“You have exposed yourself towards jail” – Nwoko slams Wike

 Nyesome Wike and Ned Nwoko

The Senatorial candidate for Delta North under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Ned Nwoko has slammed Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike for allegedly causing confusion in PDP since the governor lost the PDP presidential ticket and failed nomination for Vice presidential slot, saying he has exposed himself towards jail.

In a press statement, Ned Nwoko Media Directorate said it is laughable that a man of monumental corrupt tendencies and wanton profligacy like governor Wike, could so unabashedly talk when his activities connote unimaginable scam and fraudulence.

Nwoko, who had earlier called for disciplinary action against the governor, said Wike’s claim on 13 percent derivation payment to South-South region is fraudulent.

He added that the governor is trying falsely and maliciously to instigate the people against some governors in the oil producing region.

The press statement reads, “The attention of Ned Nwoko Media Directorate has been drawn to a cowardly video where the Rivers state governor, Nyesome Wike purportedly made wild insinuations against Hon. Prince Ned Nwoko.

“Characteristic of the garrulous governor, he carelessly dabbled again into the issue of the $418 million Paris Club refunds, a legitimate entitlement of Prince Ned Nwoko, whose patriotic ingenuity, as a time-honoured lawyer, secured billions of dollars in favour of local and state governments including Wike’s administration as a beneficiary.

“Wike had in illogical imprudence, chastised Ned Nwoko for laying claim to monies the international lawyer genuinely earned and approved by the Federal government following various Federal High Court, Court of appeal and Supreme Court judgements, Federal Government and presidential approvals and three separate EFCC reports supporting the payments.

“When has demands for professional fees duly sanctioned by statutory authorities and scrutinized by anti-corruption agencies like EFCC and DSS become “fraud”? We are appalled by Wike’s wicked and despicable wild goose chase.

“Ned Nwoko Media directorate asserts on the contrary, that the Rivers state governor received a whopping share of over 60 billion Naira from the Paris Club refunds to states. Thanks to the sterner stuff of Prince Ned Nwoko who took the Federal Government to Courts on behalf of the states and local governments and won, over the arbitrary deductions. 

“Like discerning members of the public, we are aware of Wike’ s primitive hoarding of illicit loots for elections, a dubious game plan that can only be contrived by a man of opaque character.

“Wike spoke of corruption among some governors. Kettle cannot call Pot black. A man with both hands stained with filthy lucre lacks moral justification to utter one word on embezzlement. To go sanctimonious is unpardonable criminality. Wike, no matter the pretence has exposed himself towards jail.

“Why cast childish attacks against Ned Nwoko, a towering personality who had consummated his career as a world class lawyer in the 1990s in London when Wike was struggling as an obscure worker in a Local Government? Who was Wike when Ned Nwoko returned to Nigeria in 1999 to win Aniocha /Oshimili Federal constituency seat and mount the green chambers of the National Assembly as distinguished member, House of Representatives?

“That he was spoon-fed to become governor through godfather syndrome in 2015 , desperately grabbing public funds to his chest, should not be a license to brag and bully. Let Wike disclose his source of wealth he now flaunts with arrogant vainglorious relish. Can he survive outside dirty politics?

“Wike postures deceptively in panic to cover his tracks on the well known serious open secret of his involvement in national economic sabotage through oil bunkering.

“If the governor’s mischievous vituperations on the Paris Club refunds are off key and unserious, his pedestrian shout on Ned Nwoko’s matrimony amounts to nothing. His false childish tantrums that the man has imaginary “20 wives” sounded like beer parlour gossip, unbelievable from the lips of a governor! How nauseating and condescending.

“Let Wike delude himself in bogus gubernatorial robe. By six months time, he would descend into a commoner, stripped of all immunity, bare from boastful manners and haughty airs. Prince Ned Nwoko, a civil fellow who has never been on the street with Wike would then compel him to answer questions about his litany of lies and corrupt misdeeds. He is poised, resolutely waiting to bring the Rivers state governor to justice very soon”

“Since Wike lost the PDP presidential ticket and failed nomination for Vice presidential slot because of his brash and unreliable temperament, he has been weeping, nagging on Television and every fora. Rather than lick his self-inflicted wounds remorsefully, he chose an inglorious path of blame game and transferred aggression.

“We hereby wish to emphasize for the avoidance of doubt that no external influence whether overtly or covertly moved Prince Ned Nwoko to challenge Wike’s excesses as the Star Prince of Anioma is a man of his own clout, unaffected and independent by nature.

“He is driven by the conviction as a pioneer and strong stakeholder in PDP, that an unhinged Wike, a latter day political noise maker and opportunist has become a power-drunk bull in a China shop who must be decisively handled, before he plots more divisive embarrassment”

“Remarkably, Prince Ned Nwoko with his matchless exposure has all it takes to humble the Port-Harcourt talkative,” the statement concluded.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 26 NOVEMBER 1950; Chinese counterattacks in Korea change nature of war

On this day in 1950, thousands of communist Chinese troops, in some of the fiercest fighting of the Korean War, launched massive counterattacks against U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) troops, driving back the Allied forces before them and putting an end to any thoughts for a quick or conclusive U.S. victory. When the counterattacks had been stemmed, U.S. and ROK forces had been driven from North Korea and the war settled into a grinding and frustrating stalemate for the next two-and-a-half years.

In the weeks prior to the Chinese attacks, ROK and U.S. forces, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, had succeeded in driving deeper into North Korea and were nearing the border with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PRC issued warnings that the Allied forces should keep their distance, and beginning in October 1950 troops from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army began to cross the border to assist their North Korean ally. Their numbers grew to around 300,000 by early November. 

Some bloody encounters occurred between the Chinese and ROK and U.S. forces, but the Chinese troops suddenly broke off offensive operations on November 6. This spurred MacArthur, who had always discounted the military effectiveness of the Chinese troops, to propose a massive new offensive by U.S. and ROK forces. 

Alternately referred to as the “End the War” or “Home by Christmas” offensive, the attack began on November 24. The offensive almost immediately encountered heavy resistance, and by November 26 the Chinese were launching destructive counterattacks along a 25-mile front. By December, U.S. and ROK forces had been pushed out of North Korea. Eventually, U.S. and ROK forces stopped the Chinese troops and the war settled into a military stalemate.

The massive Chinese attack brought an end to any thoughts that U.S. boys would be “home by Christmas.” It also raised the specter of the war expanding beyond the borders of the Korean peninsula, something U.S. policymakers—leery of becoming entangled in a land war in Asia that might escalate into a nuclear confrontation with the Soviets—were anxious to avoid.

Author:

History.com Editors

TODAY IN HISTORY: 25 NOVEMBER 1994; Nelson Mandela says AIDS threatens South Africa's future

On this day in 1994, a former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela in London, called for a new war against HIV/AIDS. He argued that AIDS is claiming more lives in Africa than the sum total of all wars, famines, floods, and other deadly diseases, such as malaria.

Speaking in London at the British Red Cross 2003 humanity lecture, the former South African president described HIV/AIDS as a "new war of global dimensions." He said: "AIDS represents a tragedy of unprecedented proportions, unfolding particularly in Africa but with incidence and effect across the globe. "It is devastating families and communities, overwhelming and depleting healthcare services, and robbing schools of both students and teachers."

He said HIV/AIDS is also undermining the fragile economies of sub-Saharan Africa. "Business has suffered losses of personnel, productivity, and profits. Economic growth is being undermined, and scarce development resources have to be diverted to deal with the consequences of the pandemic." AIDS is wiping out the developmental gains of the past decades and sabotaging the future, he told an audience of 700 people. 

Dr. Nelson Mandela also argued that the developed world must join the battle against AIDS more forcefully. "It is no less than a war—a world war that affects all of us ultimately. We are in this modern globalised world, each the keeper of our brother and sister.

The British Red Cross and Mandela's charitable organisation, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, are funding programmes to tackle HIV/AIDS in Africa. A report published by the British Red Cross in 1993, AIDS in Africa: Our Biggest Challenge Yet , revealed that at least 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV and that in some regions as many as one in four people were infected. 

The work of the British Red Cross and the Nelson Mandela Foundation focuses on reducing the stigma of HIV/AIDS, getting people to talk about the disease and discuss how to prevent infection, and providing home care for sick and dying people.  

TODAY IN HISTORY; 25 NOVEMBER 1963; U.S President John Kennedy laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery

Three days after his unfortunate assassination in Dallas, Texas, the 35th President of United States, John F. Kennedy on this day in 1963 was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. He was 46.

JFK as fondly called was shot to death while riding in an open-car motorcade with his wife and Texas Governor John Connally through the streets of downtown Dallas. Ex-Marine and communist sympathizer Lee Harvey Oswald was the alleged assassin. Kennedy was rushed to Dallas’ Parkland Hospital, where he was confirmed dead 30 minutes later.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was three cars behind President Kennedy in the motorcade, was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States less than two hours later. He took the presidential oath of office aboard Air Force One as it sat on the runway at Dallas Love Field airport. The swearing in was witnessed by some 30 people, including Jacqueline Kennedy, who was still wearing clothes stained with her husband’s blood. Seven minutes later, the presidential jet took off for Washington.

The next day, November 23, President Johnson issued his first proclamation, declaring November 25 to be a day of national mourning for the slain president. On that day, hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Washington to watch a horse-drawn caisson bear Kennedy’s body from the Capitol Rotunda to St. Matthew’s Catholic Cathedral for a requiem Mass. The solemn procession then continued on to Arlington National Cemetery, where 19 heads of state and government, including French President Charles de Gaulle, as well as representatives from 92 other nations gathered for the state funeral. Kennedy was buried with full military honors on a slope below Arlington House, where an eternal flame was lit by his widow to forever mark the grave.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 24 NOVEMBER 2003; President Obasanjo says he will surrender Charles Taylor to face trial

On this day in 2003, Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo says in an interview with foreign journalists that he will surrender ousted Liberian leader Charles Taylor to face a war crimes trial.

President Obasanjo, Taylor's host in exile, has adamantly resisted surrendering Taylor on an existing indictment by a United Nations-backed court but made it clear on Tuesday November 24, 2003 during a media chat that he would listen if Liberia itself asked.

Taylor has lived in exile in Calabar, Cross River state Nigeria since early August, 2003 when he fled, under international pressure, as rebels laid siege to his capital, Monrovia.

If Liberia’s new interim government decides it wants him to face charges there, ”then I believe he will understand sufficiently the need to go home”, Obasanjo told foreign reporters, at his farm in Ota, Ogun state Nigeria.

Asked what he would do if Taylor resisted, Obasanjo responded, ”I would persuade him.”

Liberia’s government has not specifically said it wanted Taylor for trial. Interim leader Gyude Bryant, appointed under an August 18 peace deal, has said he fears war-crimes trials would harm reconciliation in the country.

Taylor, a former rebel, launched Liberia into 14 years of conflict in 1989, when he led an initially small insurgency to overthrow the government.

The UN indictment accuses Taylor of backing rebels in a vicious 10-year terror campaign in neighbouring Sierra Leone. The administration of United States President George Bush has disavowed moves by the US Congress to place rewards for Taylor’s surrender to the UN court.

TODAY IN HISTORY 24 NOVEMBER 1999; Hundreds kill in the Yellow Sea ferry sink

On this day in 1999, disaster occurred when a ferry sinks in the Yellow Sea off the coast of China, killing hundreds of people. The ship had caught fire while in the midst of a storm and nearly everyone on board perished, including the captain.

The Dashun, a 9,000-ton vessel, was transporting passengers from the port city of Yantai in China’s Shandong province to Dalian, near Korea, on November 24. It was snowing and windy when the ship, carrying approximately 300 passengers and 40 crew members, left Yantai. Just a short way into the journey, a fire broke out on board. Although the exact cause is unknown, many believe that the gas tank on a vehicle the ship was carrying may have ruptured.

The fire forced the passengers to the lifeboats. A distress signal was sent out at 4:30 p.m (apparently officials already knew about the problems on board because a passenger had called for help on a cell phone), but the stormy weather delayed rescue efforts until the next morning. Reportedly, Ma Shuchi, a crew member, swam six miles to safety, though many others died after jumping into the freezing water. Even most of those who made it to the lifeboats ended up freezing to death as they waited for rescue ships. By the time rescuers appeared, most could only try to retrieve the bodies from the sea. Only 36 people survived. The fire on the Dashun was not put out until the evening of November 25; the ship then drifted toward shore before sinking about a mile off the coast.

This was the second disaster of November 1999 for the Yantai Car Ferry Company; another ship, the Shenlu, had sunk off the coast of Dalian just weeks earlier. Four officers of the company, including the general manager, were later brought to trial in China.

The capsizing of the Dashun was the worst maritime accident in China since 133 people had died in a ferry collision on the Yangtze River in 1994.

Author:

History.com Editors

TODAY IN HISTORY: 23 NOVEMBER 2011; President Jonathan fires EFCC boss, Farida Waziri

On Wednesday 23 November 2011, Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan unexpectedly sacks Mrs. Farida Waziri as the executive Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and appointed Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde who was the Commission's director of Operation, as an acting-Chairman of the anti-graft agency.

Sources said the curiosity of President Goodluck Jonathan was “aroused” sometime in 2010 when he learnt that Waziri had bought a car as gift for a top Presidency official in a desperate bid to retain her position as Nigeria's anti-graft Czar.

The official in question was said to have alerted the president, who then put Waziri under watch following some other unfavorable reports on her relationship with political exposed persons (PEPs).

Mrs. Waziri was reportedly complaining when she received the news of her sack that President does not have constitutional power to remove her from office, although it was gathered  that Jonathan has relied on Section 3 (2) of the EFCC Act 2004 which states:

“A member of the Commission may at any time be removed by the President for inability to discharge the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or any other cause) or for misconduct or if the President is satisfied that it is not in the interest of the Commission or the interest of the public that the member should continue in office.”

A government official said that there were “too many damning reports against Mrs. Waziri, both locally and internationally. A recurring allegation against Waziri during her tenure was that she was “too comfortable” with politicians.

“In times past, she wrote controversial letters to British authorities to clear accused persons. In some instances, the accused persons were believed to have drafted the letters by themselves,” another government official said, attributing her removal to “a cocktail of misdeeds”.

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had said during a visit to Nigeria in 2009 that “EFCC has fallen off” under Waziri’s watch and this had created credibility problems for the commission among donor countries.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 23 NOVEMBER 1979; IRA bombmaker Thomas McMahon sentenced for Mountbatten’s assassination

On this day in 1979, 31-year old Thomas McMahon, a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), bagged life imprisonment for preparing and planting the bomb that killed Lord Louis Mountbatten and three others three months before.

On August 27, 1979, Louis Mountbatten was killed when McMahon and other IRA terrorists detonated a 50-pound bomb hidden on his fishing vessel Shadow V. Mountbatten, a World War II hero, elder statesman and second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was spending the day with his family in Donegal Bay off Ireland’s northwest coast when the bomb exploded. Three others were killed in the attack, including Mountbatten’s 14-year-old grandson, Nicholas. Later that day, an IRA bombing attack on land killed 18 British paratroopers in County Down, Northern Ireland.

The assassination of Mountbatten was the first blow struck against the British royal family by the IRA during its long terrorist campaign to drive the British out of Northern Ireland and unite it with the Republic of Ireland to the south. The attack hardened the hearts of many Britons against the IRA and convinced Margaret Thatcher’s government to take a hard-line stance against the terrorist organization.

The IRA immediately claimed responsibility for the Mountbatten attack, saying it detonated the bomb by remote control from the coast. It also took responsibility for the same-day bombing attack against British troops in County Down, which claimed 18 lives.

IRA member Thomas McMahon was later arrested and convicted for his role in the Mountbatten bombing. A near-legend in the IRA, he was a leader of the IRA’s notorious South Armagh Brigade, which killed more than 100 British soldiers. He was one of the first IRA members to be sent to Libya to study detonators and timing devices and was an expert in explosives. Authorities believe the Mountbatten assassination was the work of many people, but McMahon was the only individual convicted. Sentenced to life in prison, he was released in 1998, along with other IRA and Unionist terrorists, under a controversial provision of the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland’s peace deal. McMahon claimed he had turned his back on the IRA and was becoming a carpenter.

TODAY IN HISTORY; 08 NOVEMBER 1994, Republican Party wins U.S. two Legislative houses

On this day in 1994, the Republican Party wins control of both the U.S. House of Commons and the House of Lords, in midterm congressional elections, for the first time in 40 years. Led by Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who subsequently replaced Democrat Tom Foley of Washington as speaker of the House, the empowered GOP united under the “Contract with America,” a 10-point legislative plan to reduce federal taxes and dismantle social welfare programs established during six decades of mostly Democratic rule in Congress.

Gingrich’s House of Representatives, home to the majority of the Republican freshmen, led the “Republican Revolution” by passing every bill incorporated in the Contract with America–with the exception of a term-limits constitutional amendment—within the first 100 days of the 104th Congress. 

TODAY IN HISTORY; 08 NOVEMBER 2018, Nigerian information minister says government spends N3.5 million monthly to feed El-Zakzaky

Alhaji Lai Mohammed

On this day in 2018, Nigerian information minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in a leaked video, claimed that the federal government spends N3.5 million monthly to feed Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, a Shiite cleric who has been detained for over two years.

Lai Mohammed’s statement on the Shiite leader was believed to have been made while addressing journalists on same day the Kaduna court denied Mr El-Zakzaky bail.

It was gathered that the minister did make the claim but had told journalists he was speaking off the record. The video, however, still made its way to the public and gone viral, drawing wide criticisms of the minister.

The information minister was at that point interjected by the transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi, who jokingly mocked the figures saying “then you people need to take me in o.”

Mr Mohammed, then defended the figure he announced, saying “Honestly, don’t quote me, but these are the facts.” At this point Mr Amaechi joked further that he “can take N500,000” monthly to be held in prison by the government.

At N3.5 million monthly, it would mean the government claims it spends about N115,000 daily to feed the forced prisoner. The minister’s claims of N3.5 million monthly also came at a time the government is finding it difficult to pay a monthly minimum wage of N30,000 to workers.

Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the Shiite IMN movement has been detained since December 2015 after soldiers clamped down on his supporters killing at least 347 of them. The army accused them of blocking a public road being used then by the army chief, Tukur Buratai.

The massacre was condemned by local and international rights groups and investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Although no soldier was being tried or prosecuted for the killings, Mr El-Zakzaky was detained by the government since the December 2015 incident. The government also ignored a court ruling that ordered that he be released and paid compensation alongside his detained wife, Zinat.

Mr El-Zakzaky was initially held for about two years alongside his wife, Zinat, without trial. After much public outcry, he was charged before a Kaduna court for alleged conspiracy and abating culpable homicide.

TODAY IN HISTORY; 07 NOVEMBER 1996, Prof. Wole Soyinka's book ‘The Open Sore of a Continent' is published

Prof. Wole Soyinka

On this day in 1996, the literary giant and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who at the time divided his exile between London and Cambridge, published his book titled, The Open Sore of a Continent. Soyinka has been an eloquent voice of protest against authoritarianism and kleptocracy in Nigeria.

In the book, Prof. Soyinka collected previous lectures in which he described Nigeria's predicament, condemned the country's illegitimate leaders and mused about questions of nationalism and international intervention. For those who are not familiar with Nigerian history especially under the military juntas, Prof. Soyinka’s Open Sore of a Continent has some rough patches. Soyinka who is also a journalist, doesn't always contextualize his comments. Yet, his condemnation of despotism and his called for international sanctions remain a challenge to the world community. The Nobel laureate opened and closed the book with the story of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a leader of the Ogoni minority, who was executed on November 10, 1995 by Nigerian military ruler, General Sani Abacha. The gruesome execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa made world headlines and this signaled to Soyinka both the beginning of ethnic cleansing and the disintegration of the state.

Prof. Soyinka also recognised his homeland's flawed origin but suggested that its politico-military elite, not its people, have squandered Nigeria's nationhood by annulling the June 12 election and curbing dissent. He also regretted that the promise of pan-Africanism has dwindled to local salvage efforts. He concluded by proposing--without specifying who should do so--that ""a structured pattern of regional conferences"" be initiated to stave off future Yugoslavias and Rwandas.

TODAY IN HISTORY; 07 NOVEMBER 1989, Two African American democrats elected into office

David Dinkins

On Saturday 7th of November 1989, history was made in the United States of America as two African American Democrats were elected into offices in New York and Virginia respectively. While the former Manhattan borough president David Dinkins, was elected New York City’s first African American mayor, Lieutenant Governor Douglas Wilder, became the first elected African American state governor in American history.

Although Wilder was the first African American to be popularly elected to the governor’s post, he was not the first African American to hold that office. That distinction goes to Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, a Reconstruction-era lieutenant general of Louisiana who became Louisiana state governor in December 1872. Pinchback served as acting governor for five weeks while impeachment proceedings were in progress against Governor Henry Clay Warmoth.

Douglas Wilder

Wilder served as Virginia governor until 1993, whereupon he was forced to step down because Virginia law prohibits governors from serving two terms in succession. In 1993, Dinkins was defeated in his bid to win a second mayoral term by Republican challenger Rudolph Giuliani.

TODAY IN HISTORY; 05 NOVEMBER 2009, A 39-year old army major kills 13 in Fort Hood shooting

On this dag in 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others. It was the deadliest mass shooting on an American military base.

Early in the afternoon of November 5, 39-year-old Hasan, armed with a semi-automatic pistol, shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is great”) and then opened fire at a crowd inside a Fort Hood processing center where soldiers who were about to be deployed overseas or were returning from deployment received medical screenings. The massacre, which left 12 service members and one Department of Defense employee dead, lasted approximately 10 minutes before Hasan was shot by civilian police and taken into custody.

The Virginia-born Hasan, the son of Palestinian immigrants who ran a Roanoke restaurant and convenience store, graduated from Virginia Tech University and completed his psychiatry training at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2003. He went on to work at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., treating soldiers returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder. In May 2009, he was promoted to the rank of major in the Army, and that July, was transferred to Fort Hood. Located near the city of Killeen, Fort Hood, which includes 340 square miles of facilities and homes, is the largest active-duty U.S. military post. At the time of the shootings, more than 50,000 military personnel lived and worked there, along with thousands more family members and civilian personnel.

In the aftermath of the massacre, reviews by the Pentagon and a U.S. Senate panel found Hasan’s superiors had continued to promote him despite the fact that concerns had been raised over his behavior, which suggested he had become a radical and potentially violent Islamic extremist. Among other things, Hasan stated publicly that America’s war on terrorism was really a war against Islam.

In 2013, Hasan, who was left paralyzed from the waist down as a result of shots fired at him by police attempting to stop his rampage, was tried in military court, where he acted as his own attorney. During his opening statement, he admitted he was the shooter. (Hasan had previously told a judge that in an effort to protect Muslims and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, he had gunned down the soldiers at Fort Hood who were being deployed to that nation.) For the rest of the trial, Hasan called no witnesses, presented scant evidence and made no closing argument. On August 23, 2013, a jury found Hasan guilty of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder, and he later was sentenced to death for his crimes.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 04 NOVEMBER 2008, Same-sex marriage is banned as proposition 8 passed in California

On this day in 2008, with over 13 million votes cast, California voters approve Proposition 8 amending the state’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Earlier, in May 2008, the California Supreme Court had deemed the state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, making California the second state in the country to legalize gay marriage. Thus, Proposition 8 reversed the state court’s ruling.

Proposition 8, which “provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California,” passed 52% to 48%, by a margin of about 600,000 votes. The proposition was opposed by a broad coalition including major corporations such as PG&E and Apple; a litany of civil rights, social justice and community-based organizations; a dozen unions; both sitting U.S. Senators, 16 congressional representatives and the sitting governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger; and seven mayors. Californian voters received robocalls from former president Bill Clinton asking them to vote no on the measure, while actors from the television show “Ugly Betty” argued in Spanish-language TV spots that voting no “is not about being gay or straight,” but “about being American.”

The Protect Marriage campaign supporting Proposition 8 constantly invoked the “far-reaching consequences” of legal gay marriage, particularly the implication that school curriculums would be required to teach that gay marriage is “the same as traditional marriage.” Pollster David Fleischer, in his analysis of the election results, found that the greatest shift toward “Yes” among undecided voters was “among parents with children under 18 living at home—many of them white Democrats,” who feared the effects of legal gay marriage on their children’s public education. Evangelicals and Republicans formed the core of Proposition 8’s support.

California's ban on same-sex marriage was soon overturned through the courts: While Proposition 8 would be upheld by the California Supreme Court the next year, in 2010 a U.S. District Court judge ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional, with their decision stayed on appeal. The District Court’s ruling was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal in 2013, allowing for same-sex marriages to resume in California.

In 2015, same-sex marriage was made legal nationwide in the landmark Supreme Court civil rights case Obergefell v. Hodges.

Author;

History.com Editors

TODAY IN HISTORY: 22 OCTOBER 2012; Cyclist Lance Armstrong is stripped of his seven Tour de France titles

On this day in 2012, Lance Armstrong is formally stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999 to 2005 and banned for life from competitive cycling after being charged with systematically using illicit performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions as well as demanding that some of his Tour teammates dope in order to help him win races. It was a dramatic fall from grace for the onetime global cycling icon, who inspired millions of people after surviving cancer then going on to become one of the most dominant riders in the history of the grueling French race, which attracts the planet’s top cyclists.

Born in Texas in 1971, Armstrong became a professional cyclist in 1992 and by 1996 was the number-one ranked rider in the world. However, in October 1996 he was diagnosed with Stage 3 testicular cancer, which had spread to his lungs, brain and abdomen. After undergoing surgery and chemotherapy, Armstrong resumed training in early 1997 and in October of that year joined the U.S. Postal Service cycling team. Also in 1997, he established a cancer awareness foundation. The organization would famously raise millions of dollars through a sales campaign, launched in 2004, of yellow Livestrong wristbands.

In July 1999, to the amazement of the cycling world and less than three years after his cancer diagnosis, Armstrong won his first Tour de France. He was only the second American ever to triumph in the legendary, three-week race, established in 1903. (The first American to do so was Greg LeMond, who won in 1986, 1989 and 1990.) Armstrong went on to win the Tour again in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. In 2004, he became the first person ever to claim six Tour titles, and on July 24, 2005, Armstrong won his seventh straight title and retired from pro cycling. He made a comeback to the sport in 2009, finishing third in that year’s Tour and 23rd in the 2010 Tour, before retiring for good in 2011 at age 39.

Throughout his career, Armstrong, like many other top cyclists of his era, was dogged by accusations of performance-boosting drug use, but he repeatedly and vigorously denied all allegations against him and claimed to have passed hundreds of drug tests. In June 2012, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), following a two-year investigation, charged the cycling superstar with engaging in doping violations from at least August 1998, and with participating in a conspiracy to cover up his misconduct. After losing a federal appeal to have the USADA charges against him dropped, Armstrong announced on August 23 that he would stop fighting them. However, calling the USADA probe an “unconstitutional witch hunt,” he continued to insist he hadn’t done anything wrong and said the reason for his decision to no longer challenge the allegations was the toll the investigation had taken on him, his family and his cancer foundation. The next day, USADA announced Armstrong had been banned for life from competitive cycling and disqualified of all competitive results from August 1, 1998, through the present.

On October 10, 2012, USADA released hundreds of pages of evidence—including sworn testimony from 11 of Armstrong’s former teammates, as well as emails, financial documents and lab test results—that the anti-doping agency said demonstrated Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service team had been involved in the most sophisticated and successful doping program in the history of cycling. A week after the USADA report was made public, Armstrong stepped down as chairman of his cancer foundation and was dumped by a number of his sponsors, including Nike, Trek and Anheuser-Busch.On October 22, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the cycling’s world governing body, announced that it accepted the findings of the USADA investigation and officially was erasing Armstrong’s name from the Tour de France record books and upholding his lifetime ban from the sport. In a press conference that day, the UCI president stated: “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling, and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling.”

After years of denials, Armstrong finally admitted publicly, in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired on January 17, 2013, he had doped for much of his cycling career, beginning in the mid-1990s through his final Tour de France victory in 2005. He admitted to using a performance-enhancing drug regimen that included testosterone, human growth hormone, the blood booster EPO and cortisone.

Author:

History.com Editors

TODAY IN HISTORY: 21 OCTOBER 1966; UK's worst mining accident kills 144 in Welsh

On the morning of October 21, 1966, a landslide of coal waste crashes into a small Welsh mining village, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The accident left just five survivors and wiped out half of the town’s youth. The Aberfan disaster became one of the UK’s worst coal mining accidents.

The landslide sent 140,000 cubic yards of coal waste in a tidal wave 40-feet high hurtling down the mountainside where Merthyr Vale Colliery stood, destroying farmhouses, cottages, houses and part of the neighboring County Secondary School. The avalanche is thought to have been the result of shoddy construction and a build-up of water in one of the colliery’s spoil tips—piles of waste material removed during mining.

Wales was known for coal mining during the Industrial Revolution. Aberfan's colliery opened in 1869 and ran out of space for waste on the mountain valley floor by 1916. It then started tipping on the mountainside above the village and in 1966 amassed seven tips containing 2.7m cubic yards of colliery spoil.

Years before the incident, Aberfan's town council contacted the National Coal Board to express concerns over the spoil tips following a non-lethal accident on the colliery. No action was taken to address the issue at the time. The tip that fell on October 21 covered material that previously slipped.

The disaster garnered widespread national attention. Queen Elizabeth II did not visit the site until eight days after the accident; she later admitted that not going sooner is one of her biggest regrets.

The Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act was passed in 1969 to add provisions when using mining tips, among other things. 

TODAY IN HISTORY: 21 OCTOBER 2020; Unrest continues in Lagos despite curfew following Endsars shooting

Following the Tuesday October 20 shooting of Endsars protesters at Lekki toll-gate area of Lagos by the uniformed men, protests and unrest continued across multiple areas of Lagos on Wednesday, October 21, despite the 24-hour curfew declared in the city by the governor of the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The protesters went on rampage, setting on fire the headquarters of Television Continental, TVC, Lagos Concession Company, LCC, at Lekki, The Nation Newspaper, Lagos BRT Terminus at Oyingbo, corporate head office of Nigerian Pots Authority, NPA, and palace of the Oba of Lagos, HRH Rilwan Akiolu II, among others.

Violence also swept through the South-East and parts of the South-South, as protesters defied the curfew in such states as Imo, Ondo, and Abia, killing and destroying properties.

It also forced Enugu and Ebonyi state governments to impose 24-hour curfew. Although there is no curfew in Rivers, two policemen were killed there.

These developments came, as Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, condemned in very strong terms the killing of defenceless protesters at the Lekki Toll gate in Lagos.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was attempted to calm tensions in the city following the shootings in Lekki on Tuesday night and appealed for calm. However, the governor also announced that the 24-hour curfew had been extended by 72 hours until at least Saturday, October 24.

TODAY IN HISTORY: 19 OCTOBER, 1986; Mozambique President, Samora Machel dies in a plane crash

On this day in 19 1986, the Mozambique first executive President, Samora Machel and thirty-three other passengers, died when their Tupolev 134 plane crashed into the Lebombo Mountains, South Africa, after allegedly following a false beacon. 

Machel was a prominent leader of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) and he led the Mozambican people in their fight for independence from Portugal. In 1975 they were victorious and he was elected as Mozambique's first president. At the time of his death, Machel had been in power for 11 years. 

On the day of the crash he was returning from an African leaders’ summit in Zambia. His death sent shockwaves throughout Southern Africa and the entire world. The crash remains a mystery; with some blaming it on bad weather and others believing that the South African authorities were to blame. A day before Machel’s death, Carlos Cardosa, Director of the Mozambican News Agency, received an anonymous message informing him that Machel had died.

TODAY IN HISTORY 19 OCTOBER, 1985; First Blockbuster store opens in Texas

On October 19, 1985, the first Blockbuster video-rental store opens, in Dallas, Texas. At a time when most video stores were small-scale operations featuring a limited selection of titles, Blockbuster opened with some 8,000 tapes displayed on shelves around the store and a computerized check-out process. The first store was a success and Blockbuster expanded rapidly, eventually becoming one of the world’s largest providers of in-home movies and game entertainment, before eventually filing for bankruptcy in 2010.

Blockbuster was founded by David Cook, who had previously owned a business that provided computer software services to the oil and gas industry in Texas. Cook saw the potential in the video-rental business and after opening the first Blockbuster in 1985, he added three more stores the following year. In 1987, he sold part of the business to a group of investors that included Wayne Huizenga, founder of Waste Management, Inc., the world’s biggest garbage disposal company. Later that year, Cook left Blockbuster and Huizenga assumed control of the company and moved its headquarters to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Under Huizenga’s leadership, Blockbuster embarked on an aggressive expansion plan, snapping up existing video store chains and opening scores of new stores. By 1988, Blockbuster was America’s leading video chain, with some 400 stores. By the early 1990s, Blockbuster had launched its 1,000th store and expanded into the overseas market.

In 1994, Blockbuster was acquired by the media giant Viacom Inc., whose brands include MTV and Nickelodeon. In the mid-1990s, the digital video disc (DVD) made its debut and in 1997, Netflix, an online DVD rental service, was founded. Around that same time, the e-commerce giant Amazon.com launched a video and DVD store. Blockbuster faced additional competition from the rise of pay-per-view and on-demand movie services, through which viewers could pay for and watch movies instantly in their own homes. In 2004, Blockbuster split off from Viacom. That same year, Blockbuster launched an online DVD rental service to compete with Netflix. The venture was not successful. On September 23, 2010, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. By 2014, the last of the company-owned stores had closed. 

Author:

History.com Editors

TODAY IN HISTORY: 19 OCTOBER, 1991; Oakland hills fire destroys $1.5 billion worth properties, 25 killed

The Oakland firestorm of this day in 1991 was a large suburban wildland–urban interface conflagration that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California, and southeastern Berkeley. The fire went on to burn thousands of homes and kill 25 people. 

Despite the fact that fires had ravaged the same area three times in 1922, 1970 and 1980, people continued to build homes there. Each time, the fires occurred during autumn in a year with relatively little precipitation, and, each time, the residents rebuilt and moved back in as soon as possible. 

The deadly 1991 fire can be traced to a small fire at 7151 Buckingham Boulevard on October 19. Firefighters responded quickly and thought they had brought the blaze under control. However, heat from the fire had caused pine needles to fall from the trees and cover the ground.

When highly flammable debris, also known as “duff,” accumulates on the ground, fires can smolder unseen. At 10:45 a.m. on October 20, strong winds blew one of these unseen fires up a hillside; changing wind patterns then caused it to spread in different directions.

The winds were so intense and the area was so dry that within an hour close to 800 buildings were on fire. The wind then blew southwest, pushing the fire toward San Francisco Bay. In some places, the temperature reached 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, making it virtually impossible to fight the fire effectively. Homeowners attempted to hose down their roofs, but were often thwarted when water pipes burst from the fire. Also, many homes had wooden shingle roofs that were particularly susceptible to fire. It took only 10 minutes in some cases for a house to be brought down by the flames.

Firefighting efforts were constrained by the fact that the affected homes were located on steep hills with very narrow streets. This made it difficult to maintain radio communications and to move large fire engines close to the flames. The fire spread so rapidly that firefighters were unable to establish a perimeter. When the fire was finally contained the following day, 25 people had lost their lives, 150 people were injured and 3,000 homes and 1,500 acres had been consumed. The total tally of damages was $1.5 billion.

In the aftermath, authorities attempted to reduce the likelihood of a similar fire breaking out the in the future. Laws were changed regarding the maximum height of trees permitted and the type of vegetation that was allowable in the area. In addition, most homes that have been rebuilt do not have wooden roofs.