Lina Medina became a mother at the age of 5

In 1939 at Pisco in Peru, an Indian woman from the foothills of the Andes brought her child a little girl, scarcely three feet tall, with an enormously bulging abdomen. She wanted the doctor of the hospital Surgeon Geraldo Lozada to help her exorcise the evil spirits which she believed had taken possession of her child. Certain that the little child had an abdominal tumour, Dr. Lozada examined her, and received the surprise of his life when he discovered that the little girl, Lina Medina who was just 5 years old was eight months pregnant. 

       

Lina was taken to the capital of Peru for further check up by other specialists and it was confirmed that Lina was in fact pregnant. It was also confirmed that her menarche had occurred at 8 months of age, and that she had had prominent breast development by the age of 4. By age 5 her figure displayed pelvic widening and advanced bone maturation. A month and a half later, on May 14, 1939, she gave birth to a boy by a caesarean section necessitated by her small pelvis in a surgery performed by Dr. Lozada and Dr. Busalleu, with Dr. Colretta providing anaesthesia, this making Lina Medina the youngest birth mother ever. Her son at birth weighed 2.7 kg (6 lb) and was named Gerardo after her doctor. Gerardo grew up healthy and died in 1979 at the age of 40 of a disease of the bone marrow. 

       

The big question is, "who was the father of the child?" There was never evidence that Lina Medina's pregnancy occurred in any but the usual way, but she never revealed the father of the child, nor the circumstances of her impregnation for she couldn't give a precise response. Dr. Escomel suggested she might not actually know herself. Lina's father was arrested on suspicion of rape and incest, but was later released due to lack of evidence. In history 80% of young birth mothers were impregnated by a very close relative such as their father, grandfather, brother, cousin, step father, half brother e.t.c.

      

There is a closely related cases of young birth at age 6 (yelizaveta "Liza" from Ukraine in 1934) and a case of a Nigerian young birth mother, Mum-Zi who gave birth at the age of 8 to Chief Akkiri ,she was a member of Chief Akkiri's harem in an island in Calaber, Nigeria. Her daughter also gave birth extremely early making Mum-Zi a grandmother at age 15.

       

The above photos shows when Medina was seven and a half months into pregnancy, Lina Medina and her son after delivery and when her son Gerardo was eleven months old.

From Rosa Parks to Barak Obama

The No. 2857 bus on which Parks was riding before she was arrested (a GM "old-look" transit bus, serial number 1132), is now a museum exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement".

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Parks' action was not the first of its kind to impact the civil rights issue. Others had taken similar steps, but Parks' civil disobedience had the effect of sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

 

Rosa Parks in 1955, with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the background

 On Monday, December 5, a new organization was to lead the boycott effort. The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed. Its members elected as their president a relative newcomer to Montgomery, a young and mostly unknown minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parks' act of defiance helped boycott leader Martin Luther King, Jr to national prominence in the civil rights movement. 

President Barak Obama sits for a moment inside the bus where Rosa Parks refused to give out her seat

The advancement of civil right in the United State by King Jr by non-violent methods as preached by Mahatma Gandhi made the election of a black president possible. And today the efforts of Parks and King Jr have yielded a black President of the United State - President Barak Obama.

Platypus: an Animal so Odd

Platypus, an odd-looking creature has a bill and web-feet like a duck, a body and fur like an otter and a tail like a beaver. It lays egg like a chicken, burrows like a wombat and suckles its young like a mother bear. A creature so strange that the first scientist to examine it suspected it was a hoax!

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala vs The United States of America

The race for the presidency of the Bretton Woods institution(World Bank) had been narrowed down to two candidates - Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Dr. Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-American Physician and United States’ nominee - after the former Colombian finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo, withdrew his candidacy at the weekend. In fact, Ocampo had thrown his weight behind the Nigerian finance minister, describing her as an "excellent candidate". Zoellick’s tenure expires on June 30.

Observers had been curious that Kim had not even appeared on any major American interview. It had been suggested that his handlers were worried that he might make a slip, which would bring the issue of merit to the fore once again.

“That is why they have resulted to issuing press releases about his visits to different parts of the world,” one of them noted.

However, Okonjo-Iweala, who had also served as managing director of the multilateral institution, has the support of other emerging economies.

Okonjo-Iweala when interviewed by the World Bank board last week promised to tackle global poverty and address issues of job creation if elected.

She also advised the US to end the long tradition of an American always heading the Bretton Woods institution, saying that the decision on who leads the global development institution should go to the candidate with the best skills for the job.

The finance minister had also dismissed the argument by some US politicians that the American country would stop financing the World Bank if a non-American took the reins of the institution. She said she would use her "persuasive powers" to convince Congress to keep funds flowing to the World Bank.

On his part, Kim, had during the interview session with the board of directors of the bank, said that he would not hesitate to question the status quo and do his best to help the world's poorest countries.

Kim had said: “I would bring rigour; objectivity and a focus on data that help all of us define and achieve our shared vision of securing strong economic growth and delivering greater opportunity for the world's poor.”

The contest is now between Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the United State of America and not Jim Yong Kim who is seen as not only unqualified but also not a match for Okonjo-Iweala. But knowing how the system is Okonjo-Iweala know she has already lost and has come out to say that Jim Yung Kim is the next president of the World Bank because the method of selection which is not based on merit but by percentage own. A successor to the out-going President of the World Bank, Mr. Robert Zoellick, will emerge Monday between 5pm and 7pm (12 noon and 2pm Washington DC time), when the results will be announced.

Don Jazzy e-mail to D’Banj and D’Banj's reply to Don Jazzy

DON JAZZY E-MAIL TO D'BANJ

That Mo'Hits Records does not already own 100 per cent of the songs. Note that Mo'Hits Records only owns 60 per cent of the songs and 40 per cent belongs to the individual artiste. So, 40 per cent of the songs is not mine to give. That me (I am) giving him (D'banj) my share of the catalogue does not and will never include him having the right to stop them (the artistes)  from performing the songs or give him the right to claim any monies for live performances of these songs. And any loans or debt owed by Mo'Hits records as at today will be cleared by Mr D'banj as I am clearly not aware of any.

So, songs like Wande Coal's Go Low and Been Long You Saw Me are not part of this catalogue he is receiving. Also, an artiste like D'Prince, not only has he not released any album, he has not signed any contract whatsoever with Mo'Hits Records. That he has no right to claim any monies for deals that have been brokered already as at today with the catalogues or stop their usage. It is important to note that any unreleased songs done by any artiste (including D'banj and K-Switch) MUST NOT be released and is not part of the catalogue I am giving away.

With these few points, I do hope that you all realise that I have been generous enough to facilitate the End of the "D'banj & Don Jazzy" era as a team. After this new deal has been signed and sealed, I do NOT look forward to seeing an email whatsoever or hearing from the DKM (D'banj, K-Switch, Mo'Hits) crew, and all is well again.

   

D'BANJ'S REPLY TO DON JAZZY

In case he (Don Jazzy) forgot, this is the arrangement! 50/50—–song writer/ production, which means for a song X for artiste Y, 75 per cent as per production is fully owned by Mo'Hits and writing is shared 25/25 with the individual artiste co- writing. So, that's the deal! So him (sic) saying 40 per cent is not his to give away is more like 75per me and 25per each artiste.

What do you mean by any bills or loans would be cleared by Mr. D'banj? That will never happen because when I ran the company, I ran it perfectly and well. So, if I give him my shares he is left with 100 per cent liability. My catalogue is everything that has been done with the Mo'Hits system and under the normal agreement we have, that means everything I have recorded or that has been recorded whether new or old, or even classic, whether beat with concept or even idea without beats, anything we did as a team and sponsored by me throughout, then, it is mine. Including K-switch clause and all mine and even Wande's singles and all till the date of signing even today.

And now, (I) wanna clear the air on this Samsung deal! I would expect by now that you understand that me keeping quiet is being GENEROUS because this is a deal structured under Mo'Hits Records, (and it is) the first deal and income you would ever bring into the company in  eight years. We shared the first 150k (One hundred and fifty thousand dollars) the right way, 1/3 down and that was cool. But after you collected another 130k and did not say anything (that) is and could be described as theft! I only refused to contact them (Samsung) directly because of your reputation. But please don't call me a fool and let's know who is generous!"

Please, please, will he (Don Jazzy) return the Bentley because I bought it for him and it was N5.2m more than mine? And Prince that he claims has no signed contract but is actively involved and signed via engagement– I win his catalogue too – all recorded whether released now or not! This is because no one questioned me when I bought D'Prince N11m naira car (LR3/Range) without releasing any album just to boost the image of the boy and it worked for him! So, let's get the facts straight, I AM BEING MORE THAN GENEROUS.

Way-C Tablet: the First African iPad Rival

Way-C, the first African tablet, was invented in the Republic of Congo by 26-year-old Verone Mankou under his company, VMK. The Way-C tablet, an African rival to the iPad, went on sale in the Republic of Congo on Jan. 30, 2012. The Way-C, which means "the light of the stars" in a dialect of northern Congo, is sold for just $300. Though the Way-C was designed in Congo, it was assembled in China, to keep the price low and because of a lack of factories in the central African country.

On the official Way-C website, Mankou who said "originally the idea was to design a low-cost computer to bring Internet access to as many people as possible," describes the tablet as being affordable without being a cheaply made product, and filling a gap in the market for a device catering specifically to Africans. According to him "in technological terms, this tablet is equivalent to all those to be found on the market." The Android OS tablet is a little smaller than the iPad, and weighs 380 g. It has a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory and supports wifi. Battery life is 6 hours. Further specs include a 7-inch screen and a version of Android dubbed "Kongo" (based on Gingerbread 2.3.5). Mankou's aim is to keep the tablet accessible for the African market and says that although the tablet is for "emerging markets" it will be available globally. The Way-C can't compete specs-wise with the dual-core, 64GB monster from Apple. Well the good thing is that the Way-C doesn't have to. All it has to do is to grab a foothold on the African tablet market.

Tablets for emerging markets seem to be all the rage. India started the trend with its Akash tablet, and now the Republic of Congo has its own cost cutting touchscreen device. This is a monumental achievement for the Republic of Congo because if there was anybody expecting an African tablet this early it would have been from countries like South Africa, Egypt or Tunisia. My Question is "where is the so called 'Giant of Africa' in all these?"

Mali, the Coup d'état and the Tuareg's Declaration of Independence

"We, the people of the Azawad," they said in a statement published on the rebel website, "proclaim the irrevocable independence of the state of the Azawad starting from this day, Friday, April 6, 2012."

"The Executive Committee of the MNLA calls on the entire international community to immediately recognise, in a spirit of justice and peace, the independent state of Azawad," Billal Ag Acherif, the MNLA's secretary-general, said on its French-language

Their independence declaration cited 50 years of misrule by the country's southern-based administration and was issued by the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (NMLA) whose army is led by a Tuareg senior commander who fought in the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's military. Nomadic Tuaregs have nurtured the dream of secession since Mali's own independence from France in 1960, but have little foreign support for a move neighbours fear could encourage other separatist movements. The rebels that captured the North of Mali comprises: the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNAA), the Islamist Ansar Dine which is closely tied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and which is demanding the imposition of Islamic law in northern Mali and the secular Tuareg nationalist Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) which is seeking an autonomy, if not a completely independent homeland.

The rebels' advance capitalized on confusion in Bamako after a March 22 coup by mid-ranking officers whose main goal had ironically been to beef up efforts to quash the rebellion of the rebels. Tuareg rebels in the country's north launched incursions deeper into Mali, seizing towns and bases formerly held by government forces fighting the conflict that caused the coup. As military forces have been engaged in consolidating their hold on the capital, the rebels have been able to push southward with little opposition. The Malian coup d'état began on 21 March, when mutinying Malian soldiers unhappy with the management of the 2012 Tuareg rebellion attacked several locations in the capital Bamako. The soldiers, who now call themselves the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State (CNRDR) led by Captain Amadou Sanogo, declared that they had seized power from "the incompetent regime of Amadou Toumani Touré" and said it would look to hand over power to a new democratically elected government. The coup was followed by the swift loss of northern Mali to Tuareg forces, leading Reuters to describe the coup as "a spectacular own-goal" for the CNRDR.

The coup d'état was "unanimously condemned" by the international community and as for the declaration of independence by the rebel, the African Union said in a statement Friday that its commission chairman Jean Ping "firmly condemned" the declaration, which it said was "null and of no value whatsoever." And the French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said "a unilateral declaration of independence that is not recognized by African states means nothing for us."

It is believe that despite the declaration of independence made by the NMLA, they are not in total control of the situation in the north of Mali.

"I heard the declaration but I'm telling you the situation on the ground. We barely see the NMLA. The people we see are the Salafis," said the young man, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. "I can't tell which group they are exactly, but we know they are the Islamists because of their beards. They are the people in control of Gao.

"They do not speak any African language as far as I can tell. In fact, I don't believe any of them are African ... Even the ones that speak Arabic, speak an Arabic that doesn't come from around here," said Halle, who explained that their dress and appearance leads him to believe that they are likely foreign fighters recruited by the al-Qaida franchise.

The situation on ground and the involvement of Al-Qaida in all these makes me believe that this is the beginning of another African long civil war that will be hard to end.

World Bank Presidency: does Okonjo-Iweala have a chance?

On Friday 23 of March, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank drew the curtain on nominations for the position of World Bank President, as Robert Zoellick plans to step down in June. Three candidates: Jim Yong Kim, Jose Antinio Ocampo and Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have been short-listed.

  

Mr. Jim Yong Kim is a Korean born US national and President of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. The Korean-born Kim represents a break from the financiers and bureaucrats, who have run the World Bank. He is seen as a very smart man and has many of the characteristics that anyone would look for in a World Bank President; however, he lacks recognition among the world's development community. More importantly, he lacks the experience and knowledge of finance and broad-based development that will be essential as the world continues to recover from the global financial crisis and works to prevent its recurrence.

   

José Antonio Ocampo on the other hand is a Colombian national and professor at Columbia University, New York. He is a US-trained economist, who has excellent credentials in academia, national politics and at the United Nations. He has held posts as Agriculture Minister, Planning Minister and Central Bank Chairman in Colombia's government but has no support from his home government, which is looking forward to ILO Presidency.

  

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian and has a PhD in economic. She is a respected economist and diplomat. She has spent more than two decades in numerous positions at the World Bank. A much-heralded finance minister in Nigeria, she help the country to gain its first ever credit rating. Ordinarily, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, who until recently served as one of the bank's managing directors would be expected by experience to pick up the job but the chance of her becoming the next World Bank president is very slim.

   

The President of the World Bank is decided mainly by super powers led by America. It is a known fact that since the inception of the World Bank, the President has always been an American. This is   as a result of a tacit agreement between Europe and America that says when Europe has its citizen as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, the United States of America will produce the President of the World Bank. Emerging countries have gone on the offensive to put an end to this succession rule. Emerging economies such as the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have sought to use their growing economic clout to pry open the selection process for the heads of the World Bank and its sister organisation, the International Monetary Fund.

  

While José Antonio Ocampo has no backing from his country and Angola, Nigeria and South Africa in fact the entire African leadership has endorsed the nomination of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as a candidate to take over the leadership of the bank, when Robert Zoellick steps down in June. The US backed by Europe as usual is ready to force their nominee on member nations, despite the fact that he is the least qualified of the three nominees. U S argued that it does not head any other global organisation and that giving up the World Bank presidency will make it difficult for the White House to obtain funding from the Congress for the global lender, especially with lawmakers worried about mounting budget deficits. But this does not make sense considering the quality of their nominee. Kim's highest qualification as a former director of the World Health Organization's HIV/Aids department which is increasingly been recognized as a core development issue is not good enough for the position because beyond public health, the new World Bank president will face challenges in re-tooling global and national finances for development, food price volatility, filling the massive infrastructure gap and global climate change. Kim is not versed on these issues and lacks experience in managing the delicate global, national, and local interests in play. My opinion is that the U S careless about Kim's qualification all they care about is putting someone who they can control as the president of World Bank and if they are forced to withdraw their nominee they may prefer Ocampo who has a good working relationship with the US. Ocampo won points for collaborating with US on a clamp-down on drug-related money-laundering. Colombia is arguably the US's closest partner in South America and Ocampo has earned the trust of Americans at the highest level but If the decision is finally based on merit, as it should be, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is sure to be the next World Bank president.

   

Rather than listening to the Washington Consensus, many developing countries took matters into their own hands at the turn of the century. Since then the developing world has grown faster than the rich, reduced poverty significantly and avoided the worst of the financial crisis that originated in the US. It would be ironic for the US to dictate the appointment at the World Bank in such an environment.

Blackberrys's iPad aka BlackPad

According to the Wall Street Journal, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) is planning to release their version of the wildly famous iPad, a 9.7 inch iPad competitor, that may be running Android or BlackBerry 6 with the ability to be connected to a BlackBerry handset for 3G access/tethering.  Choosing to name it the BlackPad is another big issue. Yes, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) has already been notified and a legal junction is no doubt in the works. Black-Pad! Woow!! what do you think?

Is Blackberry Phone the Smartest?

Blackberry, the pioneer of smartphone boom with first of its kind hitting the market in 2002 has dominated smartphone user's world more especially that of business users for many years now. This is changing due to the release of Apple's iPhones and Google's Android operating system, which is being used by many mobile-device manufacturers. Blackberry, Canada's technology superstar own by Research in Motion (RIM) became a household name and gained the status of a corporate must-have smartphone because of its unique traditional features and services Blackberry though traditionally a business user phone has some consumer user services too. Since the entrance of iPhone in 2007 and Android operating system in 2010, Blackberry has lost a large part of its market. This may make people think that Blackberry is not as smart as the other smartphones. The answer to which device or platform is smarter depends partly on the device itself and partly on the needs of the person using it. Whether you are always on the road or someone who is sedentary, each person has specific needs when it comes to a mobile device.

Many users find iPhone which is blackberry biggest competitor to be trendy and versatile. This is because iPhone has almost successfully bridged the gap between the average consumer user and business user though it started as a consumer device. iPhone leverages a vast application store, which allows you to obtain apps for almost anything you can think of. Apple takes the cake when it comes to Web browsing on a mobile device. The use of Safari does a great job of rendering most Web sites and the large screen definitely helps the experience. Android prides itself on being open source and also boasts an extensive application store. It can also boast of numerous media-consumption applications. The younger generation who are mainly consumer-based users loves iPhones and Android phones. Android operating system which can be found on variety of phones, being open source allows vendors to develop platforms for their specific hardware. For this reason this platform containing thousands of free and paid apps for smartphones. Google Apps have seamless integration with Android smartphones,

RIM develops its own operating system on top of its own hardware like Apple does but unlike Android and Apple its applications are fewer and more expensive. This is because Blackberry does not have the kind of platform on which developers could create applications. BlackBerry, in comparison to the Android and iPhone platforms, provide the weakest web browsing experience. The iPhone succeeds in bridging the gap between the business and the consumer users, whereas the BlackBerry is still deeply rooted with the business community. To me this is an advantage, but many will see this as a weakness. The BlackBerry started as a corporate device, while the. The iPhone seems to have had an easier time making its way into the business environment, compared to RIM's battle of trying to make its way into the consumer market. Despite all this blackberry is the preferred device for business users overall, because of its in-built security, remote manageability and centralised enterprise and internet services which include email and corporate messaging services. It also have some consumer user services too such BlackBerry Messenger and Media Music (its iTunes rival). Blackberry provides the most optimal power consumption for the business user. Weeks of standby time, hours of talk time, and a removable battery (apple battery cannot be removed) all contribute to the BlackBerry taking the crown from a battery-performance perspective. The BlackBerry OS is one of the strongest platforms on the market. It has the best contact management, 'calendaring', and e-mail client of all the devices. BlackBerry is more rugged and reliable than iPhone and many Android devices especially with its renowned mechanical keyboards. RIM also offers freedom of choice, unlike Apple; you can purchase many different Blackberry in different form factors. For business I'd go with BlackBerry since it is much more encrypted, closed-off, and durable in the sense of hardware. RIM is reportedly planning on releasing a 9.7 inch iPad competitor, that may be running Android or BlackBerry 6 with the ability to be connected to a BlackBerry handset for 3G access/tethering.