Essential Afro-Latino/ Caribbean Current Events

[Poitier]

Cooking With Green Charcoal Helps to Reduce Deforestation in Haiti
Posted by Anna-Maija Mattila Litvak on Thursday, March 13th 2014
An organization in northern Haiti is promoting a cooking fuel made from agricultural waste that can save trees, help farmers increase their yields and generate additional income.

“Our aim is to try to stop deforestation in Haiti by teaching people to switch from cooking with charcoal to using cooking briquettes, small discs made from charred agricultural waste,” said Anderson Pierre, the Supply Chain Manager for Carbon Roots International (CRI), a USAID-supported non-profit organization operating in Quartier Morin.

Workers create cooking briquettes, small discs made from charred agricultural waste, in northern Haiti. Copyright Kendra Helmer/USAID

Despite the fact that only about 2 percent of Haiti’s forests remain, it is difficult to shift habits of cooking with wood charcoal to methods that are environmentally friendly. According to Pierre, other alternative fuels are still not well-known – or accepted.

“We work little by little, changing perceptions and providing information on the benefits of using briquettes,” Pierre said.

CRI employs smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs to produce carbon-rich char from agricultural waste such as sugarcane bagasse, the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane stalks are crushed to extract their juice. CRI uses this waste to create two innovative products: renewable charcoal cooking briquettes called “green charcoal,” and “biochar,” a potent natural soil additive that increases soil fertility and removes carbon from the atmosphere. CRI sells the briquettes as an alternative to traditional wood charcoal through a network of women retailers, and disburses biochar back to farmers to increase crop yields and further raise incomes.

As a result, the project contributes to the sustainability of Haitian agriculture and provides income opportunities for women entrepreneurs. It offers a comparably priced, locally appropriate green cooking fuel to the Haitian marketplace, as well as encourages the adoption of biochar as a viable tool for increasing agricultural productivity and soil resiliency.

CRI’s efforts to promote green charcoal are gradually gaining ground in northern Haiti. While they’ve been focusing on market research and production, they plan to expand to bulk sales and more roadside kiosks this spring. In December, CRI ran a public awareness campaign in Quartier Morin under the slogan “Green Charcoal is Your Charcoal”, using demonstration stands and offering free samples of briquettes.

“The Haitian consumer likes the fact that this comes from a source other than wood. People have heard about a Haiti that used to be green. They understand that deforestation is not good. If they have an alternative, they will go for it,” said Ryan Delaney, co-founder of CRI. The briquettes are 5 to 10 percent cheaper to buy than wood-based charcoal and they can be burned in a traditional cook stove, making it an attractive fuel alternative.

USAID is supporting CRI through a $100,000 Development Innovation Ventures award. The USAID award has helped CRI prove itself — it developed a network of producers, started production and created viable markets for biomass products.

“We want this to be a self-sufficient project,” Delaney said. “We have just purchased a machine that can increase the briquette production from 3,000 briquettes a day to 3 tons an hour. There is a lot of sugarcane production in Haiti providing the needed sugarcane waste…. Right now we sell small-scale, but we have ambitious expansion goals.”

Delaney estimates the charcoal market in Haiti to be valued at about $700 million a year (approximately $90 million in northern Haiti). “The potential to scale in Haiti and beyond is enormous, as there is little centralized production of charcoal,” he said.

This month, the U.S.-based CRI expects formal operations to begin for their for-profit entity in Haiti, called Carbon Roots Haiti, S.A. Eventually CRI wants to hand over green charcoal production to Haitians, Delaney said. “Ultimately, we envision this as a Haitian company run by Haitians.”

Launched in October 2010, USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) holds a quarterly grant competition for innovative ideas, pilots and tests them using cutting-edge analytical methods, and scales those that demonstrate cost-effectiveness and widespread development impact. DIV uses a staged-funding model inspired by venture capital to invest comparatively small amounts in relatively unproven ideas, and continues to support only those that prove effective.

For more information on DIV and how to apply, go to http://www.usaid.gov/div. For more information on CRI visit http://www.carbonrootsinternational.org/ and see photos of CRI in Haiti on Flickr.

Read another story about how USAID is fighting deforestation through an improved cooking technology program.

Anna-Maija Mattila Litvak is the Senior Development Outreach and Communications Officer for USAID/Haiti.

http://blog.usaid.gov/2014/03/cooking-with-green-charcoal-reduce-deforestation-haiti/

 

[Poitier]

The Conservation Opportunity in Haiti
August 25, 2014 | 10:31 am |Print



Above: a biodiversity project in Ile a Vache, Haiti (Photo: Tim Calver for The Nature Conservancy)

By Maxene Atis
CJ Contributor

HAITI is a crossroad where conservation, health, and livelihoods meet.

There is no other place in the Caribbean where conservation and restoration offer so much hope for the revival of the economy.

Conservation is key to restoring the country’s forest cover, which has been nearly depleted from 60 percent in 1926 to a mere 2 percent in 2014.

Furthermore, conservation is critical to address the issues of overfishing in order to prevent an irreversible natural catastrophe should fish stocks disappear.

Since 2012, The Nature Conservancy has been quietly building a foundation for what we hope will become a broad movement towards biodiversity conservation, habitat restoration and sustainable fisheries management in Haiti.



Above: Fabenise Mathurin poses with some of her Black Mangrove seedlings (Photo: Tim Calver for The Nature Conservancy)

Our work in Haiti began in the town of Tilori, along the Dominican Republic border, where more than 200,000 trees have been planted to date.

This community-based reforestation project is helping to reduce erosion on hillsides, decrease the loss of arable soil, and stop sedimentation in the Artibonite River, which supplies vast amounts of freshwater for irrigating agricultural yields in many communities in Haiti.

To complement reforestation efforts, the Conservancy has provided local families with solar stoves and energy efficient stoves.



Above: Haiti Conservation Coordinator Maxene Atis speaks to a group of women who are part of the combined cooking system pilot project. (Photo: Bridget Besaw)

These stoves help reduce dependency on wood and charcoal as the sole source of fuel for cooking, curbing deforestation and reducing health issues such as eye and lung diseases related to indoor smoke inhalation.

“The solar stove project has brought a new sense of hope and community in Tilori by educating and equipping local people and enabling them to start a new dialogue around environmental and health issues,” says Onel Joseph, the consultant in charge of implementing the project.



Above: a pilot project on Ile a Vache (Tim Calver for The Nature Conservancy)

While this project unfolds along the border, another group of scientists from the Conservancy has focused its efforts on the southwestern coast of the country.

Working hand in hand with partners such as the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and other local Haitian organizations, in 2012 the Conservancy conducted various marine and coastal environmental studies and a fisheries assessment.

This assessment helped inform the Haitian government’s declaration of the country’s first-ever marine protected area (Aire Protegee de Ressources Naturelles Gerees de Port-Salut/Aquin).

To help lessen the human pressure on the coastal marine ecosystem, the Conservancy and partners have been working in Ile a Vache to promote sustainable economic activities and support fishers’ organizations.

In May 2014, local residents inaugurated a sustainable agriculture project equipped with a solar-powered micro-irrigation system and set up a community tree nursery that will produce about 60,000 seedlings per year.

This work is complemented by an ambitious mangrove restoration project led by the Haitian government and Fondation Verte that will help better protect coastlines while also providing income to residents who cultivate and plant the seedlings.

Our local Haitian partners also helped establish three fishing organizations and one farming association in Ile a Vache in order to help these organizations conduct their activities within the limits of the laws governing fisheries and the environment in Haiti.

These community-based organizations are being trained to better manage the fisheries and develop alternative sustainable livelihood initiatives aimed at improving the local economy and reducing pressure on the fisheries.

The Conservancy’s hope is that we can create strong models for sustainable development based on collaboration between communities, conservation NGOs, and governments.

My personal hope is that these efforts will inspire people in Haiti and across the Caribbean to embrace conservation as a means to protect the biodiversity, bolster economies, and create livelihood opportunities for people.

This is our long term vision for Haiti, and I am confident that together we can make it happen.

Maxene Atis is the Haiti Conservation Manager for The Nature Conservancy Atis was born in northwestern Haiti, studied geology in Port au Prince, and did development work for the United Nations before studying business in Florida.

http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/08/25/the-conservation-opportunity-in-haiti/

 

[Malta]

No Dominicans allowed tho cuz remember, they're 100% NON-BLACK.

 

[DreadBrown]

Jamaican poet/philosopher Muta Baruka speaking on FREE VISA travel to Gambia for the African Diaspora at the Gambian Roots Festival 2014

 

[Malta]

its interesting that Brazil is actually majority black (by US Standards)

anyway, question for yall, would you considered Haiti, Guadeloupe, and Martinique Latino?

They are both Latinos in the same way Brazilians can be classified as such.

 

[Poitier]

China Holds Business Summit With Latin America, Caribbean
September 15, 2014 | 12:20 am |Print



Above: Changsha, China

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Hundreds of executives from Latin America, the Caribbean and China recently gathered for the eighth China-Latin America and the Caribbean Business Summit.

Last week’s summit, hosted in Changsha, China, focused on opportunities for businesses from both regions.

The summit was organized by the Inter-American Development Bank, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the People’s Bank of China and the government of Hunan Province.

“Latin America has much to gain from deepening its relationship with China, just as China has much to gain from our region,” said Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank. “For our governments, this is a strategic priority. But much of the day-to-day building of those links will fall on the private sector.”

China joined the IDB as a shareholder in 2009, and is now the top trade partner for several countries in the region, including Brazil and Chile.

Trade between Latin America and the Caribbean and China is expected to double in the next decade.

http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/09/15/china-holds-business-summit-with-latin-america-caribbean/

 

[DreadBrown]

Jamaica's Rastas ready for ganja decriminalisation
By DAVID McFADDEN

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

In this August 28, 2014 photo, legalisation advocate and reggae legend Bunny Wailer smokes a pipe stuffed with marijuana during a “reasoning” session in a yard in Kingston, Jamaica, decorated with Rastafarian colours and images of former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Wailer, a founder of the iconic Wailers reggae group with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, and fellow Rastafarians have long called for legalisation of the herb that they smoke as part of their spiritual worship. (PHOTOS: DAVID MCFADDEN)



KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Taking a deep draw on a pipe that glows with burning marijuana, reggae luminary Bunny Wailer gives a satisfied grin through a haze of aromatic smoke in his concrete yard painted in the red, green, gold and black colours identified with his Rastafarian faith.

These days, the baritone singer from the legendary Wailers, the group he formed in 1963 with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, has reason to feel good. There is unprecedented traction building in Jamaica to decriminalise pot, meaning the dreadlocked Wailer and other adherents of Rastafari — a home-grown spiritual movement that considers the drug divine — may soon be able to smoke without fear of arrest.

"Rastas have treated marijuana as something legal all along, even though we have been sent to prison for using the herb in our prayer. But this is the time for all these pressures to stop. The world is catching up now," the 67-year-old three-time Grammy winner said at his modest Kingston home.

Jamaica is known internationally for its marijuana. The hardy plant grows easily on the tropical Caribbean island, where its use is culturally entrenched despite being legally banned for 100 years. Cultivation is kept hidden, with small patches tucked into mountainsides, in swamps and between rows of other crops. Wailer, himself, was convicted of possession in 1967 and did more than a year of hard labour.

Previous moves to decriminalise the drug failed to advance mainly because officials feared they would violate international treaties and bring sanctions from Washington. But now, with a number of US states relaxing their marijuana laws — Colorado and Washington even allow recreational use — Jamaica is rethinking its position.

Justice Minister Mark Golding says Jamaica's Cabinet has approved a plan to decriminalise marijuana, including for religious purposes, and legislators are expected to authorise it before the end of the year.

Freedom to use marijuana for religious worship is one of various amendments to Jamaica's Dangerous Drugs Act supported by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's administration. Her ministers also have proposed unclogging courts by decriminalising small amounts of weed for personal use, making possession of two ounces or less a ticketable offence. The main hope is that a regulated medical marijuana and scientific research sector could help draw investments to the cash-strapped island, which is labouring under its latest loan programme with the International Monetary Fund.

"Ganja", as marijuana is known locally, has a long history on the island. It was introduced to Jamaica in the 19th century by Indian indentured servants and it gained popularity as a medicinal herb. Use spread among the poor in the 1930s with the founding of Rastafari, a spiritual movement that melds Old Testament teachings and Pan-Africanism and whose followers worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.

Rasta adherents say use of the "holy herb" induces a meditative state that brings them closer to the divine. The faithful smoke it as a sacrament in chalice pipes or cigarettes called "spliffs," add it to vegetarian stews, and place it in fires as a burnt offering.

For years, Rastafarians were treated as second-class citizens and looked down upon by many Jamaicans as oddball, even dangerous drug-addled cultists. Police shooting ranges once had images of dreadlocked Rastas as targets. The spiritual movement attracts only a small percentage of the country's mostly Christian population of 2.7 million.

It wasn't until the 1970s, when the Wailers and other Rasta musicians popularised the Rastafarian culture among better-off Jamaicans, that marijuana's popularity began to filter through the island's rigid class structure and gain a wider acceptance. Marley's worldwide popularity has made him Jamaica's most famous and revered son.

While Rastafari followers tend to disdain government initiatives, for many, Jamaica's decriminalisation plans signal a crucial victory after decades of struggle.

The momentum building "presents a major step forward for the recognition of the religious rights and expression of Rastafari", said Anta Anthony Merritt, a Rastafarian priest who is a faculty member at San Diego State University.

Even if the current proposals fall short of the full legalisation Rastas long have sought, they are welcomed by many, said Priest Dermot Fagan, leader of a small sect in an isolated commune in the Blue Mountains that tower over Kingston.

"We are thankful for the coming changes and, yes, some of the pressures will be eased. But we can't forget the destruction, the mayhem that has been caused by the persecution of this divine herb," said Fagan, waving his hands for emphasis on a balcony overlooking the School of Vision retreat, a place where Rasta mysticism brushes against the realities of modern life.

Researchers who study the movement are curious about how decriminalisation for Rastafari will play out. For now, there are a lot of unanswered questions. Ennis Edmonds, an associate professor of religious studies at Ohio's Kenyon College whose publications focus on Rastafari, said determining what is religious use in Jamaica will not be easy. There's essentially no formal church, organised conversion process and few places of communal gathering. An individual Rasta's personal relationship with "Jah," or God, is considered central to the faith.

"Most ritual smoking does not take place in official places of worship, but in people's yards and on street corners. Can a single Rasta smoking a spliff in any location claim religious use privileges?" Edmonds asked.

But for Wailer, the time is clearly ripe for change in "Babylon", the unflattering Rasta term for the Western world.

"Rastas have gone through a lot of hassles for years, getting criminalised and locked up for using the herb. But things are changing because ganja is what the world needs now," Wailer said, before taking another appreciative toke from his pipe.

Joseph Williams, a former Jamaican soldier who is now the “scribe” for the School of Vision Rastafarian group, is shown taking a break from clearing steep farmland at their isolated retreat in the Blue Mountains that tower over Kingston, Jamaica, early September.

 

[DreadBrown]

50 at-risk boys get cadet training

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Young cadets from Tawes Meadows and Ellerslie Gardens in St Catherine practise their marching routine moments before the awards ceremony held on August 26 in St Catherine. The ceremony marked the completion of a community development project, which involved the training of young men, who were later inducted as cadets. Their parents also received training focused on discipline, responsibility, leadership roles and positive parenting. (PHOTO: JIS)


MORE than 50 young men, once deemed at-risk due to behavioural problems, are today transformed and on course to a more promising future.

The youngsters, from the St Catherine communities of Tawes Meadows and Ellerslie Gardens, have benefited from cadet training, undertaken through a $250,000 grant from the Community Safety and Security Branch (CSSB) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), with support from the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).

Kareeme Morrison, community action officer for the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) -- which helped with the implementation of the project -- says that the initiative was conceptualised by the Tawes Meadow Parenting Group, which had long wanted to start a cadet corps in the community.

The desire, she says, stemmed from "serious behavioural deficiencies, especially among young males in the community."

The group decided to partner with the adjoining Ellerslie Gardens community in submitting a proposal to the CSSB for funding to undertake the cadet programme, and also address the issue of parenting in the areas.

Morrison says the six-week project, which came to an end on August 26, targeted young men ages 10 to 17 years, most of whom are either high school students or dropouts, and "have serious behavioural issues".

Some 25 young men from each community were engaged during the sessions conducted by officers from the JCF and Royal Mission Cadet Corps.

"They were exposed to timeliness, neatness, capacity building, life skills training, personal development and etiquette, which the JCF and Royal Mission Cadet Corps insisted that they have," Morrison says.

He says that in the initial stages there were some disciplinary issues as trainees had difficulty in meeting the requirements of proper dress and punctuality. He notes, however, that over time, the boys soon became "interested and enthused."

Morrison adds that the boys were transformed by the training. "The community looks at the boys differently and the parents see their children in a new light," he says. At the end of the training they were inducted as cadets.

Participant Omaro Hastings says that the training was good for him. "It was a bit rough, but I made it. My mother is proud of me and I am happy for that. I learned how to stand at attention, squat, and was further exposed to structure and discipline," he says.

Parent Trainer with CSJP, Yvonne Campbell, says the parenting aspect of the project was also successful.

During the sessions, parents were trained in areas of discipline, responsibility, leadership roles, and positive parenting, and were sensitised about issues relating to the care and protection of children, including the Child Care and Protection Act.

They were also encouraged to perform skits to identify the flaws in parenting styles.

Campbell notes that at first the parents were "very resistant and difficult, but after a few sessions they started to respond favourably and they wanted to know more. Often, they would stay beyond the time allotted... I was encouraged and I am confident that if we continue the programme, communities will benefit

and will be transformed,"

she says.

"After one session a parent said to me, 'Bwoy, mi wish mi did know dis a long time because a jus tonight mi seh some bad things to my child and mi haffi go see if mi can apologise'. I encouraged that apology because although you are a parent, you have to find a way to apologise to your child," she shares.

Programme Coordinator, Barbara Smith says that the project helped both communities.

"At the end of the project, persons have been asking 'what will happen now', so that means it had an impact and they wish for it to continue. I am happy that CSJP has an intention to continue the project,"

-- JIS

 

[Soundwave]

http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/09/15/china-holds-business-summit-with-latin-america-caribbean/

Last time I was in Antigua, the airport was in the middle of a huge reconstruction project ... the company overseeing it is Chinese

http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/03/21/new-terminal-at-antiguas-vc-bird-airport-70-percent-complete/

New Terminal at Antigua’s VC Bird Airport “70 Percent” Complete

March 21, 2014 | 3:30 pm | Print



Above: construction work at VC Bird International Airport in Antigua

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The new airport terminal at Antigua’s VC Bird International Airport more than 70 percent finished, the government announced this week.

The project, which covers a total of 23,000 square metres of space, is on track for completion in September 2014.

The terminal will feature four jet bridges, four escalators, four elevators, 12 X-ray machines and CCTV monitoring.

“When I last toured the terminal I knew it was going to be a good facility but now that I have seen the progress this is absolutely amazing,” Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said following a tour of the site. “This will take Antigua and Barbuda to the top level where airport terminals are concerned.”

A government estimate found that around $50 million worth of economic impact had been generated in the country due to the airport project, which is being begin constructed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

The new terminal is designed to handle 1,800 passengers per hour, according to Tourism Minister John Maginley.

“The first and last impression you have of Antigua and Barbuda is the airport. So if we have an efficient entrance into Antigua and people leave the country comfortable we think this will all augur very well for our tourism product,” he said. “The airlines are very excited because we will be looking after their customers at a higher level than we are doing currently.”

 

[Poitier]

Here are some videos on the Jamaican Stock Exchange (JSE)

 

[Poitier]

dope thread. Interested in learning more about my afro latin brothas and sistas especially

A lot of them actually repatriated to nigeria a few decades ago, a rich nigerian family(The fernandez) came from Cuba.

I remember the wench daughter

 

[Poitier]

Nigeria’s most reclusive Billionaire,Oluwo Antonio Deinde Fernandez.

Welcome to the world of one of Africa’s richest men: HIS EXCELLENCY, OLUWO ANTONIO OLADEINDE FERNANDEZ, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

When it comes to the most impressive and exuberant display of the splendour of wealth, Fernandez dusts them all -by miles. The name ‘Fernandez’ is Portuguese in origin and shows that he is of the popular Fernandez family of Lagos. Historical accounts show that the Fernandezes were originally descendants of freed slaves from Brazil, where Portuguese is the official language. Some of the first modern-styled buildings in Lagos were built by the Fernandezes, and these buildings are known for their spectacular Brazilian architecture. Portuguese navigators were also the first European explorers to reach Lagos State. Actually, they gave the state the name ‘Lagos.

For Ovation magazine to feature a man in 40 pages says a lot about his prestigious standing. Very secretive (not in a bad way or let me say he guards his privacy jealously) and aloof (he very rarely comes to Nigeria where he is from), this is one rich man in a class and mansion of his own -with no rivals but maybe a few big cats.His wealth has dazed and fazed many, and left even many more speechless. ANTONIO DEINDE FERNANDEZ. Okay, enough of that. Let’s get some bits on him:

Even though he is Nigerian, he was appointed the Permanent Representative of Central African Republic (CAR) at the United Nations in 1997 (ain’t that classy?, but with the current turmoil in CAR, with former President Francois Bozize fleeing the nation, things are hazy). -Fernandez is said to have interests in the CAR’s oil industry (at a time, he was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic). That does not include his bauxite (for aluminum) exports, gold mines (in Angola) and diamonds pits. He owns Petro Inett, an oil company. Petro Inett is just one of them. He also has shares in View, Sandcat Petroleum, Sanantonio, Goldfields, Voguehope, Grantdalem Inuola, Sandcat Goldfields (cat, cat, now I understand those two cats…lol), Woods and Petro Inett Equatorial Guinea.

-Before then, he had served as the Special Adviser to the President of Mozambique on International Economic Matters and from 1992-1995, he was the Ambassador-at-Large for the Republic of Togo and Angola.

-He was also once the Consul for Benin Republic (then Republic of Dahomey) (1966), made the Economic Advisor to the Angolan Government in 1982 (just for perspective, only Nigeria produces more oil than Angola in Africa, shey you gerrit?). To be specific, he was a long-time adviser to President José Eduardo dos Santos of Angola (he’s been ruling since 1975).

In 1984, he was the Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations. At a point, he was a Deputy Minister of Finance in Swaziland.

-He has houses in Kano, built a tower for himself in Lagos (where he was born in 1936), New York (where he is said to stay almost permanently), Scotland, France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. But that’s not all, he has accounts in the Cayman Islands, France, Switzerland (I love that country joor), Ireland, Hong Kong, Scotland and the United States. Don’t ask me of Nigeria.Also as 6 private jets.

He surrounds himself with the finest, classiest and the most exquisite things that money can buy. Do you know of any other moneybag who travels around in a convoy of pink Rolls Royces? Baba ni Deinde! (or wetin you think? Na my own opinion be this o, talk ya own!) And yes, if you have the misfortune (lol!) of entering a restaurant before him, you will have to vacate -unless maybe you are Bill Gates. His Excellency is said not to dine where there are commoners.

In a divorce case with one of his former wives, it was revealed that he splashed 200,000 British Pounds on his seven-storey townhouse to buy 1,000 books of gold leaf to ‘toosh’ up the already ‘tooshed’ cornices and balustrades. This man is just too much! 200,000 Pounds = N51 million naira. Not much, abi? It was also revealed by his former wife that in one of his houses in France, the wine collection (used in the wedding celebrations of their two daughters) alone is worth about $1 million (calm down, it’s just N160 million). Atimes, I cannot but just wonder about how the world is so so skewed in terms of wealth distribution. Some have more than they can ever spend or use, while some just manage to exist. Something somewhere is definitely wrong with humans, the so-called higher animals. Even animals do not have such wealth disparity. Well, it’s just a thought.

-A high chief of the Ogboni Confraternity, he is highly revered in his Yorubaland and his family motto is: Aguntan meji kii mumi ninu koto kan na (see images for the insignia). Okay, what that simply means is that two rams cannot drink from the same container. Or some people will say, there cannot be two captains on a ship. Well, that’s correct, there is no other Antonio Deinde Fernandez (the Big Masquerade). Today, he is married to a beauty from Kano State. Her name? Haleema, and has a daughter, Mahreyah. She is said to be of the Alhaji Muhammadu Maude (also known as Maude Tobacco) family of Kano. Alhaji Maude was the Presidential Liaison Officer for Kano State during the Shehu Shagari presidency. A wealthy businessman, he made attempts to become governor of Kano State in the 1980s but lost even though his campaign was one of the most colourful and was associated with the use of yan banga,local thugs.More to come.

Now you can see that dangote and the rest are learning.

 

[Poitier]

Eastern Costa Rica
http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/2012/12/african-descendants-in-costa-rica-afro.html

Coastal honduras (garifuna)

 

[Poitier]

Southeastern Mexico

 

[DreadBrown]

Never heard of this brother before but Fernandez doing it big