Miss Ireland dating 9ja computer whiz hunk: 'We're so in love, we don't care what racists say about

Stunning Miss Ireland Emma Waldron told yesterday in a forthright interview how she will never let 'ignorant' racists affect her love for Nigerian boyfriend Manners Oshafi.

Emma, 21, has been the victim of a vicious internet campaign because of her relationship with a black man and was forced to report an online poster targeting her with hateful and abusive racist comments.

She recently found herself at the centre of a row after one person branded her 'disgusting' for dating a black man.

Love conquers all: Emma Waldron and Manners Oshafi have been dating for a year. The stunning Miss Ireland has been the victim of a vicious internet campaign because of her relationship

And the stunning brunette told the Irish Mail on Sunday in an exclusive interview how one person went so far as to set up an account to target the couple.

'One Twitter account was set up specifically to send me hateful comments.

'But I blocked them and reported them so I don't get the messages any more,' she said.

Friends have dubbed them 'Memmers'


The couple - who have been dating for nearly a year - have even earned their own Brangelina-like portmanteau.

Friends have dubbed them 'Memmers', a combination of Emma and Manners.

And such is the strength of their relationship that Emma and Manners have vowed not to allow themselves to be victimised.

'We are a very strong couple and we don't really care what people think.

'We have not been affected at all by the remarks on Twitter as it just stems from people's ignorance,' said Manners.

Emma, who came fourth in the Miss World competition before Christmas, said that while she has encountered racism while out with Manners, 23, she refuses to let it get to her.

Crown: Emma was named Miss Ireland last year

'I have experienced negative comments on nights out and on social networking sites but it doesn't bother me.

'I will never let someone's ignorance affect my love for Manners. He is the most amazing person I have ever met.

'What colour my skin is doesn't matter to him and what colour his skin is doesn't matter to me.

'What matters in friendship and love is the heart and soul of the person you are in a relationship with and his heart is so big and I'm lucky to be in it,' she said.

The Kildare beauty said while everyone is entitled to their opinion, she feels that now that Ireland is a multi-cultural society, people should be educated.

'I think that Ireland is so rich in many cultures and often times preconceived notions influence how people treat others who are of different colour, creed or sexuality.

'We need to help break down the barriers that sometimes build up in our homes, schools and society. The way to do this is by educating people.'

Emma said that her parents' openness and acceptance has had huge impact on her and her choices.

'My grandmother is Swedish and my dad is part-Italian, so as a family we have always been open,' she said.

'They love Manners and his family love me. There really is no issue of colour at all. He's just my boyfriend.'

Manners moved to Ireland eight years ago with his parents and four siblings. The family first settled in Athlone.

'I don't let the negative comments bother me'


In a reflection of the changing nature of modern Ireland, he revealed that he was the first black boy in his school.

'It was strange coming to Ireland, cold,' he laughed.

'But Ireland is a great country. Myself and my brother were the first black kids in the school in Athlone so we were seen as being different but good different.

'We made good friends and were never bullied.'

Manners has just completed a master's degree in telecommunications engineering at Dublin City University.

Now Emma's boyfriend is helping her develop her website as she has her sights set on a career in television.

'I am going back to St Pat's [St Patrick's College] this year as I want to qualify as a teacher but I would also like to do some TV work,' she said.

The statuesque beauty is currently working with the makers of [reality TV show] Fade Street on an online fashion programme.

'I have been doing an online fashion magazine show called Stylemania and it's going really well. I would love to do some TV work and this is giving me great experience. It's going really well.'

Contender: Emma came fourth in the Miss World competition last year

Emma, who carries out voluntary work with St Vincent de Paul, said that she feels compelled to speak out against bullies and racists.

'I am very lucky in that I have a platform and I can use that. Yes, I have been the target of a bully but I am strong and have dealt with it.

'It's International Day Against Racism tomorrow and I think we all have a role to play to promote equality and raise awareness.

'I can draw from my experiences and even if I help one person to overcome bullying, well, then that's something,' she said.

Emma, who is first violin with the Hibernian Symphony Orchestra, said that people need to be educated on race and different cultures.

'I think it would be very naive of me to say that there is no racism in Ireland. Unfortunately there is.

'If you socialise with people from different races and cultures you are less likely to show hatred towards them. But it still exists. I think people should make an effort to know people different from you.'

The good-looking couple have just bought a Labrador called Herbie and say that while they are very happy together they have no plans to set up home just yet.

'Emma is terrific,' said Manners. 'We are different in some ways but in other ways we are like soul mates.

'We think the same way and sometimes will finish each other's sentences. But Emma is going back to college so we have no plans to move in just yet.'

The computer whizz also revealed that he has no problems with Emma's work as a model.

'Why would I? She always looks great in pictures. She is gorgeous. I'm a lucky man,' he laughed.

750,000 9ja women commit abortion yearly (Picture Advisory)

Urban Reproductive Health Initiative, NURHI, has disclosed that not less than 750,000 abortions are committed yearly in the country, bemoaning the lackadaisical attitude of the three tiers of government to family planning.

Among these women that commit abortion, 545 of them die per 100,000 most of whom are married women whose percentage was put at 35.

This was disclosed by Mrs. Stella Akinso, State Team Leader, NURHI, and Dr. Celina Johnson at a sensitization workshop organised for various stakeholders in the helath sector in Ibadan.

NURHI with other groups such as Development Communication Network, Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria and many others assembled participants to enlighten them more on safe motherhood.

The workshop which witnessed large turn out also called the attention of government to the need for disbursing money allocated to family planning to the appropriate quarters.

Some of the participants who were sourced from local governments in the state also appealed to the government to stop diverting the money meant for family planning to other concerns

Yeka Onka Wins Of Nigerian Idol 2011

Yeka Onka and Naomi Mac were the two finalists that battled it out
Yeka come out on top, She gets N7.5million, a car, a record deal and many other great prizes. Congrats !!!

She is also the first ever winner, it was the first edition of Nigerian Idols



Congratulations Yeka

40 Female corps members deliver babies in 3 weeks in Oyo alone

The hands of officials and members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Oyo State are full and busy as 40 female corps members among a total of 2,423 deployed to the state for the 2011 Batch ‘A’ Orientation were delivered of babies in camp in the last three weeks


The State NYSC Coordinator, Mr. Gabriel Ibe, announced the unprecedented baby boom yesterday during the passing-out ceremony for the serving corps members at the orientation camp in Iseyin.

He said all the nursing mothers, who had put to bed safely, “had initially been accepted for registration in the Batch ‘A’ in line with the policy shift of the scheme.” He, however, remarked that “all these newly-delivered nursing mothers had been sent home to their families after their registration.”

Ibe saidd the three-week orientation exercise had been carefully packaged with a view to exposing corps members to the ideals of patriotic and selfless service thereby preparing them for the challenges ahead during the service year. Apart from this, the participants were exposed to a two-day extensive training by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), “preparatory to the April general elections where they are to undergo their first test of national service.”

While stressing the need for a free and fair election in the country, Ibe called on politicians in the state not to engage in any unwholesome act that could drag the name of the NYSC in the state into their guaqmire.

The NYSC State Coordinator declared: “May I use this opportunity to call on the politicians to leave the corps members out of the muddy politics of Oyo State.”

Nigerian Female Pastor Bags 11.5 years Jail Time for Slave Trade in London

What is the world turning into? You may ask. Be warned all that glitters is not gold, hypocrites have infiltrated the holy vocation, and pastors have become vampires, thus making it salient to sound this note of caution:” be careful under whose care you entrust the welfare of your minors”.


Huhuonline.com can disclose that in the last two months, two members of the clergy, originally of Nigerian descent were found guilty by the British legal system on charges stemming from molestation of minors. The latest is a Pastor (Mrs.) Lucy Adeniji; who was convicted on Friday 11 February at Isleworth Crown Court for her role in keeping trafficked children as domestic servants and assisting with illegal immigration. At her sentencing on Friday March 18, forty four years Lucy Adeniji was handed an eleven and half a year sentence for assault of a child, child cruelty and facilitating the illegal entry of a child into the UK.


Huhuonline.com understands that her woes began in early 2009, when a 23-year-old woman (Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji), after a brutal assault by Pastor Adeniji, ran out of her Ray Gardens, Barking home in towels and went to a police station and made historic allegations that she had been brought to the UK in early 1997, abused and exploited as cheap childcare until 2006 by Lucy Adeniji. Our checks show that under interview on 15 April 2009 by officers from Operation Paladin, a joint Metropolitan Police Service and UK Border Agency team, Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji, further stated that at the age of 11 years old, in December 1997, she was brought to the UK by a man she knew as 'Kenny' and placed in the Adeniji household. While in the Adeniji household Buki was to care for the 4 children, in particular their disabled daughter.


Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji stated that she was not enrolled in school nor registered with a doctor, denied friends and regularly verbally abused and beaten by Lucy Adeniji.


However, in 2000, the Adeniji family moved to the USA and victim Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji was sent to live elsewhere until they returned in November 2003.


On her return to the Adeniji household, Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji found that the Adeniji's had a further house girl, Dorcus Amoo living with them and that a boy Solomon Ordu had also been used as a houseboy but had run away. Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji describes life back in the Adeniji household as volatile and she was regularly beaten and verbally abused by Adeniji.


Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji described a number of assaults to police, One particular assault in April 2006 was described in detail whereby Adeniji repeatedly hit her with a stick following an argument over a fish meal, to the extent that Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji fell to the floor unconscious and was then kicked in the head by Adeniji. Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji states that Dorcus Amoo witnessed this assault, and then told her that Adeniji was going to kill her.



At around the same time as the alleged assault and threat, a pastor at church gave a sermon about parental responsibility and childcare.



Olubukols 'Buki' Adeniji told police that this spurred her on to leave the house and she ran away to stay with friends. Metropolitan Police Service, Detective Inspector Gordon Valentine, from Operation Paladin, said: "At just 11 years old, a time when any child should rightfully be at school, this poor young girl was forced to feed her keepers' children, wash their clothes and do the household cleaning, with little or no access to the outside world. Not only this, but she was in a strange country and beaten for her loyalty".



Julie Reene, assistant director, UK Border Agency, said:



"This was a truly shocking case in which vulnerable children were trafficked into the UK and treated appallingly. Adeniji exploited her victims in the most terrible ways. We will continue to work closely with the police and other law enforcement partners to prevent and prosecute this kind of awful crime". "On 19 May 2009, Adeniji's home address was searched by police and she was arrested on suspicion of trafficking for the purpose of domestic servitude".

Nigerian Mother Jailed In The Uk For Sending Son To Nigeria

The mother of a teenager who claims he was forced to undergo exorcism to purge him of his disobedience has been jailed.

Lydia Erhire has become the first person in the UK to be jailed under forced marriage laws after Edirin Onogeta-Idogun, 17, was sent to Nigeria on holiday and is still there.

He claims he has been subjected to beatings and religious-style ceremonies in the African country to get rid of his behaviour which his mother did not approve of.

Erhire is a devout Christian who had tried to instil a strong sense of discipline in her child and does not approve of his lifestyle, the court heard.

The 17-year-old is still being held against his will – and it is unclear exactly where he is, the High Court in London was told.

His mother was ordered to have her son brought back to Britain but she obstructed efforts and was jailed for eight months yesterday.

Edirin had flown out to Nigeria, where his father John Idogun is a special adviser to the governor of the Delta State, in July.

The teenager, from Newham, east London, was expected back in August to start a college course in Hackney.

He had been given a protection order under forced marriage laws by a judge last year and provided with emergency accommodation before he disappeared.

Mrs Justice Macur said: 'Edirin told his litigation team he had been forced or subjected to procedures which were meant to exorcise him from his disobedience to the will of his parents and to remove him from what they regarded as unsatisfactory friendships.'

In November, after a hearing before another judge, Mrs Erhire signed a letter instructing her sister to facilitate the return of Edirin from his Nigerian boarding school.
TIMELINE

* July 8, 2010 - Forced Marriage Protection Order issued as Lydia Erhire fears he is going to be sent to Nigeria for an arranged wedding
* July 16 - Teenager is sent on holiday to Nigeria
* August - he fails to return to London where he is due to start college
* February 14, 2011 - his mother is jailed after being found guilty of contempt of court

But it later emerged that she had immediately sent another letter countermanding the demand.

In February, Edirin attempted to leave Nigeria but was intercepted by immigration officials and taken off his British Airways flight from Lagos.

Mrs Justice Macur ruled Mrs Erhire was not responsible for the February incident but had found she was complicit in November in ‘thwarting’ the court's efforts to have Edirin returned.

Members of the Urhobo tribe appeared before the court and said that his mother was concerned he would become involved in gangs.

The teenager was issued with a Forced Marriage Protection Order last July because he feared he was going to be sent to Nigeria for an arranged wedding.

Jailing the mother for contempt of court, the judge said: ‘I am not satisfied that she is truly remorseful for the imperilment of Edirin's welfare.

‘I am not satisfied that she has shown any indication of a willingness to co-operate on anything but her own terms.

‘The chronology has shown beyond peradventure that this woman only co-operates in the face of a prison sentence and then begrudgingly.’

She ordered that Mrs Erhire should be committed to Holloway Prison immediately for eight months, but said she would have the opportunity to apply to purge her contempt.

The student, who was due to study business and media after finishing his A-levels, came to Britain with his mother in 2004 and had settled in Newham.

Chinese Firms Swindle Nigerian Importers

The managing director of a Lagos-based company, which deals in chemicals, Mr Jude Ekolie (not real name), thought he had a good bargain when he decided to patronise a Chinese company when he was planning to buy merchandise for his firm. Although his fingers had once been burnt in a similar deal in the past, he knew that this was the time to ponder the aphorism of once bitten, twice shy. Risk taking, he had ruminated, is part of entrepreneurship.

Of all the quotations he got, he picked that of Tianjin Jinlaifu Chemicals Company Ltd., Tianjin, China, as the best. But this time he was more careful. So he thought.

In his earlier transaction with another Chinese firm, Hebei Bofate Chemicals Company Ltd, he had on June 15, 2010 wired $2930 through telegraphic transfer for the shipment of water treatment chemicals to Nigeria. But till the time of this report, he had seen neither the goods nor his money. To worsen matters, all efforts to contact the company through its representative, Susan Zhang, came to nought. It had disappeared into thin air.

Given his previous experience, he decided to resort to what he thought was a foolproof method: paying through a letter of credit. His bank, under his instruction, had on August 26, 2010 opened a letter of credit for $14,596.20 with Citibank, New York. Under the terms of payment, the Chinese company is to ship 18.36 metric tonnes of calcium hypochlorite (used for water treatment) to the importer through the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

Payment was to be done through the correspondent bank upon confirmation of the receipt of the chemicals. That did not, however, stop Tianjin Jinlaifu from defrauding him.
But how did the transaction go wrong? Narrating his experience in an interview with Sunday Sun, Ekolie, who was on the Internet chatting with one of the company’s representatives said: “One of the reasons we chose the Chinese was that their price was attractive. While other companies in Europe were quoting around $1,000 per tonne, the Chinese quoted about $600. There was little variation in all the quotations we got from China. So, we settled for Tianjin Jinlaifu with the hope that we would get value for our money.

“Contrary to our agreement, the company shipped to us chemicals that were below the specification we ordered and paid for. We were supposed to be supplied the chemicals in granules. But it was the powder form that was shipped to us. You see, the powdered form is of low quality and it is not a fast-moving product here in Nigeria.”

Shortly after the company received the goods, it asked its bankers, First Bank, to direct Citibank not to honour the letter of credit for now. It brought the matter to the attention of Tianjin Jinlaifu, hoping there was an error that could be rectified. Rather than attend to its complaint, the company gave him a hard choice: ship the goods back. That was when the company knew that it had fallen into the net of another Chinese dupe.

Ekolie said: “We were disappointed. Shipping the goods back is going to be at the detriment of our company. We will require about N1 million to do that. After a long negotiation, the company suggested we should find market for it and sell at a lower price. After that, we instructed our bankers not to pay the full value of the letter of credit.

“Ordinarily, the money should have been paid to the Chinese company after we had received the goods. But our saving grace was that the goods arrived Nigeria before the due date on the letter of credit. So, that gave us enough time to halt the payment as the terms of the transaction had been breached.”
Given his earlier experience, were there no telltale signs that danger was looming? “Yes, there were,” he confesses.

“At the early stage of the transaction, Tianjin Jinlaifu was trying to put some stumbling blocks on our path after we had agreed on the terms of transaction. Shortly after we sealed the deal, the company was delaying the shipment of the goods. On enquiry, its officials advised us that we should buy caustic soda so as to stop Chinese authorities from intercepting the goods. At a stage, we felt the company was only trying to make us part with more money. We began to suspect it had no intention of fulfilling its own side of the bargain,” he added.

Ekolie dismissed claims that his company did not take enough steps to guarantee the fidelity of the transaction and that it should have been suspicious of the low price quoted by the supplier. He said when his company was considering employing an inspection agent to check the goods before shipment, Tianjin Jinlaifu discouraged it, claiming that it could delay the exportation of the goods as Chinese Customs could subject the process to undue bureaucracy.

“Let me say that we knew that we were taking a risk doing business with the Chinese, but risk taking is part of entrepreneurship. Unfortunately for them, there was a delay in payment as we asked Citibank to stay action on payment. Now we have been able to broker a better price deal with them. They set out to defraud us in the first instance. The game plan was to ship the wrong product, get paid before we get to know what hit us.

“Regardless of the very poor credit rating of most Chinese firms, China still remains the second biggest exporter in the world. Not even the United States can ignore the emergence of the Asians.
“That probably explains why Hu Jintao (the Chinese president) got a red carpet treatment at the White House. By 2020, China may overwhelm Germany in the export business. So apart from lower prices from their firms, the Chinese have a lot of things going for them.
“Moreover, there is no entrepreneur who does not take a risk regardless of how astute and successful. There are so many bitter lessons that one cannot learn even from the leading business schools in the world.

“However, I accept the fact that we must learn from our mistakes. Most importantly, it is our desire to enlighten others so they could have a smooth learning curve. When any Nigerian company loses, we see it as a great loss to the nation. That explains why we are crying out,” Ekolie said.
Unfortunately for Ekolie’s company, the matter may drag on endlessly as Chinese police have closed down Tianjin Jinlaifu and arrested some of its officials. Ekolie told Sunday Sun that he learnt that some of those the company had defrauded reported the matter to the police. He, however, decried the attitude of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria to reports of alleged frauds committed by Chinese companies and individuals.

“When we went to report the matter to the Commercial Section of the Chinese Consulate, located at Idejo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, the officials were not cooperative. We met other importers with similar tales of woes. Even if you request for a visa to go to China to sort out the problem with the exporter, you are not likely to get it,” he said. Sunday Sun investigation show that many Nigerian exporters of chemicals are victims of sharp practices by their Chinese trading partners. One Nigerian importer was said to have lost over N20million in such a transaction with the Chinese.

Curiously, many of them are not willing to go public with their experience. During visits to Ojota and Ilasamaja, two popular chemical markets in Lagos, some of the traders confirmed that they had had nasty encounters with the Chinese but they declined to give details.

Ekolie attributed this to the need to protect their business. According to him, they deal in regulated products and publicity such as this could raise customers’ suspicion that could affect patronage.
“Many of us deal in a market whose products are regulated by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

We are trying to avoid the prying eyes of the agency as such reports could make its officials beam their searchlight on us. That will not be good for business,” he said.
Officials of the Commercial Section of the Chinese Consulate in Lagos declined comments on these allegations. A consulate official, who simply identified himself as Jack, told Sunday Sun on the phone that the consulate was closed for business and would not reopen until after two weeks