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Nigerian couple's white baby to undergo genetic tests
By Agency Reporter
A white baby born to a black couple will undergo genetic tests as the parents try to discover if they have any white ancestry.
Nmachi Ihegboro was born in the United Kingdom on Sunday with a full head of blonde-hair and white skin, despite having no known Caucasian ancestry from her black, Nigerian-born parents, The Sun reported.
The devout Christian couple were astonished to discover they had given birth to a white baby, describing her as a "miracle".
So how can a white baby born to a black couple be explained?
Geneticist Dr Mark Thomas, of University College, London, said the odds of the baby's white colouring were "between many millions to one and a million to one".
He told The Sun: "I suspect there's been a mixture of a mutation, like albinism, combined with a dormant white gene."
Professor Bryan Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University and Britain's leading expert, said: "In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child – and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents. This might be the case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."
"The hair is extremely unusual. Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth."
The baby's parents have agreed to let experts study Nmachi.
Source: Punch, 22nd July 2010.
Scientists probe birth of blonde Nigerian baby
BY CHUKWUMA MUANYA
IT is said to be impossible, a miracle, a rare event. But it may not really be impossible after all.
Scientists are amazed that a Nigerian couple in London gave birth to a blue-eyed blonde baby. They say the event is only possible if the couple went through Assisted Reproductive Technique (ART) such as In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) or they had a white parent in their ancestry.
The scientists say the only way to explain such an outcome is due to some forms of genetic mutation. They insist that it is only when the full medical history is known that a clear direction can be made in trying to unfold the science of this medical development. They say natural cause is remote but could be explained if the family agrees to be subjected to thorough genetic tests.
The scientists are an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, United States and Chief Medical Director of Medical Art Centre (MART), Ikeja, Lagos, and Joint Pioneer of IVF/Test Tube Baby Technology in Nigeria, Prof. Oladapo Ashiru; a professor of genetics at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Prof. Peter Odeigah; a cytogenetist, professor of anatomy, and former Deputy Vice Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Prof. Dayo Ejiwunmi; and head of human genetics at Oxford University, United Kingdom, Prof. Bryan Sykes.
The Daily Sun in the United Kingdom reported on Tuesday that Benjamin and Angela Ihegboro's daughter, Nmachi, was born at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Kent, to Igbo parents who have no history of mixed race which makes this case extremely rare. Doctors say the white-skinned newborn is not an albino.
The question is, does that mean Angela could have cheated? "If the wife cheated then there could be a possibility of a mixed race but not 100 per cent white colour," Ashiru said.
Ashiru said if the couple had a natural conception through intercourse, then it is a very unusual occurrence, particularly having seen the picture of the couple involved and they both have prominent black features.
He, however, said it could be explained in a black population that has white ancestral parents. "Then, if the two parents are of mixed race (termed half cast here in Nigeria), then they may end up with a baby that is either black or mixed or white, but this is very rare but it happens, and there are some examples but either one or both parents would have some of the manifestations of white genes," Ashiru explained.
He further stated: "A white baby being delivered by a black couple is a very rare event. The explanation can be made if one knows the medical history of the couple. However, the first possible explanation was similar to what happened in California, United States of America (USA) in 1992. Two couples, one black and the other white, went through IVF in the laboratory of Dr. Ricardo Asch, an IVF practitioner. They both got pregnant and at delivery the white couple gave birth to a black baby while the black couple gave birth to a white baby. That created a lot of roar, which led to the regulation of IVF in the United States of America.
"In the California case what happened was that the embryos got mixed up in such a way that the white embryo was given to the black lady while the black embryo was given to the white lady. The America Board of Bioanalysis was then mandated to issue several laboratory procedures for IVF and all IVF practitioners especially those who head the laboratory had to be certified through examination as High Complexity Clinical Laboratory Director (HCLD). Since then the practice of IVF in USA has been trouble free."
According to Ashiru, the determination of white or black pigmentation is by polygenetic factors and not one single gene. He therefore said if the couple had no ancestral parents as claimed in some reports, then this case was very unique and that deserved further evaluation for proper documentation in science.
"This will have to be looked along the line of a complex mutation. Were the parents exposed to any mutagenic agents or what was the source of the unusual gene change? Until the full medical history is known, a clear direction can't be made in trying to unfold the science of this medical development," Ashiru said.
Ejiwunmi said it could be a sensational mistaken switch at birth or IVF white embryo transfer or mixed ancestry is excluded by the history. "Natural cause is highly remote but could be explained if the family agrees to thorough genetic tests. The family may face social issues," he said.
Odegaih said the development raised a lot of questions. "This is a puzzle, if the paternity is certain there was no rape, then some sources of unexplained pregnancy can be accidental exposure to sperm in a swimming pool or unadmitted sperm insemination," he said. Odeigah added: "We do not know the family history of the couple. Without their family history it will be hard to explain this rare phenomenon."
Sykes said: "The birth is extraordinary. In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents."
Sykes said both parents would have needed some form of white ancestry. "The hair is extremely unusual. Even many blonde children do not have blonde hair like this at birth. The rules of genetics are complex and we still do not understand what happens in many cases. This might be a case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."
Skyes said that both parents would have needed some form of white ancestry for a pale version of their genes to be passed on. The only way to explain such an outcome is due to some form of genetic mutation.
Source: The Guardian, 22nd July 2010.
Mystery as Nigerian couple gives birth to white baby in UK
LONDON—A BLACKcouple, Ben and Angela Ihegboro, has amazed genetics experts, as their newly born baby, Nmanchi, is a white, blue-eyed blonde.
The couple, of Woolwich, south London, have two other children: four-year-old, Chisom, and sister, Dumebi, 2.
According to a report in the Sun of London, Ben, 44, a railway customer services adviser, said: he and his wife just sat there after the birth staring at her for ages – not saying anything.
parents with newborn Nmachi with other children; Dumebi and Chisom
He said: "In
"The first thing I said was 'What the flip?', he recalled. Ben added later that: "Of course, she's mine. My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby still wouldn't look like that."
Nmachi, whose name means "Beauty of God" in Nigerian parlance, was born at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Kent, where doctors there told them she is not an albino.
Ben, who went to Britain with Angela five years ago and works with South Eastern trains said: "She doesn't look like an albino child anyway – not like the ones I've seen back in Nigeria or in books. She just looks like a healthy white baby."
He went on: "My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine."
Angela, 35, declared that Nmachi's colour doesn't matter. "She's a miracle baby. But still, what on earth happened here? However, the child has baffled the genetics experts because neither Ben nor wife Angela has any mixed-race family history.
We don't know of any white ancestry. We wondered if it was a genetic twist. But even then, what's with the long curly blonde hair?"
DNA test to verify paternity
Chisom, the couple's four-year-old son, was quoted as remarking: "We are a black family. Suddenly we have a white sister." Ben also noted "We are baffled too and want to know what happened, but we understand life is very strange."
It was not immediately made clear whether or not a DNA test was done to verify her paternity. Often described as a "fingerprint," DNA is more comparable to a "body print" inclusive of internal workings and future traits and is often almost 100 percent exact.
However, Prof. Bryan Sykes, Head of Human Genetics at Oxford University and Britain's leading expert, called the birth "extraordinary" He said: "In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child – and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.
This might be the case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."
Sykes said both parents would have needed "some form of white ancestry" for a pale version of their genes to be passed on. He added: "The hair is extremely unusual.
Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth." The expert said some unknown mutation was the most likely explanation. "The rules of genetics are complex and we still don't understand what happens in many cases."
Genetic mutation
Other experts, however, propose that some form of unknown racial or genetic mutation was the most likely explanation for Nmachi's colour. A genetic expert,
Dr. Rick Kittles who runs a genetic tracing company, African Ancestry Inc.,
described "race" as white or black, and more of a social concept than a real biological concept."
In his words: "Race is based on two things: skin colour and ancestry. You can't really (see) somebody's ancestry, but you can tell their skin colour." According to him, while physical features are determined by a small number of genes, genes do not determine race specifically.
Kittles feels strongly that race and ethnicity are separate. He argues that genes determining physical features do not determine internal makeup or predisposition to certain diseases.
Kittles who had always been interested in genetics in African populations started working on collecting data many years ago and his from studies determined that three out of 10 African men had European genetic heritages.
Up to 85 percent of Kittles' African Ancestry's clients are an exact match with ethnic groups in the database. The other 15 percent are closely related.
Source: Vanguard, 21st July 2010.
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I Am Not Banned By US – Aondoakaa
Written by Ahuraka Yusuf Isah, Abuja
The former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Michael Kaase Aondoakaa has said he was never banned by the United States of America government from entering that country
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Aondoakaa Embraces Rice Farming
Written by Joseph Wantu, Makurdi
The former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, has said that he is likely to engage into massive rice production and other cereal crops as way of boosting the agricultural sector of the nation and Benue State. Aondoakaa, who said this during an interaction with Journalists in Makurdi over the weekend, also contended that Nigeria was endowed with fertile soil for the production of rice and other crops that can earn her huge foreign exchange rather than continue to import them from Brazil and other parts of the world.
The former minister said he had already commenced a nationwide sensitisation tour to discuss with well-to-do individuals the importance of engaging in large-scale rice production.
"For now I am into large-scale rice production and already going round the country to sensitise and mobilise the people to engage in rice production and processing.
"We have a lot of arable land that is being wasted. These lands can be plowed for massive rice production," Aondoakaa stated.
He commended President Goodluck Jonathan for spending much on agriculture, especially the Fadama II and III programme across the nation. He said that he will support him in this regard.
Aondoakaa also took a swipe at his critics for their the frivolous criticisms of him since he left office. He denied the reports in the media that his American visa and that of members of his family had been revoked.
He equally denied operating an account in a South African Bank to the tune of 44 million dollars, stating that some of the media houses had already checked the information with the American Embassy and found that it was not true.
Source: Leadership, 29th June 2010.
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or anywhere in the world.
Aondoakaa who exclusively granted an interview to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, followed with a press release in reaction to the story carried in our Saturday edition, said the story is not true.
"In the first instance, the revocation of visa of a citizen entering the US does not go through Obama. It is just a matter of the state department revoking your visa," Aondoakaa said.
The former AGF also said none of his siblings or anyone at all with the name Aondoakaa is resident in the US. "No single Aondoakaa is studying in America.Therefore, the US government cannot revoke what they did not issue", he said.
Aondaokaa said when the story was first carried on-line, specifically by Sahara Reporters, he called on the Deputy Head of Mission in the US Embassy in Nigeria to confirm the story and he was told that there was no instruction from Washington to revoke his visa.
Also, he noted that as a member of the governing council of the United Nations Institute for Unification of Private Laws, such decision could have been communicated to the UN because the job requires him to travel all over the world, including America.
More so, when he was nominated by Nigeria government and was adopted by African Heads of Government in Egypt for the job of United Nation Institute for Unification of Private Laws governing council, the US government voted for him in Rome where the election took place.
Aondoakaa equally denied the story that his account credit balance of $44 million arising from a deal with James Ibori in south Africa was frozen. "I am 48years old, I have not visited South Africa for one day in my life, neither do I have bank account in that country or anywhere in the world outside Nigeria."
He said further that all those facts can be cross-checked with records at both Nigerian and South African Immigration Service Departments because, they have to stamp your visa at the departure and entry points respectively"..
Aondoakaa attributed the negative stories now carried about him to his recent comments that there is no law in place that precludes President Jonathan from contesting presidential election in 2011.
"And this publication is coming after I stated that the issue of electoral reform is on course. The simple reason for saying that the electoral reform is on course is that the constitution amendments needed, that will allow us to have an effective electoral law, for the reform were initiated during my time as the nation's AGF based substantially on Justice Uwais Committee's Report.
"The late President Umaru Yar'Adua forwarded it to the National Assembly and President Goodluck Jonathan followed it p. Therefore, the electoral reform is on course. And there is nothing the President or INEC can do if these laws are not given to them".
Source: Leadership, 27th June 2010.
I Was Not Banned From Entering The US,
Says Aondooaka
FROM ALIFA DANIEL, ASST POLITICAL
FORMER Attorney of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mr. Michael Aondooaka, yesterday strongly denied speculations that he had been banned from entering the United States. He has also denied that any relative of his had his student visa revoked.
Reacting to media reports on his banking and business interests in South Africa and other parts of the world, the former chief law officer of the country, in a statement by his Special Assistant, Mr. Onov Tyuluugh, said: "I have not been banned from entering the United States and I have my visa intact. Secondly, none of my relatives has a student visa to the United States, as claimed by some publications. Therefore, the US Government cannot revoke what they did not issue.
"The publication is a great misconception of how the US State Department works. The issue of revocation of visa of any foreigner, including student visa, cannot be a matter for the President of the US, who is considered to be the leader of the world. It is a matter of State Department, which ends on the table of the Secretary of State.
"I have no single bank account in the United States and any foreign bank account anywhere in the world, including South Africa. I have not visited South Africa throughout my lifetime. The allegation of freezing a $44million transaction and linking me with it is an April fool story. I have no foreign account anywhere in the world and I have not done any transaction with anybody anywhere in the world.
"When the publication came online on Wednesday and several newspapers brought it to my attention, I contacted the US Embassy in Nigeria, and a person, who described himself as the Deputy Head of Mission, told me that they have no instruction from Washington to revoke my visa.
"My being a member of the Governing Council of a UN body was through an election and the US Government voted for my candidature. The US Government supported and voted for me during the election, in 2009, in Rome. Apart from the US, France, Britain, Germany and all the super powers voted for me. The records are there for anybody to access. So, it is a blatant and reckless story calculated to embarrass me. I am not a security risk anywhere in the world."
Source: The Guardian, 27th June 2010.
I'm no security threat – Aondoakaa
By Emma Ujah
Abuja- Former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Mr. Michael Aondoakaa has said that he does not pose any security threat and that he has not been banned from travelling to the United States (US).
Reacting to a report that he had been banned from the US and his visa and those of his children revoked for security reasons and money laundering, Mr. Aondoakaa said "I have not been banned from entering the United States and I have my visa intact. Secondly, none of my relatives has a student visa to the United States as claimed by some publications. Therefore, the US Government cannot revoke what they did not issue.
"The publication is a great misconception of how the US State Department works.
The issue of revocation of visa of any foreigner, including student visa, cannot be a matter for the President of the US , who is considered to be the leader of the world. It is a matter of State Department which ends on the table of the Secretary of State.
"I have no single bank account in the United States and any foreign bank account anywhere in the world, including South Africa .
"I have not visited South Africa throughout my lifetime. The allegation of freezing $44million transaction and linking me with it is an April Fool story".
Source: Sun, 27th June 2010.
Obama Bans Aondoakaa From US
Written by Abiodun Oluwarotimi, New York
Just weeks after a Federal High Court sitting in Calabar banned him from further holding public office in the country, Nigeria's former minister of Justice and attorney-general of the federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa and some members of his immediate family were banned from entering the United States of America (USA).
The order, signed by the United States president, Barack Obama, banning Nigeria's former chief law officer from entering the world's most powerful country, also made Mr. Aondoakaa the first Nigerian former public official to be sanctioned since the return of democracy in 1999.
Information has it that the travel ban on Aondoakaa was also extended to two of his children and relatives who had been granted student visas by the United States Embassy in Nigeria.
leadership weekend gathered that the United States government has decided never to welcome Nigeria's political functionaries who abuse their offices or engage in questionable or illegal conduct.
In the notice banning him from gaining further entrance, the United States government deplored some of the activities that took place during Aondoakaa's tenure as Nigerian minister of Justice and attorney-general.
It would be recalled that the United States government had warned at the United Nations headquarters in New York at the beginning of this week, that several corrupt officials in Africa would be made to face travel bans and visa revocation, as a way of combating corruption.
United States deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Ms. Elizabeth Verville who made this known at a high level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, also said that the country would continue to complement multilateral engagement with bilateral assistance to equip states with the ability to successfully investigate and prosecute criminals in full conformity with the rule of law and respect for human rights, while also protecting victims and witnesses.
It would also be recalled that during the last days of the late President Yar'Adua's administration, several members of his kitchen cabinet were listed for visa ban by the United States government.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom police, at the beginning of this week, joined the former minister of Justice in a fresh money laundering allegation made against Chief James Ibori by the Metropolitan Police.
The United Kingdom authorities are reportedly looking at a transaction between the duo of Ibori and Aondoakaa that involved $44 million, routed through South Africa.
Source: Leadership, 26th June 2010.
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