Ebola outbreak: Barack Obama ‘to pledge US troops to fight virus’

US President Barack Obama is to
announce plans on Tuesday to send
3,000 troops to Liberia to help fight the
Ebola virus, US officials say.
It is understood the US military will
oversee building new treatment centres
and help train medical staff.
There has been criticism of the slow
international response to the Ebola
epidemic in West Africa.
Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea are the
worst-hit countries. The outbreak has
killed more than 2,400 people.
More than half of those killed by the
virus have been in Liberia. The World
Health Organization (WHO) warned
recently that the country could see
thousands of more cases.
United Nations officials will discuss the
international response to the outbreak at
a meeting in Geneva.
US officials said the aim of the country’s
anti-Ebola initiative is to:
Train up to 500 healthcare workers a
week
Construct 17 heathcare facilities, each
with about 100 beds
Establish a joint command based in
Monrovia, Liberia, to co-ordinate
between US and international relief
efforts
Distribute home healthcare kits to
thousands of households
Conduct a home and community-
based campaign to train local people
in how to handle patients
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
has appealed directly to Mr Obama for
help in tackling the outbreak.
Several disease experts have welcomed
the US plan, though some also question
its focus on Liberia.
“We should see all of West Africa now as
one big outbreak,” says Michael
Osterholm, director of the Center for
Infectious Disease Research and Policy at
the University of Minnesota, quoted in
The New York Times.
“It’s very clear we have to deal with all
the areas with Ebola.”
On Monday, Ghanaian President John
Dramani Mahama said greater and faster
outside help was needed.
Ebola spreads between humans by direct
contact with infected blood, bodily fluids
or organs, or indirectly through contact
with contaminated environments.
( BBC )

NUT ask teachers to ignore September 22nd resumption date

Minister of Health has said there's no single
confirmed case of Ebola in Nigeria currently
and it's safe for primary and secondary
schools to resume but the Nigeria Union of
Teachers, NUT, is not convinced. Today
September 16th, NUT directed its members
to ignore the Sept. 22nd resumption date of
schools in Nigeria.
Speaking today to journalists in Abuja, the
NUT National President, Comrade Micheal
Olukoya, said teachers should only resume
if the government provides them with
necessary preventive & protective gadgets
on Ebola virus. Continue...
NUT president Olukoya said;
"Where the federal government insists on
the 22nd September, 2014, date in spite of
the wise counsel, the union will rather
direct teachers to resume schools whenever
they are sufficiently trained and their
schools have been provided with the
necessary preventive and protective
gadgets. For the avoidance of doubt, the
teachers have this day, resolved to resume
classes in obedience to the federal
government directive, in states where
teachers have been trained to handle any
outbreak and all the required preventive
and protective gadgets such as hand gloves,
sanitizers, infra-red thermometers, running
water and soaps have been provided as
directed by federal government of Nigeria.
In states where the training has not been
done and necessary safeguarding gadgets
not provided, teachers shall continue to
remain at home until their state
governments respond positively or the
union directs them to the contrary”.

Goodluck Jonathan rejects controversial slogan

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
has asked his supporters to stop using
an adapted version of the #
BringBackOurGirls hashtag to campaign
for his re-election.
In one sense you can understand what
the president’s supporters were thinking.
The #BringBackOurGirls hashtag, calling
for 200 school girls abducted by Boko
Haram militants in April, became one of
the world’s biggest ever social media
campaigns. So why not borrow the
slogan for the president’s re-election
campaign?
The hashtag #BringBackGoodluck2015
seems to have first been used on Twitter
by a group campaigning on behalf of the
president. On 30th August, they tweeted:
“There is no vacancy in Aso rock [the
president's palace]we want Goodluck
Jonathan again #NigeriansDemand #
BringBackJonathan2015.”
It was never an officially endorsed
slogan, despite appearing on signs and
banners around the capital city of Abuja,
but now the president has reacted to try
and quash it. A press release issued by
the president’s office this morning says
the campaign is “offensive and
repugnant”, and that signs and banners
carrying the slogan should be removed
immediately.
The slogan was widely criticised because
it seemed to dramatically misread the
public mood in the country. The
abducted school girls are still held
captive, despite repeated promises by
the government – and President
Jonathan himself – to secure their
release. So far, the government has not
taken military steps to rescue the girls,
arguing that if force is used, they may
end up being killed by the militants.
A major backlash against the hashtag
soon emerged, as people took to Twitter
to label it as insensitive. It has appeared
more than 2,800 times in the last 24
hours, and the vast majority been used
to criticise the slogan.
“That hashtag is not only inappropriate
but it is insultingly silly. And it is bereft of
any political tact,” said one . Another said
the slogan’s inventor “has the combined
IQ of 500 frogs. Why not coin another
hashtag?”. “I didn’t realize Boko Haram
had kidnapped the President!” said a
third .
Japheth Omojuwa, a columnist at
Nigerian newspaper Punch, told BBC
Trending that he felt the decision to use
the slogan was “absurd”.
“They are using variation of our hashtag
#BringBackOurGirls to campaign for the
president,” he said. “These are people
that failed to secure the release of these
girls over 150 days since their kidnap.”
Terrorist attacks carried out by Boko
Haram are still rife in the country.
Research by Amnesty International
suggests at least 2,000 people have been
killed as a result of the conflict this year.

House of Reps want Sept 22 schools' resumption date changed

The House of Representatives want the
September 22nd school resumption date
for private and public primary/secondary
changed.
According to Punch, the Reps explained
yesterday that it had directed its Committee
on Education to take “another look” at the
date in view of the fact that the outbreak of
the Ebola Virus Disease in the country had
yet to be fully contained.
The Deputy Chairman, House Committee on
Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Victor Ogene,
who conveyed the position of the House in
Abuja, said there was still apprehension
among parents and guardians over the
Federal Government’s decision to change
the earlier resumption date of October 13
to September 22. Continue...
Ogene said the leadership of the House was
concerned over the fresh protests by the
public, especially parents and guardians.
He noted that considering the fact that
some persons were still under surveillance,
the House felt it had the responsibility to
ensure the safety of children.
The lawmaker said the committee would
come up with recommendations on the
appropriate and safe date to re-open the
schools.
He added that on September 8, a group,
Africa Health, Human and Social
Development Information Service, had
advised against the re-opening of the
schools.
The group had warned that re-opening
schools now could put the lives of over 80
million school children and teachers at risk.
Source: Punch

Chris Oyakhilome speaks on divorce; says media is writing stupid things

Y'all need to listen to this. He said he was
not accused of the things (the media) said,
and neither did he 'commit' those 'stupid'
things (the media) said. And he asked
people to pray for his wife because she
made a mistake. For those who can't view
the video, continue to read what he said...
"I understand that some media houses
particularly in Nigeria and maybe in South
Africa have been writing some real stupid
things. Frivolous charges...that's crazy.
You have to understand something about a
Man of God. A man of God is not just
someone who worships God or who
preaches God. A man of God is directed by
God, set on course by God. If you study the
scriptures you will not find one Man of God
going against God, sinning against God. The
only thing you can find is a Man of God,
maybe in two different things 1. Moses for
example, when he struck the rock twice,
provoked by the anger of the people, not
because he wanted to do something against
the Lord.
No Man of God does something against the
Lord. A Man of God is set on course, there
is a type of life that he's been given,
alright?
Then you have a young man, a young
prophet, he wasn't named, he was deceived
by another Man of God, and so he went in
the direction God says don't go. That's only
the kind of thing you would find about a
Man of God when he misses the message of
God or he acts beyond what God said.
But a Man of God setting himself in
defiance to the word of God and living like
they are writing those stupid things about
me that I did this, that I did that, you don't
know what a Man of God is. I don't go in
that direction. That seems crazy.
I wasn't accused of those things you said,
nor did I commit those stupid thing that
you said and I don't need to go to that
level and such discussions. Jesus Christ was
accused by many, with lots of frivolous
charges. There would always be those who
would like for it to be true, but you know,
in spite of the accusations against Jesus, it
didn't change who he was!
There are preachers and there are Men of
God. I'm not a preacher, I'm a Man of God.
Understand the difference. And I go in the
way I'm asked to go, it may cause some
troubles with individuals, but that's not
because I've done something wrong.
And when it comes to Rev. Anita, what I'd
say to you is pray for her, don't act like
'why is she....' . If you're married to a Man
of God it does not you make automatically
mature. You can make mistakes, but you
know, people expect the wife of a Minister
to definitely be at the level of the Minister,
and so they may be looked upon and the
expectations maybe like that, but it's a
positional thing. If a Man of God is married,
it does not automatically mean the wife of
the Man of God is therefore a Woman of
God! That's not how it is in the Bible. That's
why you don't really find wives of Men of
God mentioned in the bible. How many of
them? Who was Peter's wife? Did you ever
know her name? Who was John's wife? Did
you ever read the name? What about all the
other apostles? How many are registered in
the bible? You never find their names, why?
Ask God when you find Him!
So, they are little things, don't try to make
something big out of them. We're
journeying, doing the things that God's
called us to do. Christians should not have
a divorce. It shouldn't be. But that doesn't
mean a Christian may not take the step.
They may do it, but that doesn't make it
right. And we shouldn't take one another to
court, but when it happens, not because we
want to go there, someone is taking us
there. That's a problem. Be wise and stay
focused in the Word of God, and don't let
those who want to feast on things like this
including Christians. The Christians who like
things like this, they want to make
something big about it. And say yes we said
it. You said what? You should only say
those things that are from God, and
become honorable in your speech. And
judge nothing before the time. Be wise,
Glory to God.
So we are going greater and greater and
greater by the power of the living Christ.
So, we are not walking in sin and living in
sin and hoping we can mix sin and
righteousness together, No! We are the
manifestations of His righteousness, we
walk in that light only, and that's the way
it's going to be! Glory to God

'All schools to resume September 22nd' - FG

The Federal government has directed all
primary and secondary schools to resume
on Monday September 22nd. The
resumption date for schools had earlier
been postponed to October 13th as a
precautionary measure to contain the
spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria.

Meet Dreadnoughtus, perhaps the biggest creature to ever walk the planet

Paleontologists estimate the
Dreadnoughtus schrani specimen
unveiled Thursday was about 85 feet
long and weighed about 65 tons.

He was a big boy. A very,
very big boy.
In fact, the Dreadnoughtus schrani
dinosaur unveiled Thursday was one
of the biggest -- if not THE biggest --
land animal ever to grace the Earth.
Experts estimate that back in his day
-- which was the Upper Cretaceous
period, approximately 77 million
years ago -- that this creature whose
fossilized remains were unearthed
recently in Argentina's southwestern
Patagonia measured out at 85 feet
long and weighed about 65 tons.
No wonder, then, paleontologists
picked a first name that breaks down
to "fear nothing." (The second name
honors benefactor and tech
entrepreneur Adam Schran.) You
wouldn't be scared, either, if you
towered over every creature in sight,
could smash most anything with your
whip-like tail and could smoosh
anything with your colossal feet.