Mrs. Thompson The Teacher !

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around.."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper That he got from a grocery bag Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left, she cried for at least an hour.

On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets.."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling* her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for* believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

Warm someone's heart today. . . pass this along.
Just try to make a difference in someone's life today? tomorrow? Just "do it".

France returns smuggled Nok artefacts to Nigeria

France returns smuggled Nok artefacts to Nigeria

Jan 30, 13 • News • No Comments •

France has returned to Nigeria five ancient terracotta sculptures smuggled out of the country in 2010.

The artefacts, of Nok origin, were found in the luggage of French citizen at a Paris airport.

Their exact value has not been disclosed, but they are believed to date back more than 3,000 years.

The Minister of Tourism Edem Duke, said it was a “big achievement” in the country’s campaign to recover its lost treasures from around the world.

“I feel extremely delighted,” said Edem Duke, who attended the ceremony to receive the sculptures from French embassy officials in the capital, Abuja.

Over the last 85 years, Nok art has been discovered in a large area of north-central Nigeria from Jos to Kaduna.

Experts say Nok art, which often represents human heads, is the earliest attempt at portraiture yet discovered in Nigeria.

The National Commission for Museums and Monuments believes that items of Nok culture show it was the first society to have used iron in sub-Saharan Africa.

Terracotta sculptures are believed to have been smuggled out of Nigeria to neighbouring Togo, from where the French buyer flew to Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport.

It is a route thought to be used by smugglers to avoid customs checks at Nigerian airports, he says.

France’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Jacques Champagne de Labriolle, stated the artefacts’ return was part of a global attempt to fight the “illegal trafficking of cultural goods”.

“It is both a decision by the French government and an obligation by all those countries that have signed the UNESCO Convention on the matter,” he said.

The return of the Nok sculptures would help in Nigeria’s fight to recover its lost heritage, Mr Duke said.

“It’s a very symbolic achievement and it also sends a very important signal to the rest of the world that we will continue to pursue the repatriation of our heritage assets and treasures wherever they are,” he stated.

Nigeria has long campaigned for the return of artefacts stolen when the British took over the kingdom of Benin, now southern Nigeria, in 1897.

Its latest call has been for Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts to return 32 Benin artefacts which were donated by a collector to the gallery last year.

http://www.naijaurban.com/france-returns-nok-artefacts-nigeria/#sthash.Lk6UncoN.7x556XyP.dpbsChannels TV

- See more at: http://www.naijaurban.com/france-returns-nok-artefacts-nigeria/#sthash.Lk6UncoN.01SHZrAh.dpuf

FASTEST MAN IN AFRICA BEGINS NEW CAREER IN THE NAVY

FASTEST MAN IN AFRICA BEGINS NEW CAREER IN THE NAVY

13/02/2012

The fastest man in Africa – and the 10th fastest man in history – has swapped the track for the deck of Her Majesty’s warships. Olympic medallist and African 100m record holder Olusoji Fasuba has completed his training as a logistics specialist with the Royal Navy at HMS Raleigh.

All my life has been about sport, so I wanted to try something different. We were under a lot of pressure to learn a lot during our specialist training and I surprised myself in being able to understand it all.

Olusoji Fasuba

One of the fastest men on earth has hung up his running shoes – and joined the Royal Navy as a junior sailor.

Nigerian sprinter Olusoji Fasuba – the African 100m record holder, Olympic bronze medallist, indoor 60m world champion – has swapped the track for life as a logistics expert.

The 27-year-old has just completed nine months of training at HMS Raleigh at Torpoint and is now ready to take up his first posting in the logistics department across the water in Devonport naval base.

Olusoji – nicknamed Flash by his shipmates – was looking for a more settled life for his family – wife Ngozi, a fellow athlete, and daughter Annabelle, aged seven months.

Last May he walked through the gates of HMS Raleigh to begin training as a Logistician (Supply Chain) – and on Friday walked out, training complete.

Before hanging up his running shoes, the sprinter won bronze medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, golds in the 100m and 4x100m relay at the 2007 All-African Games, gold at the 2008 indoor championships at 60min. And in 2006, Flash set an African record in the 100m – 9.85 seconds, just 0.27 of a second slower than the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt – at the Doha Grand Prix.

Now living in Plymouth with his family the young sailor said: "I've had a very good career in athletics and been there with the big boys, but I was looking to the future and wanted to settle.

“My father used to work for the Nigerian Navy, so from a young age it was all about the Navy. Some of my friends are serving in the British Army and tried to persuade me to join, but for me it had to be the Royal Navy.

“Training has been my way of life for a long time. Growing up in Nigeria discipline is very strict, so that aspect of being in the Navy wasn't really a shock to me. It was tough mentally sometimes and I did question myself about what I was doing, but ultimately I wanted to do it for myself and my family."

During his specialist training Fasuba was appointed the role of class leader. He played for Raleigh's football team and lists a week's leadership training at Tal-y-bont in Wales as one of the highlights of his course.

In his new role Fasuba will be responsible for ensuring that his unit has everything it needs to operate, ordering and storing millions of pounds worth of equipment, from engineering parts to stationery.

He said:

"All my life has been about sport, so I wanted to try something different. We were under a lot of pressure to learn a lot during our specialist training and I surprised myself in being able to understand it all.

“In this job I'll be working in an office or a storeroom and I'll be able to keep my athletics as a hobby. I'm excited about my first posting as I've never had what you would call a regular job and I'm looking forward to actually working in a stores department."

For the future Fasuba is hoping to complete a full career in the Royal Navy and maybe transfer to the Officer Corps at some stage.

He is keen to apply for British citizenship and although his priority is his new career and his family, he hopes one day to equal his feat of winning the 60-metre world indoor championships for Nigeria by taking the title for Britain.

The junior sailor has been training at weekends in Plymouth where he has been giving running tips to the younger generation.

Elsewhere on the sporting front, Olusoji latest goal is to become a member of the Royal Navy bobsleigh team and he will soon be travelling to Austria for his first try out at the Inter-Service games.

Olusoji said:

“As soon as I saw the film Cool Runnings, I thought: ‘I could do that.’ I've never done it before and I may not like it so I need to build my love for the sport and I've given myself five chances to see how things go.

“I've looked at the statistics and I know I can do it. My ambition is to represent Britain at bobsleigh at a Winter Olympics."

TAKE A LOOK

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/News-and-Events/Latest-News/2012/February/13/120213-Fastest-man-in-Africa-begins-new-career-in-the-Navy

Slave Coast

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A 1729 map, showing the Slave Coast

The Slave Coast is the name of the coastal areas of present Togo, Benin (formerly Dahomey) and western Nigeria, a fertile region of coastal Western Africa along the Bight of Benin. In pre-colonial times it was one of the most densely populated parts of the African continent. It became one of the most important export centers for the Atlantic slave trade from the early 16th century to the 19th century.

Other West African regions historically known by their prime colonial export are Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana), Ivory Coast(modern-day Côte d'Ivoire), and Pepper Coast (or Grain Coast, in modern-day Liberia).

Contents   [hide]  1 History 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References

[edit]History

According to most research, the beginnings of the slave trade in this area are not well documented. It is difficult to track the development of trade in this area and its integration into the Atlantic slave trades before about 1670, when European sources begin to document this interaction.

The slave trade became so extensive in the 18th and 19th centuries that an “Atlantic community” was formed.^[1] The slave trade was facilitated on the European end by the Portuguese (mostly byPortuguese Empire's Brazilians), the Dutch, the French and the British. Slaves went to the New World, mostly to Brazil and the Caribbean. Ports that exported these slaves from Africa includeOuidah, Lagos, Aného (Little Popo), Grand-Popo, Agoué, Jakin, Porto-Novo, and Badagry. These ports traded in slaves that were supplied by African communities, tribes and kingdoms, including the Alladah and Ouidah, which were later taken over by the Dahomey kingdom.

Researchers estimate that between 2 and 3 million slaves were exported out of this region and were traded for goods like alcohol and tobacco from the Americas and textiles from Europe. This complex exchange fostered political and cultural as well as commercial connections between these three regions. Religions, architectural styles, languages, knowledge, and other new goods were mingled at this time. Slaves as well as free men used the exchange routes to travel to new places which aided in hybridizing European and African cultures. Intermarriage has been documented in ports like Ouidah where Europeans were permanently stationed. Communication was quite extensive between all three areas of trade, to the point where even individual slaves could be tracked. ^[2]

After slavery had been abolished by European countries, the slave trade continued for a time with independent traders (instead of government agents). Cultural integration had become so extensive that the defining characteristics of each culture were increasingly broadened. In the case of Brazilian culture—which had differentiated itself from Portuguese culture through its combination of African, Portuguese and New World traditions—Brazilian-style dress, cuisine and speaking Portuguese had become the main requirements for Brazilian identity, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or geographic location.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Coast

Benin (Punitive) Expedition of 1897.

Benin Expedition of 1897

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[show] v   t   e Scramble for Africa

The Benin Expedition of 1897 was a punitive expedition by a United Kingdom force of 1,200 under Admiral Sir Harry Rawson in response to the defeat of a previous British-led invasion force under Acting Consul General James Philips (which had left all but two men dead).^[1]Rawson's troops captured, burned, and looted Benin City, bringing to an end the West African Kingdom of Benin. As a result much of the country’s art, including the Benin Bronzes, was either destroyed, looted or dispersed.

Contents   [hide]  1 Background 2 The "Benin Massacre" 3 British objectives 4 Aftermath 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit]Background

At the end of the 19th century, the Kingdom of Benin had managed to retain its independence and the Oba exercised a monopoly over trade which the British found irksome. The territory was coveted by an influential group of investors for its rich natural resources such as palm-oil, rubber and ivory.[2] The kingdom was largely independent of British control, and pressure continued from figures such as Vice-Consul James Robert Phillips and Captain Gallwey (the British vice-Consul of Oil Rivers Protectorate) who were pushing for British annexation of the Benin Empire and the removal of the Oba.

In March 1892, Henry Gallwey, the British Vice-Consul of Oil Rivers Protectorate (later Niger Coast Protectorate), visited Benin City hoping to annex Benin Kingdom and make it a British protectorate. Although the King of Benin, Omo n’Oba (Ovonramwen), was sceptical of the British motives he was willing to endorse what he believed was a friendship and trade agreement. The treaty signed by the king agreed to the abolition of the Benin slave trade and human sacrifice.^[2] The King refrained from endorsing Gallwey’s treaty when it became apparent that the documentwas a deceptive ploy intended to make Benin Kingdom a British colony. Consequently the King issued an edict barring all British officials and traders from entering Benin territories. Since Major (later Sir) Claude Maxwell Macdonald, the Consul General of the Oil River Protectorate authorities considered the ‘Treaty’ legal and binding, he deemed the King’s reaction a violation of the accord and thus a hostile act.

In 1894 after the invasion and destruction of Brohomi, the trading town of the chief Nana Olomu, the leading Itsekiri trader in the Benin River District by a combined British Royal Navy and Niger Coast Protectorate forces, Benin Kingdom increased her military presence on her southern borders. This vigilance and the Colonial Office's refusal to grant approval for an invasion of Benin City scuttled the expedition the Protectorate had planned for early 1895. Even so between September 1895 and mid 1896 three attempts were made by the Protectorate to enforce the Gallwey ‘Treaty’. Major P. Copland-Crawford, Vice-Consul of the Benin District, made the first attempt, Mr. Locke, the Vice-Consul Assistant, made a second one and the third one was made by Captain Arthur Maling, the Commandant of the Niger Coast Protectorate Force detachment based in Sapele.

In March 1896, following price fixing and refusal by Itsekiri middle men to pay the required tributes, the King of Benin ordered a cessation of the supply of oil palm produce to them. The trade embargo brought trade in the Benin River region to a standstill, and the British traders and agents of the British trading firms quickly appealed to the Protectorate’s Consul-General to ‘open up’ Benin territories, and send the King (whom they claimed was an ‘obstruction’) into exile. In October 1896 Lieutenant James Robert Phillips (RN) [Edit: Phillips was not a Lieutenant, he was alawyer; after completing articles he was Sheriff and Overseer of Prisons in the Gold Coast and later Acting Queen's Advocate there, before his appointment as Acting Consul-Generalin the Protectorate - see Home, cited below already, at page 30] the Acting Consul-General visited the Benin River District and had meetings with the agents and traders. In the end the agents and traders were able to convince him that ‘there is a future on the Benin River if Benin territories were opened’.

Benin had developed a reputation for sending strong messages of resistance which affected British attitudes. The trader James Pinnock wrote that he saw 'a large number of men all handcuffed and chained' there, with 'their ears cut off with a razor'. T.B Auchterlonie described the approach to the capital through an avenue of trees hung with decomposing human remains. After the 'lane of horrors' came a grass common 'thickly stewn with the skulls and bones of sacrificed human beings.'^[3]

[edit]The "Benin Massacre"

In November Phillips made a formal request to his superiors in England for permission to invade Benin City,^[1] and, in late December 1896, without waiting for a reply or approval from London, Phillips embarked on a military expedition with two Niger Coast Protectorate Force officers, a medical officer, two trading agents, 250 African soldiers masquerading in part as porters, and in part as a drum and pipe band. In order to disguise their true intent, the force's weapons were hidden in the baggage carried by the 'porters'. His request to London was to depose the king of Benin City, replace him with a Native Council and pay for the invasion with the ‘ivory’ he hoped to find in the Benin king’s palace.^[1] In the meantime he sent a message forward to the Oba, Benin's king, that his present mission was to discuss trade and peace and demanding admission to the territory in defiance of Benin law explicitly forbidding his entry. Unfortunately for Phillips, some Itsekiri trading chiefs sent a message to the Benin king that ‘the white man is bringing war’. On receiving the news the Benin king quickly summoned the city’s high-ranking nobles for an emergency meeting, and during the discussions the Iyase, the commander in chief of the Benin Army argued that the British were on planning a surprise attack and must be defeated. The Benin king however argued that the British should be allowed to enter the city so that it can be ascertained whether or not the visit was a friendly one. The Iyase ignored the king’s views, and ordered the formation of a strike force that was commanded by the Ologbose, a senior army commander, which was sent to Gwato to destroy the invaders.

On 4 January 1897, the Benin strike force composed mainly of border guards and servants of some chiefs caught Phillips' column totally unprepared at Ugbine village near Gwato. Since Phillips was not expecting any opposition and was unaware that his operation was being perceived with alarm in Benin, the contingent’s only weapons, consisting of the officers' pistols, were locked up in the head packs of the African porters.^[3] Only two British officers survived the annihilation of Phillips' expedition,^[4] which became known as the 'The Benin Massacre' .

[edit]British objectives

Admiral Sir Harry Rawson

On 12 January 1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson, commanding the squadron at the Cape of Good Hope was appointed by the British Admiralty to lead an expedition to capture the Benin king and destroy Benin City. The operation was named Benin Punitive Expedition, and on 9 February 1897 the invasion of Benin kingdom began,. The field commanders were instructed by their commander-in–chief to burn down all Benin kingdom’s towns and villages, and hang the king of Benin wherever and whenever he was captured. The invasion force of about 1200 British Marines, sailors and Niger Coast Protectorate Forces, and composed of three columns; the ‘Sapoba’, ‘Gwato’ and ‘Main’ Columns. The ‘Sapoba’ column, and the ‘Main column’ reached Benin City after 10 days of bitter fighting but the ‘Gwato’ column was routed at Gwato.

..

[edit]Aftermath

Immediately after the British invaders secured the city, looting began. It was an exercise that was carried out by all members of the expedition. Monuments and palaces of many high-ranking chiefs were looted. There was evidence of human sacrifice found by the British, a tradition they misunderstood, misinterpreted, and construed as "barbaric,"^[5] with Reuters and the Illustrated London News reporting that the town 'reeked of human blood.' They did not seek to understand the practice from Benin perspectives. ^[6] Homes, religious buildings and palaces were deliberately torched. On the third day, the blaze grew out of control and engulfed part of the city. Most of the plunder was retained by the expedition with some 2500 (official figures) religious artifacts, Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks being sent to England.

The British Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off the war booty to defray the costs of the Expedition.^[7] The expected revenue from the expedition was discussed already before Phillips set out on his ill-fated journey to the city of Benin in 1896. In a letter to Lord Salisbury, the British Foreign Secretary, Phillips requested approval to invade Benin and depose the Oba, adding the following footnote: "I would add that I have reason to hope that sufficient ivory would be found in the King's house to pay the expenses incurred in removing the King from his stool."^[8][9]

In late 1897 the art was auctioned in Paris, France, to raise funds to pay for the expedition. Most of the Benin bronzes went first to purchasers in Germany, but a sizable group is now back in London at the British Museum. The dispersement of the Benin art to museums around the world catalyzed the beginnings of a long and slow European reassessment of the value of West African art. The Benin art was copied and the style integrated into the art of many European artists and thus had a strong influence on the early formation of modernism in Europe.^[10]

The King of Benin was eventually captured by the British consul-general Moor, deposed and sent to live out his days in Calabar. He died in 1914. Moor committed suicide in Barnes, Middlesex in 1909.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_Expedition_of_1897

Abuja high court lets police pension convict off with £3,000 fine

Abuja high court lets police pension convict off with £3,000 fine

 

Written by Manager2
Tuesday, 29 January 2013 12:58

 5 0

MILLIONS of Nigerians are incensed with the latest development in the so-called fight against corruption after an Abuja high court let former a Police Pension Officer (PPO) director off with a N750,000 (£3,000) fine for his involvement in a N39bn (£156.36bn) scam.

In a move which makes a mockery of the Jonathan administration's zero tolerance for corruption, yesterday, the Abuja High Court found John Yusuf, the PPO director guilty of fraud. However, he was only handed a two-year jail term with the option to pay a N750,000 fine for the three offences he  pleaded guilty to.

At the trial, Mr Yusuf pleaded guilty to conniving with others to defraud  police pensioners of N27.2bn (£109m)  and admitted to stealing N2bn (£8m) personally. Justice Abubakar Talba gave him the option of fine for the three offences he pleaded guilty to, which each attract a two-year jail  term.

With his sentencing, Mr  Yusuf becomes the first PPO official to be jailed in the ongoing trial of persons involved  in the N38.8bn Police pension scam. He will now forfeit 32 houses in the Federal Capital Territory and Gombe as well as  N325m (£1.3m) which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said were proceeds of crime.

Many in the courtroom openly expressed their amazement with Justice Talba’s judgment and the  exchanges among the lawyers, journalists, relatives of  the  accused persons and observers, were  loud enough for the court clerk to call everybody to order. Maiyaki Bala, Mr Yusuf's lawyer, said his client was ready to pay the fine immediately.

Mr Yusuf made the payment before leaving the court premises despite the fact that his bank accounts were reportedly frozen by the order of the court. He was issued with a revenue collector’s receipt before he left the court premises and was driven away in his personal car.

Mr Yusuf specifically pleaded guilty to counts 18, 19 and 20 in which he was alleged to have connived with the other suspects Essai Dangabar, Atiku Kigo, Ahmed  Wada, Veronica Uloma, Sani Zira, Uzoma  Attang and  Christian Madubuike  to convert the sums of N24.2bn, N1.3bn and N1.7bn, belonging to the office for  personal use. The trial continues for the other accused.

Pronouncing sentence on the convict, Justice Talba said he had taken favourable note of the fact that Mr Yusuf was a first time offender and had also opted on his own volition to plead guilty, thereby saving the time of the court. EFCC lawyer Rotimi Jacobs protested the option of fine given to the convict, noting that it  mocked the anti-corruption campaign of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

An EFCC spokesman added: “The  EFCC has expressed reservation about the ruling of an FCT High Court, Abuja which handed a six-year-jail term with the option of N750, 000 fine to John Yakubu Yusufu, one of the persons standing trial in the police pension scam. The commission is of the view that the option of fine runs contrary to the understanding between the prosecution and the defence wherein the convict consented to a custodial sentence with the forfeiture of all assets and money that are proceeds of the crime.”

http://www.nigerianwatch.com/news/1221-abuja-high-court-lets-police-pension-convict-off-with-p3000-fine