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Henry Ewunonu pays tribute to Paul Gowon Jibrin, a medical doctor who gave his all As the rites of passage and funeral arrangements commence towards committing the remains of late Dr. Paul Jibrin to mother earth on the 28th of December, 2024, I have chosen to rise and wrestle with melancholy, grief, and all other forms of negative emotions to pen down my appreciation of Dr. Paul Jibrin who lived for others’ wellbeing and development. Until his death, he was a Chief Consultant Histopathologist at the National Hospital Abuja. Dr. Paul as he’s called by acquaintances came into my life in the early 1990s when he came to the University of Calabar in my Pathology year at Med-school as a young doctor. He became the toast of the students as his smile was charming, his calm words soothing as it was therapeutic. He counselled, prodded and encouraged many as he maintained that all things including passing our examinations and ultimately graduating are all possibilities. Again, after Med-school, we met at the National Hospital where he transferred his services to the Dept. of Morbid Anatomy/Histopathology. The kind disposition to and warm relationship with all were universal. He never discriminated against anyone. Age, social class, educational status, tribe and religion were mere human creations. In him was a combination of a brother, father, counsellor, mentor and pastor. He loved his profession and gave his life for it. He was never satisfied with what pathologists refer to as ‘H&E’- only diagnosis – the very primary diagnostic modality in histopathological evaluations. Dr. Jibrin regularized Immunohistochemistry and made it a routine in our practice and worked tirelessly to make the intra-operative diagnosis (frozen section) also a routine. He was restless in the last few years of his earthly existence as he forayed into the arena of molecular diagnosis in which a cancer cell is not just assigned a name and nativity but also characterized by how it behaves- what it does, feeds on, looks like and products manufactured. All these make it possible for scientists to design appropriate onco-pharmacologic armamentariums to either force them to commit suicide or have them roasted with modern treatment modalities He started engaging with collaborators, especially in Breast, Prostate and gynaecological cancers. Most times, he used his resources to augment the deficiencies in the Department to avoid disruption of services. He was always at work, even on weekends. He was one of the few ‘ogas’ in local parlance who opened the office at the beginning of a working day and locked it at the end of the day. He didn’t mind. He insisted that patients shouldn’t suffer extra anxiety or pains caused by delays in issuing histology reports. He worked tirelessly to shorten the turn-around time (TAT) so that patients commence their treatments without delays. What didn’t he do to invigorate histopathological services at the National Hospital Abuja? He would repair the broken-down mortuary freezers with his funds to be later reimbursed by Management. He would stand with the technicians during repairs. Dr. Jibrin served humanity as he would, God. He took no for an answer as he insisted that despite the prevailing gloomy circumstances in the nation, Nigeria would not scatter from his hands. He gave all. He did all. His last vision was to make the Dept. of Histopathology of the National Hospital a regional hub for Molecular Diagnosis. He worked with NICRAT, CAPTSI and other Research organisations. Some of those proposals had commenced with tissue banking/cryopreservation. At the Faculty of Pathology of the National Post Graduate of Nigeria and the International Academy of Pathology West African Division, he gave his best and served meritoriously. Arrangements for recruiting, training and retraining of personnel were also in the pipeline but death did its worst. Dr. Paul Jibrin was a man of many parts. He was a serial entrepreneur having the golden genes of enterprise from his father the great Jibrin Adama of Adokpa Enjema Ankpa in Kogi State. He was an ardent believer in the cliché “dignity in labour” and believed in the Biblical dictum of no work, no food but he showed mercy to all. He wasn’t a lazy man but taught as he practised the multiple streams of income paradigm without stealing the time of his primary employer for personal gain. He could be described as a pastor without a church building or parish as many will say. He witnessed for Christ at any and every occasion that presented itself. He invited everyone to his Church the Dunamis International Gospel Centre at any slightest opportunity. He was a counsellor per excellence. In every life experience, Dr. Jibrin had a message for everyone. He presented God in a very simple form yet professed his almightiness in every scene of life. To young people male or female, he was a strong, broad and reliable shoulder to lean upon. All who passed through our Department for an internship or NYSC posting will attest to this. He endowed many with material gifts and even followed up on the very home where such came from as he solved challenges from their very foundations. He never discriminated against anyone. To some, he was too lenient but he was a good shepherd who knew how to tend both foolish and wise flocks. To the weak, he gave strength; to the lawless, a very long rope to seeing reasons and repent, and to the visionless and lost, he provided a compass for direction. Why will such an angel then face the sudden unexpected death and not live long enough to see his children’s children as the Scripture has promised? Only God knows why. I have a consolation. It says “Good people pass away; the Godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.” Isaiah 57:1 (NLT). Paul Jibrin has been saved from the harsh realities of living in today’s Nigeria. He will no longer suffer the anxiety of the uncertainties of the economy, security and safety and hopelessness. Dr. Paul was a heavy burden bearer, problem solver, innovative solutions provider, critical thinker and ebullient motivator. He faced life and whatever it brought with equanimity. He detested laziness and called it evil. His value for the marriage institution and the pricelessness of family life was second to none. Yet, I lost him to the cold merciless hands of death. As you stand before your creator in judgement as the Holy Bible foretold, may mercy speak for you. May you benefit from that same uncommon spirit of benevolence that made you squeeze yourself to make others happy. Go well my teacher who made me his brother and friend. Dr. Paul Jibrin hearkened to the admonition of Frantz Fanon who stated that “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfil it, or betray it.” He fulfilled his mission. To Madam Mercy, Ojochenemi, Deborah, Esther, Emmanuella Obed; the entire Jibrin family and fellow mourners, our hero has answered the ultimate call. We submit to the supremacy of God in all affairs. The Oga that made me his brother and friend, Rest on! We shall meet to part no more. Dr. Ewunonu writes from AbujaPamela and Cueva would spend Christmas together: they are captured walking in TrujilloCME Group Tour Championship Scores

President-elect Donald Trump rang the opening bell Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange after being recognized for the second time by Time magazine as its person of the year. The honors for the businessman-turned-politician are a measure of Trump's remarkable comeback from an ostracized former president who refused to accept his election loss four years ago to a president-elect who won the White House decisively in November. Before he rang the opening bell at 9:30 a.m., a first for him, Trump spoke at the exchange and called it “a tremendous honor.” “Time magazine, getting this honor for the second time, I think I like it better this time actually,” he said. Trump, accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump, daughters Ivanka and Tiffany and Vice President-elect JD Vance, grinned as people chanted “USA” before he opened the trading day. He then raised his fist. In his remarks, he talked up some of the people he has named to his incoming administration, including Treasury pick Scott Bessent, and some of his announced policies, including a promise this week that the federal government will issue expedited permits, including environmental approvals, for projects and construction worth more than $1 billion. “I think we’re going to have a tremendous run. We have to straighten out some problems, some big problems in the world,” he said. Sam Jacobs, Time's editor in chief, announced on NBC's “Today” show that Trump was Time’s 2024 Person of the Year. Jacobs said Trump was someone who “for better or for worse, had the most influence on the news in 2024.” “This is someone who made an historic comeback, who reshaped the American presidency and who’s reordering American politics," Jacobs said. "It’s hard to argue with the fact that the person who’s moving into the Oval Office is the most influential person in news." In an interview with the magazine published Thursday, Trump spoke about his final campaign blitz and election win. “I called it ‘72 Days of Fury,’” Trump said. “We hit the nerve of the country. The country was angry.” Trump was on Wall Street to mark the ceremonial start of the day’s trading. The Time magazine cover featuring him was projected onto a wall at the stock exchange, flanked by American flags. Trump took the stage at the exchange flanked by family members and members of his incoming administration while his favored walk-on song, “God Bless the U.S.A.,” played. Trump was also Time's Person of the Year in 2016, when he was first elected to the White House. He was listed as a finalist for this year’s award alongside notables including Vice President Kamala Harris, X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate, the Princess of Wales. Jacobs, in making the announcement Thursday, said that “there’s always a hot debate” at the magazine over the honor, “although I have to admit that this year was an easier decision than years past.” The NYSE regularly invites celebrities and business leaders to participate in the 9:30 a.m. ceremonial opening trading. Thursday will be Trump's first time doing the honors, which have become a marker of culture and politics. Trump has long had a fascination with being on the cover of Time, where he first made an appearance in 1989. He has falsely claimed to hold the record for cover appearances, and The Washington Post reported in 2017 that Trump had a fake picture of himself on the cover of the magazine hanging in several of his golf country clubs. Earlier this year, Trump sat for interviews with the magazine for a story that ran in April. Time’s billionaire owner, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, criticized Harris for not granting the magazine an interview during her campaign with Trump. In his latest interview published Thursday, Trump reiterated that he’s going to pardon most of those convicted in riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “It’s going to start in the first hour,” he said of the pardons. “Maybe the first nine minutes.” Trump said he would not ask members of his administration to sign a loyalty pledge. “I think I will be able to, for the most part, determine who’s loyal,” he said. But he said he will fire anyone who doesn’t follow his policies. On the war in Gaza, Trump said he wants to end the conflict and that Netanyahu knows it. When Trump was asked whether he trusted Netanyahu, he told Time: “I don’t trust anybody.” The incoming president also discussed his plans for mass deportations and argued he will have the authority to use the military to assist with the effort, even though, as the magazine notes, the Posse Comitatus Act forbids the deployment of the military against civilians. “It doesn’t stop the military if it’s an invasion of our country,” he said. “I’ll only do what the law allows, but I will go up to the maximum level of what the law allows.” Trump crafted his image as a wealthy real estate developer, which he played up as the star of the TV reality show “The Apprentice” and during his presidential campaign. He won the election in part by channeling Americans' anxieties about the economy’s ability to provide for the middle class. In an interview on CNBC after he rang the bell, Trump likened the broad cuts to the federal workforce that he and his advisers have telegraphed to the TV firings he made of contestants. “We're going to be doing the same thing, I can tell you. Unfortunately, there's too many of them," Trump said. Afterward, he walked the floor of the exchange and shook hands with traders. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Josh Boak in Washington and Jill Colvin and David Bauder in New York contributed to this report.

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Police in Georgia on Saturday fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-EU protesters rallying for a ninth consecutive day against the prime minister's decision to shelve talks on joining the bloc. The Caucasus nation has been engulfed in turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party declared that it had won a disputed October 26 election. The party's critics have accused it of creeping authoritarianism and of steering the country back towards Russia. Thousands of defiant pro-EU protesters in Georgia rallied Friday after the prime minister claimed victory in a "battle" against the opposition. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets since the election to protest against alleged electoral fraud. Fresh rallies took place across the country after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced last week that Georgia would not hold talks on European Union membership until 2028. Police have fired tear gas and water cannon against pro-EU protests in Tbilisi and hundreds of arrests have been made, triggering outrage at home and mounting international condemnation. France, Germany and Poland condemned what they called the government's "disproportionate" use of force against protesters and opposition leaders in a joint statement Friday. On Saturday, riot police moved in with water cannon to disperse the rally outside the parliament building, making arrests as the crowd retreated a few metres (yards), an AFP reporter witnessed. Tear gas was later deployed and groups of protesters reportedly spread across the city, blocking traffic along the capital's key thoroughfare. Georgia's rights ombudsman, Levan Ioseliani, said police "had no legal grounds for the dispersal of peaceful rally." He called on the interior ministry "to immediately halt the dispersal of the protest, cease the detention of participants, and refrain from using special measures, ensuring that protesters can continue their demonstration peacefully." Thousands blocked the street outside parliament on Friday, with some blowing whistles and others setting off firecrackers. "People will continue the protest," said one demonstrator, 23-year-old Giorgi, wearing a Georgian flag and a back scarf pulled over his nose. "They're patient, I will be here for the rest of my life if it is necessary to save my country." Separate protests were held outside Georgia's public broadcaster -- accused of being a government propaganda tool -- as well as the education ministry and the country's tourism administration offices. Thousands have also staged anti-government rallies in the second city of Batumi on the Black Sea coast. Sign up to get our free daily email of the biggest stories! On Friday, a court in Tbilisi put a 19-year-old youth activist in pre-trial detention on charges of "organising, leading, and participating in group violence". Zviad Tsetskhladze told the judge "the rule of law has been crushed. "Our actions are a form of resistance, aimed at preserving the rule of law, defending democracy, and protecting the rights of every individual." The prime minister on Friday praised his security forces for "successfully neutralising the protesters' capacity for violence". "We have won an important battle against liberal fascism in our country," he told a news conference, using language reminiscent of how the Kremlin in Russia targets its political opponents. "But the fight is not over. Liberal fascism in Georgia must be defeated entirely," Kobakhidze said. With both sides ruling out a compromise, there appeared to be no clear route out of the crisis. The leader of the opposition Lelo party, Mamuka Khazaradze, said the government "has resorted to arresting young activists and political opponents out of fear of relentless public protests and growing civil disobedience by public servants." Masked officers have raided several opposition party offices and arrested opposition leaders earlier this week, while around 300 people have been detained at rallies. On Friday Nika Gvaramia, leader of the opposition Akhali party, was sentenced to 12 days in prison. Alexandre Elisashvili, leader of the Strong Georgia opposition group, was remanded in custody for two months of pretrial detention. More trouble is expected after December 14, when Georgian Dream lawmakers elect a loyalist to succeed pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili. She has vowed not to step down until the parliamentary polls are re-run. Local media has also reported protests across the country, including in the cities of Batumi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi, Rustavi and Telavi. Critics of Georgian Dream are enraged by what they call its betrayal of Tbilisi's bid for EU membership, enshrined in the constitution and supported by around 80 percent of the population. Several ambassadors, a deputy foreign minister, and other officials have resigned over the suspension of EU talks. Georgian Dream, in power for more than a decade, has advanced controversial legislation in recent years, targeting civil society and independent media and curbing LGBTQ rights. Brussels warned such policies were incompatible with EU membership, while domestic critics accuse the government of copying Russia's playbook. Rights ombudsman Ioseliani has accused the police of "torture" against those arrested. ub-im/rscUS President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his support for Pentagon nominee Pete Hegseth, citing the Ivy League-educated former Fox News host's "charisma" and calling him "a WINNER" even as the nomination faces headwinds in Congress amid allegations of misconduct. Login or signup to continue reading A 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran, Hegseth has vowed to continue fighting for the top Department of Defence job and spent the week meeting with senators as some key lawmakers have said they are not yet ready to support him. "Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep," Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform. "He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defence, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!" "Thank you Mr. President. Like you, we will never back down," Hegseth responded. Trump's fellow Republicans will take control of the Senate next month ahead of his January 20 inauguration. If Democrats remain united against Hegseth, he can only afford to lose support from three Republicans and still win Senate approval. Trump has weighed alternative Republican nominees, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Joni Ernst and Representative Mike Waltz, who Trump has already picked for national security adviser, sources told Reuters earlier this week. Ernst, a senior Armed Services Committee member who on Thursday said she was not yet ready to back Hegseth, posted on Friday that she planned to meet him next week. "At a minimum, we agree that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing," she wrote on X. Hegseth served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and has two Bronze Stars. But he has been criticised for lacking the management experience needed to lead 1.3 million active-duty service members and the nearly one million civilians who work for the nation's military. A California police report showed a woman filed a sexual assault complaint in 2017. Hegseth was never charged and has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer told CNN late Thursday that they may take legal action against the woman if Hegseth is not confirmed. On Wednesday, Hegseth told Sirius XM that he has "never had a drinking problem" but would nonetheless not drink alcohol if confirmed as defence secretary. Ernst, herself a combat veteran and sexual assault survivor, on Thursday said there must be a very thorough vetting process and that senators wanted "that any allegations have been cleared." Other Republicans offered tepid support. Two other Trump nominees have already ended their bids for top jobs: former Representative Matt Gaetz for US attorney general and Florida sheriff Chad Chronister for head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Australian Associated Press DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. 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AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily!11. SMU Mustangs 11-2 (8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season) What's next: at No. 6 Penn State, State College, Pa., Dec. 21, Noon ET Head coach: Rhett Lashlee (three seasons, 29-11 overall) About Lashlee: The 41-year-old is enjoying success in his first college head coaching gig and has guided the Mustangs to back-to-back 11-win seasons. He was offensive coordinator at SMU from 2018-19 before heading to Miami for two years and returning to take the head job. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year this season. Resume SMU notched ranked wins over then-No. 22 Louisville and then-No. 18 Pitt but really served notice while racking up 66 points in a win over TCU. The Mustangs lost two games by a total of six points: 34-31 to Clemson in the ACC title game and 18-15 to BYU. Postseason history This is SMU's first trip to the playoffs during the CFP era. The Mustangs have lost their past four bowl games, including two under Lashlee. The program had a memorable run in the early 1980s behind stars like Eric Dickerson and Craig James but numerous NCAA violations sank the Mustangs and they eventually served a two-year death penalty. The road to Atlanta SMU hits the road for the first-round matchup at No. 6 Penn State. The winner advances to play No. 3 Boise State (12-1) in the quarterfinals in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31. Names to Know QB Kevin Jennings He threw for 304 yards and three TDs in the ACC title game, his fourth game over 300 yards passing this season. Jennings had a strong regular season with 2,746 yards and 19 TDs in the air and four scores on the ground. He can hurt teams with his feet, proven by a 113-yard outing against Louisville. "What is new now is the amount of criticism I receive from everyone. I get a lot of comments and messages from people on social media always criticizing everything after each game," Jennings said. RB Brashard Smith Stellar runner averaging 5.9 yards per carry to go with 1,270 yards and 14 TDs on the ground. LB Kobe Wilson Stands out against both the run and the pass, leading the team in tackles (110) and adding three sacks and two interceptions. S Isaiah Nwokobia He has enjoyed an outstanding season with 91 regular-season tackles and three interceptions while patrolling the back end. He has nine career interceptions. DT Jared Harrison-Hunte A force with 6.0 sacks, one interception and 38 tackles. He's in his first season with SMU after four at Miami. He has 15 career sacks. --Field Level Media

I’ve been bullied relentlessly because my parents named me after a Game of Thrones character, I’m desperate to change it