Komenews

According to Punch Metro, the Independent National Electoral Commission has given assurance that there will be uniform timing in the commencement of Saturday’s governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections nationwide. The News Agency of Nigeria reported that INEC National Commissioner in-charge of Enugu/Anambra/Benue states, Mr Festus Okoye, gave the assurance on Tuesday in Enugu. Okoye, who spoke to newsmen on the preparedness of the commission for the polls, also said that there would be full deployment of the smart card readers nationwide. He said the commission was ready to conduct free, fair and credible elections, adding that it had fine-tuned all the loose ends encountered during the presidential and National Assembly polls. He said,  “This time round, we want to ensure that each polling unit in the federation starts the process at 8am dot on the day of the elections. So we want to make sure that all our ad hoc staff and materials get to the polling units befo

The early Pagan origins of Ash Wednesday This ritual “ imposition of the ashes ” is purportedly in imitation of the repentant act of covering oneself in dust and ashes. The marking of believers on Ash Wednesday is done in combination of another extra-biblical routine called “ Lent .” Despite Christ's command to his followers to abstain from the practice of disfiguring their faces during fasting , it has become a regular practice. He also told us to  wash our faces  during a fast. The practice of putting ashes on one's forehead has been known from ancient times. In the  Nordic pagan religion , placing ashes above one's brow was believed to ensure the protection of the Norse god,  Odin . This practice spread to Europe during the Vikings conquests. This laying on of ashes was done on Wednesday, the day named for Odin, Odin's Day. Interestingly enough, according to  Wikipedia , one of Odin's names is Ygg. The same is Norse for the World Ash. This name Ygg, clos