Nafissatou Diallo: the most popular African Woman in 2011

Nafissatou Diallo

When the 32 year-old hotel maid told American authorities that she had been sexually assaulted by a 62 year-old gentleman inside Sofitel New York Hotel on 14th May 2010, she did not realise that she was bringing to an end the glittering career of a great Frenchman. The gentleman in question turned out to be Dominique Gaston Strauss-Kahn who by then was the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Guinean born Nafissatou Diallo became an instant celebrity as television and radio stations worked round the clock, providing minute by minute updates of the whole saga. This made Diallo the most popular African woman in the year just gone by.

DSK as the astute French economist, lawyer and politician is often referred to was arrested in holywood style at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a Paris bound plane just a few minutes before take off after being accused of sexual assault by Diallo. The accomplished chess player was charged with two criminal sexual acts and three misdemeanour offences. The rest as they say is history. Things turned full circle for the for DSK. He was forced to resign from the IMF and was detained without bail for almost two months in New York, USA.  His bid for the French presidency hit also hit a snag. The catalyst of all these misfortunes had been the 32 year old female asylum seeker from Guinea.

But while DSK was sailing through troubled waters on the other side of the coin, Nafissatou instantly shot to fame as her story was featured on every reputable television and radio station world wide. Overnight she became a much sought after client in media circles. Recently, a movie inspired by the DSK sex scandal has been produced by Abel Ferrara. The beautiful African American hotel made even disturbed French politics big time since the person she accused of sexually assaulting her had been gunning for the French presidency.

But Nafissatou Diallo's story was later on found to be false and lacking credibility. Although the sexual encounter appears to have taken place between the two, there is a high probability that it was with consent of the victim. Diallo then became a laughing stock despite making several attempts to rebuild her reputation through interviews to the print and electronic media. She was labelled a prostitute and gold digger in some circles. However, it was too late for the damage had already been done: DSK had already lost his job and his bid for French presidency besides denting strong his Curriculum Vitae. Ladies and Gentlemen, like her or hate her, Nafissatou Diallo is the probably the most popular African woman in the year 2011.

Welcome to the New Year!

Welcome to the new year,

Please, lend me your ear.

Welcome to the new year,

Hear me loud and clear.

Welcome to the new year,

Come closer and near.

Welcome to the new year,

Forget not your peer.

Welcome to the new year,

Feel loved and so dear.

Welcome to the new year,

be free and without fear.

Welcome to the new year,

be strong and shed no tear.

Welcome to the new year,

but make your vision clear.

Born to rule!

Franklin Roosevelt was related to eleven other presidents

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Genealogists have found that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the former president of the United States of America was related to eleven other former presidents of his country. The Democrat Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the USA who ruled the country from 1933 to 1945. 

FDR as the "New Deal" guy was fondly called by the Americans was related to former presidents: George Washington (1st President), John Adams (2nd President), James Madison (4th President), John Quincy Adams (6th President), Martin Van Buren (8th President), William Henry Harrison (9th President), Zachary Taylor (12th President), Ulysses Simpson Grant (18th President), Benjamin Harrison (23rd President), Theodore Roosevelt (26th President) and William Howard Taft (27th President).

FDR was a fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt and fourth cousin of Grant and Taylor besides being a distant cousin to the other eight presidents mentioned above. Roosevelt even had some British connection for he was a seventh cousin of the popular British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill! Quite strange, isn't it?

Hard fact: Hastings Banda remains the world's oldest president in history!

Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda

Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the first president of the Republic of Malawi put his country on the map by becoming the oldest president in the world. Banda was 96 years old when he lost his presidency to a  51 year-old Bakili Muluzi in 1994. The "father and founder" of the Malawi nation died aged 99 in November 1997. The record he set has never been broken to date, 17 years after he left office.

Hastings Kamuzu Banda's date of birth remains a controversy because he was born at a time when there was no birth registration in his native Malawi. But the biographer, Philip Scot gives February 1898 as the most likely time of his birth. Officially Kamuzu Banda was said to have been born on 14th May 1906 and this date is even documented several biographical accounts. 

Hastings Banda ruled Malawi as a Prime Minister from 6th July 1964 to 6th July 1966. He then assumed the presidency of the landlocked country on 6th July 1966. He lost the presidency on 24th May 1994 in the country's  first post-colonial multiparty elections. Banda died on 25th November 1997.

Some Crazy Moments in History

Archimedes runs naked in Syracuse

A portrait of Archimedes

Archimedes (287 BC - 212 BC) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor and austronomer. Besides being considered as one of the leading scientists in the classical antiquity, he is also considered as the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the greatest of all time. But Archimedes is also widely known for running naked in in jubilation in the streets of Syracuse after a very important discovery.

A story is told about how Archimedes invented a method of determining the volume of an object with an irregular shape. According to Vitruvus who narrated the story, a votive crown had been made for King Hierro II, who had supplied the pure gold to be used. The king then asked Archimedes to employ his mathematical genius to determine whether some silver had been substituted by the dishonest goldsmith.

Archimedes had to solve the problem without damaging the crown, hence he could not melt it down into a regularly shaped body in order to calculate its density. This problem gave the revered mathematician a headache for quite some time. But while taking a bath one day , he noticed that the level of the water in the bath tub rose as he got in. Archimedes realised that he could use this effect to determine the volume of the crown.

Archimedes knew that water is incompressible, so the submerged crown would displace an amount of water equal to its own volume. So by dividing the mass of the crown by the volume of the water displaced, the density of the crown could be calculated. This density would, therefore, be lower than that of the gold if cheaper and less dense metals had been added. The great mathematician had finally solved the problem.

Archimedes then took to the streets naked, crying on top of his voice "Eureka!" (meaning "I have found it!"). He was so excited by his discovery that he had even forgotten to dress. Archimedes conducted his test successfully, proving that silver had indeed been mixed in producing the crown.

Hard fact: Adolf Hitler descended from the Jews and Africans

Adolf Hitler

The Jews and Africans may not like this but the fact remains: Adolf Hitler descended from these two races if latest DNA tests are anything to go by. According to a Belgian news magazine, Knack, samples taken from relatives of the infamous Nazi leader show that he is biologically linked to the very "sub human" races he wanted to wipe out.

Journalist Jean-Paul Mulders and historian Marc Vermeeren used DNA samples to track  down thirty-nine of Adolf Hitler's relatives in 2010.  The DNA test carried out on samples of saliva taken from these people strongly indicates that Hitler did not posses the unpolluted aryan blood as he claimed. It is said that a chromosome called Haplopgroup E1b1b(Y-DNA) found in the samples of Hitler's relatives is rare in Germany and indeed western Europe.

Such chromosome, according to Mr. Vermeeren, is commonly found in the Berbers of Morrocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia as well as among the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jew. This therefore makes Adolf Hitler a descendant of Africans and Jews. According to the researchers, the DNA was tested under stringent laboratory conditions to obtain the results.

This may not be the first time that Adolf Hitler has been linked to the Jewish race, which he despised the most. Historians have in the past suggested that the Fuhrer had a Jewish ancestry. It is alleged that his father, Alois, was an offspring of  a maid called Maria Schickelgruber and a nineteen year old Jewish man called Frankenberger. This made Adolf Hitler one quarter Jewish.

Upon being motivated to write a poem on Christmas

JESUS

He slept in a manger that night all alone,
Like a stranger in a world that was his own.

He slept in a manger that night all alone,
Like a stranger looked at with scorn.


NB: I was motivated to write this poem after attending a Christmas Church Service at Chitakale CCAP Church in Mulanje, Malawi.

Some Crazy Moments in History

Lady Godiva rides a Horse naked through the streets Coventry

A 19th Century statue of Godiva's ride by John Thomas, Maidstone Museum, Kent.

According to the 13th century chronicler, Roger of Wendover, Lady Godiva (1002 - 1066?) rode a horse naked through the market place of Coventry. inorder to persuade her husband to reduce the taxes he had imposed on his tenants. The legend has it that a man named Tom who wanted to watch her ride was struck blind or dead.

Lady Godiva (1002 - 1066?) was an Anglo-Saxon noble woman who was married to Leofric, the Earl of Mercia. The couple had one son called Aefgar, Earl of Mercia. Both Leofric and Godiva were devout christians and were generous benefactors of several religious houses. For instance, Leofric founded and endowed the Benedictine monastery at Coventry.

Lady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry who were suffering heavily under her husband's brutal taxation. The lady appealed now and again to her husband to reduce the taxes on the poor people but to no avail. Finally her husband who had become tired of her wife's appeals said he would grant her request only if she would strip naked and ride a horse through the streets of the town.

Godiva took her husband's challenge seriously and immediately issued a proclaimation that all people of Coventry should stay indoors and shut their windows. The noble lady then rode through the town clothed only in her long hair. But one person in the town, a tailor called Tom disobeyed her proclaimation. He is reported to have bored a hole in his shutters so that he could  see Lady Godiva pass. The poor voyeur was struck blind. In the end, Godiva's husband lived by his word and abolished the excessive taxes. Was Lady Godiva's action good or bad? You have a right to your opinion, be the judge. 

Thumbs up Fatou Bensouda!

Mrs Fatou Bensouda

The fifty year old Gambian lady, Fatou Bensouda has done it for Africa. After playing second fiddle as Luis Moreno - Ocampo's deputy at the International Criminal Court since 2004 - she has now grabbed the real McCoy - she has been confirmed as the Chief Prosecutor at the ICC. She will be taking over from the Argentinian Luis Moreno-Ocampo whose nine year term of office expires next year.

Bensouda's appointment makes her the first African to hold a top post at the International Criminal Court. It also comes as a resounding victory for the African Union, which lobbied vigorously for Mrs Bensouda's appointment and had even been adamant that an African candidate would be selected to replace Mr. Moreno-Ocampo. 

Fatou Bensouda replaces Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo who came under heavy criticism from the African Union throughout his term of office for his "selective justice". According to the African Union, Ocampo's justice only targeted perpetrators of atrocities in Africa while their counterparts elswhere went scot free. For instance, the ICC has so far investigated conflicts in seven countries all in Africa: Sudan, Libya, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic.

Bensouda, a former legal advisor at the ICC Tribunal in Rwanda got the job ahead of three equally competent shortlisted candidates. These three are: Andrew Cayley, the British co-prosecutor at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia; Muhammad Chande Othman, Tanzania's Chief Justice; and Robert Petit, a Canadian war crimes specialist.

Fatou grew up in Banjul, the Gambian Capital in a polygamous family. Her father was a civil servant who had two wives. She studied law in Lagos, Nigeria and became the Gambia's first international maritime law expert. In 1987, she joined the Gambian justice ministry as a public prosecutor and went on to become the Gambian Attorney General. In 1998 the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh appointed her as justice minister. But after only two years, the two fell out and Jammeh sacked her while she was abroad.

After falling out with Jammeh, Fatou Bensouda went to work abroad. She worked for the Tanzanian-based International Tribunal for Rwanda, which is trying key figures responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Then in 2004, she became a deputy chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. Now that an African has got the top-most job at the ICC,  Africans can't wait to see the Moreno-Ocampo's selective justice being thrown to the dustbin where it belongs. Bravo  Fatou Bensouda! Bravo African Union!

Hold your breath, El Clasico is back!

Ronaldo and Messi: ready to lead their charges in the do or die battle

The world will be treated to another mouth-watering football dish as Real Madrid and Barcelona, the aristocrats of world football, go full throttle against each other at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in their first encounter of 2011-12 Spanish La Liga tommorrow. With Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi spicing up the whole show, who can afford to be left out of this pre-Christmas soccer party? Your guess is as good as mine. But mind you, this game is not for the faint hearted. Every match between these two sides is a titanic battle that will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire 90 minutes and anything can happen in the process. Don't say that I didn't warn you!  

Dubbed el classico (English: the classic), the football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona is the most followed football match other than the UEFA Champions League Final watched by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The match also brings to the forefront the biggest rivalry ever witnessed in football history. The two top spanish clubs meet twice a year in the Spanish La liga. The encounter brings together some of the worlds greatest names in football. The el clasico separates men from real men. With a lot of scores to settle by either side, tommorrow's encounter at the 85,454 seat Estadio Santiago Bernabeu will be nothing short of a thriller. Tommorrow's el clasico will be their first in the 2011/12 season. It precedes another scheduled for Barcelona's 99,354 seat Camp Nou on 22nd April 2012.

The el clasico comes with a full package: it has something for everyone. It is a crash of two largest cities in spain and two richest and most successful and influential clubs in the world. It is also a crash of political ideologies namely separatism and nationalism. While Barcelona represents Catalan nationalism, Real Madrid preaches Spanish nationalism. Some politically charged Spaniards even view the el clasico as a re-enactment of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. Although both teams suffered during this war, Barcelona suffered the worst and even had their president, Josep Sunyol, executed by General Fransisco Franco's security police. Real Madrid was to a certain extent spared due to its good relationship with Franco at management level.

The el classico also rekindles the great football rivarly between two sides to the apolitical Spaniards, which ensued in the 1950s due to the controversial transfer of Argentine football legend, Alfredo di Stefano. Both sides claimed owning the former River Plate legend and FIFA had to intervene to settle the dispute. FIFA ruled that Barcelona and Real Madrid should share the player in alternate seasons. But when Barcelona president backed down after a few appearances and allowed Real Madrid to keep the player permanently, many Barcelona supporters concluded that he was forced by General Franco to do that. The fact that the Barcelona president was imposed on the club by the Spanish dictator made the arguement hold water to a certain extent. Alfredo di Stephano was Madrid's success story for with him the club won the initial five European Champions Cup competitions. He remains the all time el clasico top goal scorer.

Alfredo di Stefano: el clasico all time top goal scorer

Other rivalries were fuelled by the transfer of Luis Enrique from Real Madrid to Barcelona in 1996 and Luis Figo from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000. Figo had a pig's head thrown after him when he first visited the Camp Nou for el clasico as a Real Madrid player after dumping Barcelona where he was vice captain. This el clasico produced no goals but the highlight of the match was the hostile reception, which Barcelona fans gave their former player. Several objects including coins, golf balls and bottles were thrown at Figo by his once favourite fans whenever he was taking throw-ins or corner kicks. But the greatest highlight of the match came when a pig's head was thrown towards Luis Figo by a very irate Barcelona fan. The legendary Portuguese playmaker was about to take a corner kick when the irate supporter threw a pig's head into the pitch toward where he was standing. The event remains one of the most memorable and perhaps the most regrettable in el clasico history.

Figo gets his souvenir at Camp Nou: a pig's head

The el clasico is probably the only football match that has been graced by the a large number of football legends. Some of the world's great players who have taken part in the el clasico include: Alfredo di Stephano (Real Madrid/Argentina), Johan Cruyff (Barcelona/Holland), Diego Maradona (Barcelona/Argentina), Romario (Barcelona/Brazil), Michael Laudrup (Barcelona/Real Madrid/Denmark), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid/France), Luis Enrique (Real Madrid/Barcelona/Spain), Luis Figo (Barcelona/Real Madrid/Portugal), Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Brazil), Ronaldhino (Barcelona/Brazil), David Beckham (Real Madrid/England), Kaka (Real Madrid/Brazil), Iker Cassillas (Real Madrid/Spain), Raul (Real Madrid/Spain) Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) and Christiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal).

Tommorrow's el classico, which is the 164th in history, definitely has a lot to offer. Dubbed "Ronaldo vs Messi, Mourinho vs Pep, Real Madrid vs Barcelona" , the match promises lots of fireworks. There is a lot at stake other than the three points. Others have even called it Ronaldo vs Messi, Round V. Real Madrid will try to avenge the 5-0 drubbing, which they suffered last year at the Camp Nou. We are yet to see if the Jose Mourinho boys will emulate what Real Madrid did in 1995. After suffering a humuliating 5-0 defeat by Johan Cruyff's dream team led by the legendary Romario at Camp Nou in 1994, Real Madrid hit back the following year and beat Barcelona fair and square with the same margin. Real Madrid was helped by the services of their new catch, the great Danish international, Michael Laudrup, who was pivotal in Barcelona's win the previous year.

Although there has been no major player transfer between the two clubs this year as in the Laudrup affair, I still feel a strange sense of the 1994/95 deja vu as the countdown to tommorrows el clasico continues. This gives me confidence that Real Madrid will produce a master class performance that will settle the battle for football supremacy with Barcelona once and for all. We have Jose Mourinho, Christiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas, what else do we need? Long live Real Madrid!

Some Crazy Moments in History

Trento, Italy, 1907: Benito Mussolini Challenges God

The flamboyant Benito Mussolini on horseback 

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, the creator of fascism and one of the notable makers of twentieth century history lived a life full of drama and controversy. At a meeting in Trento, the bull-necked Mussolini standing in a room jampacked with Catholic faithfuls challenged God to strike him dead within five minutes inorder to prove his existence. The entire room held its breath to witness what was to befall this blasphemous fascist architect who was later to become the leader of the fascist state Italy.

After the five minutes had elapsed, Mussolini proudly declared: "Time is up, God does not exist". But this did not go down well with a lot of people and a riot broke out. Mussolini even won the heart of Ida Dalser, a rich beautician who was part of the shocked audience. She was extremely impressesed by Mussolini's charisma and immediately fell for the flamboyant fascist leader. Dalser became Mussolini's first wife and bore him a child. But she soon fell out of favour when Mussolini became the leader of Italy and was executed together with her child on Mussolini's orders.

One of history's great orators, Mussolini is known to have proclaimed himself an atheist and on several occasions he shocked his audience by calling upon God to strike him dead if at all he existed. He despised Christianity as a mental illness whose victims value cowardice. He even belittled Jesus Christ as an ignorant Jew and a pigmy. Although he reconciled with Pope Pius XI in 1932 but he continued making anti-clerical remarks in later years. He even refered to himself as an outright disbeliever and considered Islam better than Christianity. By the order of his party, pronouns refering to him had to be capitalised like those refering to God.

The tough-talking fascist leader led Italy into the Second World War on the side of the Axis but he never lived up to his billing. He was dismissed and arrested by disgruntled Italians in 1943 and the Italian government signed an armstice on 3rd September the same year. Mussolini was rescued from prison by Nazi paratroopers after spending two months in captivity on 12th September 1943. From that time he ceased to be the flamboyant Mussolini of the 1920s and even wanted to retire from politics. Adolf Hitler forced him to back to the helm of Italian politics where in the long run he became Hitler's puppet. In actual fact his puppet government survived through Hitler's backing and interference in Italian politics.

Mussolini was finally captured in April 1945 by Italian partisans while trying to escape to Switzerland. He was shot dead together with Clara Petacci, his mistress, and several officials of his party near lake Como. Their bodies were taken to Milan and hanged upside down on meat hooks for public viewing. The bodies were spat upon, stone and subjected to all sorts of ridicule before being burried in unmarked graves. In 1946 Mussolins's body was stolen by Neo-Fascists who wanted to give him a proper burial but the new Italian government recovered it later.

For ten years the Italian government did not know what to do with Mussolini's body. Mussolini was finaly given a proper burial in 1957. His remains were re-interred at Predappio in Romagna, his birth place. Today, a large marble bust of himself sits above his tomb. Although, he was basically irreligious throughout his life, Benito Mussolini was given a Catholic funeral in 1957. May be long at last he had seen that God exists.