaican Restaurant, African Treasures Gallery, Barbara Morrison Performing Arts, Zambezi African Antiques and much more; and an exhibition on the last Sunday of every month by local artists, whose work are found in every spot. Ehirim Files Images.