Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden Are Coming to an NBC Drama!

Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden are checking into NBC's The Night Shift. The two will appear in the May 4 episode of the medical drama as part of a collaboration between the series and the Joining Forces initiative. In the Monday, May 4 episode of the series, the show will "illustrate the healing, resilience and sense of purpose that veterans, such as San Antonio Memorial's own TC Callahan (played by Eoin Macken), have found when they get the support they need," NBC said in a release. A public service announcement featuring Obama, Dr. Biden and the stars of The Night Shift--Macken, Jill Flint and Robert Bailey Jr.--will appear on NBC.com. In addition to the episodic guest spot, the first lady and Dr. Biden joined executive producer Gabe Sachs, director Eriq La Salle, Macken, Flint and Bailey visited the Silver Spring Vet Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. This isn't the first scripted TV appearance for either of the political figures. Both Obama and Dr. Biden have appeared on NBC's Parks and Recreation. The first lady has also appeared on numerous other scripted shows including Nashville, iCarly and Jessie. Dr. Biden has appeared on Army Wives. The Night Shift airs Mondays, 10 p.m. on NBC. (E! and NBC are both part of the NBC Universal family.)

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APC rejects May 28 handover date

There are indications that the All Progressives Congress is uncomfortable with the May 28 handover date proposed by the out-going administration.

Investigation by Saturday PUNCH revealed that the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan and the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) are set to clash over a proposal by the Jonathan team to hand over the mantle of leadership to Buhari on May the 28th, instead of the 29th.

 Buhari team(Apc)  was already over what they considered as an act of ill-will laced with sinister motives.

This is sequel to an announcement by the Minister of Information, Senator Patricia Akwashiki, that President Jonathan would perform the handover ceremony at a dinner on May 28.

Akwashiki made the announcement after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting.

She told journalists, “By May 28, the President intends to have the formal handover done at a dinner so that we can reserve May 29 for the incoming government.”

However, since the return of democracy in 1999, the traditional date for the handover of power has been May 29, which is also observed as Democracy Day.

This tradition has been the vogue for the past 16 years. It also presents an opportunity for the outgoing President to formally present the instrument of authority to his successor in the full glare of members of the public, local and international media, as well as foreign dignitaries.

A top member of the All Progressives Congress, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media said, “It is simply not acceptable, we are rejecting it, it is a trap.”

He explained that from a security point of view, it could be considered a trap.

“How can anyone explain a situation where an outgoing president and his team will conveniently excuse themselves from an event where they are supposed to play a role when the President-elect and the Vice-President- elect are supposed to be present?” he queried.

According to the party chieftain, power abhors a vacuum as such, the constitution does not envisage a situation where Nigeria will be without a sitting President even for one hour.

He said, “If Jonathan hands over on the 28th, who accounts for the hours before the morning of the 29th when the Chief Justice of the Federation is to administer the oath of office and the oath of allegiance?

“What if there is even a sinister motive to this whole saga? As the President of the nation; who will still be the Chief Security officer until he hands over, there is no excuse that is strong enough to excuse him from the event.”

When contacted, a member of the Buhari campaign team, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said while he was not privy to any meeting on the subject yet, it was only logical to ask Nigerians not to rest on their oars until total liberation was achieved.

He described the announcement by President Jonathan to hand over a day earlier than was due as a ploy to rubbish the gains made with the historic win by the opposition APC.

Fashakin said, “It (the proposed handover on the 28th) portends ill for the political destiny of this nation.

“That statement is loaded and it shows that the Nigerian people should not rest yet that there is still ominous signs which we should never take for granted. If Jonathan truly said he is handing over on the 28th it presupposes that he will be absent on the 29th.

“Number one, if he hands over on the 28th to the President-elect, does Gen. Muhammadu Buhari start to act effectively on that date? The answer is an emphatic NO.

“GMB does not start to act on that date, if you get what I mean. Handing over to GMB on that date is not only meaningless, it is stupid. It has no meaning in law, or reality. It means that for 24 hours before GMB takes over there will be a vacuum.”

He further argued that on the side of morality, Nigeria borrowed its constitution substantially from the American Constitution, and as such, it should learn a thing or two about how it oper

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Pastor Adeboye prays for UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, others

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, (RCCG) Pastor E.A Adeboye, prayed for UK Prime Minister, David Cameron and the congregation at the ‘Festival of Life’ programme holding in London.
Cameron will lead the Conservative Party to participate in the UK general election holding on 7th May 2015, to elect the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Pastor Adeboye shared some of the pictures on his verified Facebook page, Pastor E. A. Adeboye.

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Why I conceded defeat to Buhari – Jonathan

ABUJA — President Goodluck Jonathan spoke for the first time, yesterday, on why he conceded defeat to the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), in the March 28 presidential election, saying he did so to avert a collective tragedy.

President Goodluck Jonathan speaks during his visit to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos, on March 12, 2015. President Jonathan visited the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on March 12, and launched a new online mobile platform, X-Gen, designed to increase local investment. The platform is targetted at increasing the number of local investors in the country and to enable about 30 millions domestic investors have access to the market. AFP PHOTO
President Jonathan was responding to remarks by the French ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Denis Guaer, who commended him for setting a record of humility, patriotism and courage in safeguarding the democratic process in Nigeria and Africa for which he will always be remembered.
The French ambassador told the President: “Nigeria is not only an economic power in the world today, but also a great democratic example. And it is all by your effort, Mr. President. The last elections and your response was truly a great achievement and you will always be remembered for it.”
In his response, President Jonathan said: “Since I assumed duty, I have been involved in quelling political crises in some African countries and I know what they passed through and what some are still going through. If you scuttle a system for personal ambition, it becomes a collective tragedy.
“You need to have a nation before you can have an ambition. It should always be the nation first. You don’t have to scuttle national progress for personal ambition. Democracy has to be nurtured to grow. Strong democratic institutions are the backbone and future of our democracy. They must be protected and nurtured. As for me, as a matter of principle, it is always the nation first.
Jonathan urges world leaders to support Buhari
“President Francois Hollande was our guest in Nigeria during the celebration of Nigeria’s centenary. He has been very supportive of the country in the fight against terrorism. I expect that the same warmth and goodwill will be extended to the incoming government.
“I expect that France will continue to work with the new administration, especially on issues of terrorism. The United Nations has been supportive as well. Our troops, supported by regional forces, have done very well in fighting the terrorists in recent times. What we need now is support to help our people get back their lives.”
Jonathan, who also had audience with the new ambassadors of Senegal and Ethiopia when they presented their letters of credence, called on world leaders and international institutions to support the incoming president, Buhari, to move the nation forward.
The President then appealed for patience, understanding and cooperation from all stakeholders in Nigeria, which he said General Buhari would need to move the country forward to greater peace, security and progress.
The French Ambassador, Mr. Guaer, the new Ambassador of Senegal, Mr. Boubacar Sambe and the new Ambassador of Ethiopia, Samia Zekaria Gutu, assured the President that they would do their best to strengthen relations between Nigeria and their countries during their tenure.
US to Buhari: We’ll support you to recover Chibok girls
Meanwhile, the United States has expressed its readiness to support President-elect, Buhari, to rescue the more than 200 girls seized by Boko Haram militants from Chibok school in Borno State one year ago.
American Vice President, Joe Biden, gave the renewed assurance in a telephone chat with Buhari in Abuja while congratulating him on his electoral victory.
The support, according to Biden, also includes the fight against Boko Haram.
Biden, according to  excerpts from their discussion, made available to diplomatic correspondents in Abuja, also said his cou

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Iraq massacre site turns into ‘shrine’ of anti-IS war

On the Tigris River waterfront where jihadists executed hundreds of captured Iraqi army recruits last year, bloodstains are gradually being covered by streaks of candle wax dripping down the quay.

A symbolic tombstone has been laid where Islamic State group fighters carried out their assembly-line slaughter, shooting the young mostly Shiite men in the head before tipping them into the river one by one.

Two weeks after troops and militia retook Tikrit, the main site of the “Speicher massacre” — named after the military base near which the victims were seized — is fast becoming a pilgrimage destination.

Every day, dozens of Iraqi fighters visit the narrow quay of the river police building, located inside the sprawling palace complex that now executed dictator Saddam Hussein built in his hometown.

Relatives, some of whom will never have a body to bury, have streamed to Tikrit from the south and other parts of the country to see the last place where their loved ones were alive.

Delegations of clerics, students and artists have also travelled to the site, which is still haunted by one of IS’s worst atrocities but also symbolises and galvanises the commitment of those fighting against the jihadists.

“This is where the martyrs’ blood was spilt, this should become a museum to all Iraqis, a symbol of pride,” Sheikh Dargham al-Juburi said as he visited the site.

The black-clad and white-turbaned cleric, a representative of Iraq’s top Shiite religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, wept and prayed over the small marble memorial.

He went on to draw parallels between the improvised Tikrit shrine and Karbala, the Shiite holy city south of Baghdad that was the scene of a 7th century battle considered a defining moment in the schism between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Speaking from the same spot a few days earlier, Moeen al-Kadhimi, a leader of the Badr Organisation — both an important political party and one of Iraq’s most powerful Shiite militias — vowed to preserve the site.

“We will rehabilitate this area so that it becomes a symbol of the crime committed by those Dawaesh (IS members) and their allies… so that it remains a mark of shame on their faces forever,” he said.

Kadhim Abdulhassan’s cousin was one of the up to 1,700 recruits who were seized by IS in June 2014 when the group swept through almost a third of Iraq.

He says he received a call from him on his mobile as the group was being herded to the palace complex. The line cut and he never heard from his cousin again.

Abdulhassan is a member of the Ketaeb Jund al-Imam paramilitary group and his job is to keep watch over what is now being treated like a holy site.

Every day, he takes up his post on a balcony overlooking the marble epitaph decorated with bouquets of plastic flowers and candles.

Sitting on his iron garden chair with peeling white paint, his machinegun pointed across the Tigris, his thoughts wander between grief and revenge when he stares at the water that carried the dead downstream.

“I remember them and I spend some nights crying because it’s a scene that hurts, something that is not easy,” said the 30-year-old, a green ribbon knotted into the shoulder strap of his desert camouflage jacket.

Iraqi authorities have found more than 10 mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Speicher victims. Remains are still being exhumed and taken to Baghdad for identification.

IS released pictures and video footage of some of the executions last year.

Combined with a call by Sistani for Iraqis to take up arms against them, the June 2014 massacre played a key role in the mass recruitment of Shiite volunteers to fight the jihadists.

Abdulhassan said that more and more people come every day to pay their respects to the victims and he hoped the numbers would keep increasing.

“This place will be with me until I die… I hope to bring my family and kids to visit, because it is sacred.”

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