Mexico decries US idea of splitting up immigrant families…Read full details

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Mexico has objected to the United States about a potential plan to separate immigrant children from their parents if they try to illegally enter the US, an official said Tuesday.

If the United States pursues that idea, “many families” will suffer an “irreversible damage,” said Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said at a news conference.

“We immediately made known to the (US) Department of Homeland Security our grave concern if that were to happen,” he said.

“We hope that the opinion of the Mexican government will be taken into consideration when the final decision by the US government is made about this possibility, which was announced in a worrying manner,” he said.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly said Monday that the department was weighing an initiative that would split children from their parents if they were caught trying to enter the United States illegally.

“I would do almost anything to deter the people from Central America to getting on this very, very dangerous network that brings them up through Mexico into the United States,” Kelly said in a CNN television interview.

“We have tremendous experience in dealing with unaccompanied minors,” he said, noting the DHS turns them over to the Health and Human Services department, which puts the children in foster care or links them with parents or family members in the United States.

Kelly is one of the most fervent supporters of US President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies.

Trump, who took office on January 20, ran on a platform arguing that mass immigration by unskilled workers costs US taxpayers billions of dollars and depresses wages and job opportunities.

The Republican businessman-turned-president vowed to build a wall on the US southern border with Mexico to stem illegal immigration and keep out migrants he branded drug-dealers, murderers and rapists.

Federal agents in recent weeks have launched sweeps across the country to round up undocumented immigrants.

On Monday, Trump signed a revised ban on refugees and on travelers from six Muslim-majority nations, effective March 16.

With his first executive order rejected by federal courts, the new, scaled-back order freezes refugee admissions for 120 days and halts new visas for Syrians, Iranians, Libyans, Somalis, Yemenis and Sudanese citizens for 90 days.

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Here’s Why Karan Johar’s Twins Will Stay In The Hospital For 2 More Weeks…Read full details

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We were ecstatic to hear that Karan Johar recently became father to twins – Yash and Roohi through the miracles of surrogacy. The entire industry rejoiced with the new father, who had long wished to nurture his paternal feelings, and was finally able to fulfil it.

Although the exact day of the twins’ birth is unknown, a report in TOI states that they were born 2 months premature, on February 7, due to which they are likely to stay in the hospital for a couple of weeks more. As per the report, a family friend of Karan said that the twins, 1.5 kgs each, were born to a surrogate in an Andheri nursing home and were immediately shifted to Surya Mother and Child Hospital in Santacruz.

Here’s hoping the babies reach their new home soon enough!

The post Here’s Why Karan Johar’s Twins Will Stay In The Hospital For 2 More Weeks is copyright of MissMalini.

Source: Miss Malini

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Non-passage of PIB crippling oil industry – Egbogah

How would posterity judge my generation?

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By Tunji Olaopa

Permit me to preface this piece by celebrating two of my friends whose promotions provided the occasion for me to reflect again on an issue that keeps returning to my attention, especially on the Nigerian conundrum of development and progress.

I am indeed (just like very many in different forms) obsessed with Nigeria, and often frustrated as to how we could be so blessed and yet so impoverished. Almost any issue communicates significance for me on how Nigeria can regain its greatness and empower its citizens. And in celebrating one of these two friends of mine, Prof. Olubunmi Olapade-Olaopa, in Ibadan recently, this whole generational issue resurfaced again in my remarks at the occasion.

The issue having been a subject of a prolonged inter-generational conversation which the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy – ISGPP, had listed as a flagship, I had invited Prof. Akin Mabogunje to make a statement, thereto, at the reception.

He had to leave unfortunately, as we could not gather ourselves together to commence to time, again, a generational concern which remains an issue with my generation.

Let me begin by borrowing the words that William Shakespeare committed into the mouth of Bolingbroke, a character in Richard II:I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends.

Generational concern

I am such a soul today, and it is my delight to advertise my extreme joy and fulfillment at the promotion of my two friends, Professor Bunmi Olapade-Olaopa and Professor Sade Ogunsola (nee Mabogunje). Bunmi has just been appointed as the Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan while Sade now occupies the same position at the University of Lagos, for a while now.

These two instigate some serious nostalgia for the moments that define our time together at the University, Bunmi at UI and Sade at Ife. Since hindsight is our only perceptual access into the past, I could say categorically that the frenetic academic pace we kept back then was the only indication we had as to how our future individually would turn out.

And in that recollection, I cannot forget Bunmi and Sade as the very personification of indignant restlessness, especially when it comes to the duty of righting what is wrong. Together with all the others who have survived the Yorùbá proverbial twenty years, we have all come a long way, and justifiably scattered across all the human endeavours both in Nigeria and in the diaspora. I have no doubt that Professors Olapade-Olapade and Sade Ogunsola would succeed immensely in their respected positions as the change agents I have always known them to be.

However, apart from felicitation, I suspect that a greater honour to the achievements of these two would be to tie their promotion into a dynamic reflection about the larger concern with institutional transformation and national greatness.

Promotion: Their promotion is significant because they now head colleges whose significance for the recalibration of our medical education and health institution cannot be underestimated. Institutions require commitment and foresight to be transformed into optimal functionality. But transforming an institution is not just a function of commitment and foresight; it is a function of competence with a solid touch of patriotism.

Function of commitment

But ask yourself: What happens if the entire endowment, competences and talents of an entire generation like mine, specifically highlighted in achievements of my two friends, were to be patriotically injected into the national development strategy for Nigeria? I could populate a list of all those in my generation who have reached the very top of their careers.

I could outline many more whose competences are transforming their endeavours in many unique ways. But such an exercise always leads me to one query: Would posterity judge our generation on our individual achievements or on what those achievements cumulate into in terms of national development?

I have been an advocate of a generational understanding of Nigeria’s predicament and greatness. In other words, we can get critical insights into where we are and where we can get to on the basis of generational commitment, or lack of it, to the Nigerian national project. It is the trepidation borne out of my remembrance of Wole Soyinka’s judgment of his generation as a wasted one that stimulates beaming the searchlight on mine too. Soyinka’s generation might still be around but, to all intents and purposes, the generation is technically gone; but mine is still around and kicking. But what have we done for Nigeria. I ask that question in the light of John F. Kennedy’s admonition: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” There is a philosophy behind this profound statement. One strand of it is simple: No one works for his/her endowments; we are all essentially blessed with them, and some more than others.

Second, there must be a providential reason why some specific individuals with some specific critical endowments are specifically born as Nigerians within a specific generational timeline. Add all these together:

If you are endowed and are a Nigerian, does that not essentially place a certain generational responsibility on you to be up and standing on behalf of Nigeria—the specific society that Providence has placed you in? Of course, there is no sin in translating your talents, competences and endowments into individual promotion; but then there is a moral issue involved if that is all one does.

Like all the other generations before mine, this generation constitutes a critical mass of endowments that could be deployed to the rethinking, rehabilitation and reinvention of the Nigerian nation-state. We have public intellectuals, engineers, scholars, medical doctors, provosts, professors, clergies, architects, business men and women, civil servants, military personnel, diplomats, managers, and lots more.

All these were equally present in generations past. We had the Awolowo-Bello-Azikiwe generation; there was the Soyinka-Gowon-Ojukwu generation too. There were a lot of other generations before and after.

Given the state of the Nigerian predicament and the enormous endowments that these preceding generations were blessed with, the conclusion could only be that there is a saddening proportionality missing in correlating endowments to national progress. That successive Nigerian government had to contend with the tragic and accumulated national burden of the past is a damning report on what has gone before.

Ambivalent generations

But it is so easy to pass judgment on the past. What happens to the present? Most people in my generation are in their late 40s, in their 50s and 60s. I am in my mid-50s too. And the clock has not stopped ticking—Tick tock; tick tock.

Posterity is also getting ready to pass the same judgment we eloquently passed on the past and its ambivalent generations of Nigerians who had so much but could deliver so very little. Do not get me wrong. Generational analysis of politics and development involves a complex analysis that cannot be understood in terms of white and black.

There are a lot of grey areas that one must thread very softly so as not to sin against history and political sensibilities. Take Awolowo, Bello, Azikiwe, Adebo, Akilu, Eni Njoku and Okigbo on one hand; Soyinka, Achebe, Obasanjo, T.Y. Danjuma, Saro Wiwa, Bolanle Awe, Ayida, Fawehinmi, and Ahmed Joda on the other.

These two strands combine politics, scholarship, activism and professionalism. In Awolowo alone you have politics and professionalism. Awolowo was a lawyer and a politician. Soyinka was an intellectual and an activist. Bolanle Awe, Mabogunje, Billy Dudley and Bala Usman were scholars and public servants, Tejumade Alakija, Francesca Emanuel, Joda, Asiodu were technocrats and civil servants and Gowon, Obasanjo, T.Y. Danjuma, and Ojukwu were soldiers and administrators.

What united these people and their generation is an intricate relationship with the Nigerian state that begs for a delicate interpretation. Would anyone dare say that these ones were not committed to the Nigerian cause?

That seems obvious, even if you are duly concerned about the ethnic dimension that Awolowo, Bello and Azikiwe introduced into the Nigerian polity. Or, the provincial turn that led some away from an otherwise national concern about Nigeria’s post-independence evolution.

I doubt, for instance, that Nigeria appreciated Idika Kalu, Aboyade, Alhaji A. Alhaji (Triple A) and the significance of their national development economics.

Yet, Soyinka considered his generation a wasted one. Wasted in what regard? It is definitely not in terms of individual talents and endowments. In their own right, other individuals were as great as Soyinka and Achebe in their own personal endeavours.

Activism of Soyinka

But then imagine that the activism of Soyinka has been multiplied several times into a thread of collective generational reaction against the Nigerian predicament? Imagine that the most endowed in these generations have the boldness of Soyinka and Saro Wiwa to engage Nigeria, the courage of Achebe to interrogate her, the vision of Aboyade and Mabogunje to propose alternative economics and spatial dimensions for her? Imagine we can abandon our self-centered pedestrianism and imbibe a sense of history and how our collective competences could facilitate social engineering. Unfortunately, generational capital is not working for Nigeria.

about human capital, social capital, moral capital, etc. Generational capital is equally fundamental, if not more so. The downside to deploying generational capital is that it requires a touch of patriotism, and that is in a critical short supply in Nigeria. In fact, those who deployed their talents and endowments to the Nigerian predicament that I call heroes and heroines—Billy Dudley, Bolanle Awe, Gambo Sawaba, Oladipo Akinkugbe, Umaru Shehu, Ojetunji Aboyade, Chinua Achebe, Margaret Ekpo, Bala Usman, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Pat Utomi, Odia Ofeimun, Chimamanda Adichie, Bukola Elemide ‘Asa’, Kanu Nwankwo, Hebert Ogunde, Joke Silva, Ahmed Joda, Ake, Peter Ekeh, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Taslim Elias, Ben Nwabueze, Christopher Kolade, Gani Fawehinmi, Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie, Isawa Elaigwu, etc.

Unfortunately, all these could not pull their generation behind their patriotic commitment to Nigeria in spite of grievous loss to being. In their cases, patriotism kills. Ask Aboyade, Saro-Wiwa, Ransome-Kuti, Fawehinmi, etc. I suspect that Achebe died very bitter about Nigeria. And yet, we could have made a lot of national recovery if we have paid attention to his masterly diagnosis of The Trouble with Nigeria. We did not. And our trouble remains.

Nobody wants to be patriotic in Nigeria today. It does not seem to pay any longer. But it is this patriotism that becomes the first condition for an enthusiastic deployment of generational capital. Generational deficiency is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. The first generation of Awolowo-Bello-Azikiwe failed in terms of leadership; the second failed in terms of deploying its intelligence and status to the crisis of national development. My generation is the next in line, and the jury is still out on our success or failure. I do not know whether my generation possesses the vast patriotic quotient of the first and the second generations. But I know their professional competences are unrivalled. At least, it is unrivalled just yet. But our responsibility has trebled; as accumulated and complex-ified infrastructural, institutional and value deficits.

That is to say, we carry the burden of failure of the two preceding generations. And the additional task of rejuvenating the framework and dynamics of a value-based national institutional platform for achieving a globally competitive economy that can backstop Nigeria’s democratic governance experiment. This generation is the productivity generation, and thank fate for ongoing recession; a test for our creativity and innovativeness. It is equally the infrastructure generation.

And lastly, it is on this generation that the burden of democratic consolidation rests. How far have we gone? I doubt we have gone far enough. How long do we have for any truly energetic interventions? Maximum: twenty years. It is at this critical point that posterity would be waiting for us with a sledgehammer. And we would be guilty, given that we have a lot to learn from the generational mistakes of the past, and a lot to tap from the immense opportunities of the present. Of course, the government has a lot of blame to process too. After all, it is the government and the policy space that has the responsibility to harness generational capitals. That fact, however cogent, would not absolve us.

Back to my friends. Since we are kindred spirit, restless and often grossly discomfited by disequilibrium, they will immediately grasp the logic of my discomfiture. I have no doubt how they will perform as provosts. But where are the others? It is time for my generation to come alive.

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Funding, main challenge of power sector – Eko Disco boss

Indigenous companies lack capacity for oil, gas production – PwC

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By Sebastine Obasi

INDIGENOUS oil companies in Nigeria may still have a long way to go in the exploration and production of oil and gas, if the verdict of the PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the foremost global auditing firms is anything to go by.

PwC stated that despite the Content Act passed into law in 2010, indigenous companies still lack the requisite capacity to engage fully in oil and gas exploration.

According to Kenneth Erikume, Director, Tax and Regulatory Service, PwC, the Federal Government needs to focus more on building capacity and getting the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to drive the acquisition of technical know-how requisite for the industry.

Necessary expertise

“With necessary expertise, the country would be able to create entities that could help other African countries in their oil and gas sector. This is the direction a country such as Nigeria, that started oil and gas operations in the 1950s, should be taking,” he said.

Erikume explained that the government needs to encourage investments in the petroleum industry, by providing the enabling environment and respecting some of the agreements and concessions it has with operators. “When this is sorted out, investors would be more comfortable to invest,” he said.

Erikume also called for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), so as to get investors’ confidence in the industry. .

He stated: “From the national perspective, what most investors are looking forward to is the final decision on the PIB, which has taken too much time to complete. It has implications on the fiscal quality which will impact on how much dollar an investor would be able to recover if he embarked on crude oil exploration and production.” To address the issue, he said, the National Assembly, in consultation with stakeholders, has to expunge the portion of the bill that is related to corporate governance and administration from the fiscal and commercial aspects of the bill.

 

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Federal Secretariat in darkness over N120m electricity debt

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By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief & Chris Ochayi
ABUJA—Government activities at the Federal Secretariat complex, Abuja have been grounded for nearly a week due to power outage over electricity bill in excess of N120 million

When Vanguard visited the complex, yesterday, Phase I of the complex, which is popularly known as SGF’s Building, was in darkness.

It was learned that civil servants and other public officers have abandoned their offices as a result of the blackout.

In fact, the situation is so bad that even ministers whose offices are located within the edifices now avoid their offices like plague.

The lack of electricity at the secretariat complex has negatively affected several government activities, with some either postponed or cancelled outrightly.

The affected phase provides accommodation for the Ministries of Women Affairs, Niger Delta Affairs; Labour and Productivity; part of Health as well as several other Federal Government Departments and Agencies.

Mostly affected are workers  and Ministers in the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) wing of the Secretariat, who rarely turned up for work but when they do, they quickly  left the offices due to darkness.

It was learnt that the staff of the affected MDAs only report for duty for the purposes of signing their attendance register, as no work can be done without electricity.

They were mostly at the foyers and verandas of their offices while using either reachable lamps and torchlight from their handsets, when they had to enter the offices.

A credible source at the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said the decision to disconnect the federal secretariat was taken as part of the company’s debt recovery drive.

 

 

 

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Buhari ‘cheerful, healthy’, says Saraki (Read full details)

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President Buhari receiveing Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Senate Leader Senator Ahmed Lawan on Wednesday in London

Senate President Bukola Saraki has insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari is ‘healthy’ after leading a National Assembly delegation to see Buhari.

Saraki, Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the Senate majority leader, Ahmed Lawan met with the president at the Abuja House on Wednesday.

“We were delighted to see that President Buhari is doing well, was cheerful and in good spirits. The president I saw today is healthy, witty and himself,” Saraki said in a post on his Facebook page.

Buhari had earlier in February received former governor of Lagos State and leader of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) Asiwaju Tinubu and former chairman of the party Chief Bisi Akande. The president also spoke to the US President Donald Trump.

In spite of the criticism and controversies his absence has generated, Saraki said Buhari being away from the country has not created a vacuum in the government and insisted that ‘there is no cause for alarm.’

“The president’s absence and imminent return show that there is no vacuum in government and our system of democracy is working with all organs of government fulfilling their mandate,” He said

Buhari left Nigeria in January for London to “undergo routine medical check-ups” during a short holiday and was expected to resume work on February 6. But he later extended the vacation on the advice of his doctors, his spokesman, Femi Adesina said then.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the National Assembly today, February 5, 2017, informing of his desire to extend his leave in order to complete and receive the results of a series of tests recommended by his doctors,” Adesina said in a statement.

“The President had planned to return to Abuja this (Sunday) evening but was advised to complete the test cycle before returning. The notice has since been dispatched to the Senate President, and Speaker, House of Representatives.

“Mr President expresses his sincere gratitude to Nigerians for their concern, prayers and kind wishes.”

Buhari’s current visit to London would make it the second time in less than a year he has gone there for medical treatment.

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Turkmen president wins 7-year term with nearly 98% of vote

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Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov casts his vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Ashgabad, on February 12, 2017. Citizens of Turkmenistan went to the polls on February 12, 2017 for a presidential vote expected to further tighten strongman Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's hold over the gas-rich Central Asian country. / AFP PHOTO / Igor SASIN

Turkmenistan’s reigning strongman Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov bagged a fresh seven-year term with nearly 98 percent of a weakly contested vote, electoral officials said Monday following a preliminary count.

The election commission claimed at a press conference in the capital Ashgabat a turnout of over 97 percent for the poll, in which eight other candidates viewed as token opponents for Berdymukhamedov also competed.

The former dentist and health minister took power in 2006 after the death of Turkmenistan’s first president, Saparmurat Niyazov.

Casting his vote at a school in Ashgabat on Sunday, the president said the vote would decide “the fate of the people for the coming seven years”.

“If I am elected then our policies aimed at improving the welfare of the people will continue,” Berdymukhamedov said.

Last year Berdymukhamedov signed off on constitutional changes that paved the way for his lifelong rule by removing upper age limits for presidential candidates.

Another change lengthened presidential terms from five to seven years.

Voters in Ashgabat overwhelmingly said they were backing Berdymukhamedov Sunday.

“I voted for the first time, and chose our president,” said Zokhra, an 18-year old student who was voting at her university.

“We are deciding our future,” said Zokhra, adding that she was handed one of Berdymukhamedov’s books and a bunch of flowers by officials after she cast her vote.

But a number of people in and around the capital told AFP they did not intend to vote, casting some doubt on the official turnout figure.

Sabir Rakhmanov, an Ashgabat taxi driver, said he could not participate because he is registered to vote in another region.

“I don’t think my vote would affect anything anyway,” he told AFP. “The main thing is to have regular work. That’s something I would vote for!”

One-sided votes are typical in Central Asia, a Muslim-majority ex-Soviet region politically close to Russia and China, where reigning presidents are usually expected to die in power.

Although Turkmenistan sits on the world’s fourth largest natural gas reserves, it has failed to diversify export routes and its hydrocarbon-based economy as a whole.

In recent years the country of over 5 million people has traded its traditional economic reliance on Russia for dependence on China, which buys the vast majority of its gas.

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MP3/VIDEO: Davolee – Festival Bar [Mp3, Lyrics + Video]

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The 22 years old has been building his fan base like the local rapper in Ikotun, where he was discovered on Instagram by the C.E.O of YBNL Nation, Olamide and signed to YBNL Family. The newly signed YBNL python might very well be one of your favorite new artistes.

Ikotun rap artiste Davolee has built an organic viral buzz over the past year, and now he returns with a visual for the street “ Festival Bar.” The rapper describes his style as rap story and drama, but his smooth delivery and ability, makes his lyrics speak to the street. Moe Musa directs the dark video.
@Eminidavolee

Download and enjoy below…

DOWNLOAD AUDIO

Watch video below…

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Pentagon seeks to rent space in Trump Tower…Read full details

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(FILES) This file photo taken on March 11, 2016 shows Trump Tower along 5th Avenue in Manhattan in New York. PHOTO: AFP  / GETTY IMAGES / SPENCER PLATT

The Pentagon wants to rent space in Trump Tower in New York for equipment and military personnel accompanying President Donald Trump during his stays there, it confirmed Wednesday.

First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron are still living in Trump Tower and the real estate tycoon-turned-president plans to make regular visits.

US presidents are accompanied around-the-clock by military personnel, notably those who carry the briefcase containing the nuclear codes that would enable him to launch an attack at a moment’s notice.

The Pentagon’s request for a Trump Tower foothold carries the potential for embarrassment because it plays into a running debate over potential conflicts involving Trump’s vast real estate interests.

Trump has refused to sell off his holdings upon taking office, instead of putting them in a trust managed by his two elder sons.

He also rejected putting his assets in a “blind trust” controlled by an independent manager.

“In order to meet official mission requirements, the Department of Defense is working through appropriate channels and in accordance with all applicable legal requirements in order to acquire a limited amount of leased space in Trump Tower,” Lieutenant Colonel James Brindle, a Pentagon spokesman said.

“The space is necessary for the personnel and equipment who will support the POTUS at his residence in the building,” he said.

According to Pentagon officials, the Defense Department has previously rented space near the private residences of previous presidents. But they were unable to provide details.

CNN reported that renting a full floor on Trump Tower costs about $1.5 million a year.

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BIBLE STUDY: The Power Of “Having Faith In God” (Mark 11:22-24)

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BY: —Michael Uzoma Michael—

Jesus said, “have faith in God.” The scene was Jerusalem and the time a few days before His death. In the immediate context, He had (the day before) used a fig tree with “nothing but leaves” to illustrate the barren state of Israel due to unbelief. He cursed that tree, and on the next day Peter commented on the withered tree. “So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘have faith in God’,” (Mark 11:22).

I am convinced, the next two verses in Mark eleven cannot be well understood or authentically applied – if we fail to tie them to these four simple words in verse 22: “have faith in God.” Let’s see how this works.

In the next verse the Lord said: “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says,” (Mark 11:23). Verse 23 is about the power of “faith in God.” A topic is announced in verse 22 (“faith in God”), then something is said about it in verse 23 and 24.

And it will be useful for us to keep in mind, this passage is not about faith in general; it is about “faith in God.” There are people in the world who have faith in the sense of self-confidence. There are people with faith in men (religious leaders, dead and alive).

There are people with faith in various religious systems, human creeds or philosophical methods. Mark 11:22-24 is not about generic faith; it is about “faith in God.”

We must let the Lord’s statement in verse 22 identify and limit the subject.

Verse 23 should not be taken as a blanket promise or command to change terrain. We have no record in the New Testament of an apostle, gifted Christian or believer changing terrain (moving mountains into the sea). Nor do we have any record of a camel literally passing through the eye of a needle. The language is designed to create a visual picture; as we re-create the picture in our minds – we are led to the point. In this case, the picture evokes images of great strength and power, and the point is: Peter and the other disciples would need this kind of faith (as opposed to the unbelief demonstrated by the withered tree). L.A. Stauffer says it well: “Casting mountains into the sea is not a specific objective of the will of God or Christ, but does illustrate vividly and memorably the unlimited power of God when working through men who believe and doubt not (see Jas. 1:5-8). That is all Jesus intended by this instruction”.

There is something in this picture for us to contemplate. We can face and conquer great difficulties by faith in God. The challenges we face in life often seem like huge mountains we cannot climb and cannot cross. Deeply rooted, active faith in God is our strength to confront these mountains and move them out of the way.

This same contextual approach (the connection back to verse 22) ought to be used with verse 24: “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

The only way to spin this verse into a blank check to get anything you ask for, is to ignore the context. Remember, the topic is identified in verse 22: “have faith in God.” I cannot use verse 24 for anything that would not harmonize with faith in God. Using prayer to get anything I want does not harmonize with faith in God (see James 4:3, 1 Jno. 5:14,15). Within the realm of obedient faith in God and dependence upon His will, prayer is effective and yields good results.

When I think, live and pray by faith in God, I do not wither away like the barren fig tree; I grow and produce the fruit of faith, to the glory of God. Jesus said, “have faith in God.” Do you?

“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!”

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Iranian student deported in chaos of Trump’s Muslim ban

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Demonstrators protest against President Trump's immigration ban at Chicago International Airport on January 28, 2017 (AFP Photo/Joshua LOTT)<br />

When Sara Yarjani handed her passport to an immigration officer at Los Angeles airport she was sure she’d be waved through customs, as had happened before. Instead, 23 hours later, she was deported.

The 35-year-old Iranian graduate student became one of the first victims of the chaos unleashed by President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, from entering the United States.

Yarjani, who spoke with AFP by telephone late Monday from Vienna, where she is a permanent resident, said her ordeal began shortly after her plane landed Friday evening and — unbeknownst to her — Trump’s travel ban had kicked in.

“I had been on holiday in Canada to see my sister and then went to Austria and was coming back to resume classes,” said Yarjani, a student of holistic health at the California Institute for Human Science, located north of San Diego.

“I was not expecting to be stopped,” she said. “I had previously entered the country and was treated very well … and gone through customs within minutes.”

This time she quickly realized that it would be different, as the immigration officer took her passport and ushered her to a waiting area.

Two female officers who barked orders patted Yarjani down as she stood against a wall with her arms raised. She was told to remove her shawl, her jewelry and shoe laces, and was asked to hand over any cash as well as her cell phone — all of which were later returned.

Yarjani said after nearly four hours of waiting and questioning, during which she was allowed no phone calls, an officer compelled her to sign a form agreeing to deportation on grounds, he claimed, that her student visa was no longer valid.

– ‘Leave voluntarily or forcibly’ –
“The officer told me ‘you have two option– either you comply and agree to leave voluntarily … or you will forcibly be deported and face a ban of one to five years or longer of reentry to the US’,” she said.

“The way he was saying it was very threatening and I felt I had no choice.”

Yarjani said she became aware of the mayhem caused by Trump’s order when she was allowed, shortly after midnight, a quick call to her sister to let her know she was being deported.

“I arrived in LA at 8:35 pm Friday and left at 7:30 pm the next day,” she said.

Yarjani said as she was being escorted by two armed officers for her flight back to Europe, she was able to briefly check her phone and learned that a federal judge had temporarily blocked part of Trump’s executive order.

“I told one of the officers that a judge had ruled against the ban … and that I should not be put on the plane but all she said was ‘wowza’ while ordering me to keep walking,” Yarjani said.

She said now that she was back in Austria with her parents, she was still trying to come to terms with what had happened and considering her next move.

“It’s a very confusing feeling right now because on the one hand I feel thankful I am out of their custody but on the other hand, it’s really sad and heartbreaking because I really love what I am studying,” she said, her voice breaking.

“I have worked so hard for the past year and a half and it’s been such a long journey to get there and to study something I am really passionate about.”

She said university officials have been very supportive and concerned about her fate while attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have also offered assistance.

“Being stopped from entering the country to continue my studies does not make any sense,” said Yarjani, who was due to graduate this summer.

“I was treated as if I had done something drastically wrong … and I don’t think studying something that is aimed at helping people is a crime you should be deported for.”

Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kmbAaS