Nkem Owoh battles widow over land

Widow seeks justice, claiming that the actor is using his influence to oppress her

Nollywood actor, Nkem Owoh a.k.a Osuofia has threatened the life and destroyed the property of widow, Glory Ayogu in a land dispute.

Ayogu petitioned the case to the Commissioner of Police Enugu State Police Command.

According to the petition, Ayogu alleged that the MTN brand ambassador was trying to force her to part ways with her land adding that the actor sent some thugs to pull down the structure she had already put on the land.

Ayogu said: "I woke up in the morning of Monday October 1, 2012 only to hear that a house I was building at Plot 11 Emeheluaku Layout, Trans-Ekulu, Enugu, has been destroyed by Nkem Owoh and his agents.

"My encounter with Nkem Owoh began shortly after my husband, Ben Ayogu died in December 2004, just months after we purchased this plot of land.

"Being a teacher, I had saved with my husband to buy this particular plot of land and we were already making plans to build on it when the cold hands of death stole him from me, leaving me to look after our very little children.

"After mourning my husband, I discovered that there were some missing documents from our apartment, the most important of which was the documents for this plot of land. I raised the alarm then and when nobody came forth with information on its whereabouts, I quickly ran to the police at Abakpa junction to make a report.

"I also went to the Ministry of Lands, where, armed with the police extract, I was able to obtain the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the property. But not long after, Nkem Owoh appeared, claiming ownership of the land. I tried to inform him that I had neither sold the land nor authorized its sale to anybody but he insisted the plot belonged to him.

"The matter continued to drag between us until it got to a point when he began to ask that we settle. Having not sold the land and having no intention to sell the land, I told him there was nothing to settle. He persuaded me with all manner of offers, including that of paying extra money to motivate me to relinquish the land."

She went further: "When Nkem Owoh felt he was not succeeding in persuading me to part with this land, he began to use threats and on several occasions said he was going to forceful take possession of the land and vowed that since I claimed God will fight for me, that I had better bring down my Creator when the chips are down.

"Each time he comes to meet me, he usually came with a group of dangerous looking thugs but I was never to be cowed into giving him the only property I am leaving for my children.

"Because my salary was barely enough to pay our rent, pay for the school fees of the children and provide for their upkeep, I felt it was proper to construct a house no matter how small on the land so that we can move in and thus begin to save what we were using to pay house rents.

"Thus I began construction four years ago (in 2008). I was slowly building this potential home of ours because my income was not large enough for speedy construction. I had to even take a loan to enable us finish and park in this year.

"I had roofed the house and was about hanging the doors and windows, having also installed the frames when Nkem Owoh and his agents struck, bringing the entire structure, my four years of labour to ordinary rubble.

"When I saw the damage done to this property of mine, I ran to the Trans-Ekulu Police Station where I was rebuffed by an officer who, even without investigating the matter, concluded that Nkem Owoh is not a trouble maker and could never have done such evil. This officer refused my entreaties and sent me away, saying that the Police does not treat land matters."

She appealed to the Commissioner of Police to look into the case and grant her justice.

All efforts to reach Mr. Owoh have so far proved futile.

........NKECHI OPURUM/DAILY TIMES NIGERIA

Rawlings receives Governor of Nigeria's Abia State

Theodore Orji and Rawlings at Rawlings office in Accra

Former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings has lamented the over-reliance on physical security to enforce peace on the African continent and called for investment in identifying the root causes of insecurity.

He said: “Too often we invest in physical security but that creates more enmity and stress. We should invest more time in political security. Physical security subordinates us and brings the worst out of us instead of the best.”

Former President Rawlings made the call when the Governor of Abia State of Nigeria, Chief Theodore Orji, paid a courtesy call on him at his Ridge office in Accra.

Chief Orji is in Ghana to participate as the Guest Speaker at the 8th Security Watch Lecture Series and 9th Annual Africa Security Awards Ceremony organised by Security Watch Africa.

Former President Rawlings commended the organisers for the choice of subject and said lack of security was a problem confronting the continent.

He said during his tenure as leader of Ghana, his government invested more in reaching the sources of problems and empowering the people, dwelling a lot more on education and doing away with social injustices.

Governor Orji, who received an award for instituting exemplary security policies in Abia State, said he called on President Rawlings because of the special relationship Nigeria has with Ghana.

He said the state government had invested a great deal in boosting security in Abia through the empowerment of the people and involvement of every citizen in governance.

Loans, he stated, had been offered to the youth to start their own businesses, the security forces had been equipped not only with weapons but in the area of intelligence gathering and the state legislature has formulated laws that facilitated the policies implemented by government.

President Rawlings expressed his gratitude for the courtesy call and prayed that all efforts will be made to explore the root causes of the situation in Mali so its resolution will serve as an example of how Africa can resolve its own problems.

He commended Chief Orji for his outstanding leadership and said Africa needed a few more of his ilk.

......GHANA WEB

Obama says his rival suffers from 'Romnesia'

In Virginia, President Obama uses a light touch to remind voters, particularly women, of the strongly conservative positions Mitt Romney took on many issues during the GOP primaries.

By Christi Parsons and Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times

President Obama greets supporters at a rally at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. (Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images / October 19, 2012)

FAIRFAX, Va. — Pressing his case that his Republican challenger is untrustworthy, President Obama diagnosed him with a case of "Romnesia" on Friday but pledged to stop it from spreading by reminding voters of Mitt Romney's past conservative positions.

The jocular argument had a serious intent: convincing voters in this key state — particularly women — that Romney's effort to move from the positions he took in the GOP primaries to those with appeal to the more moderate general election audience represented "backtracking and sidestepping."

"If you come down with a case of 'Romnesia' and you can't seem to remember the policies that are still on your website," Obama said, "here's the good news.... We can fix you up! We've got a cure!"

The Romney campaign fired back quickly that Americans had perfect recall of the last four years and of the economic hardship that Republicans blame on the president.

"Have you been watching the Obama campaign lately? It's absolutely remarkable," Romney said shortly after taking the stage Friday night at a huge rally in Daytona Beach, Fla. "They have no agenda for the future, no agenda for America, no agenda for a second term. It's a good thing they won't have a second term. They've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games. Just watch it."

Calling Obama's effort the "incredible shrinking campaign," he added: "This is a big country with big opportunities and great challenges, and they keep talking about smaller and smaller things."

The back-and-forth came as the two candidates prepared to retreat over the weekend for two days of preparation for their final debate, scheduled Monday night in Boca Raton, Fla. The subject will be foreign policy, and each candidate will be drawing a contrast in substance and in style.

Since his weak performance in the first debate, Obama has taken to heart the need to contrast himself with Romney. The "Romnesia" riff he debuted Friday was a device for pointing out differences to a crowd of suburban women he was trying to fire up for election day. He ran through a laundry list of conservative positions from which, he said, Romney was trying to escape.

Romney is also drawing contrasts in Virginia, where, as in a host of battleground states, the race is a statistical tie. In a state heavy with veterans and defense contractors, Romney has been hitting hard on the Pentagon cuts scheduled to set in at the end of the year if Republicans and Democrats in Congress cannot agree on a plan to avert them.

His ads tie Obama to the pending reductions, put in place as part of a bipartisan agreement. Obama aides this week were floating the possibility that the president would veto legislation to block the automatic cuts if Republicans refused to raise taxes on the wealthy to help keep deficit spending in check.

Responding to the "Romnesia" joke, Romney supporters pivoted straight back to their economic argument — and to the potential defense cuts.

"What is really frightening is that we know a second term for President Obama will bring devastating defense cuts that will cost Virginia over 130,000 jobs, more burdensome regulations, and the biggest tax increase in history on our small businesses and families," said Virginia state Delegate Barbara Comstock, a senior advisor to Romney.

At this point in the campaign, the two sides are shifting into voter-turnout mode, trying to get volunteers and supporters out to vote early — hopefully with their friends and neighbors in tow. The ground game is already in high gear; Obama's campaign has 60 offices in Virginia, while Romney's campaign has 30.

The point of Obama's visit Friday was to drive up the excitement. At George Mason University, the president reminded listeners that Romney has opposed the Lilly Ledbetter law, which makes it easier to sue for pay inequality, and has promised to rescind Obama's 2010 healthcare law and other administration initiatives.

"Now, anybody who thinks that this election doesn't matter, know this: My opponent has promised to repeal all of the things we just talked about as soon as he takes office — says he'd do it on Day One," Obama said. "We know full well that if he gets the chance, he'll rubber-stamp the agenda of this Republican Congress the second he takes office. Virginia, we can't give him that chance."

Romney has pledged to take away federal funding for Planned Parenthood and supports the overturning of the Roe vs. Wade decision that made abortion legal. He also opposes the Obama healthcare overhaul's requirement that insurance companies provide contraceptive coverage.

Nigeria's Ukwuachu Proves To Be A Quick Study For Boise State Football Team

BOISE, Idaho -- Boise State defensive end Sam Ukwuachu's parents grew up in Nigeria before settling near Houston to raise a family. They have five children - four of them girls.

Football was not in the picture, except on the TV.

"I watched it on TV every day," Ukwuachu said. "I loved how the guys played. I watched the NFL Network. I loved everything about it." He envisioned himself playing in those TV games some day and dedicated himself to making it happen.

The 6-foot-4, 222-pound Ukwuachu (pronounced oo-ka-watch-you), who began playing football in seventh grade despite his dad's injury concerns, is the only freshman starter for the 24th-ranked Broncos (No. 22 in the BCS Standings).

He has pushed himself from level to level with incremental goals like making the varsity squad at Pearland (Texas) High as a sophomore, earning a college scholarship and gaining the weight he needs to succeed at Boise State.

"I've always tried to get better, ever since I first tried to play football," he said. ". It just keeps going until hopefully one day I get to the next step." It helps that Ukwuachu enjoys the work.

Pearland coach Tony Heath remembers Ukwuachu researching various teams on the Internet and talking about high school, college and pro football with him.

"He was career-driven," said Heath, who won the 2010 state title with Ukwuachu at end and wide receiver. "He loved the game of football. He studied the game of football. And he took care of his classes to where he was able to qualify and get to the next level. . He found a hook in athletics that was driving him and steering him and I think it paid off for him." Ukwuachu, a redshirt freshman, has started the past five games. He has 16 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and three fumble recoveries. He's tied for the national lead in recoveries.

He plays the stud position, which requires him to drop into pass coverage at times. He ran the 40-yard dash in the 4.5-second range in high school.

Ukwuachu chose Boise State over Illinois, Louisville and Houston, among others. Other schools took a look and passed because of his size - about 200 pounds in high school.

"He was a big, tall athlete who played with pretty good toughness," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. "I know a lot of guys looked at him and tried to figure out what exactly he is. How we're using him is exactly how he needs to be used. It's a really good fit." Ukwuachu has gotten his weight as high as 230 pounds this year. He hopes to reach 245 by next season.

The key is to put on the weight without losing the speed and agility that make him such a weapon as a pass rusher.

"He's pretty much the same body type as me," redshirt freshman tight end Holden Huff (6-5, 213) said. "We're both shifty and slithery. He's quick. It is definitely a changeup to what you're used to blocking." Ukwuachu has learned to accentuate his quickness. Instead of trying to move a lineman, he'll strike quickly and try to shed the block. Instead of the bull rush, he tries to slip through a crack to the inside or zip around the outside.

His weight primarily is a concern as a run defender - but so far that hasn't been a problem. He does notice a difference, though, with the weight he has put on in the past year.

Miami (Ohio) started a 348-pound tackle.

"I'm not too weak as to where I'm getting driven back off the ball," he said. "I feel like I can hold my own against some of the heavier tackles." Like high school, he has taken a studious approach to the game. He has learned the value of video study from veterans like cornerback Jamar Taylor.

Ukwuachu and sophomore Demarcus Lawrence, the other starting end, study opponents together and collaborate during games. Ukwuachu's fumble-forcing sack against Southern Miss came on a move suggested by Lawrence.

"I'm getting better every week," Ukwuachu said. "I'm learning a lot more than I did in the first couple games about dissecting the offense. I'm getting better at watching film - little things that help me learn how to be a better football player.

"On the field, I've been trying to finish plays, trying to get more sacks. I've been coming close a lot more. I've got to work on finishing plays."

...........CHADD CRIPE/THE KANSAS CITY STAR

A culinary 'Little Belize' in South L.A. area

BY BILL ESPARZA/LOS ANGELES TIMES

Ella's Belizean Restaurant offers takeout boxes of panades, salbutes and garnaches. Here owner Carla Dawson supervises the cooking of sister Connie. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times / October 20, 2012)

The last undiscovered ethnic culinary enclave in L.A. might be a dozen-plus Belizean restaurants in the South Los Angeles area, a "Little Belize" offering the multi-culti flavors of the tiny country formerly known as British Honduras.

Drive south from the 10 Freeway down Western Avenue to the limits of South L.A. and into Gardena you'll encounter a cache of Caribbean culture, where food is ordered in Belizean Kriol, an English-based Creole language that teases but evades comprehension. The Belizean restaurants are inconspicuous among Mexican, soul food and other Central American diners in a neighborhood full of no-tell motels and possibly the largest collection of Latino storefront Pentecostal churches imaginable.

On their tables you'll encounter the food of two distinct Belizean cultures: Maya and Kriol. Most of L.A.'s Belizean restaurants draw from both the Yucatan's Maya heritage and the British and West African mix known as Kriol. You can start with a Maya appetizer such as panades, tuna stuffed in a folded, paprika-stained, fried tortilla. A Kriol main like boil-up is a Saturday indulgence of pig tail, fish, hard-boiled eggs, yams, plantains, boil cakes made from flour, sweet potato, yucca and taro (called cocoa in Belize) covered in a stew of tomatoes, onions and peppers.

The only Central American country that was ruled by the British, Belize's dishes are a mix of multiethnic influences, more so than the cuisines of neighboring countries that fuse along an indigenous-to-Iberian continuum, though there are rice and beans — every day.

The three restaurants that stand out here are Ella's Belizean Restaurant, Joan and Sisters and Mar's Caribbean Gardens. Ella's is a Belizean snack-shack, Joan and Sisters boasts Kriol home cooking and extended hours (most Belizean restaurants seem to close by 7 p.m., or when the food runs out), and Mar's is a fancy island lounge serving solid Kriol cooking to go with cold Belikin beers.

Hidden in a South L.A. strip-mall dominated by a barbershop and a tattoo parlor that's always in party mode, Ella's Belizean Restaurant leaves no Belizean longing for home. Five is a crowd in this smallish space where "to go" boxes of stews and rice and beans are squeezed through an opening too small for two stacked orders to fit through. Panades, garnaches (bean and cheese tostadas) and salbutes (fried tortillas topped with chicken) are packed to go for a mostly Belizean clientele.

Ella's is named after the daughter of owner Carla Dawson. Dawson and her sister Stacy opened the restaurant "a year ago and some change," says Stacy. Cooking is in their DNA — "everyone in our family cooks." Get the piquant lobster cooked in a red recado (annatto seed paste), vegetables and spices on a bed of rice and beans cooked in coconut milk.

At the other end of the spectrum, Mar's Caribbean Gardens is the most ambitious Belizean restaurant in the L.A. area in size and ambience. It even has a full liquor license. Try the smoky, spicy chirmole: pork-stuffed chicken and hard-boiled eggs in a black recado (dark annatto seed paste) soup. Owner Marie Jimenez and manager Fred Dixon have created "a place where Belizeans can bring business clients and feel proud," says Jimenez.

Belizeans deem all soups and beverages to be healthful, aphrodisiacal or energizing: On Tuesdays and Thursdays at Joan and Sisters, it's creamy split pea soup with lardy, porky pig tail. Jump start the weekend with conch soup, served on Fridays.

Joan and Sisters, owned by Elenor and Samuel Bevans, opened 30 years ago to spread the joy of Elenor and her late sister Joan's "scratch-made" Kriol cuisine, featuring specialty savories such as mouth-watering meat pies adopted from British cuisine and Maya-influenced conch fritters.

And the conch fritters are likely the best on the Western Avenue Belizean crawl. They're expertly fried, packed with supple shellfish that's kissed by lime and hot peppers. A vinegary salsa of onions and habanero brings good heat, but "try this," says employee Rochelle Adolphus as she drops off the Belizean national sting of habanero pain known as Marie Sharpe's hot sauce. Fire in the hole.

Saturdays are when Kriols get down to their roots — and tubers. Boil-up is a Belizean Brukdown (multicultural Kriol music and dance), a starchy jam session with pig tail, fish and hard-boiled eggs blended by vinegary tomato sauce. This would get our vote for the national dish of Belize, a plate that melds incongruous ingredients into unifying flavor. This is how Kriols "remember their ancestors," Adolphus says.

Ella's Belizean Restaurant

3957 S. Western Ave, Los Angeles, (323) 737-5050. Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Cash only. Appetizers, $2 to $3; entrees, $7 to $12. Takeout (two tables available for seating). Street parking.

Joan and Sisters

3709 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 735-8952. Open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Credit cards accepted. Appetizers, $1 to $3.50; entrees, $10.50 to $13. Street parking.

Mar's Caribbean Gardens

14008 Crenshaw Blvd., Gardena, (310) 323-5000, http://www.marscaribbeangardens.com. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Credit cards accepted. Appetizers, $3.50 to $7; entrees, $13 to $18. Full liquor. Lot parking.

Plant-Based Foods May Offer Reduced Risk for Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Science Daily (Oct. 19, 2012) — President George W. Bush made no secret that he detested broccoli. With all due respect to our former leader, researchers have found one more great reason to add fruits, vegetables, herbs and tea to your diet.

A study by Susan Steck of the Arnold School of Public Health finds that a high intake of flavonoids, a group of compounds found in plants, may lower the risk for highly aggressive prostate cancer.

"Incorporating more plant-based foods and beverages, such as fruits, vegetables, herbs and tea, into the diet may offer some protection against aggressive prostate cancer," said Steck, an associate professor at the Arnold School and an affiliated scholar with the Center for Research in Health Disparities.

"Filling your plate with flavonoid-rich foods is one behavior that can be changed to have a beneficial impact on health," she said.

Steck presented her findings at the International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. The annual event is sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, whose mission is to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication and collaboration.

Prior preclinical studies have shown that flavonoids have beneficial effects against prostate cancer, but few studies have examined the effect of flavonoids on prostate cancer in humans.

Steck and her colleagues used data from 920 African-American men and 977 white men in the North Carolina-Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project who were newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. Participants completed a self-reported dietary history questionnaire to assess flavonoid intake, which was measured using the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2011 Database for the Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods.

Men with the highest total intake of flavonoids had a 25 percent lower risk for aggressive prostate cancer compared with those men with the lowest flavonoid intake.

"We found that higher total flavonoid intake was associated with reduced odds for aggressive prostate cancer in both African-American and European-American men, but no individual subclass of flavonoids appeared to be protective independently, suggesting that it is important to consume a variety of plant-based foods in the diet, rather than to focus on one specific type of flavonoid or flavonoid-rich food," Steck said.

In addition, the risk for aggressive prostate cancer was even lower in those men younger than 65 and in current smokers with the highest levels of flavonoid intake. Dietary questionnaire results revealed that citrus fruits and juices, such as oranges and grapefruits, tea, grapes, strawberries, onions and cooked greens were the top contributors to total flavonoid intake among the participants. "The results support public health recommendations and guidelines from organizations such as the American Institute for Cancer Research to consume a more plant-based diet," Steck said. "In particular, consuming more flavonoid-rich foods may be beneficial for those people who are at increased risk for cancer, such as smokers."

Money men: Who are top 5 donors to Romney?

WASHINGTON - For a casino mogul worth an estimated $25 billion, $34.2 million may sound like chump change. Yet that's how much money Sheldon Adelson has donated so far to aid Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and organizations supporting Romney this election, making him the donor of donors for the GOP.

Other top donors giving millions of dollars to aid Romney's campaign include a trio of Texas money moguls and the head of a south Florida-based energy conglomerate. Those donors and others are funding a presidential election on track to cost nearly $2 billion, with money going toward individual Democratic and Republican campaigns as well as independent, "super" political committees working on the campaigns' behalf.

Political donations can open doors that are closed to most people. Big-dollar donors are often invited to state dinners at the White House and other events with the president. They also may be asked to weigh in on public policy, especially if it affects their own financial interests. And the ranks of ambassadors, advisory panels and other government jobs traditionally are filled with those who have been unusually generous during the campaign.

Based on an examination of more than 2.3 million campaign contributions — the methodology is below — The Associated Press has ranked the top five financial supporters bankrolling the Republican presidential run:

No. 1: Sheldon Adelson, 79, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino empire.

Total: $34.2 million

Adelson is the largest declared donor to the Romney campaign and supporting political committees, providing more than $34.2 million this election season. He and his wife, Miriam, a physician who heads the Nevada-based Adelson Drug Clinic, have given $10 million to the Restore Our Future, a super PAC backing Romney. Adelson also joined relatives to give $24 million to committees backing former GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. And he has made public pledges vowing to give $10 million to Karl Rove's American Crossroads super PAC and as much as $100 million this election more broadly to the GOP. Worth an estimated $25 billion, Adelson oversees the Las Vegas Sands Corp., which runs casino and resort interests in Las Vegas, Singapore and Bethlehem, Pa., and Sands China Ltd., a cluster of casinos in the Chinese territory of Macau. He would benefit from loosened trade restrictions and a rise in the Chinese currency rate against the dollar. His company devoted $60,000 this year to lobby on tax issues, foreign tourist visas, travel and Internet gambling issues — and has spent $1.86 million lobbying on legislation dealing with China trade, gambling and travel since 2002. A staunch supporter of Israel, he also is a contributor to the Republican Jewish Coalition, which spent $920,000 since 2002 backing bills aimed at pressuring Iran and enhancing U.S. security cooperation with Israel. Adelson's casino company has advised shareholders that it was under investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investigators were said to be focusing on the Macau casinos and reports of missing money and possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

No. 2: Harold Simmons, 81, owner of Contran Corp., a Dallas-based conglomerate worth an estimated $9 billion that specializes in metals and chemical production and waste management.

Total: $16 million

Simmons is a longtime backer of GOP and conservative causes. He has donated $16 million to the party's efforts this year, including more than $11 million to American Crossroads and $800,000 to Restore Our Future. Simmons and his wife, Annette, also gave $2.2 million to Super PACs backing former GOP presidential candidates Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. Simmons has been active in political fundraising since the 1990s and in 2004 was a $4 million backer of the Swift Vets campaign, the GOP-backed effort to discredit Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's military record in the Vietnam War. Simmons' Titanium Metals Corp. reportedly is a top producer of titanium for weapons and other industrial uses. He also owns a majority stake in Valhi Inc., a Texas-based waste management company, and could benefit from a proposed Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule change that would allow the company's Texas facility to store spent uranium from nuclear power and weapons plants. Contran's subsidiaries have spent $200,000 this year lobbying the NRC, Energy Department, the Senate and House on metals and waste issues, and $4.3 over the past decade, including efforts to protect a Pentagon rule limiting titanium purchases to U.S. producers. Simmons was fined $19,800 by the Federal Election Commission in 1993 for exceeding the then-annual $25,000 limit on individual campaign contributions, which has since been lowered.

No. 3: Bob J. Perry, 80, head of a Houston real estate empire worth an estimated $650 million.

Total: $15.3 million

Perry has given about $15.3 million to aid the Romney campaign and allied causes so far this election season. Long active in Texas and national GOP politics, Perry donated nearly $9 million to Restore Our Future and a total of $6.5 million to American Crossroads. Before backing Romney this year, Perry gave $100,000 to the super PAC backing Texas Gov. Rick Perry (no relation). Bob Perry has been a fixture of GOP fundraising in Texas and nationally dating back to former President George W. Bush's Texas gubernatorial races in the mid-1990s. Perry was a top Bush presidential "bundler" and also gave big to the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth campaign in 2004, donating $4.4 million to the effort to discredit Kerry.

No. 4: Robert Rowling, 58, head of Dallas-based TRT Holdings.

Total: $4.1 million

Rowling has given at least $4.1 million to Republican Party and candidates this election. Most of his donations, $4 million, went to Rove's American Crossroads, both through personal donations and through his firm. Rowling also has given $100,000 to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future super PAC. Rowling's holdings are worth an estimated $4.8 billion and include Omni Hotels, Gold's Gym and Tana Exploration, his family's oil company. Rowling once told the Texas Tribune he prefers political donations to lobbying efforts. Rowling has been a big donor in Texas political circles, winning a role for Omni as operator of Dallas' convention center hotel after a 2009 city referendum fight.

No. 5: William Koch, 72, an industrialist whose South Florida-based energy and mining conglomerate is worth an estimated $4 billion.

Total: $3 million

Koch has given $3 million to the Restore Our Future, including a $250,000 personal donation and $2.75 million through his corporation, Oxbow Carbon LLC, and a subsidiary, Huron Carbon. Unlike his brothers, Charles and David Koch, who are longtime supporters of Republican and conservative causes, Bill Koch has funded both GOP and Democratic Party candidates in the past. Koch's corporate interests have repeatedly battled against what company officials have decried as government interference. Oxbow spent $570,000 last year on lobbying in Washington, mostly aimed at mining, safety issues and climate change. The company has complained in federal filings about government delays on permits and has raised concerns about administration changes in regulations that would aid collective bargaining. Koch also has pushed for approval of the Central Rockies Land Exchange, a proposed swap of land tracts in Colorado and Utah to enlarge his 4,500-acre Bear Ranch. The proposal, which requires congressional approval, has sparked local opposition.

METHODOLOGY

These rankings by The Associated Press, based on campaign financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission, include contributions to super PACs, presidential campaigns, political parties and joint-fundraising committees. Federal law limits maximum contributions to campaigns, parties and affiliated committees, but federal court rulings have stripped away such limits to super PACs. This analysis excludes secret-but-legal contributions that might have been made to nonprofit groups, which can pay for so-called issue ads that don't explicitly advocate for or against a candidate. Such groups are not required to identify their donors.

Where available, the analysis considered donations "bundled," or raised, from other wealthy donors for Romney and President Barack Obama. Obama periodically identifies his bundlers, although Romney has resisted calls to do the same.

Achebe writes of Nigeria civil war's horrors

JOHN GAMBRELL

"There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra" (The Penguin Press), by Chinua Achebe

Before Nigerian author Chinua Achebe became a famous writer, he was a journalist first, rewriting radio scripts for the state-run broadcaster. That terse, reportorial style of writing fills many of his novels, including his acclaimed debut novel, "Things Fall Apart," about the clash of cultures between traditional Africans and the arrival of European colonialists.

Now, Achebe has turned a reporter's eye toward the conflict that consumed years of his life, seeing his home bombed, his poet friend killed in battle and his Igbo people decimated by starvation brought on by civil war. While titled "There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra," Achebe's long-awaited memoir about a civil war that killed at least a million people at times feels purposefully restrained, as if he sought to write a history book that downplays his own emotions and experiences.

Yet haunting images of war still appear in the book's long passages. Achebe saves perhaps his greatest anger for the way oil-rich Nigeria runs now, its elections often dominated by "those infamous rent-a-crowd hooligans at the beck and call of corrupt politicians with plenty of money and very low IQs."

"As we reached the brink of full-blown war it became clear to me that the chaos enveloping all of us in Nigeria was due to the incompetence of the Nigerian ruling class," Achebe writes. "This clique, stunted by ineptitude, distracted by power games and the pursuit of material comforts, was unwilling, if not incapable, of saving our fledging new nation."

Nigeria, which gained its independence from Britain in 1960, had hopes that it would become a powerful democracy fueled by oil revenues and free of colonial influence. But a 1966 coup led primarily by army officers from the Igbo ethnic group from Nigeria's southeast shot and killed Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a northerner, as well as the premier of northern Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello.

The coup failed, but the country still fell under military control. Northerners, angry about the death of its leaders, attacked Igbos living there. As many as 10,000 people died in resulting riots. Many Igbos fled back to Nigeria's southeast, their traditional home. As mediation efforts failed and more Igbos worried about being slaughtered, then-military Gov. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the region had seceded from Nigeria and become the Republic of Biafra. The civil war began soon after.

In the book, published by The Penguin Press, Achebe describes how he, his wife and children faced repeated threats in the war years, fleeing their Lagos home as the military sought to kill him and later just missing being inside their apartment when an airplane bombed it. Yet Achebe deals with these episodes quickly, never deeply exploring his emotions or those of his loved ones. The death of his friend, the poet Christopher Okigbo, wrings the most emotion from Achebe's young son, who shouts: "Daddy, don't let him die!"

The glossing over of those memories might be what Achebe later describes as a different language employed by those who suffered through the war's waning days, "the language and memory of death and despair, suffering and bitterness." The horrors of the mass starvation suffered by Igbo civilians, the first televised images of African children with distended bellies ever seen by the West, led to many of the deaths in the war.

Achebe sidesteps answering the question he poses late in his book, whether Nigeria's government carried out a genocide against the Igbo, yet weights his books with others suggesting one took place. He also doesn't explore whether Ojukwu's use of starvation as a publicity tool and refusal to surrender led to more deaths, something English journalist John de St. Jorre suggests in his influential book on Biafra titled, "The Brothers' War."

Biafra remains almost a culture and historical black hole in Nigeria. Its dilapidated schools don't teach much about it, and those from the war generation, including Ojukwu, have begun to succumb to old age. However, Biafra has received new literary attention after the success of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's civil war novel, "Half of a Yellow Sun." Achebe's book adds to that revival and revision of a war that nearly tore Nigeria apart – and whose strains can still be seen today in its corrupt government.

As Achebe writes: "What has consistently escaped most Nigerians in this entire travesty is the fact that mediocrity destroys the very fabric of a country as surely as a war – ushering in all sorts of banality, ineptitude, corruption and debauchery."

News Summary: Google to sell low-priced Chromebook

UNDERCUTTING THE COMPETITION: Google and Samsung Electronics are selling a laptop computer for $249. The machine unveiled Thursday is aimed at siphoning sales from the latest products from Microsoft and Apple.

THE CATCH: The low-priced laptop lacks a hard drive for storage and runs on a relatively new operating system revolving around Google Inc.'s Chrome Web browser. That means an Internet connection is essential.

CROWDED MARKET: An array of higher-priced machines running on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 8 operating system will go on sale next week. Apple Inc. is widely expected to introduce a smaller version of its iPad on Tuesday.

Nigeria S&P Upgrade Hindered by Wealth Fund Tension With States

BY CHRIS KAY/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Nigeria’s chance of a rating upgrade is being hindered by a lack of clarity over how its sovereign wealth fund will grow amid tensions with regional governments over revenue allocation, Standard & Poor’s said.

Increasing the size of the fund from its initial $1 billion is key to building up external buffers that are needed for an upgrade in the B+ rating of Africa’s biggest oil producer, Christian Esters, a sovereign analyst at S&P, said in a phone interview yesterday from Frankfurt.

President Goodluck Jonathan signed the sovereign wealth fund into law in May last year. Nigeria’s 36 states say they plan to file a lawsuit challenging transfers by the federal government, including those to the wealth fund. The constitution requires government revenue to be shared among local, state and federal authorities.

“I don’t think currently we have visibility about how quickly this new sovereign wealth fund will grow,” Esters said. “It continues to be a challenge for the federal government to convince the states to get them on board and to convince them what the advantages would be.”

The suit by the state governors won’t affect the $1 billion already set aside for the wealth fund, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Sept. 21.

Okonjo-Iweala named a management team for the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Investment Authority on Aug. 28, headed by Uche Orji, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker. ‘More Independent’

Nigeria currently saves oil revenue above a benchmark budgeted price in an excess crude account. The governors agreed in June to boost savings in the account to $10 billion. Its balance last month was 1.32 trillion naira ($8.4 billion), Minister of State for Finance Yerima Ngama said Oct. 12.

“They’re trying to set up something that is more independent from the day-to-day vagaries of politics and more independent from the regional states wanting to tap the fund, which is the case for the excess crude account,” said Esters.

The sovereign wealth fund law requires it to allocate money to infrastructure, the future generation and budget stabilization, with each representing at least 20 percent of the total. Savings through the fund will provide a buffer against volatility in oil prices, according to Okonjo-Iweala.

S&P raised its outlook on Nigeria’s credit rating, four steps below investment grade, to positive from stable on Dec. 29, indicating a possible upgrade if the government follows through with plans to boost the economy and savings. The ratings company typically considers an upgrade between 12 and 24 months after an outlook is raised or lowered, said Esters. Oil Dependence.

The nation’s foreign-exchange reserves have increased 28 percent this year to $42 billion. Nigerian benchmark Bonny Light crude has risen 27 percent from a June low to $114.52 a barrel.

“One of the triggers for an upgrade is fiscal and external buffers in the form of reserves against the dependence on oil revenue,” said Esters. “Reserves have increased, but we still need to see some track record in the light of high oil prices and why haven’t they been increasing even more?”

The West African country relies on crude exports for about 95 percent of its foreign-currency earnings and about 80 percent of government revenue.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Kay in Abuja at ckay5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vernon Wessels at vwessels@bloomberg.net

Rwanda Wins security Council Seat

In this photograph provided by the United Nations, a UN conference officer is accompanied by a supervising delegate as she collects ballots on the floor of the UN General Assembly after they voted to elect five new non-permanent members of the Security Council in New York.

New York - Rwanda, along with Australia, Argentina, Luxembourg and South Korea, won a seat on the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, despite accusations by a UN panel that Rwanda's defence minister commands a rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda was unopposed in its bid for the African seat on the council that South Africa will vacate at the end of December, but still needed approval from two-thirds of the UN General Assembly members present to secure the two-year term. It won 148 votes in the 193-nation assembly.

Argentina also was elected to the council unopposed, winning 182 votes. Australia won a seat with 140 votes, Luxembourg with 131 votes and South Korea with 149.

Cambodia, Bhutan and Finland failed to secure two-year seats on the council.

There are five veto-holding permanent members of the council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - and 10 temporary members without veto power. Thursday's election was for the term from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014.

Rwanda's government said that it would work with all members of the council to ensure “it is responsive and reflective of the views and aspirations of the developing world”.

“Rwanda's troubling and tragic past allows it to bring to the UNSC a unique perspective on matters of war and peace,” it posted on a Twitter account created for its Security Council term (@RwandaUNSC).

Before the vote, the Congolese delegation told the General Assembly it objected to Rwanda joining the Security Council, accusing its neighbour of harbouring “war criminals operating in the eastern part of the DRC and who are being sought by international justice”.

A confidential UN report, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, cast a shadow over Rwanda's election to the 15-member UN power centre - which has the ability to impose sanctions and authorise military interventions.

The Security Council's “Group of Experts” said that Rwanda and Uganda - despite their strong denials - continued to support M23 rebels in their six-month fight against Congolese government troops in the east of the country.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame posted a declaration on Twitter welcoming the result: “No matter what haters say... Justice and truth will prevail!!! Sometimes it just requires a bit of good fight for all that!!!”

Speaking to reporters in New York, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo complained about the timing of the leak of the experts report to Reuters two days ahead of the Security Council vote, but added that the leak was “predictable”.

She also sought to assure Congo that Rwanda would be a responsible council member. “I believe the Democratic Republic of Congo should see Rwanda on the Security Council as value addition,” she said after the vote.

Philippe Bolopion of the advocacy group Human Rights Watch criticised the inclusion of Rwanda on the Security Council

“After blatantly violating the Security Council's arms embargo and undermining the work of the UN by propping up the abusive M23 rebels, Rwanda is rewarded with a seat at the table,” he said.

“Kigali is now in a position to try to shield its own officials implicated in abuses from UN sanctions, which is a flagrant conflict of interest,” Bolopion said in a statement. “Other Security Council members now have an even greater responsibility to hold Rwanda to account.”

Britain's Deputy UN Ambassador Philip Parham put a more positive spin on Rwanda's election, saying: “We look forward to working with them on issues of international peace and security including the efforts to try to end the cycle of violence in the eastern DRC.”

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr described Australia's election as a “big juicy, decisive win” that endorsed the country as a good global citizen.

“For us as a middle power a long way from the centres of clout in the world, the centres of power in the world, this is a lovely moment,” Carr told reporters after the vote.

South Africa, Colombia, Germany, India and Portugal are leaving the Security Council in December. Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Pakistan, Togo and Morocco will remain until the end of 2013.

The last time Rwanda was on the council was in 1994-95. That coincided with a genocide in which 800 000 people were killed when Rwanda's Hutu-led government and ethnic militias went on a 100-day killing spree, massacring Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The Congolese government on Wednesday demanded targeted sanctions against Rwandan and Ugandan officials named in the UN experts report.

According to the UN experts, who monitor compliance with sanctions and an arms embargo on the Congo, Rwandan Defence Minister General James Kabarebe was ultimately commanding the rebellion and both Rwanda and Uganda were providing weapons, troops and military and political aid to the insurgency.

--------- Reuters