PRONACO Truly United & Focused Again!

The people of Nigeria have every reason to rejoice, for today witnessed the resurrection of PRONACO, as the many erstwhile-differing camps came together (after months of bickering, and in the face of seemigly overwhelming internal and external fifth-columnism!) to "bury axes", admit the need for restructuring of the ongoing process that will lead to the development of a truly people-centred/empowered new constitution for Africa's so-far semi-comatose "giant" of a nation.

Kudos must be given to the unrelenting efforts of the Reconciliation and Convening Committee (RCC) (which was mandated, by PRONACO's General Assembly, to mediate this reconciliation), and also to Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinks who so very ably convened, and presided over, today's meeting in tandem with the RCC.

IT IS WELL, IN JESUS' NAME, WITH NIGERIA. Amen.

SHALOM!!!

The Lord is able to give thee much more!

"And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the
hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God
answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."-2
Chronicles 25:9

A very important question this seemed to be to the king of Judah, and
possibly it is of even more weight with the tried and tempted O
Christian. To lose money is at no times pleasant, and when principle involves
it, the flesh is not always ready to make the sacrifice. "Why lose that
which may be so usefully employed? May not the truth itself be bought
too dear? What shall we do without it? Remember the children, and our
small income!" All these things and a thousand more would tempt the
Christian to put forth his hand to unrighteous gain, or stay himself from
carrying out his conscientious convictions, when they involve serious
loss. All men cannot view these matters in the light of faith; and even
with the followers of Jesus, the doctrine of "we must live" has quite
sufficient weight.

The Lord is able to give thee much more than this is a very
satisfactory answer to the anxious question. Our Father holds the purse-strings,
and what we lose for His sake He can repay a thousand-fold. It is ours
to obey His will, and we may rest assured that He will provide for us.
The Lord will be no man's debtor at the last. Saints know that a grain
of heart's-ease is of more value than a ton of gold. He who wraps a
threadbare coat about a good conscience has gained a spiritual wealth far
more desirable than any he has lost. God's smile and a dungeon are
enough for a true heart; His frown and a palace would be hell to a gracious
spirit. Let the worst come to the worst, let all the talents go, we
have not lost our treasure, for that is above, where Christ sitteth at the
right hand of God. Meanwhile, even now, the Lord maketh the meek to
inherit the earth, and no good thing doth He withhold from them that walk
uprightly.


"Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon
fought and his angels."-Revelation 12:7

War always will rage between the two great sovereignties until one or
other be crushed. Peace between good and evil is an impossibility; the
very pretence of it would, in fact, be the triumph of the powers of
darkness. Michael will always fight; his holy soul is vexed with sin, and
will not endure it. Jesus will always be the dragon's foe, and that not
in a quiet sense, but actively, vigorously, with full determination to
exterminate evil. All His servants, whether angels in heaven or
messengers on earth, will and must fight; they are born to be warriors-at the
cross they enter into covenant never to make truce with evil; they are
a warlike company, firm in defence and fierce in attack. The duty of
every soldier in the army of the Lord is daily, with all his heart, and
soul, and strength, to fight against the dragon.

The dragon and his angels will not decline the affray; they are
incessant in their onslaughts, sparing no weapon, fair or foul. We are foolish
to expect to serve God without opposition: the more zealous we are, the
more sure are we to be assailed by the myrmidons of hell. The church
may become slothful, but not so her great antagonist; his restless spirit
never suffers the war to pause; he hates the woman's seed, and would
fain devour the church if he could. The servants of Satan partake much of
the old dragon's energy, and are usually an active race. War rages all
around, and to dream of peace is dangerous and futile.

Glory be to God, we know the end of the war. The great dragon shall be
cast out and for ever destroyed, while Jesus and they who are with Him
shall receive the crown. Let us sharpen our swords to-night, and pray
the Holy Spirit to nerve our arms for the conflict. Never battle so
important, never crown so glorious. Every man to his post, ye warriors of
the cross, and may the Lord tread Satan under your feet shortly!
------- C. H. SPURGEON

SHALOM!!!

UK and Africa university link-ups

Universities in the United Kingdom are being encouraged to set up partnerships with their counterparts in Africa.
The UK's Higher Education Minister, Bill Rammell, is funding a Commonwealth network which will promote such link-ups between institutions.

There will also be support towards start-up costs for a business education project in Ghana in west Africa.

"Africa's universities are at the heart of Africa's future. They are key to economic growth," said Mr Rammell.

The higher education minister, who is visiting education projects in southern Africa with representatives of UK universities, said that "we need to help support their development and particularly to strengthen centres of research, science and technology".

'Revitalise'

"We want to ensure that the expertise we have in the UK can be used to help revitalise African higher education and at the same time, enrich our own understanding of African issues.

"There are many ways in which the relationships developed through collaboration will benefit UK universities and the increasingly diverse learning environment in which they operate."

The Open University, represented on the visit by vice-chancellor, Brenda Gourley, launched a pilot project earlier this month which will provide African institutions with learning materials.

The distance-learning university is also supporting teacher education in Africa.

The higher education minister is giving £200,000 towards the Africa Unit at the Association of Commonwealth Universities, which will help arrange partnerships between universities in the UK and Africa.

Among the areas expected to be covered by exchanges will be professional development, training of women for senior management and science and technology programmes.

The business education project in Ghana is an extension of the Tabeisa (Technical and Business Education Initiative in South Africa) scheme, in which two UK universities - Greenwich and Coventry - are working with four technology institutes in South Africa.

The Tabeisa project gives training in entrepreneurship to youngsters from poor families.

"We know that the challenge of youth employment is one that needs urgent attention. The development of skills relevant to market demands is a crucial way in which we can address this," said Mr Rammell.

NEW PHASE FOR POSITIVE PARTNERS!

POSITIVE PARTNERS will enter into a new phase of positive activity, by God's grace, beginning from December 7, 2005, a day which marks the 52nd birthday of PP1, the undersigned and Founder/CEO of this globally-focused organisation which plans to become the world's No.1 Compassion Channel within three years starting from 2006, d.v. Details will be posted as developments unfold.

IT IS WELL!

NO SHAKING!!


Shalom!!!

Software 'cannot stop cheating' !

Technological solutions alone will not be enough to prevent children using the internet to cheat in their coursework, a government adviser has said.
Professor Jean Underwood of Nottingham Trent University says it is up to teachers and parents to show that plagiarism is inappropriate.

The government has asked Professor Underwood to provide technical advice on how to detect internet cheating.

It has commissioned a review of GCSE coursework in each subject.

The move comes after report by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority said downloading essays from the internet "could not be controlled".

Internet search

Professor Underwood, an expert in the impact of new technologies on teaching and learning, said less repetitive and more creative questioning would reduce the scope for cheating.


COURSEWORK CHEATING
The availability of the internet is a powerful aid to learning but carries a new generation of risks of plagiarism.
QCA report on coursework


She said the parameters of her study were still to be defined, but she wanted to help find solutions "so that everyone is reassured that coursework is valid, relevant and secure".

Rules should be made clearer, Professor Underwood said.

"We all reject websites which sell essays, but where does that leave us when there are so many help books to get pupils through their GCSEs? Where is the line?"

And parents need to understand that by doing work for their children, or telling them what to include, they are not allowing them to learn effective research - an important skill for later life.

"If a parent helps their child to carry out an efficient internet search, I personally do not see anything wrong in that," she said.

"But downloading five papers from the internet would be a borderline crossed."

She said the government has recognised there is concern and will put down guidelines around February next year.

But it was "all our jobs to collectively show that cheating should not happen".

Teachers have voiced concerns that there are inconsistent guidelines across exam boards regarding how much guidance teachers should give to pupils.

They are also concerned that providing templates and checklists for work leads to "cloned essays" which are difficult to tell apart.

"Templates are worrying, if they lead to the pupil not understanding the material," Professor Underwood said.

The NASUWT teachers' union said it was important to keep the issue of plagiarism in proportion.

But it welcomed the idea of clearer guidelines, but said policing every line of work for plagiarism would "place an impossible burden upon teachers".

Coursework is marked internally within schools, while exam boards call in samples of the work for external checks, known as "moderation".


The internet is a wonderful thing with the power to change lives - but there will always be a downside
Professor Jean Underwood

At GCSE level, it varies from 20% of the overall qualification in double science, to 60% in art and design.

At A-level it can be from nothing to 30%, or 60% in the case of art and design.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said coursework should only be used where it is the most appropriate assessment method.

The QCA's report found coursework was a valuable tool to stimulate pupils' own learning, but that the value placed on it by teachers varied between subjects.

Technical solutions

Professor Underwood said technology could help ameliorate the problem but was "no quick fix".

She said software already existed to help schools ascertain whether work was the pupil's own.

"It can even be as simple as typing a phrase into Google."

"If a phrase has been plagiarised, sites will bring it up."

"Software is already out there that schools can use, from the Joint Information Schools Committee."

Exam board Edexcel and the Joint Council for Qualifications said they were working with the Plagiarism Advisory Service with a view to rolling out plagiarism detection software.

A JCQ spokesperson said it would reduce the potential to use or re-use work produced by other people.

Professor Underwood said some software could check as well as mark work. But she said some clever students would find ways round such programmes.

"One method used is to translate phrases in papers into a different language and then back into English with a translation tool," she said.

She said that tackling firms providing essays for sale or download would not guarantee children could not access essays, as hackers could still make them available for sale.

"We need to think smart on an academic and technological level," she said

"The internet is a wonderful thing with the power to change lives - but there will always be a downside."

SHALOM!!!

AIDS may help spread of bird flu!

Bird flu could readily mutate into a pandemic form if it infects people with AIDS, a flu expert has warned. Dr Robert Webster said it was possible people with AIDS, who have depressed immune systems, could incubate the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

This would potentially give it the opportunity to become better adapted - and more dangerous - to humans.

Dr Webster was speaking at a conference organised by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

At present, H5N1 cannot pass easily from human to human. It has so far infected around 125 people in South East Asia, but most of these have had close contact with infected birds.

Experts fear that the widespread infection of birds in this region, coupled with the close mixing of birds and people, could lead to the virus evolving to pose a more deadly threat.

But Dr Webster, of St Jude Children's Research Hospital im Memphis, said the key could be when H5N1 reaches East Africa, where HIV/AIDS is rife. He said experience with immune-compromised cancer patients at his hospital had showed they are unable to clear normal flu virus from their systems, and can shed copies of the virus for weeks.

The same could be expected of AIDS patients coming down with H5N1, he said.

"We're all very worried by the prospect," he told the BBC.

Reproducing over a long period inside a human would be the ideal conditions for more infectious forms of the virus to develop.

H5N1 has not reached East Africa yet, but it is the final destination for many birds currently migrating from infected areas.

Officials at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation expect to arrive there soon.

They believe that because the social conditions are close to those in Asia, and farming practices are similar, the virus could take a grip among poultry as it has in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and China.

Health expert Laurie Garrett adds that with malaria, tuberculosis and HIV already widespread in Africa, it will be difficult to single out the symptoms of bird flu in new victims - high fever and nausea. The situation is compounded by the parlous state of the health systems across the continent.

The direct effect of H5N1 on people with AIDS is hard to predict.

The H5N1 virus overstimulates the immune system, and many of its powerful effects are caused by what medical expert call a "cytokine storm", after the immune molecules excited by the disease.

It was the cytokine storm that overwhelmed so many victims of the 1918 flu pandemic. AIDS patients may be spared that fate.

But equally possible, with their immune defences down, they could succumb easily to the disease.

"In that situation," said Laurie Garrett, "vast populations of HIV positive people could be obliterated by the pandemic flu."

-- Roland Pease
BBC science correspondent

PRONACO STILL ON-TRACK WITH PSNC!

Today, PRONACO's reconciliation team put together the final draft of the movement's New CHARTER which will democratise its structures, guarantee system-efficiencies, and bring about the neccessary unity with which the body shall convene a successful PEOPLES' SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE (PSNC), with Plenaries to soon commence in Lagos.

Shalom!!!

DOKUBO AND SARO-WIWA....TWO OF A KIND?!

Ken Wiwa: 'Committed to remembering'

A decade ago, the writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian government. His son, Ken Wiwa, told the BBC News website of his memories of that day and how he sees the situation now:

"I remember the exact moment he died.

I was sitting in a restaurant chatting and laughing with friends when I felt a brief palpitation in my chest - it felt like a vital connection had been ruptured inside me and I just knew.

I fell silent and looking back I can see myself sitting alone with my thoughts while all around me there is laughter and genial conversation at the table.

It was midnight in Auckland and midday in Nigeria and my father had just been hanged; his broken body lay in a shallow sand pit in a hut at the condemned prisoners' block at Port Harcourt Prison.

I have so many vivid memories of the days and weeks before and after my father was killed.


For a long time I tried to forget. It was the only way I knew how to mask the trauma.


But then somewhere down the line I realised that to forget was to play into the hands of those who wanted him dead and I eventually came to appreciate that the best way to deal with my grief was to remember the personal details of my father's death in order to preserve the political integrity of his life.
Looking back, the issues my father died for - greater political and ecological accountability in the oil industry - are now at the front and centre of international affairs with climate change and the war on terror dominating world affairs.

In a way, the future of the planet is very much at stake in these issues and I appreciate why so many people are committed to remembering my father."

On this tenth anniversary, around the world, thousands of people are actively preventing that erasure of memory; from the Remember Saro-Wiwa project in London to the vigils being held from Thailand to South Africa.

People are refusing to forget the name, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

As Milan Kundera wrote, 'The struggle of humanity against power, is the struggle of memory against forgetting.'

AS THE WORLD REMEMBERS, LET EVERYBODY REMEMBER THAT ANOTHER NIGER-DELTA ACTIVIST (ASARI DOKUBO) IS, TODAY, BEING RAIL-ROADED...TO JUDICIAL MURDER?!

What Is Grace?

What Is Grace?
John MacArthur

Many years ago, Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined a term that has come to characterize much of evangelical Christianity-it's the term "cheap grace." Cheap grace is in reality a self-imparted grace, a pseudo-grace, and in the end the consequences of living by it are very, very costly.

Cheap grace is not at all a reference to God's grace; it's a contemptible counterfeit. It's a grace that is "cheap" in value, not cost. It is a bargain-basement, damaged-goods, washed-out, moth-eaten, second-hand grace. It is a man-made grace reminiscent of the indulgences Rome was peddling in Martin Luther's day. Cheap? The cost is actually far more than the buyer could possibly realize, though the "grace" is absolutely worthless.

Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and Nazi resister. He was hanged in 1945 by SS guards, but not before his writings had left their mark. Bonhoeffer's theological perspective was neo-orthodox, and evangelicalism rightly rejects much of his teaching.

But Bonhoeffer spoke powerfully against the secularization of the church. He correctly analyzed the dangers of the church's frivolous attitude toward grace. After we discard the neo-orthodox teachings, we do well to pay heed to Bonhoeffer's diatribe against cheap grace:

Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian "conception" of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure the remission of sins.

The Church which holds the correct doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, ipso facto a part in that grace. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. "All for sin could not atone." The world goes on in the same old way, and we are still sinners "even in the best life" as Luther said. Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world's standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin (The Cost of Discipleship [New York: Collier, 1959], 45-46).

Cheap grace has not lost its worldly appeal since Bonhoeffer wrote those words. If anything, the tendency to cheapen grace has eaten its way into the heart of evangelical Christianity. While verbally extolling the wonders of grace, it exchanges the real item for a facsimile. This bait-and-switch tactic has confounded many sincere Christians.

Many professing Christians today utterly ignore the biblical truth that grace "instruct[s] us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age" (Titus 2:12). Instead, they live as if grace were a supernatural "Get Out of Jail FREE" ticket-a no-strings-attached, open-ended package of amnesty, beneficence, indulgence, forbearance, charity, leniency, immunity, approval, tolerance, and self-awarded privilege divorced from any moral demands.

Sadly, the rank-and-file Christian is further cemented in an unbiblical view of grace by what comes out of some seminaries. There are scholars who actually legitimize the error as a correct understanding of grace. They call their teaching "grace theology" and their movement "The Grace Movement."

They advocate a "grace" that alters a believer's standing without affecting his state. It is a grace that calls sinners to Christ but does not bid them surrender to Him. In fact, no-lordship theologians claim grace is diluted if the believing sinner must surrender to Christ. The more one actually surrenders, the more grace is supposedly watered down. This is clearly not the grace of Titus 2:11-12.

No wonder Christians are confused. Christian churches mirror the world; Christian leaders follow the culture; and Christian theologians provide their stamp of approval. The situation is nothing short of deplorable. But here's what I propose-let's start by laying down a biblical definition of grace with this simple question: What is grace?

Grace is a terribly misunderstood word. Defining it succinctly is notoriously difficult. Some of the most detailed theology textbooks do not offer any concise definition of the term. Someone has proposed an acronym: GRACE is God's Riches At Christ's Expense. That's not a bad way to characterize grace, but it is not a sufficient theological definition.

One of the best-known definitions of grace is only three words: God's unmerited favor. A. W. Tozer expanded on that: "Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits on the undeserving." Berkhof is more to the point: grace is "the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit."

Grace is not merely unmerited favor; it is favor bestowed on sinners who deserve wrath. Showing kindness to a stranger is "unmerited favor"; doing good to one's enemies is more the spirit of grace (Luke 6:27-36).

Grace is not a dormant or abstract quality, but a dynamic, active, working principle: "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation...and instructing us" (Titus 2:11-12). It is not some kind of ethereal blessing that lies idle until we appropriate it. Grace is God's sovereign initiative to sinners (Ephesians 1:5-6).

Grace is not a one-time event in the Christian experience. We stand in grace (Romans 5:2). The entire Christian life is driven and empowered by grace: "It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods" (Hebrews 13:9). Peter said we should "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).

Thus we could properly define grace as the free and benevolent influence of a holy God operating sovereignly in the lives of undeserving sinners.

Paul frequently contrasted grace with law (Romans 4:16; 5:20; 6:14-15; Galatians 2:21; 5:4). He was careful to state, however, that grace does not nullify the moral demands of God's law. Rather, it fulfills the righteousness of the law (Romans 6:14-15). It does not annul the righteous demands of the law; it confirms and validates them (Romans 3:31).

Grace has its own law, a higher, liberating law: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2; cf. James 1:25). Note that this new law emancipates us from sin as well as death. Paul was explicit about this: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2). Grace reigns through righteousness (Romans 5:21).

That is the good news of the gospel! God has acted to set us free from sin-not just the consequences, but it's very power and presence. One day we will never know the experience of temptation, a stray thought, a misspoken word, a false motive. Guilt will be gone, and with it shame, and "so we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

In the meantime, we enjoy the liberation from sin's cruel power and defiling influence. God has enabled us, through grace, to "deny ungodliness and worldly desires" so that we can enjoy a sensible, righteous, and godly life in the present age (Titus 2:12). "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

Adapted from The Gospel According to the Apostles (c) 2000 by John MacArthur. All rights reserved.

PRONACO's Peoples-Mobilisation Campaign Kicks-off in Lagos!

The long-awaited PRONACO Nationwide Peoples' Mobilisation Campaign kicked-off in Lagos, yesterday, with a caravan of musicians leading a very long trek from Maryland-Ikeja to the National Stadium in Surulere.

Many member-organisations took part in this long solidarity-trek which symbolised the long road Nigerians must all, sacrificingly, join up to the land of freedom of the peoples from the oppression, deprivation, and repression that bedevil this endemically corrupt and ironically dirt-poor oill-endowed nation that postures as Africa's leader!

With this campaign, PRONACO is finally poised to change NMigeria's future through the epochal grassroots-up PEOPLES' SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE which will soon commence plenaries with the intent to produce a re-engineered Nigeria where truth, equity, justice, democracy, and corru[ption-free development reign supreme!

Shalom!!!