Actor Desmond Elliot to contest for Lagos House of Assembly

This is a LIB exclusive. Actor and movie producer Desmond Elliot is contesting for Lagos State House of Assembly in 2015 under the APC. Some of you may not know this, but Desmond is from Lagos state. See what he plans to do when elected into office after the cut...

Making History: 9/11 Museum Exhibit Designer Ricardo Mulero

NEW YORK, NY -- Like many New Yorkers, Ricardo Mulero has a September 11th story. He was getting off the subway at Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan on his way to work, when he stopped to see what a crowd of people were looking at. Just seconds before, United Airlines Flight 175 had crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Thirteen years later, Mulero has a different perspective on that tragic day, one that has earned him a historic- and prestigious role. Mulero led the team that created the National September 11 Memorial & Museum exhibition, which opened last May. In this capacity, Mulero and his team at Thinc Design worked with the museum team, architects and engineers to help plan the museum’s structure as well as the presentation of the many artifacts remaining from that tragic day.

Courtesy of Ricardo Mulero

Inside the National September 11 Memorial Museum exhibit, whose design team was led by Ricardo Mulero.

“Unlike any other history project that I have worked on, it was something that I had been part of,” Mulero told NBC News. “That became kind of interesting.”

Having previously worked on exhibitions at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Freedom Park in Pretoria, South Africa, Mulero was in a prime position to take charge of this monumental project. Still, the Puerto Rican designer, who also studied architecture and preservation, faced major challenges, not the least of which was the fact that the museum itself is quite massive, at around 125,000 square feet.

“We analyzed the space and instead of looking at the obstacles, we tried to look at what were the opportunities here,” Mulero said.

Many of the artifacts included in the exhibition are quite large, such as the remains of the World Trade Center’s large steel frames and a damaged fire truck recovered from the site. Displaying these was not only a feat of design but of engineering as well.

Like in all museums, the artifacts had to be mounted, but mounting large metal structures isn’t so easy. Mulero’s team had to figure out ways to preserve the visual integrity of the artifacts, so that they were differentiated from the engineered mounts. To do this, they painted the mounts gray so that they were less noticeable.

Courtesy of Ricardo Mulero

The "Survivors Stairs" display at the National 9/11 Museum and Memorial Exhibition. Mulero led the exhibition's design team.

The site of the museum itself was also on display, Mulero explained, providing the design team with the chance to contain the exhibits within the archaeology of the former WTC site. Mulero said the design team' ultimately favored an "austere approach" to the exhibition, making the site an artifact itself.

“We maintained that because we felt it evoked the absence of something monumental that was no longer there,” Mulero said. “It was almost like designing an exhibition that was invisible in a way, because the objects are so powerful in themselves that they evoke devastation and monumentality."

Beyond the technical hurdles of designing this museum, there was the emotional element. People around the world had seen the devastating events unfold, either in person or on television.

Added to that, Mulero had to determine ways to reconcile the tragedy in New York with the 9/11 events at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Given the museum’s national scope, Mulero said that no choice in the museum could be made arbitrarily.“Everything has a powerful message or significant story. Everything has a purpose in this museum,” said the Latino designer.

Luis Carle

Puerto Rican architect, designer and preservationist Ricardo Mulero.

While his own memories of that day remain etched in his mind, designing the museum’s exhibition has given him new perspective on what the moment in history symbolizes. Having spent over four years working with materials from that day, Mulero said he can now begin to see why many victims’ families wanted so badly for the museum to be built.

He hopes his imprint at the museum can inspire others to prevent similar atrocities from happening again.

“For future generations, I hope that they can use such an event as a positive message to better the world and use [the museum] as a resource,” Mulero said.

 

Judge finds Oscar Pistorius not guilty of murder

Judge Masipa has read much of her judgement and she's just found Oscar Pistorius not guilty of murder. The judge said there were not enough facts to prove the most serious charge of pre-meditated murder. She said the case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence and dismissed the witness testimony. She said the witnesses were unreliable as most of what they said weren't accurate. She said even if Oscar was evasive with some facts, it doesn't mean he's guilty of murder. She explained that Oscar's reaction after killing Reeva shows he didn't have criminal intent, hadn't foreseen he'd killed her. She also said evidence did not support the state's claim of second degree murder.

"The state has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder. There are just not enough facts to support such a finding'- she said.

While he's not guilty of premeditated murder, he awaits to find out if he's guilty of culpable homicide (manslaughter) which is the negligent death of another. It means there was no intention to kill but the killing is unlawful. The court has adjourned for early lunch.

Reno Omokri says Doyin Okupe didn't start the #bringbackjonathan hashtag

Reno Omokri took to twitter to defend his colleague, Doyin Okupe, who many have criticized for tweeting the offensive hashtag on August 22nd. Well, if he didn't start it, why join the bandwagon?

 

Boko Haram Allegedly Agree To Swap 30 Chibok Girls For 18 Commanders

Some disagreements appeared last night however as the Nigerian authorities wanted Boko Haram to release all the 219 girls missing for almost 5 months, while the latter agreed to free only 30.
It has been gathered from the sources that the group directed a list of its commanders and the names of students to be swapped to the Civil Rights Congress President, Comrade Shehu Sani.
The emergence of swap possibility is believed to have appeared after there were held secret talks between a government delegation and a Boko Haram commander identified as Umar, who is being detained in Kuje Prison in Abuja.
The source was quoted saying:
“Some top officials met with Umar about two weeks ago in Kuje Prison to discuss issues connected to the fate of the Chibok girls. We heard some inmates sharing this information that the sect might swap the girls with Umar and others. But all the details are still secret because Umar keeps to himself a lot.”

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau

Another source claimed the negotiations had been successful adding that the sides had agreed on the deal.
“The delegation had a fruitful negotiation with Umar, who is one of the highly-rated commanders of Boko Haram. The group assured Umar of a swap and he has been looking forward to it. The sect has given a list of 18 of its members to be swapped with the abducted Chibok girls.”
Some security operatives have allegedly warned the government that the release of 30 girls was a dangerous move when there was “no full assurance that all the girls will be released”.
One of the sources said:
“So, technically, the release of 30 girls was unacceptable to the government based on the advice of some security agents.”
However another source added:
“You can see why Nigerians should stop blaming Boko Haram from continuously keeping these girls in captivity. What is of concern now is to get even these 30 girls out to prove to the whole world that they are alive.”
Sani when contacted refused to provide any comment on the issue last night.
It would be recalled that Sani, who has experience of direct negotiations with Boko Haram, shortly after the abduction predicted that the insurgents might use the girls as means of releasing their comrades-prisoners rather than kill the hostages.
Soon the militants’ leader Abubakar Shekau released the video showing the students and provided the option to swap the girls for Boko Haram prisoners.
Sani was among those who urged the authorities to accept the deal.
The “swap” saga was surrounded by numerous controversies, with some sources saying that the government made a U-turn when the deal was close to being secured and other sources insisted that the deal was stopped by the insurgents.
More than 200 female students were abducted on April 14. Despite the interference on international powers, human rights activists, military forces and social campaigners, the majority of the girls are still missing.

PDP Made Ribadu A Laughing Stock - Kwankwaso

Governor Rabi’u Kwanwaso of Kano State said the former EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu has been made a laughing stock by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) who dropped him from the Adamawa gubernatorial race.

Gov. Kwankwaso

The governor stated this yesterday, September 10, at the Government House in Kano while receiving merit awards from two NGOs namely, APC Kwankwasiyya Amana, Bauchi state chapter and Nigeria 774 Kwankwasiyya Merger: Kwankwaso for President, Leadership reports.
Ribadu who recently defected from the APC and seven other governorship aspirants stepped down last week from the race for the gubernatorial ticket, under the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

Nuhu Ribadu

Kwankwaso said: “After he left the APC for the PDP, his new party did not find him worthy of its gubernatorial ticket. I am sure the PDP stakeholders in Adamawa are now laughing at him. We sympathise with him”.
According to him, the Adamawa state PDP chose a candidate whom most of their supporters see as incompetent, while pointing out that APC had come up with a credible candidate in person of Senator Muhammad Jibrila Bindaw who can rule the state.
Read Also: Another PDP Bigwig Joins Adamawa Guber Race
He therefore appealed to the people to think wisely in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state, dump the PDP which caused hardship within the 5-years they’ve been in power and vote for the APC which is ready to bring about positive and realistic changes in the whole country.
The Adamawa governorship election is about a month away and the political parties are gearing up for the competition.
The PDP held its primaries last week and the Adamawa State acting governor Ahmadu Fintiri defeated other aspirants in the party, clinching 624 votes during Saturday election in Yola, thereby becoming PDP candidate for the October 11 governorship election in the state.
Meanwhile, a serving Senator, Bindo Jibrilla won the APC primaries, polling 2,718 votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission scheduled the Adamawa election for October 11, 2014, after the former governor Murtala Nyako, was removed from his office on July 15, 2014, by the state House of Assembly.

Comedian/artiste Mohammed Jammal popularly known as 'White Nigerian' & his wife Marciel have welcomed their first child together, a girl. They have named her Maya. Congrats to them.