Kenya attack: 147 dead in Garissa University assault

At least 147 people, mostly students, have been killed in an assault by al-Shabab militants on a university in north-eastern Kenya yesterday.

Heavily armed attackers stormed Garissa University early on Thursday, killing two security guards then firing indiscriminately on students.
Four of the gunman were eventually surrounded in a dormitory, and died when their suicide vests detonated.
It is the deadliest attack yet by al-Shabab.
The militants singled out Christians and shot them, witnesses said.
More than 500 students managed to escape, 79 of whom were injured. A fifth gunman has reportedly been arrested.

Eric Wekesa, a student at Garissa, told Reuters he locked himself in his room before eventually fleeing.
"What I managed to hear from them is 'We came to kill or finally be killed.' That's what they said."
"It was horrible, there was shooting everywhere," another student, Augustine Alanga told the BBC's Newsday programme
He said it was "pathetic" that the university was only guarded by two police officers.
 Attack as it happened



Nine critically injured students were airlifted to the capital Nairobi for treatment, disaster management officials said.
But each student had been accounted for by the end of the evacuation.
An overnight curfew has been implemented in Garissa and three other counties in Kenya.

Sailor missing for 66 days rescued off N.C. coast- Louis Jordan

The Coast Guard received a message from the 1,085-foot, German-flagged ship Houston Express at around 1:30 p.m. The crew reported that they had spotted a man and a sailboat about 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and that they had taken him aboard.
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., around 3:40 p.m.
The helicopter met the Houston Express, hoisted the man aboard and transported him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk.

Utah baby found alive in river 14 hours after car crash

A baby girl has been found alive in a car more than 14 hours after the vehicle plunged into a river in Utah.

The 18-month-old was discovered hanging upside down above water in her car seat by a fisherman on Saturday afternoon, police said.
She was rushed to a hospital in Salt Lake City, where her condition has been upgraded from critical to stable.
The toddler's 25-year-old mother, named as Lynn Groesbeck from Springville, was found dead in the driver's seat.
 Investigators believe the vehicle careered into the Spanish Fork River after striking a cement barrier at about 22:30 local time (04:30 GMT) on Friday.
A fisherman raised the alarm at 12:30 local time (18:30 GMT) the next day, after he saw the girl dangling above the water as it flowed through the car.


Officials later removed the car from the river
Three police officers and four firefighters who entered the river to rescue the child were later treated in hospital for hypothermia.
Police said they would not be releasing any further details unless the baby's condition changed. The girl's name was not released.

Omotola Charges Women as We Celebrate International Women's Day

Katy Perry to record an acoustic album...

The ‘Roar’ hitmaker, who recently rekindled her relationship with singer-songwriter John Mayer, says she wants to go in a ‘complete opposite way’ with her next album. She told Britain’s ELLE magazine: ‘There have always been two records I want to make; the acoustic record and the dance record. [‘One of the Boys’] was very pop-rock, more alternative influences, very No Doubt. But the last two [‘Teenage Dream’ and ‘Prism’] were so pop heavy. ‘Prism’ has a more electronic influence. The next record does have to be different. I think that I’m gonna really have to reroute. ‘I can’t wait to create more and evolve more and be a contributor. I would never ever want to be just a celebrity. It’s so gross. But if you’re contributing, you’re adding something to the world; you’re changing someone’s perspective. I’m disgusted by the fame stuff. I try to keep a distance from it.’... 

"SHE SAID I MUST MEET UP TO MY TARGET"

January 22^nd  2015 was a night I had so much reflection and tots. 

On my way back at night after a tight schedule for the day, I decided to go by the bus popularly known as ‘Danfo Bus’ by 11:30pm as it was too late for me to be on the road. I was pondering and wondering how could i have over worked myself for the day, i became scared. Lo and behold, I sat in the bus, there was a little girl sleeping, her neck resting on the iron rod of the bus and  her neck dancing to the rhythm of the moving bus as she was dozing looking pale and Mal-nourished, pretty face indeed as God’s gift. Sitting beside her, I looked down and saw a heavy tray loaded with paw-paw. She was so weak and exhausted that her head  rested on my shoulder as she clinged her sales money on her palm. I could not contain what I saw, I told the driver not to forget where the girl will alight. The driver said the little girl boarded his bus from Elliot-Ishaga  a very long distance to Ogba in lagos. As I tapped her not to forget where she would stop, a girl of 7 yrs of age. I asked her if she goes to school and why would she be on the road at that late hour? She told me that she was not in school, she said “My Aunty said that I must meet up my target” . People in the bus starting narrating the experiences little girls go through as a result of child labour. Some of these girls get raped, abused and even get pregnant. Sometimes they are been used for rituals and lots more….

Yes! Most of these children don’t live with their parents, They are victims of Child trafficking and some set of individual take these children from their parents promising to send them to school including their well-being but the reverse is the case, they end up sending these little girls to the street to hawk for their daily bread. 

Our Blog readers, could this situation be as a result of parent’s negligence or ignorance?

Who should we blame, is it the government or the parents?

Lets the conversation continue as you share your view.

ROLE MODEL OF THE MONTH - Dr. Hajo Sani

Hajo Sani is an educationist, Author and policy Analyst. Dr. Hajo Sani served the country as the second  minister of the federal ministry of woman affairs and social developement from 1997-1998.
After her national assignment, she founded woman and national development (WAND) a none- Governmental Organization that focuses on the education of the Girl-Child and the numerous problems and obstacles facing women. In 2003, she joined the Society For Family heallth( SFH) an NGO programme, which focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention, child and maternal health, water hygiene and sanitation. A recipient of so many awards, including a national honour in the rank of the officer of the order of the Niger ( OON).
Hajo Sani is a woman of great pedigree and a silent achiever. through her work she has continued to fight for the socio-economic and political development of women.